ChildCare Conversations
Childcare Conversations was founded by cousins Kate Woodward Young, M.Ed., PCC, and Carrie Casey, MBA, to create practical, honest conversations about the real business and leadership challenges facing early childhood professionals. Today, the podcast is hosted by Kate Woodward Young and features childcare owners, directors, experts, and industry leaders talking about leadership, staffing, enrollment, finances, systems, growth, and the everyday decisions behind stronger early childhood programs. With hundreds of episodes and voices from across the field, Childcare Conversations helps early childhood leaders ask better questions, find practical ideas and trusted resources, and make better decisions for their businesses, programs, teams, children, and families. Real people. Practical ideas. Better decisions.
Episodes
What happens when you find a preschool franchise that actually fits your educational philosophy and business goals? Amber Stravlo shares how choosing Ivybrook Academy helped her grow enrollment from 40 to 162 children in one year while building a school centered on individualized learning, strong relationships, and family trust.
Kate Woodward Young talks with Amber about preschool franchising, childcare business grow...
What if the stress and overwhelm you’re carrying isn’t just stress but unresolved grief? Grief recovery specialist Vickie Hagedorn joins Kate for a powerful conversation about how grief can show up far beyond death or divorce, especially during major life transitions like retirement, menopause, moving, job loss, empty nesting, and children starting school.
Vickie shares practical tools for grief recovery,...
What does co-regulation really look like when a classroom is chaotic, and everyone is overwhelmed? Kate Woodward Young talks with Camille from Strengthen Hands about self-regulation, emotional development, behavior support, and social-emotional learning in early childhood. They explore how educators can respond in those critical moments with connection and intention instead of simply telling children to “calm ...
What if your next growth move isn’t another childcare location—but a whole new business model? Krisana Puccio shares how Pineapple School grew from one bilingual, family-centered child care program into a three-campus operation with a franchise strategy designed for sustainable growth.
Kate Woodward Young and Krisana explore childcare expansion, franchising, business systems, EOS, leadership, and scalable...
What should every childcare owner know before signing a lease or starting a build-out? Kate Woodward Young talks with Mary Hornbeck, a Kansas City childcare operator who grew from one classroom to four locations, about childcare facility leases, landlord negotiations, build-outs, expansion, and protecting your budget.
Mary shares hard-earned lessons on negotiating long-term leases, rent-free months, build-out costs, ...
Networking isn’t just about collecting contacts; it’s about building real relationships that lead to trust, referrals, and opportunity. Kate Woodward Young and Tiffany Mason share practical strategies for networking, relationship building, local marketing, and business growth, including how to make meaningful connections in person and follow up in a way people remember.
Whether you’re an early child...
What if your staffing problem isn’t a hiring problem; it’s a leadership and retention problem? Kate Woodward Young and Erica Saccoccio explore how childcare directors and owners can recognize hidden leaders, strengthen staff development, and build a pipeline of future leaders from within their own teams.
From onboarding and teacher buddies to meaningful recognition, professional development, and successio...
What does it really take to grow a childcare organization without losing the systems, staff support, and community connection that make it successful? Dr. Jason Lody shares how Aventus grew from zero to 21 schools across six states, and the technology, operations, and strategy required to scale sustainably.
Kate Woodward Young and Jason explore childcare expansion, multi-site operations, acquisitions, technology, sta...
Why does Gen Z leave childcare, and what can leaders do differently to make them want to stay? Kate Woodward Young and Marie Young share an honest mother-daughter conversation about Gen Z staff retention, onboarding, leadership, communication, and workplace culture in early childhood education.
From handling difficult conversations to matching teachers with their strengths and passions, they explore practical ways ch...
What if we stopped waiting for a diagnosis before supporting a child who needs help? Stephanie Corley joins Kate Woodward Young to explore early intervention, developmental concerns, exceptionalities, and supporting children in early childhood education. They discuss how tools like ASQs and Teaching Strategies GOLD can help educators recognize concerns early, partner with families, and take action without labeling o...
Great teachers don’t automatically become great directors. But too often, they’re promoted into leadership and expected to figure it out on their own. Kate Woodward Young and Carrie Casey explore why early childhood administrator training needs to be built around the real work of leading a childcare center, from budgets and enrollment to hiring, payroll, culture, and business operations.
They dive into th...
What does it take to go from early childhood educator to CEO? Jessica Van Hoose, CEO of The Nest Schools, joins Kate to talk about early childhood leadership, business strategy, personal branding, and executive confidence. They explore why ECE leaders need to understand both quality and the business side of childcare, from operations and financials to revenue and profit.
Jessica shares how mentorship, LinkedIn, execu...
What if the behavior you’re trying to manage isn’t really a child problem—but an environment problem? Kate Woodward Young sits down with Carla Ward, early childhood educator, director, entrepreneur, and host of The Everything EC Podcast, for a candid conversation about challenging the “way we’ve always done it” in early childhood. From creating “yes spaces” that give c...
What happens when the passion that brought you into early childhood education starts to feel like burnout? Kate Woodward Young sits down with LaTroya B. of The Preschool Posse for an honest, energizing conversation about finding your fire again—and realizing you don't have to do this work alone.
They talk burnout, mentorship, leadership, and the kind of practical support educators really need when the pressure ...
In this episode of Childcare Conversations, Kate and Cindy Morgan tackle something every childcare director needs but few actually have: written Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) for staff training and compliance. They dig into why keeping training records organized is such a common violation across states, and how easy it is to lose track of CPR renewals, background checks, and training hours.
They ...
In this episode of Childcare Conversations, Kate Woodward Young drops some serious truth bombs about why handing a new hire a handbook and saying "let us know if you have questions" just doesn't cut it. She breaks down the real difference between orientation, training, and onboarding, and why completing a training checklist doesn't automatically mean someone is competent. Kate walks you through a practical 90-day on...
In this episode of Childcare Conversations, Kate and Erica sit down for a really inspiring chat about what's next when you've spent decades in early childhood education. Erica shares her incredible 27-year journey from furniture sales to childcare director in just four months, to opening her own chain of schools! They dig into recognizing early childhood as a true profession, finding your successor, and exploring ne...
In this episode, you'll meet Danielle, who has spent nearly 35 years in early childhood education, and her story of how she got there is genuinely heartwarming! She sits down to talk about leading multiple childcare centers, the real challenges of managing diverse teams, and why listening to understand beats listening to respond every time.
The big conversation? Switching childcare management software a...
In this episode of Childcare Conversations, Kate sits down with Cindy Morgan from One Place Childcare to dig into a topic every early childhood leader needs to hear — "Change is inevitable. Growth is optional." Cindy shares her incredible journey from family childcare to running a massive nonprofit food program, and now helping centers ditch the paper chaos with smart, cloud-based compliance tools. They get re...
In this episode of Child Care Conversations, Kate chats with Amy Cowan, CEO of Ivy Brook Academy, about her incredible journey from public school teacher to leading a franchise with 60+ locations! Amy shares how a strong female mentor helped shape her leadership style, why saying "yes" to uncomfortable opportunities is where real growth happens, and what it means to be bold but not bossy. Whether you're just startin...
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