HERE’S THE NICHE…
See what I did there? ;-)
My book, Generation Nanny has a niche audience, and it’s not as small as you might think.
“Generation N” symbolizes the unique cultural context that comes along with each generation of nanny. The experience of the nanny, why they are nannying and for whom they care for, gives light to current trends in family life, women’s issues, politics, and illuminates a greater understanding of the multidimensional experience of being a nanny.
***with just 2 days left in her crowdfunding campaign, Audrey is pre-selling her book ONLY until SUNDAY, APRIL 7th! PRE-PURCHASE YOUR COPY HERE: https://pszr.co/BQgEq
Let’s start with what is #TRENDING NOW
Over the course of only 2 years, I now follow over 1000 Nanny/childcare ratlated Instagram accounts and #Nannylife has been used over 1.2 million times on Instagram.
With this said, where there is a family, there is a nanny. Where there is a nanny, there is a Millennial mother. Where there’s a Millennial mother, there is #GenerationNanny .
Nannying has been a survival strategy for uneducated and educated women to survive in a male-dominated society for hundreds of years, reaching back to domestic servanthood and slavery. Now, in the 21st century, the demand for a nanny is so high that it has created a market in and of itself. Nanny agencies, AuPair exchange programs, Nanny merchandise, Nanny support groups, and even Nanny-organized cruises!
***with just 2 days left in her crowdfunding campaign, Audrey is pre-selling her book ONLY until SUNDAY, APRIL 7th! PRE-PURCHASE YOUR COPY HERE: https://pszr.co/BQgEq
Instagram: @nannycruise2019
Social media has enabled nannies to promote themselves as childcare professionals, highlighting their work through social networking and strategically capitalizing on the market by creating their own businesses around the topic as well.
My target reader is the Millennial woman.
These women likely work in childcare, education, social sciences, or as a nanny or a former nanny.
As more and more women are nannying to get themselves through college or to finance their dreams, it is one of the only jobs that seems to be exclusively for women.
Teaching is a predominantly female position and as we see teachers going on strike in Denver and more cities around the country, female educators often consider nannying as an alternative to replace or supplement their income.
This market and reader is a politically and culturally conscious woman who seeks out resources to learn more about feminism and women’s rights, and to stay on the forefront of the conversation, whether that's in their personal or professional circles. These women listen to podcasts, enjoy learning more about women’s history, are proud to be a #nastywoman and enjoy applying a critical analysis to better understand our lives as women in the 21st century.
In addition, this reader seeks out sources of strength by following self-affirming social media accounts, she believes in being her authentic self, supports unapologetically telling the truth, and enjoys a satirical and sassy comedian like Chelsea handler, Amy Schumer, and Trevor Noah.
They may have nannied to finance their education or when they were in between jobs, but the reader is searching for meaning and purpose while navigating her 20s and 30s; #GenerationNanny hits many of them at home as it touches on other topics such as privilege, race, history, relationships, and dealing with life’s shortcomings.
HOW RELEVANT IS THIS BOOK?
In response to the Trump presidency, the #metoo movement and #timesup, women are organizing and conversing about equality in the world and at work, or as I would like to call, the worldplace. Austin, TX is one of the youngest and fastest-growing cities in America chock full of women’s empowerment networking groups, media outlets, and organizations all covening around women’s issues on a scheduled, regular basis.These groups create awareness and call attention to the institutionalized barriers we experience in our professional lives and how we can educate ourselves and band together to create a better tomorrow.
Women active in such groups are called to action to inform themselves and this book is meant to add to the conversation. The ideal reader can be found in this women’s empowerment demographic and all of them are a nanny, have been a nanny, know a nanny, were cared for by a nanny, or will need a nanny themselves one day.
As women are increasingly staying in the workforce after having children, and our public education system continues to struggle to accommodate the childcare needs that we have today, there is an ever-present demand for nannies. Based on studies from the Institute for Women’s Policy Research, women make 77-78 cents on the dollar to that of men, requiring two incomes to become the norm for families who hope to live a middle-class lifestyle. This requirement creates a predicament because by the time the mother needs to return to work after her average 3 months maternity leave, there are not many options for affordable childcare (especially if she does not qualify for government assistance). As for the few affordable childcare options, most daycares are at capacity and families have to wait for the waitlist to dwindle down and their child’s name to be called. They can wait weeks or months for this to happen, and most families just don’t have that flexibility to wait around. This is in fact the moment where families are left with the question: do we need to hire a nanny? Studies say that is is more expensive to have a nanny, but when push comes to shove, sometimes you have to hire a nanny even if it’s just for the interim. This is not a just a trend, it is real life, and it will likely continue to happen until more women are able to make the changes we need as a society to support working mothers and fathers.
This book speaks directly to the Millennial woman’s experience, and helps to contextualize her time as a nanny and give an optimistic approach to her journey of self-exploration. Generation Nanny sees the woman who is nannying as she is typically the woman in the background doing domestic work that the outside world sees as simplistic, maternal, and easy. Knowing that this position is one that is overshadowed by our patriarchal world, those who nanny tend to feel that they are overshadowed as well.
With social media platforms to share our voices, the Millennial woman is one who is active on- and off-line when it comes to sharing insights about a podcast they like (shoutout to the Unladylike Podcast on “How to Nanny up”) and intentionally chooses to retweet Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, youngest female congresswoman in U.S. history, who has 32.6 million followers, why? Because she too, is a Millennial.
Feminist hashtags take off like wildfire on social media, and women are finally being praised for their accomplishments in history, math, science, and politics. With 110 women in Congress, and now 6 women confirming that they are running for president in 2020, a fire has been ignited and women are feeling more and more empowered—they want to be heard.
***with just 2 days left in her crowdfunding campaign, Audrey is pre-selling her book ONLY until SUNDAY, APRIL 7th! PRE-PURCHASE YOUR COPY HERE: https://pszr.co/BQgEq
PROOF IN THE NUMBERS
“Millennials make up nearly a quarter of the total U.S. population, 30 percent of the voting age population, and almost two-fifths of the working age population”. Millennials are people born between 1981-1996; currently they are 22-37 years old, and reported in 2018 by PEW Research center “Some 1.2 million Millennial women gave birth for the first time in 2016, according to National Center for Health Statistics data, raising the total number of U.S. women in this generation who have become mothers to more than 17 million”. This is a generation that has experienced much of their professional careers after the 2009 economic crisis, experiencing higher unemployment than their parent’s generation, and now they are reaching the years of marriage and family planning all while looking at the next 20-30 years of paying off their student loans.
THE WHY
This book focuses on the impact nannies have made in the past and are making now to support each other’s families and careers. These words are meant to help to give a voice to someone like myself who has struggled on the job front to find my place and nannied as a part of a survival plan. This book gives an entire generation of women a voice, it gives generations of nannies, a voice.
