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• 0:00:08 Kris Murray: Welcome to Child Care Rockstar Radio. I am your host, Kris Murray. Child care leaders around the globe are breaking through challenges, leading the way in innovation, testing new best practices, and impacting children and families in a much more powerful and positive way than ever before. Each week, join me for interviews with early childhood leaders and experts that will leave you inspired to become the next Childcare Rockstar.

• 0:00:34 Kris Murray: Now, let’s go. This is Childcare Rockstar Radio, episode 194 featuring Michelle Masjeti. Hey folks, it’s Kris Murray. I’m thrilled to be back in the podcast seat with you. Michelle Masjeti is an amazing guest and I can’t wait to share this episode with you. I titled it Creating Beauty from Tragedy because Michelle lives in the Los Angeles area and she has been just an incredible contributor and such a force of goodwill in her community after the tragic LA area fires and didn’t really intend on diving into that topic when I set out to do this interview with Michelle. Michelle is an incredible leader and has implemented so much from working with me and us in coaching in the academy and has really transformed her business in so many ways. And she’s going to share all of those things with you on this episode. But we couldn’t bypass all of the things that she and others.

• 0:01:51 Kris Murray: She’s in a small group of directors and owners in childcare and they’ve been reaching out and doing so much for the families who have been affected by this tragic fire in California. So we had to dive in and talk about what she’s doing and how we can help and how we can help support her. She has a GoFundMe. We talk about the holes in the infrastructure for child care. And when these disasters strike, people are, are left with nothing and left with a really.

• 0:02:27 Kris Murray: If you’ve got little children and you have this happen to you and you lose your home and you lose everything, there’s really no safety net in our nation to help, especially help young children deal with the potential trauma of the fallout. So had to dive into this topic and this is an important episode. So I’m glad that you’re here because I want you to listen to it in full and potentially take action in your community, Start a conversation, talk about the safety net, talk about the holes in the infrastructure, talk with your leaders in your community, talk with lawmakers, and just get out there and take some action on this thing. And at the very least, you can also help out the folks that Michelle is trying to serve with the GoFundMe account that she’s created so regardless, whatever you feel called to do, we talk about all the things that she has implemented, her SOPs, having clear defined lanes and roles for her team and for her leaders, which is one of the most important things that I see people needing to do when they grow and they want to scale their business is that accountability chart, that clear role definition for your leaders and for your team, living and breathing her core values and utilizing an actual CRM and making sure that all the leads get followed up on. So these are things that are core best practices in your business, in your childcare business.

• 0:04:08 Kris Murray: And we’re going to dive in. So without any further ado, let’s meet Michelle, Michelle Masjeti, here on Child Care Rockstar Radio. Enjoy. Welcome back to the podcast. I am very excited to have you meet my guest today, Michelle Masjeti. Michelle, how are you today?

• 0:04:35 Michelle Masjedi: Great. Thank you so much.

• 0:04:37 Kris Murray: Where are you located?

• 0:04:39 Michelle Masjedi: So I’m in Los Angeles on the border of Highland park and South Pasadena, which is just a few miles from downtown Los Angeles or close to Pasadena for reference.

• 0:04:52 Kris Murray: Okay, and what is the name of your program? How many locations do you have, total capacity, those types of things?

• 0:04:59 Michelle Masjedi: Sure. I own the Journey Begins, an infant toddler program. This is a small program. That’s where I am right now. My office is located here. We are a small program of 34 children between 0 and 2 and a half. Then I recently sold my preschool, which was celebration kids, about 90 children. I am in the process of building a new childcare center called the Journey Continues which will house 18 months through an after school program.

• 0:05:35 Michelle Masjedi: And I received a grant from the state of California to help build this new center because there’s such a need for early, early childhood care, particularly infants and toddlers.

• 0:05:51 Kris Murray: Awesome. Tell us more about your home life. Are you married? Do you have kids? And what keeps you busy at home?

• 0:06:03 Michelle Masjedi: Yes, I’m married. For we’ve been together almost 33 years. We have three children, a college student and two high school students. And they all keep me very, very busy. My husband is in the background of our business. So lucky to have all of his help, particularly when we are purchasing and building new properties. That’s always helpful. My children are very vested. One in particular, my youngest, my daughter is very the apple did not fall far from the tree. She’s very vested here at the Journey Begins and comes every day after school and does not understand why I think her graduating high school is important or college.

