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• 0:00:09 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 child care rock star.
• 0:00:35 Kris Murray: Now, let’s go. This is episode 217 of Child Care Rockstar Radio featuring Lavonda Paul. Hey folks, welcome back. I am Kris Murray, your host and I am excited to welcome you into this episode. Lavonda Paul is, well, what can I say, she’s quite something. She not only is a fourth generation entrepreneur, amazing soul, incredible African American force of nature from South Carolina. She’s the owner of Small Impressions Child Care center and she shares so much in this episode about how she has impacted and continues to impact her community.
• 0:01:20 Kris Murray: And not only she, but she and her hubby are doing big things in South Carolina. Let me tell you a little bit more about Lavanda. She is a trailblazing early childhood educator who has dedicated over 30 years to transforming educational outcomes for kids across the Carolinas. And she’s the owner and principal of Small Impressions. As I mentioned, she recently made history when her center became only the second African American owned, privately owned childcare facility in Greenville County, South Carolina to achieve an A rating in the ABC Quality rating scale in her state.
• 0:01:59 Kris Murray: She’s a Greenville native and she not only is leading her center to new heights, she founded Cultivating Minds, a nonprofit program dedicated to bridging educational gaps and empowering undeserved youth and families. And through that program she provides comprehensive support and including academic enrichment, college readiness programs and family empowerment initiatives that address the whole child and their family unit. And her impact on scholastic achievement is remarkable.
• 0:02:32 Kris Murray: Over 65% of students in her after school programs consistently achieve A or AB honor roll status. She is just making a huge, huge income and I can’t wait for you to meet lavonda Today on the podcast. We are headed quickly into the holiday season. We are here as of the release of this episode. We’re about a week away from Christmas and however you celebrate, if you celebrate, I hope that you’re enjoying it.
• 0:03:03 Kris Murray: Of course this can be a stressful and painful sometimes part of the year. And so I’ll just share with you that I hope that no matter what’s going on in your world, that you can take some comfort in your daily joys and the little things to have a grateful heart and go through your day with a grateful heart. And I’m grateful that you’re here, that you’re here tuned in to Childcare Rockstar Radio. So I hope that this podcast can bring you a little bit of comfort and joy, as well as a lot of incredible information, strategies, tips and all the good stuff to continue being an education entrepreneur in your corner of the world. So thank you so much for tuning in.
• 0:03:54 Kris Murray: I won’t talk to you again until 2026 here on the podcast. So all the blessings to you and happy holidays. With that, I. Well, I guess I can share a little bit about what I’m doing personally here in my corner of the world in Colorado for the holidays. It’s going to be a mellow one. We’ve got some kids at home celebrating and when I say kids, I mean adult kids, of course. The amazing golden retriever, Miss Ruby, is going to be celebrating with us and my fiance Chris and I, Chef Mitchell, are going to be whipping up some delicious food.
• 0:04:34 Kris Murray: His son Blake is 24 years old and my daughter’s 20 and they will be home with us to celebrate the holiday. And then my son Owen, who’s 23, is in Fairbanks, Alaska and just moved there a few months ago. So he will not be joining us because he’s going to have an Alaska Christmas with his fiance, Beverly. So got two engagements in the family, mine and his, which is fantastic. So weddings coming up next year for myself and then Owen and Bev will probably get married in 2028, maybe earlier. We’ll see.
• 0:05:14 Kris Murray: So that’s a little bit about what’s going on. Personally in my household. The house is fully decorated inside and out and I love to decorate for the holidays. So lots of white lights everywhere and some fun decor and just makes me feel happy and festive when I wake up in the morning and the tree lights are on and makes my heart happy. So hopefully whatever you’re doing is just something that you love, right? Joyful and bringing you a feeling of a full heart and blessings in your life and gratitude and just wish that for everybody listening and throughout the world.
• 0:05:57 Kris Murray: As you may have seen on Social, I did do a TED Talk and so I am officially a TED speaker and that episode of TED or that recording will be out in the new year. So I will definitely let you guys know when the link is available and we’ll share it in the show notes and it’ll be on Social, of course. So I’ll share a little bit more about that journey in a future episode. Let’s dive in and Meet lavonda.
• 0:06:27 Kris Murray: You are going to be blown away. I was blown away. We talk about everything from marketing to leadership to culture to entrepreneurship to impact. And I titled this episode not your typical childcare center, because Lavanda is far from typical. Very special lady. So let’s mute her right now, shall we, here on child care Rockstar Radio. Let’s go. Hey, folks, welcome back to the podcast. This is Chris Murray, and I am here in the host of the podcast seat.
