0:08

Welcome to the Childcare Business Podcast,

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brought to you by ProCare Solutions.

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This podcast is all about giving childcare

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, preschool, daycare, after

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school , and other early education professionals.

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A fun and upbeat way to learn about strategies

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and inspiration you can use to thrive.

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You'll hear from a variety of childcare

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thought leaders, including educators,

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owners, and industry experts on ways

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to innovate, to meet the needs of the children you

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serve. From practical tips

0:37

for managing operations to uplifting

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stories of transformation and triumph,

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this podcast will be chock full

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of insights you can use to fully realize

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the potential of your childcare business.

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Let's jump in.

0:54

Hello and welcome everyone to today's

0:56

podcast. Um, my name is Leah

0:59

Woodbury. Um, I work

1:01

in the marketing department here at

1:03

ProCare Solutions, and I'm filling

1:05

in for Ryan Gwaltney , who is our usual host

1:07

today. But I'm gonna do my best

1:10

and I have a really great guest who's gonna make it really easy,

1:12

and we're gonna have a wonderful conversation.

1:15

Um, her name is Latoya Riggins. She's the

1:17

Vice President of professional Development

1:19

, um, of Craft by Better

1:22

Futures. So welcome, Latoya. We're so

1:24

happy to have you on the podcast.

1:26

Thanks, Leah . Thank you so much. I'm

1:28

excited to be here. Wow.

1:31

And yeah, and she's gonna talk to about

1:34

she Talk technology in ECE classrooms,

1:36

which is something she knows a lot about. And

1:39

to get started, Latoya, could you talk a

1:41

little bit about, about what

1:43

your company is and what it does, and

1:45

then let's go right into how you got your

1:48

start in ECE.

1:50

Absolutely. Well, I'll tell you a

1:53

little bit about Craft . So, craft By Better

1:55

Futures is an online business

1:57

and professional development platform,

2:00

specifically designed for early childhood education

2:03

business leaders. So what we do is we

2:05

combine our knowledge of childcare

2:08

operations and all of that with the

2:11

business side, because one thing that we

2:13

found is that all the

2:15

different education you need to become

2:18

an ECE leader, it never

2:20

touches on business. And lo

2:23

and behold, about 90% of

2:25

the centers out there, whether it's family,

2:28

childcare , center based group home, are ran

2:30

by entrepreneurs. So that's

2:32

kind of like the pink elephant in the room is the business

2:34

side. And you know, when

2:36

it comes to children, you know, the love

2:38

trumps everything. But guess what,

2:41

in order to give that love and

2:43

provide the space for the love and the programming

2:45

for the love, we're gonna need money,

2:48

which means that we're gonna have to run this business

2:50

like a business. And culturally,

2:53

you know, it's always kind of been like, okay,

2:56

this is something that maybe moms do, or, you

2:58

know what I mean? So it, you know, not to be

3:00

like, I'm a mom. So a lot of times we might get a little devalued

3:03

because we do it so well, you know, <laugh>,

3:06

it looks like it's easy, but it's really not.

3:08

So what we do is we empower business

3:10

owners to really dig into the business

3:12

piece and take their business seriously,

3:15

because it's not rocket science,

3:17

but if you have never been taught it, it's

3:20

gonna be foreign language to you. So what

3:22

we do is we take that and we break

3:24

it down, we break it down to layman's

3:26

terms, and we teach business,

3:29

but we only, we, we really,

3:31

really hone in on the early childhood

3:33

education business because that is a

3:35

unique business. Now,

3:39

as you know, you know, with ProCare, you guys

3:41

are taking it to the next level, you know, helping businesses

3:44

take it to the next level. And that's what we really

3:46

love about , uh, childcare management

3:48

systems because, you know, what we've seen,

3:51

I don't wanna go deep into that just yet, but what

3:53

we've seen in , you know, with

3:55

our clients is just the confidence.

3:58

When we talk about business, you know, they're

4:00

like, well, you know, I'm just a this or

4:02

I'm just a this. And we're like, no, you're exactly

4:05

what you should be. We are gonna help you take it to

4:07

the next level. So with Craft

4:09

by Better Futures, we

4:11

go all the way in Leah , we

4:14

go in Uhhuh . I mean, from the nitty gritty to the business

4:16

plan, to budgeting to

4:18

taxes, to actually <laugh>

4:22

finances. Meaning not just, you know, knowing, you

4:24

know, financial literacy, but how do you keep

4:26

your books? Uh , how do you actually manage

4:29

your finances? And I'm

4:32

telling you , the <laugh> , the answers

4:34

that we get will smack you in the face because

4:36

you're like, you , you gotta be kidding me. But

4:39

no shade, because that's why we are here.

4:41

'cause we are gonna teach you. So if

4:43

you know anything about Better Futures, better

4:46

Futures are the founders of Craft

4:48

By Better Futures, obviously by Better

4:50

Futures, <laugh> , and they are , well

4:53

, I call the Odd couple , uh, Dr. Robert

4:55

Ling, he has over 50 years of

4:57

experience in the early childhood education

5:00

industry. I mean, he is done everything from teaching

5:02

in schools. I mean, he's even taught CDA

5:05

in prisons. I mean, this man gives

5:07

his life to this industry,

5:09

you know, and then, you know, it's a very

5:11

woman dominated field.

5:14

So as a man, he really had to, you

5:16

know, break through some of those, you know, strongholds

5:19

to make a difference. And

5:22

he's done a great job. He's developed his life. When

5:24

he met his partner, Mr.

