December 13, 2024 • 33 mins
Are you ready to take a leap of faith that could change your life forever? I'm joined by Shanel, a remarkable entrepreneur who turned an impulsive decision into a thriving business and a life-changing journey.
Shanel's story is a testament to the power of embracing opportunities and pushing through challenges. From moving to America on a whim to opening a 9,000 square foot daycare center with just seven children, her journey is filled with valuable lessons for anyone looking to make a bold move in their life or business.
- How taking calculated risks can lead to unexpected opportunities
- The importance of grit and perseverance in entrepreneurship
- Strategies for overcoming self-doubt and pushing through difficult times
- Why authenticity is crucial in business and personal growth
- The unexpected benefits of stepping out of your comfort zone
Shanel also shares her insights on the current challenges facing early childhood education, particularly in the wake of the pandemic. Her passion for helping "pandemic babies" and their parents is a powerful reminder of how our entrepreneurial journeys can evolve to serve a greater purpose.
CONNECT WITH SHANEL:
https://www.instagram.com/shanelvj2/
https://www.tiktok.com/@shanelburger1
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
Suck the marrow out of life.
Give it your best shot.
You know, even if you shoot, you know,if you shoot for the moon, you're
still going to land among the stars.
And if you look at any situation as Icannot fail at this because I'm either
going to win or I'm going to learn toquote Nelson Mandela, which I quoted
in my last podcast, I've got to stopdoing that, but I truly live by that.
(00:23):
If I look at every situation thathappens to me as either a lesson that
I've learned or a win, you can't lose.
So just do it.
Do that thing that's been scaring you.
Do it.
Dive in,
I am so excited to do another YourPodcast is Someone's Life Raft
interview because this is whatBeyond the Downloads is all about.
(00:45):
We're talking about the stories of howwe got here, because that's the truth
of what podcasting is truly about.
Yes.
We want to make money.
We want to do all the things,but sharing our story is what's
going to keep you motivated.
So welcome.
Welcome.
Welcome.
So happy to be here.
So we got to meet in person,which is my new favorite thing.
(01:07):
I thought I hated people, meeting peoplein person, but I actually love it.
So new gen.
Hello.
Hi.
But we were doing a littlelike micro interview.
At a beach house in Manhattan Beach, andyou were telling me about your story of
like how you got here and I think that whythis is important and why I want to share
this with the audience is that sometimeswe have to take that leap, whether it's
(01:30):
our podcast, our business, but I wantyou to tell me a little bit about that
juicy story because it's so important.
I was just my jaw hit the floor and I'mlike, no way that was such a brave move.
Like I want it like from thebeginning of where you started,
like share a little bit about that.
That's so sweet of you to say.
And I distinctly rememberyou making me cry with that
(01:50):
one question out of the blue.
One minute, I'm in a great mood.
The next one, I'm like, you know,but, that makes you, what makes
you such a good interviewer.
So it was an impulsive decisionfor me to come to America.
I was in Cape town.
I'm originally from South Africa,so I was in Cape town on, a holiday
(02:11):
and I met these people at a barbecueand they like, Oh, you're great.
I was just playing with thebaby, you know, like, Oh,
you're so great with the kids.
Do you want to come to America?
We need a nanny for three months.
And I was like, Sure, I'm not doinganything the next three months.
I just got in my degree incommunication of all things with
the minor in, industrial psychology.
So nothing to do with kidsbecause, I've like, I'm.
(02:34):
I'm now five generations deep teachers.
Like I'm a fifth generationteacher in education.
So both my parents were teachers as well.
So I never, I was trying to bethe business woman other way.
And then this just.
Kind of happened.
And then, they landed up payingfor my ticket to come to America.
I learned 250 from my mom.
(02:55):
I'd only met these peopleone time at a barbecue.
And I remember landing in the Jacksonvilleairport, which I now know was the
completely wrong airport to book myflight into because they were in Savannah.
But I remember not even knowinghow to use the pay phone.
Like I didn't know I had to dialthe one before, and it, it was So
(03:15):
lots of things had to fall in place.
And I, you say that I'm brave and Iappreciate the compliment, but I don't
know if I had known that I was cominghere, like permanently, if I'd had the
guts to do it, I think it was because Ijust took this impulsive leap to do it.
But in that, it, and itwas really hard, right?
So there were lots of timeswhere I got so, so homesick.
(03:39):
I remember just.
Calling my mom and justbawling my eyes out.
Like I'm so homesick.
I just want to be home.
And she's like, you, you,you got this, you'll be okay.
You know, you have a goodcry and then you carry on.
But I think had I not taken thatleap and had it not paid off for
me the way it did, I think it gaveme, I think it gave me more of the
(04:00):
guts to pursue my own business.
When I had the opportunity to do that andI was the single mom and Had this, brand
new little baby and I was working retailFor a horrible boss at the time I mean, I
would just like get the pit in my stomachlike I've had horrible boss bosses, right?
(04:20):
And I think you can only appreciate agood boss once you've had a bad one but
I remember having to drop my daughter off.
And at that time in our area, therewas literally only two daycares, right?
And this place has since closed down,but my daughter never took a pacifier.
The first day I came to pick herup, she had a pacifier in her mouth.
I just didn't believe in that.
(04:42):
For many reasons, it's not good foryour children to have pacifiers.
But then there were like cockroachesrunning around and I was like, Oh my gosh.
So I called my mom and she waslike, so she loaned me the
money to start the daycare.
And, , then the recessionhit three months after.
So I quit my job.
And I was trying to, and they were like,Oh, it's going to be a turnkey business.
Don't worry about it.
(05:02):
It's already been a daycare.
It was a 9, 000 square foot building.
Was the only building that Icould, that I could find to lease.
Right.
And, 9, 000 square feet.
I'm thinking, I don't evenhave one child enrolled yet.
So it was one of those like build itand they will come situations, you know?
And again, it was this huge leap.
And at that point, I had gottenmarried and my husband was like,
(05:25):
okay, I'll support you go ahead and,and do this, you know, and, Yeah.
So, and then as fate would have it,it wasn't just a turnkey easy thing.
It took nine months to getthrough the red tape, right?
Because all these things poppedup, especially with daycares.
There's so many more laws and.
(05:46):
Rules and regulations and thetwo agencies don't always agree.
So when DHEC comes, you fix this quickly.
And when DSS is there, you changeit back to this, you know, so you've
got to sort of keep all of them.
But I didn't know whatI didn't know back then.
And anyway, so I'm rambling on.
But yeah, so it was just really,and I took all these chances
(06:07):
on a whim and they've paid off.
There's been some chances I've takenthat haven't paid off all that great,
but so far I've been very, very luckyand very, very blessed, but I don't
think we can ever achieve great thingsin our lives if we're not willing
to take the great risks, right?
So going out to the mastermindwas a huge risk for me.
I stepped out of my comfort zone so much.
(06:29):
And I was literally praying about it.
I was like, I don't know if Ihave the finances right now.
Well, God just deposited the moneyinto my bank account the next morning.
And then she was like, well,you know, she said things on the
podcast and I was like, Oh my gosh,everything's pointing me there.
And then I was like, Oh, great.
I met people like you.
I met so many other wonderfulbusiness owners there.
(06:50):
I got to go on my first podcast.
Just by people being amazing.
And then you are now getting me soexcited about the podcast industry
and hearing what you've had to say.