• 0:07:03 Kris Murray: Very excited to bring you today my guest, lavonda. Paul lavonda. How are you?
• 0:07:09 LaVonda Paul: I’m doing fine.
• 0:07:11 Kris Murray: Fantastic. Welcome to the show. Where are you right now?
• 0:07:16 LaVonda Paul: I’m currently at work that’s located here in Taylor, South Carolina. Really? Greenville County.
• 0:07:21 Kris Murray: All right, cool, cool. Have you lived there your whole life?
• 0:07:24 LaVonda Paul: I have my whole entire life. Wow.
• 0:07:29 Kris Murray: All right, tell us more about your school. What is the name of it and what’s the size? And just give us a little bit more about it.
• 0:07:37 LaVonda Paul: Okay. The name of my school is Small Impressions Child Development Center. I have been here for 19 years. I’m for 139. But currently I have about 90 students enrolled. I don’t ever think I reach full capacity. I’m about quality as opposed to quantity. I don’t want to pack out my classroom because I don’t want to lose my sense of being able to connect with my students, being able to connect with my families. I’ve been there before when my classrooms were just packed and just seemed like stuff just kept happening, and it was just a nightmare for me.
• 0:08:13 LaVonda Paul: So I think I’m at a good place where it feels more like home for a lot of my families, a lot of my kids, and for my staff.
• 0:08:23 Kris Murray: Awesome. That’s a common thread that we hear from a lot of our folks, is that it feels more comfortable to be in that, you know, 80 to 90% of capacity size, and certainly 90 children is a great size to be serving. And 19 years is a long time. So bless you for all the families and all the children that you’ve impacted over the years. It’s awesome.
• 0:08:49 LaVonda Paul: Thank you. Yeah.
• 0:08:52 Kris Murray: And is that the same number of years that you’ve been in early childhood or tell us a little bit more about your journey.
• 0:08:57 LaVonda Paul: Well, I started out at this place called the Urban League of the Upstate, and that’s a nonprofit agency here. And I was an after school counselor also. When I was in college in Charlotte, I was also after school counselor. And I was like, I saw what I was able to do, the impact that I had with those children and I was like, what would happen if I work with children at a younger age? So I was a little nervous at first and reluctant about going full fledged into childcare working with so many younger age children as opposed to school age.
• 0:09:27 LaVonda Paul: But you know what? I have no regrets. A lot of students that I currently have have been with me since preschool and now they at school age children, middle school, elementary school. So that speaks volumes within itself that children and families believe in our program here, that they stay with us. Five, six. I have a family here that’s been here like 12 years.
• 0:09:48 Kris Murray: Wow, I love that. That’s fantastic. Those long relationships and connections in the community. Awesome. Tell us about your home life. Do you have kids yourself? Tell us more about what’s going on at home and any hobbies or interests that you have.
• 0:10:04 LaVonda Paul: I do. I’m on my second marriage to Curtis Paul. When I tell you he came in my life at the right time.
• 0:10:11 Kris Murray: Congratulations.
• 0:10:12 LaVonda Paul: Thank you. We’ve been married eight years now. But when I first opened this business, I was going through a divorce, had a one year old and my mom was like, what are you thinking? Pay your bills up, don’t start a new a new business. Always been a passion and a dream of mine. And I told her, I said, ma, I leave. I live by this, this saying I’m a risk taker. I’m gonna jump off that cliff. One or two things are going to happen. Either God’s gonna catch me before I fall or he’s gonna give me wings and teach me how to fly.
• 0:10:46 LaVonda Paul: Well, he’s taught me how to soar because I’m still here 19 years later, even from going through a divorce. Got remarried. My husband was at GE for 32 years, I believe. Retired. Didn’t get to enjoy his retirement loan. Jumped right in over here and started helping me with the child care center. Has been here for a number of years doing it as well. So I’m thankful for that. I had a daughter from. I have a daughter from my previous marriage and he has two children from his previous marriage. So we have a wonderful blended family and grandchildren and a grandpa. I never thought I would be a dog lover, but I love my daughter’s dog named Ace. He’s in college with her.
• 0:11:27 Kris Murray: Aw. A grandbaby, doggy, grandpuppy. I love that, love that, love our furry ones. What is a fun fact about you, lavonda that not that many people know?
