Latest / ChildCare Conversations / 355: The Greatest Tool for Building Parent Trust in Early Childhood Education with Jamie Selig

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355: The Greatest Tool for Building Parent Trust in Early Childhood Education with Jamie Selig · ChildCare Conversations

• 0:01
  SPEAKER_02: Welcome to Child Care Conversations, the podcast where early childhood leaders like you get real-world strategies, honest talk, and a whole lot of support.
• 0:12
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• 0:18
  SPEAKER_02: This episode is brought to you by Center IQ.
• 0:21
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• 0:32
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• 0:35
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• 0:40
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• 0:45
  SPEAKER_02: Now, let's get into today's conversation.
• 0:48
  SPEAKER_02: One we think you're really going to love.
• 0:51
  SPEAKER_01: Welcome back.
• 0:52
  SPEAKER_01: We are so glad to have another conversation this week.
• 0:55
  SPEAKER_01: And this week, we are excited to talk about parent engagement.
• 1:00
  SPEAKER_01: And so as we start to get through summer, we know that those parents are always kind of, for lack of a better term, in your business.
• 1:07
  SPEAKER_01: And so today, uh with Perfect Day Live, we have Jamie Seelig.
• 1:12
  SPEAKER_01: Did I say that right?
• 1:13
  SPEAKER_01: Yes, you did.
• 1:15
  SPEAKER_01: All of a sudden, I'm excited and I'm like, maybe I think I got it wrong.
• 1:19
  SPEAKER_01: And Kerry and I are excited to engage in a conversation about literally how to get parents to do more engagement with us.
• 1:27
  SPEAKER_01: So, Jamie, tell us a little bit of how you ended up in uh early childhood technology and you know, a little bit about what it is that your company does.
• 1:38
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, absolutely.
• 1:39
  SPEAKER_03: So um, funny thing, um, I was in banking and mortgage lending for 13 years.
• 1:45
  SPEAKER_03: Um, and then um I had a child and decided I wanted to get involved in something.
• 1:52
  SPEAKER_03: Um, so where I started my early education career was actually with Brightwheel, um, which was great.
• 2:00
  SPEAKER_03: And then um I spoke.
• 2:02
  SPEAKER_03: Oh no, wait, did I do something wrong?
• 2:05
  SPEAKER_03: Um, and then I um found perfect day.
• 2:09
  SPEAKER_03: Uh, love their story.
• 2:11
  SPEAKER_03: Um, they own 27 local child care facilities.
• 2:16
  SPEAKER_03: Um, they're called Ladybird.
• 2:18
  SPEAKER_03: And the way they started this parent engagement model is they saw kind of a lack in parent engagement within their programs.
• 2:25
  SPEAKER_03: They wanted to give parents more of a you know in-person view of what their children are doing every day rather than just the activity and the messaging.
• 2:33
  SPEAKER_03: They wanted their parents to be able to see what was going on.
• 2:36
  SPEAKER_03: Um, so then became perfect day.
• 2:38
  SPEAKER_03: Um, so they still own their programs.
• 2:41
  SPEAKER_03: We did a lot of testing within their actual centers just to make sure we worked out all the bugs and faces before we started rolling it out to the market.
• 2:48
  SPEAKER_03: Um, and so I am director of sales and also um take care of all of our operations.
• 2:56
  SPEAKER_03: So we are excited to be here.
• 2:58
  SPEAKER_03: Thank you for having me.
• 3:00
  SPEAKER_01: Well, awesome.
• 3:01
  SPEAKER_01: So Carrie.
• 3:04
  SPEAKER_01: You and I have had discussions and we've met other organizations that do video streaming.
• 3:12
  SPEAKER_01: Why would a why would a director or an owner think that video streaming is beneficial?
• 3:18
  SPEAKER_01: And I'm going to use this as wear your expert witness hat.
• 3:23
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 3:23
  SPEAKER_00: So if you're asking me as an expert witness who gets hired when childcare centers get sued, um one of the big reasons we want that is so that we can show this is how the supervision was happening in this room at that time.
