Latest / ChildCare Conversations / 387: How One Founder Turned a Personal Need Into 21 Childcare Locations with Kristen Denzer

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387: How One Founder Turned a Personal Need Into 21 Childcare Locations with Kristen Denzer · ChildCare Conversations

• 0:03
  Childcare Conversations: Welcome to Childcare Conversations, a growing community of early childhood leaders asking better questions and finding real solutions together.
• 0:11
  Childcare Conversations: The conversations shaping early childhood happen here.
• 0:15
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• 0:28
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• 0:35
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• 0:39
  Childcare Conversations: Now let's get into today's conversation, one we think you're really going to enjoy.
• 0:51
  Kate Woodward Young: And Kristen's coming all the way from the Great North.
• 0:55
  Kate Woodward Young: And uh, for those of you who don't know, my name is Kate Woodward Young with Childcare Conversations.
• 1:00
  Kate Woodward Young: And we are based out of Texas, and today's guest is coming all the way from Minneapolis, Minnesota.
• 1:06
  Kate Woodward Young: And so, Kristen, welcome.
• 1:08
  Kate Woodward Young: And as the CEO of a franchise childcare program, you've got some great stories, and I can't wait to have this conversation.
• 1:18
  Kate Woodward Young: But why don't you tell everybody kind of how you ended up uh in early childhood, and then we'll explore that uh very interesting path.
• 1:27
  SPEAKER_01: Absolutely.
• 1:28
  SPEAKER_01: Well, thank you so much for having me.
• 1:30
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, you know, so I for childcare, childcare was really like the fifth business I started.
• 1:38
  SPEAKER_01: Uh I'm more of like a serial entrepreneur, I guess you could say.
• 1:42
  SPEAKER_01: And so I had not actually like worked in childcare prior to starting it.
• 1:47
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, didn't have a background education in it.
• 1:50
  SPEAKER_01: I just had kids that I needed childcare for and started looking and got an idea in my mind of what I wanted them to experience.
• 2:01
  SPEAKER_01: And so with not just language immersion, which is very important, I wanted that, but also with like the meal program.
• 2:08
  SPEAKER_01: You know, I grew up in the Midwest, meat and potatoes.
• 2:11
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, I had peas, carrots, corn, green beans, and that's it.
• 2:15
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, no asparagus or Brussels press till my 20s.
• 2:18
  SPEAKER_01: My parents, like, they, you know, never really made it.
• 2:21
  SPEAKER_01: And so I didn't try it.
• 2:23
  SPEAKER_01: So I wanted a space where kids would have their palates expanded and and get to try lots of different things from around the world.
• 2:29
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, and so I really just decided to create it.
• 2:33
  SPEAKER_01: You know, I had already started businesses.
• 2:34
  SPEAKER_01: So I was like, ah, you know, I can do this.
• 2:36
  SPEAKER_01: Uh it's a big learning curve, big learning curve, that's for sure.
• 2:40
  SPEAKER_01: But that's really how Tierra came about was it's been crafted around what I wanted for my kids because they went there.
• 2:47
  SPEAKER_01: I love that.
• 2:47
  Kate Woodward Young: And that seems to be a really popular uh guest story as far as how did you find yourself in childcare?
• 2:54
  Kate Woodward Young: I had kids.
• 2:55
  Kate Woodward Young: Uh, I am that same way.
• 2:56
  Kate Woodward Young: I was actually a business analyst for the SBA before I found myself in childcare.
• 3:01
  Kate Woodward Young: And again, had a kid, figured I had to figure out what to do with them, right?
• 3:05
  Kate Woodward Young: So um, and I think we all uh I don't want to say we all think we can do it better, but maybe we just want to put our own spin on it.
• 3:12
  Kate Woodward Young: So uh yeah, I think that's exciting.
• 3:15
  Kate Woodward Young: So tell me more about the serial entrepreneurship as somebody who kind of falls into that category.