• 0:06:52 Michelle Masjedi: She would rather just work full time.

• 0:06:55 Kris Murray: Oh wow.

• 0:06:57 Michelle Masjedi: Fingerprinted CPR, first aid, certified mandated reporter the whole nine yards. She’s nearly 16 and would spend every waking minute here if I would allow it.

• 0:07:08 Kris Murray: Right. Well, that’s awesome. So you may have somebody who will be in the family succeeding you in the business, potentially.

• 0:07:16 Michelle Masjedi: She is my retirement package. Yes, that’s what I’m banking on. So I always purchase my properties as well, so. So that I have an option that either she takes over and runs the businesses. My sons, one is very interested in business and the other is majoring in education. So our family, it is a family business, so to speak. But in true academy fashion, looking at, you know, an exit strategy and having everything in place is really important.

• 0:07:50 Michelle Masjedi: So we’re just sort of trying to make sure that we have options. But I really think my daughter’s going to take over.

• 0:07:58 Kris Murray: Yeah, it sounds like it. So that’s really, really fun. I love that for you. Tell me how long you’ve been in the field of early childhood education and how did you get into this fun field in the first place? What’s your journey?

• 0:08:13 Michelle Masjedi: So this is my 32nd year in the business. I started out as a teacher. I started going. I actually got all of my ECE units my senior year of high school, and I immediately started working as a preschool teacher. And I loved it. But at that time, I wanted to be a real teacher. And so I went to school to get my degree to teach in elementary. I had big dreams of kindergarten through first through third primary grades.

• 0:08:43 Michelle Masjedi: And I did graduate and I did start down that path, and I quickly realized it was not my correct path. I really missed all of the freedom and the opportunity to watch children just grow and flourish. And it was so much bureaucracy and testing and things. And so while I was trying to figure out what I was going to do next, I went back into preschool to bide my time. And then I accidentally took over for someone on maternity leave in the office.

• 0:09:14 Michelle Masjedi: And that’s how I got into administration. It was never on my bingo card. And I just had the ability to talk to parents well and be very organized and strong customer service background. And so it was easy to throw me in the office. And then I was just in the right place at the right time when my executive director of our program, they were building another child care center, so she asked me to help. And I did that from the ground up. And it was incredibly exciting.

• 0:09:45 Michelle Masjedi: And at the time, my husband and I were not married but dating. And he kept saying, you should open your own center. And I said, you’re crazy. I’m never going to do that. And here I am now, all these years later. So it just. When you get the bug, you can’t leave it alone. And there have been times in my career where I have tried other things. A brief moment where I thought it was amazing for my husband and I to have a business together outside of the education world.

• 0:10:12 Michelle Masjedi: And he was quickly reminding me that this probably isn’t the best place for you. You need to go back to where you’re happy. And the last. So I opened my own program with a business partner a little over 20 years ago when I was pregnant with my first son. And the rest is history.

• 0:10:30 Kris Murray: Right.

• 0:10:31 Michelle Masjedi: Get rid of me now.

• 0:10:34 Kris Murray: Well, that’s amazing. And congratulations on selling your school and then getting your grant for your new center. So I want to ask you more about that as we continue our conversation. Let’s dive in and talk about, I guess, the elephant in the room, which is the fires in California that just happened about, I don’t know, three or four weeks before we’re recording this. And a huge tragedy, potentially the largest tragedy of this nature in California’s history. I’m not sure.

• 0:11:08 Kris Murray: But before we hit the record button, you were talking to me about all of the things that you’ve been doing for the families that are in your care and in your community and talking about the holes in the infrastructure related to childcare. And I want to dive into that a little bit, Michelle, before we dive into your wins and into more of your story, just because I do think it’s so timely and so important to bring that to life.

• 0:11:41 Kris Murray: Yeah.

• 0:11:42 Michelle Masjedi: So my center is about five and a half miles from the epicenter of the fires in Altadena, Pasadena border. And so on Tuesday, January 7th, my center closed early because the winds, we’re in California, we don’t know about weather. And the winds were starting to be very in the 50s, 50 miles an hour or something we’re just not equipped for. So I closed my center early. I was concerned about families driving and picking up kids and traffic on the way home.