• 3:42
  SPEAKER_00: So it shows that no, it wasn't that the kids were in there by themselves just, you know, throwing balloons at each other's heads.
• 3:51
  SPEAKER_00: There were two adults in here, and that they were working, and this was a collaborative project, and that the children were, you know, making paper mache animals with the balloons.
• 4:01
  SPEAKER_00: They weren't um injuring one another with them.
• 4:04
  SPEAKER_00: And it changes it from a he said, she said um type of situation.
• 4:11
  SPEAKER_00: But so it's a way to show the parents that you do know what you're doing.
• 4:18
  SPEAKER_00: And they can look and they can watch and see that the teachers are engaging with the kids on an ongoing basis, that they're not just chatting with other staff and playing on their phones and stuff like that, that they are actively engaging in supporting their children's development, presuming that that is what your staff is doing.
• 4:40
  SPEAKER_00: If your staff isn't sitting around chatting with other people, then the parents are going to see that too.
• 4:46
  SPEAKER_00: And so will you in the office, and then you can go in and have words with the the staff who are not doing what you're supposed to be paying them for.
• 4:57
  SPEAKER_00: So, I mean, I think it's an amazing training tool.
• 5:03
  SPEAKER_00: I'm a big fan of videos for training.
• 5:05
  SPEAKER_01: You you mentioned that the the founders have their own schools and found this as um kind of a need.
• 5:15
  SPEAKER_01: Um what are some of the things that your the client people who are checking you out for the first time, what's their number one question?
• 5:23
  SPEAKER_01: Why are they coming to you, other than they saw you at a conference?
• 5:27
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, so obviously that's one of the big ones since you know we're still new to a lot of people uh going to the conferences is how we're trying to roll out our name as well as you know, some marketing.
• 5:37
  SPEAKER_03: But um the biggest thing that brings people to us is they're they're interested in the cameras.
• 5:41
  SPEAKER_03: Um, and so what catches most people's attention is that we are completely free to the programs.
• 5:48
  SPEAKER_03: So we come out, we install, we provide the cameras, and we give the um schools our our platform.
• 5:55
  SPEAKER_03: Um we are parent-paid subscription model.
• 5:57
  SPEAKER_03: So taking that that costly camera installation away from the owners um and you know, really assisting them with putting something in their program to possibly help increase enrollment um because have that.
• 6:12
  SPEAKER_01: So you're telling me it's free for the for the program?
• 6:16
  unknown: Yes.
• 6:17
  SPEAKER_01: Okay.
• 6:17
  SPEAKER_01: Yes, yes.
• 6:18
  SPEAKER_01: Just make it sure like there's no hidden fees, there's no like, oh, there's an implementation fee.
• 6:23
  SPEAKER_01: Okay, all right.
• 6:24
  SPEAKER_03: No check.
• 6:24
  SPEAKER_03: No fees.
• 6:25
  SPEAKER_03: I know that's a big question we always get asked is what do you mean free and what's what's the number?
• 6:30
  SPEAKER_03: And I have um spoken with a a lot of people and they keep asking me, okay, what's my final number?
• 6:36
  SPEAKER_03: And when I continue to say nothing, um, it's it's I I believe it's it's it's it's so good.
• 6:43
  SPEAKER_03: Um, I don't want to say it's too good to be true because it's not.
• 6:46
  SPEAKER_03: Um we're that parent paid subscription model.
• 6:49
  SPEAKER_03: So um it parents pay weekly through their um app store and they get to decide how often they want to be able to view their child.
• 6:58
  SPEAKER_03: Um and it really just builds that parent trust.
• 7:01
  SPEAKER_03: We've had parents that um have gotten to seeing their see their children crawl for the first time, walk for the first time because they were watching the cameras.
• 7:10
  SPEAKER_03: Um and so that's exciting, you know, when when we're parents and we're sending our kid off for the first time, um, and they're babies or toddlers and you're you're afraid of missing out on those important, all those important aspects and and first.
• 7:22
  SPEAKER_03: And um with our camera system, we just wanted to try to protect that a little bit.
