Season 5, Episode 7: The Six Professional Pillars of Child Care, with Heather White

Heather White is a multi-site owner who is part of The PREP Schools franchise, and she’s a licensed director and speaker. Finding ways to help fellow child care leaders find joy in their jobs and lives is a huge passion of hers.

In this podcast, Heather shares her six professional pillars of child care success and delves into how each matters in being successful in early childhood education and in being happy leading a program.

Those pillars are: mindset, team, systems, marketing, financial and relational focus. And each has a very different, and very important, role in success!

Learn more about Heather and her work at ThePrepSchools.com or shoot her an email at [e-mail]!

Episode Transcript

SPEAKER_00 (00:00):
Welcome to the Child Care Business Podcast, brought
to you by ProCare Solutions.
This podcast is all about givingchildcare, preschool, daycare,
afterschool, and other earlyeducation professionals a fun

(00:22):
and upbeat way to learn aboutstrategies and inspiration you
can use to thrive.
You'll hear from a variety ofchildcare thought leaders,
including educators, owners, andindustry experts on ways to
innovate to meet the needs ofthe children you serve.
From practical tips for managingoperations to uplifting stories
of transformation and triumph,this podcast will be chock full

(00:45):
of insights you can use to fullyrealize the potential of your
childcare business.
Let's jump in.

SPEAKER_01 (00:53):
Hi everyone and welcome to the Child Care
Business Podcast.
My name is Leah Woodbury.
I'm the head of content here atProCare Solutions and I'm very
happy to have you all join ustoday.
And for this episode, we arethrilled to have Heather White
with us.
She owns three schools in Texasthat are a part of the
PrepSchools franchise and she'sa licensed director and speaker

(01:16):
as well.
Finding ways to help child careleaders find joy in their jobs
and lives is a huge passion ofhers.
And that's what we're going tobe talking about today as she
discusses her six professionalpillars of child care.
So welcome, Heather.
We are so glad you're joiningus.
Thank you so much, Leah.
I'm so honored.

(01:36):
As we get started on today'spodcast, we love getting a
little background about ourguests.
So could you tell us how youbecame involved in ECE and chose
it as your career path?
Yes.
It's so funny.
I always say, you know, toanybody that I'm speaking to,
did it choose you or did youchoose it?
You know, because this isdefinitely a line of work that,

(01:59):
you know, it's not for justcollecting a paycheck.
It's definitely a work of theheart and it's something that
I've done for 25 plus years.
And I just feel like it's mylife work.
I feel like this is where, youknow, there's really a calling
and a pull to changing a staffmember's life, a parent's life,

(02:21):
a child's life, or we're herefor the children.
That's the nucleus of everythingthat we do.
So I'm very, very proud to stilllove what I do at this stage of
my career and am stillteachable, trainable.
I'm still learning so manythings.
And that's a lot about what I'mgoing to talk about today,
actually.
OK, well, then let's getstarted.

(02:42):
So you developed this frameworkfor success in the child care
for child care businesses thatyou call the six professional
pillars of child care.
So before we jump into eachpillars, what led you to create
them?
Well, honestly, I mean, it's theculmination of so many
trainings, just having all ofthat knowledge.

(03:04):
And really, I went to aconference in Chicago, the Child
Care Success Summit, and so manydifferent speakers were there.
It was directed to owners anddirectors.
And it was just so relational tome because thinking about all of
the different things that ittakes really to have a
successful child care, but it's.

(03:26):
that's just like the bigoverview, right?
It takes so many details and somuch time and energy and effort
to get to that amazing spot, youknow, where you've like arrived
and, and you know, your, yourschool is functioning or your
company's thriving.
But I really just kind of took alot of all of the culmination of

(03:47):
training recently because I feellike times have shifted.
We all feel it right.
And it's, I used to kind of wordit differently than I word it
now.
I used to say like, you know,our employees are different.
Our parents are different, but Irealized like we're all humans
and it's together.
Like we are different from a lotof, things that really started

(04:11):
during the pandemic and havekind of morphed into.
So the pillars or the, the, thejust kind of like main frame, I
think is super, super importantfor just a different lens, like
a refresher of like, Oh, okay.
I see how she's explaining.
This goes hand in hand with thisand that goes with that.

