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Meet Nathalie
She is the founder of Marypop, a babysitting service that aims to meet the needs of all those parents who wish to choose a bilingual babysitter for their children, whether they are on holiday, expatriates, mixed families or even families looking to initiate their children to a foreign language.
Nathalie, mother of 3 Franco-Dutch children and frequent traveler, had the idea of Marypop in 2006. Her idea started from a conviction that has become a way of life: living abroad with children, even small ones and especially abroad, is certainly the most enriching experience: opening up to the world, meeting new people, developing the habit of change, cultural contribution, building family history... the benefits are limitless.
During your holidays, as a parent, you may rightly want to use the services of a babysitter to enjoy leisure time with two or with friends, or simply to rest. So how can you find a trusted babysitter when you are far from home and those around you? How can you get recommendations from other parents about her/him? How can you find a babysitter abroad who speaks your childrens' language so that they can communicate easily with each other and feel completely confident?
The same questions arise during expatriation or in binational families: how to maintain, with my children, their language which is not "native" when their environment is mainly made up of "local" people. And this without too many organizational constraints or without adding new academic learning for my children?
Focused on trust, Nathalie decided to offer a unique service that is in line with the growing trend of parents to offer their children a multi-cultural and multi-lingual education in the most natural way possible.
Nathalie, tell us about YOU, what do you like doing in your daily life?
I love discovering new cultures and stories, through new encounters, gastronomy, books and museums, where I find the calm and inspiration to move forward both personally and professionally. Lyon, both an international and a human-sized city, offers an exceptional quality of life.
Can you summarise what you are currently working on?
I am the founder and CEO of MARYPOP, the first online platform dedicated to bilingual babysitting. We address expatriate parents or parents on holiday abroad who are looking for a trusted babysitter during their stay, as well as multilingual families or families who wish to introduce their children to a foreign language. Our service is currently available in major French and Spanish cities, and is expanding daily in new cities.
We are constantly working on making our service more widely known, starting with Lyon and Barcelona.
These two beautiful cities are home to many expatriates and tourists, and around 50 MARYPOP baby-sitters, carefully selected and recommended by other parents.
What’s your best advice to someone starting a business?
Go for it! The main key factor of the success of your business, you already have it: it's you! And take care of yourself!
What do you find beneficial being part of Sojoourn?
The Sojoourn community is naturally diverse and open to the world. Exchanges are always rich and kind. The founder, Emmanuelle has managed to create a real family from the expats in Lyon! In addition, the services offered by Sojoourn are high quality and 100% adapted to the expatriates who use them.
Do you have any advice for people who are moving to Lyon?
Join a community! Whether it's the parents' association at your children's school, a French class or a co-working space, you will meet people with whom you can exchange and who will be ready to help you, in a totally informal way. Mutual help is really part of Lyon's culture, so do not hesitate to talk about your expectations around you.
Life motto:
Don’t wait for the perfect moment! Take the moment and make it perfect.
Find a trusted babysitter through Marypop.
or contact her directly via email.
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