INA Service Awards for 2014- 15, 10 and 5 years

On Monday we shared with you several folks who had 25 and 2o years in the nanny industry who received the INA Service Pin at this year’s 29th Annual Conference in Los Angeles, CA.  Today we share with you the rest of the awardees who have 15, 10 and 5 years in the nanny industry.   What an amazing group of individuals.

15 Years   Amanda Schultz

Amanda Schultz has been caring for children since she was in middle school as a babysitter in her neighborhood. She attended Fairfield Career Center in high school & holds a certification as an Activity Therapist. This training included courses such as medical terminology, anatomy & physiology, child development, and assessing clients with disabilities. After high school Amanda worked at a daycare facility in the toddler and infant rooms. She quickly knew that caring for children was where she was happiest. She started her nanny career within the year (1996).

As a professional nanny, Amanda has worked with all ages from newborns to age 12 years old, premature babies, twins, triplets and quintuplets. While in Florida she worked with parents who needed a break and a good night’s sleep. She cared for the baby or babies during the night so the parents could rest. Amanda joined the local mothers group, Greater Orlando Mothers of  Twins and Triplets (GOMOTT). This allowed her to help with many mothers that needed guidance on caring for their multiples. Amanda has spoken at meetings with the club members about childcare, what to expect when having multiples and new parent education. After working with so many newborns in Orlando, Amanda decided that moving into the Newborn Care Specialist field would be the best career path for her. Amanda attended the Alexandria School and earned her certification as a Newborn Care Specialist, is an  International Nanny Association credentialed nanny, continues her education through online courses from Texas Christian University and attends several conferences/trainings throughout the year.

Currently Amanda travels nationwide caring for newborns and educating their parents on the needs of their new baby. Amanda is also a volunteer for the Ohio Division of Forestry to work with children to educate them about fire safety and Smokey Bear. She also volunteers with Project Learning Tree. She leads workshops to educate teachers about environmental education within their classrooms. She feels it is important that children are active in the outdoors and know about the environment around them.  Amanda has been a speaker at Nannypalooza, National Nanny Training Day and will be speaking at the 2014 INA conference.

15 Years – Kimberly Olsen

Kimberly is a native of the city of Chicago and grew up in a tight knit family where her father worked outside the home and her mother was a stay at home parent. Growing up in a big city gave Kimberly the opportunity to develop a love for the cultural arts and the opportunity to give back to the community through volunteer projects; two things that are still dear to her heart today.

Kimberly knew early on that she wanted to work with children and set out to take the steps to make that happen. As a teenager, Kimberly worked as a babysitter for neighborhood children and family members. After high school, she attended the local college and earned her Associate Degree in Early

Childhood Education. She began her childcare career working as a lead teacher in two different childcare facilities, before turning her focus on becoming a nanny. Beginning her career in the daycare field gave Kimberly the opportunity to gather hands on skills in working with children that would benefit her later on as a nanny. Kimberly has just begun her 16th year as a nanny! Since 1997, she has worked with numerous families, both as a live-in and live-out nanny and she has cared for children from birth through teenage years, as well as special needs children and multiples. Kimberly finds that each family and every child is unique in their own special ways and works to bring out the best in all of them.

Kimberly’s thoughts on childcare may seem simple and basic, but they are the foundations that she thinks most parents and caregivers seek and hope to find. Children need and seek love first and foremost. It is important they feel secure and loved by the people closest to them. Children need understanding ,praise and guidance and as a nanny, Kimberly loves to help and provide each child with these traits. Kimberly says that the best part of her days are when the wonders of being a child are present in her charges. Smiles, laughter, happiness, fun and yes, even the tears of a child are the most precious moments of her day.

Kimberly believes that with each new family, she learns new things, not only about herself and children, but about the nanny profession. She looks forward to many more years working with wonderful children and families and knows she will continue to grow not only personally but professionally.

15 years – Lisa Willis

Lisa has been a nurturer since childhood. She enjoyed caring for her sister who is 10 years younger than her and started babysitting at the age of 12. After graduating from high school in 1998 and while she was waiting to enter a technical college for CAD (computer aided drafting) Lisa began working as a nanny.

Little did she know that the three children in her care would change her life course. It was at this time that she realized how rewarding this job was and the impact one person can have in a child’s life. In February 2000 she moved to North Carolina to pursue her passion of helping others. As volunteers in the Spanish community she and her husband of eleven years  continue to help countless people in their ministry.

She enjoys helping mothers with limited English find the needed resources for their children and helping them with parenting skills.

Lisa continued her work as a nanny in North Carolina working for three families on the eastern coast. Although moving on when a family’s need changes is not easy, she knew she had chosen the right career. As she moved on from one family to the next she always strived to keep informed with new and updated information on child development and education. She researched the nanny field and discovered there was a whole Nanny community she was unaware of. Excited about being a part of this community she became a member of INA and has attended every conference since then. She feels empowered and better able to care for the families that employ her from the continuing education and networking she receives at local and national nanny conferences.

Wanting to bring nannies in her area together to learn, grow, and network, she organized NNTD in Wilmington in 2012 & 2013.

Lisa has cared for four families with a total of ten children. She is a career nanny with 15 years in the industry and is an INA Credentialed Nanny.

5 Years – Joanna Briese

Joanna was born in Minnesota but moved to California when she was nine. She still has family in the Midwest but definitely feels like a California girl.  She went to college at UC Irvine and graduated in 2011 with a BA in  Psychology and Social Behavior and minor in business management. After  that she moved back to Northern California has lived there since. In winter,  she lives in Tahoe and in summer she lives in Sonoma. She gets the best of  both worlds!