(04:31):
So it's like, so that's wherethis arrived.
I will say.
Okay.
Yeah.
So let's break it down and startwith the first pillar, which is
mindset, that every day you havea choice.
What does that mean specificallyfor childcare leaders?
I feel like operationally,directors, it's not a 40-hour

(04:56):
work week.
It's not...
if you're an owner that'sdefinitely in it and involved in
the operations, then, you know,I refer to our teachers, like
they're in the trenches, right?
Our directors are in, they're init, you know, I mean, every
little thing, HR, everythingwith parent concerns, parent
phrases, you know, everythingwith a child that goes on

(05:18):
throughout the day.
It could be a behavior.
All of the things that arethrown at you that are
unexpected, that are just, youknow, I mean, just kind of
changes your and shifts yourmindset of like.
I had such goals today.
I had such priorities today.
And none of that happenedbecause all of these things were
thrown at me all throughout theday.
And that kind of overtook, youknow, as a leader, what each

(05:43):
person wanted or needed or hadto accomplish that day.
And so it's like day after dayafter day of that same feeling
and that same thing happening.
I feel like a level offrustration is It's like a
mountain.
Once it was a little molehill ora grain of sand, and now it's
like a whole thing.

(06:04):
And so where I think aboutmindset, I just know for– I've
used myself as a guinea pig.
I'm going to only speak about myexperiences where mindset has
really, really shifted in somany different areas and mostly–

(06:24):
Directing.
Mostly...
helping my directors that workalongside of me to just have the
proper mindset going into eachday so that you're not
constantly disappointed andyou're not constantly feeling
defeated when you don't get yourto-do list done.
One of the main things I alwaysask everybody that I kind of

(06:46):
promote from within or I helpthem kind of obtain their career
goals.
Okay, what's your system?
How does your mind work best?
Are you a sticky note person?
Are you a legal pad person?
Are you a digital?
Are you tablet?
Or are you like a combination ofall of them?
And you may not realize thatcreates a level of kind of chaos

(07:07):
because you're like, I know Iwrote that down.
I know I saw it.
Where was that?
Because of all the things thatcome at you that are unexpected.
So I think mindset, having thatglass half full mentality, I
think mindset of really likethinking about being present

(07:29):
during conversations so manytimes, I mean, directors,
owners, we're multitaskers.
I mean, you know, it's hard tohave a mind of like being a
single core processor really in,in this line of work, because,
you know, it just, it,unfortunately, it's not like the
phone's ringing, and then anemployee needs you.

(07:49):
And then a child, you know, hasa minor injury.
And then, you know, it's like,nope, it's all happening all at
once.
And so I just really think thatmindset and, and doing the, I
feel like professional growthstarts with personal
development.
And I you know yourself, youknow, like, gosh, I wish I was

(08:12):
positive like her.
I wish she's always happier.
She's always smiling or like I'mdirecting a school just like she
is.
Like, why is her, why does shelook so much like everything's
just so much easier or betterthan I do?
And I just realized like,everything's hard.
Like everything is challenging.
And so if you really, really,really put in some work to

(08:35):
figure out, it's a little bit ofsoul searching, right?
It's a little bit of like, okay,I want to be over here, but
right now I'm stuck here.
What can I do?
Or what do I need to do to getto that more happy, positive
place where I feel like I'mthriving versus surviving?
You know, it's so, so really,you know, with mindset, I

(09:00):
believe every moment you have achoice, you have a choice and
the words that you say, You havea choice in your reaction, your,
your affect, your body language.
I mean, I have big eyes and I amanimated and, you know, it's
hard for me to hide, you know,what I'm thinking and what I'm
feeling.
And I feel like a lot of us arethat way.
Right.
And in this early childhood, youknow, developmental and in our

(09:27):
career path, it's like you'rehaving such deep and large
conversations with everybody.
And if your mindset isn't, kindof right, it's hard to be
present and give the person,it's kind of like reading the
room and listening versushearing.

