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368: The Greatest Career Moves for Longtime Early Childhood Leaders With Erica Saccoccio · ChildCare Conversations

• 0:00
  Childcare Conversations: 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.
• 0:10
  Childcare Conversations: Whether you're running one center or many, we're here to help you lead with confidence and clarity.
• 0:17
  Childcare Conversations: This episode is brought to you by this quarter's sponsor, Playground, the all-in-one child care management software.
• 0:25
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• 0:30
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• 0:37
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• 0:41
  Childcare Conversations: Now, let's get into today's conversation.
• 0:44
  Childcare Conversations: One we think you're really going to love.
• 0:47
  Kate Woodward Young: Welcome back to this week's conversation, and I am so excited to have Erica Sicoshio as today's co-host.
• 0:55
  Kate Woodward Young: And we are going to talk about, well, something that maybe we're just a little too close to home with, which is what happens when you're our age and you want to figure out what to do next.
• 1:06
  Kate Woodward Young: Erica, tell us a little bit about how you got in the industry for those who've not heard you on the podcast before.
• 1:12
  Kate Woodward Young: Just the short step.
• 1:13
  Kate Woodward Young: Sure.
• 1:14
  Kate Woodward Young: And then why this is all of a sudden in the forefront of your mind.
• 1:19
  SPEAKER_01: Absolutely.
• 1:20
  SPEAKER_01: So I started 27 years ago.
• 1:22
  SPEAKER_01: My daughter in October will be 28.
• 1:24
  SPEAKER_01: I used to sell furniture and I really loved my job.
• 1:28
  SPEAKER_01: I made a lot of money and I was really good at sales.
• 1:32
  SPEAKER_01: And um, my mom could not watch my daughter, so I went to look for child care centers, lots of great ones.
• 1:38
  SPEAKER_01: But I, being the Italian mom that I am, my only kid, I was not sending her with people that I didn't know so hard.
• 1:46
  SPEAKER_01: So that was one of the things that I think really just always stuck in my head.
• 1:49
  SPEAKER_01: So I quit my job and went to work at the child care center where my daughter attended.
• 1:54
  SPEAKER_01: Well, all those skills that I had, my leadership skills, my sales skills, my just my wanting to know how to do everything I believe in doing, being excellent in whatever you're doing, all of those things drove me to be a director within four months of walking in the door.
• 2:12
  SPEAKER_01: Fast forward 10 years later, I ended up opening up my own chain of schools with my sister Chris, but um, my old boss, and the rest is history.
• 2:23
  SPEAKER_01: Um, so I had been in, I have been in the field for a really, really long time.
• 2:26
  SPEAKER_01: I have enjoyed every minute of it, and I have really evolved in those 27 years, which I think so many of us have, right?
• 2:36
  SPEAKER_01: We a lot of times, not always, but a lot of times we start younger.
• 2:40
  SPEAKER_01: We've got kids of our own.
• 2:41
  SPEAKER_01: It's a great field to be in.
• 2:43
  SPEAKER_01: If you have children, there's no nights, there's no weekends, there's no holidays, right?
• 2:47
  SPEAKER_01: But the that's before you're an owner.
• 2:49
  SPEAKER_01: Um, but you know, in fairness, it really is a great um profession to be in.
• 2:56
  SPEAKER_01: It is very family friendly for sure.
• 2:58
  Kate Woodward Young: Well, and I love the fact that you use the term profession because we constantly run into folks that go, I just insert, I'm just a director, I just own a preschool, I'm just this.
• 3:11
  Kate Woodward Young: And these are million-dollar enterprises that have huge impacts in our communities.
• 3:16
  Kate Woodward Young: And so as a profession, we need to get past just anything.
• 3:21
  Kate Woodward Young: And so I am excited to have this conversation because, well, unless you're watching the video, you may not really know how old we are, but you might be able to put two and two together when we both say we've been in the field for a few decades, right?
• 3:34
  Kate Woodward Young: And so when you've been in the field for a few decades and you're thinking about what do I do next, how do they start to think about that, Erica?
• 3:42
  Kate Woodward Young: Where would be some place that somebody could start to go, ah, what do I do next?
• 3:46
  Kate Woodward Young: I don't even know what I want to do next.
• 3:48
  SPEAKER_01: Well, I can I can only speak from my my perspective, the way that I view the world.
• 3:54
  SPEAKER_01: First of all, I am very positive.
• 3:56
  SPEAKER_01: And just for for folks who don't know, me and Kate are very good friends.
