Community Highlights: Meet Jessica Chang of WeeCare

Today we’d like to introduce you to Jessica Chang.

Hi Jessica, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
When I was pregnant with my son, my friends told me to start looking for childcare. Already? I couldn’t believe this. Soon after that, I learned that, much like most of America, here in LA we are in a childcare desert. Later on, I had the opportunity to buy a preschool so I jumped at the chance to figure out what the issues were. Oh man, there were many kinks to work out! Providers, who were earning as low as $20,000/year, were not able to keep up with operations on their own. Open childcare slots were decreasing each year and prices were skyrocketing, pricing out most families. It was a mess, but I wanted to create a solution. My co-founders, Jesse Forrest, Matt Reilly, and I decided to modernize the childcare industry, making care accessible to everyone regardless of budget, location, and schedule. That was when we decided to start WeeCare. Fast forward four years and WeeCare is now the largest childcare network in the country!

I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle free, but so far would you say the journey have been a fairly smooth road?
The creation of WeeCare has not been a smooth road, but that’s fine because the road to success is always bumpy. First, we needed to convince people that childcare is an issue — starting with investors — many of whom have never had to deal with childcare themselves. We are also dealing with an “old school” industry where we are trying to show people that what we have will make their lives easier when the industry hasn’t significantly changed for twenty or so years.

Speaking of old school, many have grown up only knowing about traditional childcare facilities, so they have a pre-existing notion that home daycares are not going to be as good as a traditional childcare center or preschool. The idea of someone converting their space into a Disney-inspired daycare is foreign to many people, but kids find themselves feeling right at home. In addition, home daycares are state licensed and strictly regulated, have smaller class sizes, and are up to 40% more affordable.

Appreciate you sharing that. What should we know about WeeCare?
WeeCare is the largest childcare network in the United States, with the mission of providing access to affordable, high-quality childcare for all families. Parents use WeeCare to find, tour and enroll with the perfect childcare provider for their family. WeeCare supports families along the way with messaging, photo and video updates, and health and safety features through the app. Childcare providers are supplied with the support and tools they need to manage and grow their business with ease, including enrollment and finance management, tuition payment collection, and professionally developed curriculum. WeeCare was founded by a team set on solving the childcare crisis and proud to support women and minority-owned small businesses.

We have created the only childcare benefits program built to enable employers of all sizes to cost-effectively offer employees and team members the most convenience and support for their childcare needs. WeeCare’s Childcare Benefits result in decreased employee absenteeism, reduced job turnover, and increased job satisfaction.

Can you tell us more about what you were like growing up?
Growing up, I was a lot like I am now! I have never been afraid to talk to people. I’m always the first person running into a storm. I’ve also never been afraid of taking risks. I was very interested in psychology and child development but didn’t quite know how to channel that passion into a career… but I always knew that if I could do that, it would be incredibly rewarding. And, much like today, when I am passionate about something, I am “full steam ahead” and nothing can stop me!

Contact Info:

• Email: [email protected]
• Website: weecare.co
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/weecare.co/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/WeeCare.co/
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/weecareco?lang=en
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCUmHnrs3DTYZY2e__oWImtg
• Other: https://weecare.co/daycare-near-me