(09:47):
There's things that I feel likepeople can snuff out if you're
not genuine, if you're notreally focused on them.
And no matter what it is, apaying parent one of your
employees, their need is thebiggest thing.
If they have walked into youroffice, if they have called you,

(10:10):
if they've sent an email, mostpeople expect an immediate
response.
Right.
And so it's like what I thinkit's, it's important for each
person to figure out like wheremindset's concerned, what, what
are the tools that work for youto kind of shift your mindset to
it's kind of like, you know,okay, five seconds ago I was
frustrated.

(10:31):
Now I'm like, hi, you know,someone's in front of me and I'm
like, how are you doing?
And literally a few minutes ago,you were like, oh my gosh, this
day is awful.
You know, how do we, I can'twait for tomorrow.
Tomorrow's going to be a betterday and a new day.
But even thinking that, youknow, is a mindset shift that
can really just kind of help youget through and not just, like I

(10:56):
said, survive, but like, Be thebest version of yourself.
And, you know, I am not tryingto be positive, Patty, like
being unrealistic about, youknow, how it just, I just know
how I used to be.
And I just know that it takeswork.
You don't just arrive at, youknow, a positive mindset.

(11:19):
Every single day, you have toliterally like, you have to kick
out those negative thoughts andthose, you know, frustrating
things that, you know, they'rereal life things that happen,
you know, running a school andbeing a director, being an
owner.
And so, yeah, I mean, that'sjust my take on mindset that
just do what you can personallyto really help you kind of cope

(11:41):
and handle what what comes atyou that's unexpected, that
really changes your mindset inthe moment.
I love that.
And it kind of ties into yournext pillar, the pillar number
two of team.
And you asked that question, areyou a one person show or a team
leader?
Can you talk about that a littlebit?
That's a biggie.
That's a biggie.

(12:02):
Because I will tell you, I am areformed task order.
I was like, nobody can do itlike I can do it.
I do it best.
It's my way.
And what that equals is I don'ttrust.
I don't place value in the skillset that the team members that

(12:24):
work alongside of me bring tothe table.
So really like having some toughyears of like, you know, asking
like, it's the same questionover and over again.
And finally it clicked like, I'mthe common denominator.
Okay.
Like I need a team.
I can't be a one person showevery single person from an, a

(12:44):
director, however your structureis, you know, an owner, a
director, assistant directors,curriculum coordinators, you
know, an office manager, likewhatever your, you know, the
hierarchy of, of your team is,it's a team.
And, you know, there's no letterI in the word team.
And I used to crack up at that,like, that's so corny, you know,

(13:06):
but, it is kind of true you knowi mean it's a we and us type of
thing and so i try to not use iterms as much because you know
it is i i take little credithonestly little credit for the
success of each of my schools igive homage and the praise and

(13:32):
the appreciation Right.

(13:55):
So they look at that class,that's the teaching team that
they rely on each day.
And so then you shift to yourmanagement team, right?
It's called a management teamfor a reason.
And those are the people thatare at the core, the heartbeat
of your school.

(14:16):
Not just running logistics, butthey're literally wiping a
child's tears wiping a staffmember's tears, like listening
to them, whatever, how large orhow small their need is.
But the teaching team looks atthe management team as their
resource for help, theirresource for whatever need they

(14:39):
have for that to be met.
And like that team word, I mean,teamwork makes the dream work.
That is for real.
It's another thing.
you know, cheesy, corny thing tosay, but it really does because
guess what?
In early childhood education,we're also in the customer
service field.

(15:00):
Okay.
And we have a largeresponsibility to show up each
day and to show up as leaders.
I firmly believe in setting thestandard for how you expect your
team to perform.
be to feel and i feel like youknow if you don't have a strong

(15:24):
team if you don't really worktogether it just you can see it
you can feel it it's just it'sthe ick right um i feel like
chemistry within a team is vitalit truly is somebody can be
amazing on paper The whole teamcan be amazing on paper, but if

(15:46):
they don't have the chemistryand they don't form that
connection, that personalconnection, that connection that
keeps them coming back each daybecause they care for a member
of their team.
It's the same with our teachers,you know.
the chemistry, like we can tryto make all your dreams come

(16:07):
true.
Right.
Give you the perfect stage ofdevelopment that you love
working with the perfect shiftthat you, you know, want, you
want to work seven.
Everybody wants to work seven totwo and everybody wants pre-K
or, you know, like it.
So it's like, we can do all ofthat, but if you're unable to
say yes to all the things toevery team member under and