• 0:12:16 Michelle Masjedi: And I never imagined what was going to come. And that evening when our houses were shaking, trees were falling, I had a tree fall and block the exit of our home. We live in a hill, so it was dangerous and scary. I started to think about the fact that we were not going to open tomorrow and what happens from there. And so we lost power. We were without power for at least half a day where I was. But it was much longer for many other families.

• 0:12:53 Michelle Masjedi: And I notified families from my phone that we were not going to be open on Wednesday and that I would give them a report the following day when I knew more. And it was that following morning when we started to see the reality of what was happening around us. And just to put it into perspective, there were just in the Pasadena Altadena area, there are 289 child care centers and family daycare centers that were lost in the fires.

• 0:13:27 Michelle Masjedi: 289, which is hundreds of children that immediately lost both their homes and their child care. And so I was sitting there on Wednesday afternoon thinking about the gravity of all of this. And fortunately, you know, I never thought I would say that, but the experiences through Covid gave us a lot of tools in our arsenal. And I right away knew, people are going to need help. Where do we go? What do we do? And I’m very fortunate to not only be part of the academy, but also a local directors group, the San Gabriel Valley and Los Angeles Directors Alliance.

• 0:14:06 Michelle Masjedi: And I sent out an urgent email and I asked the directors, whoever was available, to get on a zoom with me on Thursday morning so we could sort of lay down some groundwork and figure out what were other programs doing, what was cleanup going to look like, what’s air quality, you know, all of the things. Because of course, I also reached out to licensing that had absolutely no information whatsoever for me.

• 0:14:30 Michelle Masjedi: I got a lot of do what feels right for your business.

• 0:14:34 Kris Murray: Wow.

• 0:14:34 Michelle Masjedi: And so I was very excited to see that over 21, about 21 directors joined me on that first zoom. And I said, what are we going to do? Where are these families going? And I was thinking about it from multiple aspects. Not just the reality of not having a place to take your child to, but the reality that children, small children, were next to parents who were glued to their televisions to find out whether or not their houses were still standing.

• 0:15:04 Michelle Masjedi: That emotional toll that they were taking, the trauma and the stress that children were being exposed to and enduring themselves, I immediately wanted to just like, wrap my arms around and protect people from that. And how could we do that quickly? So I started with the group together, the directors group. We came up with a Google spreadsheet, and we all said, this is how many spaces I have available in my center. And I took on the responsibility of reaching out to licensing to find out how could we get emergency waivers to start caring for kids.

• 0:15:37 Michelle Masjedi: What were the cleanup procedures? Talk to me about air quality, you know, things like that. And we sort of had a list of to dos. And each one of us went off to do our little portion of the to dos and started Immediately advertising through social media, word of mouth, anyone we could talk to. We reached out to our friends who had lost their programs to say, do you want to tell your parents they can come here?

• 0:16:03 Michelle Masjedi: And we started getting flooded. It took a couple of days, I’ll be honest. We were closed Wednesday, Thursday, Friday. We did major cleanup on Saturday and Sunday as best we could when the winds died down. Fires were for over a week, so there was still ash in the air everywhere. So we would clean up enough to be able to safely be in the building, but no outside play. And I’ll be honest, to date, we’ve only gone outside three times, and that’s been this week because the air quality is still so dangerous for children, for anyone, but particularly children and their young developing lungs.

• 0:16:41 Michelle Masjedi: So this director’s group and I have met. Now, every week we take the time out, we come up with new issues. We’ve reached out to our local rrs, we have reached out to our councilmen, we council members, anywhere and everywhere. We’ve been interviewed and on anywhere we can possibly get the word out to note that there are all kinds of help available. Resources for insurance, gift cards and food cards, diapers for children and clothing for people and water, places where you can take your pets or horses.

• 0:17:20 Michelle Masjedi: But there’s absolutely nothing in place for what you do with your children right now, not from the actual standpoint of care. What do you do when you need to go fill out all that paperwork for fema? Where do you put your child when you do that? How do you pay for that? What about the social and emotional toll it’s taking on everyone? So we decided, this group of us, and we’re now over 35 of us at this point, are each trying to take a piece of that and figure out how we can give back to the community as quickly as possible.