• 3:59
  SPEAKER_01: I am very positive and always optimistic.
• 4:02
  SPEAKER_01: And really, truly, what I mean when I say like I always just believe in setting the standard in anything you do.
• 4:09
  SPEAKER_01: So when I started this field, I had not, I didn't even have a G game.
• 4:13
  SPEAKER_01: And I went back to school because I was like, oh, I don't want to be a hypocrite.
• 4:18
  SPEAKER_01: I know I want my kid to go to school.
• 4:20
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and I only love school because I loved work.
• 4:22
  SPEAKER_01: I loved work so much, and I was making money at like 16 that most 16-year-olds were not making.
• 4:28
  SPEAKER_01: Um, I became a manager right from the get-go.
• 4:31
  SPEAKER_01: And one of the things that I realized about myself is, and many people too, like you sometimes you're just self-driven, right?
• 4:38
  SPEAKER_01: You don't need a raise, a title, or whatever.
• 4:41
  SPEAKER_01: Some people are just self-driven.
• 4:43
  SPEAKER_01: I've always been self-driven.
• 4:45
  SPEAKER_01: So that GD turned into a CDA, was turned into an associate's, which turned into a bachelor's, which now at 55 is turning into a master's.
• 4:56
  SPEAKER_01: Because I always am pushing myself to what is that next thing.
• 4:59
  SPEAKER_01: Because I think after three years of doing something, that's my shelf life.
• 5:03
  SPEAKER_01: Everybody's got their own.
• 5:04
  SPEAKER_01: After three years of doing something, I'm always like, nope, getting stagnant, gotta keep growing.
• 5:09
  SPEAKER_01: And so that's just something that's always been with me, even not even just in the in the education piece, but even with my programs.
• 5:18
  SPEAKER_01: Like it was like, okay, we had one, and then we opened another, and then we opened another, and then we opened another, and then we opened another, and then another, and then a dance studio.
• 5:29
  SPEAKER_01: Literally, it was almost like every three years, I was like, okay, I've done this, I'm I'm doing it well.
• 5:35
  SPEAKER_01: What's the next thing?
• 5:36
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and so, and so I just think that it has always been that trajectory.
• 5:41
  SPEAKER_01: And then once we had six, I was like, okay, what's the next thing?
• 5:45
  SPEAKER_01: And then our state had quality rating systems that came out.
• 5:48
  SPEAKER_01: So then we were like, okay, let's do this.
• 5:50
  SPEAKER_01: Now I have been in school age for like forever, forever.
• 5:53
  SPEAKER_01: I'm definitely started as a school age girl.
• 5:56
  SPEAKER_01: And I was like, all right, let's be the first after-school program to go for this accreditation.
• 6:00
  SPEAKER_01: And we did.
• 6:01
  SPEAKER_01: So we were the first after-school uh program in our state accredited by NAA.
• 6:06
  SPEAKER_01: And then we became the first um five-star program through Bright Stars, and we just kind of kept going.
• 6:12
  SPEAKER_01: Then I was like, all right, let's, what about our preschool, right?
• 6:14
  SPEAKER_01: It is super, super hard to get a five-star, especially when it first came out.
• 6:19
  SPEAKER_01: Um, but we got a four.
• 6:20
  SPEAKER_01: And I was like, yeah.
• 6:22
  SPEAKER_01: We went from zero to four, right?
• 6:24
  SPEAKER_01: So I think I think what the long way around that was I think that there are certain people who will find the negative in everything, and woe is me.
• 6:35
  SPEAKER_01: And then there are other people who are like, I want what's next for me.
• 6:39
  SPEAKER_01: They keep pushing themselves, they keep growing.
• 6:41
  SPEAKER_01: And then there's some people in the middle who really want to do the thing, and this is who we're talking to right now.
• 6:47
  SPEAKER_01: Because there are some people who couldn't find uh a ray of sunshine in the brightest day that you need sunglasses.
• 6:53
  SPEAKER_01: This is not for you.
• 6:55
  SPEAKER_01: The folks who are like, you know, I really want to do this thing, and I've been thinking about it for a long time, and I'm pretty sure I can do it, but you you self down a little bit, or you maybe just lack a little bit of confidence, but you have the skill set.
• 7:10
  SPEAKER_01: This is your episode right here.
• 7:12
  Kate Woodward Young: Absolutely.
• 7:13
  Kate Woodward Young: So, one of the things I want to challenge every owner who's listening, and maybe even director who's listening, as the owner, I want you to think about how old you were when you got into the industry and what motivated you to come in.