5:27

Jahi , b Davis, NBA , he, he

5:29

was a banker. He was working on treasury boards.

5:32

And I mean, he was all about funding and

5:34

things like that, business, business business.

5:37

So he said, this is

5:39

what we're missing in ECB , we're missing the business

5:41

part because if we have

5:43

that knowledge, who knows

5:46

how big our centers can go? Who knows how

5:48

much we can really do for our communities.

5:51

So he asked him , you know, let's

5:53

get together and do this. And

5:56

Jahi said, you know, know what, that is the craziest idea

5:59

I've ever heard, but it's just crazy enough

6:01

to work. I'm in <laugh>.

6:04

And

6:05

These guys, they went all over the country

6:08

teaching these principles about really running

6:10

your business as a business and really

6:13

honing in on the specifics

6:15

of talent acquisition, credentialing

6:19

systems, put , bringing in

6:21

technology, which is what we're gonna be talking about

6:23

today, which is sometimes the hardest thing to

6:25

kind of bring people's mind to, but

6:28

it's the biggest game changer. So

6:31

they went around doing all these

6:33

classes, but realize, you know, they're in conferences

6:36

and, you know, these big conferences can get pretty pricey,

6:39

and then you have to shut down your center

6:41

so that you can travel and all of that. So people

6:43

were really missing out on what they had to say. So

6:46

they thought about what can we do to really

6:48

bring this to everyone and really

6:50

make it not just accessible, but affordable?

6:53

Mm-Hmm , <affirmative> , let's go virtual, because now

6:56

we can, you know, create something that

6:58

really can get to people and

7:00

bring that flavor that I love.

7:03

You know what I mean? And because, you know, you

7:05

don't want it to be boring. You want it to be upbeat, you want

7:07

it to be interesting, but you also want it to be effective.

7:10

So that's when Craft By Better Futures

7:12

was born. And we went online, and

7:14

this is way before there was a pandemic, Leah . So

7:17

we were ready . We didn't even, obviously no one knew it

7:19

was gonna be a pandemic, but the pandemic was,

7:22

you know, didn't hurt us at all because we were already

7:24

virtual. I came aboard

7:27

. Yeah, I came aboard in

7:29

20 19, 20 20, and

7:32

we started to do, you know, push

7:34

with the virtual classes. We

7:36

, uh, morphed into boot camps, which

7:39

are hands on because, you know, when you go

7:41

to all of these , uh, webinars

7:43

and stuff, they're great. You feel amazing. But

7:46

then, you know , you probably remember maybe 10%

7:48

of it if that. So what we do is

7:51

we make sure that not only do you have the

7:53

the knowledge, you get the one-on-one, and

7:55

you get the actual handholding

7:57

to implement it into your business, so you see

8:00

results. So that's what Crap

8:02

by Better Futures is in a nutshell. <laugh> .

8:05

Excellent. Uh , and how about you? What

8:07

is your, what's your background in ECE?

8:10

Well, glad you asked Leah . Well, UL

8:12

ultimately, I'm actually from New York City. And

8:14

growing up, my sister, shout

8:17

out to my sister Denise. She had this idea,

8:19

she was a single mom, and she had about three kids, and she

8:21

was like, I always wanted to have my own daycare, and,

8:25

but I don't have a place to do it. And she's like, you know what?

8:27

I'm just gonna do it in my house. Everybody

8:29

told her she was crazy. They were like, no one's

8:31

gonna bring their kids to your house. That's crazy.

8:34

And I told her, I said, I actually think that's

8:36

gonna work. She's like , yeah, I've seen people do it before,

8:38

but I don't know anybody that did it. So I was like

8:40

, I'm gonna help you. She created

8:42

it. We, I mean, we, she

8:44

had a big house, so, you know, we had a lot of space

8:46

to do it in . I was a teenager then, so I

8:49

worked there. Uh , after school I worked there.

8:51

I was the closer, I was the, the , the kid

8:53

who wore your kids out for you, <laugh> . I

8:55

took them to the park. Oh, yeah. I

8:57

would wear those kids all the way out. I'd

9:00

have them chasing them up and around and

9:02

all that. You know how the energy Uhhuh <affirmative>

9:04

. So I saw my sister build

9:06

this business against all odds, and

9:08

people looked to her as

9:11

just a savior because they didn't

9:13

understand how they were gonna do it on their own. And

9:15

here she is providing this resource

9:17

for them to go ahead and make a living for

9:20

their, for their families. And it just

9:22

gave me that, I call her my muse, because I

9:25

always worked with children growing up, even in

9:27

high school, in college, I went to Howard University.

9:29

I worked in DC public schools, worked

9:32

with , uh, preschools and all that. So

9:34

fast forward in my career, I ended up in workforce

9:36

development, <laugh>. Okay. So

9:39

I , um, worked with all businesses

9:41

in DC about , uh, really

9:44

bringing that core essence

9:47

of qualified candidates to

9:49

businesses. And when I got into

9:53

childcare , I worked with childcare businesses, I

9:55

realized that I had a really good knack for placing

9:57

people into childcare , uh, positions.

10:00

And that was due to how I

10:02

recruited, you know, I acquired talent.

10:04

I didn't go off of the paperwork, I went off

10:06

of their heart because I understood

10:08

what it took to be successful in

10:11

that business. And then I , by then, I

10:13

was a mom myself, so I knew what I

10:15

looked for as a mom and then as

10:17

an employee. So I had the best of all

10:20

three worlds, the employer, the mom, and

10:22

the employee perspective.