• 0:17:50 Michelle Masjedi: And that’s our way of embracing the children, like I talked about. And so we’ve. It’s not my favorite word, but we’ve pivoted through this yet again. And I’m doing temporary care. We brought in kids that were typically a little bit older for our program than we would normally have and that out. We have instituted a lunch program. We did not have a full food program before, but obviously if you don’t have a home and you’re staying in an Airbnb or a hotel, you don’t have means to provide food.

• 0:18:23 Michelle Masjedi: I was able to get donations for diapers and extra clothing and things so that we could really help families. Right now, we’re basically at the Stage where we are just begging for some federal funding or, you know, local, any type of funding to help families. Because programs like mine and others, we are not in a position to afford to be able to give families free childcare, which is what they need right now, or heavily discounted.

• 0:18:50 Michelle Masjedi: I was able to do things like waive deposit and registration. And I did provide. I have. I am providing free care for some families right now. But you know that the costs are our margins in, you know, our budgets don’t allow for that.

• 0:19:06 Kris Murray: Right.

• 0:19:07 Michelle Masjedi: Very thin margins as it is.

• 0:19:08 Kris Murray: Sure.

• 0:19:10 Michelle Masjedi: You know, that’s what we’re working on right now.

• 0:19:12 Kris Murray: Okay.

• 0:19:12 Michelle Masjedi: How we can find some emergency funding for families and because the other piece of that is the cleanup for our playgrounds is astronomical. The testing to make sure what’s in the soil or your sandbox or your wood chips, your playground equipment, the cleanup is insane. And parents are concerned. And having testing done for $40,000 isn’t in my budget, you know, so.

• 0:19:41 Kris Murray: Sure.

• 0:19:41 Michelle Masjedi: Those are the.

• 0:19:42 Kris Murray: So did you guys, have you set up a GoFundMe or any other way? I know that Red Cross has some funds, but have you set up anything in your group so that people can donate money or goods?

• 0:19:54 Michelle Masjedi: Yes. So I have a GoFundMe. The Journey Begins has a GoFundMe. It’s a straight scholarship program for families in need. Okay, that would be great. A couple of other programs have done that. Beyond the Classroom has one. Red Cross is a great place. But that money is what I like so much about our GoFundMe or beyond the Classroom or some of the programs is that it’s directly going to families. Early childhood education.

• 0:20:23 Kris Murray: Yes.

• 0:20:24 Michelle Masjedi: Versus not that Red Cross or individual families who need help rebuilding their homes isn’t important. Certainly is if you can donate to both. That would be my Right.

• 0:20:36 Kris Murray: Right. So if somebody wants to donate listening to this podcast, they just go to GoFundMe and they type in the Journey Begins in the search.

• 0:20:43 Michelle Masjedi: Yes. Or they can go to my Instagram, which is the Journey Begins and. Or any social media also on Facebook and there are links there.

• 0:20:53 Kris Murray: Okay, cool. And we’ll put the links in the show notes as well.

• 0:20:57 Michelle Masjedi: Thank you.

• 0:20:58 Kris Murray: This is related to a podcast that I did last July, which was Melitsa from Save the Children and she was talking about funding as well for any kind of disaster related situations. And so I also would say that anybody listening to this podcast, as well as yourself, Michelle, should consider reaching out to savethechildren.org and they may have a bucket of funds. That is available for this situation. So that’s another resource. And if you want to listen to that and learn more, you can go to Childcare Rockstar Radio Episode 181.

• 0:21:34 Kris Murray: So I just wanted to shout that out.

• 0:21:37 Michelle Masjedi: Thank you.

• 0:21:38 Kris Murray: Yeah, you’re welcome. Anything else about this right now that you want to share? Any lessons, any messages to the childcare industry or anybody listening to this with regards to what you’re going through?

• 0:21:50 Michelle Masjedi: I think that one of the most. There’s so many things in there, but I think one of the most important would be that even in all of this devastating disaster, there’s been so much beauty of the community coming together. Being able to watch the children in a dramatic play area, be able to explore some of the emotions and questions that they’re feeling. Being able to have friendships here at the center of new friends, but also being able to take in some of their old classmates as pods into our programs and letting them see each other again in this time where it was just so devastating and scary.