• 7:25
  Kate Woodward Young: And have you found your replacement in that human in your network?
• 7:30
  Kate Woodward Young: She doesn't have to work for you, or he doesn't have to work for you.
• 7:33
  Kate Woodward Young: They could be parents that you're looking at them and you're like, man, they've got, I can feel it, they've got it.
• 7:41
  Kate Woodward Young: And maybe they're exactly the person because I think what I'm finding, and a lot of the clients that I work with trying to help them figure out their exit strategy, is they forget, they they're like they wear that badge of honor of 35 years, like it's something to be proud of, instead of remembering that most a lot of industries retire at 20.
• 8:01
  Kate Woodward Young: But in our industry, we're like, look at me, three decades.
• 8:05
  Kate Woodward Young: Um, and they haven't moved to the next phase.
• 8:08
  Kate Woodward Young: And I think it's okay if you've been in the industry 10 years, if you've been in this industry five years or 25, that it's time to start looking.
• 8:17
  Kate Woodward Young: Just like we're out there constantly looking for quality staff, constantly looking for quality parents that we want to do business with, start looking for that person who you're like, that's the person, that's my person, that's my I wanna I wanna almost add another layer to that because, well, first of all, because most industries, our jobs and our profession is one of a labor of love.
• 8:38
  SPEAKER_01: We are absolutely, you know, connected to our programs in a very emotionally, um, emotionally rich way.
• 8:48
  SPEAKER_01: I I think that you don't really even have to exit.
• 8:53
  SPEAKER_01: Maybe it is, and I mean this might be what you're saying that personally replaced you in the day-to-day, but a lot of times it's you can still own the business and do what's next for you, whether it is you want to become a college professor now.
• 9:07
  SPEAKER_01: You want to help other people figure out how to open their six or seven schools, or maybe you want to become a CDA advisor because you've, you know, you have cultivated 99 CDAs in your in your you know 30 years of service.
• 9:25
  SPEAKER_01: But I I guess what I want to say to you is it's not about doing more, it's about doing the things you love.
• 9:32
  SPEAKER_01: And if you don't love going in every day to do the operations, then don't.
• 9:36
  SPEAKER_01: If you don't want to be a child care owner anymore, then don't.
• 9:40
  SPEAKER_01: But I would hate to see, because our industry really needs your wisdom, I would hate to see 30 years, 20 years, 10 years of expertise in our field leave the field altogether.
• 9:51
  SPEAKER_01: So maybe it just looks different for you.
• 9:54
  Kate Woodward Young: Absolutely.
• 9:54
  Kate Woodward Young: What I think is really interesting about that statement is that it's gonna look different for all of us, right?
• 9:59
  Kate Woodward Young: Like, you know, even like you and I going on the same vacation, even if our destination was the same, we're gonna have a very different path, right?
• 10:08
  Kate Woodward Young: It's a straight line, yours is straight south, mine is straight to the east.
• 10:11
  Kate Woodward Young: We're still gonna end up in Orlando, I don't care.
• 10:14
  Kate Woodward Young: But, you know, we're gonna take a very different trip to get there.
• 10:18
  Kate Woodward Young: And so even if you have been an owner, have been a director, and you're thinking, like Erica said, you're not sure you want to be involved in the day-to-day anymore.
• 10:28
  Kate Woodward Young: And if you've worked with me and I've helped you with an exit strategy, which is the same kind of thing, yeah, what is your next chapter?
• 10:34
  Kate Woodward Young: I mean, is it writing a book?
• 10:37
  Kate Woodward Young: Is it getting some what might appear to be an unrelated degree?
• 10:42
  Kate Woodward Young: Um, I think the thing that we need to remember is that women who have been in leadership as long as we have been, we don't really need more credentials.
• 10:51
  Kate Woodward Young: We just need people to see us.
• 10:53
  Kate Woodward Young: So we need to be able to and be confident in saying, you know what?
• 10:57
  Kate Woodward Young: I may not own my program or manage the day-to-day of my program right now, but I have a lot to contribute.
• 11:03
  Kate Woodward Young: And go get in those stages, those boardrooms, those podcasts, go get places where people can hear what you have to say.
• 11:13
  SPEAKER_01: Absolutely.
• 11:14
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 11:15
  SPEAKER_01: I think I think too, when I think about leadership, I think about what what impact do I have?
• 11:23
  SPEAKER_01: I I definitely believe in leaving a legacy, not just for my family or the families that I serve, but or even just my community.