• 7:26
  SPEAKER_03: Um, as well as, as you stated, protect the schools.
• 7:28
  SPEAKER_03: We want schools, um, we want admins and owners to be able to, you know, if if there's a lawsuit that comes in place, to say, you know what, let me pull the footage from that day and that time that you're questioning, and I'm gonna show you rather than a he said, she said, like you were saying, Carrie.
• 7:42
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 7:43
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, I put cameras in my programs in the 1990s.
• 7:48
  SPEAKER_00: So that was a while ago.
• 7:51
  SPEAKER_00: Um, but I we did not have the capability in the 90s for them to be streaming.
• 7:58
  SPEAKER_00: And I used it for internal purposes and for training.
• 8:03
  SPEAKER_00: And if a parent wanted to see what happened on a day, I'd be like, sure, you can come into the office and you can watch that day with me or with the teacher so that they can ask questions because a lot of times the cameras don't have sound, and so you don't get all the context.
• 8:20
  SPEAKER_00: Or they do have sound, but the sound is only for the 15 feet right in front of the camera, and their child is on the other side of the room and they don't know what's happening.
• 8:30
  SPEAKER_00: So I like, you know, I like to have some context for parents available.
• 8:38
  SPEAKER_00: Um so what are some of the other questions that the what are some of the other questions that directors and owners ask you other than what is my real cost?
• 8:48
  SPEAKER_00: Well, I'm saying free, but that doesn't seem real.
• 8:55
  SPEAKER_01: So I have a question, Jamie.
• 8:56
  SPEAKER_01: Is there a minimum number of parents that have to subscribe?
• 8:59
  SPEAKER_01: Like, is this a it's free, but it's only free after you have a certain number of parents?
• 9:04
  SPEAKER_01: Um, is this does this work for small programs or do you have to be a certain size?
• 9:10
  SPEAKER_01: Like, where's talk to me a little bit about that?
• 9:13
  SPEAKER_03: So, because of the the cost for camera installation um and the cameras, um, we don't do like any in-homes.
• 9:21
  SPEAKER_03: Um, it's actually like legal, like we're not able to do that and put cameras inside a home.
• 9:26
  SPEAKER_03: Um, so we do try to strive for, you know, 50 plus enrollments of children.
• 9:34
  SPEAKER_03: And we do go off of enrollment instead of capacity.
• 9:37
  SPEAKER_03: Um, but we don't have you ask, you know, if we have anything in place that says they don't do this, will will, will it not be free?
• 9:44
  SPEAKER_03: We don't really have anything in place because what we do do is once they do sign, we send out um Carly or Hannah.
• 9:52
  SPEAKER_03: I know a lot of people know who Carly and Hannah are.
• 9:54
  SPEAKER_03: Um, we send them out.
• 9:55
  SPEAKER_03: They actually do a full training with the whole staff and they stay there to help onboard the parents.
• 10:00
  SPEAKER_03: So you're not having to sell perfect day.
• 10:03
  SPEAKER_03: We're actually there helping you do that.
• 10:05
  SPEAKER_03: Um, and then if there's any issues within the program or parents have an issue with the app or anything like that, they're actually calling back and they're talking currently right now with Carly or Hannah.
• 10:14
  SPEAKER_03: Um so it's a live person, no 800 number, no waiting.
• 10:18
  SPEAKER_03: Um, but yeah, for that number, like I said, we don't, we don't really have an expectation.
• 10:24
  SPEAKER_03: Like you have to have this percentage.
• 10:25
  SPEAKER_03: And if you're below this, then we're gonna charge you X amount of dollars.
• 10:28
  SPEAKER_03: We don't have that.
• 10:29
  SPEAKER_03: We just strive to go for programs that have 50 or more children enrolled.
• 10:34
  SPEAKER_01: Great, great.
• 10:35
  SPEAKER_01: Well, I I love the fact that there's no minimums.
• 10:37
  SPEAKER_01: I love the fact that there's no fee.
• 10:39
  SPEAKER_01: And I would think, um, I mean, part of the reason I opened a registered family home a couple of decades-ish ago, uh, was because I wanted to be able to know what my child was doing.