• 0:11:40 LaVonda Paul: I don’t know if it’s a fun fact, but the fact of that I am so afraid of heights. But I will jump on that plane in a minute. And I would take off and go anywhere that my husband plans for us to go, because he’s the planner in the family. He just say, pack your bags. We going. I’m gone. But, yeah, I’ll be scared after death. But I say a little prayer, put my little gospel music on, and I have to stop for a minute. But once I get over that, it’s good to go.
• 0:12:07 Kris Murray: I love it. You know, my fun fact related to that is that I was once in the audience at an Oprah Winfrey show in Chicago at Harpo Studios, and the topic of her show that day was fear of flying.
• 0:12:21 LaVonda Paul: Wow.
• 0:12:21 Kris Murray: Yeah. So that’s. There you go. Everybody talked about whether they were afraid of flying, and they had some experts in there talking about how to get over your fear of flying. So, anyway, there you go. There’s our connection. I always like to find a connection with my podcast guests. So there you go. I love it. And I love the furry friends is, of course, a connection, because I have a golden retriever.
• 0:12:48 Kris Murray: And I love that Mr. Curtis is in the business with you. That’s super fun and charming because I’m sure the kids love that.
• 0:12:59 LaVonda Paul: They do. Especially the ones that don’t have a male figure in their lives.
• 0:13:04 Kris Murray: Yes.
• 0:13:05 LaVonda Paul: He has the opportunity to kind of be that mentor for them because that’s missing in so many families. And so it’s just a blessing to have that here.
• 0:13:14 Kris Murray: Yes, it really is. That’s awesome. So what would you say sets you apart from the other schools around you? You mentioned about the, you know, community connections and making an impact for family. Are there any other features or benefits with your program that you think really set you apart?
• 0:13:34 LaVonda Paul: I do. There’s a number of things that set me apart. One, my longevity. That’s for one, I don’t have a lot of staff turnover. That’s two. Number three, the programs that I offer here for my parents, I have a women empowering women’s group that is created because of the parents. They were like, Ms. LaVonda, we’re going through so much. We need to be able to identify with other people that’s our age, other families. I’m sure they’re going through the same thing.
• 0:14:01 LaVonda Paul: So we did it initially during COVID and it was wonderful. So they said, let’s bring it back. So I have about 14 or 16 parents that come. Matter of fact, it’s tomorrow night. We have a speaker, we have clothes that are donated, brand new clothes from Walmart once a month. So I give those out to My families for free. And you ought to see my parking lot. It is packed. They have a little shopping bags and they go to work every other week. We have a food share box that’s donated, not donated, delivered here on site.
• 0:14:36 LaVonda Paul: I purchased those for my families. So whatever, 10 families want to get those. And inside those boxes has recipes that helps the families create meals, nutritional meals with their families. So I enjoy that piece. We used to have a cooking class here for the children as well as the families. But with the cuts that’s been going on, that had to stop. But that we had that for like three years. Today I had a full day today.
• 0:15:03 LaVonda Paul: We had teacher parent conferences. That’s a big plus. And the parents enjoy that. And some people like you have teacher parent conferences at a preschool. Yes, we do. A lot of people, parents come and they appreciate that. The time that we put into putting portfolios together to show their, showcase their children’s work, show their strengths and weaknesses and if there are any delays, helping parents navigate through that, how to get resources for my children, how to get services for my children.
• 0:15:32 LaVonda Paul: And if nothing else, we have the space here that children can have the therapy here from speech to occupational. So we have that right here on site for them. And what else that makes us different from the school age perspective? I’m real hands on as far as talking to the children’s teachers. I even go and visit schools every now and again. I look at report cards, progress reports. The children have no business.
• 0:15:57 LaVonda Paul: I know all of their business. And so the parents really appreciate that because I’m able to catch some things that parents just their parenting. So they don’t think to look at the Chromebooks. They don’t think to, okay, does my child have a project due by such and such time? So they like that, that they have a village, like they like to call us a village to kind of catch those type things. And I’ve also been asked to go to several teacher parent conferences.
• 0:16:24 LaVonda Paul: So I have no, I go to those in IEP meetings. Parents just don’t know what to ask.
• 0:16:31 Kris Murray: Right.
