The ECHO has spoken to two Merseyside women who have overhauled their properties into 'micro-nurseries' and now run successful businesses from home.
Flexible working has been normalised in the years following the Covid-19 pandemic, although Katie Hulme and Carrie Hankin have taken things to the next level.
The pair have transformed their properties into micro-nurseries, tailoring the space for the care of young children while ensuring safety guidelines are met. They are being supported by tiney, which hopes to recruit and train hundreds of new recruits across Merseyside in the coming months.
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Katie lives in a new build home in St Helens and was a nanny for 12 years before deciding to set up her own nursery, Wildflowers. Her former role was global - she worked in Italy, London and the US before moving back to Merseyside and buying her house in October 2021.
Katie said: "I thought once I got a house I'd turn to childminding but when we moved in I was scared about the job security aspect and making that jump to going self-employed."
Once she finally took the plunge she started to revamp the space specifically for the children, which included installing a "huge" summerhouse, ordering new toys and building a mud kitchen in the garden.
Katie added: "As soon as I put a few pictures up I had over 100 people message me."
Katie admitted she knew all about the childcare side, but was a novice when it came to legalities such as safeguarding, health and safety and food. The micro-nursery underwent an official inspection before opening and Katie now looks after three children under five from her home - the youngest is only five months old.
She said the difference between her micro-nursery and a traditional day nursery is "the one-to-one tailored learning".
She said: "I'll have an idea of what we want to do but it will always change. One little boy has just been on holiday and is obsessed with planes so instead of doing Christmas things we've learnt about planes and airports. We go on what they're interested in.
"Getting out in the community is also important and parents like that I'm the only key carer."
Carrie, from the Wirral , actually worked in teaching for almost three decades before taking a different route. She told the ECHO she was "ready for a new adventure" and completed a TEFL qualification.
However, the pandemic but a stop to her plans to travel the world teaching.
By February 2022, Carrie realised she missed teaching young children but wasn't keen on going back into the classroom. Carrie said: "I settled on childminding as it combined my passion for early years education with the freedom to create my own learning environment and run a small educational business."
She already had "lots of resources" around her home, so focused more on adding safety features such as stair gates and locks on kitchen cupboards. She also adapted one room to use as a playroom and secured her garden.
Carrie added: "It’s lovely welcoming local families into my home and being able to build a small, close knit childminding family. It has been a change having a room set-up with toys and activities, but it’s great that I can make changes, rearrange and create exciting activities whenever I want.
"I like the fact that we have the freedom to explore the local area throughout the day, so we can be on the beach for the morning, go home for lunch and then be in the park before going to pick up the after school children I look after.
"It is a long day and at the moment I’m working from 8am until 6pm so it’s great not to have to commute home afterwards."
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