And so I think, yeah, you've mademe really excited about podcasting.
So I appreciate that.
As I call it podcasting, butnobody understands what I'm
saying when I'd say that.
So podcast.
(07:12):
But I love that there's like, there'sso many little pieces to pick out, but,
but podcasters, as you're listening tothis, I want you to, to hear that you
said because of the podcast, it madeyou feel the confidence to do that.
I don't want to focus on that, but I,as, as a show for podcasters, I want you
to know why I'm sharing these stories.
It's because of little nuggets like that.
(07:34):
So you took these, this giant leap.
You moved to another country.
Then you're like, I'm going tohave this 9, 000 square foot space.
Like I'm looking around my house andI'm like, okay, my house is tiny.
Like this would be like nine of my houses.
This, this house is a lot of children.
So you weren't startinglike your normal home.
(07:59):
I'm going to put fivekids in my living room.
Like this was like a center, correct?
A commercial center.
And we were licensed for 212 students.
I never like reached the fullcapacity because that's just
like jamming them in there.
But yeah, like I, Istarted with zero kids.
(08:19):
When I, because yeah, when Ifirst opened up, I had no kids
and then I enrolled, so Seven.
So I opened up the schoolwith seven children.
I was doing all the cooking, all thecleaning, looking after the kids.
Like I would be on the phone doingnew enrollments and I'm busy cooking.
And like, yeah, we're great.
We're, you know, our teachers are awesome.
And like, meanwhile, it'sme and one other person.
(08:42):
Like I really just baked untilI made it, you know what I mean?
And.
Slowly, but surely like the lifeI have now is so, so different to
how it was those first couple ofyears, because they were really hard.
Like it, it entrepreneurship pushesyou into, whoo, again, it was a
huge, it was a huge, Confidenceleap, but again, not confidence leap.
(09:06):
It was a huge trust leap, right?
Or huge trust fall asPink says, trust fall.
But both of them came with a lot oflike pain and, and like tears and
stuff at the same time too, you know?
So it's like, um, I was talkingto somebody about what, what
makes you different is likethe grit that you have when.
Hard things happen.
So, but yeah, I didn't just go small.
(09:29):
Like I didn't just start like normalpeople would with a home daycare and
then build that into something bigger.
No, I was like, just buildit and they will come.
And they did slowly, but surely.
And I think that's a lesson that somany of us need to learn is like.
We see so much insta gratification,like if we looked at you now,
(09:50):
like, I think this is why we needto have these conversations is
we look at somebody right now.
It looks like, oh, she built this.
She, she was able to have the9000 square feet, blah, blah.
But it's like, no, you said itwas nine months of red tape.
Well, podcaster while you're whenyou're thinking about this, like, yeah.
Yeah, your podcast is going totake the same amount of time.
(10:11):
Anything you truly want.
You have to take that leap of faith andyou have to give it time because if,
if in one month you didn't jump throughall those hoops, like you wouldn't have
been able to get to where you are now.
That's so true.
And I think you and I were talkingabout this before, this, the podcast
was that it is something that youcan't expect to see very quick results
(10:34):
with, like it's the same thing.
Like anything worthwhile in thislife takes a little bit of sacrifice,
takes a whole chunk of commitment,anything worthwhile in this life, you
know, so I think, , but podcasting isa great way, especially for people.
I feel like me, I am stillgetting used to being visible.
Like the first, like I said, I just didmy first podcast and I'm very grateful
(10:58):
to Barbara for allowing me to be on herawesome podcast, but I, they put the
video camera on me and I was like, Oh,I look terrible, please turn it off.
I can't concentrate, you know?
And, so I think the podcasting isa great way for people to be able to
talk without that additional pressure,you know, and, um, Especially when
they're authentic, like you are.
(11:19):
I don't think I would enjoy podcaststhat are more out for that's just
me personally, but you, you're veryreal and you're very authentic.
And I think, , I think podcasting isvery underrated and I think what you're
doing is great because, you get, I,I didn't know the value of podcasting
until you told me that and how many,you know, podcasts fail and all of this.
(11:40):
And so it really is importantto, to get somebody.
Like you who knows what they're doing,you know, but you mentioned grit, you
know, and I think that's something thatas a podcast or as a business owner, as
anybody who wants to do something that'soutside of the, you know, what society
tells us to do, that's like what we need.
So I want to know, like, how, So whenyou open this, the staycare center,
(12:04):
and now that you're, you're going to behelping others like with early childhood
development and all these things, yes,I just called it all out for you, but,
uh, like it, there's moments that wereon the floor and those moments when it
were those tear moments, there's so manypeople that throw it away at that point.
(12:25):
Like what was that grit thathelped you kept pushing forward?
It's, it's a combination of two things.
One, my faith.
Because I don't know people whodon't have something to believe in.
That's bigger than them.
I don't know what theydo in those moments.
Right.
But let's take that awaybecause I do stand on my faith.
(12:47):
And, , as a Christian, I do believethat God's got a purpose for absolutely
everything that's happening in my life,but whatever your higher power, whatever
it is, I, everybody believes in somethinggreater than themselves or should, if they
don't, but so that was the one thing, butthe other thing too was, you know, my mom.
Was a single mom and she's a phenomenallydynamic woman and she made other people
(13:09):
a lot of money in her life, but my mom,but she would have been, if she ever
had the opportunities that she gave me.
There's no telling where she would bein this world because she taught me
the importance of, you know, having agood cry, then putting on your big girl
pants, and we dust ourselves off, and weget back up, and we put a smile on our
(13:30):
face, and we push our shoulders back,and we smile through it, and before you
know it, you're gonna be feeling better.
So it's just about getting backup, and I think that's a General
theme that most entrepreneurs,it sounds like a bit of a cliche.
Like when you get pushed down, youjust got to get back up, but there's
so many entrepreneurs that fail.
It's just that we're, we're persistentin, in continuing to do what we do.
(13:53):
But I also talk about the early childhood.
One thing that I'm tryingto work on is, , one.
Or one area that I'm researchingright now, and I'll probably publish
a book in it, but it was about, howdo we teach our children grit?
Because if you talk to anyentrepreneur, it comes down to the grit.
Do you have the grit?
Do you have the, are you the willingto make the sacrifices to keep
(14:16):
your eye on the prize, to pushthrough the difficult times, to
deal with the knocks to your ego?
Like it's, there's a lot ofego deaths that happen too.
And.
You lose a lot of friends in the process.
You learn that your employees will turnon you in a heartbeat or people you feel
like there's not one entrepreneur thatwill tell you I've had a great experience
and nobody's hurt me in business.
(14:38):
That if they do, they're lying to youbecause like you will cry, but it's, but
you've got to, you've got, I think alsothe other thing, Jane is the purpose.
Like I, God knew to set things up theway that they, way he did, because I knew
that it was those kids that needed me.
It was the, the parents and thegrandparents that were raising
(14:59):
their babies and I, I was.
Serving a purpose thatwas bigger than just me.
And I think that's what made me get up.
And then also in the midst of all ofthis, like I was questioning whether
or not I should be doing all of thisbecause I was like, Oh yeah, great.
I can just lay back.
My husband's got me untilI get this off the ground.
Well, he lost his job two months in.
(15:20):
, so we were both without a job and at onepoint we were on food stamps till I got
the school up and going, you know, likeit was hard at one point I was paying
my staff before I was paying myself.