Joanna has been caring for children since she was a child herself. Her first  babysitting job was when she was 9 years old! She has always loved babies  and young children. Joanna loves been a nanny and postpartum doula  because she loves to help people and it doesn’t feel like work. She works with  all different types of children on a regular basis and loves meeting new  families. She really enjoys being an on-call nanny because she has the  opportunity to meet all kinds of families and children and every job is a new  experience.

She currently works with newborns as a postpartum doula and newborn care  specialist. She enjoys assisting new mothers through this wonderful time and  often assists families with multiples. Joanna loves working with twins and  triplets. Sometimes it is a challenge but it keeps her busy! She also works as an  on-call and travel nanny. She has many clients that use her for date nights as  well as their vacations. She gets the opportunity to travel to great destinations  and assist families as they attend events or go on fun adventures.

In 2011 Joanna has started an on-call nanny agency called Joanna’s Nannies.  Her agency currently serves San Francisco Area, Wine Country (Sonoma &  Napa) and recently North Lake Tahoe! She plans on expanding to a few more  California locations throughout 2014. She has about 5-10 nannies that work  for her in each location and most of her clients are vacationing families.

Joanna’s Nannies also offers on-site wedding and event childcare. She loves  matching her clients with great nannies so they can have a great vacation.  This is Joanna’s first nanny conference and she looks forward to meeting lots  of great nannies!  Joanna has been caring for children her whole life. Even though she is not the  typical long term nanny, she still considers  herself a professional nanny.  She enjoys  working for many different families and meeting new children.

5 years – Catelin Matijeviich

Cate’s early life was warm and loving. Her mother and father both worked full time and made sure to be home for their kids before and after school. Cate’s mother was the kind of woman who smothered you with kisses & hugs and would do anything to make everyone around her happy. Her father was a business owner who worked a lot of hours, but was able to balance his dedication to his family and to his job. Every weekend he committed to taking Cate and her brother to their lake house. Cate’s strengths as a Nanny come from the unconditional love her mother gave and her fathers’ dedication and hard work.

Cate started working with children at her dance school where she served as a teacher’s assistant. Her love for dance carried on into her college years where she studied Dance Education. She enjoyed the art and what it brought to the children’s lives so much that she founded a Dance Program at a health club and directed many productions. Cate wanted to enrich children’s lives with creativity and connect one-on-one. That brought her to her first professional position in 2005 caring for premature twins. Cate has been a Professional Nanny for 8.5 years! She has cared for several families, really striving to be there for each family’s individual needs.

Cate is known for saying; “There is always something that can be done”. When children are napping she enjoys picking up and making the place shine for the parents arrival home. This led her to wanting to take on more responsibility and become a Nanny/ House Manager. She likes the fast paced environment, organizing and handling all the day-to-day needs of the household. Cate’s motivated attitude and ability to respond well to feedback, has made her a great asset to the families she has cared for.

Cate enjoys constantly exploring opportunities for growth within her career field. The path for her future is endless and she is excited for what’s next! Her motivation, determination and reliability are some of the qualities that have set a wonderful role for her in the family’s lives she cares for. She continues to learn from her mentors and welcomes feedback to help better her as a Nanny/House Manager.

Cate has been considered a valuable asset to her fellow colleague Nannies surrounding her. They look to her for advice and mentoring. She hopes to use her knowledge to help Nannies around her for years to come.

5 years – Amy Marie Randolph

Amy was born and raised in Sacramento, California. As a child she participated in basketball and cheerleading, but her biggest hobby was reading. She could almost always be found with her nose in a book. Amy has been interested in working with children ever since picking up her first Babysitter’s Club book in first grade. She really enjoyed nights where she had a babysitter and couldn’t wait to be old enough to babysit other children. She finally got her chance when offered her first babysitting job at age 12. She loved it! She went on to babysit all through high school and after graduating she met her one of now best friends, who was a nanny at the time.

Amy was very intrigued and immediately began searching for her first nanny job. She was hired in the Spring of 2009 to care for an infant boy. At the same time she began taking Early Childhood Education Courses at the local community college and taking many other professional development courses including an online nanny certification course.

Today Amy has passed the International Nanny Association credential exam, as well as a nanny certification course from More Than A Nanny School in New York. She also is an instructor for the Red Cross, teaching Infant, Child, and Adult CPR and First Aid, and the Babysitter’s Training Course. She also started and runs the first nanny group in Sacramento, called the Sacramento Area Nannies. Amy joined the INA in 2011, and in 2012 she received the conference endowment award and was able to attend the 2012 INA conference in Las Vegas, NV.

Amy has cared for children of all ages, but most of her experience is with infants and toddlers, so this is her favorite age to work with. In 2011, Amy also began working in the nursery at a local church, and in 2013 was promoted to the position of Childcare Coordinator. Amy has really enjoyed her career so far and loves getting to know so many amazing children and families, and being part of their lives.

In the future Amy has plans to complete her Associate’s Degree in Early Childhood Education and her nanny diploma from Sullivan University. After that she plans to pursue her Bachelor’s Degree in Child Development.

If you have 5 years or more experience in the nanny industry, you can look into receiving your INA Service Pin Award by visiting the Service Pin Page.  We would love to see you receive your pin in 2015 at the 30th Anniversary of the INA.