Latest / The Inspired Stories Podcast / How Naomi Fox Overcame Adversity and Transitioned from Investment Analyst to Thriving Daycare Owner | Childcare Series

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How Naomi Fox Overcame Adversity and Transitioned from Investment Analyst to Thriving Daycare Owner | Childcare Series · The Inspired Stories Podcast

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Welcome to another edition of Inspired Stories, where leaders
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share their experiences so we can learn from their successes,
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how they've overcome adversity, and explore current challenges
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they're facing. Welcome to another edition of
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the Inspired Stories podcast, where leaders share their
0:21
experiences so we can learn from their successes and be inspired
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by how they've overcome adversity.
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My name is Anthony Codispotti, and today's guest is Naomi Fox,
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founder of the Fox's Den Childcare Center, where they
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have three locations in Northeast Ohio, Wadsworth,
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Canal, Fulton and Creston. Their website is the Fox's Den
0:40
childcare.com. Naomi herself is a mother of
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four children, and we'll hear about how she first transitioned
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from an investment analyst to opening a daycare in her own
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home, and then how she expanded into the three locations that
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she owns today. At their centers, they care for
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infants up through preschool age and even have before and
1:01
aftercare available for K through 5th grade.
1:04
Naomi opened her first center because she believed there had
1:07
to be a better approach to childcare.
1:09
Their lower student to teacher ratios allow each child to
1:12
receive the attention they need. Before we get into all that good
1:16
stuff, today's episode is brought to you by my company,
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To find out if your company qualifies, contact us today at
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Add Back benefitsagency.com. Now back to our guest today, the
1:46
founder of the Fox's Den Childcare.
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Naomi, I appreciate you making the time to Share your story
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today. Absolutely.
1:52
I'm excited. OK.
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So let's go back to kind of the beginning.
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You were an investment analyst. How did the idea come about to
2:00
transition from that into opening up your first daycare
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center in your own home? OK, well I guess we'll need to
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go just a little bit further back because it it all started
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when I became an adult. I was married at the age of 18
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and immediately wanted to just be a mother.
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And that didn't happen. So then I immediately wanted to
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spend whatever time I had being as successful as I could be.
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So I got into the business of financial planning and studied
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and took tests and was had my stockbroker's license.
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And I did that for many years while we tried to build our
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family. We were unable to to become
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parents for eight years until we adopted our first son.
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His name is Calvin and he's now 13.
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So this is a long time. But in the midst of adopting our
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first son, we have also became foster parents.
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So we were foster parents for eight years as well.
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And during that time, I, I worked some and I always stayed
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in the investment industry. And I also, you know, managed
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our foster children. And it got to the point after
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eight years where we were not able to adopt through foster
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care. We have, we loved many children.
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Many came through our home. We were very connected to them,
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but they would move on as it goes.
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We would have adopted any one of them.
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We just, it just didn't work out that way.
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So nearing the end of that eight-year mark, we did get a
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call finally for two little boys that were already in the system,
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but they were available to be adopted.
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And they had, both of them, their biological brothers, they
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had gone from birth to a foster home.
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In their foster home. It was an older couple that just
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fostered. They didn't adopt children.
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So when those children became available for adoption, they
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needed to find an adoptive family.
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And they found us. And I knew at that time I was
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working part time and I knew if these boys were to come into my
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home and I continued working part time, they would need to go
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to daycare. And a one and two year old that
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are going to join my family permanently.
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I didn't want them going to my house and then to daycare every
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other day of the week and not really being able to bond with
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our family. So I just literally out of
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nowhere got the idea to open an in home daycare where I could be
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home. They can be with me, but I can
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also watch other children in order to have some income.
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That was in 2017. I opened January 1st, 2017.
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They moved into our house March 1st of 2017 and it was it was
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going great. I knew I wanted to run my in
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home daycare like like I would run it if it were not an in
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home. So one thing I always tell
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people, because I've talked to people over the years that had
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questions about starting a business, I say start how you
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want to finish. Be professional upfront because
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you're going to get there eventually where you're going to
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need all these things like a handbook, a tax ID number,
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invoicing receipt, like you're going to need to be that way
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eventually if you want to grow. So you need to start that way.
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And that's what I did. And I had a website bill just
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for my little in home daycare for six children and my my sons
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were part of that. And it was, it was amazing.
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I loved it. I couldn't believe that I hadn't
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thought of it sooner since we had been foster parents for so
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long. I was really good at financial
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planning and good at spreadsheets and good at running
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numbers. I didn't like it though.
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I really did not like it. But I did it every day and once
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I opened my in home daycare, I loved it.
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It was fun. We had birthday parties for my
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dog. We had a full preschool program
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and we just, we had the best time.
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And those children that started in my home seven years ago, they
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all graduated through my centers and stayed with us.
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And that was just, that's always been emotional to like watch
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those children that whose parents trusted me on day one,
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having no clue who I am and then seeing them stay with us until
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their kids graduated out of our program.
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They've always had a special place in my heart, but that was
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the reason we started was my my boys were moving into our home
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and I wanted them to be with me every day at first.
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And then we just, we were in my home for about a year and three
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months before we moved to our first small center.
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And did you do that simply because the demand was, you
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know, growing so much that you needed to?
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The demand was growing and I have always been the type of
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person that I don't like to to stay in one place.
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So when I got into being an administrative assistant in the
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financial planning industry, I wasn't going to stay
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administrative assistant for 1015 years.
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I studied, I moved forward and I advanced and that's where it was
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with my in home daycare. I wanted to grow.
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I said, this is going great. I love it, it's fun, let's do
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more. And then so about 10 months in,
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I had known about a church in the area that wasn't using their
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building and I reached out to them to see if we could lease
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part of it and open our first center there.
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And then that it worked. It just it all fell into place
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and I liked, I mean, I credit it to, to God and God's hand
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leading us through every step of the way because I had never
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worked in a daycare a day of my life.
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I just love taking care of children.