(16:31):
under your team, then it's,There's got to be that give and
take of the foundation of therelationship.
There was trust built.
There was, hey, you know, I hearyou.
I see you.
You know, there's that, youknow, recognition of how each
person in the team feelsappreciated, valued, seen,

(16:51):
heard, respected.
You know, all of those things,they all work hand in hand.
And it starts in there.
the classroom with chemistry ofthe right teachers the
combination you know it's itnever works if there's two hens
in the hen house right um butbut also also really making one
person not feel like they'rebeing bossed by another person

(17:14):
like it's a it's training eventhe teachers to form a team
within their classroom.
And then if you have multipleage groups, like you have two,
three-year-old classes or four,three-year-old classes, like
having them work as a team sothat they can collaborate
together.
You know, there's nothing worsewhen you walk in, not just in a

(17:37):
school, but think about it, aclassroom.
Okay.
And you walk in and you're like,Oh, I could cut the tension with
a knife in here.
Like this doesn't seem fun andjoyful and happy.
Well, I always go back tolooking at the team.
Is there a breakdown somewherewith that unit, that team?
So it's kind of one of the mostimportant things is the team

(18:02):
mentality because everybodybrings strength to a team.
Everybody brings their talentsand the things that they're
passionate about.
If someone's passionate aboutsomething, they typically will
thrive at it and you can see itand feel it and you can feel
their energy.
It just is like, Oh wow.
Okay.
This is amazing.
This is happy.
This is joyful.

(18:23):
But when it's the opposite, it'slike, I think as a leader,
sometimes we have kind of a lensof like what we're doing in that
moment and not really seeinglike, is the team functioning
the way it should?
Is our management team, youknow, kind of, accomplishing all
of the things that need to beaccomplished every hour every

(18:45):
day every week every month everyyear you know um for us we just
sent out parent surveys you knowthat's just such a snapshot of
an overview but we want to knowfrom them like do you feel like
our team our management team isyou know doing a great job for

(19:05):
your child for your family youknow we asked the same about the
teaching team so the word team ijust feel like it just it can't
be a one-person show and it'sit's not i'm as i said i'm a
reformed task order i realizedlong ago that you can't do it
alone no no and it is hard tohand over that control too i

(19:30):
mean i get it it's a hard thingit is It is.
It's like, it's like, how can,it's like, you don't want to
remove the humanness of, becausewhat we do is so relational.
Right.
It's like, but you kind of haveto like, okay, we're a team,
like kind of like get your mindback to mindset, get, get your
mind right.

(19:51):
You know, where, okay, I have ateam.
I need to trust them becausewhen you're a leader that
doesn't trust, then you're, itturns into micromanaging.
And I used to always say, I donot micromanage.
But there were things that I wasdoing that didn't read to me as

(20:12):
if I was micromanaging my team,but they felt micromanaged.
So through some real hardquestions and asking each person
some things, I realized, okay,it's time for me to shift my
mindset around how to be abetter team leader.
So I look at myself as the teamleader because for me, I set the

(20:35):
standard of how I want to modelThe team behavior for each of
them as a director manages amanagement team.
And then teachers, a lot ofschools have a lead teacher,
assistant teacher type ofstructure.
Or what if everybody is equaland co-teaches?

(20:57):
There's still somebody that hasa different skill set than
somebody else.
I mean, that's what makes theworld go round, the differences
within all of us.
But that's also what makes agreat team.
They're just some things tothink about.
And another thing to thinkabout, pillar three is systems.
And you break this down to twoparts, into policies and

(21:20):
procedures.
So what's the difference and whyare these so important?
So, okay, so system.
So It's like when I hear theword system, I start thinking
like engineering or something,you know, like, yeah, right.
You know, and, and yes, we, weare early childhood development.

(21:40):
Okay.
But think of it like this.
So you have policies.
Okay.
So policies are the rules.
Policies are the things that youor the owner has decided are the
rules.
no-fly zone, the things that ourmission is going to be about.

(22:01):
The policies are the things thatcan make you or break you if you
don't enforce them, if you donot have consistency within your
team, if you do not follow yourown policies.