• 3:20
  Kate Woodward Young: I'm curious, tell me at least, I don't know, what was your favorite other top five jobs or first five businesses?
• 3:29
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, I guess real estate, um, you know, Tierra, it's hard to compare it to Tier because with Tier, I feel like I really have all of the aspects that are great about entrepreneurship.
• 3:41
  SPEAKER_01: You know, you have so like I had a dog daycare, you know, and with dog daycare, it was very, you know, it's some of like the seasonality um with the hotel and holidays.
• 3:53
  SPEAKER_01: But then also it it rarely was someone's career.
• 3:57
  SPEAKER_01: Uh and so we had a lot of like college students who's you know, higher turnover, and it's open all the time.
• 4:03
  SPEAKER_01: And so if a dog gets out, you know, at 11 p.m.
• 4:07
  SPEAKER_01: on a Saturday, you're like dealing with that.
• 4:10
  SPEAKER_01: Whereas childcare, it's you know, it's normal business hours, days.
• 4:14
  SPEAKER_01: Um with I had an event business, I mean, and that's super seasonal, very stressful.
• 4:20
  SPEAKER_01: Uh childcare, I get to really put my values and you can see the difference.
• 4:26
  SPEAKER_01: And we've had parents say that their kids translated for them when they traveled, which is just like so cool.
• 4:32
  SPEAKER_01: Um I'd say real estate is number two because it's like easy, you know, it's like thoughtless.
• 4:38
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, especially commercial.
• 4:39
  Kate Woodward Young: I love that it's thoughtless.
• 4:41
  Kate Woodward Young: Um, yeah.
• 4:42
  Kate Woodward Young: So my cousin who is my business partner and has been the co-host of a lot of our episodes um for the first six years, uh, actually also does a lot in real estate.
• 4:53
  Kate Woodward Young: So I'm gonna have to see if she also agrees that that um, but she always says that, you know, if she doesn't have it invested in something, her money's not doing anything.
• 5:02
  Kate Woodward Young: So uh they always are are either buying notes, selling notes, buying properties, flipping properties.
• 5:07
  Kate Woodward Young: I don't know.
• 5:08
  Kate Woodward Young: I live in a house.
• 5:09
  Kate Woodward Young: That's what I got.
• 5:10
  Kate Woodward Young: So, you know, uh, but I absolutely love the story of how you got here, the fact that you tried other things.
• 5:20
  Kate Woodward Young: And when I was kind of having conversations with people about uh and other people that work for you, I found it really interesting that not just one degree, because a lot of people have a degree and they will, you know, want to do some more, but you've challenged yourself to some additional higher learning.
• 5:39
  Kate Woodward Young: Uh so tell me a little bit about.
• 5:41
  Kate Woodward Young: I know that even after having all these businesses, you went back and got an MBA.
• 5:45
  Kate Woodward Young: I loved your philosophy.
• 5:47
  Kate Woodward Young: So share with the folks who were listening why and um, you know.
• 5:52
  Kate Woodward Young: Yeah.
• 5:52
  Kate Woodward Young: Maybe some tips for somebody who's listening.
• 5:54
  SPEAKER_01: Totally.
• 5:55
  SPEAKER_01: Uh so I have I've I just always been a person that believes that just because I, just because I started the business, just because I own it, doesn't mean that you know I necessarily have like this right, like where I get to be the leader.
• 6:12
  SPEAKER_01: Like I should always deserve it.
• 6:14
  SPEAKER_01: Like I should always do everything I can to deserve the position.
• 6:18
  SPEAKER_01: And the the leader it takes to get a company from you know zero to five million, five to ten, ten to twenty, twenty to fifty.
• 6:25
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, it's different, different skill sets.
• 6:27
  SPEAKER_01: And I have learned a ton.
• 6:29
  SPEAKER_01: And so with with going to Warden, I just I wanted to make sure I was the best leader I could be.