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So I had a lot to learn that I didn't even know I had to learn.
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There was a huge curve there. And over the years, and I can
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share how I've made many mistakes, but I've made them
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once because you have to learn from them.
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And that was a huge step for me. But it was fun and exciting to
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learn something new as well, and to dig in and figure it out and
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to have each door open along the way to get to get there.
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Made many mistakes but only made them once.
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I like that. Yes, that's what I tell my staff
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as well. Like, you know, mistakes happen,
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but don't let them happen again because now you know.
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I mean, what you're describing sounds like, you know, great
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sort of American Dream story. Did you have, you know, like a
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good entrepreneurial role model growing up?
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I would say that I didn't grow up in the best of situations.
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My family unit, my father was in prison my whole life.
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My mom was a single mom that, you know, would go in and out of
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working. She never was really committed
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to one thing, but I did have my father's mom, so my paternal
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grandmother was always there. She would take me to church on
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Sundays. She made sure she paid for me to
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go to private school because that was important to her.
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And I do credit a lot of my success to, you know, going to a
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college prep school and learning a lot of things that people
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learn in college. I learned.
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I'm in high school and I did well in school.
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And I will say that see, in the contrast of my grandma, who's
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always been a very successful hard worker, in the contrast of
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my family of origin and who I grew up around, it made me want
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the other side of things. I, I strove to be like my
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grandma, to do the things she did and to, to be successful in
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life. I could see that she was
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successful. She didn't live in the projects,
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She didn't have food stamps, you know what I mean?
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She didn't live in poverty. So it's like, do what she does
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and you'll get somewhere. And and that's, that's what I
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did. And I thank God for that role
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model in my life that I could look at and see that there was a
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difference than what I was surrounded by.
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What a powerful lesson you're describing there because you
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know, not only did you have the positive role model, right?
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This was a person that you wanted to aspire to be, but in a
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lot of ways you had, I don't know if negative role model is
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the right term, but you had this sharp contrast to say, wow,
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there's a big difference here. I can see what's possible over
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here and I can see what it looks like on the other side.
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And I don't want that. I know that this is possible
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because I come from this person, right?
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I am part of this bloodline and, and she's helping me.
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She's showing me the way. Yes, yes.
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And she, she always, there's some things she instilled in me
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that that I carry to this day. And one of the things she always
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said, if there's a will, there's a way.
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So having that will to do something means you're going to
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figure it out. There's a way to get it done.
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And I've had to use that almost every day of my life.
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And then she always told me that God is always in control.
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So those two founding like foundational pieces of who I am
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and how I grew up have allowed me to not freak out, figure
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things out, and just keep moving forward.
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Wow. I, you know, there's a usually a
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part in the interview a little bit later where I like to ask
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about, you know, a particular challenge that you've overcome
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either personally or professionally.
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I wonder if there's more to be said about kind of your
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childhood growing up and you know, some of the lessons that
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you learned along the way from that.
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I mean, it's just pretty simple, like work hard and don't do
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things that are considered bad. Don't, don't drink, don't do
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drugs. Just say no.
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I mean, I was exposed to that and I could have very easily
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done all of those things. But I didn't actually didn't
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even have my first sip of alcohol till I was 26 years old.
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So it's just one thing because you see what something like that
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can do to a family. I saw it first hand.
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So it's like don't do that. Do this instead.
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But I've learned a lot more lessons as I've gotten older.
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I feel like, I feel like there's never been one big challenge.
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It's been lots of big challenges.
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And I just keep like, you know, from from my childhood to
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infertility for a very long time to starting the business and
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figuring out, I don't even know what a building code was, but
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having to cross those hurdles to where now if I had to open
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another daycare, I could do it almost overnight.
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But that first time opening, it was overwhelming trying to
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figure all of that out. And I had nobody helping me.
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I didn't even know I could call the state of Ohio and have them
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help me now. Now they now I do know that, but
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I didn't. So I was just just really just
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trying to figure it out. A couple things there I'd like
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to unpack, if you're willing. You know, there's, it doesn't
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get talked about a lot, but fertility challenges are very
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common and incredibly stressful. What advice would you have for
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somebody listening who is going through a similar challenge now?
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I would say that I mean, faith plays a huge part in my life.
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And I got to the point before we adopted our first son where I
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said, you know what, God, if it's, if it's not your will for
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me to have any children, then I need to be OK with that.
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And my life could be amazing in a different way.
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I don't even know. I almost had to just give it up
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because I remember the, the exact time I, I had that
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conversation and made that decision, it was two months
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later that we were contacted to adopt my son.
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So it was like almost like you have to let go and focus on
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everything else around you that you can, that's good and not
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make that the only thing that you can focus on, which is very
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hard to do. But I can say this, it took
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eight years to adopt my first son, and it was 11 years after
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that until we adopted our next two.
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No, it wasn't. It was eight years and then it
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was six more years, I think, before we adopted the next one.
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And then this is the crazy part, 17 years from the time we got
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married. I did get pregnant finally, and
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we have a daughter. Thank God it's not another boy.
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And so and I never after we had three boys, I said I don't want
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any more kids. I always wanted a lot, but three
14:37
boys is literally insane. And I was very excited to be
14:42
pregnant because I had never even been pregnant once.
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But also I was scared. I was like, if this is another
14:47
boy, like I don't, I really don't want that.
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And you know, it's a girl. Her name is Joy.
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She's great. She's 4 now, but that was that
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was interesting to to go through.
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What a great and apropos name for your daughter.
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Yeah, well, right. She's her birthday is at
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Christmas time too, so it just all fit together.
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That's amazing. And as a father of two little
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boys, 8 and 10, yeah, I can attest to the challenges of a
15:18
lot of little testosterone bodies bumping up against each
15:21
other in the house. So yeah, adding a third in
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there, I, I, I could understand your apprehension about bringing
15:26
a, a fourth boy. Into the house.
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It's exponential too. It's not just like you add a
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second one and it's double trouble.
