August 27, 2025 • 12 mins
Megan Hils started Raise and Shine Parent Coaching and Consulting because she wanted to get ahead of issues she encountered working as a school psychologist. Her SCORE Mentor Diane Powers joins her on this episode of My Cincy Small Business Story to talk about applying her expertise to community need to develop a successful small business. In fact, Raise and Shine was a finalist for the SCORE Client of the Year award!
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:01):
Hello.
Speaker 2 (00:01):
My name is Michael Dawson. You're host of Scores MYSINSI
small Business Stories. In this episode, we'll be talking to
Megan Hill's owner of Raisin Shine Parent Coaching and Consultation.
Also a Score twenty twenty five Client of the Year finalists.
Also we have Diane Powers, Megan's Scores mentor. We'll find
(00:22):
out more about that after this message.
Speaker 1 (00:25):
Did you know twice as many small businesses survive past
five years when they have the support from a mentor.
My sincey small business story is brought to you by
the volunteer mentors of SCORE Greater Cincinnati, a nonprofit organization
that helps launch hundreds of new small businesses and even
more jobs in Cincinnati, Northern Kentucky, and Indiana every year.
Our vision is to give every person the support they
(00:46):
need to thrive as a small business owner. Visit score
dot org slash Greater Cincinnati to request a free business
mentor or share your own expertise. You can also listen
and subscribe for more stories about overcoming challenges, clearing obstacles,
and owning a successful small business.
Speaker 2 (01:02):
Welcome, Megan, Diane, how you guys are doing?
Speaker 3 (01:05):
Hi?
Speaker 4 (01:05):
Thanks for having.
Speaker 3 (01:06):
Me very good. Thank you. Thanks for having me.
Speaker 2 (01:09):
I'm glad to have always glad to have the mentor
with one of our score businesses. I think it adds
a little more depth and reflection into the process. Hey, Megan,
tell us about your business. I'm really curious.
Speaker 3 (01:21):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (01:22):
So, I was a school psychologist in Cincinnati for about
fifteen years, working with preschoolers through high schoolers. And while
there was a lot that I really loved, I was
really struggling with feeling like by the time kids got
to me, they were already in a hard place. And
I really felt like, and I really felt like if
(01:45):
I could get to kids before they got to school
or at home, that I would be able to provide
support that was more preventative instead of reactive. And that
was important for me. And when I was doing my job,
my favorite part was talking with parents.
Speaker 3 (02:00):
I loved it.
Speaker 4 (02:01):
It was the part that I always tried to make
room for to do more of, and then my administrators
would tell me that I had to do less of
because there were other parts of my job that I
needed to do more of. When it became possible for
my family for me to think about a career change,
I put in my resignation and it just happened to
be right at the beginning of the COVID shutdown, so
(02:24):
I was given the gift of time to think about
what I wanted to do next. Because my oldest at
that point was a kindergarten student, so I was working
with him, and I kind of fell backwards into parent
coaching as a way to support parents directly in the
way that I always wanted to do so badly when
I was a school psychologist, and initially it started as
(02:45):
something that I was just thinking I would help parents
through the special education process at school, help them navigate
how to ask for help. And then the more that
I thought about it and the more I worked with
parents and developed my business, the more it turned into
working with all different types of family, all different types
of kids, and supporting them with a wide variety of needs,
(03:06):
not just school based needs, even though that's definitely still
a big part.
Speaker 2 (03:10):
So over the years, how is your business change for evolved?
Speaker 4 (03:14):
I think, thinking back to what I just said, that
I really initially thought that there would be a school
based focus when I started, I definitely anticipated working more
with school age families directly, but I really didn't think
that I would have any place in the schools. I
really thought I needed a break from schools, and I
(03:35):
also thought that I would be working on more like
child behavior related issues, things related to child development. And
the more time I spent and the more that I
paid attention to the needs of both my community and
what was missing in Cincinnati, it evolved into me both
going into the schools directly to support schools and parents
(03:58):
and working together and also helping families really think about
instead of how do you fit into this system, it's
really about what system works for you and what addresses
your specific needs and your specific goals, rather than me
telling them how to navigate a system that already exists.
If that makes sense.