• 6:36
  SPEAKER_01: And I had never taken a business class before I went to before I went there.
• 6:42
  SPEAKER_01: And so I think that how I like to explain it is starting businesses and just learning as I went, it made my knowledge like Swiss cheese.
• 6:51
  SPEAKER_01: And the MBA kind of filled in all the gaps, you know, of all of that like contextual on-the-ground knowledge.
• 6:58
  SPEAKER_01: I love that Swiss cheese.
• 7:00
  Kate Woodward Young: Um as as a cheese eater, but maybe that's the Midwest in me.
• 7:03
  Kate Woodward Young: So I grew up in Ohio and lots of family in uh the Twin Cities and across the Wisconsin border, so right on that other side of the Mississippi from y'all.
• 7:14
  Kate Woodward Young: And so um gotta love some squeaky cheese.
• 7:16
  Kate Woodward Young: That's my favorite.
• 7:17
  Kate Woodward Young: Uh, you can tell that we spent too many summers at the at the at the creamery, and we loved it.
• 7:23
  Kate Woodward Young: But, you know, one of the things that I find really, really interesting, especially when having these conversations with female CEOs in early learning, is that we get, we all came at it from different perspectives.
• 7:36
  Kate Woodward Young: And I love that.
• 7:37
  Kate Woodward Young: And I love the fact that you were willing to keep learning and asking.
• 7:41
  Kate Woodward Young: Now, for those who folks who don't know more about your organization, how many franchise locations do you have?
• 7:48
  Kate Woodward Young: So you don't just have a few schools in the Minneapolis area.
• 7:53
  Kate Woodward Young: You've actually franchised and you are now also a franchisor.
• 7:57
  Kate Woodward Young: So talk a little bit about what that looks like because that we haven't had a guest on yet who's done that, who's talked about that.
• 8:04
  Kate Woodward Young: Take that back.
• 8:04
  Kate Woodward Young: We did have one other female CEO of a franchise, um, but we didn't actually ask about that process.
• 8:11
  Kate Woodward Young: So talk to me a little bit about why you decided and what it's like to work with folks all over the country who now are getting inspired by your vision.
• 8:21
  SPEAKER_01: Absolutely.
• 8:22
  SPEAKER_01: Um so when I started Tierra, I didn't necessarily go into it with like this grand plan to franchise or anything.
• 8:30
  SPEAKER_01: I just I started it and once it, you know, was doing well, I was like, I'm gonna open more locations.
• 8:37
  SPEAKER_01: And initially I only wanted to open corporate own, like not franchise locations.
• 8:43
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, I was approached by uh people about franchising, and I was initially a little hesitant because I feel like Tira has a is really like a values-based business.
• 8:54
  SPEAKER_01: Like there's a lot of important values that I have in it, and how you know we look at diversity with family composition, how we do our meal program, how we treat our staff, that I was worried about how to like really ensure that carried through.
• 9:11
  SPEAKER_01: But in doing a lot of research, talking to people, I learned about how critical some of you know brand standards are, that infrastructure of franchising, how it can really help carry those things through in a brand.
• 9:23
  SPEAKER_01: So that made me feel a lot better.
• 9:24
  SPEAKER_01: And that was when I was like, okay, like this could be a really great opportunity where I can expand access to a really cool way for parents to set their kids up for success by being bilingual.
• 9:37
  SPEAKER_01: But then also I have I have always been pretty involved with like helping other entrepreneurs.
• 9:43
  SPEAKER_01: I served for six years on an SBA microlender that helped women start businesses.
• 9:48
  SPEAKER_01: And I loved the idea of being able to like partner with people that wanted to start their own business, but start a Tierra as their business and giving them all of the resources and tools that I didn't have, like not make try to help not make the mistakes I made when I started, so that they can really kind of see their dreams come true too.
• 10:07
  SPEAKER_01: And so I think that was really like the pathway of like thinking about it.
• 10:11
  SPEAKER_01: And so now today we have uh open, we have 21 locations open.