• 0:22:30 Michelle Masjedi: And they’re without things that they’re familiar with, not just their childcare centers, but their homes and their items. Having people that they already know or new warm, friendly faces is just so important. So I think that the lesson in all this is no matter how difficult and challenging it is, you know, find the good. We were able to get so many donations for diapers and wipes and things like that. And we are privileged to be able to throw together a lunch program and do things that can really assist families. And they’re gratitude for those small things that are not small to them right now really is.

• 0:23:09 Michelle Masjedi: It’s beautiful in the middle of crazy. And I think the other piece for us to really remember is that this is just the beginning. It is years and years ahead of us. The cleanup alone will be somewhere between 12 to 18 months. And then those who are going to rebuild, you know, if they’re able to rebuild, we’re talking about years. So this is a problem that is an immediate need, but it’s also very long term.

• 0:23:38 Michelle Masjedi: And so I’m particularly focused right now on meeting the needs. But how can we really reshape the infrastructure of childcare so that in a time of crisis, whether it is weather related or pandemic related, but that we really have a strong infrastructure in place that families can rely on. Why can’t we have a two one, one or the number that you are calling to get, you know, all central information, why can’t there be an additional number specific to childcare?

• 0:24:08 Michelle Masjedi: And on that note, you know all of the hundreds of people that are out of jobs, you know, our industry is constantly searching for quality staff. And how is this going to shift the industry, particularly here in California, you know, now, or how do we help them to find jobs in places like mine, in centers that are in desperate need? You know, there really needs to be a better infrastructure in place, and I’m going to do my part to help with that.

• 0:24:38 Kris Murray: Right, cool. Thank you for sharing all of that and shining a light on some of those issues. And I want everybody listening to this podcast to go do something, whether it’s something funding related or some action to try to connect the dots in this situation. That would be awesome. You’re welcome. So let’s talk a little bit about your program. You were a Child Care Rockstar finalist this past year. Congratulations.

• 0:25:08 Kris Murray: And you were on the big stage telling your story at the summit. Talk a little bit about the transformations that you’ve gone through over the last couple of years. What are things that you’ve done in your business that maybe either are leadership oriented or just business practices, best practices that have really helped you grow your business or come into this new version, this new level of where you’re at in your business?

• 0:25:38 Michelle Masjedi: Sure. Well, I have to say, even if I wasn’t talking to you, this is what I would say, really. The Childcare Success Academy changed everything for me. I was a successful business owner and I had a thriving childcare center. And I really, I didn’t see a need to do more. I had no idea. Sort of, you don’t know what you don’t know. And I really had some excellent tools in my toolbox, but I was missing so much.

• 0:26:10 Michelle Masjedi: And when I joined the academy, it’s been five years now, I learned so many things. So as you were just asking each of those, I thought, yes, every one of those areas you just mentioned, I have made incredible improvements in, in terms of leadership, I think really I never understood the value of SOPs, standard operating procedures and really having clear, defined roles. I’ve always had job descriptions or, you know, regular staff meetings, but there wasn’t this idea that I’m in business and strong business practices really need to be put in place.

• 0:26:55 Michelle Masjedi: You know, there’s always been, there will always be, I suppose, this fine line in childcare that, you know, we’re, we’re doing a favor, we’re helping people. So therefore we, we should sort of bend in ways. And that’s something that the Academy really showed me, that you can still be giving and helpful and run a successful business. And here’s how to do that. So really strengthening all of my systems in place, which is a still ongoing process that I continue to learn. But I would say to you that I had practices in place, I did not have systems, and that has been a game changer for sure.

• 0:27:36 Michelle Masjedi: I also never understood why core values were so important. And now they are. Like how I live our everyday life in our centers and just things like having a strong CRM. I’ve been with. I like to joke that I’ve been with ProCare since the beginning of time, since we had CDs sent to us, but I didn’t know there was anything else. So it wasn’t until the Academy and, you know, the summit and the amazing vendors that I was like, you know, I’m. My assistant likes to say, you’re an old dog, you know, it’s hard to teach me a new trick. I’m very comfortable.

