Greetings!
In September at the APNA conference ‘Evolve + Elevate’, I spoke about the importance of being resilient. Now I am warming to the idea of being hopeful. COVID-19 has been all-consuming for months and remains so, but there is now light at the end of this long tunnel. 
As small businesses, nanny agencies have had a lot of coping and pivoting to do to stay alive— figuratively. We have all had to try new things to keep revenues flowing. Some of us who have always been die-hard in-person-only offices learned to work remotely. We expanded our recruiting efforts. We incorporated safety measures to ensure our families and nannies stayed healthy, even when those measures may have meant losing sorely needed revenue. We dreamt up new offerings to help with virtual learning as schools remained partially or fully closed. This pandemic has been quite the test for us.
Now, with the new vaccines coming onto the market, we have hope that we and our loved ones may all stay alive—literally. I am hopeful that there will be enough vaccines for all of us. I am hopeful that it will keep us safe. I am hopeful that people will choose to get vaccinated. I am hopeful that the side effects will be minimal. While there are many questions and concerns, our best course to get on the other side of the pandemic is to get that jab, as the Brits say.
We have been hard at work planning a 2021 in-person conference for fall of 2021 and cannot wait for us all to be together again. In the meantime, APNA has been hard at work continuing to develop new resources and educational content for our members, which you can learn more about below! We are particularly excited to announce the release of our first APNA Toolkit all about PR. There are many more on the way that will be released throughout 2021 and years to come.
It’s finally gotten cold out (at least in my neck of the woods) and I am thrilled to see houses lit up with Christmas lights and decorations. This year, there is no such thing as too much joy or happiness.
I am hopeful that you will all stay safe and well and have a wonderful holiday season that includes some time off and plenty of holiday cheer.
Best,
Your Pandemic President
Barbara Kline