Meet Katie D!

Name: Katie D

Hometown: Troy, OH

Age: 20

Favorite Color: Teal

Major: Human Nutrition with a specialization in Human Sciences


What did you want to be when you grew up?
Vet, doctor, you name it.

What is the funniest memory from your childhood babysitter?
Dancing around and acting silly!

What is the funniest thing a child has said to you while babysitting?
One little girl I have laughs hysterically every time I say my dad's name- his name is Paul.

What is the best advice someone has ever given to you?
Always be yourself, and never let what other people think of you affect how you see yourself.

What is one of your favorite quotes?
"Be the type of person you want to meet."

What has been the best thing about working with SMS?
Meeting all of the wonderful families and establishing really strong bonds with them, almost like family!

Meet Kristen B!

  

Name: Kristen B

Hometown: Maria Stein, OH

Age: 21

Favorite Color: Purple

Major/Occupation: Long-term Healthcare Administration

What did you want to be growing up?

 A nurse or a doctor, I wanted to save lives!

What is the funniest memory from your childhood babysitter?

 My babysitters were generally one of the older neighbor boys. They would let me practice painting their nails, and I would pretend that we didn't have any nail polish remover :) 

 What is the funniest thing a child has said to you while babysitting?

 I've had a few children try and convince their parents that they should adopt me so they have a big sister. Always makes me smile!

What is the best advice someone has ever given to you?

 I have a part time job in a nursing home, and one of the wise residents always tells me to live my life in such a way that if anybody would speak poorly of me, nobody would believe it. 

 What is one of your favorite quotes?

 Let your faith be bigger than your fears.

What has been the best thing about working with SMS?
All of the families are so welcoming and kind. Coming from a small town, meeting these families has made Columbus become more of a home for me. Being with SMS feels more like a hobby as opposed to a job!

Meet Kelly P!

Name: Kelly P.

Hometown: Strongsville, Ohio

Age: 24

Favorite Color: Teal

Major/Occupation:  I majored in Human Development and Family Science as an undergraduate at Ohio State.  After working full-time for 2 years, I returned to Ohio State to pursue a masters degree in Public Administration from the John Glenn College of Public Affairs. One year of grad school down, one to go!

What did you want to be growing up?
A lawyer or a teacher

 What is the funniest memory from your childhood babysitter?
I once chased a babysitter around the playground and begged him to marry me!

 What is the funniest thing a child has said to you while babysitting?
Once I was at a house for a 3-hour sit and a little boy asked, “Did my mom leave....forever?”.

 What is the best advice someone has ever given to you?  
Treat others the way THEY would like to be treated.

 What is one of your favorite quotes?
 "If you don't like the way the world is, you change it. You have an obligation to change it. You just do it one step at a time." -Marian Wright Edelman

What has been the best thing about working with SMS? 
 There are so many wonderful things about working with SMS, but I'd have to say that getting to meet so many kiddos and families throughout the Columbus area is the very best!

Goodbye Note from Intern Alecia

The summer before my senior year I knew that I wanted both a job and an internship, little did I know that they would both be coming from the same place. I began babysitting for SMS and shortly after took an internship position to run the social media for SMS. My first day of interning I put on some nice clothes, packed a lunch and showed up 30 minutes early to Amanda’s house. Fast-forward to a year later and today I came running into Amanda’s house in the clothes I slept in with a minute to spare, knowing that she would feed me. While I became more comfortable in the office, Amanda also became more comfortable trusting me to do a lot in the office. What started off as the simple task of running the social media for SMS quickly turned into posting on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, creating a YouTube account, writing press releases, creating and delivering promotional packages, managing our website and eventually creating an entirely new website. What I thought was just going to be a quick summer internship turned into an awesome learning experience and a lasting friendship. While my time interning is over I luckily don’t have to say goodbye to my favorite families quite yet (shout out to the Joseph family and the Thomas family- I love your kiddos), because I’ll still be babysitting for SMS for the time being.

I owe so much to Amanda and the incredible company that she has created. For starters, my resume is full of some incredible things. How many people can say that they created a website for a company with over 1,000 clients visiting it weekly? More importantly, I gained so much more than what meets the eye. Amanda is one of my best friends and so are the other interns that I was lucky enough to meet. Going into this internship I never would have expected that my boss would become someone I hung out with on the weekends and that work would become a place that I looked forward to going. Sometimes it’s hard to understand what all goes into running SMS since Amanda does so seamlessly, but she actually works all hours of the day to give everyone that impression. At times I think all of her hard work goes unnoticed, so I just wanted to take this chance to say thank you to Amanda for giving me the most fun and flexible job I ever could have imagined having during my college years. You are one killer #GirlBoss and I can’t wait to see what the future holds for SMS.

SMS Farewell from Intern Jayde

Amanda and SMS:

I wanted to take the time to thank you all for everything and every opportunity you’ve given me over the last two years. As a student, SMS intern, and babysitter, my schedule was certainly full, but I wouldn’t trade my SMS experience for anything! I just graduated with a degree in International Business from OSU and am already a week into my big girl job. Coming into work 9-5 isn’t nearly as exciting as hanging out in the office with Amanda and the other interns was! I still remember my first day of interning like it was yesterday. I had emailed Amanda to learn more about an open position and the response I got back basically said “you’re hired, see you Tuesday!” I was so nervous, confused, and overwhelmed at all there was to learn, but it only took until day two to realize how awesome it all was. I still think Amanda’s a crazy dog lady, but she’s one of the best people I met while in Columbus and I’m so thankful for her.  I’m going miss everything about working for SMS, especially the SMS “family” nights out for dinner with the girls, Amanda giving me advice and making me coffee, playing SkipBo after work, and meeting each new family that I babysat for. Shout out to the Bass boys, you guys were like a breath of fresh air from school (even if you did drive me crazy sometimes)and it was so nice to have someone to play baseball and shoot hoops with every once in a while! Working with Amanda has made me a more confident and assertive person, and has truly prepared me to enter the real world. My goodbyes to Amanda, Sarah, and Alecia were some of the hardest I had to do before I left for Massachusetts, but I know I’ll always have a place to stay when I visit J I wish Amanda and SMS nothing but the best, and I’m seriously so lucky to have been a part of this amazing family.

<3 Jayde

Meet Lauren G!

Name: Lauren G

Hometown: St. Henry, Ohio

Age: 21

Favorite Color? Purple

Major/Occupation: Biology

What did you want to be growing up?
When I was younger I always wanted to be an architect. I was fascinated with old buildings and churches. However, I chose to go into the medical field instead.


What is the funniest memory from your childhood babysitter?
I live in a big woods out in the middle of nowhere, and when it gets dark it can be kind of creepy especially because we have huge windows in our house. One of my childhood babysitters was so afraid of my house, so my siblings and I thought it was funny to scare her any chance we got.


What is the funniest thing a child has said to you while babysitting?
On one of my first sits a kid said to me, “if you like my train set my grandparents will buy you one just like it”.


What is the best advice someone has ever given to you?
The best advice someone has ever given me is to never live with regrets, and always move forward!


What is one of your favorite quotes?
“We all have dreams, but in order to make dreams come into reality, it takes an awful lot of determination, dedication, self-discipline, and effort”- Jesse Owens

What has been the best thing about working with SMS?
The best part about working with SMS is the opportunity to meet so many wonderful families!