Speaker 2 (04:19):
So how did you get connected with SCORE?
Speaker 4 (04:22):
I am not I am an education person. I am
not a business minded person. So when I was first starting,
I was literally just googling how do I start a
small business? What resources are there to help me? And
I found SCORE and was shocked that it was free
and that it wasn't something that I needed to pay for.
And I sent in an email and was matched with Diane,
(04:46):
who has been a tremendous help to me.
Speaker 2 (04:49):
So how long have you and Diane been working together.
Speaker 4 (04:52):
Oh gosh, Diane, when did we start working together? It
must have been like twenty it's been two years.
Speaker 3 (04:57):
Three years, yeah, January twenty twenty three.
Speaker 2 (05:00):
I believe very good. How often do you guys meet?
Speaker 4 (05:05):
When we started, we met pretty frequently. I would say
once every three to four weeks. Now it varies depending
on where I am in my business, so things naturally
slow down for me in the summer, so we didn't
meet as much over the summer. But now that the
school year has started, I anticipate we'll go back to
like every six weeks every two months.
Speaker 2 (05:25):
So, Diane, how long have you been a score mentor?
Speaker 3 (05:28):
I've been a score mentor for about four years.
Speaker 2 (05:31):
Okay, how did you find out about Score?
Speaker 3 (05:35):
I retired for my career, my forty two year career.
Most recently, I worked for Procter and Gamble, and I
was visiting a friend who also worked at Procter and Gamble,
and she told me, and I was telling her I
was looking for some volunteer opportunities and also just wanted
to keep my mind in business a little bit and
(05:55):
give back, and she told me about SCORE. So that
was it. I applied, took the training, and here I am.
Speaker 2 (06:04):
So how is Megan for a client?
Speaker 3 (06:08):
Megan is wonderful. You know, from the first meeting, I
was very impressed with her. First of all, I think
I thought her business idea was very unique and I
could see a need, you know, in the Cincinnati area.
And one of the things I'm really impressed with her
is that she's really pushed herself beyond her comfort zone,
(06:29):
you know, like she said, you know, her background is
in education, and I guess psychology and child psychology, and so,
you know, building a business is a whole different thing.
So she's really you know, embraced doing that, using business
building techniques recommended by Score, and you know, just educating
(06:50):
herself on best business practices.
Speaker 2 (06:53):
So Megan's company was a finalist. What did you see
in her applicant or her business that made you think
that she should go ahead and pursue the client of
the year.
Speaker 3 (07:07):
First of all, she's encreached her coaching client load, she says,
about three hundred percent from when we first started in
January twenty twenty three. She has slowly and steadily built
her business to the point where I think she's almost
that capacity. That being said, she you know knows how
(07:31):
to kind of have a good work life balance, so
she knows when to say no and when to say yes.
She's also pushed herself to a network within the community,
which is really hard thing to do when that's not
something that comes easy. And she's also you know, being
known as kind of a thought leader in this parent
(07:53):
coaching enterprise within Cincinnati. And then the other thing too
is her determination to pivot when necessary. If things aren't
going well, then she'll take a slightly different approach, or
she'll add additional services to kind of, you know, fill
out her capacity.
Speaker 2 (08:14):
So, Megan, what's the biggest challenge you have facing you? So?
Speaker 4 (08:19):
I really love doing the work I do. I love
being in the business. I love working with my clients
so much it makes me so happy. I don't necessarily
love working on the business. So I have really had
to force myself to work on like time management strategies
(08:39):
and creating more of a schedule than I anticipated early
on to make sure that I do the parts that
are not so fun for me. And I'm still working
on that. It's hard over the summer when my kids
are home how to like managing how to be with
them and also work on the business. So it's a
work in progress, but it's definitely make strides in the
(09:00):
right direction.
Speaker 2 (09:02):
What's going to be new for you and foreseeable future.
Speaker 4 (09:05):
So I am launching in the next six weeks. I'm
hoping a lunch and learn series for parents for very
like common issues, things that come up a lot that
might not necessitate individual coaching, but that they could still
use support and connecting with other parents. So things like
(09:26):
setting your home up for homework success or dealing with
setting your toddlers and preschool age children up for success
when you leave the house. Those I'm going to offer
those probably every other week over a twelve week period,
is what I'm thinking right now for a small group
(09:47):
of parents so they can learn and also connect with
other parents who are in the same trenches.