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No, it's like, it's more than that.
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It's like, and like one time when my husband and I were were
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very young, we got two puppies at the same time.
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We thought that would be great. No, they like make each other
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Dumber. And it's harder to train 2 at
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the same time than it is to do one.
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And I whether it's offensive or not, that's what little boys do
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to each other. They make each other less smart.
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Actually, I think that's a really good way to put it.
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I'm going to have to share that with my wife tonight because
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we've noticed that maybe if one of them's, you know, playing
16:04
with a friend for the day and we've got one home with us and
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the house is so quiet and peaceful and they're so kind and
16:11
calm. And then the, you know, the
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other one comes in and right away they're at each other and
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they're poking and they're hitting and they're yelling so.
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Yeah. I think, I think dumb dogs is is
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an appropriate comparison. So well, you know something else
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I wanted to talk about. You know, you mentioned building
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codes, didn't know anything about building codes.
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Did you have someone like as you were going along that was a
16:39
resource for you that you could reach out to and say, I, I don't
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even know like the questions to ask or who to call or like?
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I have. No idea what to do next.
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Honestly, no, no I did not. I would just call the building
16:53
department and ask the questions and if I didn't feel like I got
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the answer, I'd call again and I'd ask a different question or
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I'd speak to someone else. That was the very first go
17:03
around. So when we first opened we were
17:06
in the basement of a church and we were licensed for only 30
17:09
children. It was a very small space.
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We could only have 3 infants and then, you know, 27 other age
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children. And so it was a huge hurdle, but
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it was a very small operation. After about six months of that,
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we were, we needed to expand because the demand was, it was
17:30
very quickly growing and we worked out a deal to take over
17:34
the entire church building. So we were then licensed for 80
17:40
children. And one thing I'll say
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expanding, there were some more things I had to figure out what
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the building code and all of that.
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But I knew that one of my children that I enrolled, that
17:52
child's parent was an architect. So I reached out to her.
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And that's another lesson I learned is think about who you
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know and what they know and reach out to them Because
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people, I've never had someone say, no, I won't help you like
18:06
they will because I'm saying you're an expert.
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Can you help me? And they're said, you're a nice
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lady, Sure, I'll help you. You watch my kid and that's
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that's gone a long way over the years.
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Just knowing what people are, what they do, getting to know
18:19
them, making it be personal. And then they've been able to
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help me along the way. And she drew up the plans for
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our expansion. I trade services.
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A lot of times that's been something that's been helpful.
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So she gets a discount. I get what I need.
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I've done that with cleaning services and just different
18:37
things throughout the years. So that's one, one really great
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thing that I've carried with me too, even to this day, is
18:44
getting to know what people are good at in, in working together.
18:48
I like that. Where was all this demand coming
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from? Sounds like you were growing
18:53
very quickly. Were you advertising?
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I, I never advertised. I mean, I would, I would share
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in like local Facebook mom groups and then word of mouth.
19:03
I had an open house. I think it was good that we
19:06
started small with 30 because that's easy to fill and then go
19:12
from there. If you start big, it's, it's a
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lot more and I'm learning this now.
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Actually, we just opened our third center in February and
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it's licensed for 200. That's ginormous compared to
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what I already have going on. And so I've had to totally learn
19:29
a new way of filling the center. Whereas before it could be word
19:33
of mouth, it could be just cheap little Facebook ads or just
19:37
posts that are free. Now I have to implement a whole
19:40
marketing system. And that's something I'm
19:42
learning right now as well. And so in this NEWS CENTER, you
19:46
still have some capacity to fill.
19:48
Yes, yes. And where is that center in
19:51
particular? So folks.
19:52
Listening. That's in Canal Fulton, OK, just
19:55
outside of Canton, OH. Yeah.
19:57
And is there, are there a lot of competing daycares around?
20:02
Like do you have a lot of competition or is it just a
20:05
matter of time before you think this fills up?
20:07
I think it's a matter of time. There's definitely way more
20:10
daycares in where my first location is in Wadsworth.
20:13
There's a lot in the town. The city of Canal Fulton doesn't
20:17
have a lot, but Canal Fulton is a suburb of a much more populous
20:21
area, so real close. There's not a lot of daycares,
20:25
but if you spread out, there are.
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But there's also a ton of people.
20:29
So the potential is there. It's just really getting the
20:32
word out. And so now you're having to do
20:36
marketing sort of for the first time.
20:38
What does that look like? What?
20:39
What kind of things are you putting in place?
20:40
I found a company that can help me.
20:42
That is, you know, they've made a landing page.
20:45
And actually before I talked to you, I was on a conference call
20:47
with them setting up our Google Ads account.
20:50
And I've never had to do that before.
20:52
So that's something I've had to learn.
20:53
I learned about ACRM recently. I've never used ACRM system, but
20:58
now I need to. And these are all things like I,
21:01
I joke and I say I run straightforward through a wall
21:05
and figure stuff out, but I don't think about everything
21:09
that comes after that. And that's what I'm doing now.
21:12
Like, oh, I have to do 3 preschool graduations now
21:14
instead of two. And how am I going to work that
21:16
in my schedule? And oh, I have to learn what
21:19
ACRM is and I have to learn about so many new things that
21:23
that I didn't need before. Always continuing to learn is
21:27
very important. You can't just say this is what
21:30
I know how to do, I'm just going to do it because you won't get
21:32
anywhere if you're trying to grow.
21:35
Yeah, yeah. The phrase ready fire aim popped
21:39
into my head when you talked about running through a wall and
21:42
figuring it out later. And you know what?
21:44
It, it works so well for a lot of really successful
21:47
entrepreneurs. And I think the reason is
21:49
because, you know, if you spend too much time sort of planning
21:52
and thinking and rehearsing, you know, you sort of get stuck
21:57
paralysis by analysis and you don't move forward and, you
22:00
know, take those big steps. So I think, I think there's a
22:02
lot to be said for this approach.