10:25

So that's how I,

10:27

that's how actually met Dr. Gunman. Um,

10:30

I was, I had this big project that I wanted to

10:32

do. I wanted to create a center inside the

10:34

Workforce Center, and I

10:36

got him in there to help me. And when

10:38

I saw what these guys were doing, I had

10:40

to be a part of it. I was like, oh, yeah, I'm

10:42

in, I'm in. And the

10:45

rest is history leader . Like, we've been working, it's

10:47

what, 2024? So it's been over four years

10:50

now that we've been doing this work. And

10:52

it's been super amazing. You

10:54

know, we've been everywhere and we meet

10:56

so many people like yourself that

10:59

mm-Hmm , <affirmative> really love this business, and

11:01

they're looking for solutions. So I'm

11:03

just happy to be here talking about this.

11:05

Well, it sounds like it was meant to be,

11:07

Right? I believe that. I

11:09

definitely believe that.

11:11

I do too . I do too . So

11:13

, let's talk a little bit about technology,

11:17

ECE using apps, that kind

11:20

of thing. And one question that I

11:23

think is really important to start with is,

11:26

let's start with the teachers. Like, why are

11:28

so many of these teachers nervous about

11:31

embracing technology when

11:33

it's something we know is gonna make their job easier, but

11:36

they're still scared? Why do you think that is <laugh>

11:38

? Why do you think that is?

11:40

Well, Leah , I'll tell you one thing. Um, you

11:43

know , I'm also a , a marketing consultant as

11:45

well. And one thing that I've learned from working with

11:47

our members and our clients is technology scares

11:50

people. It scares people down

11:52

because it, it can be quite

11:54

intimidating. Even the lingo,

11:56

like when I start talking about just Zoom, people

11:58

are like, oh my God, I don't know that <laugh> . And I'm

12:01

like, it's fine. It's so simple, I'll teach

12:03

you. Yeah . And a lot of times, you

12:05

know, you kind of feel dumb when you don't know something, so

12:07

you stay away from it. So I think the biggest

12:10

pushback is the, the not knowing

12:12

the unknown and, and feeling like, I'm

12:15

not gonna learn all of this, but not

12:17

realizing that it just takes a quick little

12:19

training and to do it, you

12:21

know, more repetitiously and you'll get

12:24

it. So I think it's the fear most of Olia

12:26

, it's the , it has to be. And if

12:28

you see the look on people's faces, when

12:30

I, when I give them a link, they're like, oh God, what

12:32

am I gonna do with this? And I'm like, just , just click it.

12:35

<laugh>,

12:35

<laugh> . But I ,

12:36

I've learned that easing them

12:39

into it helps and

12:41

really, you know, slowing it down

12:44

and teaching them, you know, but

12:46

it's the fear. It's definitely the

12:48

fear.

12:50

Okay. So if we're talking

12:52

about fear , um, so

12:56

what is the best way then to integrate technology

12:59

into a center ? I mean, is it that slowly or

13:01

is it like tearing off

13:04

a bandaid? What, what have you found that works?

13:07

Well, I would say it's a little bit of both. Okay.

13:09

I , I say that you have

13:12

to introduce it for one, let

13:14

people know the benefits of it. You

13:16

know, what happens if you don't use it

13:18

<laugh> Yeah . First . Yeah .

13:20

So that they started to put it in perspective. Once

13:23

you show them the benefits of it, then they're like,

13:25

okay, I guess I'll give it a chance. But

13:27

then let them know that

13:29

you are gonna walk them through it. You're gonna handhold

13:32

when it comes to craft, that's how we get them through

13:34

the technology is honestly Leah , the

13:37

handholding. Okay . And that's why we do one-on-ones

13:39

that is the game changer is the

13:41

one-on-ones. All our memberships come with one-on-ones.

13:44

That way you have an expert

13:46

on the other side of you, and they

13:48

can walk you through it. Hold your hand just

13:50

like riding a bike. You know how your mom or your dad

13:52

had to hold the back of that seat, <laugh> . Yeah

13:54

. You know, and then once you get to Pedalling

13:57

, you are off. Then you're like, all right , get off me. I

13:59

got this now. And that's what you have to get 'em

14:01

to. I think that when people don't

14:03

have training, that's when they fail, because they're,

14:06

they just throw their hands up. They're like, I don't know

14:08

how to do this. And they throw their hands up and they quit. Uhhuh

14:10

<affirmative> , when you have proper training and guidance,

14:13

it is a no brainer. So I

14:15

think that's the best way . That's when I say ripping off the bandaid,

14:18

which you mean, don't just trickle it in.

14:20

Meaning, Hey, this is what we have

14:22

a new system. And that's the rip

14:24

off of the bandaid to say, Hey, this is starting

14:27

such and such . Let's say we give them a couple of weeks

14:29

to kind of get used to it. And we'll say, in

14:31

two weeks we're going full throttle.

14:34

Okay. So here's

14:36

what's gonna happen up until then. Okay, we're gonna have

14:38

daily trainings. We are gonna have exercises,

14:41

something that makes it fun, because

14:43

I'm a visual learner. Leah , I don't know about you. I'm

14:46

a visual and a touch learner. Like I totally

14:49

Am

14:49

A rhythm person, so I gotta see it. I

14:51

gotta touch it, and I gotta do it myself too.