Speaker 2 (09:53):
So where would we find you if I wanted to
use your services?
Speaker 4 (09:57):
The easiest way is to go to my web site
which is just Raisinshineparenting dot com, and then from there
you can get links to my Instagram page to my email.
If you are an Instagram only person, you can go
to Raise Underscore and Underscore Shine Underscore Parenting on Instagram,
(10:19):
or you can find me on Facebook, just by typing
and Raisin Shine parenting.
Speaker 3 (10:23):
I'm everywhere.
Speaker 2 (10:24):
I'm good. Good, That's very good. So if someone were
to come to you and say, hey, I'm thinking about
starting a business, what advice would you give them and
what would you say to them about Score? Oh?
Speaker 4 (10:38):
Well, the first advice I've given people is absolutely to
contact Score and get a mentor. That's the first thing
I tell people. I think to really think about what
you want your life to look like and how you
anticipate your business being a part of that. Like a
lot of people have these, me included. I think at
the beginning, these ideas sometimes kind of grand of whatever
(11:00):
thing is going to look like. And I think that
that is lace where Score can be really helpful in
helping you, like a SCORE mentor can really help you
clearly articulate what your goals are and how you're going
to get there, take it from your brain to reality.
Speaker 2 (11:14):
Thank you, Megan. We've been talking today with Megan Hills,
owner of Raise and Shine parent Coaching and Consultation. Also
with us today was Diane Powers, who is a SCORE
volunteer and happens to be Megan's mentor. Don't forget confluence
twenty twenty five is Wednesday, September seventeenth, at nine am
(11:36):
to three pm at Matthew twenty five Ministries. Topics for
this year include finance, managing your cash and funding, hiring,
building value aligned teams, resilience tools for mental health and adaptability,
consumer insights, plus two presentations on AI, one of which
(11:58):
you will be given a twenty challenge to use AI
in your marketing. To register for more information, go to
score dot org Greater Cincinnati and click on the link Confluence.
If you would like to sign up with a mentor
or would like to become a mentor, go to score
(12:19):
dot org and click on the appropriate link. Please subscribe
to this podcast, share the link, and very much so
thank you for listening
Hello.
Speaker 2 (00:01):
My name is Michael Dawson. You're host of Scores MYSINSI
small Business Stories. In this episode, we'll be talking to
Megan Hill's owner of Raisin Shine Parent Coaching and Consultation.
Also a Score twenty twenty five Client of the Year finalists.
Also we have Diane Powers, Megan's Scores mentor. We'll find
(00:22):
out more about that after this message.
Speaker 1 (00:25):
Did you know twice as many small businesses survive past
five years when they have the support from a mentor.
My sincey small business story is brought to you by
the volunteer mentors of SCORE Greater Cincinnati, a nonprofit organization
that helps launch hundreds of new small businesses and even
more jobs in Cincinnati, Northern Kentucky, and Indiana every year.
Our vision is to give every person the support they
(00:46):
need to thrive as a small business owner. Visit score
dot org slash Greater Cincinnati to request a free business
mentor or share your own expertise. You can also listen
and subscribe for more stories about overcoming challenges, clearing obstacles,
and owning a successful small business.
Speaker 2 (01:02):
Welcome, Megan, Diane, how you guys are doing?
Speaker 3 (01:05):
Hi?
Speaker 4 (01:05):
Thanks for having.
Speaker 3 (01:06):
Me very good. Thank you. Thanks for having me.
Speaker 2 (01:09):
I'm glad to have always glad to have the mentor
with one of our score businesses. I think it adds
a little more depth and reflection into the process. Hey, Megan,
tell us about your business. I'm really curious.
Speaker 3 (01:21):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (01:22):
So, I was a school psychologist in Cincinnati for about
fifteen years, working with preschoolers through high schoolers. And while
there was a lot that I really loved, I was
really struggling with feeling like by the time kids got
to me, they were already in a hard place. And
I really felt like, and I really felt like if
(01:45):
I could get to kids before they got to school
or at home, that I would be able to provide
support that was more preventative instead of reactive. And that
was important for me. And when I was doing my job,
my favorite part was talking with parents.