• 0:28:17 Michelle Masjedi: But I started to see all these other opportunities. I really, I allowed myself to look into them. I made no promises. You know, I went in, I tiptoed. But once I saw them, I mean, I couldn’t survive now without a CRM and without a virtual assistant and without these strong systems and without a CPA and a bookkeeper. Now, I used to do all of those things myself.

• 0:28:41 Kris Murray: Wow.

• 0:28:41 Michelle Masjedi: And I really genuinely, like, I wish I could accurately convey how much I gratitude I feel to the Academy because it was the. The permission to look beyond what you already know. And it allowed me to say, you know, you’re not doing anything wrong in your business. You’re successful. But what if there’s more? What if you could actually take on more and do more and grow to levels you never even imagined?

• 0:29:13 Michelle Masjedi: And that was something I never allowed myself that opportunity or even thought. And that’s what the Academy really did for me. So I would say in every aspect, that has changed my business practices, certainly in my leadership skills, I’ve always been a bit of a control freak. We’ll say type A personality. I like things to be done a certain way, but I’ve never micromanaged. So this also showed me that if I have my, my wants and my systems in place, then other people can just, you know, run with them.

• 0:29:47 Michelle Masjedi: And so, yes, you know, that was so huge. And again, it just gave me permission to feel like, you don’t have to do it all yourself. Other people can really focus. And so, like, I will use, you know, the unique brilliance activity really showed me and gave me again the opportunity to say, wait, I don’t have to do that anymore. Someone else can do that, and it’ll still be done the way I want it to be done.

• 0:30:19 Michelle Masjedi: Or so exciting to me. Was. Or better.

• 0:30:23 Kris Murray: Right.

• 0:30:23 Michelle Masjedi: Way wasn’t always the right, you know, better or the right.

• 0:30:26 Kris Murray: Yeah.

• 0:30:27 Michelle Masjedi: And so it was so exciting to see all of that. And I do have this insane ability to multitask and have a bunch of balls in the air at the same time and do that well, but I don’t have to.

• 0:30:40 Kris Murray: Yes.

• 0:30:41 Michelle Masjedi: So that is just. That’s been huge for me. And I just encourage everybody who feels like, hey, I’m in a good place. Um, don’t take that away. It’s true, you may be in a good place or you’re struggling, but there. There’s more, and there’s people and lifelines and opportunities in front of you that can really open your eyes to things that you never imagined.

• 0:31:03 Kris Murray: Well, thank you for sharing that, Michelle. I love all of that. I’m curious, what specific kinds of things or tasks do you have your VA doing for you?

• 0:31:13 Michelle Masjedi: So I do it sort of spread between two people. I have an enrollment specialist, and she’s also my assistant. She’s worked for me for. This is our 21st year together. So honestly, I like to say she’s my better half, but don’t tell my husband. She just gets me and understands. So to help her and to help me to really thrive, having a virtual assistant was really helpful because there were many tasks I could take off her plate so that she could continue to help me to grow.

• 0:31:47 Michelle Masjedi: So things like newsletters, as long as there’s general information and an outline in place, someone else can do that. Sending out messages and reminders, setting up events, that can all be done very easily. She does my enrollment and all of my forms and procedures and things like that. But writing them up this way, putting together the SOPs that I referred to, or thanks to Coach J, who’s a shout out to Coach J, I am literally the checkoff list girl now.

• 0:32:24 Michelle Masjedi: And so creating all those things, that just took enormous amount of time for my assistant. And this allows us to give some of that to someone else and take that off our plates.

• 0:32:37 Kris Murray: Right.

• 0:32:38 Michelle Masjedi: Gives me some time to focus on other things, like building another center.

• 0:32:42 Kris Murray: Yes. I want to talk to you about that. This. This new center that you got a grant for. Tell me more about the vision for that and choosing a location for that. Like, where are you at in your process? And then how did you go about applying for the grant? Is there a special program in California? Do you know more about that. That you can share with the audience.

• 0:33:06 Michelle Masjedi: Sure. So this is the first time ever there was a grant like this in California. And I’m going to be so bold as to say the only time ever in California. I don’t see that coming again. But was born out of COVID funds. But essentially the amount of child care centers we’ve always been. Many areas have been considered child care deserts. And so after Covid, that only increased. And so somewhere federally, they determined that this was an issue.

