Kathy Livingston had been working in franchising for over 20 years by the time she opened Oliver’s Nannies. Livingston landed her first franchising role right out of college and worked her way through the industry. She eventually became an owner of a home care franchise for seniors in New York City. However, being based in New York City with a family and a growing business, she found herself running up against the city’s child care shortage. By Kelsi Trinidad
Kathy Livingston had been working in franchising for over 20 years by the time she opened Oliver’s Nannies. Livingston landed her first franchising role right out of college and worked her way through the industry. She eventually became an owner of a home care franchise for seniors in New York City. However, being based in New York City with a family and a growing business, she found herself running up against the city’s child care shortage.
“I realized I could find care for a senior easily, but that there weren’t really good child care options,” explained Livingston. “There were day cares with wait lists that were up to a year long in our area. And if you wanted to hire a nanny, you kind of had to know somebody who had to know somebody. I said, ‘You know what? I can’t be the only person who has this problem.’”
Livingston took her knowledge from owning a senior home care franchise and applied it to child care. In 2018, Oliver’s Nannies was born in Millburn, New Jersey, offering dynamic child care that is fitted to each family’s needs. Oliver’s Nannies takes on the responsibilities of vetting child care workers, administrative employment tasks and scheduling. Livingston herself uses the service for her own family’s child care needs.
As the business gained popularity among busy parents in the New York City area, Livingston began fielding calls from across the country where parents were also experiencing a child care shortage. Because she saw this need, Livingston teamed up with Co-founder Ross Goodson in 2022 to develop a franchising model that would allow entrepreneurs to bring the Oliver’s Nannies formula to busy parents across the country. Oliver’s Nannies opened its first franchise in Westchester, New York, last December and has received a lot of interest from all over the country.
Livingston said that the most rewarding part of providing customized quality child care to busy parents is the ability to give them some of their personal lives back and give them some breathing room.
“It’s so much more than providing safe child care,” said Livingston. “It’s providing parents the ability to work and be themselves and have the time to have those parts of their identity.”
Kelsi Trinidad