22:04
Yeah, it's the, the more vulgar way to put it is F around and
22:08
find out. And that that's just what I do.
22:12
I, I feel like if a door opens, I'll knock on a ton of doors.
22:16
They're not all going to open and they're not all going to
22:18
work out. But this opportunity with our
22:20
newest center, it opened, we negotiated.
22:24
I knew what I was willing to put forth and it worked out.
22:28
It didn't have to. It's not going to kill me if it
22:30
doesn't, but I'm going to keep trying.
22:33
Excellent. So Naomi, let's talk a little
22:36
bit about the daycare centers themselves and what goes on
22:39
inside. I'd like to hear more about your
22:42
curriculum and your overall approach to early childhood
22:46
education. Yes, I, it's very important that
22:52
it's not just a cold educational environment to me.
22:57
The staff members that have been with us the longest that are the
23:00
ones that are the, the foundation of our business are
23:03
the ones that are loving and caring and the children adore
23:08
them because there's a real connection there.
23:10
It's not just a professional or stark educational environment
23:15
because with, with I think you know, teachers as kids get
23:18
older, older can be that way too.
23:20
But when they're little, we're not just here just to teach you
23:24
stuff. We're here to, you know, hug you
23:28
when you're sad that your mom's not here.
23:30
We're here to put a Band-Aid on your Boo Boo.
23:32
We're here to help you figure out like how to get along with
23:36
other people on those very early stages.
23:39
There's so many studies that are done that say ages zero to five
23:42
are just crucial. And what I will say to that is
23:46
then how come it that's the most overlooked by the the powers
23:51
that be? You know, they put so much into
23:55
K through 12 and then they're like, you guys are so important.
23:59
Figure it out that it's really what it's a.
24:04
Real mixed message being sent. There, Yeah, it is.
24:07
It is So we want, we want to be a very caring, loving place that
24:14
values communication first and foremost.
24:18
One thing I, I did have over the years with my foster children, I
24:22
did use daycare for them so I could work and I felt like once
24:26
I dropped them off like I had no, like they weren't, we
24:30
weren't connected at all throughout the day.
24:32
I had no idea what went on until I was handed a piece of paper at
24:35
the end of the day. I didn't even know if the paper
24:37
was accurate. So one thing we implemented
24:41
right away and we use religiously is an app that has
24:44
communication with parents all day long.
24:47
Now seven years ago that wasn't common.
24:49
We were one of the first places in the area to really start
24:52
doing that. Almost every daycare does it
24:55
now. And what I say the difference is
24:57
we do it religiously. If a parent says and that sends
25:00
us a message at any of our centers, everyone in the
25:03
building sees it so that they can get a response right away.
25:06
Because a teacher may be busy if they have 7 little kids, they
25:10
may not be able to write their parent back.
25:13
But a teacher next door can say, hey, did you see that message?
25:16
Or a management, a member of management can make sure that
25:19
they're replied to right away. So open and constant
25:23
communication is huge for us. And then as far as learning
25:28
goes, I struggle because I know that kindergarten right now is
25:34
like first grade. So our preschool class has to be
25:37
like kindergarten when I was a kid.
25:40
And we, we do provide that. But I also think it just saddens
25:44
me that I know that when they leave our center and they go to
25:47
kindergarten that that play time is gone.
25:51
It's, it's, it's all business almost at that point.
25:54
And so we want to make sure we provide that as much as we can
25:59
while still also getting them ready.
26:01
And we, we have gotten feedback from our local school systems
26:05
that yes, Fox's den children are ready for school.
26:08
And that is huge for me. But also I don't want it to be
26:12
so focused on that, that they don't still lose out on that
26:15
wonder and that magic and that fun of what childhood is all
26:19
about, which is playing and being silly and just doing crazy
26:23
stuff. So that's what we do.
26:26
And there's a lot of learning that happens through play.
26:28
Absolutely. It's the primary source of
26:31
learning for a child. Now interesting to hear you talk
26:34
about the app. Did I see on your website a
26:37
mention of a video camera system?
26:39
We do have cameras, a lot of them everywhere, in every
26:43
center. We don't allow parents to access
26:47
them because that's a privacy issue with other families.
26:50
But all of our management team can see all the cameras no
26:55
matter where they're at, if they're home, if they're in the
26:57
office, we have on our phone, we can see our cameras.
27:01
And it really it's just, it's good for you don't know someone
27:05
until you know them. So you can hire someone who you
27:08
think is going to be great and they may not be.
27:10
And to have that line of security, just knowing we let
27:14
them know they're being watched at all times is important to
27:19
have. And then also, I don't ever want
27:21
to tell a parent ever. I don't know what happened to
27:24
your child. I don't know why they have this
27:27
mark on their arm because it's possible that your teacher's
27:31
back was to them because they were doing something they needed
27:34
to do and they didn't see it. But we have a camera so that we
27:38
can make sure we can give you the answer of what happened to
27:41
them. Is that unusual?
27:43
Do do most daycare centers have these camera systems in place?
27:46
I'd say it's probably 5050. I think some, some have them.
27:51
It's almost like the same thing with the app.
27:53
You have it, but are you religiously using it?
27:56
Is it a core, a core aspect of what you're doing?
27:59
And our camera system is another one of those core aspects of
28:02
what we're doing where we have it.
28:05
It records, some of them don't record and we review frequently
28:11
just because we want to keep everyone in check.
28:15
And that plays on to another part of our business that I
28:18
think really separates us is we offer our staff attendance and
28:24
performance bonuses every single month.
28:27
And one way that we can monitor that those expectations are
28:32
being met obviously is our camera system as well, because
28:35
we can't be everywhere at all times.
28:38
I'm glad that you brought that up.
28:39
One of the questions I typically like to ask is, you know, tight
28:43
labor market, hard to find and hold on to good people.
28:47
What kind of creative things have you tried that that are
28:50
working and you've got this attendance and performance
28:53
system that motivates people to, you know, show up and, you know,
28:56
do what's expected of them? Any other interesting things
28:59
that you've tried and found success with?