14:53

I can't just read about it. So I think

14:56

hands-on learning. That's, I mean, that's what we're all about. Hands-on

14:58

learning. And also groups, especially

15:01

if you have a a , a thick staff, I would break

15:04

'em up into groups and Oh , really?

15:07

I , I , I like to make cohorts, you

15:09

know, little pots, because those big

15:12

groups, sometimes you get lost, you're scared to ask

15:14

a question 'cause you don't wanna look crazy or

15:16

dumb. So you kind of keep it

15:18

to yourself. Small groups help

15:21

the people in that group connect with each other.

15:23

Now they're partners in this, they're

15:25

partners in the learning. They can hold each

15:27

other's hand because something you might

15:30

understand, I might not Mm-Hmm . <affirmative> . And sometimes

15:32

even that trainer, you know, as,

15:34

as a trainer myself, I noticed that

15:36

there's sometimes when your neighbor has to lean over and

15:39

say she's on page 18, you

15:41

know what I mean? And you're like, oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. You know what

15:43

I mean? So that comradery

15:46

that I would say work togetherness

15:49

aspect of it, it makes that

15:52

so much easier. And it calms people

15:54

down, you know? And Go

15:56

ahead. What were you gonna say? So,

15:57

So I was just thinking, like, so when you're forming these

15:59

small groups, do you put together people

16:02

who are kind of maybe

16:04

on the same level as technology? Or

16:06

do you mix up the, say the Gen Z

16:08

who've, you know, were born with an iPhone

16:11

<laugh> in their hand, it seems like <laugh> or, or

16:13

do you keep 'em kind of where everybody's on the

16:15

same page and what

16:17

works?

16:19

Oh, no . Well, I mean, I would say mix 'em up.

16:21

Mix 'em up, definitely mix them up. Because just like I

16:23

said, when you think about a class that has a mix,

16:25

you, your superstars become your, your

16:28

TAs, your te your , your teacher's assistants. And

16:30

now that when you are , when you need to work with

16:33

the full class, you don't have to stop for maybe one

16:35

or two people who are not getting it. That person who

16:37

already has it can say, Hey, that's why I love

16:39

breakout rooms. Because if someone's struggling

16:42

with a specific part and you don't wanna, you

16:44

know, specifically stop the training, you

16:47

can say, Hey, Lee's gonna take you

16:49

into a breakout room to practice that

16:51

more with you. Okay. And then we're gonna come bring you back

16:53

in. And now they come back in more confident

16:55

and , and they say, oh, wow. I don't know how

16:58

I didn't get that. You know? And , and,

17:00

and you're like, come on back in here. And

17:02

we get, you know, it gets right back on track.

17:05

Mm-Hmm, <affirmative> . Mm-Hmm . <affirmative> . So I , I definitely think that

17:07

a mix is, is good. You

17:09

know, some people, they say, I mean, these

17:11

people are already working together, so they should have some

17:14

type of relationship. And the more that

17:16

you guys achieve together, the

17:19

more you will achieve together, because it makes you closer

17:21

as a staff, you know, because

17:24

we've gone through something together. We've

17:26

learned something together, we've achieved something,

17:29

you know? Yeah. And reward, you

17:31

know, I, I'm a celebration

17:33

person. I always say I have an event spirit. So anytime

17:36

we do trainings, we, we

17:38

give certificates of completion.

17:40

And I step in and I, like, I

17:42

always tell the guys, I say, can I

17:44

give them a graduation, <laugh>

17:46

<laugh> ?

17:48

And they say , go ahead, Latoya. And because

17:50

I love it, you know, who doesn't wanna feel celebrated?

17:53

Yeah . It gives you that sense of pride

17:56

and accomplishment. And even if

17:58

I , I just give you a certificate

18:01

and I have like, maybe some juice and some donuts

18:03

or something, or, you know , send you a

18:05

little DoorDash card to , you know

18:07

, get you something or Starbucks.

18:09

You know what I mean? Like, just something to celebrate

18:12

that win, because a win is a win no

18:14

matter how small it is . Absolutely

18:16

. And incentives are always a

18:18

thing, you know. And also,

18:21

like you said, like, you know, using a system

18:23

like ProCare, like, you know , that

18:26

is something that can be, you know, maybe a

18:28

little intimidating because you guys are the, you

18:30

know, the , you are the, the gurus, you know,

18:33

so they're like, this has to be something

18:35

complicated. If they can do all of this

18:37

in a click , it's gotta be something

18:39

crazy that I just don't understand, you know?

18:43

So Well, we got, we got it handled for everybody

18:45

<laugh>, just do it with a , like , right.

18:48

Yeah. Yeah. And why, I

18:50

mean, why do you think it is that people maybe

18:53

do hesitate to ask questions?

18:55

Especially like in this education

18:58

space where we, you know, we're always

19:00

encouraging people ask questions, yet when

19:02

it's us, we're sometimes, Ooh , I

19:04

don't know if I should ask that. Is that silly? Mm-Hmm.

19:07

<affirmative> . Is there a way , is there a way to make

19:09

someone feel more comfortable with throwing

19:11

those questions out there? 'cause somebody else is

19:14

probably thinking it <laugh>

19:15

Well, yeah. Um, you know, that's always been

19:18

a thing, Leah . I mean, throughout time Yeah

19:20

. In education. And , and it's a , it's a

19:22

vulnerable thing to ask a question and to Mm-Hmm

19:24

. <affirmative> to openly say, I don't know . You

19:26

know what I mean? Yeah . 'cause we we're, we're a people

19:28

of knowers. We know her , we know everything.

