HELPING HANDS
A drop-in child care startup makes evening events ‘Flexable’ for mothers in tech
Behind a door adorned with a paper sign that reads “Flexable,” three children are designing pictures on Etch A Sketch toys, drawing with markers, discussing butterflies and sharing their dinosaurs.
“Superstition” by Stevie Wonder thumps on the other side of the door, as tech-savvy entrepreneurs mingle at the Innovation Works Summer Barbecue. “I like when the music plays,” says Ada Munson, 6, of Greenfield, who opens a plastic tackle box full of erasers and miniature cat figurines. She’s a seasoned veteran of Flexable’s drop-in event child care — her mother has used it three times already.
“Sometimes, I need to have child care so I don’t have to drive for a half hour to get somewhere to drop her off,” said Alison Alvarez, who is Ada’s mom and CEO of Blast-Point, an Alpha Lab startup that merges various data sets by location to spawn new insights.
Flexable, part of the most recent cohort at the East Liberty-based startup accelerator, Alpha-Lab, makes last-minute child care possible for parents, particularly mothers, who otherwise would not be able to attend evening events. While women of all disciplines use the service, demand clusters around those in technology, largely because of the high volume of networking events.
The drop-in child care startup is the brainchild of former Nestle brand manager Priya Amin, 38, of Mt. Lebanon, and Jessica Strong, 37, of Stanton Heights, who worked as CEO of a now-defunct co-working space in Highland Park called Whetstone Workgroup.
Becoming Flexable
Ms. Amin and Ms. Strong — both mothers — met in December 2015 at Whetstone. After
finding the co-working space refreshing because of its onsite child care, Ms. Amin realized the duo were kindred spirits.
Ms. Amin has two sons: Ronin, 7, and Kirin, 3. Ms. Strong has three children, ages 9, 7 and 2.
Together, the mothers surveyed nearly 300 other parents and found a pattern: a gap in last-minute child care, particularly for those in tech, the gig economy and in freelance work.
“We found 72 percent of people who responded would attend more professional events if child care was available,” Ms. Amin said.
That hit home for her, since she had quit working for over three years after her first son was born. “Getting back to work was a nightmare,” she said, adding that it was nearly impossible to attend events or reschedule canceled job interviews.
Ms. Strong said the two women had coffee with Ilana Diamond, managing director of AlphaLab Gear. “She thought it was a great idea and said we had to apply to AlphaLab ... so we applied and we did some surveys, asking a few day cares if they’d be interested in a drop-in model.”
The day care centers weren’t receptive.
“They slammed the doors in our faces,” Ms. Amin said. “They’re highly regulated, especially in terms of ratios.” Child care ratios dictate the number of caretakers an institution or service must have relative to the number of children, toddlers or infants.
It was back to the drawing board for iteration two, which elevated unlicensed caregivers. Unlicensed caregivers essentially are baby sitters that are not affiliated with an organization — such as instances where an individual may hire a neighbor or friend.
To date, over 100 caregivers have signed up and each is vetted through the Pennsylvania Child Abuse History Clearance as well as both federal and state criminal background checks.
Through a scheduling tool, parents request drop-in day care, and caregivers with matching availability are sent to the parent’s home.
With that model, at least 500 unique visitors have frequented the site and 150 parents have registered with Flexable since March, when the company first began offering its services.
Still, something was missing until Ms. Amin and Ms. Strong had a eureka moment. “We thought, what if we put child care where the parent is going?” Ms. Amin said.
Bring your child to (net)work
“No matter how carefully crafted your child care plans are ... if they happen to fall though, there’s a whole range of ‘Oh my goodness, I need this’ responses,” said Ms. Strong.
The two decided their next venture would be bringing child care straight to the event.
“[Child care] is just something that isn’t societally accepted. It’s almost taboo to ask if it’s available,” Ms. Amin said. “We’re thinking we need to start the conversation to not only get women comfortable to ask if child care will be available, but to get employers and locations to offer child care, which in turn drives attendance.”
Ms. Amin said this model hasn’t previously existed because of insurance concerns, so they looked at O’Harabased grocer Giant Eagle’s Eagle’s Nest in-store day care centers for inspiration.
Flexable follows a statemandated ratio of 1:5 for children age 2 and older. It does not offer services for younger children. The startup also carries full liability insurance.
For events, the company has hired 12 full-time employees, who are called “Flexable-certified caregivers.” That status requires a sixstep vetting process.
There is no formal educational curriculum, mirroring Eagle’s Nest. Instead, caregivers supervise and play with the children in a dedicated space at the event. At the Innovation Works barbecue Tuesday, it was a conference room.
Free care for parents
To schedule its services, Flexable typically works with event coordinators.
The startup requests that participating companies do not pass the charge on to parents. The idea is “to democratize child care and to lower all the barriers, so moms can get the job they’re looking for or go to the event they want to attend,” Ms. Amin said.
The startup has completed service at more than 25 events this year, mostly thanks to word-of mouth advertising. Another 50 events are in the works.
Flexable services all of Allegheny County but sees most event demand in the city, specifically at co-working space Alloy 26 on the North Side.
When it comes to at-home service, it’s mostly mothers who are calling. “A lot of women who are looking for last-minute child care are those who have created their own company or position and are trying to parlay that into a full-time job,” Ms. Amin said.
The two still are optimizing their business model. They started with a flat fee of $100 per hour for two caregivers, but changed it to include a holding fee, adjusting the price based on how many drop-ins there are and calculating a per-child fee afterward.
Flexing in the future
The company is conducting pilots with schools, as well as synagogues and libraries.
Work Hard Pittsburgh, a co-op business incubator based in Allentown, also will employ Flexable caregivers for its 12-week coding academy.
Flexable is in the process of building out an app that would directly connect caregivers and parents. The duo wants to ensure they know all the features they need in advance, since neither has the skills to independently build the product, and it could cost tens of thousands of dollars.
“We’re on a mission to bring child care everywhere so you can literally leave your house, bring your kids and not hesitate for a second,” Ms. Amin said. “We want to ensure it’s not so ridiculously hard to find, and change the conversations women have about child care.”