• 11:32
  SPEAKER_01: I want to leave a legacy in the entire industry.
• 11:35
  SPEAKER_01: And I know that's a bold statement, and I'll stand behind it.
• 11:39
  SPEAKER_01: I really, really do.
• 11:40
  SPEAKER_01: I want to meet as many educators as I can.
• 11:43
  SPEAKER_01: I want to spark as much love and joy and excitement into them as humanly possible.
• 11:50
  SPEAKER_01: And you know me, Kate.
• 11:51
  SPEAKER_01: You know I mean that.
• 11:52
  SPEAKER_01: And like you said, whether it's to help somebody get on a stage, maybe they want to do breakout sessions, maybe they want to be a keynote, maybe they like like you said, maybe they want to write a book, a memoir, my 30 years in ECE, the things I learned, the laughs, the tears, the successes.
• 12:10
  SPEAKER_01: People will love that.
• 12:12
  SPEAKER_01: Right?
• 12:12
  SPEAKER_01: Absolutely.
• 12:13
  SPEAKER_01: People will love that.
• 12:14
  SPEAKER_01: And we're so connected in this field.
• 12:16
  SPEAKER_01: I just came back from Chicago.
• 12:19
  SPEAKER_01: I was at the family child, the National Family Child Care Association's conference for three days.
• 12:26
  SPEAKER_01: That was a whole new world for me because most of the conferences I went to were childcare owner or center-based.
• 12:33
  SPEAKER_01: Oh my God, Kate.
• 12:34
  SPEAKER_01: I had the most wonderful conversations with the most genuine, authentic people.
• 12:43
  SPEAKER_01: I uh their stories made me want to cry.
• 12:46
  SPEAKER_01: Uh happy tears, sad tears, all of it, all of it.
• 12:49
  SPEAKER_01: Um, but it was a whole new world.
• 12:52
  Kate Woodward Young: Um, that was not my cue to sing off key.
• 12:58
  Kate Woodward Young: Um, no, it is.
• 13:00
  Kate Woodward Young: I mean, um, having started as an in-home provider, um, I've spoken at their national convention about 15 years ago.
• 13:08
  Kate Woodward Young: So, yeah, absolutely.
• 13:10
  Kate Woodward Young: And they're wonderful people.
• 13:12
  Kate Woodward Young: And they have such a heart.
• 13:14
  Kate Woodward Young: And watching them, you know, some of them desire to grow to that whatever that next stage looks like for them has also been um probably a gift you gave them that they didn't even know that they were looking for.
• 13:27
  Kate Woodward Young: And so, but tell us more.
• 13:29
  Kate Woodward Young: What did you actually do at that conference?
• 13:32
  SPEAKER_01: Well, all right, let's see.
• 13:33
  SPEAKER_01: The first thing was I was a co-host on a podcast.
• 13:36
  SPEAKER_01: I was helping um Annette Ebahart.
• 13:39
  SPEAKER_01: If you've never listened to Best Practices Unveiled, Annette Ebahart is very much grounded in um helping educators kind of just live a healthy, well-balanced life and not just.
• 13:49
  Kate Woodward Young: And we'll top her episode in the show notes because she's been on there.
• 13:53
  SPEAKER_01: Definitely check her out.
• 13:54
  SPEAKER_01: Um, so I was co-hosting because she's a board member and she was helping run the whole event.
• 13:59
  SPEAKER_01: So um I I I basically interviewed folks for her.
• 14:03
  SPEAKER_01: And then I had the honor of getting to MC their entire toast equality um awards banquet, uh, which was just amazing.
• 14:12
  SPEAKER_01: The room was amazing, the energy in there was amazing.
• 14:15
  SPEAKER_01: And, you know, I love a good stage and a mic.
• 14:18
  SPEAKER_01: So let me tell you right now, anybody who anybody who bestows that honor upon me, I promise you, I bring me energy.
• 14:25
  SPEAKER_01: I had people laughing, crying.
• 14:27
  SPEAKER_01: It was it was great.
• 14:28
  SPEAKER_01: It was great, it was great.
• 14:30
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and I and that's kind of the phase that I'm in right now.
• 14:32
  SPEAKER_01: I just really just want to get out there, share my story, and inspire other people to do what they love and what is next for them.
• 14:42
  SPEAKER_01: So yeah.
• 14:43
  Kate Woodward Young: All right.
• 14:43
  Kate Woodward Young: So we've got folks listening to this episode.
• 14:46
  Kate Woodward Young: Some of them have probably heard you, they've all heard me.