19:31

And we, and we feel, you know, some people

19:33

will make you feel bad, like, oh my God, you don't know that. You

19:36

know? So it's a vulnerability thing. So

19:38

what I would do is have them

19:40

write the questions down anonymously and

19:43

submit 'em . Oh , yeah. So

19:45

that way nobody knows, who doesn't know <laugh>.

19:49

And, and , and those people who

19:52

are too shy to ask, they're gonna be so relieved.

19:54

So relieved. Like, oh my gosh, I thought it was just

19:56

me. You know?

19:59

Oh, that's a great idea. Yeah. I

20:01

like that. I'm a ,

20:02

I'm a firm. I'm a big FAQ person.

20:05

Ask Jahi , I'm always on him. I'm like, we need an FAQ

20:07

, you know? And he's like, okay,

20:09

okay. I got you, Latoya, because I know me,

20:12

it , it alleviates a lot of questions for me when I

20:14

have a frequently asked questions bar

20:16

where I can kind of get a jump on

20:18

some of the things that I, you know, that I'm probably

20:21

gonna wanna know anyway. So having

20:23

that handy and , um, even

20:25

a , uh, like a glossary, because

20:29

tech terminology, like,

20:31

I talk to a guy and he's like, oh, you're such a techie.

20:33

And I'm like, I'm not, I

20:35

, I'm a little, but not really, you

20:37

know, like, not as much as I would like to be. So,

20:40

yeah . And, and like, even the way you write your

20:42

numbers, like I write the dots and stuff, he's like, you

20:44

write like a techie. So I realized like it's a language

20:46

that techies talk , and

20:49

I didn't realize it because I speak it a little Mm-Hmm

20:51

. So I didn't think it was a thing, you know? And I'm

20:53

like, wow. Like, th that's a thing to you, but

20:56

you can't discredit anybody for not knowing

20:58

if they not in that realm or,

21:00

you know, they , they don't do tech, they definitely

21:02

might feel intimidated. So breaking

21:05

down it , breaking it down into layman's

21:07

terms what these terms

21:09

mean. So it gives them a , a

21:12

, a power pack going in. You know what I mean?

21:14

Uhhuh , it gives them that ammunition. So at least I understand

21:16

a little bit. So when I heard that, I'm like, oh,

21:18

okay. I see what that is. You know? Yeah.

21:20

Yeah. And then

21:23

kind of along those lines, can we talk a little bit

21:25

about giving teachers

21:27

buy-in, like, like, how

21:30

is it that, that you can show them

21:32

that using this technology, you

21:34

know, whether it's digital curriculum, whether

21:36

it's these QR codes

21:38

to sign in, sign out, anything along those

21:41

lines that it is different,

21:43

but how do you show them that this is gonna make

21:46

your job easier and

21:48

hopefully lower your stress, hopefully

21:50

lower your burnout? You know, that's always

21:52

a goal.

21:55

I'd say the proof is in the pudding. Okay. I

21:57

always say the proof is in the pudding, showing real

21:59

live examples of how things have changed. And

22:01

the numbers do not lie. Uh , I , I'm

22:04

a firm believer of the numbers don't lie. When you show them, Hey,

22:07

here's how much time you're spending on of

22:09

your day doing X, Y, and z,

22:11

Uhhuh <affirmative> ,

22:12

If you use this system, you

22:14

can cut that into a fraction of

22:16

that time and, and whatever they like to

22:18

do, put that in there. Like, you know,

22:20

you like, you know, strolling on Instagram, on

22:23

your phone, look how much more Instagram time you gonna

22:25

get <laugh>.

22:25

You know what I

22:26

Mean? Yeah . And they're like, oh , really ? If you

22:28

, like , if a person loves their lunch break and

22:30

you don't wanna be doing work on your lunch break,

22:33

'cause that happens, you know, you have that one quiet

22:35

moment, and now you have to do paperwork, you

22:37

know, with it. How are you eating your

22:39

lunch ? Dripping it all over the paper? You know what

22:41

I mean?

22:42

<laugh> , right . No one put

22:44

into

22:44

Perspective for people. Say, Hey, here's what you're

22:46

doing Uhhuh . Here's what , here's what it could look

22:48

like if you use technology.

22:51

Gotcha . And then

22:52

Handhold, walk 'em into it, give 'em a

22:54

little taste and say, Hey, let's try this.

22:57

How about let's see how much easier and

23:00

more accurate your clock ins will be. You

23:03

know, you remember last week when you had

23:05

to ask about your, your hours because

23:07

you , you forgot to write down on the

23:09

book , the book log in what time?

23:12

Mm-Hmm . <affirmative> . What if all you had to do was flash your badge

23:14

and we clock you in ?

23:16

Yeah . Now

23:16

You're getting your full check . You know what I mean? Think about, you

23:18

know, giving them the scenarios of what happens if you don't.