Like I've been poor, poor, you know,like get your kids piggy bank to eat
poor, but you have to go through that.
And for me now to go grocery shopping andnot have to Calculate, use the calculator.
(15:46):
That to me is huge.
We were just talking about that too.
Like I don't need to be uber wealthy.
I find so much joy in like the little, itwould be nice to be uber wealthy, but I
think it's really important that you findyour joy in the little things in life too.
Otherwise all the money in the world'snot going to make a difference.
Right.
So there's a, I've completely veered offthe topic, but I love this conversation.
(16:09):
And I love this conversation becauseI think there was one thing that
you said early on is that you, youcry and then dust yourself off.
And I think so many of us.
Choose to one over set in the cry orto ignore the cry and just let's power
through, let's power through until yourbody's like, this can't happen anymore.
(16:30):
So I think that that's like a reallyvaluable lesson that you were taught.
Is that like, sometimes you haveto go through that ego death.
You have to go throughthat cry and it's okay.
It's okay to be not okay.
And I think that as entrepreneurs andwhat we see online and what we hear is
like, we, You know, you've, we've allheard it, it's the, it's the Instagram.
(16:53):
It's the, it's the highlightreel of people's lives.
Like let's normalize the factthat like, it sucks sometimes.
Yeah.
And I think it's also, like, it's soimportant to have at least one or two
people in your corner that you cantrust, and especially my best friend,
Faye, she's a phenomenally successfulbusiness woman and she, like there were
(17:15):
many days where she had to like walk me.
Off of the edge where Iwas like, I've had it.
I'm closing it down.
I don't care.
And she's like, just breathe.
Don't make any decisions in a stateof emotional terrorists, you know?
And I'm glad I didn't give up.
But, um, and it's also like, this issomething that I was called to do.
I never went out looking for it, you know?
(17:37):
And I think once you, and that, oh,I forgot to tell you that story in
the middle of like this opening up tome coming to America was I had just
finished studying in South Africa.
I had the, I had.
Two job offers, or I could continue tocontinue my studies and get my master's.
And I was literally at a pointwhere I was like, God, I need
(17:58):
your direction in my life.
Like whatever you want to dowith my life, go ahead, take it.
I just need to know what I'm doing.
Like, show me where to go.
And literally a barbecue turned into.
You know, this whole other life inAmerica that I never even considered
would be a possibility for me andeverything that fell into place.
Same thing with going to the mastermind.
(18:20):
Same thing with my school, likeshow me, show me, show me, and the
universe will show you, you know?
And also I'm a huge believer inmanifestation and like putting what
you want up on somewhere visually andmaking yourself remember why you're
doing what you're doing, becauseyou're not strong enough in your own.
Thank you.
Strength , but we all think we are.
(18:42):
Yeah.
But we all, but all ofus reach burnout though.
We keep going, going, going, going.
And we don't take the timeto take care of ourselves.
And that's only something that Ilearned after I had a nervous breakdown.
You know what I mean?
Like you only learn that.
After you haven't taken care ofyourself and your health starts taking
a dive, then you're like, Oh, I shouldhave been taking care of myself.
And then it's too late, you know?
(19:04):
Yeah.
And it's hard.
Like you said, you openedyour school with seven people.
Like if we relate that to podcasting,it's like, okay, maybe you only have
seven listeners and you're pouringyour heart and soul into something.
It's like, it's hard.
Like, whether we're talking aboutpodcasting or opening up a daycare
center, that's 9, 000 square feet.
(19:25):
Oh my God, that's such abig set with 200 plus kids.
I'm like, holy crap.
My brain is still trying to compute that,but it's like, and sometimes I walk around
and I'm like, I can't believe that this.
But, but it's so important, especiallythe podcasters, I think, you know,
might get a little bit discouraged.
You were saying there's so many thatjust give up, but I think like, if I'm
(19:49):
not wrong, that's what you were sayingis like, keep, keep at it with the
podcasting, because people are goingto want to hear what you have to say
and it will gain traction eventually.
You know, just like your school did andthat's, that's why this podcast is called
beyond the downloads because we, we,we get so blindsided and like blinders
(20:11):
on like focus, we're doing this and itcan't relate to anything else, but it
really can, like, I relate your sevenkids to seven downloads, like, totally
different because you have like a hugemonetary investment where podcasting is,
is not, It's a big investment if you'regonna do it, but it's not the state.
(20:31):
It's the same, same, but different.
Right?
And I think that the main thinghere is like to be able to have the
meltdowns, pick yourself up, moveforward and, and let things blossom.
Because before we started thisinterview, we were like, well,
what, what are we doing now?
You know, like, I, like, I wantto know, like, what, what's next?
You know, like we had thisbig school, like, what's next?
(20:53):
What do you want to do?
And I think that that's the beautifulthing about podcasting and sharing
your story is that as you share,look at all the things that came out.
So during our conversation, like, Youstarted talking about some, a current
thing that's going on, whether youwant to share that or not, I'll let
you share that, but it's somethingthat needs to be spoken about.
(21:15):
So how do we share those stories?
Like, how do we have the faith that aswe have the seven kids in our school,
that more are going to come, you know,I think, I think one of the things is.
I want to say believing in yourself,but there've been so many times where
I haven't believed in myself, you know?
(21:37):
And so I think, there's a lot to be saidfor just, I mean, there've been times in
my life where it's just been coming at mefrom all directions where, I literally
woke up and cried for the first hour.
And before I went to work,and at that point in time,
I didn't have support staff.
So I was working from 6 a.
(21:58):
m.
to 6 p.
m., just exhausted by the time I got home.
My quality of life was absolutely nothing.
And so when anybody gives me a hardtime now about working as much as
I feel like, or showing up at theschool whenever I feel like, I'm like,
I'm like, Hey, don't, don't forget.
I've paid my dues.
I've put in the work and now I getto reap the benefits, which is great.
18 years later, but it's 18 yearslater, you know, and I, I'm, I, I was
(22:23):
just blessed that my business was ableto survive, but I think it's a lot of
times you've got to look at just don'tfocus on the big picture when you get.
And I think you and Iwere talking about that.
I'm at one of those places inmy life again, where I'm like,
show me where to go next, becauseI'm going in all these different
directions and I'm really strugglingwith getting the clarity on that.
(22:46):
So I know that I want to be able to helpother daycare centers or people that
are thinking about opening up a daycare.
I'd love to consult with themone on one to be able to help
them through the entire process.
I'm talking.
You know, because I didn'thave anybody that was like,
this is who you call for that.
This is who you call for that.
Here's where you start.
These are the things you need to look at.
(23:07):
I didn't have any of that.
And most of the states have technicalassistance, but they would only
specialize in what their department does.
Nobody brings it all together for youas a brand new daycare owner, unless
you're willing to pay twice as much for,you know, the, uh, what do you call it?
When they have, what do you call it?
Like a franchise type thing?
Yeah.
For the franchises, , but you don'tneed to pay all that franchise money.
(23:29):
You just need to hire a good consultant,but I didn't have the money back
then, and there were mistakes that Imade in the, in the early stages of
my business, which also relates topodcasting, because, you know, And that's
what we were talking about ahead oftime was like, I need to look at what
you're investing in the podcasting.
You need to look and look atthat as your initial investment.
(23:50):
So if you're podcasting consultant iscosting you 700 a month, that is just
part of your overhead on building yourbrand or building your, and I think
also what's great with the podcastingis you can literally take one episode.