• 10:51
  SPEAKER_01: And I didn't want to miss those firsts.
• 10:53
  SPEAKER_01: So um thank you for sharing that vivid example because I think that really helps the parents understand why they may want that.
• 11:02
  SPEAKER_01: Um, yes, I started us with worst-case scenario, which was, you know, your program has to call Carrie as an expert witness.
• 11:09
  SPEAKER_01: And so how can we use this in that prevention model?
• 11:12
  SPEAKER_01: Um, because compliance is huge, and compliance impacts the bottom line.
• 11:17
  SPEAKER_01: It impacts our finances because it impacts what we're paying for insurance, right?
• 11:22
  SPEAKER_01: And so anything we can do to increase the perception of safety, um I mean, a lot of our programs are really safe anyway.
• 11:31
  SPEAKER_01: Like even if they have compliance issues, it's usually paperwork.
• 11:36
  SPEAKER_01: Like 80%, wasn't it, Carrie?
• 11:37
  SPEAKER_01: Like 80% of compliance issues across the country are related to paperwork.
• 11:41
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I mean it varied state to state, but in Texas it was 80%.
• 11:47
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 11:48
  SPEAKER_01: So so Carrie asked Jamie, and I I interrupted and asked a second question or a specific question, but what are some of the other things that parents do ask or that directors and owners ask you?
• 12:01
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, so um one of the big questions is um, you know, how how the videos work.
• 12:09
  SPEAKER_03: Um, and I'll just go through like a quick description.
• 12:12
  SPEAKER_03: So the way our cameras work is parents are only able to view them when their child is checked in.
• 12:18
  SPEAKER_03: If the child is not checked in, parents do not have access to cameras.
• 12:22
  SPEAKER_03: We have um our activity tracking, which includes our face link.
• 12:27
  SPEAKER_03: And what this does is it gives teachers the ability to go in and move children from room to room.
• 12:32
  SPEAKER_03: So if a child is starting out, let's say in the pre-K room, but they're moving over to the playground.
• 12:36
  SPEAKER_03: Well, we're gonna have a camera on that playground as well.
• 12:38
  SPEAKER_03: So the teachers are going to take the iPads, which we provide as well for free to every classroom that you have open at your center.
• 12:45
  SPEAKER_03: Um, and the reason we do that is because are you sure it's for free?
• 12:49
  SPEAKER_03: It's because the teacher app is right now only accessible through an iPad.
• 12:55
  SPEAKER_03: Um, there's no phone, and we did that specifically to bring down time that teachers are on their phone.
• 13:01
  SPEAKER_03: So it's an iPad, it's an open iPad.
• 13:03
  SPEAKER_03: So it is not just perfect day live iPad and you're lopped out of everything else.
• 13:07
  SPEAKER_03: It's not like that.
• 13:07
  SPEAKER_03: So if you do have anything else you're using in the classroom, you are able to put that on there as well.
• 13:12
  SPEAKER_03: But teachers will go in and they'll go to the activities and they'll choose all the children or whichever children are moving and they'll click face link and they'll move them to the playground.
• 13:20
  SPEAKER_03: So then what happens is once the children are onto the playground, the parents will no longer see the pre-K classroom.
• 13:25
  SPEAKER_03: They're now going to see only the playground.
• 13:27
  SPEAKER_03: And again, they only see that if their child's checked in.
• 13:30
  SPEAKER_03: So parents aren't able to see more than one camera at a time.
• 13:32
  SPEAKER_03: They only see them when their child's checked in.
• 13:34
  SPEAKER_03: Parents are not able to screen record or screenshot.
• 13:38
  SPEAKER_03: Um, and they parents don't get sound.
• 13:41
  SPEAKER_03: Um, and we specifically did that because as you said, like with the cameras anyway, you only hear like 15, I don't know, centimeters in front of the camera or something like that.
• 13:51
  SPEAKER_03: Um, and then also like sometimes it can be misconstrued, right?
• 13:54
  SPEAKER_03: So I mean, yes, it's loud, right?