23:22

Yeah. How much time you're, you're

23:24

you're giving away Now it

23:26

becomes a choice. <laugh>,

23:29

I like it. You know? And when

23:31

you were talking about spilling your lunch all

23:33

over paperwork, when we , um, when

23:36

we were talking recently, you were telling me about

23:38

some of the crazy spreadsheets

23:41

that you've seen. And I'd love it if

23:43

you could like <laugh> , give me some of these

23:45

examples of what directors, assistant

23:48

directors, I mean, maybe even teachers are

23:50

doing too, to try to keep track of the

23:52

business end and talk a

23:54

little bit about those and what

23:56

the end result is for how the, how the

23:59

business is being is being run

24:02

<laugh>. Oh, wow. Leah . Yeah. When,

24:04

when we talk about technology, one

24:06

thing I craft by better future is we are big

24:08

on technology because uhhuh , we are , you

24:11

know, we are grassroots team. So we

24:13

were just joking the other day about how we've

24:15

gone through so many systems to find the right

24:18

ones for us, because we had

24:20

to do so many things manually. And

24:23

I'm not a millennial, I don't think I'm a millennial.

24:25

I don't know where I am in it, but I'm not, what do you call

24:27

those? The ones, the new ones that come out ?

24:29

Oh, the Gen Z.

24:30

Gen Z. Yeah. Yeah. I'm not a Gen Z <laugh>

24:32

, so there's a lot of things that I know, but there's

24:34

a lot of , like, I , you know how they can text 2000

24:37

words in two seconds? I can't do that.

24:39

So typing for me is, is

24:42

is brutal. Uhhuh <affirmative> . So we

24:45

talk about different systems, and one

24:47

of the systems that we use, we, we teach on

24:49

a accounting system. We do a bootcamp about

24:52

, uh, a wave bootcamp where we teach

24:55

business owners, EE business owners how to manage

24:57

their finances with a actual

25:00

system. Okay. Uhhuh

25:02

<affirmative> . So the same thing with ProCare. We talk about

25:04

what happens if you don't. We have

25:07

Leah , we have this bootcamp, and we were teaching

25:09

people how to manage their finances, right? Uhhuh

25:11

<affirmative> . And this woman, she has a laptop. And

25:13

I mean, she pulls out this spreadsheet.

25:16

This thing has 300

25:18

line items. It has about seven

25:20

different colors. I mean, she's got formulas

25:23

in it. And lemme tell you, this spreadsheet looked

25:26

great. I was like, my goodness, where'd you get this from? She

25:28

was like, oh, I made it over the years. I'm

25:30

like, okay, how <laugh> , how

25:32

long does it take you to, to edit

25:35

and update? She was like, well, you

25:37

know, after my kids go home, I

25:39

take about an hour and a half to input

25:41

the days. I'm like, you do what? Like,

25:45

oh , my, like, wait a minute. And she said, or

25:47

sometimes I get up 5:00 AM before

25:49

my kids get in, and I do a couple of hours on the

25:51

spreadsheet. And I'm like , are you serious? Are

25:54

you serious? What happens if you miss a , a , a

25:57

coin? You know what I mean? The whole spreadsheet's

25:59

ruined, you know, if you accidentally

26:01

delete something, how are you even gonna

26:04

know it's a million line items

26:06

on here? Yeah . Like, this is crazy.

26:09

And she was like, well, this is all I've got. I'm

26:11

, I'm just kind of a slave to it. And

26:14

I was like, honey, we've gotta

26:16

do better than that. And there's a better solution

26:18

for that. But like you said, Leah

26:20

, it takes for somebody to see that. 'cause if

26:22

nobody saw , if I didn't look over

26:24

her shoulder being a little nosy,

26:26

like, what is that thing? You know? Yeah . She

26:28

would've even thought about it. She's like, oh, this is nothing.

26:30

You know, because it's a great spreadsheet, but it's

26:33

killing your lifestyle. No

26:35

work life balance. You are

26:38

not getting any free time because you gotta wake up

26:40

and do it all over again. So we're

26:42

like, what about a childcare management system?

26:44

You can manage everything

26:46

from there. And,

27:01

Oh , I think you're cutting out a little bit. Oh

27:05

, it's a little, it's a little grainy right there.

27:11

Okay . No

27:14

, it's still really, huh?

27:16

That's weird. Can you hear me okay ?

27:40

Okay. What about now?

27:41

Perfect. It's perfect. Okay. We'll

27:44

just edit that last part out. That's super easy. Um,

27:46

do you wanna start , um, where you were talking

27:49

about like your work-life balance,

27:51

how that affected

27:54

it, or Definitely you don't really have

27:56

any <laugh>, you don't really have any work life balance.

27:58

It's all work

27:59

<laugh>.

28:00

Yeah. If you're getting up two

28:02

hours before your shift starts

28:05

just to fill in a spreadsheet or

28:07

staying two hours late to fill in a

28:09

spreadsheet, you're never going to

28:12

catch up. It's a rat race and

28:14

you're never gonna have quality of life, and

28:16

it's not worth it. You guys do the most important

28:19

job. You know, you have to face

28:21

these children and they're looking to you for your energy

28:23

to be on point, and they're looking for you to bring

28:25

their energy up. So if you are spending your time manually

28:29

doing everything, you are not gonna be

28:31

at 100% . You definitely, you're not even

28:33

gonna be at 80%. You know? So

28:35

what we talk to our business owners about

28:38

is efficiency. Efficiency,

28:41

because you want something that's gonna be correct

28:43

and you want it to be time, you

28:46

know what I mean? You know, to save you time

28:48

, save , and in turn it's gonna

28:50

save you money. Because now when,

28:53

like I was saying before, it's the output for

28:55

me. You know, because you have the

28:58

excellent reporting, you know? Mm-Hmm . <affirmative>

29:00

, if your parents, your, your clients slash

29:02

parents ask you for any type of detail

29:04

in what you're doing, one click. You

29:07

don't have to shuffle through papers and download

29:09

this and put this together and pull

29:11

out this and hide this column and <laugh>.