• 10:16
  SPEAKER_01: So uh 16 are franchise, 15 are corporate, and we have another uh seven opening in the next six months or so, and of those, uh a few of those are franchise, the rest are corporate, and then we plan to continue opening, you know, more and more each year.
• 10:33
  Kate Woodward Young: So I love the fact that even as a franchisor, you are also still continuing to grow the corporate footprint.
• 10:40
  Kate Woodward Young: So is your corporate footprint all in the Minneapolis, Minnesota area, or are you expanding um your corporate footprint nationwide as well?
• 10:51
  SPEAKER_01: No, I saw it, yeah, it's nationwide.
• 10:52
  SPEAKER_01: So I think I think as a franchise or I think before you franchise, in my opinion, I think that it's important that you've opened locations in other markets because what works in one market does not necessarily work in another market.
• 11:06
  SPEAKER_01: And so uh we uh I mean, so we have locations in Illinois, corporate owned.
• 11:11
  SPEAKER_01: We have Illinois, Kansas, Missouri, Texas.
• 11:13
  SPEAKER_01: We uh the ones that are opening.
• 11:15
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, we have Ohio and then opening in Colorado.
• 11:18
  SPEAKER_01: And so we have locations that are corporate owned in a lot of different states.
• 11:21
  SPEAKER_01: And I think that really makes us a better franchise or for it because we're able to see like the different market differences so that we can better support our franchisees.
• 11:30
  SPEAKER_01: What a great philosophy.
• 11:31
  SPEAKER_01: I wish more people thought that way.
• 11:34
  Kate Woodward Young: I didn't say that out loud.
• 11:35
  Kate Woodward Young: Anyway, so uh because I think one of the things that I find having worked with literally thousands of owners over the last 25 years is that I run into folks who are like, oh, but this is what always works.
• 11:50
  Kate Woodward Young: And I'm like, that's what worked on your street and your zip code, because um I talk about it a lot from the perspective of like I live on a street.
• 11:59
  Kate Woodward Young: Literally, I have 14 child care centers on the road I live on.
• 12:03
  Kate Woodward Young: And they are about, I mean, they really are there, they're from kinder care to a franchise to we've got like three faith-based um part-day programs.
• 12:14
  Kate Woodward Young: Like, like we cover the gamut, three Montessories, like any, anyway, we we we cover the gamut of those 14.
• 12:20
  Kate Woodward Young: And I'm like, but you know what?
• 12:22
  Kate Woodward Young: None of them are all gonna hit the same parents.
• 12:25
  Kate Woodward Young: They're not all gonna market the same.
• 12:26
  Kate Woodward Young: They all have their own unique selling propositions.
• 12:30
  Kate Woodward Young: They just really are 14 very different programs, but um it doesn't mean that they're all gonna market the same or that they're all gonna have the the best.
• 12:39
  Kate Woodward Young: Like, we've got one that cracks me up because it actually says it's on our road, like the name is the road, um, but yet they're not on the road.
• 12:48
  Kate Woodward Young: You can't even see their sign on the road.
• 12:49
  Kate Woodward Young: Like you have to go over one block to find them.
• 12:52
  Kate Woodward Young: And I'm like, why do you have that road name as part of your name?
• 12:56
  Kate Woodward Young: Right.
• 12:56
  Kate Woodward Young: So it'd be like, you know, Main Street and your Main Street Childcare, but yet you're not on Main Street.
• 13:02
  Kate Woodward Young: That doesn't make any sense.
• 13:04
  Kate Woodward Young: So I think that the fact that as a franchisor, you you came to that.
• 13:11
  Kate Woodward Young: Now, as a franchisor, even as a business owner, I am sure that somewhere along the path you've had some mentors.
• 13:17
  Kate Woodward Young: So I'm gonna ask you do you have some mentors if you have if you were going to give advice to somebody who was listening, most likely a female, because probably about 98% of our listenership is probably female.