And like you had mentioned earlier,there's so many things that you can pull
out from it and create more podcasts andgo in all these different directions.
(24:15):
I think it's very valuable to havesomebody like you that helps people
navigate this whole, because it's,it's a very, somebody said to me
the other day, what is the podcast?
Like there's so many people thatstill, and they're like our age.
And I was like.
How are the people that don'tknow what podcasting is?
You know, like,
(24:35):
so it's, it's valuable tostart the conversations.
And that's it right there.
It's the conversations, which is why,like, I'm so excited about like you
wanting to shift the conversation.
You're like, I built theschool it's running, it's done.
It's like, I can, I can show up when,but where can I, you know, and for when
(24:57):
we had the conversation, it's not like,Where can I build this so that I can
make all this money so I can have all theflashy things and like, you know, do all
the things, which let me tell you someof the behind the scenes things, like.
It's not, don't always believewhat you see online, like, don't
do it, but I think that that's it.
(25:17):
It's the conversations, likehaving a place where you can
have a true conversation.
And that's the beautyof podcasting, right?
Is it's, it's an intimate conversationbecause you're with somebody who's,
you know, Going for a walk, washingthe dishes on a way driving.
So they're doing these tasks that are kindof putting them in a meditative state.
So you can have this ability to makethe power and with what you want to help
(25:41):
with, because again, I'm not going toshare what you're, what we were talking
about, unless you wanted to share.
But like, as we were havingthis conversation, like there's,
there's some holes in this gapand yeah, it started as a daycare.
Yeah, but you've found a passionwithin this and this is what happens.
Like whether you stick with podcasting,you stick with your business, you'll
(26:01):
find that passion that'll drive you.
So I'm excited again,something bigger than yourself.
And then what, what we had spokenabout was the whole, the whole pandemic
babies and how that's been affecting,you know, I think so many parents are
not even aware that their children are.
A lot more behind than they need to be.
I've got, I've had to changethe way my business runs.
(26:24):
And we had mentioned this where,you know, and I don't know how many
businesses are still adapting whatthey need to adapt to accommodate.
But for me being in the earlychildhood space, I see so many children
that are so far behind right now.
And this is something thatI'm busy researching as to.
Get to the core reasons why these threeand four year olds are not potty trained,
(26:47):
not speaking, pointing and granting toget things that I have had to adjust my
school's enrollment and the way we dothings and set up classes differently.
To accommodate all these kidsthat are three and four years old.
I'm not having to have a whole classroomjust for the therapist because we have
so many therapists coming in, that we,we actually have to have a separate
(27:11):
room for the therapist to be in.
and just to help these kids, butthat one hour a week is not helping.
We need the parents to join this, to, tojoin this whole, The whole effort to get
our pandemic babies back where they needto be because we need to fix this before
that they become adults, you know, andso that's something I'm really excited
(27:33):
to start working with you on as to helpme to, to start finalizing, you know, all
those discussions and getting in frontof the right people and everything like
that, because it's just, nobody's talkingabout the pandemic babies right now.
Or the pandemic parents, quite frankly.
And then, but it's also notjust limited to kids that
were born during the pandemic.
(27:54):
It's like, there's been a shift.
Since then, since then in the way thatpeople are parenting and what that
is attributed to is a whole notherstory, but, but the thing, the main
thing is that you kept showing upand you kept leaning in and you're
like, now that I've created space, Isee a hole that needs to be filled.
Then and you're figuring out a way toput that in there and that's what I want
(28:17):
people to take away is like, yes, it takesgrit and like what you start with isn't
necessarily where you're going to go.
There will be pieces that willbranch out that you'll be fine.
That unique thing.
Like people think it's like, I waslike, podcasting is a healing modality.
Everyone's like, what, what?
Like, no, it's a business tool.
I'm like, no, it's a healing modality.
(28:37):
And that's like, as I'm leaning in,I'm leaning more into that because I
truly do believe it's like a healingmodality that can build an entire
business and a whole entire life.
Absolutely.
I wouldn't have met you.
I wouldn't have gone to the mastermind.
I wouldn't have gone through my whole,I've been on this journey of self
discovery and just raising, holdingmyself to a higher standard, but.
(29:00):
Starting to do the work,which is ridiculous.
Cause I'm almost 50 years old, butwhat I, the work I thought I was doing.
And then when I went to the mastermind,I'm like, where did that come from?
There's obviously still a whole bunchof work that I need to be doing that
I wasn't even aware of, but it'sso important to, again, start the
conversations, get in the right room,surround yourself with the right people.
(29:23):
I do think it's very importantthat we keep things authentic.
I think there's so much fakeness outthere that, and especially there's,
there's this cultural thing thatpeople aren't being authentic anymore.
And I'm somebody who very fewpeople feel ambivalent towards.
Like you're either going to loveme or you're going to hate me.
And I'm okay with that either way.
(29:43):
And for me to say that has come such along way, because there was a time where
if you just looked at me the wrong way,I would just crumble and cower and they
don't like me and they don't love me.
And now I think that's one of thegreat things my business taught me was.
Also to get that little bit of a thickskin, but, you know, and everybody, and
it doesn't, it's not just pertaining tobusiness owners, either the podcasting
really can be such a healing modality.
(30:05):
And it's almost like, um, you know,hearing what you need to hear.
And it's funny how, what you canhear on that podcast that day will.
Spark a thought or will be exactlywhat you were meditating on the
night or praying for whatever.
So, and like you said, Jen, like, youknow, your, your, a podcast that you
heard was literally life changing for you.
(30:28):
And this podcast that I heardwas life changing for me.
I got to meet you.
I got to meet so many other cool people.
And it's, it really, a life, itreally was as life changing for me.
Had it not been for the podcast, Iwouldn't have, you know, Been here, you
know, so I think it's very underratedand I love that you're Making people
so much more aware of it, you know?
(30:51):
Yeah.
Cause so many people listen and it'slike, we, we just, we need to realize
how much of an impact that listening is.
So if people want to continuethe conversation with you,
where can we find you?
Like, where can peoplecome hang out with you?
Right now I'm on Tik Tok,
, ChanelBurger1 and then on Instagram it'schanelvj2 and I'll make sure to get those
(31:17):
in the show notes So that you can clickand go because we like it easy peasy
lemon squeezy around here Thank you.
And then chanelvj2 at gmail.
com.
I also do a little bit of educational,you know continuing education
credits and things like thatfor the state of South Carolina.
So I'm excited for all ofthat training to be done too.
(31:40):
So they can, you just emailme at chanelvj2 at gmail.
com.
I love that.
So if someone was to walk away withone little nugget, what do you want
our final nugget to be that we share?
Ooh, gin.
It's such a cliche to say,don't give up, but, you know,
I, ooh, Jen, that's a hard one.
(32:03):
Suck the marrow out of life.
Give it your best shot.
You know, even if you shoot, you know,if you shoot for the moon, you're
still going to land among the stars.
And if you look at any situation as Icannot fail at this because I'm either
going to win or I'm going to learn toquote Nelson Mandela, which I quoted
in my last podcast, I've got to stopdoing that, but I truly live by that.
(32:26):
If I look at every situation thathappens to me as either a lesson that
I've learned or a win, you can't lose.
So just do it.
Do that thing that's been scaring you.
Do it.
Dive in, make that connection, follow up.