• 13:59
  SPEAKER_03: Um so the admins will have access to the sound.
• 14:03
  SPEAKER_03: The admins will have access to rewind up to two weeks and pull snippets.
• 14:07
  SPEAKER_03: If they have an incident, they can go ahead and pull the snippet for that incident, put it in a file folder with that incident report, and then they have it if anything goes forward, right?
• 14:15
  SPEAKER_03: Um, but parents don't have access to that just to protect the safety, keep kind of the craziness down as much as we can, um, but then give them truly just that live video streaming.
• 14:30
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I kind of feel like this is one of those why would people not?
• 14:34
  SPEAKER_01: So, what are reasons that you're getting that people aren't signing up?
• 14:37
  SPEAKER_01: Because I don't understand.
• 14:39
  SPEAKER_03: So, one of the big things is I don't want parents to see cameras.
• 14:42
  SPEAKER_03: That is one of the biggest things.
• 14:44
  SPEAKER_03: Um, and the way we've gotten around it is Carrie, exactly like you said, you know, you want to be able to support your team.
• 14:50
  SPEAKER_03: And so if you have access to the cameras and parents are seeing it, they can see what's going on anyway.
• 14:55
  SPEAKER_03: Um, and then if they have an issue and they don't have parent facing, you're gonna call them in and say, you want to watch the video anyway.
• 15:02
  SPEAKER_03: Um, but that's one of the biggest things, is just, you know, we don't want parents to see the cameras.
• 15:07
  SPEAKER_03: Um, sometimes they'll give me an explanation as to why um other others are concerned of um just the parents of that are gonna sit there all day and watch it.
• 15:19
  SPEAKER_03: Um, which, you know, we do have a few of those, but we have learned from the centers that we've installed that we have decreased incoming calls because parents are actually able to see what's going on.
• 15:28
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I think oh, I was in one of them.
• 15:30
  SPEAKER_01: I hadn't really thought about that that benefit.
• 15:33
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 15:33
  SPEAKER_00: I think I was in a workshop that you did, and you were like, the average that somebody is watching is less than 10 minutes a day.
• 15:41
  SPEAKER_00: Um, they're not spending the entire day.
• 15:44
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 15:44
  SPEAKER_00: They're just like, oh, I miss, you know, Jalen.
• 15:48
  SPEAKER_00: I want to see what Jalen's doing.
• 15:49
  SPEAKER_00: So they go, they watch what Jalen's doing.
• 15:51
  SPEAKER_00: Jalen's covered in face paint and they're like, great, Jalen's having a great time.
• 15:56
  SPEAKER_00: And then they can go back to their work because they have that little touch point that their child was doing something cool.
• 16:04
  SPEAKER_00: And then when they come in to pick up at the end of the day, they have something to talk to the teacher and their child about.
• 16:12
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, absolutely.
• 16:13
  SPEAKER_03: Because I mean, my child, my son's five, and I'll say, How was school?
• 16:18
  SPEAKER_03: What did you do?
• 16:19
  SPEAKER_03: I don't know.
• 16:20
  SPEAKER_03: And you know, like I'm getting those activity updates and I'm getting messages, but I'm not like seeing it.
• 16:26
  SPEAKER_03: So yeah, I mean, being like you said, missing, missing him every so often and being able to just look and be like, okay, he's smiling, he's having a great time.
• 16:32
  SPEAKER_03: It's not that bad that he's not home with me.
• 16:34
  SPEAKER_03: That that's just really what most parents are doing.
• 16:37
  SPEAKER_03: Now, I'll just be honest with you guys.
• 16:39
  SPEAKER_03: I mean, you have the helicopter moms.
• 16:40
  SPEAKER_03: I'm sure I'm that person sometimes.
• 16:42
  SPEAKER_03: Um we'll sit there and they just have their phone up and then they have their laptop and they're just watching constantly.
• 16:48
  SPEAKER_03: But um, we've learned that it's really, really decreased those incoming calls.
• 16:54
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I mean, I I hadn't really thought about, and I do know, you know, as a director, you do get a lot of random calls from parents.
