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Leo Courbe and Gabe Jaffee
Gabe Jaffe, like many teenagers from New York City, has grown up spending summers on the East End.
His time on the South Fork, mostly in Bridgehampton, also has given him his first idea for a business: Teen Hampton, a service that matches parents seeking babysitters and sports instructors with teens looking for work in their months off.
Jaffe, who is 16 and attends the Horace Mann School, said the idea came in part from experiences as a child.
“When I was younger, I always had mentors of my own,” Jaffe said. “I always loved hanging out with my brother’s friends or older kids [who would] play sports with me or babysat for me. It really had an effect on me — someone I could look up to, someone I could learn from, someone I could have a great time with … And so I wanted to kind of create that experience for other kids.”
These foundational friendships, plus the market niche Jaffe noticed — teens looking for work, and parents looking for childcare and fun activities — became the seeds of Teen Hampton.
Parents can visit the website and book a session with a sports instructor or babysitter — the company also offers more bespoke events, like parties. The site boasts sports from surfing to tennis to soccer, and it’s free for the teens to sign up to list their service, although Jaffe personally interviews them before their listing goes up. When a parent makes a booking, the company takes a small percentage.
According to Jaffe, around a hundred teens have signed up to work, meaning that there should always be availability for parents looking to find services.
“This matchmaking service makes everything seamless and allows the clients to get the most convenient and personalized experience,” Jaffe said.
For Jaffe, creating his first business has been very educational. He decided he wanted to fund it himself, so he worked at a tennis club last summer to make some seed money, which he invested. He had to go through all the hurdles of beginning a business: hiring a web developer and graphic designer, filing for an LLC, getting insurance, legal documents, payroll, etc.
Getting a new business off the ground is never easy and challenges like recruiting and marketing came up, but Jaffe is confident he’s built a great team.
“As a 16-year-old, it has been a great learning experience for me, something I’ve dedicated a lot of time to,” Jaffe said. “Now, I’m just really excited to see everything pan out this summer and all the work I’ve done. I think that we’ve got a great group of kids together, really quality instructors. We’re all excited to get working, and we’re really happy with the progress we’ve made.”
Essentially, the entire operation is teen-run.
“I’m the CEO — I’m a teenager. We have our marketing agent, who is a teenager,” Jaffe said. “The digital media agent is a teenager. Most of the people helping with the business side are teenagers. We have a teenage graphic designer. All the instructors and babysitters are teenagers. … It’s about building this tight-knit community around this, with a common goal that we’re bringing to this community.”
Jaffe aims to efficiently and effectively bring together teenagers and younger kids, at a price point that will make parents happy to have some time to themselves.
The site opens for bookings this Memorial Day weekend, with the first sessions beginning on June 4.
For more information or to book, visit teen-hampton.com or email inquiries@teen-hampton.com