If, if there is a thought in your head,like I've been consistently, you know,
reaching out to you and to all the othercool ladies that I met, and usually I
(32:48):
would have just let it go, but you know,
Suck the marrow out of life.
Give it your best shot.
You know, even if you shoot, you know,if you shoot for the moon, you're
still going to land among the stars.
And if you look at any situation as Icannot fail at this because I'm either
going to win or I'm going to learn toquote Nelson Mandela, which I quoted
in my last podcast, I've got to stopdoing that, but I truly live by that.
(00:23):
If I look at every situation thathappens to me as either a lesson that
I've learned or a win, you can't lose.
So just do it.
Do that thing that's been scaring you.
Do it.
Dive in,
I am so excited to do another YourPodcast is Someone's Life Raft
interview because this is whatBeyond the Downloads is all about.
(00:45):
We're talking about the stories of howwe got here, because that's the truth
of what podcasting is truly about.
Yes.
We want to make money.
We want to do all the things,but sharing our story is what's
going to keep you motivated.
So welcome.
Welcome.
Welcome.
So happy to be here.
So we got to meet in person,which is my new favorite thing.
(01:07):
I thought I hated people, meeting peoplein person, but I actually love it.
So new gen.
Hello.
Hi.
But we were doing a littlelike micro interview.
At a beach house in Manhattan Beach, andyou were telling me about your story of
like how you got here and I think that whythis is important and why I want to share
this with the audience is that sometimeswe have to take that leap, whether it's
(01:30):
our podcast, our business, but I wantyou to tell me a little bit about that
juicy story because it's so important.
I was just my jaw hit the floor and I'mlike, no way that was such a brave move.
Like I want it like from thebeginning of where you started,
like share a little bit about that.
That's so sweet of you to say.
And I distinctly rememberyou making me cry with that
(01:50):
one question out of the blue.
One minute, I'm in a great mood.
The next one, I'm like, you know,but, that makes you, what makes
you such a good interviewer.
So it was an impulsive decisionfor me to come to America.
I was in Cape town.
I'm originally from South Africa,so I was in Cape town on, a holiday
(02:11):
and I met these people at a barbecueand they like, Oh, you're great.
I was just playing with thebaby, you know, like, Oh,
you're so great with the kids.
Do you want to come to America?
We need a nanny for three months.
And I was like, Sure, I'm not doinganything the next three months.
I just got in my degree incommunication of all things with
the minor in, industrial psychology.
So nothing to do with kidsbecause, I've like, I'm.
(02:34):
I'm now five generations deep teachers.
Like I'm a fifth generationteacher in education.
So both my parents were teachers as well.
So I never, I was trying to bethe business woman other way.
And then this just.
Kind of happened.
And then, they landed up payingfor my ticket to come to America.
I learned 250 from my mom.
(02:55):
I'd only met these peopleone time at a barbecue.
And I remember landing in the Jacksonvilleairport, which I now know was the
completely wrong airport to book myflight into because they were in Savannah.
But I remember not even knowinghow to use the pay phone.
Like I didn't know I had to dialthe one before, and it, it was So
(03:15):
lots of things had to fall in place.
And I, you say that I'm brave and Iappreciate the compliment, but I don't
know if I had known that I was cominghere, like permanently, if I'd had the
guts to do it, I think it was because Ijust took this impulsive leap to do it.
But in that, it, and itwas really hard, right?
So there were lots of timeswhere I got so, so homesick.
(03:39):
I remember just.
Calling my mom and justbawling my eyes out.
Like I'm so homesick.
I just want to be home.
And she's like, you, you,you got this, you'll be okay.
You know, you have a goodcry and then you carry on.
But I think had I not taken thatleap and had it not paid off for
me the way it did, I think it gaveme, I think it gave me more of the
(04:00):
guts to pursue my own business.
When I had the opportunity to do that andI was the single mom and Had this, brand
new little baby and I was working retailFor a horrible boss at the time I mean, I
would just like get the pit in my stomachlike I've had horrible boss bosses, right?
(04:20):
And I think you can only appreciate agood boss once you've had a bad one but
I remember having to drop my daughter off.
And at that time in our area, therewas literally only two daycares, right?
And this place has since closed down,but my daughter never took a pacifier.
The first day I came to pick herup, she had a pacifier in her mouth.
I just didn't believe in that.
(04:42):
For many reasons, it's not good foryour children to have pacifiers.
But then there were like cockroachesrunning around and I was like, Oh my gosh.
So I called my mom and she waslike, so she loaned me the
money to start the daycare.
And, , then the recessionhit three months after.
So I quit my job.
And I was trying to, and they were like,Oh, it's going to be a turnkey business.
Don't worry about it.
(05:02):
It's already been a daycare.
It was a 9, 000 square foot building.
Was the only building that Icould, that I could find to lease.
Right.
And, 9, 000 square feet.
I'm thinking, I don't evenhave one child enrolled yet.
So it was one of those like build itand they will come situations, you know?
And again, it was this huge leap.
And at that point, I had gottenmarried and my husband was like,
(05:25):
okay, I'll support you go ahead and,and do this, you know, and, Yeah.
So, and then as fate would have it,it wasn't just a turnkey easy thing.
It took nine months to getthrough the red tape, right?
Because all these things poppedup, especially with daycares.
There's so many more laws and.
(05:46):
Rules and regulations and thetwo agencies don't always agree.
So when DHEC comes, you fix this quickly.
And when DSS is there, you changeit back to this, you know, so you've
got to sort of keep all of them.
But I didn't know whatI didn't know back then.
And anyway, so I'm rambling on.
But yeah, so it was just really,and I took all these chances
(06:07):
on a whim and they've paid off.
There's been some chances I've takenthat haven't paid off all that great,
but so far I've been very, very luckyand very, very blessed, but I don't
think we can ever achieve great thingsin our lives if we're not willing
to take the great risks, right?
So going out to the mastermindwas a huge risk for me.
I stepped out of my comfort zone so much.
(06:29):
And I was literally praying about it.
I was like, I don't know if Ihave the finances right now.
Well, God just deposited the moneyinto my bank account the next morning.
And then she was like, well,you know, she said things on the
podcast and I was like, Oh my gosh,everything's pointing me there.
And then I was like, Oh, great.
I met people like you.
I met so many other wonderfulbusiness owners there.
(06:50):
I got to go on my first podcast.
Just by people being amazing.
And then you are now getting me soexcited about the podcast industry
and hearing what you've had to say.
And so I think, yeah, you've mademe really excited about podcasting.
So I appreciate that.
As I call it podcasting, butnobody understands what I'm
saying when I'd say that.
So podcast.
(07:12):
But I love that there's like, there'sso many little pieces to pick out, but,
but podcasters, as you're listening tothis, I want you to, to hear that you
said because of the podcast, it madeyou feel the confidence to do that.
I don't want to focus on that, but I,as, as a show for podcasters, I want you
to know why I'm sharing these stories.
It's because of little nuggets like that.
(07:34):
So you took these, this giant leap.
You moved to another country.
Then you're like, I'm going tohave this 9, 000 square foot space.
Like I'm looking around my house andI'm like, okay, my house is tiny.
Like this would be like nine of my houses.
This, this house is a lot of children.
So you weren't startinglike your normal home.
(07:59):
I'm going to put fivekids in my living room.
Like this was like a center, correct?
A commercial center.