29:14

It's just a mess. So ,

29:16

Well, it just seems like there's so much room for

29:18

error. And maybe I'm thinking how when I do excel,

29:20

how it <laugh> how it turns out. Mm-Hmm . <affirmative> . But I

29:23

mean, that's just asking

29:25

for a mistake that's just gonna send

29:28

you down a rabbit hole of <laugh>

29:31

, of a mess. <laugh>

29:33

Yeah. And the anxiety that comes with

29:35

it, Leah , that, that you could have made a mistake.

29:37

And I'm one of those people, I'm gonna keep checking back. I'm

29:39

gonna check it a million times because I'm like, like, I'm worried

29:41

that I might've missed something or I accidentally

29:44

clicked something off and, and did

29:46

something else. I can't undo it. Or, yeah.

29:49

But like you said, just the

29:51

, if you have seen the, I've

29:53

seen people actually do things on Word documents,

29:56

like keep books on Word documents. So

29:59

a spreadsheet is asking me to step up. Yes.

30:01

I'm like, what is that? And

30:03

even handwritten. I'm, I'm, I'm

30:06

definitely a notebook girl, I'm no shade. I

30:08

love a good notebook. Yeah . But that's

30:10

like a backup to my computer. And

30:12

that's like my anxiety anyway. I'm

30:14

like, I have to write things down. I'm a scribbler,

30:17

Uhhuh , <affirmative> .

30:18

I also have systems, you

30:20

know, that I, that I use . And they

30:23

have done nothing but changed my life and

30:25

my business. So we definitely , we speak

30:27

by example, Leah . That's why I said, you know,

30:31

with ProCare being such a

30:33

, a , not , don't wanna say intricate, but such

30:35

a , uh, sophisticated

30:37

system. You guys have seen the,

30:40

you've seen 30 years of this. So

30:42

you've guys have been able to grow with

30:44

the industry to see where it's going. And that's what I

30:46

love about you guys. 'cause you're listening, you

30:49

know, listening to what people really need and

30:51

what will help make it

30:53

better so that we can be better for

30:55

the children. Because that's really the, the biggest deal.

30:58

We wanna be able to go outside and play in

31:00

the water and not be worrying about, oh my gosh, I

31:02

gotta go and put my spreadsheet together,

31:04

you know? Oh . And if the parents say, Hey,

31:07

I'm applying for , uh, a loan

31:09

and I need to get my , uh, receipts

31:11

from you for the last six months. And

31:14

, and that's a whole nother project for your weekend.

31:16

And you thought you were going to Atlanta City this weekend,

31:19

<laugh> not

31:20

<laugh> , not anymore . You're putting

31:21

Together , right? You're putting together a

31:23

, a whole report, but not with

31:26

growth here . Not with a system where you can hit a button

31:28

and say, Hey , um,

31:31

what we , what we really talk about technology

31:33

for businesses when it comes to wowing

31:37

your clients, wowing your families. 'cause

31:40

families appreciate efficiency. Yeah

31:42

. They look at your business in a different

31:44

light when they see that you've invested in processes

31:46

that make not only your life easier, but their

31:48

life easier. And it just makes your

31:51

business look more, I would say, more

31:53

responsible, you know? Mm-Hmm.

31:55

<affirmative> . So who want , who wants to be with somebody

31:58

that is not responsible and, and

32:00

you're leaving your child there and you're, you're really putting

32:03

your , you're trusting your raising your child

32:05

to someone else. Pretty much. So

32:07

if you know that in there on the spreadsheets,

32:09

who's, who's hanging out with

32:11

the kids and teaching them things and having

32:13

experiences, you know? Yeah . So we wanna

32:16

make sure you're, you're present.

32:18

Yeah. And when we, you know, we talked to

32:20

a lot of center owners, teachers all the time,

32:23

you know, and the question I asked you right at the beginning, you know,

32:25

how did you get into ECE? And

32:28

not once has anybody ever said, because I'm

32:30

so excited about accounting

32:32

and running a business <laugh> like

32:34

that is, that is what's really driving me.

32:37

So, and I'm, you know, my youngest isn't

32:39

preschool. He goes to a UCE center and I'm

32:42

grateful for that. Like, like be there

32:44

with him teaching him his letters, that kind

32:46

of thing. Yeah . So I totally get what you're saying.

32:49

And Yeah, the parents love it. Yeah .

32:51

For the ,

32:51

The parents side of it, because they get a glimpse into

32:54

their child's day. And I'm gonna tell

32:56

you, you know, I was a working mom and, you

32:58

know, my kids are bigger now. They're like, you know, early,

33:01

early teens. So, you know , they don't

33:03

care about me anymore, <laugh> . But when they were young,

33:06

I had such mom guilt, Leah , because

33:09

I didn't get to see my kids all day. So

33:12

I know from the mom perspective, having that

33:14

access to your children and what they're doing and

33:16

what they're learning and how they're experiencing life is

33:18

just so much easier to

33:21

have that peace of mind when you are at work

33:23

trying to focus on your spreadsheets, <laugh>.