• 13:31
  Kate Woodward Young: Um, and they're all owners and directors.
• 13:34
  Kate Woodward Young: So 125 countries, you've got folks listening all around the globe.
• 13:39
  Kate Woodward Young: Tell us about somebody who made an impact on you.
• 13:41
  Kate Woodward Young: It doesn't have to be a female, it can absolutely be a male.
• 13:43
  Kate Woodward Young: And then what would be your word of advice to somebody who's thinking about getting started as an owner?
• 13:50
  Kate Woodward Young: And maybe they aren't currently an owner.
• 13:51
  Kate Woodward Young: Maybe they're a parent listening and they're going, hey, I think I like her.
• 13:56
  SPEAKER_01: Totally.
• 13:56
  SPEAKER_01: You know, I think the number one thing to remember, and I'll give an example of this, is to just ask for like reach out, not be afraid to ask people for their time.
• 14:07
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, I think I've learned that over and over.
• 14:09
  SPEAKER_01: I've had a number of women that have had an impact uh for just in terms of this business and helping in.
• 14:17
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, my very first landlord when I uh didn't know what I was doing and started it and took a huge risk, got my first SBA loan, and did not hit my numbers because I was not like marketing it right, didn't pick the best location.
• 14:30
  SPEAKER_01: You know, because I had a good relationship with that landlord, I was able to reach out and figure out, you know, a rent restructuring so that I could like survive the year.
• 14:40
  SPEAKER_01: But if I didn't have that relationship and I had an ass, like that wouldn't have happened.
• 14:44
  SPEAKER_01: I think in terms of mentorship, I uh I reached out to a woman named Shelly Sun.
• 14:51
  SPEAKER_01: She found a Bright Star, which is massive, you know, massive franchise system that she started from nothing.
• 14:56
  SPEAKER_01: You know, and I was at a conference, saw she was at, and so I reached out and was like, hey, let's let's connect, you know, and she uh met with me.
• 15:04
  SPEAKER_01: And then since then, like it's been a resource for me to pick my mind now, is on my board.
• 15:09
  SPEAKER_01: But I've learned over the years, like never be afraid to just reach out.
• 15:13
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, I even now like I reach out to people on LinkedIn every year, uh at least a half dozen or more people where I'm just like, I wanna, you know, hey, they're a chief marketing officer of this brand, and that brand seems like they're an amazing marketing.
• 15:25
  SPEAKER_01: Can I just like take 15 minutes of your time on a call?
• 15:27
  SPEAKER_01: Because I just want to like pick your brain.
• 15:29
  SPEAKER_01: And people I found are pretty generous, you know, generally with their time.
• 15:33
  SPEAKER_01: And so if you just ask, like just don't be afraid to do that because it can be so helpful.
• 15:37
  SPEAKER_01: And then those are relationships that can be very lasting.
• 15:41
  Kate Woodward Young: So, speaking of relationships, I actually was connected to you by one of your Midwestern vendors, actually uh local vendors.
• 15:49
  Kate Woodward Young: So, how important is it to you to work with vendors who are local or other companies that maybe ha share that same value versus um necessarily somebody who might be more popular?
• 16:02
  unknown: Yeah.
• 16:03
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, I would say I am uh I am a very, very loyal customer to uh almost a fault sometimes.
• 16:10
  SPEAKER_01: And I'll give you a really good example of this.
• 16:12
  SPEAKER_01: My bank.
• 16:13
  SPEAKER_01: My bank is amazing.
• 16:14
  SPEAKER_01: And I have been with the same like com like now they're regional, but community bank since 2016.
• 16:22
  SPEAKER_01: I I mean, I have been, I've had so many banks reach out to me about switching, our loan switching things, but they've been so great, like the whole time.
• 16:30
  SPEAKER_01: They've always been there, like they make it so easy.
• 16:33
  SPEAKER_01: They've just been such a good partner that when I have a good vendor, good partner relationship, I like it, people can't shop me away.