And we were licensed for 212 students.
I never like reached the fullcapacity because that's just
like jamming them in there.
But yeah, like I, Istarted with zero kids.
(08:19):
When I, because yeah, when Ifirst opened up, I had no kids
and then I enrolled, so Seven.
So I opened up the schoolwith seven children.
I was doing all the cooking, all thecleaning, looking after the kids.
Like I would be on the phone doingnew enrollments and I'm busy cooking.
And like, yeah, we're great.
We're, you know, our teachers are awesome.
And like, meanwhile, it'sme and one other person.
(08:42):
Like I really just baked untilI made it, you know what I mean?
And.
Slowly, but surely like the lifeI have now is so, so different to
how it was those first couple ofyears, because they were really hard.
Like it, it entrepreneurship pushesyou into, whoo, again, it was a
huge, it was a huge, Confidenceleap, but again, not confidence leap.
(09:06):
It was a huge trust leap, right?
Or huge trust fall asPink says, trust fall.
But both of them came with a lot oflike pain and, and like tears and
stuff at the same time too, you know?
So it's like, um, I was talkingto somebody about what, what
makes you different is likethe grit that you have when.
Hard things happen.
So, but yeah, I didn't just go small.
(09:29):
Like I didn't just start like normalpeople would with a home daycare and
then build that into something bigger.
No, I was like, just buildit and they will come.
And they did slowly, but surely.
And I think that's a lesson that somany of us need to learn is like.
We see so much insta gratification,like if we looked at you now,
(09:50):
like, I think this is why we needto have these conversations is
we look at somebody right now.
It looks like, oh, she built this.
She, she was able to have the9000 square feet, blah, blah.
But it's like, no, you said itwas nine months of red tape.
Well, podcaster while you're whenyou're thinking about this, like, yeah.
Yeah, your podcast is going totake the same amount of time.
(10:11):
Anything you truly want.
You have to take that leap of faith andyou have to give it time because if,
if in one month you didn't jump throughall those hoops, like you wouldn't have
been able to get to where you are now.
That's so true.
And I think you and I were talkingabout this before, this, the podcast
was that it is something that youcan't expect to see very quick results
(10:34):
with, like it's the same thing.
Like anything worthwhile in thislife takes a little bit of sacrifice,
takes a whole chunk of commitment,anything worthwhile in this life, you
know, so I think, , but podcasting isa great way, especially for people.
I feel like me, I am stillgetting used to being visible.
Like the first, like I said, I just didmy first podcast and I'm very grateful
(10:58):
to Barbara for allowing me to be on herawesome podcast, but I, they put the
video camera on me and I was like, Oh,I look terrible, please turn it off.
I can't concentrate, you know?
And, so I think the podcasting isa great way for people to be able to
talk without that additional pressure,you know, and, um, Especially when
they're authentic, like you are.
(11:19):
I don't think I would enjoy podcaststhat are more out for that's just
me personally, but you, you're veryreal and you're very authentic.
And I think, , I think podcasting isvery underrated and I think what you're
doing is great because, you get, I,I didn't know the value of podcasting
until you told me that and how many,you know, podcasts fail and all of this.
(11:40):
And so it really is importantto, to get somebody.
Like you who knows what they're doing,you know, but you mentioned grit, you
know, and I think that's something thatas a podcast or as a business owner, as
anybody who wants to do something that'soutside of the, you know, what society
tells us to do, that's like what we need.
So I want to know, like, how, So whenyou open this, the staycare center,
(12:04):
and now that you're, you're going to behelping others like with early childhood
development and all these things, yes,I just called it all out for you, but,
uh, like it, there's moments that wereon the floor and those moments when it
were those tear moments, there's so manypeople that throw it away at that point.
(12:25):
Like what was that grit thathelped you kept pushing forward?
It's, it's a combination of two things.
One, my faith.
Because I don't know people whodon't have something to believe in.
That's bigger than them.
I don't know what theydo in those moments.
Right.
But let's take that awaybecause I do stand on my faith.
(12:47):
And, , as a Christian, I do believethat God's got a purpose for absolutely
everything that's happening in my life,but whatever your higher power, whatever
it is, I, everybody believes in somethinggreater than themselves or should, if they
don't, but so that was the one thing, butthe other thing too was, you know, my mom.
Was a single mom and she's a phenomenallydynamic woman and she made other people
(13:09):
a lot of money in her life, but my mom,but she would have been, if she ever
had the opportunities that she gave me.
There's no telling where she would bein this world because she taught me
the importance of, you know, having agood cry, then putting on your big girl
pants, and we dust ourselves off, and weget back up, and we put a smile on our
(13:30):
face, and we push our shoulders back,and we smile through it, and before you
know it, you're gonna be feeling better.
So it's just about getting backup, and I think that's a General
theme that most entrepreneurs,it sounds like a bit of a cliche.
Like when you get pushed down, youjust got to get back up, but there's
so many entrepreneurs that fail.
It's just that we're, we're persistentin, in continuing to do what we do.
(13:53):
But I also talk about the early childhood.
One thing that I'm tryingto work on is, , one.
Or one area that I'm researchingright now, and I'll probably publish
a book in it, but it was about, howdo we teach our children grit?
Because if you talk to anyentrepreneur, it comes down to the grit.
Do you have the grit?
Do you have the, are you the willingto make the sacrifices to keep
(14:16):
your eye on the prize, to pushthrough the difficult times, to
deal with the knocks to your ego?
Like it's, there's a lot ofego deaths that happen too.
And.
You lose a lot of friends in the process.
You learn that your employees will turnon you in a heartbeat or people you feel
like there's not one entrepreneur thatwill tell you I've had a great experience
and nobody's hurt me in business.
(14:38):
That if they do, they're lying to youbecause like you will cry, but it's, but
you've got to, you've got, I think alsothe other thing, Jane is the purpose.
Like I, God knew to set things up theway that they, way he did, because I knew
that it was those kids that needed me.
It was the, the parents and thegrandparents that were raising
(14:59):
their babies and I, I was.
Serving a purpose thatwas bigger than just me.
And I think that's what made me get up.
And then also in the midst of all ofthis, like I was questioning whether
or not I should be doing all of thisbecause I was like, Oh yeah, great.
I can just lay back.
My husband's got me untilI get this off the ground.
Well, he lost his job two months in.
(15:20):
, so we were both without a job and at onepoint we were on food stamps till I got
the school up and going, you know, likeit was hard at one point I was paying
my staff before I was paying myself.
Like I've been poor, poor, you know,like get your kids piggy bank to eat
poor, but you have to go through that.
And for me now to go grocery shopping andnot have to Calculate, use the calculator.
(15:46):
That to me is huge.
We were just talking about that too.
Like I don't need to be uber wealthy.
I find so much joy in like the little, itwould be nice to be uber wealthy, but I
think it's really important that you findyour joy in the little things in life too.
Otherwise all the money in the world'snot going to make a difference.
Right.
So there's a, I've completely veered offthe topic, but I love this conversation.
(16:09):
And I love this conversation becauseI think there was one thing that
you said early on is that you, youcry and then dust yourself off.
And I think so many of us.
Choose to one over set in the cry orto ignore the cry and just let's power
through, let's power through until yourbody's like, this can't happen anymore.
(16:30):
So I think that that's like a reallyvaluable lesson that you were taught.
Is that like, sometimes you haveto go through that ego death.
