About
Briar & Root Nannies
Founded by Kate Bakker in Warsaw, Indiana.
Founder and Ecosystem Architect
Meet Kate
Every home is a living ecosystem, a delicate balance of rhythms, unspoken needs, and unique family culture. For over two decades, Kate has dedicated her life to observing, understanding, and nurturing these domestic worlds.
Her journey spans the full spectrum of family care: from studying child development and working in the field as a professional nanny, to spending the last seven years placing international au pairs with American families through cultural exchange, supporting those households once the match was made, and mediating the delicate conversations that come with sharing a home.
As an Ecosystem Architect, Kate brings a rare combination of practical industry mastery and intuitive insight. She has a natural gift for reading between the lines, picking up on the quiet nuances, unstated preferences, and subtle dynamics that truly make a home tick. Kate knows that finding the right nanny isn't just about filling a role. It's about cross-pollinating values, cultivating mutual respect, and building relationships on grounded, shared soil.
At Briar & Root, Kate acts as both guardian and gardener for your household. By thoughtfully aligning family dynamics with experienced caregivers, she creates the protective environment and deep, sturdy roots every family needs to truly flourish.
Our philosophy
Curiosity, empathy, and how a child is wired
Fit is never an accident. Matching a resume to a job description is the easy part, and it is not the part that makes a placement last. What matters is how your home actually runs, and how a caregiver thinks about the work of caring for a child.
There is no single right way to raise a child, so we do not screen for one.
- Every child is wired differently. Sensory preferences. What sets them off. How they ask for help. We look for caregivers who watch closely, take a child's temperament as it is, and meet them there
- A home has a culture. Faith, heritage, food, the traditions you keep. We look for caregivers who step into your household with respect for how you already do things, and who keep your rhythms rather than replacing them
- Warmth and clear limits are not opposites. Children settle with adults who are calm and consistent. We look for people who can carry naptime, big feelings, and the hard transitions with patience
The name
Why a briar
A briar was a living fence. Farmers planted it thorned and dense because something inside was worth protecting. The thorns face out. The garden faces in.
That is the shape of this work. Most of it is deciding who does not get through.
The root is the other half. A good match doesn't just start well. It takes root.
Plainly
What we will not do
- We do not employ, pay, or supervise the caregivers we place. When you hire, you become the household employer
- We do not set anyone's wages
- We do not write your employment agreement. We provide a template you complete yourselves
- We do not present a candidate we have not vetted
- We do not promise anyone's future conduct
Any agency that tells you otherwise is either doing you a disservice or exposing you to one.