(22:21):
As a leader, as a director, asan owner, If I go, I call it go
when my team, look, I'm usingthe word team.
I always say team, you know,when I will say the phrase like,
okay, somebody's gone roguehere.
That's my way of sayingsomebody's broken a policy.
Somebody has, you know, notfollowed the processes in which

(22:43):
we have created so that thereare best practices.
Okay.
So systems are, to me is veryimportant.
I've learned a lot about thisand the trainings that I've been
to, you know, I referenced thechildcare summit success summit.
Oh my gosh.
I mean, so many differentleaders in our industry, just

(23:05):
videos, webinars, talking aboutpolicies actually matter.
And guess what?
The downside of not followingpolicies or policies, allowing
some to follow policies and someto not follow policies, that is
not just for the childcareindustry.

(23:26):
It is for any company you'rerunning, any business, you know,
consistency and fairness.
It's important.
I mean, policies are oftencreated because something has
gone awry or a situation, right?
And you're like, we need apolicy about that so that that
doesn't happen again or again.
If it does, there is aconsequence.

(23:49):
There's going to be somethingthat happens if an employee
chooses to do this.
So policies, when it comes tosystems, very important.
The second part is procedures.
So procedures are how you'regoing to actually follow the
rule of the policy.

(24:09):
So a process, a procedure, kindof the same thing, right?
you have this policy, but you'relike, how are we going to do
that every day?
Okay, well, we create a system,which is the procedure part of
like how you actually are goingto follow what that policy is.

(24:29):
And so I think that it's superimportant if you do either
monthly staff meetings, or ifyou have, you know, in service
days where you're training yourteaching staff or Having either
one-on-ones, I love to haveone-on-ones with management
members.
I just started something new.
Instead of doing an annualreview with them, I like to do a

(24:52):
quarterly performance reviewwhere it's a back-and-forth
conversation of, Because it'shard to think, you know, a year
ago, like, oh, you had an issuewith, you know, really like
bonding with your staff, youknow, talking about that and all

(25:13):
of the procedures that you didto get to a better place.
That's hard when long timeperiods have gone on.
So I just, I think of like theprocedures, it's the how to.
It's the kind of roadmapprocess.
To give each of your employeesfrom your management team on
down, it's a roadmap of what todo to actually follow the

(25:36):
policy.
I like it.
Putting it into action.
Yes.
Yeah, for sure.
All right.
Putting something else intoaction.
Pillar four, marketing.
I know this is something you arereally passionate about and
you're really good at it too.
And that parents are on socialmedia.

(25:59):
And a question that you'reasking is, are you creating
content that is relevant andeye-catching?
How do you do that?
Well, I mean, just the mainthing, the parents are hanging
out on the socials.
Are you, you know, and mosthumans are like we are looking
at reviews.
We're looking on Yelp.

(26:20):
We're not eating.
We're not even putting food inour mouth until we're looking at
the reviews of a restaurant orbefore we're making a
reservation.
Right.
So we think about like someone'sthe most important thing in
their life.
Right.
Is their child.
Second thing may typically bemoney.
Right.
Two.
very important and and we haveboth of them okay so when you

(26:42):
think about marketing you wantto put your best foot forward
you want to show people whatamazing opportunities their
child has by coming to yourschool you want to show the fun
the engaging side of it like youwant to show just a snapshot of

(27:02):
yourself and your staff and yourprogramming i mean so many
things right now of coursehaving a waiver putting a child
you know on the world wide websuper important to do of course
um but i i feel like it's notjust content of you know them

(27:23):
playing on the playscape it'sreally showing Prospectful
parents, you know, what theirchild would be doing if they
came to our school, you know, ifthey came to the prep that, you
know, we believe we are the bestand early childhood education.
And so why?
Well, we have to paint a visualpicture of that because a lot of

(27:49):
times people are going tosocials and going into online
You know, your Facebook, your Imean, some schools have TikToks
now.
You know, they're looking atInstagram.
They're looking at your Yelpreviews, your Google reviews.
They're looking at testimonialson your website.
You know, I recommend all ofthose things.
Our franchise team works very,very hard on on working with our

(28:10):
management team.
See the word team, you know,together hand in hand, because,
you People know if it's a dogand pony show or if it's just
smoke and mirrors, right?
They know if it's just like youjust put on a whole show.
Now, some posts can be stagedand definitely there is validity

(28:36):
in that.
But some posts, I think you haveto show different facets of what
you want to bring to...
Thank you so much.