You have to go throughthat cry and it's okay.
It's okay to be not okay.
And I think that as entrepreneurs andwhat we see online and what we hear is
like, we, You know, you've, we've allheard it, it's the, it's the Instagram.
(16:53):
It's the, it's the highlightreel of people's lives.
Like let's normalize the factthat like, it sucks sometimes.
Yeah.
And I think it's also, like, it's soimportant to have at least one or two
people in your corner that you cantrust, and especially my best friend,
Faye, she's a phenomenally successfulbusiness woman and she, like there were
(17:15):
many days where she had to like walk me.
Off of the edge where Iwas like, I've had it.
I'm closing it down.
I don't care.
And she's like, just breathe.
Don't make any decisions in a stateof emotional terrorists, you know?
And I'm glad I didn't give up.
But, um, and it's also like, this issomething that I was called to do.
I never went out looking for it, you know?
(17:37):
And I think once you, and that, oh,I forgot to tell you that story in
the middle of like this opening up tome coming to America was I had just
finished studying in South Africa.
I had the, I had.
Two job offers, or I could continue tocontinue my studies and get my master's.
And I was literally at a pointwhere I was like, God, I need
(17:58):
your direction in my life.
Like whatever you want to dowith my life, go ahead, take it.
I just need to know what I'm doing.
Like, show me where to go.
And literally a barbecue turned into.
You know, this whole other life inAmerica that I never even considered
would be a possibility for me andeverything that fell into place.
Same thing with going to the mastermind.
(18:20):
Same thing with my school, likeshow me, show me, show me, and the
universe will show you, you know?
And also I'm a huge believer inmanifestation and like putting what
you want up on somewhere visually andmaking yourself remember why you're
doing what you're doing, becauseyou're not strong enough in your own.
Thank you.
Strength , but we all think we are.
(18:42):
Yeah.
But we all, but all ofus reach burnout though.
We keep going, going, going, going.
And we don't take the timeto take care of ourselves.
And that's only something that Ilearned after I had a nervous breakdown.
You know what I mean?
Like you only learn that.
After you haven't taken care ofyourself and your health starts taking
a dive, then you're like, Oh, I shouldhave been taking care of myself.
And then it's too late, you know?
(19:04):
Yeah.
And it's hard.
Like you said, you openedyour school with seven people.
Like if we relate that to podcasting,it's like, okay, maybe you only have
seven listeners and you're pouringyour heart and soul into something.
It's like, it's hard.
Like, whether we're talking aboutpodcasting or opening up a daycare
center, that's 9, 000 square feet.
(19:25):
Oh my God, that's such abig set with 200 plus kids.
I'm like, holy crap.
My brain is still trying to compute that,but it's like, and sometimes I walk around
and I'm like, I can't believe that this.
But, but it's so important, especiallythe podcasters, I think, you know,
might get a little bit discouraged.
You were saying there's so many thatjust give up, but I think like, if I'm
(19:49):
not wrong, that's what you were sayingis like, keep, keep at it with the
podcasting, because people are goingto want to hear what you have to say
and it will gain traction eventually.
You know, just like your school did andthat's, that's why this podcast is called
beyond the downloads because we, we,we get so blindsided and like blinders
(20:11):
on like focus, we're doing this and itcan't relate to anything else, but it
really can, like, I relate your sevenkids to seven downloads, like, totally
different because you have like a hugemonetary investment where podcasting is,
is not, It's a big investment if you'regonna do it, but it's not the state.
(20:31):
It's the same, same, but different.
Right?
And I think that the main thinghere is like to be able to have the
meltdowns, pick yourself up, moveforward and, and let things blossom.
Because before we started thisinterview, we were like, well,
what, what are we doing now?
You know, like, I, like, I wantto know, like, what, what's next?
You know, like we had thisbig school, like, what's next?
(20:53):
What do you want to do?
And I think that that's the beautifulthing about podcasting and sharing
your story is that as you share,look at all the things that came out.
So during our conversation, like, Youstarted talking about some, a current
thing that's going on, whether youwant to share that or not, I'll let
you share that, but it's somethingthat needs to be spoken about.
(21:15):
So how do we share those stories?
Like, how do we have the faith that aswe have the seven kids in our school,
that more are going to come, you know,I think, I think one of the things is.
I want to say believing in yourself,but there've been so many times where
I haven't believed in myself, you know?
(21:37):
And so I think, there's a lot to be saidfor just, I mean, there've been times in
my life where it's just been coming at mefrom all directions where, I literally
woke up and cried for the first hour.
And before I went to work,and at that point in time,
I didn't have support staff.
So I was working from 6 a.
(21:58):
m.
to 6 p.
m., just exhausted by the time I got home.
My quality of life was absolutely nothing.
And so when anybody gives me a hardtime now about working as much as
I feel like, or showing up at theschool whenever I feel like, I'm like,
I'm like, Hey, don't, don't forget.
I've paid my dues.
I've put in the work and now I getto reap the benefits, which is great.
18 years later, but it's 18 yearslater, you know, and I, I'm, I, I was
(22:23):
just blessed that my business was ableto survive, but I think it's a lot of
times you've got to look at just don'tfocus on the big picture when you get.
And I think you and Iwere talking about that.
I'm at one of those places inmy life again, where I'm like,
show me where to go next, becauseI'm going in all these different
directions and I'm really strugglingwith getting the clarity on that.
(22:46):
So I know that I want to be able to helpother daycare centers or people that
are thinking about opening up a daycare.
I'd love to consult with themone on one to be able to help
them through the entire process.
I'm talking.
You know, because I didn'thave anybody that was like,
this is who you call for that.
This is who you call for that.
Here's where you start.
These are the things you need to look at.
(23:07):
I didn't have any of that.
And most of the states have technicalassistance, but they would only
specialize in what their department does.
Nobody brings it all together for youas a brand new daycare owner, unless
you're willing to pay twice as much for,you know, the, uh, what do you call it?
When they have, what do you call it?
Like a franchise type thing?
Yeah.
For the franchises, , but you don'tneed to pay all that franchise money.
(23:29):
You just need to hire a good consultant,but I didn't have the money back
then, and there were mistakes that Imade in the, in the early stages of
my business, which also relates topodcasting, because, you know, And that's
what we were talking about ahead oftime was like, I need to look at what
you're investing in the podcasting.
You need to look and look atthat as your initial investment.
(23:50):
So if you're podcasting consultant iscosting you 700 a month, that is just
part of your overhead on building yourbrand or building your, and I think
also what's great with the podcastingis you can literally take one episode.
And like you had mentioned earlier,there's so many things that you can pull
out from it and create more podcasts andgo in all these different directions.
(24:15):
I think it's very valuable to havesomebody like you that helps people
navigate this whole, because it's,it's a very, somebody said to me
the other day, what is the podcast?
Like there's so many people thatstill, and they're like our age.
And I was like.
How are the people that don'tknow what podcasting is?
You know, like,
(24:35):
so it's, it's valuable tostart the conversations.
And that's it right there.
It's the conversations, which is why,like, I'm so excited about like you
wanting to shift the conversation.
You're like, I built theschool it's running, it's done.
It's like, I can, I can show up when,but where can I, you know, and for when
(24:57):
we had the conversation, it's not like,Where can I build this so that I can
make all this money so I can have all theflashy things and like, you know, do all
the things, which let me tell you someof the behind the scenes things, like.
