At FamTech.org, our members are reimagining what care can look like—through innovation, lived experience, and purpose-driven action.
This spotlight features one of the founders shaping the future of the Care Economy, sharing the personal story behind their startup, the challenges they’re tackling, and how this community has helped along the way.
Meet The Nanny Network
Dulany Reeves Dent is the CEO of The Nanny Network (TNN), a tech-enabled child care and household support agency working to ensure that families have access to trusted care—and caregivers are treated with dignity and respect.
With a background in economics and a passion for closing the gender wage gap, Dulany has grown The Nanny Network into a nationally recognized leader in in-home care, combining rigorous safety standards with operational excellence and a people-first ethos.
What inspired you to start your company?
The inspiration for The Nanny Network traces back to my senior year at Colgate University when I wrote my senior thesis in Economics. My research was focused on the gender wage gap and the systemic barriers women face, especially around caregiving. My paper was titled “The Gender Wage Gap: An Empirical Analysis of Household Responsibilities and Lower Earnings,” which concluded that child care responsibilities were the primary reason for the significant gap in men and women’s pay. That academic exploration sparked a lifelong pursuit of real solutions that help level the playing field for women in the workplace and increase the number of women in leadership.
Years later, after working in finance and at a startup, I saw the opportunity to acquire The Nanny Network as a way to turn that academic interest into practical impact. I wanted to support working parents, particularly mothers, by making the search for high-quality child care easier and more reliable. I had experienced my own challenges when my husband and I needed child care for our son. Our personal experience hiring a nanny through TNN illustrated the critical role agencies played in allowing families to thrive and women to pursue their full career potential.
For me, this business has always been about impact. In today’s world, we need the best and brightest minds (all hands on deck!) to solve the wide array of social and economic problems—including an alarming child care crisis—that we are facing. Providing high-quality child care that is accessible and affordable—at scale—is what changes the game and truly makes it possible for families, companies, and communities to thrive.
What core problem are you solving, and for whom?
At its core, The Nanny Network addresses two interconnected challenges, one faced by families, and the other by care professionals. For working parents, finding high-quality, dependable child care can be an impossible task. It’s typically unaffordable or inaccessible with the average household in the US paying close to 24% of its household income toward child care expenses alone.
To put this in perspective, child care is considered affordable if it costs households no more than 7% of their income, according to the Department of Health and Human Services. Oftentimes, the cost and/or supply shortage makes it difficult for parents to fully engage in their careers and many leave the workforce. For our care professionals, primarily women, the problem is different but equally systemic. Despite their vital role, they are often underpaid, undervalued, and isolated in their work.
The Nanny Network has been working for 30 years to change this. By offering families trusted, professional care and providing caregivers with dignified, well-supported employment and community, we’re helping solve not just the immediate pain points of child care, but broader societal challenges like the gender wage gap, poverty, workforce participation and economic growth.
What’s your solution, and how is it different?
Our solution is a modern, tech-enabled care platform backed by 30 years of trusted experience in the industry. Since 1995, The Nanny Network has set the standard in child care and household support, offering consistent safety and reliability through our meticulous 8-step vetting process and thorough background checks. Named one of the Baltimore Business Journal’s Best Places to Work, we lead the industry not only in the quality of care but also in how we care for our professionals—with same-day pay, paid time off, paid volunteer time, health benefits, and industry-leading compensation. All of our care providers are W-2 employees, with payroll taxes and liability insurance covered, giving families peace of mind and professionals the stability they deserve.
What sets TNN apart is our breadth of services and our proprietary technology, which enables families to book trusted household management or child care support in minutes. Whether they need a nanny, backup care, or help with laundry, errands, pet care, or simple meal prep through our Sidekick brand, we offer flexible, on-demand solutions. Our combination of rigorous safety standards, exceptional caregiver benefits, and operational scalability makes us the most comprehensive and reliable care partner for today’s busy families—and companies—in the Baltimore, Washington, DC, and New Orleans metropolitan areas.
What’s a milestone or moment you’re proud of?
I was very proud of The Nanny Network when we crossed over the $1 million revenue mark, an accomplishment that only 1.9% of women entrepreneurs achieve. Since I acquired the company in 2006, the company has grown slowly and steadily. Careful attention has been paid to creating a strong foundation, with sound policies and procedures, on which to scale. With no debt or outside investors, the company has bootstrapped its way—mainly through word of mouth referrals—and demonstrated a consistent track record of growth through a diverse revenue base, even during challenging markets.
Our custom-built software platform is a competitive advantage—designed specifically to suit the needs of our unique business model—and opens up the ability for significant operating leverage as we continue to expand our service offering, add new corporate clients and increase our job flow.
How has FamTech.org supported your journey?
The Nanny Network joined FamTech.org in early 2023 and has benefited greatly from its membership. The child care industry is young and fragmented; however, FamTech is the first to consolidate founders, investors, mentors, and educators for all care sectors in one place, facilitating important connections and keeping executives informed of the everchanging news headlines.
We have attended in-person and virtual events that have spoken directly to our needs, whether that be a webinar that speaks to the challenges and best practices in selling to HR, or a bootcamp for those preparing to raise money.
FamTech.org’s online resources are also extraordinary, helping founders sift through grant opportunities as well as virtually connecting other members to share best practices and other advice.
Have you raised funding? If so, how has that impacted your growth?
No, The Nanny Network has not raised funding. We have considered it over the years but are intentional in our search for the right partner that understands the long-term investment horizon and the “double bottom line”.
What feels like the biggest challenge or opportunity in the Care Economy right now?
The biggest challenge in the Care Economy right now is also its greatest opportunity. For decades, most care-related companies have been led by women—mission-driven founders who have built high-integrity businesses, often with limited access to capital and infrastructure. These companies are typically small but exceptionally well-run.
Today, with a severe shortage of care providers and a growing national recognition of the care crisis, the market opportunity is enormous. This has led to a surge of new entrants and a wave of innovation in the space. As a result, we’re entering a moment ripe for smart consolidation—where complementary brands and services can combine to achieve scale, increase impact, and offer a broader range of solutions to families and care professionals alike.
The challenge lies in navigating this new landscape: identifying the most sustainable business models, the right partners, and forward-thinking leaders who are open to collaboration. Add to that the rapid evolution of AI, and recent funding cuts in education and child care, and it becomes even more complex to pinpoint the technologies and approaches that will truly move the needle. But for those who can, the potential for transformation—in both business and society—is enormous.
What’s next for you—and what do you need?
I have been the CEO of The Nanny Network for 19 years and am as passionate as ever. We are determined to use what we’ve built to help as many families as we possibly can.
We know our solution works. We have a proven system for vetting, onboarding and staffing exceptional in-home child care and household management personnel; however we recognize that in-home care is only one leg of the stool. We are looking for like-minded CEOs of complementary care/staffing services who are interested in collaborating to create a one-stop shop of best-in-class care providers to support families and companies alike.
Want more?
Inspired by this story? Explore other case studies to see how FamTech.org members are shaping the future of care.
If you’re a member and would like to be featured, reach out to us at marketing@famtech.org—we’d love to hear your story.
