About Our Founder, Rita Katselnik
Shortly after Peggy Fleming became an Olympic champion, in an interview on Russian television, she remarked that the happiest people in the Soviet Union were the children. College student Rita Katselnik was amazed by what she had heard. Despite her upbringing in a fiercely patriotic family, she was well aware of the social and political problems inherent in the then Communist society. If she could not envision a future for herself in Russia, what could it possibly be that made Soviet children so happy? It wasn’t until 1977, when Rita and her husband Arkadi emigrated to the United States with their five-year old son Leon that she understood what Fleming meant.

"I hadn’t thought about Peggy Fleming in years, says Rita, "until I came to this country. Parents in Russia can avail themselves of excellent nursery schools where their children receive three meals a day, learn a foreign language, get physical education and have supervised play time. All at no charge to the parents."

As a new immigrant, Rita found it quite necessary to work to supplement the family income, and was shocked that there were no facilities where she could leave Leon during the day. "There was a woman in my neighborhood who sat dogs. I asked her is she would like to sit with my son because I had nowhere to leave him."

When Leon graduated from Boston University, Rita established Working Solutions, an innovative childcare-giver placement agency catering to the needs of working parents. The agency expertly places full-time and part-time, live-in and live-out experienced nannies to fulfill each family’s needs. A lengthy interview with each family and each nanny ensures that nannies and children are matched with respect to temperament, energy levels and shared interests. The agency also specializes in placing professional nannies to work with children who have different learning styles and special needs. “Nursery schools are slowly becoming a presence in this country, particularly in the inner cities where people are clustered. Suburbia is so spread out that nursery schools aren’t a feasible solution when parents have 6:00 a.m. trains to catch to the city and don’t return for another twelve hours.” The obvious answer to such a dilemma is the professional nanny. More and more affluent parents require such services, especially since the traditional role of the babysitting grandparent is no longer an available alternative. “These days grandparents are likely to be working professionals themselves, or they may be living independently miles away, or they’re leading active, busy lives,” says Rita. “The demand for good nannies is greater than the supply.”