When a Riverina woman was confronted with a gap in childcare services, she set about fixing the problem.
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When Rebecca White and her partner started down the road of parenthood, it was as an Australian Defence Force family. This meant she lived nine hours away from her support network.
"We had no weekend catch-ups, and no one to duck over to quickly help out," Mrs White said.
"We only planned visits for four to five days which left us with a taste of what support looked like.
"Our friends had young families of their own, so asking them to babysit was out of the question."
Mrs White said she was too shy to ask for help and found it challenging even acknowledging that she needed it.
The Whites soon moved to Wagga, which meant her family was now two and a half hours away instead of nine. But, that was still a trek.
"Along came baby number two," she said. "Then, one of our children received a disability diagnosis."
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"I needed to get to appointments, and I couldn't take the other child because of regulations, so it was either find care or not get the therapy that was needed," she said. "That's when I started the hunt for a sitter, and it was hard to find what I was looking for."
Mrs White ended up meeting one who has been helping the family out weekly since March last year, but she wanted to help others in a similar position."
"That's how my business came about, in a moment of need and desperation," she said.
"I know that there is a significant impact on people who don't have family around to help or who are maybe too proud to ask for help. I wanted to change that and make it easier for families to access help."
Mrs White started the babysitting agency Our Little Ones, which now has two senior and two junior staff members.
"We have had a lot of positive support, particularly from Defence families," she said. "My support network has really backed me up in starting this business. I am loving it."