Latest / The Inspired Stories Podcast / Montessori for All: Everbloom's Innovative Approach to Affordable Childcare | Childcare Series

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Montessori for All: Everbloom's Innovative Approach to Affordable Childcare | Childcare Series · The Inspired Stories Podcast

0:04
Welcome to another edition of Inspired Stories, where leaders
0:07
share their experiences so we can learn from their successes,
0:10
how they've overcome adversity, and explore current challenges
0:13
they're facing. Welcome to another edition of
0:18
the Inspired Stories podcast where leaders share their
0:21
experiences so we can learn from their successes and be inspired
0:25
by how they've overcome adversity.
0:27
My name is Anthony Codispodi and today we have two guests who are
0:31
with Everbloom Montessori School in Grand Rapids, MI.
0:35
We have Kate Robinson who is on the Board of Directors and holds
0:38
the title of Executive Director of Strategic Growth.
0:41
She has 10 plus years of experience in the startup
0:44
business and nonprofit space. She is a design strategist and
0:48
partner at Further Degree, a strategy and innovation studio.
0:52
And we also have Emily Jacobson, who is the Director of Education
0:56
at Everblue. She has 28 years of early
1:00
childhood education experience and is an AMS certified infant
1:04
toddler guide. And I'm going to ask her what
1:06
that means. But before we get into all that
1:08
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Add Back benefitsagency.com. Now back to our guest today,
1:39
Kate and Emily. I appreciate you making the time
1:41
to Share your story today. Thanks for having us.
1:45
Yeah, we're excited to be here. So let's start with the origin
1:48
story of the business. How did each of you come to find
1:52
your way to ever bloom? Great question.
1:56
It's it's an interesting one, I would say.
2:00
So my eldest son, who is now 7 but was three at the time when I
2:06
met Emily, was enrolled at a another Montessori school during
2:10
the pandemic. And spring of 2020, they closed
2:14
those classrooms down, decided to not reopen them in the fall
2:18
for the infant toddler age. And we all sort of went, what's
2:24
everybody gonna do? We have, you know, 20-30
2:27
families, maybe more than that, that we're gonna have no child
2:32
care that fall of 2020 and through the year and at least 10
2:36
to 15 staff members that found themselves out of a job during,
2:40
you know, the height of a global pandemic.
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And so I, as a person who can't really stay in my lane, was
2:49
calling people and texting and wondering like, what's
2:52
everyone's plan? Are you going to, you know, do
2:54
something else? Should we start something
2:56
ourselves? And we ended up organizing a
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series of in home kind of cohorts at different households.
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So Emily and another Montessori teacher came and worked at my
3:10
house four days a week. We've converted 2 rooms of the
3:14
house into classrooms. We bought Montessori materials,
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and I got four other families together.
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And we had eight kids four days a week for what ended up being
3:24
an entire year through the pandemic.
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There were two other households that did something similar with
3:30
a single teacher and a smaller group of families and kids.
3:34
And then, you know, that was a great sort of interim solution,
3:39
but we knew that wasn't sustainable for the long haul.
3:43
And so I think I was like, are you gonna do your own thing
3:48
after? Would you like help?
3:49
I can help if you want help. And then we spent nights and
3:55
weekends for about a year, six months or so.
3:57
Well, I guess it was shorter, shorter.
3:59
Yeah, it was probably about six months from idea to open.
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We sort of stepped back and said if you could make your own
4:07
version that what's the most, you know, beautiful, true to you
4:12
version of child care and Montessori that we could make.
4:17
Let's do that. And so we started what we
4:22
started doing some Zoom sessions with parents to float some ideas
4:26
about how we were going to structure things because one of
4:29
the most important aspects for us and for you especially, and
4:34
the other teachers was to make Montessori more accessible and
4:37
more equitable. And so we came up with a tuition
4:41
model based on household income that would make it dramatically
4:45
more financially accessible for families to to join our program.
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And we were just very upfront with people about that and asked
4:54
if they would, you know, if people that made more money
4:55
would be comfortable paying more money so that people that made
4:58
less money were able to payless. And we got an overwhelmingly
5:02
positive response. And so we worked on licensing
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and finding a facility and then we opened in the fall of 2021.
5:11
So Kate, you didn't have a background in childhood
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education. What?
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Tell me what your background is and and how that has added to
5:20
this whole experience with Everblown.
5:23
Yeah. So yeah, my, my background and
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training is in design and communication innovation
5:31
consulting. I did serve for a short period
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on a, an environmental science school board.
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So I had a little bit of governance experience and had
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some, you know, back end understanding.
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But my personal professional practice is focused on design
5:51
thinking. And so we do a lot in different
5:54
industries to understand problems and, and kind of make
6:01
the implicit more explicit and then, you know, kind of use all
6:04
the information available to solve problems.
6:07
And so it was kind of a natural fit to say, oh, I childcare is
6:11
another one of those industries I can learn about and, and use
6:16
those skills to help problem solve.
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So Emily and our other Co founder Annie, you know, we're
6:22
our subject matter experts and I just basically facilitated them
6:26
through understanding what they wanted and what they could
6:30
achieve and helped give them the confidence to implement it.
6:35
And so, Emily, like Kate said, you have, you know, you're one
6:38
of the subject matter experts, you've been in early childhood
6:42
education for 28 years. Is that right?
6:46
How? How did that begin?
6:49
It actually began, I was taking early childhood classes in high
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school and able to start to do like a work program through
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them. So I was working in early
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childhood program in my senior year of high school and a
7:05
teacher from the other Montessori school that I worked
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at for 25 years called the teacher that was heading that
7:14
program and asked if they have had anyone that they would
7:17
recommend coming to work for them.
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And I fortunately was the name that got mentioned.
7:22
I'd never heard of Montessori. I didn't know what it was.
7:25
I was just graduating and getting ready to start my
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college career in early childhood.
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I've always loved children from when I was a child myself,
7:34
trying to take care of other children, and I am so fortunate
7:41
and thankful every day that I was the one that she mentioned.
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I can't say that if I wouldn't have found Montessori at 17
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years old that I would still be in this industry.
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It is a way of life. The philosophy is everything and
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it's so different. I think I would have been burnt
8:02
out so quickly in a traditional and not that there's anything
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wrong with it, but just for me personally and my personality
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and how I mesh so well with Montessori is how it all started
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from age 17. So for those people listening
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who aren't familiar as you previously weren't, can you
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explain what Montessori is and how how it's different from
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maybe a traditional education environment?
8:26
Yeah. So, well, it's a lot of people
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are even confused a lot of times about Montessori and that word
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itself. I think a lot of people assume
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it's a religious belief or don't really even understand that.