It's not, don't always believewhat you see online, like, don't
do it, but I think that that's it.
(25:17):
It's the conversations, likehaving a place where you can
have a true conversation.
And that's the beautyof podcasting, right?
Is it's, it's an intimate conversationbecause you're with somebody who's,
you know, Going for a walk, washingthe dishes on a way driving.
So they're doing these tasks that are kindof putting them in a meditative state.
So you can have this ability to makethe power and with what you want to help
(25:41):
with, because again, I'm not going toshare what you're, what we were talking
about, unless you wanted to share.
But like, as we were havingthis conversation, like there's,
there's some holes in this gapand yeah, it started as a daycare.
Yeah, but you've found a passionwithin this and this is what happens.
Like whether you stick with podcasting,you stick with your business, you'll
(26:01):
find that passion that'll drive you.
So I'm excited again,something bigger than yourself.
And then what, what we had spokenabout was the whole, the whole pandemic
babies and how that's been affecting,you know, I think so many parents are
not even aware that their children are.
A lot more behind than they need to be.
I've got, I've had to changethe way my business runs.
(26:24):
And we had mentioned this where,you know, and I don't know how many
businesses are still adapting whatthey need to adapt to accommodate.
But for me being in the earlychildhood space, I see so many children
that are so far behind right now.
And this is something thatI'm busy researching as to.
Get to the core reasons why these threeand four year olds are not potty trained,
(26:47):
not speaking, pointing and granting toget things that I have had to adjust my
school's enrollment and the way we dothings and set up classes differently.
To accommodate all these kidsthat are three and four years old.
I'm not having to have a whole classroomjust for the therapist because we have
so many therapists coming in, that we,we actually have to have a separate
(27:11):
room for the therapist to be in.
and just to help these kids, butthat one hour a week is not helping.
We need the parents to join this, to, tojoin this whole, The whole effort to get
our pandemic babies back where they needto be because we need to fix this before
that they become adults, you know, andso that's something I'm really excited
(27:33):
to start working with you on as to helpme to, to start finalizing, you know, all
those discussions and getting in frontof the right people and everything like
that, because it's just, nobody's talkingabout the pandemic babies right now.
Or the pandemic parents, quite frankly.
And then, but it's also notjust limited to kids that
were born during the pandemic.
(27:54):
It's like, there's been a shift.
Since then, since then in the way thatpeople are parenting and what that
is attributed to is a whole notherstory, but, but the thing, the main
thing is that you kept showing upand you kept leaning in and you're
like, now that I've created space, Isee a hole that needs to be filled.
Then and you're figuring out a way toput that in there and that's what I want
(28:17):
people to take away is like, yes, it takesgrit and like what you start with isn't
necessarily where you're going to go.
There will be pieces that willbranch out that you'll be fine.
That unique thing.
Like people think it's like, I waslike, podcasting is a healing modality.
Everyone's like, what, what?
Like, no, it's a business tool.
I'm like, no, it's a healing modality.
(28:37):
And that's like, as I'm leaning in,I'm leaning more into that because I
truly do believe it's like a healingmodality that can build an entire
business and a whole entire life.
Absolutely.
I wouldn't have met you.
I wouldn't have gone to the mastermind.
I wouldn't have gone through my whole,I've been on this journey of self
discovery and just raising, holdingmyself to a higher standard, but.
(29:00):
Starting to do the work,which is ridiculous.
Cause I'm almost 50 years old, butwhat I, the work I thought I was doing.
And then when I went to the mastermind,I'm like, where did that come from?
There's obviously still a whole bunchof work that I need to be doing that
I wasn't even aware of, but it'sso important to, again, start the
conversations, get in the right room,surround yourself with the right people.
(29:23):
I do think it's very importantthat we keep things authentic.
I think there's so much fakeness outthere that, and especially there's,
there's this cultural thing thatpeople aren't being authentic anymore.
And I'm somebody who very fewpeople feel ambivalent towards.
Like you're either going to loveme or you're going to hate me.
And I'm okay with that either way.
(29:43):
And for me to say that has come such along way, because there was a time where
if you just looked at me the wrong way,I would just crumble and cower and they
don't like me and they don't love me.
And now I think that's one of thegreat things my business taught me was.
Also to get that little bit of a thickskin, but, you know, and everybody, and
it doesn't, it's not just pertaining tobusiness owners, either the podcasting
really can be such a healing modality.
(30:05):
And it's almost like, um, you know,hearing what you need to hear.
And it's funny how, what you canhear on that podcast that day will.
Spark a thought or will be exactlywhat you were meditating on the
night or praying for whatever.
So, and like you said, Jen, like, youknow, your, your, a podcast that you
heard was literally life changing for you.
(30:28):
And this podcast that I heardwas life changing for me.
I got to meet you.
I got to meet so many other cool people.
And it's, it really, a life, itreally was as life changing for me.
Had it not been for the podcast, Iwouldn't have, you know, Been here, you
know, so I think it's very underratedand I love that you're Making people
so much more aware of it, you know?
(30:51):
Yeah.
Cause so many people listen and it'slike, we, we just, we need to realize
how much of an impact that listening is.
So if people want to continuethe conversation with you,
where can we find you?
Like, where can peoplecome hang out with you?
Right now I'm on Tik Tok,
, ChanelBurger1 and then on Instagram it'schanelvj2 and I'll make sure to get those
(31:17):
in the show notes So that you can clickand go because we like it easy peasy
lemon squeezy around here Thank you.
And then chanelvj2 at gmail.
com.
I also do a little bit of educational,you know continuing education
credits and things like thatfor the state of South Carolina.
So I'm excited for all ofthat training to be done too.
(31:40):
So they can, you just emailme at chanelvj2 at gmail.
com.
I love that.
So if someone was to walk away withone little nugget, what do you want
our final nugget to be that we share?
Ooh, gin.
It's such a cliche to say,don't give up, but, you know,
I, ooh, Jen, that's a hard one.
(32:03):
Suck the marrow out of life.
Give it your best shot.
You know, even if you shoot, you know,if you shoot for the moon, you're
still going to land among the stars.
And if you look at any situation as Icannot fail at this because I'm either
going to win or I'm going to learn toquote Nelson Mandela, which I quoted
in my last podcast, I've got to stopdoing that, but I truly live by that.
(32:26):
If I look at every situation thathappens to me as either a lesson that
I've learned or a win, you can't lose.
So just do it.
Do that thing that's been scaring you.
Do it.
Dive in, make that connection, follow up.
If, if there is a thought in your head,like I've been consistently, you know,
reaching out to you and to all the othercool ladies that I met, and usually I
(32:48):
would have just let it go, but you know,
Popular Podcasts
On Purpose with Jay Shetty
I’m Jay Shetty host of On Purpose the worlds #1 Mental Health podcast and I’m so grateful you found us. I started this podcast 5 years ago to invite you into conversations and workshops that are designed to help make you happier, healthier and more healed. I believe that when you (yes you) feel seen, heard and understood you’re able to deal with relationship struggles, work challenges and life’s ups and downs with more ease and grace. I interview experts, celebrities, thought leaders and athletes so that we can grow our mindset, build better habits and uncover a side of them we’ve never seen before. New episodes every Monday and Friday. Your support means the world to me and I don’t take it for granted — click the follow button and leave a review to help us spread the love with On Purpose. I can’t wait for you to listen to your first or 500th episode!
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com