Speaker 3 (02:00):
I loved it.
Speaker 4 (02:01):
It was the part that I always tried to make
room for to do more of, and then my administrators
would tell me that I had to do less of
because there were other parts of my job that I
needed to do more of. When it became possible for
my family for me to think about a career change,
I put in my resignation and it just happened to
be right at the beginning of the COVID shutdown, so
(02:24):
I was given the gift of time to think about
what I wanted to do next. Because my oldest at
that point was a kindergarten student, so I was working
with him, and I kind of fell backwards into parent
coaching as a way to support parents directly in the
way that I always wanted to do so badly when
I was a school psychologist, and initially it started as
(02:45):
something that I was just thinking I would help parents
through the special education process at school, help them navigate
how to ask for help. And then the more that
I thought about it and the more I worked with
parents and developed my business, the more it turned into
working with all different types of family, all different types
of kids, and supporting them with a wide variety of needs,
(03:06):
not just school based needs, even though that's definitely still
a big part.
Speaker 2 (03:10):
So over the years, how is your business change for evolved?
Speaker 4 (03:14):
I think, thinking back to what I just said, that
I really initially thought that there would be a school
based focus when I started, I definitely anticipated working more
with school age families directly, but I really didn't think
that I would have any place in the schools. I
really thought I needed a break from schools, and I
(03:35):
also thought that I would be working on more like
child behavior related issues, things related to child development. And
the more time I spent and the more that I
paid attention to the needs of both my community and
what was missing in Cincinnati, it evolved into me both
going into the schools directly to support schools and parents
(03:58):
and working together and also helping families really think about
instead of how do you fit into this system, it's
really about what system works for you and what addresses
your specific needs and your specific goals, rather than me
telling them how to navigate a system that already exists.
If that makes sense.
Speaker 2 (04:19):
So how did you get connected with SCORE?
Speaker 4 (04:22):
I am not I am an education person. I am
not a business minded person. So when I was first starting,
I was literally just googling how do I start a
small business? What resources are there to help me? And
I found SCORE and was shocked that it was free
and that it wasn't something that I needed to pay for.
And I sent in an email and was matched with Diane,
(04:46):
who has been a tremendous help to me.
Speaker 2 (04:49):
So how long have you and Diane been working together.
Speaker 4 (04:52):
Oh gosh, Diane, when did we start working together? It
must have been like twenty it's been two years.
Speaker 3 (04:57):
Three years, yeah, January twenty twenty three.
Speaker 2 (05:00):
I believe very good. How often do you guys meet?
Speaker 4 (05:05):
When we started, we met pretty frequently. I would say
once every three to four weeks. Now it varies depending
on where I am in my business, so things naturally
slow down for me in the summer, so we didn't
meet as much over the summer. But now that the
school year has started, I anticipate we'll go back to
like every six weeks every two months.
Speaker 2 (05:25):
So, Diane, how long have you been a score mentor?
Speaker 3 (05:28):
I've been a score mentor for about four years.
Speaker 2 (05:31):
Okay, how did you find out about Score?
Speaker 3 (05:35):
I retired for my career, my forty two year career.
Most recently, I worked for Procter and Gamble, and I
was visiting a friend who also worked at Procter and Gamble,
and she told me, and I was telling her I
was looking for some volunteer opportunities and also just wanted
to keep my mind in business a little bit and
(05:55):
give back, and she told me about SCORE. So that
was it. I applied, took the training, and here I am.
Speaker 2 (06:04):
So how is Megan for a client?
Speaker 3 (06:08):
Megan is wonderful. You know, from the first meeting, I
was very impressed with her. First of all, I think
I thought her business idea was very unique and I
could see a need, you know, in the Cincinnati area.
And one of the things I'm really impressed with her
is that she's really pushed herself beyond her comfort zone,
(06:29):
you know, like she said, you know, her background is
in education, and I guess psychology and child psychology, and so,
you know, building a business is a whole different thing.
So she's really you know, embraced doing that, using business
building techniques recommended by Score, and you know, just educating
(06:50):
herself on best business practices.