• 14:49
  Kate Woodward Young: What would be some things that you would want to make sure that folks get related to building their next step, their leadership journey?
• 14:59
  Kate Woodward Young: Maybe we're talking to the woman in the room who doesn't identify as a leader, but she's like, Well, um, I want to do better at my job, but leader is not the term I'd use.
• 15:12
  Kate Woodward Young: I think you've got some great tools.
• 15:14
  Kate Woodward Young: I've loved being a part of some of them.
• 15:16
  Kate Woodward Young: Tell us a little bit more about the two programs that might fit for somebody like that.
• 15:21
  SPEAKER_01: Sure.
• 15:22
  SPEAKER_01: Well, I'll even go back a little bit.
• 15:24
  SPEAKER_01: So I am a John Maxwell certified coach, speaker, and trainer.
• 15:29
  SPEAKER_01: Um, but before I had that, you know, endorsement and credential, I have been presenting and speaking for eons, um, just not as uh in a formal, formal way.
• 15:40
  SPEAKER_01: I have been doing, you know, lots of stuff in, I'll say in Rhode Island, Mass and Connecticut.
• 15:44
  SPEAKER_01: I just in the last couple of years kind of started branching out nationally.
• 15:49
  SPEAKER_01: Um, but what the what I have done is I put together two programs.
• 15:54
  SPEAKER_01: There is the Trailblazer program, which is for child care leaders.
• 16:00
  SPEAKER_01: When I say leaders, it isn't just for directors.
• 16:02
  SPEAKER_01: I have owners in there.
• 16:04
  SPEAKER_01: I have folks that work for state agencies in there.
• 16:06
  SPEAKER_01: I even have a girl in there who now is running for state representative in Rhode Island.
• 16:12
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and she is an educator, but um, she's running for state rep, and she's like, oh my God, I'm gonna have to talk in so many places and be on stages.
• 16:20
  SPEAKER_01: And, you know, she's uh she's bilingual, so she's very confident when she's speaking in Spanish.
• 16:24
  SPEAKER_01: But sometimes she's like, oh, I always get nervous.
• 16:27
  SPEAKER_01: I'm gonna say the wrong way.
• 16:28
  SPEAKER_01: I said, honey, you speak with such passion that I promise you that no matter what comes out of your mouth, it's gonna be fine.
• 16:33
  SPEAKER_01: Um, but so we put together this Trailblazer program to help people with their leadership.
• 16:38
  SPEAKER_01: And I have two amazing teachers in that group as well, Becca and Ruth, and they're such passionate educators.
• 16:44
  SPEAKER_01: And we kind of come together.
• 16:45
  SPEAKER_01: We just talk about leadership in the real perspective, in a real center.
• 16:51
  SPEAKER_01: What does that look like?
• 16:52
  SPEAKER_01: And what does it even look like beyond a center and how you know if you have it or you don't?
• 16:57
  SPEAKER_01: We talk about leadership attributes.
• 16:59
  SPEAKER_01: There's different exercises you can do to strengthen your communication skills.
• 17:04
  SPEAKER_01: Let's face it.
• 17:05
  SPEAKER_01: Leadership, leader is not a title.
• 17:07
  SPEAKER_01: It's not.
• 17:07
  SPEAKER_01: And I know you hear it, and that's so so cliche that I want to vomit when I say it out loud, but truly isn't a title.
• 17:14
  SPEAKER_01: I was leading at 16 years old, hence why I quit school.
• 17:18
  SPEAKER_01: But I was leading at 16 years old.
• 17:20
  SPEAKER_01: I didn't have nothing.
• 17:21
  SPEAKER_01: I had nothing.
• 17:21
  SPEAKER_01: I was a poor kid growing up in a store, uh, a bakery, and I was running the stuff.
• 17:27
  SPEAKER_01: I was running the whole place, right?
• 17:29
  SPEAKER_01: So it is leader is the ability to have other people follow you and believe in what you're saying or doing.
• 17:38
  SPEAKER_01: They will follow you wherever you go.
• 17:40
  SPEAKER_01: And if somebody's following you, you're just a duck.
• 17:43
  SPEAKER_01: Well, and the and the thing is, for me, the greatest thing of being a leader is yeah, that's only step one is getting people to follow you.
• 17:51
  SPEAKER_01: Then after that, my greatest, to me, the greatest success is building other leaders who get people to move as well.
• 18:00
  SPEAKER_01: And if we're all moving towards that same direction, that you get momentum.
• 18:04
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, when you look at great people, and I am absolutely not comparing myself to any of these people, but when you think of like great leaders like John F.K.
