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Lexy Lionel, founder of Nannies & Housekeepers USA, can tell you some stories.
There is the one about the expectant mother who awoke in labor in the middle of the night. She had to go to the hospital but needed someone to watch her 3-year-old daughter.
And the one about the little boy who’d heard about the staffing agency’s Mary Poppins branding. He wouldn’t leave his hotel room window — he was sure the nanny his mother had hired really was Mary Poppins, about to fly in.
Lionel easily relates these stories when asked about her family business, a 14-year-old staffing agency that caters to visiting and local families. (The mom in labor, a Nannies & Housekeepers client, picked up the phone, dialed the agency and had someone at the house within half an hour.)
“Anything can happen to any family at any time and when it’s your family, just whoever isn’t enough,” Lionel said. “Our motto is ‘service is a winner every time,’ and I really believe that.”
Lionel is proud of all the times the agency has come to the aid of local families, created magical moments in the lives of kids or made a real difference in the future of employees.
The company’s brand draws on renowned flying-nanny Mary Poppins, the umbrella a “mark of integrity.”
Nannies & Housekeepers USA started in 2000 to cater to the family needs of growing Las Vegas. In 2013, her son, Zach Capp, a local filmmaker, took over the family business.
Excerpts from an interview with Capp have been edited for brevity and clarity.
What is Nannies & Housekeepers?
We offer on-call, part-time, full-time, one-time and temporary help for local families and hotel guests. We have baby-sitters, housekeepers, chefs, tutors, pet sitters and party servers. And we offer the gold standard. If you’re trying to find help on your own it can be scary, sometimes unsafe. It’s frustrating to sort through resumes. You don’t really know who people are. We take care of that. Every nanny has undergone a criminal background check and drug screening, has CPR certification, two years minimum experience working in a private home with verifiable references, and is screened with a face-to-face interview.
How does it work?
For on-call or as-needed help, local families can purchase an annual membership to our Umbrella Registry On Call Services for $99. It gives them access to a personal concierge 24 hours a day to book our staff.
Then there’s the Red Carpet Club for hotel guests, also $99 a year, for people who visit Las Vegas frequently with their children. It gives them a discounted hourly rate. More families are bringing their children to Vegas — it’s as much a playground for kids as it is for adults.
How’d you get involved with the hotels?
After the agency was a year old, my mom was reviewing all the files and thought about the time invested in background checks, references — all these qualified candidates who wanted to work and were willing to work evenings and weekends. She realized this town needed a system in place to care for the children of guests, and she could provide consistent, quality care — nannies always in uniform, showing up with bags of toys and activities, professional and qualified. It was something she knew the hotels needed. She started at the Four Seasons, and we’ve grown from there — the Wynn, Encore, MGM, Caesars ...
Why did you decide to take over the family business?
My background is in video production. I’ve created award-winning television shows, a 3D field project for the creators of “Cops,” and produced a 3D film for DirecTV. In Las Vegas, I worked for a company specializing in digital signs, making some of the biggest signs in the world. After doing that for about two years, I had a heart-to-heart with my mother and I decided to change my career path. I came to the realization that this business really saves people’s lives. It helps them get jobs. I’m a job-giver and there’s no greater joy.
How are you changing the company?
I just produced and co-wrote the first television commercial in our 14-year history. The commercial opens up in the sky, and there’s a nanny who’s free-falling, flailing her arms and throwing out toys from a magical bag toward a family, also falling from the sky. She’s there to save the day for this family. We call the commercial “Free Fall” because of the opening line: “Life sometimes feels like a free-fall, but we’re here for you.”
The response from this has been huge, especially from hotels. We’re transitioning into a new realm. We’re seeing more customers and we’re getting more qualified applicants in the door. We have a waiting list of over 100 to be an on-call nanny.
What’s with Mary Poppins?
My mom instilled in my brothers and me that it's a mitzvah to give back to the city that's good to you. We have a sensational program called “Story Time with Mary Poppins” every other Thursday at Tivoli Village. There’s always a new children’s story, singing exercises and educational songs. The kids love it. Recently we added another venue — Discovery Children’s Museum — and nearly 85 kids showed up recently.