Julie Bates: no longer desperately seeking a sitter

Like many moms, Julie Bates often relied on the high school girl down the street for babysitting needs. But then her longtime baby sitter graduated, leaving Bates in the hunt once again.

"It's hard to find someone you trust with your children and someone you feel safe leaving them with, especially when you have an infant."

And for the last eight years, the mother of four (ages 8, 6, 3, and 1) and a psychologist, has had an infant at home. About three years ago, Bates and her husband, Jay, decided surely they weren't the only ones in this predicament. So they set out to develop a babysitting service and then learned about Seeking Sitters from a friend in Dallas.

Now, Bates has no problem finding a sitter – for her own children or those of families who subscribe to the Lubbock area Seeking Sitters franchise. Last November, the couple began the business locally, and at any given time, have about 30 sitters available.

One of the best things, says Bates, is that she knows and trusts every one of them.

Instead of reinventing the wheel, the couple decided to go with a franchise because it provided opportunity to open the business quicker and offered a reputable, recognizable branding. Seeking Sitters is a national company, started by a licensed private investigator and mom. The company also provides background checks on potential sitters, Bates said. The down side to owning the franchise is that you do relinquish some control over marketing and pay scale.

Basically all Bates had to do was find the sitters, which she did initially through sororities at Texas Tech. Having the universities, Tech and Lubbock Christian, as well as South Plains College, which offer degrees for those intereseted in working with young children (such as nursing, education and early childhood majors), has made keeping her sitter pool relatively easy. There also are adults, many with full-time jobs, who moonlight as sitters because they enjoy being around children. There are sitters who prefer to watch just one child, while others are experienced to sit with multiples or those with special needs.

But having the college student market was most helpful in their successful start-up, which earned the couple recognition as Rookie Franchise of the Year at the company's annual meeting this summer.

“For us, personally and as a business, it’s been great,” Bates said. “It’s not an 8 to 5 job, because you’re always on call, but I really like helping others with something that I personally know can be a great stress.”

The way it works is that a family registers with Seeking Sitters and pays a membership fee. When they need a sitter, they just pick up the phone. It’s as easy as ordering at your local drive-through. And the company does the rest, providing you with a reliable, safe babysitter who arrives Mary Poppins-style, with a bag of activities in hand.

Even after a year, Bates says own children still get excited when they see the signature black polka-dot bag, which is filled with games, books and activities.

The company is a perfect fit for someone who never enjoyed babysitting. Bates spends a great deal of time behind the scenes interviewing and hiring sitters, conducting background checks and matching sitters to families so that everyone will have a positive experience. It is almost a 24-hour job … on top of her career as a psychologist.

“I’ve always enjoyed trying to find what I could do to help others,” she said. “Being able to help a couple have a dinner date or give a mom the opportunity to go have coffee or lunch with a friend is just so rewarding.”