33:25

Right, right. Exactly. <laugh>

33:28

. Exactly. And

33:30

then let's, let's kind of end it looking

33:34

a bit into the future, if you will. So now let's,

33:36

let's say the center says, all right , we're

33:39

gonna use technology in the classrooms. You've

33:41

done the training. How do directors

33:43

keep supporting this as it,

33:46

you know, keeps getting implemented, people are using

33:49

it, maybe mistakes are made.

33:51

What's, what's the, what's the key

33:53

to success there?

33:55

Oh, Leah , I'm so glad you asked. And you have

33:58

some people think, oh , a training is a one time

34:00

thing. It's not. It has to be progressive.

34:03

You know, and I'm a person, I love evaluations

34:05

because you don't know what was retained. You

34:07

know, you people love nodding and

34:10

saying, okay, I got it. And

34:12

they don't have anything. They don't, they , they're still making the

34:14

same mistake. So what

34:16

I would say is, quarterly trainings

34:19

are always great. Um, we

34:21

know that in this industry, it can be a high turnover

34:23

rate. So you, you're gonna have new people,

34:25

but that doesn't mean only the new people get this training.

34:27

Everybody needs to be updated,

34:30

especially, and you guys are always adding

34:32

new, cute things and features <laugh>

34:34

. So it's always good to make sure that you're

34:36

up on those new times and those new features.

34:39

And what I would say is to keep making

34:41

an incentive for being great at it.

34:43

For being great at using it and, and not bashing

34:46

people for making mistakes, but making it a learning experience.

34:49

I mean, that , I'm a firm believer that it's

34:51

about correction and not just, you

34:53

know, Hey, you did this wrong, look what happened.

34:56

You know, it's like, Hey, let me, let's, let's, let's explore

34:58

that. Let's see how we can do better. But bringing

35:01

it back up, making sure, like making

35:03

sure that the trainings are currently happening

35:06

and, you know, reoccurring, I should

35:08

say, and evaluation afterwards.

35:11

A knowledge test. Let's see what you retained.

35:14

You know, make it a thing. You

35:16

know, if you're great at, at , uh,

35:18

using ProCare, you could be the teacher,

35:21

you can be that person that runs the trainings.

35:24

I'm , I'm big on showing

35:26

people their, their

35:29

strongness, their their strengths, really building

35:32

on people's strengths. And if that's something that

35:34

you're strong in , nobody , everybody

35:36

loves to share their strengths. Yep

35:38

. Make that a thing, you know, and, and when

35:40

it comes to talent acquisition, that's how you

35:43

show a person there , that you value them

35:45

by noticing their strengths and actually utilizing

35:47

it. Because one of the things I see in

35:50

the industry is under utilization

35:52

of the talent that you have in

35:55

house . So

35:57

Oh , bring it

35:58

Out . So maybe the younger Yeah, like the younger Yeah

36:01

. Staff maybe can

36:03

help. Yeah . Some of the people who've been doing

36:05

it longer.

36:06

Yeah. And show them that they have a strength this a

36:08

strength in that. Yeah .

36:09

You know ?

36:10

Oh , love that . They love that phone. Let 'em

36:12

use it. <laugh> .

36:15

Right . Well, I think we're wrapping up.

36:17

Is there, can you think of anything I didn't ask

36:19

or I should have or that you'd like

36:21

people to take away from this?

36:24

Well, well, I think you asked everything,

36:26

but what I want people to take away from this is don't

36:28

be afraid. Technology is

36:31

a beautiful thing when it's used correctly.

36:34

And give it a chance. You know, give it a chance. And

36:37

don't feel like you have to learn everything at

36:39

once. Start with the small stuff and

36:42

ease your way into it. And another

36:44

thing is repetition, repetition,

36:46

repetition. The more you do anything,

36:48

the better you're gonna get at it. Don't expect

36:51

to be so great your first time. Fail

36:53

forward if you make a mistake. You

36:56

know, one thing about technology is very forgiven.

36:58

They, everybody has an undo button. And

37:01

that's how I help with my clients. I'm like, just remember

37:03

you got an undo. Okay.

37:06

<laugh> not the end of the world. Try

37:09

again. <laugh> ,

37:10

I like, and Latoya, what's

37:12

the best way for our listeners to get in touch with

37:14

you or craft better Futures?

37:17

Any of that? Emails, phone, whatever,

37:20

whatever you guys like. Yeah ,

37:22

Well, all of that. Well, my , you can email me

37:24

, um, at l [email protected],

37:30

or you can visit our website at ww

37:33

dot better futures dc.com.

37:35

And we are on all platforms

37:37

on social media. You guys, we're at Craft

37:40

By Better Futures on Instagram. We're

37:42

at , we're that on LinkedIn, Facebook,

37:45

we're at Craft Cafe Live. That's

37:47

my , uh, live show. And

37:51

TikTok , we are craft by Better Futures. Yes,

37:53

we're on TikTok, guys, <laugh> .

37:55

Nice. Very

37:57

Cool. Then we , we have a YouTube channel Craft

37:59

by Better Futures. Okay, guys,

38:01

so check us out. You have

38:04

Well, thank you, Latoya, this was so great. We'd

38:07

love talking with you. Loved getting all your insights.

38:10

And thanks to everyone who's listening,

38:12

we'll catch you on the next podcast.

38:15

Thank you for listening to this episode

38:17

of the Childcare Business Podcast. To

38:20

get more insights on ways to succeed in your childcare

38:22

business, make sure to hit subscribe in

38:24

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38:26

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38:29

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38:32

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38:35

Until next time.