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 childcare company known as Kidz Watch®. With a company owned location in Sylvania Ohio and two licensees in Cincinnati and Dayton, Kidz Watch® offers flexible childcare services to meet the needs of families with children ages 6 weeks to 12 years old. 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 childcare models. After settling in the Midwest, the young family 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 and flexible child care center.
Prior to founding Kidz Watch®, Ms. MacKinnon taught elementary school and special education preschool. She holds a B.A. and B.Ed from Queen’s University in Ontario, Canada, a Masters in Educational Leadership and Administration from George Washington, and a Masters in Early Childhood Education from Eastern Michigan. The Master’s degrees came after Kidz Watch, in 2018 and 2023. You are never too old to learn! Kidz Watch is a family business through and through with the original Kidz Watch kids now helping out when they can; William (b. 2000) and Maggie (b. 2002).
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 childcare industry to assist other aspiring drop-in child care owners around the country to launch their own flexible childcare 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 childcare 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 22 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 center in Sylvania, 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.