29:01
Well, I'll say after about three years and like the first three
29:05
years of my business, I was just so excited that someone would
29:07
say, yeah, I'll come work with you.
29:10
And to me, I looked at it like we're in this together, like
29:13
we're on. And I didn't have as much of A
29:16
over management role. I was like a teammate and I had
29:20
to learn as I grew, like I can't always be like that.
29:23
I have to be a boss. And one of the things I learned
29:27
is, you know, people are going to call off all the time.
29:31
And in our industry, you can't make up the work the next day.
29:35
You can't pick up the slack in the same day because you're not
29:38
allowed to be over ratio in a classroom.
29:41
You can't have more kids than you're allowed to have per state
29:44
laws. And one thing I tell everyone we
29:48
interview and every parent that we meet, we will never be over
29:52
ratio. Not one day will you have a
29:55
classroom in any of my centers that is over ratio and that is
29:59
uncommon at times. My management knows that they're
30:03
going to step in a classroom. I will step in a classroom, my
30:07
husband will step in a classroom.
30:09
We are not going to be over ratio because it's not safe and
30:12
it's not allowed. That being said, a lot of call
30:16
offs cause a lot of problems. And when I saw that problem and
30:20
that repeated issue that we were having, I just had the idea to
30:26
offer the attendance incentive bonus where if you work all of
30:30
your scheduled shifts, you get an extra $0.75 an hour for the
30:34
whole previous month. Every hour you worked, you get a
30:36
bonus at the beginning of the next month.
30:39
And then more recently I said, you know, I want our teachers to
30:43
be incentivized to know the state rules because there's a
30:46
lot of them, and to desire to follow them.
30:49
So that's when we offer the performance bonus as well, where
30:53
that's an extra $0.50 an hour on top of the $0.75.
30:58
And ever since then, things have gotten a lot easier for.
31:04
Both of those bonuses you, you see people showing up for more
31:07
shifts than you see and and how do you measure if they know the
31:11
the state? Rules we tell them we're going
31:13
to teach you and we're going to if we noticed you're breaking
31:16
one of them, we're going to tell you and we're going to make sure
31:19
you know, because this the burden is on us.
31:22
We're going to make sure, you know, once we know that, you
31:25
know, if you continue to do it, then you lost your performance
31:29
bonus that month. And we also say you can't get a
31:32
performance bonus if you don't get an attendance bonus because
31:35
you have to be here to perform. And then I tell everyone else
31:39
also, we want you to give yourself a raise before we're
31:42
able to consider giving you a raise.
31:45
So you need to say, I'm going to be on all my shifts, I'm going
31:48
to perform and I'm going to further my knowledge.
31:52
If they want to get, get a, a degree or ACDA certificate,
31:56
we're giving them phrases along the way to do that.
32:00
If you do those three things, you're amazing and I'll give you
32:05
even more money. But you, we, we want to make it
32:07
a personal responsibility thing. And I think that's the culture
32:11
that we have actually successfully created.
32:13
I'm very proud of that. That's really cool.
32:16
I like that you've tried something a little bit
32:18
innovative there. And you know, sometimes as
32:20
business owners, we try a different innovative ideas that
32:25
don't play out. You know, before we were doing
32:28
the, the pre interview before we went live, we were talking a
32:30
little bit about your, the idea you had for blended classrooms.
32:34
I wonder if you can talk about. That yeah, I, I was really
32:37
excited when we first opened our center and I, I loved everything
32:41
I had going on in my little in home bubble.
32:44
And I said, we just need to recreate this in a center and
32:48
have, you know, siblings can be together even if they're
32:51
different ages, because that's what goes on in my home.
32:53
And it's so fun. And I started out that way, but
32:57
then I realized quickly there's more state rules and I even knew
33:00
existed. And one of them is you can't
33:03
blend ages if there's so many children in the building.
33:07
So that took that away right away.
33:09
Like you can't do it. And also it doesn't financially
33:13
makes sense the larger you get to do that because the older the
33:16
kids are, the more you can have in a classroom and that's how
33:19
you're able to meet those bottom line numbers to make the
33:22
business operable. So I had to change that pretty
33:25
quickly. One thing I will not change,
33:28
even though it probably, I know it's not a financial advantage,
33:32
is our infant classrooms will have lower ratios.
33:35
I don't believe that infants get the best care.
33:40
In the state of Ohio, you can have two teachers with 12
33:42
infants. That to me is absolutely absurd.
33:46
I think that I'm sure there's teachers that do it every day
33:49
and they do a very good job. But it's very difficult.
33:52
And I don't want to hear babies crying because their needs
33:55
aren't being met. So much so that myself or a
33:58
director of a center will have a baby on their lap in the office
34:01
frequently because sometimes they just need help.
34:04
They're babies and it's our job to to to meet that need.
34:09
When a baby cries, they need something.
34:11
So we will never the only there is one time I can recall that we
34:15
had to do that due to call off and sickness.
34:18
And it was and I was one of the teachers with the two to 12 and
34:23
and I think I'm the best, obviously.
34:26
And I said, this is crazy. How do people do this every day?
34:29
Because it's our instinct to make babies happy and not
34:32
crying. So we we make sure those infant
34:35
classes do not have to operate that way.
34:38
What's your typical ratio in the infant classrooms now?
34:41
We it just really varies because if all of them are closer to age
34:44
one, it can be, it could be like 2:00 to 10:00, one to five kind
34:48
of thing. But if you have a lot of
34:50
newborns, it's going to be one to three, one to four because
34:54
they have more needs more often. We just play it by ear.
35:00
Naomi, I'm curious if you could share success story of a
35:03
particular child who's thrived under your care.
35:06
Maybe they were going through a challenge, a little bit of a
35:08
rough spot, and you were able to help them.