Speaker 2 (06:53):
So Megan's company was a finalist. What did you see
in her applicant or her business that made you think
that she should go ahead and pursue the client of
the year.
Speaker 3 (07:07):
First of all, she's encreached her coaching client load, she says,
about three hundred percent from when we first started in
January twenty twenty three. She has slowly and steadily built
her business to the point where I think she's almost
that capacity. That being said, she you know knows how
(07:31):
to kind of have a good work life balance, so
she knows when to say no and when to say yes.
She's also pushed herself to a network within the community,
which is really hard thing to do when that's not
something that comes easy. And she's also you know, being
known as kind of a thought leader in this parent
(07:53):
coaching enterprise within Cincinnati. And then the other thing too
is her determination to pivot when necessary. If things aren't
going well, then she'll take a slightly different approach, or
she'll add additional services to kind of, you know, fill
out her capacity.
Speaker 2 (08:14):
So, Megan, what's the biggest challenge you have facing you? So?
Speaker 4 (08:19):
I really love doing the work I do. I love
being in the business. I love working with my clients
so much it makes me so happy. I don't necessarily
love working on the business. So I have really had
to force myself to work on like time management strategies
(08:39):
and creating more of a schedule than I anticipated early
on to make sure that I do the parts that
are not so fun for me. And I'm still working
on that. It's hard over the summer when my kids
are home how to like managing how to be with
them and also work on the business. So it's a
work in progress, but it's definitely make strides in the
(09:00):
right direction.
Speaker 2 (09:02):
What's going to be new for you and foreseeable future.
Speaker 4 (09:05):
So I am launching in the next six weeks. I'm
hoping a lunch and learn series for parents for very
like common issues, things that come up a lot that
might not necessitate individual coaching, but that they could still
use support and connecting with other parents. So things like
(09:26):
setting your home up for homework success or dealing with
setting your toddlers and preschool age children up for success
when you leave the house. Those I'm going to offer
those probably every other week over a twelve week period,
is what I'm thinking right now for a small group
(09:47):
of parents so they can learn and also connect with
other parents who are in the same trenches.
Speaker 2 (09:53):
So where would we find you if I wanted to
use your services?
Speaker 4 (09:57):
The easiest way is to go to my web site
which is just Raisinshineparenting dot com, and then from there
you can get links to my Instagram page to my email.
If you are an Instagram only person, you can go
to Raise Underscore and Underscore Shine Underscore Parenting on Instagram,
(10:19):
or you can find me on Facebook, just by typing
and Raisin Shine parenting.
Speaker 3 (10:23):
I'm everywhere.
Speaker 2 (10:24):
I'm good. Good, That's very good. So if someone were
to come to you and say, hey, I'm thinking about
starting a business, what advice would you give them and
what would you say to them about Score? Oh?
Speaker 4 (10:38):
Well, the first advice I've given people is absolutely to
contact Score and get a mentor. That's the first thing
I tell people. I think to really think about what
you want your life to look like and how you
anticipate your business being a part of that. Like a
lot of people have these, me included. I think at
the beginning, these ideas sometimes kind of grand of whatever
(11:00):
thing is going to look like. And I think that
that is lace where Score can be really helpful in
helping you, like a SCORE mentor can really help you
clearly articulate what your goals are and how you're going
to get there, take it from your brain to reality.
Speaker 2 (11:14):
Thank you, Megan. We've been talking today with Megan Hills,
owner of Raise and Shine parent Coaching and Consultation. Also
with us today was Diane Powers, who is a SCORE
volunteer and happens to be Megan's mentor. Don't forget confluence
twenty twenty five is Wednesday, September seventeenth, at nine am
(11:36):
to three pm at Matthew twenty five Ministries. Topics for
this year include finance, managing your cash and funding, hiring,
building value aligned teams, resilience tools for mental health and adaptability,
consumer insights, plus two presentations on AI, one of which
(11:58):
you will be given a twenty challenge to use AI
in your marketing. To register for more information, go to
score dot org Greater Cincinnati and click on the link Confluence.
If you would like to sign up with a mentor
or would like to become a mentor, go to score
(12:19):
dot org and click on the appropriate link. Please subscribe
to this podcast, share the link, and very much so
thank you for listening
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