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So it is after a woman named Maria Montessori who started
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this in the 1800s in Italy working with children that were
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viewed as not able to be educated.
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And so she started working with those children and realized if
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when she gave them sensorial materials where they could
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actually feel things and not just be talked to and presented
9:08
things to them differently in small groups and individually.
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And so she was able to build this whole philosophy and
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specific materials for them that are still used in the classrooms
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today. But overall, it's just a when I
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asked, when I'm asked to give a definition of Montessori, I
9:29
always say respect is the best way for me to describe it.
9:33
It's respect for the environment, It's respect for
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the other children in the classroom.
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It's respect for the adults. And it's not it's a mutual
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respect. So for instance, in most
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Montessori classrooms, all children are all teachers are
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referred to by their first names.
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So it's not like you're older than me, so I give you more
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respect. It's we're on the same page and
9:55
we respect each other. So even from an infant, how I
9:58
talk to them is very kind and respectful.
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Like I'm going to pick you up now, I'm going to change your
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diaper. Like we're explaining things to
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them. But they're also very orderly,
10:09
peaceful classrooms because the children are so engaged and
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they're not being told what to do all day.
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They're actually learning how to be independent, capable children
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that one day will hopefully become independent, capable
10:23
adults. And explain for us a little bit
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why this form of education has you more energized.
10:33
You know, you mentioned that if you had been in a more
10:35
traditional system, you feel like you wouldn't have lasted
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this long. Why is that?
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So a lot of in traditional, there's like your lesson
10:47
planning and you're coming up with all of the things you think
10:51
are best for the children because you've been given a, a
10:56
book or whatever on what you should be doing every week with
11:00
the children in the Montessori classroom.
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You're following the child and the children in the room.
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So when we put out what we call work in the Montessori
11:07
classroom, which are the activities that the children are
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working with, it's based on what they're actually interested in
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at that time, the skill levels that we see them at, and
11:19
following their lead. And so we're actually watching
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the children and what they want to be doing and how they're
11:25
learning instead of me just sitting down and saying, here's
11:30
our Lesson plan for the week. We're all going to learn about
11:33
the color blue or, you know, just some random thing.
11:36
Instead, they're all individualized works for them
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that will help teach them from math to language to culture,
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geography, science, like all of those things are built in, but
11:50
more on the individual basis. So that eliminates like a lot of
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the chaos, a lot of the. I was going to say, I think it
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eliminates a lot of friction. Like there isn't like a a power
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struggle in that environment because children are engaged in
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making decisions. And so you're kind of like
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crafting that environment around their needs and desires.
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And not in a overly permissive way, but in a way that is
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respectful to the fact that they are full-fledged humans that
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have desires and preferences and curiosities.
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And it's really about like, nurturing and maintaining that
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curiosity and love of learning. So Montessori has really begun
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to increase in popularity. I'm curious if you're aware or
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familiar with any studies that show the benefits for kids long
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term. That's a good question.
12:48
I don't know that there's a lot of really recent academic work
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focused on Montessori. It is rooted in the scientific
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method and, and, and academia from the start.
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So there are anecdotal, longitudinal, longitudinal
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outcomes you could look at to say like these people look at
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how much they've achieved. And, you know, very famous folks
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have, you know, been Montessori kids and they're some of our
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most like creative problem solvers.
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I wouldn't say that that's enough to make the case for it,
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but they're they're certainly a lot of long term evidence for,
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you know, the success of kids that have gone through
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Montessori. I would also add that just even
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in the smaller regard, when children typically leave our
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classrooms and enter like a more traditional public school
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setting, the feedback from the teachers that the families will
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share is like oh you're a Montessori child.
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Like they are not depending on the adult to tell them what to
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do. They push back and ask questions
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even if it is of the adult. And they're self learners.
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Like they're capable of figuring things out on their own instead
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of just being like, sitting and waiting for an adult to tell
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them what to do. Well, that says a lot right
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there. Yeah.
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And you mentioned something, Kate, I think it was you who
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talked about the sliding pay scale that you introduced.
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This seems like kind of a an unusual approach.
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How did you come up with this idea?
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Yeah, I mean, how did we come up with the idea?
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I don't know. It was, it was just sort of a
14:31
felt like a no brainer. I mean, sliding scale pay isn't,
14:36
you know, revolutionary in general, but in the child care
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and Montessori space, it's less common.
14:45
But, you know, one of the criticisms, I would say of
14:48
Montessori is that it can be seen as very elite and expensive
14:51
and difficult to access. And one of the, you know, other
14:56
environments that, you know, we had been in did was that.
15:00
And so one of the ways that, you know, we're kind of thinking
15:04
about reinventing this, we wanted to say like, how do we
15:06
turn that on its head? And so I mean, it's a very basic
15:11
model right now. It we sort of said what's our,
15:14
what's the, you know, the, the break even rate we think we need
15:19
across the board. Well, can we increase that by a
15:22
percentage and decrease, you know, by that same percentage
15:25
the other direction? And it's we're just keeping
15:28
averages honestly. And we just thought that, you
15:34
know, if we align people's values with their spending and
15:39
with our financial model that we would have a more like values
15:44
aligned community that would come together and that seems to
15:47
be the case. Because this really feeds into
15:50
something that's important to both of you about this idea of
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child care being financially accessible to everyone.
15:59
Yeah, I mean, the child care crisis, right, is not unfamiliar
16:05
to most people. I think during the pandemic
16:07
especially, we saw how important child care is as infrastructure.
16:13
We know the economy essentially can't run if there aren't people
16:16
taking care of children. And so we just wanted to figure
16:20
out how to make that a more equitable space.
16:22
And so it just seemed like a very easy way to just literally
16:28
put our money where our mouth is and, and start with that in
16:32
mind. And if it, you know, if it
16:34
didn't work, we always knew we could pivot, but that we thought
16:40
we'd, you know, it was a hypothesis.
16:42
I like to joke that we're a high fidelity working prototype and
16:45
are constantly, you know, making adjustments and learning new
16:49
things and challenging the status quo.
16:51
And conventional wisdoms in this space and charging only top
16:56
dollar for every slot was one of those conventional wisdoms that
16:59
we wanted to challenge. Say more about the child care
17:04
crisis is this a lack of child care is it a lack of affordable
17:09
child care What what's going on I.
17:12
Mean it's all of the above there's a there's a lack of
17:16
slots, you know, just spaces for children.
17:19
There's a a low supply of people willing to work in the industry
17:25
because it is so poorly paid in most cases.
17:30
Child care just generally is unaffordable for families and
17:33
expensive to run. There are state laws that
17:36
require a certain number of trained adults per number of
17:40
children. And so it there's just really
17:42
difficult math that has to happen.
