Spotlight on…Candi Vajana

How did you become International Nanny of the Year 2017?

I was nominated by five people altogether, including a previous employer, a colleague and one previous child, which was especially nice. It is a pretty long process after you are nominated – you have to provide a portfolio, references, a whole bunch of paperwork, and then a committee chooses the top five for a Skype interview, where you talk about your career, why you should be nominated and what your goal for the year would be if you won.

What was your goal for the year?

I want to try and elevate the nanny profession all over the world but particularly in the US, where there is no requirement for any qualifications for a nanny. I trained in the UK and got an NNEB, but here they have no idea these even exist. This is changing slightly, but it is a very slow process. Anyone can wake up in the morning and decide to be a nanny, which is not just dangerous for parents and children but also for the nannies themselves, as anything could happen that they are not prepared for and would not know what to do.

How are you trying to achieve this?

I have been trying to do a lot of interviews to promote the role of the nanny and the importance of training. I am also running a one-day nanny training day in April 2018 for my region to help them get an idea of what is out there and what they can achieve.