• 18:12
  SPEAKER_01: or Martin Luther King, right?
• 18:13
  SPEAKER_01: They have the ability to get people to move towards a common ground, a common goal.
• 18:20
  SPEAKER_01: And so for me, ECE is that place where I would love us all to move together.
• 18:26
  SPEAKER_01: One of the conversations when I was talking with some of the ladies at the Family Childcare Association, I said, how can we help?
• 18:32
  SPEAKER_01: As a center owner, how can I help what's going on for you guys in your field?
• 18:37
  SPEAKER_01: I said, we're not having enough of those conversations.
• 18:40
  SPEAKER_01: I'm like, yeah, I'll go to different conferences, but this, you know, there's some family providers that, you know, they're sprinkled in.
• 18:46
  SPEAKER_01: They need to be more than sprinkled in.
• 18:47
  SPEAKER_01: They need to have a seat at the table along with Headstart, along with public schools, along with private schools, nonprofit schools, child schools, we all need to have a seat at the table.
• 18:58
  SPEAKER_01: And so if something I can do, we don't need to be at the same table.
• 19:02
  SPEAKER_01: We do, yes, we need to be all at the same table.
• 19:05
  SPEAKER_01: And if I can help in some way with my mouth, spread their message, try to help other people in my circle understand that I'm gonna do that.
• 19:14
  SPEAKER_01: I'm gonna do that.
• 19:15
  SPEAKER_01: And I'm my hope is that my listeners to my podcast and my trailblazers and the people that follow them will do the same.
• 19:23
  SPEAKER_01: Will do the same.
• 19:24
  SPEAKER_01: So to me, though that's how I count success, not by how many centers I have, how many degrees I have, how many dollar signs are my bank account.
• 19:33
  SPEAKER_01: That is how I measure success.
• 19:35
  Kate Woodward Young: I love that.
• 19:36
  Kate Woodward Young: So if you don't already know the family child care programs in your community, then you need to go listen to them.
• 19:44
  Kate Woodward Young: And if I can find the episode where Carrie and I went on a rant about that, I might try to include that in the show notes.
• 19:51
  Kate Woodward Young: But we would love our challenge for every center owner is to make sure that you've got three or four in-home providers that you really think are quality.
• 20:00
  Kate Woodward Young: Maybe they're even aligned with you from an educational philosophy, because every one of us have had that one kid that did not do well in our program, but probably would have flourished in an in-home program had we made the referral.
• 20:15
  Kate Woodward Young: This is where just because it's a warm body in your program paying a bill doesn't mean it's the right one in your program paying a bill.
• 20:23
  Kate Woodward Young: So, you know, find the people in your community who you think alike.
• 20:28
  Kate Woodward Young: Maybe, maybe they're just the opposite.
• 20:30
  Kate Woodward Young: Maybe they're so radically different that that's what appeals to you is you're like, yeah, I got kids that need you because when they try to come to me, they that's like I'm putting a round peg in a square hole.
• 20:42
  SPEAKER_01: Well, you know, one of the things that opened my eyes, and and I'm gonna say this, um, and I'm embarrassed to say it, but I have sent referrals millions and millions of times.
• 20:52
  SPEAKER_01: We're often, I'm very blessed, we are often usually have a wait list.
• 20:56
  SPEAKER_01: And I have sent referrals to many, many child care centers.
• 21:01
  SPEAKER_01: I have never sent a referral to a family child care center.
• 21:04
  SPEAKER_01: And I think mostly because I just didn't have a connection with anybody in my community.
• 21:09
  SPEAKER_01: So when I came back, I said I'm gonna intentionally try to find who.
• 21:13
  SPEAKER_01: There is Miss Betty.
• 21:14
  SPEAKER_01: Okay, that's a lie.
• 21:15
  SPEAKER_01: Miss Betty, who runs an afterschool program, has been in the field forever.
• 21:19
  SPEAKER_01: If somebody called me about after school, I have sent her referrals.
• 21:22
  SPEAKER_01: That's a lie.
• 21:23
  SPEAKER_01: But for preschool, if it's on the pre pre-K, I didn't have anybody on my radar.
• 21:28
  SPEAKER_01: I I just didn't.
• 21:29
  SPEAKER_01: Um, Miss Betty's at the end.
• 21:31
  SPEAKER_01: She's like 30, 32, 35 years in.
• 21:34
  SPEAKER_01: She's definitely winding down.