17:45
And yeah, I mean, I could give some examples where we are here
17:50
in Grand Rapids in Michigan, Kent County is the where we
17:54
live, there are 50,000 kids aged zero to five, and there are
18:00
30,000 spots for child care for that age.
18:04
Only half of those are considered high quality.
18:08
And Kent County's on the better end of the spectrum of a lot of
18:11
places definitely in Michigan. So it's one of the more resource
18:16
places. We have a a county wide mileage
18:19
that's focused on early childhood intervention and
18:21
support. And that's the only it's the
18:24
first in the state and I want to say maybe nationally.
18:27
So it's, it's there's a lot of work being done, a lot of focus
18:32
on it, but there's just the economics are are bad.
18:37
Is there a way to fix that? I mean, I think there's a lot of
18:42
opportunities to fix it, but it has to be a multi pronged
18:47
approach. I mean it can't be child care
18:50
workers and parents left to sort it out because that's where it's
18:55
been for so long. The resources are thin there.
18:58
Families pay dramatically more like a higher percentage for
19:01
child care annually than, you know, then they should, frankly,
19:05
I mean, it's comparable to housing.
19:08
And so my my mindset coming into this as a person who, you know,
19:12
background wasn't in education, but I'm a parent and I happen to
19:18
have a set of skills that work, but that we need to have this
19:21
like multidisciplinary, multi industry approach to solutions
19:28
in this space. Because I mean, children are
19:30
everyone's responsibility. It's the future of our society,
19:34
right? Like it's like, not to be
19:35
dramatic, but that is what we're doing.
19:38
We're raising the next generation.
19:39
And so, you know, businesses need to be engaged.
19:44
I think there's a state level solution that could be, you
19:50
know, could be a part of it of solving the issue, but folks
19:54
have to be willing to put money into the effort because it's
19:59
everyone's, you know, outcomes that we're we're supporting.
20:04
Say something about the perception and you know the way
20:08
that your staff is viewed. So I think it's the the norm in
20:19
the general population for when you meet someone who works with
20:22
children under the age of 6 to just view them as someone who
20:28
plays with kids all day and gets labeled as a babysitter.
20:33
And so there's definitely a negative stigma that comes with
20:37
it. I often have said even being in
20:41
the industry for 28 years, knowing how important this job
20:46
is and how much brain development happens and that
20:49
we're setting basically the entire foundation for a child's
20:53
life. I still feel embarrassed to this
20:56
day to say that I am a toddler teacher.
21:01
I or was for 28 years is of recent that I moved into the Co
21:05
director role full time. But once you say that, you're
21:09
just kind of dismissed and like, OK, I'll move on.
21:12
You know, like you're, you're really not that important.
21:15
If you were an elementary teacher, middle or high school
21:18
and up, then you have some sort of value.
21:22
So we're working really hard because that's so important at
21:27
changing the mindset of that and really getting people to value
21:33
individuals who choose to work in this industry because it is
21:36
so important to try and get them at a livable wage, to be quite
21:41
frank, because most are not. Most are working multiple jobs
21:46
to be able to just work with children because they love it so
21:49
much. And yeah, so we have lots of
21:53
work to do. We're doing a lot of work in
21:55
advocacy just around that in itself outside of Everbloom.
22:00
So yeah. So, yeah, I'm, I'm curious to
22:03
hear more about where you think that that negative stigma comes
22:07
from, right? Because you're somebody who's
22:09
been in that role for over, you know, 20 years yourself.
22:13
And you would and I appreciate that you admit that you're
22:16
embarrassed to, you know, to share what you do or you know,
22:19
the role that that you were in for a number of years.
22:22
Like where does that come from? How?
22:24
How is that started? Yeah, I think that people,
22:29
honestly, I know Kate mentioned with the pandemic, people kind
22:33
of it opened their eyes a little bit like, oh, this is what it's
22:37
like to be at home with my child all day.
22:39
And, and wow, it takes a lot of work and a lot of energy and not
22:47
in addition to what they were doing at home.
22:51
These people are putting together work for them to be
22:55
doing that actually is meaningful and is helping to
22:58
develop their brain and social emotional support.
23:03
All of the things, you know, like we have degrees and we've,
23:06
we've spent time learning about brain development and like, but
23:11
most people don't think about that when they think of little
23:13
kids. They think like, oh, you carry
23:16
them, you put them to sleep during the day and you give them
23:19
some food and you move on. I think that's just the
23:22
perception that a lot of people have.
23:25
And so while the pandemic was, you know, for a lot of reasons,
23:30
really hard for a lot of people, I think it also helped at least
23:34
our industry. People are talking about it now.
23:37
They're realizing and they're starting to understand, like we
23:41
need to invest in that age group and the individuals who are
23:45
working with them everyday. You know, and Emily, I'm glad
23:49
that you touched on the, the whole COVID experience and you
23:52
know, how that, you know, kind of brought some realizations to
23:56
a lot of folks because it was part of my inspiration for
23:59
wanting to do a series, you know, specifically on child care
24:02
centers, because I had boys who were of that age.
24:06
They were, you know, in a, in a child care center that were run
24:10
by, you know, friends of ours. And I saw just the man, the, the
24:15
strife that they went through trying to keep the doors open,
24:17
trying to keep parents happy. You got some that want a mask,
24:20
some that don't want a mask. You, you know, you've got to do
24:23
contact tracing. It was like there was a lot
24:26
going on. And right in those times when
24:29
our kids couldn't be there, either because there was an
24:32
outbreak or because, you know, there was a rule in place
24:36
locally that, you know, prevented them from being open.
24:39
And, you know, my wife and I are trying to juggle our jobs and
24:42
take care of our kids at the same time.
24:44
It was just madness. Now, fortunately, you know, we
24:50
were one of the lucky ones. My oldest was going into a
24:53
kindergarten in that that fall 2020.
24:55
That was open. And so he got to go to school in
24:59
person, my younger son who is still in a daycare center, child
25:04
care center, and he was able to go back in, in person most of
25:08
the time, you know, when they didn't have an outbreak.
25:11
But I talked to a lot of parents who were not that fortunate, you
25:15
know, and they had to juggle their their full time job while
25:18
being at home with their kid and in some cases also trying to
25:22
juggle their online learning. And it was just a, a tornado
25:27
disaster. And so I think you're right.
25:29
I think I I don't know of anybody who maybe didn't
25:33
appreciate their child care center before, but they had a
25:37
whole new level of appreciation for the services that are being
25:42
provided by organizations like yours.
25:44
Yes. It's it's interesting.