(29:08):
grow your family, please, youknow, do that right here at our
school.
We love to accommodate you, butthe marketing piece, you know,
making sure that you are puttingyour best foot forward.
That's essential.
It's just, it's hands down.
One of the most important thingsyou can do.
And you just talked about the,you know, the importance of
being authentic, not putting ona, you know, a show that's

(29:32):
people aren't, it doesn't, itdoesn't, isn't genuine.
And people are going to realizethat.
But what are some other mistakesyou see when childcare leaders
do these social media posts?
I feel like if you are notauthentic with what the point is
you're trying to show, you know,if it just is kind of pointless

(29:54):
or kind of random or notintentional, then the people
viewing it won't reallyunderstand the meaning behind
it.
The reason you decided to postwhatever you posted on your
social media.
And remember, I mean, thinkabout the old saying, you know,
don't judge a book by its cover.
But I mean, you are 100% judgedby your cover.

(30:16):
And that book cover is yoursocial media.
And it truly is.
you know, how you choose tomarket for us.
I mean, we have an amazing teamthat works together with our
graphic artists so that ourbranding is consistent.
Okay.
Number one, our Brit, like youcan see something and say that
has to be from the prep amillion percent, you know?

(30:37):
So it's like curating, like,post and curating, you know,
what you want people to receiveabout you in the right way and,
and being very clear and directwith it and not confusing, like
too many things to me, it couldbe just, it could kind of feel

(30:58):
chaotic, you know?
So I just recommend just reallyhaving a clear focus and not
kind of being all over the placewith it.
All right.
Another two more.
Oh, I'm sorry.
One other thing.
One other thing that I justthought of that, you know, I
think is super important tomention Leah is, you know, make

(31:19):
sure that you have a caption orwords like explaining what it is
that you, because rememberyou're painting a visual
picture.
And they're not in it in theroom, at your school, but you
want them to feel like, oh mygosh, I want my child to
experience that.
And so words matter, wordsmatter.

(31:40):
And a caption or some sort ofexplanation of what the post is
all about is super important.
Agree, 100%.
Like, what am I looking at?
Right, yeah.
All right, now we'll go on ourlast two pillars.
Pillar five.
And this is financial.

(32:00):
If the school makes money, youmake money, enroll, retain, and
fill your school.
Can you walk us through that?
Well, let's not forget.
We are not charity.
We are running a business.
We are running a business forprofit.
So the financial piece is super,super important.

(32:24):
It's so many different facets.
It starts with Do some marketresearch.
Figure out every single childcare in your area.
What are they charging per age?
What are they paying theirteachers?
Look on Indeed.com.
Do some research to make surethat you're relevant in your
demographic and that you arecharging what your value is for

(32:49):
your program.
Absolutely.
Absolutely.
But I think a lot of people havethe fear of, oh, I can't be more
than my competitor because thenpeople won't come.
Well, yes, they will.
You explain to them why you'remore with confidence and with a
strong tone of like, Let me tellyou all the ways, you know, and

(33:12):
that's one thing that we reallydo an amazing job of training
our management team about andour teachers also.
I mean, our teachers are ourspokespeople, right?
I mean, when a parent walks inour school, they were the nicest
management team ever.
The school was amazing.
It sells itself, but they reallywant to meet that teacher,
right?
And so that teacher, if they arenot trained with all the nuts

(33:37):
and bolts, that can affect usfinancially.
It could be the difference of aparent enrolling or not
enrolling, right?
The financial piece, I will say,if a lot of people shy away from
collecting tuition, like, I'mnot a bill collector.
That's awkward.

(33:58):
But listen, if you don't go backto that policy and then the
procedure of being consistentevery single month and reaching
out and then havingconversation.
And in, you know, the mostpositive way possible of, you
know, hey, I really want topartner with you, I will work
together, you know, tuition isdue, you know, whatever day of

(34:21):
the month that it's due for yourschool, and I really need some
help from you to get caught upand let's work together so that
we can obtain the same goal.
because I want your child tocontinue being able to go to our
school.
And I want your family tocontinue to partner together
because we love you.
But the financial piece, it'skey.