• 0:33:41 Michelle Masjedi: And so funds were made available through the state of California. And I found out about it through my directors group. It was not widely publicized. I’m not even sure how people knew about it, but it was kept secret. And it basically was very specific that it gave priority to infant toddler programs. You had to be located in what’s considered a child care desert, which in truth is almost every area of Los Angeles, if you can believe that.

• 0:34:12 Kris Murray: Wow.

• 0:34:13 Michelle Masjedi: It’s crazy. And. And a certain percentage had to also accommodate low income. So we’re trying to bring equity to childcare quality child care.

• 0:34:23 Kris Murray: Okay.

• 0:34:23 Michelle Masjedi: So I applied. I’ve never applied for a grant before, thought, what the heck, you had to have an existing program, being good standing in the community and so forth. And so it was such an incredible process. It was about 40 pages of information that needed to be filled out, of course, with all kinds of budgets and everything. But the insane part is they opened the grant the Friday after Thanksgiving, and it was due on January 15.

• 0:35:01 Michelle Masjedi: And in that time frame, you had to have a secured location. You had to have multiple bids, contracting bids. It had to include all infrastructure costs. And so if you can imagine, that’s not the epitome of the perfect time to search for a location and contractors and all of the, you know, the pieces that go to that puzzle.

• 0:35:27 Kris Murray: Right.

• 0:35:28 Michelle Masjedi: Here’s where my husband and his insane business and skills were that, you know, essentially he put all of his practices into place and he got people there. And I was getting bids left and right, and I was able to secure a location directly across the street from my current program.

• 0:35:52 Kris Murray: Okay.

• 0:35:54 Michelle Masjedi: But there’s a story. And I just sort of went from there. And it took nine months before we got a response about the grant. But I was one of the few recipients that received over a million dollars to put forward to. To put forward to a new center. And within that time frame, my property across the street fell through. And so it was insanely frustrating that I was in jeopardy of losing the grant.

• 0:36:30 Kris Murray: Right.

• 0:36:31 Michelle Masjedi: So I fought like heck. And I worked with a broker And I found another location and I worked my tail off to convince the state that same funding, same usage, same need, same geographical area, just a little bit down the road. And I found a strip mall, essentially that was a small strip mall. The challenge there has been that it requires a CUP conditional use permit because it’s not zoned properly. But I hired a land consultant and I know that the need is greater than the red tape. So we’re going through that process.

• 0:37:16 Michelle Masjedi: I have architects and drawings. I did receive confirmation from the state of California that they will continue to fund the grant. So that was incredibly nerve wracking because once I purchased the property, I had to take it on and go forward, thinking I have to do this with or without the grant. I have to be able to take that on. And fortunately it worked to my advantage.

• 0:37:41 Kris Murray: Right.

• 0:37:41 Michelle Masjedi: Phew. So. But it is a process. But fortunately I have strong support through the community, through my council members and my reputation and the need and the community. So we’re going forward. And that program really will serve children 18 months. I’ll keep. I’m going to reconfigure my current program where we now serve children until about two and a half and that oldest group and put them in the new center. It’s just about a mile from here, so it’s geographically convenient for families and grow the size of our early infant program, meaning 0 to 8, 17 months here to allow more families that opportunity for care.

• 0:38:25 Michelle Masjedi: And then 18 months and up and I will add a preschool and an after school program and that’ll house about 100 children.

• 0:38:32 Kris Murray: Nice.

• 0:38:32 Michelle Masjedi: Great. Great need in our community.

• 0:38:35 Kris Murray: Fantastic. Well, congratulations on the grant and all of the ups and downs and ins and outs that you went through to get to a place where that’s actually a dream that’s going to come true.

• 0:38:46 Michelle Masjedi: Yes. Thank you.

• 0:38:47 Kris Murray: And what is the anticipated open date for that location?

• 0:38:52 Michelle Masjedi: So we’re. That’s a really good question. Right now with the fires and all the losses, there were just in our area, over 9,000 homes and businesses and structures gone. So I’m wondering how that’s going to change. You know, contractors and work and costs.