25:47
So I like to say when, you know, we're talking about sort of the
25:50
origin story that it was the best and worst time to start a
25:55
child care facility because all of the, you know, the many
25:59
things that had to be juggled that you already mentioned.
26:01
And but then people were grateful.
26:06
They wanted to be there. They wanted a place that they
26:10
knew that they aligned with. And you know, some of those
26:13
issues that you mentioned masking or closing for different
26:17
reasons and whatever your policies were, like we were very
26:21
in a good position to be able to be very upfront and frank about
26:26
our position on things. And that allowed people to feel
26:29
more comfortable and be really invested in the safety and just
26:36
like respect for community, which was really valuable and I
26:40
think has given us a really great foundation going forward
26:42
because we have people that were in, I mean, we were all in such,
26:46
such an emotional space. It was just high stress and, you
26:50
know, people wanting to do everything they could, but not
26:53
really knowing what to do. And so whenever there was an
26:55
opportunity for folks to contribute or to be, you know,
26:59
big members of a community, like they, they took it.
27:02
And that was that's been really, really beautiful.
27:05
Yeah. And, you know, I think something
27:08
that a lot of people maybe don't realize is that, you know, part
27:11
of a big contributing factor to the child care crisis was COVID
27:16
because a lot of child care centers did not make it through
27:21
that time, right? They had to close their doors.
27:23
And a lot of the ones who did make it are still trying to
27:26
shovel out of debt that they took on just to keep the doors
27:30
open, to keep their staff there. So that when it was OK for
27:34
families to come back that their doors were still open.
27:38
So tip, tip of the hat to you all.
27:41
Thank you. Yeah, I think, I think Michigan,
27:44
I, I don't know if it was Michigan or Kent County.
27:45
There was something like 10,000 childcare centers closed in
27:49
2020. And yeah, this I will get give
27:53
our state some credit to the they did child care
27:56
stabilization grants for all licensed facilities across the
28:00
state of Michigan. And that really dramatically
28:03
helped a lot of places stay open.
28:05
And there's been a lot of investment in trying to support
28:10
more entrepreneurs in opening child care businesses.
28:15
But you know, there's, there's still a big gap.
28:18
Do you have expansion plans? You've got a nice foundation in
28:22
place. There's a gap in the marketplace
28:24
and any desire to to grow what you're doing.
28:28
Yeah, we're actually right kind of in the middle of of working
28:32
on that. So we right now we are in two
28:35
different buildings that are adjacent to one another.
28:37
We serve about 85 kids ages 3 months to six years and we are
28:42
in the process of purchasing a new facility.
28:46
We're leasing right now and moving just a few minutes down
28:50
the road in order to add another 50 slots to our program.
28:53
So we'll be at about 135 kids ages zero to six.
28:57
So we're, yeah, we're, we're excited to do that and I think
29:02
there will likely be growth beyond that at some point.
29:05
We want to, you know, do it mindfully because it is hard
29:09
work to to, you know, be the folks in classrooms doing, doing
29:16
this daily thing. And it takes a certain kind of
29:20
person that is dedicated and sort of emotionally and
29:26
emotionally prepared for this kind of space.
29:28
So we we try really hard to keep our turnover low.
29:32
And so we want to grow mindfully as well.
29:35
How do you keep the turnover low?
29:38
Great question. So one of the things that we did
29:43
intentionally at Everbloom is that we follow a school
29:47
calendar. So that in itself is also
29:51
working towards changing the mindset on childcare.
29:54
And it's not always easy for some families, but we try and be
29:57
upfront about that before they enroll that we follow school
30:00
calendar. So we do close for like
30:03
obviously all the major holidays.
30:04
We take a two week winter break. We take a spring break also in
30:10
comparison to what you would see once you send your child to
30:12
kindergarten, right? So trying to close that gap
30:16
between, oh, you're just preschool and that you're a
30:20
teacher, so you are a teacher. We call them guides in our
30:24
classroom. But even if you're teaching an
30:27
infant and you deserve that time off, just like another teacher
30:31
would, to have that mental reset and to be with your family and
30:35
to just have some down time so that when you're in the
30:37
classroom, you're fully present and you're ready to go.
30:42
And so that's one of our big, the biggest things that we do, I
30:45
think to help retain staff. In addition to that, we do our
30:50
best. I know Kate mentioned we're just
30:53
starting, we're going into our 4th year as a nonprofit, but to
30:57
to pay a little bit above average wages for our teachers
31:03
and then offering benefits and PTO in addition to the time that
31:07
we're closed. Like those are really big things
31:09
that help keep our staff. And then just in addition to
31:13
that, in our environment, we really strive to support them.
31:18
It helps that myself and my Co director Annie have been in
31:22
classrooms. We know what it's like.
31:25
We're able to support them and care for them and let them know
31:29
they're valued. And not only does that come just
31:32
from us, but it also really comes from our parents and the
31:36
families that are involved in our school.
31:39
They also value and take care of our staff and that makes just a
31:44
world of difference. So valuing them from inside and
31:49
then valuing them from the outside and even just the
31:53
advocacy work that we do, I think that shows them like
31:56
we're, we're pushing for change not only just within Everbloom,
31:59
but within our entire society. And that makes them feel like
32:04
someone cares about them and other people that do the same
32:07
work they do. It's so interesting what you're
32:10
doing with aligning with a more traditional school schedule,
32:14
right? You're taking, you know, two
32:16
weeks off in in, you know, for the winter break, you're taking
32:19
the major holidays off. And these are things that you
32:22
know, a lot of other daycares are not doing.
32:26
And I'm, I'm curious if if you have a sense from the staff, if
32:31
that has contributed to your goal of sort of reframing the
32:35
value of child care workers of, you know, preschool workers.
32:43
Yeah, for sure. We have a lot of our staff
32:46
obviously come from other child care centers and almost all of
32:51
them are like, we've never had this time off with our families.
32:55
We've never been able to travel to see, you know, family or just
32:59
take a personal vacation. And that has made a huge
33:04
difference to them so. Yeah, it's, it's helped with
33:08
attraction too, right? Like we as we've hired folks
33:11
from other centers, they tell their friends, you know, that
33:16
what we're doing is unique. And so it it, you know, the
33:20
evidence seems to be there. Yeah.
33:22
And obviously we, we always want to be doing more and we're
33:24
always looking for new opportunities to make our, you
33:27
know, our model more sustainable and, you know, planning
33:31
increases as soon as possible. And whenever we can for staff,
33:34
we do bonuses, things like that. But it's not just about the
33:38
money either. We it's really about that caring
33:41
environment that really is, you know, elevating the importance
33:45
of the work that they're doing. And Emily, you know, it's
33:48
interesting you've spent so long being an educator, being in the
33:52
classroom with the kids and more recently have moved into a Co
33:56
director role, moving. Would I be correct in assuming
34:00
you're not so much in the classroom anymore?
