Kidz Watch® was the vision of a young mother of two who felt strongly there could be a better model for childcare. Her name is Julie Anne Mackinnon. In May 2002 Ms. MacKinnon moved to Toledo, Ohio. In June, 2002 she borrowed twenty thousand dollars from her mother and, following a belief that a better child care service was needed in the area, she built a million dollar company from scratch.
A native Canadian, and now proud American citizen, Ms. MacKinnon is the founder of the unique child care company known as Kidz Watch®. With four Toledo-area locations, Kidz Watch® provides drop-in, hourly and flexible full-time child care to Toledo-area families. Kidz Watch® offers these services to children 6 weeks to 12 years old. No reservations are required and breakfast, lunch and dinner are available, as well as a Snack Menu. Hourly rates are billed to the minute. Kidz Watch® has locations in Sylvania, Perrysburg, Holland-Springfield and Oregon.
In the beginning, Ms. MacKinnon, the wife of a traveling professional hockey scout, often found herself searching for high-quality, accessible childcare. Frequent moves throughout the US and Canada exposed Ms. MacKinnon to many different child care models. After settling in the Midwest, Ms. MacKinnon founded Kidz Watch® Drop-In Childcare in the beautiful community of Sylvania, Ohio. A certified educator and experienced early-childhood education teacher, Ms. MacKinnon carefully planned and developed Ohio’s first state-licensed, hourly-child care center.
Prior to founding Kidz Watch®, Ms. MacKinnon taught elementary school and preschool. She holds a B.A. and B.Ed from Queen’s University in Ontario, Canada. With her husband Dan, who is the Director of Player Personnel for the NHL’s Pittsburgh Penguins, the MacKinnon’s have two children, William (b. 2000) and Maggie (b. 2002). They reside in Sylvania, Ohio.
Ms. MacKinnon continues to build her business. In early 2007, she successfully launched a nationwide consulting business, DropInChildCare.com®. Ms. MacKinnon uses her pioneering knowledge of the commercial hourly child care industry to assist other aspiring drop-in child care owners around the country to launch their own hourly child care centers. In 2008, Ms. MacKinnon also led Kidz Watch® through its initial franchise filing so that the company can begin franchising Kidz Watch® centers throughout Ohio, the Midwest and across the country.
Ms. MacKinnon aspires to build a strong child care company that not only serves the urgent child care needs of families in communities everywhere, but also gives young child care professionals (with a focus on developing Kidz Watch employees) the opportunity to mix their love of children with a viable and rewarding business opportunity… so that they may too realize their business and lifestyle dreams. Ms. MacKinnon believes that empowering the individual is essential to what has made this country great.
How Ms.MacKinnon and Her Team Can Help You
Why choose DropInChildCare.com®, powered by Kidz Watch®? We are a one of a kind company. We invented a unique service delivery system for drop in, hourly and flexible full time care. We refined and perfected our systems over the past 7-plus years and now have developed a set of proprietary services to help other aspiring child care entrepreneurs.
Our company manages and operates our own 4 center chain of Kidz Watch centers in Toledo, Ohio. We live and breathe the business every day, rather than just simply selling the idea. We also maintain a corporate office and training center where we are constantly training our own employees as well as managing our customers. We have a committed team of directors and managers, who know how to train and teach the Kidz Watch® System. Because we know that not everyone is ready or able to invest in a full franchise opportunity, we have built a set of products and services that can be tailored to meet your needs and budget.