(34:43):
So along with 5,000 other thingsthat are a director's number one
responsibility, for me, adirector's number one
responsibility is to enroll theschool.
They're there to fill yourschool.
So what does that mean?
That equals financial success,right?
But it only equals financialsuccess if that tuition is

(35:05):
collected.
So I feel like really followingyour procedures and your
policies on collecting thattuition, setting the standard
with your paying families thattuition is due.
On this day period, the end,late fees will be started to
accrue.
And after this point, your childwill not be able to attend if

(35:26):
tuition hasn't been paid orwhatever it is.
But I'm also a firm believerthat because our management team
is in the trenches, right?
They're enrolling, they'rehaving these conversations on
the phone with a prospectiveparent.
We do an amazing job of givingback to them and bonuses and
having goals set, you know, tohave a certain number of FTEs,

(35:50):
which is full-time equivalents,right, of students and, you
know, really setting thatstandard so that they feel like
I'm making money when thecompany's making money.
And that's a connection that Ithink that it really gives
directors directing is, is ahard job.
It's, it's, it's not the mosteasy position in the world.

(36:13):
Right.
And owning a school isn'teither, but if you really lead
with, with your heart andintentional, I feel like the
financial success comes because,you know, I mean, at some point
if they're not paying tuition,then they're, you'll have to
have a harder conversation aboutit.
But I firmly believe that, andmy business partners do too,

(36:36):
that rewarding our managementteams financially, and that's
everybody in our management teamis financially rewarded when the
success of the school is there.
And that financial piece is weare running a business, we're
running a company.
And so sometimes that is missed.
in the structure of a school.

(36:58):
Like there's a big financialstake here.
There's bills to pay, there'sloans to repay, there's
utilities to pay.
I mean, we can't have classesset at 67 degrees or I mean the
electricity bill, utilitieswould be out the roof.
So it's like all of that workingtogether.

(37:21):
But I think it's important toreally think about as an owner
if you haven't thought about,you know, really, you know,
giving your management team somegoals, some financial goals.
It's not just about collectingtuition because parents
absolutely feel like just anumber or you're just here to
swipe their card or collecttheir check if there's not that

(37:44):
relational piece behind it.

UNKNOWN (37:47):
Mm-hmm.

SPEAKER_01 (37:47):
And we do hear that from a lot of our customers, the
headaches involved withcollecting tuition.
And I just want to put it outthere that with ProCare, you can
have parents set up auto pay orrecurring payments weekly,
monthly.
And yeah, it's such an awkwardconversation.
So I totally get that.

(38:08):
It is.
And I'll tell you, we loveProCare.
Tuition Express is brilliantbecause...
What Tuition Express does is youhave that family's ACH, you have
their credit card or their debitcard, and you have preloaded
that into each family.
family's Tuition Expressaccount.

(38:28):
And that puts you in control.
Like I am in control when Iprocess all of our Tuition
Express.
So all of our ACH payments, allof our credit card payments,
debit card payments, everysingle month at the same time of
month, like I'm in control.
Yet they also have the abilityto go on to their MyProcure
account and pay for something ontheir own in that way.

(38:49):
So if you don't have a systemset up, created, then I mean,
We're running a business.
The financial piece is huge.
And so is number six, relationalfocus.
Yes.
What does that mean?
I know, right?

(39:09):
It sounds all like, is it like atherapy session or is it like
woo-woo?
What does relational focus mean?
I mean, so for me, it means thatEvery single relationship starts
with a genuine conversationbetween people.
And in running a business,running a school, that's the

(39:33):
most important thing.
If somebody feels comfortablewith you, trust automatically
just starts forming, you know?
being relational means that youare interested in engaging with
the person that's either on theother side of the camera, just
like each of you, like youshowed up for this podcast for
this training today.

(39:54):
And that means something to me.
That means I know Talia that youare interested in learning more
and you want to know more.
And the relational piece to me,it's very sincere.
It's, it's, it's, It's genuine.
It's something that people cansee when you make an effort.