34:03
Yeah, as of June that. This is really new.
34:06
This is really fresh. We're recording this at the very
34:08
end of July. So this is, you know, maybe two
34:11
months old for you. How are you doing with that
34:13
transition? That is also a great question.
34:19
I think I'm still, so for the three years that we were open,
34:25
myself and Annie, my Co director were in classrooms as lead
34:29
teachers and were the Co directors.
34:32
So we were doing 2 full time jobs for three years and that
34:38
obviously had its challenges, but we were able to do it.
34:42
I mean just like opening Everbloom, we just figured it
34:44
out and we did it. But now that I have just had a,
34:48
you know, short of eight weeks, I think it's just finding out
34:53
what that new norm is and really stepping into this role full
34:58
time. I love children.
35:01
I love working with them. I love that I can still go into
35:06
the classroom and see them whenever, like I'm having a
35:10
overwhelming day or I've been on the computer too long.
35:12
I, I will just go sit in the classroom because it recenters
35:16
me and it, it reminds me of why we're doing this work because
35:20
there's so much beautiful things going on that when I'm able to
35:25
take a step back and just observe that it's, it's so
35:29
helpful for me. But I think the biggest thing
35:33
is, is that I've had the same routine for 28 years.
35:36
So I, I get up in the morning, I do my thing and then I'm in the
35:39
classroom and I'm preparing my room and I'm greeting children,
35:42
I'm talking to families. And so now to come in and go to
35:45
a computer is definitely different.
35:48
So I do that for about 30 minutes and then I'm outside at
35:50
our car line and greeting children and talking to
35:53
families. So I think this year really in
35:56
general will be that transitional time where I'm able
36:00
maybe at the end of this year to, to give you a better answer
36:03
to that question. But I also have said for 28
36:08
years, there's clearly been a lot of wonderful, beautiful,
36:12
amazing things that have happened and lots of
36:14
relationships that I have gained.
36:18
But there's been a ton of challenges also.
36:21
And I've served on lots of boards and committees and
36:24
capital campaigns. And all of the things that I've
36:27
done that I didn't fully probably understand while I was
36:30
on that path. I can see now has led me to
36:35
where I am now so that I can help support other teachers that
36:38
we have in Ever Bloom and outside of Ever Bloom, but also
36:42
to just share with our families parent education and all of the
36:46
things have really gotten me to this point.
36:49
For that reason, I think that it's it's a natural move and
36:53
progression for me to be able to move into this role and share
36:56
more with more people than just the children in my classroom and
36:59
the parents in my classroom. Challenging the challenges of
37:04
the transition that you're describing, I hear a lot of
37:07
right, people who started an organization, they started a
37:10
business because they enjoyed or they were good at, you know,
37:14
delivering whatever that product or service was.
37:16
And as the organization starts to grow and they have to sort of
37:21
reinvent themselves into a new role, leadership role, a
37:24
management role, it takes them away from doing those things
37:27
that, you know, they really enjoyed and really loved.
37:30
And so, yeah, there's a little bit of kind of getting into, you
37:34
know, feeling what your new space feels like.
37:36
So just to say, you know, give yourself some grace as you're
37:39
going through that transition. It's it's normal to feel a
37:41
little uncomfortable in that new skin.
37:44
Yes, thank you. That's that's definitely needed.
37:47
I think I that would is probably one of the other things I was so
37:52
good at that one roll. And so now like having meetings
37:57
and talking with people and like all the things I didn't have to
38:00
do, I have to remind myself like, you're just learning some
38:03
of. Those things, it's.
38:05
It's OK to not know as much as everybody else at the table that
38:09
has been doing these things like.
38:11
So yes, thank you for that. Growth comes at the
38:14
uncomfortable edges of life, Emily.
38:16
So that's where you're sitting right now for sure.
38:19
So talk to me about why you think anyone is capable of
38:24
solving problems. That's a good moment for that
38:31
segue because I think, you know, everyone's capable of growth,
38:35
right? And problem solving takes
38:38
growth, I think, and being curious and putting yourself in
38:41
spaces that you may or may not know a lot about.
38:46
But I think there's a lot of need for trusting your
38:49
experience and where you've come from, because I think people
38:56
think they have to be experts to solve problems.
38:58
And it really doesn't take an expert in many cases.
39:02
I mean, thinking back to, you know, thinking about my
39:06
consulting work and then also all the work we've done the last
39:09
several years, I, it, it was actually really important that I
39:12
wasn't an expert in this space to be able to help solve these
39:16
problems because I'm bringing perspective from other
39:19
industries and other, you know, other business models and things
39:23
to the table. And I got to learn a lot along
39:28
the way and ask somewhat naive questions sometimes.
39:33
And that's really helpful when you're trying to do something
39:36
new or if you're trying to solve something in a new way, you, you
39:41
can't look at it from the same angle all the time.
39:43
So not being an expert is a really important part of solving
39:47
problems. If you have lived experience, if
39:49
you have adjacent experience, you know it's.
39:53
It's a really important component of problem solving.
39:58
I'll take it from a little bit of a different angle.
40:02
And it kind of goes back to a little bit of when I just
40:05
touched on, but I believe anyone can be a problem solver because
40:10
I watch it with a three month old.
40:14
I watch it with a one year old and a 2 year old and on up to
40:18
six years old in a Montessori environment.
40:22
We also are not there to solve the problem of the child, but to
40:27
help them have the tools to solve their own problems and
40:30
only step in when needed. So our job is to observe and
40:36
step in when needed and then back out so that the child can
40:40
figure it out from themselves. And so when I talk about when I
40:43
go back into the classroom and I'm seeing these beautiful
40:46
things happen, those are the reminders.
40:48
Like, oh, that infant on the floor who really wanted that
40:52
ball. And the teacher didn't just
40:54
bring it to them and problem solve them for it, but sat back
40:57
and watched and let them scoot their body and then figure out
41:03
how to do it themselves. Just centers me and reminds me
41:07
like, that was a really big thing for that child that could
41:11
have very easily been solved if an adult would have just given
41:15
them that ball. But instead they sat back and
41:18
let them figure it out on their own.
41:21
And I can do that too. And so those are my reminders.
41:26
That's a really cool example. Taking it down to, I'm going to
41:29
call a more base level of right, letting just a three month old
41:33
figure out how to move their body across the floor to get the
41:35
thing that they want. I'm curious how you help to
41:39
instill that same sense of confidence in your staff that,
41:44
hey, you are empowered to make decisions.