• 17:05
  SPEAKER_01: And they always call with a reason.
• 17:07
  SPEAKER_01: But I hadn't really thought about the fact that if they have the camera, sometimes those reasons are just an excuse to make the phone call.
• 17:15
  SPEAKER_01: Really, what it is is that they've got their own version of I need a touch point with the program and make sure everything's okay.
• 17:20
  SPEAKER_01: Because sometimes we just get those gut feelings that maybe we need to check in.
• 17:25
  SPEAKER_01: And I love the concept of just being able to be a parent or because now, so can a kid have more than one person on their subscription?
• 17:34
  SPEAKER_01: Like you got blended parents, you got grandparents, helicopter grandparents, great aunts, uh, you know, other people who might want to be part of that the child's daily world?
• 17:48
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, so we have a few different options when it comes to our our platform, right?
• 17:54
  SPEAKER_03: So um we have like our free version, um, which does not include any video, it would just be the messaging, the activities, things like that.
• 18:03
  SPEAKER_03: Um, and that allows two logins per account, right?
• 18:10
  SPEAKER_03: Now, if you go to our$6 a week plan, it allows seven minutes of video time per user per week.
• 18:17
  SPEAKER_03: Um, and that will allow up to four users.
• 18:20
  SPEAKER_03: So I will also add into this that parents aren't paying per child per week.
• 18:24
  SPEAKER_03: They're paying per family.
• 18:25
  SPEAKER_03: So if a parent, if a family has three kids within your center, they're only paying that one fee.
• 18:30
  SPEAKER_03: They're not paying 10,$6 or$10 per child.
• 18:33
  SPEAKER_03: Um, and then the parents, if there's two parents or two parents and two grandparents, they're not paying that fee per grandparent and parent.
• 18:41
  SPEAKER_03: It's one fee per family up to that amount of users that you're allowed, dependent on which platform, which, which um plan you're on.
• 18:49
  SPEAKER_03: And so then we have our$10 a week unlimited plan that allows unlimited time to view the cameras up to six users.
• 18:56
  SPEAKER_03: So mom, dad, grandma, grandpa, great aunt, cousin, up to six.
• 19:01
  SPEAKER_03: Um recover, Carrie.
• 19:05
  SPEAKER_03: There you go.
• 19:05
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 19:06
  SPEAKER_03: So you will have access to that.
• 19:08
  SPEAKER_03: Um, and it just depends on what the parents are wanting, who they want to see, and how often they want to be able to view.
• 19:15
  SPEAKER_01: So Okay.
• 19:16
  SPEAKER_01: That sounds way more reasonable and than I expected.
• 19:19
  SPEAKER_01: I don't know what I had in my head as an expectation.
• 19:23
  SPEAKER_01: Now, I presume people can scale down if people are gone on, like they take the summer off.
• 19:30
  SPEAKER_01: I presume there's probably an option to handle like school programs or, you know, again, people who are enrolled only nine months a year or whatever, right?
• 19:37
  SPEAKER_03: So I think that's the best part and the thing that I love the most about Perfect Day is that if you're if the school is closed for spring break or Christmas or a parent just decides I'm gonna take my child out for a week or two weeks, they can scale down to the free plan.
• 19:52
  SPEAKER_03: So they're not they're not locked into those plans.
• 19:54
  SPEAKER_03: And if they start at the$10 unlimited and they decide, I don't need to see this as much, I'm gonna scale down.
• 20:00
  SPEAKER_03: At any point in time, they can scale down.
• 20:02
  SPEAKER_03: Obviously, if it's Monday and they already paid the$10, they they're just gonna use it that week, but they can scale down for the the following weeks.
• 20:10
  SPEAKER_01: Okay.
• 20:11
  SPEAKER_01: All right, and they and they control all that themselves.
• 20:13
  SPEAKER_03: They control it all through through your app store, like Netflix, or I don't want to say Netflix, but like Apple, iTunes, you know, Apple music and things like that.
• 20:21
  SPEAKER_03: You control it all through your thing.
• 20:23
  SPEAKER_03: So if you want to cancel, you cancel it.