35:11
I mean, I could, I think we see stories like that every single
35:14
day. And really, is it under my care
35:17
or is it under the care of an amazing teacher that's with them
35:19
all day long? I'm going to offer them my staff
35:23
advice and I'm going to help them figure things out if they
35:26
need help. But ultimately it boils down to
35:29
if that teacher has what it takes and has the right spirit
35:32
and wants to help them through something, then they will.
35:36
And that's why it's important to have really great teachers and
35:40
to reward the ones that are awesome and weed out the ones
35:43
that aren't. Because there have been
35:47
sometimes where our center or any center is not fit for the
35:52
needs of a certain child or certain behavior that you can't
35:55
overcome. But we're not going to stop
35:58
trying until we get to that point.
36:00
But there, I would say there's a lot of them, you know, and I've,
36:04
I've loved one thing I absolutely just love every year
36:07
at graduation when they go to kindergarten, I'm crying is I
36:10
remember their first day as a baby and then now they're
36:13
graduating and going to kindergarten.
36:15
And to me, that's always a success story because we've been
36:17
a part of that whole time period of their lives before that they
36:20
move on to the next phase. Yeah.
36:25
I mean, what are some of the most common concerns that
36:27
parents have when starting their kids in a new school like yours?
36:32
And what can you tell them to put their minds at ease?
36:36
I think they're concerned about, they're concerned about ratios,
36:39
they're concerned about like how many kids are in the class and
36:44
they're concerned about who's watching their children and that
36:49
their needs are being met. And I think what I've learned to
36:53
overcome that is the more communication, the better, the
36:57
more open we are with each other, them and us, the more we
37:01
can make sure those needs are being met.
37:03
If you don't tell us that there's something particular
37:05
that they need, we can't meet that need.
37:08
I mean, if, if a teacher realizes that what they're doing
37:12
isn't working, but they don't ask the parent for advice on
37:15
something that may help, then they're never going to get that
37:17
information as well. So I, I think they, they are
37:21
really concerned with who's watching their kids and that not
37:27
too many kids are being watched. And that the only way I can
37:31
think to overcome that obviously is communication, sharing with
37:35
them that we will never be out of ratio and then obviously
37:37
having cameras to make sure that our eyes are on them.
37:42
The parents need to be comfortable to share a concern
37:44
they may have. And some people just aren't.
37:47
And I don't like that If if you see something out of a teacher
37:51
that I don't see, I want you to tell me.
37:54
And it will swiftly be handled every time.
37:58
And that's also important because it's really hard in this
38:00
industry to to to staff as it is and to meet ratios.
38:05
But to be willing to just let someone go because they're not a
38:08
good fit and they're not what's best for a child.
38:10
No matter what that means for me having to be in a classroom or
38:14
their boss having to be in a classroom.
38:16
You have to be willing to do that because the safety in the
38:19
best interest of our children has to come first.
38:22
And it's a struggle constantly. The staffing is a struggle.
38:26
But I, I try to tell parents, if you, you see a turnover rate,
38:31
please know that it's for a reason.
38:33
If someone quits, we probably wanted them to quit anyway.
38:36
I can think of three or four teachers over the years that
38:39
unfortunately you couldn't, you couldn't make it work out
38:42
because we can only pay so much and or their schedule change or
38:45
something. But there's a whole lot more
38:47
where it's really OK. It's for the best addition by
38:51
subtraction sometimes. Happens.
38:53
Yeah. What advice do you have for
38:55
parents who are trying to decide between different schools?
38:59
I think you have to, you have to tour every single one of them.
39:04
You have to see how you get along with the not only the
39:09
teacher, but the management as well.
39:11
Because a teacher may come, a teacher may go.
39:13
But if you feel confident and trustworthy of the management
39:17
that's in place, then I think it's easier for you to just ebb
39:21
and flow with whatever is happening at the center as a
39:24
whole. But you, you have to just
39:28
really, we all have the same state rules to follow.
39:32
Like that doesn't change. Every teacher at every daycare
39:35
is going to have a background check.
39:36
So I can't say we're special because we have a background
39:39
check. So they have to, you have to get
39:41
in there and just see how you feel.
39:44
Do you feel comfortable? Because that's really what it
39:46
boils down to, you know? You know, as business owners, a
39:53
big part of our job is to keep an eye on the bottom line,
39:57
right, Make sure that we're profitable, so we can keep our
39:59
doors open, so we can continue to grow and support our teams.
40:03
We've got sort of two categories of levers that we can pull.
40:07
One of them is how do we increase sales?
40:10
The other one is how do we decrease expenses?
40:13
So thinking 1st about the sales lever, what's some things that
40:17
you've tried there that you found have worked?
40:20
Well, it's not as open-ended in our industry because you can
40:26
only have so many children in a building.
40:28
It's a rule. My one and I have one for 81,
40:31
for 61, for 200. We can't increase sales past
40:35
that number, Not possible. So for me, I've opened other
40:38
centers. That's how I can grow.
40:40
You know, my business as a whole is to open more centers.
40:43
And then another thing you have to consider is parents can only
40:47
afford to pay so much. I yeah, I could charge more, but
40:52
then they can't be here. So then I don't have anything to
40:55
grow on because I can't pay teachers to be here if I don't
40:58
have kids to be here. So I, I've said that a lot over
41:01
the years is I can't pay more because I, if I raise rates so
41:06
high, they're going to leave. And it's, it's really a problem
41:10
for our industry as a whole. It's.
41:12
A tough balancing. Act it, it really is.
41:14
And obviously I'm, I'm actually on the verge of raising rates as
41:18
I do every school year when it starts.
41:21
And I, it's just one of those things that I just struggle with
41:25
because I, I know these families personally and I, I care about
41:30
them. And it's like I have to do this
41:33
to keep these staff here and to continue to provide them with
41:38
raises and incentives to stay here.
41:41
And I know it's going to affect your bottom line, but it's
41:43
something that I have to do in it.
41:45
It's a very difficult, but we have to, we raise rates every
41:50
year as the economy right now isn't great.