• 0:39:14 Kris Murray: Right.

• 0:39:15 Michelle Masjedi: And permits and all of that.

• 0:39:16 Kris Murray: Right.

• 0:39:17 Michelle Masjedi: Originally our time frame was 18 months. So I’m feeling like realistically we’re probably looking at two years. But just today I received information from my land consultant. So I highly recommend that if you’re going through this process that you hire someone who specializes in this. And he got us a meeting with our brand newly elected people in the council office that can really work and help to fast track things.

• 0:39:47 Michelle Masjedi: And so they were very interested and now I think, oddly, the fires will help us. There is more need. So there was already a need, now there’s a greater need. So I think politically it looks. Well, it looks good. And so I’m hopeful that we can continue with that 18 month timeline and really push for this faster. And some of the fires and all the things that we’re seeing change in terms of permitting and red tape, maybe that will be helpful. So I can’t wait to give you a real solid answer about that.

• 0:40:20 Kris Murray: Yes, I’m sure, I’m sure. And I get that. I get all the caveats because yeah, the landscape is certainly, certainly changed.

• 0:40:26 Michelle Masjedi: Yes.

• 0:40:27 Kris Murray: Where you are. I think that we’re coming to a close on our time together, which makes me sad. But I’ve loved learning about your story and your life and what’s going on in California and that you’ve doven in and are part of this beautiful solution of helping the community. And you’re finding beauty in the, in the sadness as well. And as we said, people will come together in times of need and help each other. And that’s the beauty of being a human.

• 0:41:00 Kris Murray: Anything else that you want to share? I guess. Where are you headed for the rest of the year? Probably your year is looking a lot different for 2025 than you maybe were celebrating on New Year’s Eve and thought it was going to be one way and it’s definitely a different way. Any other thoughts about life and what you’ve experienced as we flow into the rest of the year?

• 0:41:23 Michelle Masjedi: I mean, I definitely had a different picture in mind for the year, but I would say the same underlying message is still there. And it was to move forward, to continue to care for children, to be able to be helpful to my community. And it just changed it a little bit and it’s design. But the reality of it is is that you just push forward no matter what the scenario is and you keep fighting the good fight and you surround yourself with people that, you know, uplift you in that, whether it’s your strong staff, your family, you know, the academy, my coach has been amazing in that, you know, it really just is about continuously moving forward and time passes, you know, and it could be a really rough moment, but the next one could be really great. And so it is about continuing to keep perspective and knowing the difference that I’m making every day and the people around me are making. Those little small moments are not small to other people. And as long as we Remember that and keep doing that, then it’s going to be a great year. So I’m looking forward to the rest of 2025 and all that lies ahead.

• 0:42:38 Kris Murray: Well, Michelle Masjeti, thank you so much for being here today on the podcast. To me, you are the perfect example of a childcare rock star.

• 0:42:47 Michelle Masjedi: Thank you.

• 0:42:48 Kris Murray: And thank you for all the work that you’re doing. Just appreciate you so much. I’m so happy that you’re in our community and our tribe with us in the academy and that we’ve been able to help you shift your approach to running the business in a way that feels like you don’t have to ask for permission to be a solid and amazing business owner as well as an amazing educator. So I always say high quality and great business practices go hand in hand and you’re a perfect example of that. So thank you so much for being you and being with us.

• 0:43:26 Michelle Masjedi: Honestly, I appreciate everything, everything so much through the Academy and you specifically. So thank you.

• 0:43:33 Kris Murray: You’re welcome. Thanks everybody for tuning in. Very heartfelt episode today here at Child Care Rockstar Radio. Take care and God bless and we’ll talk to you next time. I hope you liked this episode of Child Care Rockstar Radio. If you did, please leave a review and share it with someone you know to help spread the word to friends in our industry and on social media. Child care business success is my passion and I’m honored to be on this journey with you.

• 0:44:03 Kris Murray: As a thank you for listening, I’ve got a new video training that shows you how to add six figures or more of new revenue to your program in the next 60 days by improving your hiring and your enrollment systems. To watch my new video, just go to www.fixmyschool.com. That’s FixMySchool.Com. Thanks. Take care and God bless.