(40:16):
And that's your teaching staff.
I mean, you have to berelational with them.
It's not just about like, here'syour shift.
Here's your classroom.
Bye.
It's literally like your officecan be a revolving door nonstop
of H.R., And what do you have todo sitting on the other side of

(40:37):
the desk of one of youremployees that's struggling?
Most of the time, it's not anystruggle having to do with their
classroom or work.
It's just life struggles, right?
And I feel like being anempathetic person to a parent
who's struggling, who you haveto have a conversation with

(40:59):
about their child, right?
biting behavior, you know, ifyou have that relation where the
word relational, you know, comesfrom relationship, if you have
that with them from the start,but it's not just about when
they take a tour or when theyregister, it has to continue
after that.

(41:19):
It has to be a relationshipwhere it continues to build and
grow, right?
Well, Our schools are verylarge.
We have, you know, 220 minimumstudents.
So you think about that timestwo parents.
OK, that's already 450 pluspeople.
Then all of the grandparents andfamily members or, you know,

(41:40):
nannies or other caregivers thatare involved.
You're having a relationshipwith a lot of people.
Then you think about your, youknow.
it could be two staff members to50 staff members, or for me,
it's, you know, over a hundred,you know, you think about like,
it's important for, you know,for them to know, to know me and
for me to know their name, likethe relational piece is vital.

(42:04):
And I just think that sometimesit's myths.
And to me, it's the bread andbutter of being successful in
early childhood education,because We're taking care of
humans, of children.
And to a parent, that's theirmost prized possession.
And so really forming arelational bond with people,

(42:27):
it's just vital.
It's a part that is the onething that's most of the time
overlooked and not focused on,but it can get you through the
toughest times or the biggestconversations.
And it's just one of thosethings that has to be there,
literally.

(42:47):
So for everyone listening whowants to put these pillars to
work in their childcarebusiness, I mean, what's the
first step?
How do they make these pillarshappen?
Well, here's the thing.
Everybody learns something fromsomewhere or someone, right?
So don't take a big bite.

(43:09):
Think of a cookie.
Don't take a big bite out of it.
Let's talk about a crumb.
You have to start somewhere.
Don't put the pressure onyourself of like, oh my God, I
have to do all these things andI have to do them right now.
Because nine times out of 10,that comes with overwhelm, that
brings a level of anxiety andstress.
And we already have all thatgoing on as humans, right?

(43:30):
So it's like, just think aboutlike one thing at a time, one
day at a time, one mindset shiftat a time, okay?
One policy at a time, onepolicy.
conversation at a time sittingon the other side of someone
where you're having a relationalyou're building the relationship

(43:50):
so that's the best advice I haveis not just yes I've talked
about a lot of things right butlike what can you implement and
what can you shift or changechange is a word that makes
humans freak out a little bit Ithink change is exciting I
invite it I think it's the thingthat makes humans evolve into

(44:13):
where they want to go.
You don't just wake up and, youknow, you've, you own a
childcare.
What did you do over the yearsor the steps to get to that
place where you are now?
You know, think of it in thesame way.
Like think about little steps ata time.
So that's my best advice.
I love it.
Heather, thank you so much forjoining us today and taking so

(44:34):
much time out of your day toexplain all this.
Could you share with ourlisteners where they could find
out more about you, yourorganization, your website, that
kind of thing you want to spreadthe word about?
Absolutely.
Thank you so much.
So our website,theprepschools.com.
You know, we are a nationalfranchise company.

(44:56):
We are a fast growing companythat we're ever changing and
ever evolving because we want tobe innovators in the childcare
industry.
And we want to not, it's notjust always about technology.
It's not always about, it'slike, you got to get back to the
root of what makes you, you andyou special and that consistent
branding.

(45:16):
So, yeah, I mean, that's how toreach me.
Heather White, the prep schools.
My email isheatherw.prepschools.com.
All right.
Well, thanks again, Heather.
And thank you to everybody outthere listening who's in ECE and
child care.

(45:37):
Thank you so much for the workyou do every day.
This is coming from a workingmom, so it is genuine.
You're making a difference inthe lives of those young
learners and also for moms anddads out there, too.
So we hope to see you next time.
Have a great day, everyone.

SPEAKER_00 (45:54):
And we'll talk to

SPEAKER_01 (45:56):
you soon.

UNKNOWN (45:57):
Bye.

SPEAKER_00 (45:59):
Until next time.