• 21:35
  SPEAKER_01: But yeah, I mean, I think I need to find some up-and-coming folks who have a good program that I can give families some choices.
• 21:42
  SPEAKER_01: And I'm embarrassed to say it, but it was not intentional.
• 21:45
  SPEAKER_01: It just honestly hadn't went in my brain.
• 21:48
  SPEAKER_01: And now now it has, because again, exposing yourself to other people and other leaders, um, and and just I'm I was so I was so inspired by them, really.
• 22:00
  SPEAKER_01: You know, we talk about Senna's being burned out and da da da.
• 22:02
  SPEAKER_01: I'm like, I can't even imagine really truly doing everything alone, not having an Angela and not having a team.
• 22:09
  SPEAKER_01: Like, I just I God bless them.
• 22:11
  SPEAKER_01: Eight kids, seven kids, five kids all by yourself for 10 hours, 12 hours.
• 22:17
  SPEAKER_01: And who do you talk to?
• 22:18
  Kate Woodward Young: Like nobody conjugates verbs.
• 22:20
  Kate Woodward Young: Like, you know, your poor significant other or friends and family when they show up, right?
• 22:24
  Kate Woodward Young: Like it's the whole opposite of the.
• 22:27
  SPEAKER_01: The most respect for them, the most respect.
• 22:29
  SPEAKER_01: Absolutely.
• 22:32
  Kate Woodward Young: I was that family home provider that was kind of the opposite.
• 22:35
  Kate Woodward Young: Like, you know how like you got the parent that shows up at five o'clock and you're like, good, go home now.
• 22:40
  Kate Woodward Young: Like I'm I'm done with you.
• 22:42
  Kate Woodward Young: And they'd show up and I'd be like, like I haven't talked to anybody who comes and get verbs in a whole day.
• 22:47
  Kate Woodward Young: Like I need I tried to talk to them all, and they'd be like trying to leave.
• 22:50
  Kate Woodward Young: And I'm like, no, no, no, come back here.
• 22:51
  Kate Woodward Young: Let me talk to you some more.
• 22:52
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 22:54
  SPEAKER_01: There was a lady on a panel, and then I'm going to go back to the second part because I skipped right over the speaking program.
• 22:59
  SPEAKER_01: But um there was a lady who really she was on a panel and she really kind of schooled everybody about language.
• 23:07
  SPEAKER_01: So I really want to be able to use the right language moving forward.
• 23:10
  SPEAKER_01: I'm going to be so intentional.
• 23:12
  SPEAKER_01: And I'm hoping maybe the listeners will also.
• 23:14
  SPEAKER_01: So from now on, what I will call them are early childhood professionals who work in a residential setting.
• 23:22
  SPEAKER_01: I will not be calling them providers.
• 23:23
  SPEAKER_01: I will not be calling them family child care because you know what?
• 23:27
  SPEAKER_01: They deserve the same respect on their name.
• 23:28
  SPEAKER_01: And so that is what I will be calling them moving forward.
• 23:31
  SPEAKER_01: I will make every intention to use the right, the right language, just like early learning centers don't like to be called daycare, childcare, babysitters, all that.
• 23:39
  SPEAKER_01: Um and that was probably their biggest thing when I asked them if they could tell people one thing about what it is they do.
• 23:46
  SPEAKER_01: And they said, we are not babysitters.
• 23:48
  SPEAKER_01: And I'm like, I hope you know that that is not a distinction that is only bestowed on, you know, those who work in residential setting.
• 23:56
  SPEAKER_01: I said, I get that too when I work in a in a center.
• 23:58
  SPEAKER_01: Um, so that is just our industry as a whole.
• 24:01
  SPEAKER_01: Unless you work with Kate and up, you're not considered a quote unquote real teacher, which is insane.
• 24:07
  SPEAKER_01: And we've got to change that narrative as well.
• 24:10
  SPEAKER_01: So the last thing that you asked then is see, so you could tell me and Kate of Friends, because I talk just as much as Kate, just take it over a show.
• 24:16
  SPEAKER_01: I promise I'll be quiet in one minute.
• 24:18
  SPEAKER_01: But the second part of what some of the things that I'm doing is we have another program called the ECE Speaker Pathway.
• 24:26
  SPEAKER_01: And here we help people who want to learn how to get booked, how to put together presentations, how to get booked.
• 24:36
  SPEAKER_01: Maybe, maybe you're already speaking, but you want to hit keynotes, or you want to maybe diversify the zip code in which you're speaking in.
• 24:43
  SPEAKER_01: So we can help you with that.