41:47
You are a capable person. You don't have to come to me for
41:50
everything. Well, I was just going to say
41:53
that I think it's a really interesting point about
41:57
Montessori in general. And if you follow it kind of
42:00
continuously through adulthood, it it you arrive at sort of a
42:05
similar place, right? Like we're creating environments
42:07
that are like age appropriate challenges and safe spaces that
42:12
are like low risk for kids to develop those skills or that,
42:16
you know, muscle strength or whatever it might be.
42:22
And over time that gets more and more complex, right?
42:25
You kind of allow more challenges and wider range of
42:29
community that they're working within.
42:32
And I mean, if we're doing that well with staff and with our
42:37
with our community, we're doing the same thing.
42:39
Like we're, we're creating opportunities for them to build
42:43
their own strength and build their own set of tools over
42:46
time. And I will say, and I don't know
42:48
how you feel about this, but we're, it's a process, right?
42:51
Like, yes, we've been around for three years, but we've only been
42:54
around for three years. And to help staff and families
43:00
understand that they have agency and, and ability to contribute
43:04
to the outcomes of, you know, the environment and the
43:07
community that we're building takes time and, and capacity as
43:12
so, you know, the folks guiding this community, which you know,
43:17
is, is not, or it's at a premium, right, Like time and
43:22
energy and all of that is challenging.
43:24
So it's, it's a slow process. But doing that same kind of like
43:28
creating a prepared environment, allowing people to learn for
43:31
themselves, have successes and failures along the way and be
43:35
there to to step in as needed, but also step back out and let
43:38
them continue. I think is is the goal.
43:43
Yeah, I can add to that a little bit to your specific question.
43:48
It's not always easy, especially when our staff come from more
43:53
traditional centers, more hierarchical environments.
43:56
Yeah, they do expect that someone will help kind of
43:59
micromanage them. They will will tell them what to
44:02
do. And so that's where that comes
44:04
in, in my role as a Co director, in our onboarding and our staff
44:10
training that we do, our professional development that we
44:13
do in helping them to understand like it's OK to just come in the
44:18
classroom and sit on the floor and do nothing.
44:21
What you know like that, to me is more important than you
44:26
trying to entertain a child all day and get them to do what you
44:29
want. Say do nothing.
44:32
Observe. Observe.
44:33
Yes, which is actually a lot, doing a lot, but to most people
44:37
would be viewed as doing nothing.
44:39
Thank you for clarity. But in the classroom we talk
44:45
about freedom within limits. And that is true for the adults
44:48
in our our environment as well. Like you have freedom within
44:51
limits. Like obviously we have
44:52
expectations of our teachers and we want to make sure they're
44:55
meeting, meeting all of the goals of the children and child,
44:59
child development and developmentally and all those
45:02
things and the work that they're preparing.
45:05
But they have the freedom to to show us that they can, they
45:08
understand that and that they can follow the child and prepare
45:11
those environments for them. So it definitely takes a lot of
45:15
work and process. Yeah.
45:17
But some it's more of a natural fit too.
45:20
And so even in our interviewing, we talk about that like, would
45:23
you feel comfortable in an environment like that?
45:25
Because it's different and some people, they would rather be in,
45:30
you know, a more traditional where someone's telling them
45:32
what to do and those types of things.
45:35
So we try to be upfront with individuals that come to us for
45:39
that and explain the differences.
45:41
We have them observe our classrooms to see how the adults
45:44
interact with children. But yeah.
45:48
I want to shift focus for a moment to the parents.
45:53
What are some of the most common concerns that parents have when
45:56
starting their kids at a new school like yours, and what can
46:00
you tell them to help put their minds at ease?
46:05
Most want to know child and adult ratios, so like how many
46:14
children will be in the room, how many adults will be in the
46:16
classroom with them, hours of operation, those types of
46:20
things. But also just like how long has
46:25
the teacher worked with children?
46:29
What is their experiences? What are your how do you
46:34
discipline children is another big one.
46:39
A lot of. How do you do potty?
46:41
Training. Yeah, that's a whole other
46:44
podcast. Yeah.
46:47
Do you do you offer potty training there?
46:49
We offer here at Ed on Toilet Learning is what I call it.
46:58
We don't train children, you know, We help them learn.
47:02
Yes. And again, that's more.
47:04
So thank you. Yep.
47:07
And I, yeah, I've had to change a lot of these.
47:09
You're doing so well with them. But yeah, there's just helping
47:15
them understand really why we do the things that we do and then
47:21
just having conversation with them and connecting with them.
47:24
Like we care about you and your child and your family and want
47:28
you here as part of a community and not a place that you just
47:32
drop off your child and pick them up at the end of the day,
47:34
which some of our families have to do.
47:36
But also we just kind of take all expectations from the
47:40
families and make it that it's OK.
47:42
Like we just want to be here and community with you and help
47:45
raise your child with you and you as a parent.
47:48
And you help us grow too. So it's really relational in a
47:55
lot of. Ways, yeah, I mean we have this
48:00
sort of, we're inspired by the cooperative model and trying to
48:05
bring everybody's contributions and keep everyone's growth in
48:08
mind. And so we extend that into the
48:10
parent and family community as well and really try to encourage
48:14
that engagement. I I don't know how it compares
48:18
to a more conventional environment, but I think there's
48:21
a lot that people don't necessarily know about
48:24
Montessori. They either are coming to us
48:25
because they know Montessori and that's what they're looking for,
48:28
or they're just parents trying to find a good place for their
48:31
kids to be. And so trying to help them
48:34
understand kind of what they're getting in this environment is a
48:37
big thing. And sometimes they're curious
48:40
and sometimes they're not. You know, people are busy and
48:42
trying to balance a lot of things.
48:44
So sort of taking meeting people where they are and and kind of
48:48
helping them grow from that point is their biggest goal.
48:52
Can you share an example or two of a particular success story of
48:56
a child who was with you? Yeah, I, I think about this one
49:03
a lot because there's plenty of stories to share on that front.
49:08
But I think it really can come down to a more bit of a
49:13
generalized scenario. Especially coming out of the
49:17
pandemic, children were having a lot of one-on-one with their
49:22
parents or grandparents and not a lot of social exposure.