• 20:24
  SPEAKER_03: If you want to, you know, go down to free, you get on to free.
• 20:27
  SPEAKER_03: If you want to go up to unlimited, you go up to unlimited.
• 20:31
  SPEAKER_01: Love that.
• 20:32
  SPEAKER_01: All right, Carrie, you you look like you've got some thoughts.
• 20:35
  SPEAKER_01: So what do you want to do?
• 20:36
  SPEAKER_00: I think I always have thoughts.
• 20:38
  SPEAKER_00: That's what my that's what I do, I think.
• 20:40
  SPEAKER_00: I think, I think, I think, I think, I think.
• 20:43
  SPEAKER_00: So I think that when you're making a decision about whether or not to include video at your program, sometimes that's based on your educational philosophy.
• 20:59
  SPEAKER_00: And there are some programs that it is their educational philosophy that children need to just be in their element doing what they're doing, and they don't need to be observed all the time.
• 21:10
  SPEAKER_00: And I get that.
• 21:12
  SPEAKER_00: I think it is important to think from if it's not part of your educational philosophy, you just it's kind of giving you the ick to have the video.
• 21:22
  SPEAKER_00: Then I have a gut feeling, because you're having a gut feeling, you know, the person listening maybe is having a gut feeling that they don't want video, but it's not part of their educational philosophy.
• 21:34
  SPEAKER_00: Then probably the reason you're having that feeling is that you think some of your staff aren't behaving properly.
• 21:42
  SPEAKER_00: And that's a different issue.
• 21:46
  SPEAKER_00: If you think you have staff.
• 21:47
  SPEAKER_00: Did you just call somebody?
• 21:48
  SPEAKER_00: Did you just call out some Yes?
• 21:51
  SPEAKER_00: I did call out some centers because there are some centers, and we've all walked into them where we're like, oh, this should not.
• 22:00
  SPEAKER_00: Be a licensed facility.
• 22:02
  SPEAKER_00: And if you're having the feeling that you don't want video because you don't want what your teachers are doing to be visible to the parents, then that means you need to do some more training with your staff.
• 22:16
  SPEAKER_00: It does not mean that you shouldn't have this marketing tool because that's what this is.
• 22:21
  SPEAKER_00: This is a marketing tool that makes your program stand out from other programs in the area because they decide how much they want to watch the video or not.
• 22:32
  SPEAKER_00: It's not included in their tuition price so that the families who are having a harder time financially, they don't have access, but that means the tuition hasn't gone up by$40 a month so that the school could pay for that video service.
• 22:50
  SPEAKER_00: So I think it is a good marketing tool.
• 22:55
  SPEAKER_00: My marketing brain says there, unless this is not in alignment with your educational philosophy.
• 23:02
  SPEAKER_00: So if you're a Waldorf school, I get why you don't want to have videos.
• 23:06
  SPEAKER_00: You should, because a lot of the cool stuff that Waldorf teachers do is amazing.
• 23:11
  SPEAKER_00: But if it doesn't fit with your educational philosophy, that's one thing.
• 23:16
  SPEAKER_00: But if it's that you are nervous about your staff being seen, then you need to be hiring, whether you're hiring me and Kate, or whether you're hiring Prana, or whether you're hiring, you know, Ron Sholoey.
• 23:31
  SPEAKER_00: You need to be hiring some really good trainers for your staff.
• 23:36
  SPEAKER_00: Don't deny yourself this marketing tool because you think your staff are underperforming.
• 23:43
  SPEAKER_00: Instead, hold them to account and get yourself some better training.
• 23:48
  SPEAKER_00: That's kind of where my brain was going was like, why, why, from all the conversations I'd had with people about why they don't do video?
• 23:59
  SPEAKER_00: An awful lot of them are like, I got three D D players in my center, and I don't want the parents to see the D players.
• 24:07
  SPEAKER_00: I only want them to know about the A and the B players on my team.
• 24:12
  SPEAKER_00: And my answer to that is then you need to fire the D players or make the D players at least C players by getting them better training and support.
