HEY KIDDO

We have apps for groceries, ride shares and just about everything else in life. So Aussie mum, and qualified accountant, Rebecca Dredge questioned “why can’t we find a babysitter for our kids online as well”? The answer is “we can” thanks to Bec’s ‘third baby’ Kiddo, an on-demand babysitting booking app that she created to connect parents to verified, trusted and reliable babysitters.

Bec, tell us a little bit about you and your family.

I'm a mother of two girls and they are my world. We live in Brisbane, however I grew up in Darwin in a single parent family, so very humble. I know how hard it can be to be isolated from family and also understand first hand the challenges of single parenthood.

An invite to the races sparked the idea for Kiddo. Tell us about this!

It was a last minute invite – we had 5 days to organise a sitter for a lunch at the races. It was a free lunch invite to a corporate sponsored event so we wanted to go.

Unfortunately, my mum still works and wasn’t able to assist. My parents in law are two hours away in Toowoomba, so we asked our friends niece who would normally sit for us. She couldn’t help as she had something on. This was two days of asking and stressing out before we finally found a friend of a friend that could help. It was the biggest scramble and so, so stressful – it got my thinking, surely we needed an app where we could find the best babysitters locally. There wasn’t anything like it – so the Kiddo app idea was born

You were in banking prior to kids and Kiddo. Tell us about the change from corporate finance to CEO of your own business?

It has been complete 180/360? Not sure, but I have had to learn so much! Before I started

Kiddo I didn’t even have Facebook. I've had to learn the basics, research everything and build a tech platform. As a start up, finances are thin, so its working to a very small budget and being as creative as you can be!

Three years later we have won a lot of awards (most recently Brisbane Lord Mayor Award) and are viewed as the leaders in what we do.

What checks do potential carers have to do prior offering their services, to ensure kid’s safety?

We use latest technology. ID facial recognition and Working with Children verifications. We keep the details of WWC expiries on our system and as cards are no longer valid, those carers are removed until their new card is verified.

You’ve added so much more to the Kiddo offering. What other services can we find now?

Kiddo grew very quickly from being a ‘babysitting app’ to much more. We knew once Covid came, that many parents were looking for ongoing care/nannies. So Kiddo can assist in finding a nanny!

We had a lot of parents feedback about our carers and how amazing they were, with so many having experience with special needs care. So we late last year we started offering NDIS care for children. We are so proud to be a service that is there for parents and is inclusive for all their children’s care needs.

What’s been the biggest business challenge in creating Kiddo?

The biggest challenge – its been time! We always wish for more. But honestly, building Kiddo is not just been about growing ‘user numbers’, we are here to care for children. Our children are our EVERYTHING, so it's been about building that trust with families, providing our exceptional service that has seen us grow so much just by word of mouth.

How do you balance a growing a business and being a mum?

I often refer to Kiddo as my third baby, it requires so much love and attention. So I have to be mindful about creating that balance with my children and their needs too. Mum guilt never leaves us and we always want to be doing the best for them, yet also want to be there with them!

I make sure certain days are just for them –Tuesday morning school drop off and Friday afternoons. I think having time apart is fine, it's just when you are together it's setting clear boundaries for family time and really carving that out so you a present as a parent.

Besides Kiddo, what other apps do you recommend to make day-today family life easier for parents?

I love anything that is self service, for example our swim school, everything is managed online. So anything that saves a parent time or stress! Woolworths for online ordering of groceries – as you run out of food, you can save it to your next shopping list and even search for the product via barcode. It’s my lifesaver! (haha no not a paid ad for them either!)

When it comes to organising, I have everything in my phone calendar. Then, I have to confess we still have a family whiteboard on the fridge to plan each week!

We are talking all things Homes & Holidays this issue. What’s your favourite family holiday destination?

My favourite holiday destination is anywhere by the sea – snorkelling and wildlife. We recently went across to Tangalooma Island resort for a birthday weekend. It was incredible, highly recommend for any family holiday. No cars, no car seats, safe beaches with little to no waves, great café and food options and dolphin feeding each night – the kids loved it and it's only an hour ferry from Brisbane so nice and easy.

And what are you doing for a bit of time out from motherhood and business?

Doesn’t happen much, but when I do, I love to be surrounded with friends, a good meal, belly laughs and a dance to some old 90’s/00’s music does it for me!

And finally, do you have a funny parenting story you’d like to share?

Ha! Yes I keep all my funny stories from the kids in a little book “Funny things my kids said” (nice way to reflect back as time goes by), so here’s the most recent one I wrote down last month:

My seven year old daughter recently had a Kiddo babysitter whilst we went out (valentines dinner). I asked her the next morning “how was the babysitter". She said "good mum, but she said she was 21 and I dunno, how can she be when her own daughter is 30!” It was a very cute story!

Visit https://kiddoapp.com.au/ to find out more about using Kiddo ap and making your life easier!!