41:53
That's something we've had to struggle with.
41:55
And once you're at capacity though, there's not much you can
41:58
do to increase sales other than than open another center.
42:02
Which you've done now. Multiple times, yes.
42:03
And you're. Working on filling your latest
42:06
center? Now, yes.
42:07
Which is exciting. So now as you think about that
42:09
other lever to pull lowering expenses, what, what are some
42:13
creative strategies that you've tried there?
42:15
I'm not going to. I'm not going to cut people's
42:17
pay. That's like the easiest thing to
42:19
do. I'm not going to do that.
42:21
But lately I have started using like reusable it.
42:26
It may cost a little money to get a washer and dryer put in
42:29
the center, but we're going to be able to wash and dry towels
42:33
for wiping faces and towels for wiping hands so that you're not
42:37
just blowing through paper towels and baby wipes
42:39
constantly. That has helped, especially
42:42
because the prices of all of those things since I opened have
42:45
gone up such a crazy amount that things like that we've, we've
42:52
been able to, to cut back on those kind of expenses.
42:56
And then with my new center, we there, there's a program in the,
43:02
it's a national program that helps pay for food when you
43:05
provide food for child care. My first two centers do not
43:08
provide food. We don't have the space for a
43:10
commercial kitchen. My most recent one does.
43:13
And we're, we're working hard to get signed up with the food
43:16
program because that'll help cover a lot of our food
43:18
expenses. That'll help a lot is.
43:21
It a difficult process to go through.
43:23
Yeah, yeah, it's awful. It's it's one, it was another
43:28
one of those things like I had no idea about.
43:30
So you can either go directly through the state of Ohio, but
43:33
you have to be open for a year to do that.
43:36
So we're not there yet. Or you can get a sponsor that
43:38
helps you do all the paperwork and get it all set up, but they
43:42
have to have availability to take you on.
43:45
So I'm on like 3 waiting lists for a sponsor and if I don't get
43:49
in then we'll be at a one year mark and we'll just go straight
43:51
through the state of Ohio, which is.
43:53
When we get that one year? Mark February of 25 it's it's
43:57
annoying because you need that help more when you're new and
44:02
small, but you can't get it until you've been open for a
44:05
year. So just get through that first
44:08
year. Right, power on.
44:11
Yeah. Naomi, what's something you wish
44:13
you could teach a younger version of yourself?
44:18
Maybe it's like do a little more research on the front end, not.
44:23
So much ready aim, fire. Yes, ready fire.
44:25
Aim more ready. Aim fire.
44:27
Yes. I don't know if it would stop
44:29
me, but it would make me make things a little easier, less
44:32
surprises along the way, so it would be a little less
44:36
stressful. I'm still going to do it.
44:38
I'm still going to figure it out, but doing more more front
44:43
end work would I think, be very helpful.
44:48
We were talking a little bit in the pre interview about your
44:51
Great American success story and sort of the love for the country
44:55
and you know what a great place that we live in, lots of
44:58
opportunities. Like to hear kind of your take
45:00
on that. I mean, ever since I was a
45:02
child, I've always just had this level of patriotism.
45:06
I don't know why. I don't know where it came from.
45:09
I just love America. And I believe and I believe what
45:12
I was taught in school is that you can and my mom taught me you
45:16
can be anything you want to be. And sorry, one second, I have
45:23
one child home today. You you can be anything.
45:28
A job that never ends. Right, absolutely.
45:31
If you put your mind to it and you work hard, you can be
45:34
whatever you want to be. You can do whatever you want to
45:36
do. And I, I actually believe that
45:38
and I do, I do think some people don't believe that, but I
45:41
actually do. And I actually did it.
45:43
And so that, that allowed me to just, there was nothing causing
45:48
me to second guess that I could be successful in the financial
45:52
services industry or that I could be successful in, in
45:56
opening daycares. I just knew that if I worked
45:59
hard and figured things out that I could move forward.
46:03
And I think that that's available to, to anyone here
46:07
because I've seen it myself and I'm just, I'm grateful to have
46:15
these opportunities. I know college is really pushed
46:18
on a lot of people. And there's something obviously
46:20
you have to go to college and be a doctor.
46:22
Don't, don't try that without going to college.
46:25
But but you don't have to go to college to be successful.
46:28
I firmly believe that. And I'm sorry if that makes some
46:32
people mad, but you can get really far in life by just
46:37
digging your heels in and working, really.
46:40
Hard. Like I we just, we bought our
46:42
first home a year and a half ago.
46:46
Like I'm 40, finally bought a home.
46:49
It's an amazing home and I'm so thankful for it.
46:52
But I worked hard for so long and saved for so long to get to
46:55
that point. You have to be willing to
46:58
sacrifice on the front end to reap rewards on the back end.
47:03
And I know that's something that this culture now nowadays isn't.
47:06
I don't see it. I don't see an understanding of
47:08
that. It's almost like people want to
47:10
live like they're 40 when they're 20 and you can't.
47:13
You have to pay your dues and you have to pay them because
47:19
just living for 20 years isn't paying your dues.
47:21
Paying your dues is working and struggling and sacrificing and
47:25
growing and showing up for work when you have a headache and
47:29
doing things you don't feel like doing.
47:31
You have to every day or you're not going to get ahead.
47:35
That's a good lesson. Are there particular mentors or
47:39
books that have been helpful for you and your path?
47:43
I mean, just my my grandma has been a huge mentor for me and I
47:50
have not taken the time to read too many books.
47:53
I want to. I have a list.
47:55
I've started to now that I actually have a little more
47:58
time. But you don't have.
48:03
How? About any podcasts or any, any
48:05
TV shows, anything like that that you found inspirational or
48:08
instructive. Fair enough, I don't have
48:12
anything major that sticks out like that.
48:15
Well, you've got your grandma and she sounds like a gem.
48:18
And you're when you're doing this, you're busy.