• 24:21
  SPEAKER_00: And, you know, that's probably controversial, but I I can't help it.
• 24:26
  SPEAKER_00: I think I have to call a spade a spade here.
• 24:31
  SPEAKER_01: And I think that's great.
• 24:32
  SPEAKER_01: And right now, you are listening to this episode during what I'm going to refer to as peak prep time.
• 24:39
  SPEAKER_01: So right now, if you have any interest just to have a conversation with Jamie and her team, um, all of their contact information is in the show notes.
• 24:49
  SPEAKER_01: Um if you have open seats in your program and you need more butts in your seats because you've listened to one too many conversations from Carrie and I about, you know, understanding your break-even point, um, we are giving you a free resource, a free way to stand out in your community.
• 25:08
  SPEAKER_01: And if you are a community that's had any publicity, even if you're just community adjacent that's had some negative publicity about childcare programs, about regulated care, jump on this.
• 25:21
  SPEAKER_01: You are crazy not to.
• 25:23
  SPEAKER_01: Um, like I said, there's um in our show notes, there's links to schedule calls, emails, anything you need to get in touch with Jamie and her team.
• 25:33
  SPEAKER_01: It is there.
• 25:34
  SPEAKER_01: And Jamie, how would you like to wrap up this conversation?
• 25:39
  SPEAKER_01: You get the opportunity.
• 25:41
  SPEAKER_03: Well, thank you again, Kate and Carrie, for having me.
• 25:44
  SPEAKER_03: Um, I just want to reemphasize that, you know, with Perfect Day, we wanted to create an experience that promotes a connection as close as being there for the families.
• 25:55
  SPEAKER_03: Um, and that's exactly what we're striving to do.
• 25:58
  SPEAKER_03: Um, and we're also coming in free for your centers so that we can help support you as well.
• 26:03
  SPEAKER_03: Um, and just to piggyback off of the training and, you know, bringing some of your staff up to being A players, um, what better way to do it than to have the video so that you can, you know, play it back for your staff and help them engage and train them a little bit better.
• 26:19
  SPEAKER_03: Um, but as Kate said, please reach out to me.
• 26:22
  SPEAKER_03: I'd love to meet with you.
• 26:23
  SPEAKER_03: Even if you just have a few questions, um, please reach out.
• 26:27
  SPEAKER_03: But thank you guys again for having me.
• 26:29
  SPEAKER_01: Sounds great.
• 26:30
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, guys.
• 26:32
  SPEAKER_00: So you know what you need to do.
• 26:34
  SPEAKER_00: You need to share this show with somebody else who needs to know.
• 26:37
  SPEAKER_00: And make sure you're subscribed.
• 26:39
  SPEAKER_00: Are you subscribed to the newsletter?
• 26:41
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• 26:43
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• 26:48
  SPEAKER_00: Make sure you're subscribed in all the ways.
• 26:51
  SPEAKER_00: You never know what Kate's gonna put in that newsletter.
• 26:53
  SPEAKER_00: One of these days she's gonna put something in, and like the first person to comment, she's gonna send them a$50 Amazon card or something.
• 27:00
  SPEAKER_00: I don't know.
• 27:01
  SPEAKER_00: Um, but you want to be connected to us in as many ways as possible so you don't miss out on the good stuff, like this wonderful resource.
• 27:11
  SPEAKER_00: So we will talk to you in a few days.
• 27:15
  SPEAKER_02: Thanks for tuning in.
• 27:16
  SPEAKER_02: We love bringing you real talk and fresh insight from the world of early childhood education.
• 27:22
  SPEAKER_02: Be sure to follow us on social media to stay connected and catch all of the latest episodes.
• 27:28
  SPEAKER_02: And if you're planning a conference, training, or special event, Kate and Carrie would love to speak to your audience.
• 27:35
  SPEAKER_02: You can learn more about their keynote sessions and workshops at kateandcary.com.
• 27:41
  SPEAKER_02: If you learned something today, share the show and leave us a review below.
• 27:46
  SPEAKER_02: We'll see you next time on Childcare Conversations.