• 16:42
  SPEAKER_01: You know, like I just I am very loyal customer.
• 16:45
  SPEAKER_01: And so it's like as long as that relationship is strong and good, like I am there, just because I think relationships are really important.
• 16:52
  SPEAKER_01: Absolutely.
• 16:53
  Kate Woodward Young: Well, I am so glad that you shared that tip because I think that banking.
• 16:58
  Kate Woodward Young: So one banking story I have, and hopefully this plants the seed, because we often talk on this episode about getting to know even your informal network, right?
• 17:08
  Kate Woodward Young: So, like why you need to go into the bank and say hello and make, you know, deposit some checks periodically, even if it means you have to go take some money out of the account so you can bring it in the front door, um, or just schedule time to go in and say hi to folks, is um one of our clients was actually trying to do a loan restructure, right?
• 17:28
  Kate Woodward Young: And so, and this often happens when you have big commercial property, right?
• 17:32
  Kate Woodward Young: Like the the bank is going to want to restructure your loan.
• 17:35
  Kate Woodward Young: And they were able to, their personal banker actually was able to argue for them for a lower percentage um at that restructuring that ended up being a difference of about a half a million dollars.
• 17:48
  Kate Woodward Young: So I don't know about you, but you know, to have a couple of conversations, even a month with your banker is so worth it for the you know, potential they could either provide or save you.
• 18:03
  Kate Woodward Young: And you know, you but I love to the don't be afraid to ask, because I think that that is also something that um as I've worked with new entrepreneurs or younger entrepreneurs or people who are coming from the corporate world and maybe haven't had a lot of exposure to business ownership.
• 18:22
  Kate Woodward Young: I mean, I grew up with business owners, um, never really thought about doing anything else.
• 18:27
  Kate Woodward Young: So, you know, the fact that I knew people who didn't know what a profit and loss statement was at age 12 was like, what do you don't?
• 18:33
  Kate Woodward Young: What do you mean you don't know how to read a profit and loss statement or you don't know what what is?
• 18:37
  Kate Woodward Young: And so, you know, when I worked with the SBA as a business analyst, again, I assumed people knew this.
• 18:43
  Kate Woodward Young: So some of the very first things I was doing pretty young was helping folks learn how to do that.
• 18:50
  Kate Woodward Young: So I think that your story is a perfect example of why you need to know your bankers and build those relationships.
• 18:59
  Kate Woodward Young: Is there a real business relationship that surprised you that you're like, oh, I didn't really think I was gonna need that one?
• 19:07
  Kate Woodward Young: Or um ended up being a much better relationship than maybe what you initially thought it was gonna be.
• 19:13
  Kate Woodward Young: It could be another industry, if that's safer.
• 19:16
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 19:16
  SPEAKER_01: Well, I mean, I think that I think that for sure.
• 19:23
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, with with my banker, so with my banker, I mean, that that's just been such a good relationship the whole time and the connections that they've provided me too.
• 19:32
  SPEAKER_01: Like, if you have a good relationship with your banker to echo what you're saying, and I've had now the same banker since 2018.
• 19:38
  SPEAKER_01: Uh he uh like I've like spoken to their employees.
• 19:42
  SPEAKER_01: They've had me speak on little webinar for lunches, like they do little networking things with other CEOs.
• 19:48
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, they've connected me with other people starting companies.
• 19:51
  SPEAKER_01: I think that sometimes people look at kind of different vendors or different partners like that as like siloed almost, and there's so much more that comes out of those relationships.
• 20:02
  SPEAKER_01: But I think that's so true of everything you do, because for example, you know, there's in every community, there's awards.
• 20:10
  SPEAKER_01: There's you know, entrepreneur of the year awards, there's fast-growing awards, and there's some awards where if you do it, then there'll be different events, and then you make these connections, and then it evolves into more connections or more relationships or things.