49:28
So a lot of fear around being away from them and coming into
49:32
our environments and a lot of dependency on the adults and a
49:39
lot of emotional, I don't want to say issues, but turmoil,
49:47
yeah, they just weren't allowed a lot of time to have self
49:50
regulation opportunities. And so when coming into our
49:56
environment, and this could be prior pandemic as well, but for
50:00
particularly ever boom, just seeing a child enter environment
50:06
from infancy through five years old and seeing some of those
50:11
children who hadn't ever been in a community environment with
50:16
other children and other adults taking care of them and really
50:19
having an emotionally hard time with that and struggling and
50:24
feeling anxious and nervous. And, and you could sense that
50:27
from the adults too, right, Because a lot of them had these
50:30
babies in the pandemic and, and never allowed someone else to
50:34
take care of them. And so those children and those
50:38
families entering our environment and, and knowing all
50:41
of those things. And now I see those same
50:44
children who have been with us for three years and I don't I
50:49
barely recognize them. Like one of our infants who like
50:55
what was closer to the a year when she started with us.
51:00
You know, it was really hard for her and she wanted to know where
51:02
her mom and dad were. And, you know, it took her a
51:05
while to transition into our environment.
51:08
And now I open her car door in car line and she reaches for us
51:13
and she gets out and she carries her little lunch box and waves
51:16
by to dad. And she's not even quite 2 yet
51:20
and walks into the building and is like ready to start her day
51:23
and happy to see your friends. And there's so many kids that
51:26
have started with us that had that kind of same experience.
51:30
And, and now I see them and they're just like these
51:35
independent, self confident. I'm here to be with my friends
51:40
and learn. And every time I see those kids,
51:43
that's a success story for me. That's so neat to see that
51:47
progression. You know, Kate and Emily, I'm
51:50
curious to maybe explore an example of either a a personal
51:54
or a professional challenge that you've overcome and some of the
51:57
lessons that you've learned through it coming out the other
52:00
side I. Mean this whole thing has been a
52:07
a personal professional challenge to be honest.
52:11
Let's let's pick a a certain element, something that.
52:13
You know. You you really put you through
52:15
the ringer and you know some things that you learn coming
52:18
through it. Yeah, that's a great prompt.
52:22
Do you have something that comes to mind first?
52:31
Specifically, I think you can talk to one of your questions
52:35
like wanting to grow that has definitely is not easy even if
52:41
you want to and you want to be doing better and offering more
52:46
spots and doing all the work. I say all the time, and This is
52:51
why Kate is literally in the role.
52:52
She is right now trying to be able to do that and like all of
52:57
the things that are required outside of just like financing
53:01
it and finding the building and all of the things.
53:04
It literally takes one person being in a full time position to
53:08
make connections and just do all the things.
53:11
I'm going to let you talk more to them.
53:12
Yeah. I mean, that kind of ties into
53:14
what I was thinking about, which is that so when we started with
53:18
this cooperative model in mind, we knew that keeping the
53:22
overhead super low was gonna be really important to getting off
53:26
the ground. We didn't have any investment
53:27
capital. We paid for our business
53:30
licenses out of pocket and all that we had, we, we did this
53:36
very like we threaded the needle very carefully.
53:39
We opened applications and they had a small fee and then we did,
53:44
you know, confirmation of spots and that had a fee and that was
53:47
our first few $1000 and then we signed our lease, you know, so
53:51
we did this very like out of order thing, but to do some of
53:56
that, we had a lot of parents and family members volunteer.
54:00
So I started out in a, in a volunteer board role and one of
54:05
the challenges for me was like, over time, I just became more
54:08
and more passionate about this and I was giving more of my time
54:11
to that then to my consulting work and knowing when to ask for
54:17
help or to say, I, I can't keep doing this without being paid.
54:22
It was really hard. I think I started a board
54:25
meeting in tears and one of the other board members said, OK,
54:29
we're, we can't accept your free labor anymore.
54:31
We need and like for this work to continue, we need someone
54:35
that's dedicated full time to it.
54:37
And so that like valuing my own time and my own skill that I was
54:41
bringing was really challenging because I knew, I know how much
54:48
hard work that our teachers and guides and directors put into
54:52
this, that I wanted every penny to go to that work, which is
54:56
critical. But there's back office and, you
54:59
know, infrastructure things that have to happen.
55:02
And I mean, we've been looking for a new facility essentially
55:05
since the day we moved into the one we're in.
55:07
We only signed a three-year lease.
55:09
We've done it, you know, a one year extension and because it
55:13
wasn't our ideal facility, but finding space and staying within
55:18
the service area that we're really focused on, We're focused
55:21
on the center of the city where childcare spots are lowest and
55:25
need is highest. Just like balancing all of those
55:30
things and knowing how to value my contributions as much as the,
55:35
you know, the day-to-day that's that's making the wheels turn in
55:39
the building. It was has been a challenge and
55:42
finding that balance and keeping things going without burning
55:47
ourselves out in any One Direction has been hard.
55:50
Well, you touch on something. Sorry.
55:52
Go ahead, Emily. Oh.
55:54
Sorry, I shouldn't say, I would say that that it has been the
55:58
biggest challenge to this. It's basically been a 24/7 job.
56:03
You know, we don't do like a nine to five.
56:05
We're we've been working on this since the day we decided that we
56:11
were going to do it and evolving and growing and all the things
56:17
have continued us on that path. So taking time, like for
56:23
ourselves and for our families, unfortunately, has been a
56:28
struggle. It's one of the things we
56:31
advocate for. But being myself, Kate and
56:35
Annie, in particularly the three that it kind of feels like this
56:39
is our baby and that we're responsible for.
56:42
We have poured ourselves and our souls into this and don't expect
56:50
a lot in return. Kind of like Kate mentioned, we
56:53
would rather give than take anything from it.
56:57
And so just having that reminder, which we probably
57:01
still need to get a lot better at, to take care of ourselves
57:06
has been the biggest struggle. And this is so common with young
57:10
businesses, small businesses, there's so much work to do,
57:14
right? There's so many different hats
57:16
to wear, so many different roles that the leaders that the
57:19
founders need to fill that it's easy to feel stretched really
57:23
thin. You know, until you can get to a
57:26
point where you can afford a little bit more of that
57:28
infrastructure, a little bit more of that staff support to
57:31
take, you know, some of that off of you.
57:34
And you know, during these early, you know, growth times,
57:39
watching the, the balance sheet, watching the PNL becomes, you
57:43
know, even more important, you know, you're as a business
57:47
leader, you're trying to find ways to increase sales.
57:50
You're trying to find a way to, you know, decrease costs.
57:53
I'm curious if there are particularly creative strategies
57:57
that you've tried with either one of those levers that would
58:00
be interesting to share. That's a good, a good question.