48:21
You don't. I don't watch a lot of TV and I
48:23
don't read a lot of books because I'm struggling through
48:25
life. Try to figure things out.
48:29
School of Hard Knocks, that's where you've gotten your
48:31
lessons. Yes, but I am determined.
48:33
I actually just introduced to my management team a week ago.
48:37
I said we're going to read this book together because I think
48:39
that it's important for us to grow in our leadership abilities
48:43
together. So I'm getting to a point now
48:46
where I feel like I can do that stuff, but I haven't felt in the
48:50
midst of raising four children and starting businesses that I
48:54
could do anything like that. What?
48:55
What are you doing with all your free time?
48:57
I I don't even even know. So what's this?
49:00
What's this new book that you and your management team are
49:03
going to take? In it's called Dare to Lead and
49:06
we're I think that you have to be brave to to lead and to grow.
49:11
And that's something I thought would be good for us all to
49:13
start off with. Right, Naomi, what's a fun fact
49:17
most people would know about you?
49:20
This is weird, but I don't think a lot of people have the same
49:24
experience. I have never touched a worm,
49:28
I've never caught a lightning bug, I've never touched a frog,
49:32
never touched a fish. Like I don't.
49:34
Do that. This is all intentional.
49:36
Intentional. I'm not about that life and I
49:39
have three boys, so when they're running in my house with this
49:42
stuff in their hands, it's get out.
49:47
So ever since you were a little kid, the idea of touching
49:50
something creepy crawly flying is really repulsive for.
49:54
It's unnecessary. Why do I need to pick up a worm
49:57
right now? Or catch a lightning?
49:59
But like, let them live and let me live.
50:01
No need for that. Now, does this apply to like all
50:06
kinds of animals or just sort of these creepy?
50:09
Crawly types. We actually just had an animal
50:12
lady come to one of our daycares last week and she brought all
50:15
her animals and she showed all the kids and she's going to go
50:18
to all of our centers in the next few weeks.
50:20
And if it's like I would touch the, I touched the Bunny, that's
50:28
it. I'm not touching a snake.
50:31
I'm not. And my my mom had snakes growing
50:32
up. Not touching it.
50:35
I don't anything that's like not soft and fuzzy, I don't, I don't
50:39
need to touch. I don't think that nature
50:42
intended for me to touch that. I appreciate you sharing that.
50:48
Naomi, I just have one more question for you, but before I
50:51
ask it, I want to do 2 things. First of all, if you're
50:53
listening today, excuse me, and you like today's content, please
50:57
hit the subscribe, like or share button on your favorite podcast
51:00
app. Next thing I want to do before I
51:02
get to the last question, I want to let people know how to get in
51:05
touch with you. What's the best way to make that
51:07
happen? I would say go to our website,
51:09
the Fox's Den childcare.com and it's FOXS, not ES, it's
51:16
possessive, The Fox's Den childcare.com and it's really
51:20
easy to reach out. You can hit a contact us form,
51:23
you can chat with us online, You can click which center you want
51:26
information on. That's really the best way.
51:30
All of our business phone numbers or cell phones, you can
51:32
even text if you want, because I don't like making phone calls.
51:35
I know most people nowadays don't.
51:37
You can text us. It's easy.
51:40
Yeah. That's great.
51:41
So last question for you, Naomi, where do you see the childcare
51:45
industry evolving in the next five years?
51:47
What do you think the changes are that are coming?
51:52
I know it's been talked about that that we would be more like
51:56
the public school system where it's free and it's government
52:00
run. I could see that happening.
52:03
I also could see it not happening because that's a huge,
52:07
massive undertaking to just like start that from scratch because
52:12
so many centers are privately owned and operated.
52:15
I could see that. I don't know if it would be good
52:18
or bad. I think that the state should
52:21
help more though, so it can be affordable for more people.
52:25
We're in, we're in a situation now where childcare is very
52:29
expensive. So you either need to be very
52:32
wealthy to afford it or you need to not be very wealthy and you
52:35
can get a subsidy to pay for it through the state.
52:38
If you are two middle class working parents who have a
52:41
mortgage and two car payments and children to provide for,
52:46
writing that check every week is not easy.
52:48
And I understand that. And I think that's really the,
52:51
the groups that we've found that we work with best those families
52:57
because our rates are more affordable in that middle
53:00
ground. We're not super expensive like
53:02
all of your corporate run daycares and we're not just for
53:07
in our city lower income areas. So we've been able to like hit
53:12
that middle ground of people. But I see them and I know that
53:16
it's a struggle and I think there needs to be more help for
53:19
them. So it's my hope that we wouldn't
53:22
be fully state state-run, but that that there would be more
53:26
funding and help for those middle families.
53:31
Yeah, it does seem a little impractical for it to be
53:33
completely state-run, right? Like there's already a great
53:36
deal of privately owned infrastructure there.
53:40
Even if they wanted to make the change like the the initial and
53:44
the ongoing expense would just be tremendous.
53:47
It seems like a nice in between approach is kind of what you're
53:51
suggesting, to have the state help out more, right, To not
53:56
just have the subsidies be available for people at the
53:59
lower end of the income scale. But for a lot of folks that are,
54:03
like you said, to middle incomes, car payment, house
54:07
payment like that, that's a real struggle for them too.
54:10
Yeah, it's like, it's almost like it reminds me of college.
54:12
If you're very wealthy, you can just pay for it.
54:15
If you're not, you can get a lot of grants and scholarships.
54:18
But those middle class families, they just, it's, it's
54:22
insurmountable at times to even pay for college.
54:25
So I I see that everyday in our industry as well.
54:28
Very similar. Well, Naomi, I want to be the
54:31
first one to thank you for sharing both your time and your
54:34
story with us today. I really appreciate it.
54:36
Yes, thank you for having me. It's been, it's been enjoyable.
54:39
I appreciate it. Absolutely, folks.
54:41
That's a wrap on another episode of the Inspired Stories podcast.
54:44
Thanks for learning with us today.