• 20:25
  SPEAKER_01: And I mean, that's how I ended up investing in another person's company that started it, is I met her at one of those events and she said she was trying to like raise money to grow.
• 20:34
  SPEAKER_01: And I was like, I'll invest, like this is amazing.
• 20:37
  SPEAKER_01: You know, and so I I think that people when you join or do things or when you have a relationship, really just take the time to like get to know someone, like just take like slow down a little bit and just take the time because you never know where it can lead you.
• 20:51
  SPEAKER_01: And I've just found that relationships are, in my opinion, like everything in business because it's just so valuable in so many ways.
• 21:00
  Kate Woodward Young: Absolutely.
• 21:01
  Kate Woodward Young: Uh so I love that story, and I think that that is just really important.
• 21:05
  Kate Woodward Young: And you brought up something that, again, not really sure we've ever talked about on here is are those community awards and what they can do from a marketing, from a networking, from a connection standpoint.
• 21:15
  Kate Woodward Young: So if you're listening and you've never applied to your local chamber of commerce, first of all, you've probably heard me rant about it more than once.
• 21:24
  Kate Woodward Young: So make sure you're part of your local chamber, your local National Association of Women Business Owners, or whatever women business owner association that probably exists.
• 21:34
  Kate Woodward Young: If you're a female business owner, I suspect that if you're not, maybe that's not going to be as advantageous to you.
• 21:41
  Kate Woodward Young: But join your local rotary club, your Kiwanas Club.
• 21:44
  Kate Woodward Young: Find those local groups that you can connect with because it's so important to connect with them and more than, you know, just, hey, here's my business card, you know, or only calling them when you need something.
• 21:57
  Kate Woodward Young: And I think that's the important thing that you kind of talked about that I'm hoping folks actually really heard and paid attention to with the banker story, because there was so much more than I need to restructure a loan.
• 22:10
  Kate Woodward Young: There was so much more than I need a loan.
• 22:13
  Kate Woodward Young: It was they're like, hey, we like you.
• 22:14
  Kate Woodward Young: Come share and tell your story to our folks.
• 22:17
  Kate Woodward Young: Oh, by the way, here's some other opportunities for you.
• 22:20
  Kate Woodward Young: So I think that that was just a great example.
• 22:23
  Kate Woodward Young: And like I said, I got to know you because of one of your vendors and because that vendor thought, you have to meet her.
• 22:29
  Kate Woodward Young: And that was exactly how that worked.
• 22:31
  Kate Woodward Young: And so um, we are so glad that you joined us today.
• 22:35
  Kate Woodward Young: Is there anything else you would love to tell a director or an owner who's listening that you're like, if I could only give you one piece of advice, this would be the one piece of advice I'd give you.
• 22:45
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I think as I think as an owner, I think that the best maybe piece of advice I could give is making sure that you have everything that you're kind of thinking you want the vision to be really well documented and trained.
• 23:05
  SPEAKER_01: Because I think when someone starts like the first location, you're just kind of figuring it out and you don't have as much kind of like written down or process, but it's really hard to grow if you don't have that like documented really well and aren't consistently training.
• 23:21
  SPEAKER_01: And it's hard to like hold people to expectations if you don't have that in place.
• 23:25
  SPEAKER_01: And so I think that's one thing I wish I would have done the first one a little bit better was that because I ended up having to do so much more with number two or three if I would have just did it better the first way, first time.
• 23:36
  SPEAKER_01: Love that.
• 23:37
  Kate Woodward Young: Well, Kristen, thank you so much for joining us.
• 23:40
  Kate Woodward Young: And for those of you who have not already signed up for the newsletter, please go sign up for the newsletter at childcareconversations.com.
• 23:48
  Kate Woodward Young: And you make sure that you check out um our partners.
• 23:52
  Kate Woodward Young: And well, I think that's it.
• 23:54
  Kate Woodward Young: And I'll see you in a few days.
• 23:59
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• 24:01
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