58:08
I mean, I think we're always looking for kind of the most
58:13
values aligned solution. It's part of why we are a
58:18
nonprofit currently instead of a traditional for profit, because
58:25
we are building sort of all of our costs into the model versus
58:29
trying to have money leftover that we can take, you know, take
58:33
out of the business. So I don't, I don't know that I
58:37
have any like brilliant tricks other than to say like we, we
58:42
just try to lead with our values as much as we can and find, you
58:46
know, we have various like platforms that we use and things
58:49
that are aligned with sort of the work that we're doing and
58:52
trying to find, you know, opportunities where those are
58:55
lower cost. We do make a lot of our, I think
59:02
we're lucky because we do have a really engaged community of
59:04
parents. So like our finance person has
59:07
been a parent volunteer for a long time.
59:10
Like he's the guy running the spreadsheets to help us make
59:12
sure that we're, you know, hit the numbers that we need to and,
59:17
you know, know, when we can add increases for staff wages and
59:21
things like that. I don't know.
59:25
Yeah. I don't know if I have any
59:27
brilliance other than like, find people that, you know, care
59:29
about the mission that you're you're, you know, focused on
59:33
and. And try to invite them into the
59:36
work as well. Yeah.
59:37
Learn from their experiences. I think we've.
59:39
Also gotten very creative with our resources.
59:43
Yeah. So we from finding a former
59:48
Montessori teacher, actually the one that hired me originally at
59:51
17, she went off on her own and had opened her own Montessori
59:56
three to six year old classroom and decided to retire at the
1:00:00
same time we were opening and like having that connection and
1:00:03
we're able to buy like her entire classroom instead of
1:00:06
going out and buying everything brand new and like like creative
1:00:10
ways that we've accumulated things has definitely been
1:00:15
helpful. Well, and I think some of that's
1:00:16
relationship based too, right? Like, so I think investing in
1:00:19
the community and the relationships that you have goes
1:00:22
a long way because they're like less direct ways that that ends
1:00:26
up, you know, impacting the bottom line.
1:00:32
Kate and Emily, I have just one more question for you.
1:00:34
But before I ask it, I want to do 2 things.
1:00:36
First of all, if you're listening today and you liked
1:00:38
today's content, please hit the like, share or Subscribe button
1:00:42
on your favorite podcast app. I also want to let people know
1:00:46
the best way to get in touch with you.
1:00:48
We've got your website, everbloommontessori.com.
1:00:52
Is that how people should reach out to you?
1:00:55
Yep, you can find us there. You can find us on Instagram,
1:00:58
Everblue, Montessori. If you ever want to reach out
1:01:01
via e-mail, it's just hello at evergluemontessori.com.
1:01:05
Right. Last question for you.
1:01:07
I'm curious how you see your industry evolving in the next
1:01:10
five years. What do you think some of the
1:01:12
big changes are that are coming? I, I'm hopeful.
1:01:20
So with just more funding in general, with some of the
1:01:27
advocacy work that we're doing, we're meeting the state
1:01:29
representatives and county commissioners and really
1:01:33
starting to just really have those conversations with them
1:01:36
about what it looks like to help out more at the state level or
1:01:42
the county level for families like Kate mentioned.
1:01:46
Like this isn't just the issue for the families that have
1:01:50
children, it's an issue for the employers that need employees
1:01:54
who can't find child care so then they can't work.
1:01:58
And I, outside of financially helping those families as well
1:02:02
as the people who work in the industry so that they have those
1:02:05
higher wages, but also just more people that have the resources
1:02:12
to be able to open and provide more early childhood education
1:02:18
to families. I know personally, I would not
1:02:23
be at this position without Kate and her knowledge and her
1:02:26
expertise and what she's brought into this.
1:02:28
So I'm just having more resources available.
1:02:31
I hope that within the next 5 years, all of those things come
1:02:35
to fruition and that we're in a much better place in this
1:02:39
industry to support the families and the people that work in
1:02:42
them. I'm sure you have more to add
1:02:44
to. Yeah, I mean, I think a couple
1:02:46
things that are essentially tied to what you're describing.
1:02:49
So there's I think a big there's a big conversation around the
1:02:54
economics of child care, right. So the state of Michigan, there
1:02:57
was a, the National Chamber of Commerce Foundation, I think
1:03:02
released a study last year that said Michigan's economy loses
1:03:06
2.8 billion with AB dollars annually due to the lack of
1:03:11
childcare. And so I yeah, yeah, billion
1:03:16
with AB every year because of a lack of child care.
1:03:20
So the conversation's really getting elevated to the business
1:03:23
community and being quantified in a way that is undeniable.
1:03:28
And so I'm hopeful that more public private partnerships are
1:03:34
going to come to the table where employers are sponsoring child
1:03:37
care facilities, where they're investing in their workers, you
1:03:43
know, the cost for their workers.
1:03:46
There are a few things in Michigan right now.
1:03:47
There's a thing called the Tri share program, which is a, a new
1:03:51
initiative which has yet to really take off, but is a three
1:03:55
pronged approach where the employee pays 1/3 of the cost,
1:04:00
the employer pays 1/3 of the cost, and then the state
1:04:05
contributes 1/3 of the cost of childcare, things like that,
1:04:10
where the employers are are understanding the value of the
1:04:15
consistency and support for for their employees, I think is a
1:04:19
big opportunity. There's definitely some momentum
1:04:22
around that. And, and just overall like state
1:04:26
funding that is focused on stabilizing the industry.
1:04:31
It's not really any different than K12 education in our
1:04:37
opinion. It's maybe more important, more
1:04:39
important because of that zero to six brain development.
1:04:42
And so you're seeing a lot of things like universal pre-K come
1:04:47
online around different states. That's one of the priorities in
1:04:49
Michigan. That is I, I think there's I
1:04:54
think there's a lot of potential in the public private
1:04:56
partnership space. The thing that I'm most hopeful
1:04:59
about, though, is that the standardization of funding
1:05:06
doesn't cause a monoculture of options and ways that people can
1:05:12
choose to do early childhood for their families because there
1:05:17
really isn't one right way. If I've learned anything in
1:05:22
working in this space is that there are as many different
1:05:26
needs and wants and preferences as there are families out there
1:05:29
because everyone's situation is very different.
1:05:32
So maintaining flexibility in in that is going to be really
1:05:36
important. Well, those are some fun
1:05:39
developments to follow. I'll have to check back in with
1:05:42
you in a year or two and see if there's been progress on those
1:05:44
fronts. But Kate and Emily, I want to be
1:05:47
among the first to thank you for sharing both your time and your
1:05:50
story with us today. I really appreciate it.
1:05:53
Yeah. Thank you so much for having us.
1:05:55
Yeah, this was fun. Thanks a lot.
1:05:57
Folks, that's a wrap on another episode of the Inspired Stories
1:06:00
podcast. Thanks for learning with us
1:06:02
today.