• 24:45
  SPEAKER_01: It is multi-level programming.
• 24:47
  SPEAKER_01: Um, we will talk to you about either starting a podcast or getting featured on podcasts.
• 24:53
  SPEAKER_01: And then my favorite YouTube, for those of you who don't know, I was a YouTuber before I was ever even a podcaster.
• 24:59
  SPEAKER_01: Um, all of the ways to use YouTube to build your business to um represent your brand.
• 25:04
  SPEAKER_01: So those are some of the things that I do in the ECE pathway, uh speaker pathway, which Kate will also have a link down below.
• 25:12
  SPEAKER_01: But this episode isn't really a big promo.
• 25:15
  SPEAKER_01: Now we're gonna try to sell you anything.
• 25:16
  SPEAKER_01: We're just trying to tell you that there are alternatives out there.
• 25:19
  SPEAKER_01: You can do an exit strategy with Kate.
• 25:21
  SPEAKER_01: Maybe you want to keep that stream of revenue, but you want to add some more.
• 25:25
  SPEAKER_01: Maybe you just want to do some things and try it out, and you you maybe just want to break up the day-to-day ton of things that you're doing and you want to, you know, test it out, then you know, come on over and we'll be happy to chat with you.
• 25:36
  SPEAKER_01: There's uh probably about 20 amazing powerhouse people, just like Kate and Carrie and Ruth and Becca and Angela, and we can kind of go on, but well, and Erica's an OSHO.
• 25:50
  Kate Woodward Young: So you know, we we gotta start with the you know, with Erica.
• 25:54
  Kate Woodward Young: So um Erica's definitely worked hard to bring podcasters around the globe together who are in the early learning field.
• 26:02
  Kate Woodward Young: And so uh Erica, thank you very much for bringing us all together.
• 26:06
  Kate Woodward Young: Of course.
• 26:07
  Kate Woodward Young: And on that note, we hope that you guys have enjoyed today's conversation.
• 26:11
  Kate Woodward Young: I always love having Erica in.
• 26:13
  Kate Woodward Young: And so the next time you are trying to figure out what do I do, where do I go, maybe bookmark this episode so that you have an opportunity to come back and take notes and listen again.
• 26:26
  Kate Woodward Young: We hope that you've enjoyed the conversation.
• 26:28
  Kate Woodward Young: If you are not part of our newsletter, go to childcareconversations.com.
• 26:33
  Kate Woodward Young: Join the newsletter.
• 26:35
  Kate Woodward Young: Um, we do drop two episodes a week, and the newsletter tells you what they're about.
• 26:40
  Kate Woodward Young: But sometimes there's even stuff in the newsletter that's not in the podcast.
• 26:44
  SPEAKER_01: Hey, so hey, I know she's trying to enter show, but I just gotta be that I gotta be that I gotta be that person.
• 26:50
  SPEAKER_01: Also in the comments below, especially if you watch us on YouTube, can we just talk about how great Kate looks?
• 26:56
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, Kate looks amazing.
• 26:57
  SPEAKER_01: The red looks great on you.
• 26:59
  SPEAKER_01: She's been working really hard.
• 27:00
  SPEAKER_01: She's getting her fitness on, she looks fantastic.
• 27:02
  SPEAKER_01: So um, I just wanted to make sure that I noted that on the on the show.
• 27:06
  SPEAKER_01: So again, hit the subscribe button too.
• 27:08
  SPEAKER_01: Like, guys, what's going on?
• 27:09
  SPEAKER_01: She's got a billion episodes on it.
• 27:11
  SPEAKER_01: Hit that subscribe button.
• 27:13
  SPEAKER_01: If you are watching this on YouTube and you haven't hit that subscribe button, shame on you.
• 27:18
  SPEAKER_01: Hit the subscribe button.
• 27:19
  SPEAKER_01: Okay, that's it.
• 27:21
  SPEAKER_01: Peace out.
• 27:22
  Childcare Conversations: Thanks for tuning in.
• 27:23
  Childcare Conversations: We love bringing you real talk and fresh insight from the world of early childhood education.
• 27:29
  Childcare Conversations: Be sure to follow us on social media to stay connected and catch all of the latest episodes.
• 27:35
  Childcare Conversations: And if you're planning a conference, training, or special event, Kate and Carrie would love to speak to your audience.
• 27:42
  Childcare Conversations: You can learn more about their keynote sessions and workshops at KateandKery.com.
• 27:48
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• 27:53
  Childcare Conversations: We'll see you next time on Childcare Conversations.