• 0:16:32 LaVonda Paul: I’m intimidated because you have six or seven people looking at you and using terms that they know the parents are not familiar with. So I like the little secret weapon that, you know, I like to go. And then one last thing about me here that I think parents like. I’m involved. I like to network. And today I was in Columbia. That’s an hour and a half away with the Chamber of commerce as we’re trying to get businesses to buy into, hey, child care is important.
• 0:17:01 LaVonda Paul: South Carolina is losing billions of dollars because of childcare. Well, he’s can’t come to work because they don’t have adequate child care.
• 0:17:11 Kris Murray: That’s right.
• 0:17:12 LaVonda Paul: They like the fact that I’m out here beating with lawmakers, trying to be a childcare advocate, trying to bring the spotlight on South Carolina and why child care is so vital and important here. Well, it’s important across the world, but particularly here in South Carolina because this is where I’m located.
• 0:17:27 Kris Murray: Right. Wow, that’s a lot. Lavonda, you are a busy woman.
• 0:17:31 LaVonda Paul: I am.
• 0:17:32 Kris Murray: Man, that is amazing. But I’m definitely getting the feeling from you and such a great vibe on everything that you’re doing for your families. You’re such a resource and you’re such a treasure. I’m sure that they’re very, very grateful for you. Yeah. You mentioned earlier that you’re a risk taker and so I’m curious to know where that drive comes from. Have you always had that inside of you or when did that kind of get born outside of you to become really entrepreneurial?
• 0:18:06 LaVonda Paul: I’m a fourth generation entrepreneur, so I guess born with it. I didn’t want to live my life with regrets. Shoulda, coulda, woulda, or what would have happened if I opened up a childcare center. And like I told my mom, it’s better to have tried and failed and never tried at all. I didn’t want to live my life with regrets. And like I said, I met, made my whole job, a whole lot of money off my ideas.
• 0:18:28 LaVonda Paul: So why not try to create something special with my own ideas? And I think I have done that.
• 0:18:35 Kris Murray: Wonderful. Who have been your biggest inspirations along the way?
• 0:18:40 LaVonda Paul: My great grandmother. My grandmother, my mom and my daughter. Even though she’s a junior in college, she talks to me all the time. Mom, try this. Mom, don’t try that. Mom, that didn’t work. Mom, you need to try this. And she looks at a lot of my stuff, so because she knows I’m leaving this, this is her legacy. So she’s really hands on as well. So those are the people that have really inspired me.
• 0:19:05 Kris Murray: Wonderful. Tell me a little bit about your school culture and your team. How have you grown a empowered and engaged team of teachers and leaders? How some challenges that you faced maybe during COVID or challenges trying to hire and retain teachers. Just talk to me more about what you’ve done in that area.
• 0:19:31 LaVonda Paul: Well, I think first you have to move people’s mindset that this is not a babysitting service. I actually Call myself a principal here because I really try to run my school like a school and trying to get them set up for when they go on off to school attendance matters. Expressing to the parents that, hey, the children have to be here on a regular basis. They have to be here on time. And with that being said, I think the teachers are singing what have seen over the years, hey, she is different.
• 0:19:59 LaVonda Paul: She’s not running a typical child. Consider that’s one of my hashtags. We are not your typical child care center. And so when I get buy in from the parents and get buy in from the teachers, that has made it, you know, a good, good thing for me because they see that, hey, I’m really big on education. That’s, that’s my, that’s my thing, education. You have to get it. And we have to lay that foundation early.
• 0:20:26 LaVonda Paul: So getting buy in from my teachers. Also what has helped a lot of my teachers too is I have coaches that come in that kind of go into classrooms and model for my teachers, give us best practices. They even meet with me and they’re from Childcare Resource and Referral and South Carolina Infant Toddler Program. And then also they hear a lot about what I learned from you. So again, I think having all those things and letting them see I don’t mind pulling up my sleeves, changing diapers as well. I don’t mind being in a classroom.
• 0:20:58 LaVonda Paul: I don’t expect them to do anything that I’m not willing to do myself. And I think that’s what drives my staff to see that, hey, it’s not all about the money with me because I spend a lot of money on my staff. I give back to my staff, not just salary wise, but just other little incentives, incentives that I give to them. And if nothing else, they see I do heavily invest in my families here.
• 0:21:23 Kris Murray: Maybe it was a time when you were a younger CEO or leader. Do you recall a time when you learned a big lesson about leadership? When maybe you had a challenge or made a decision that wasn’t popular or, you know, and I’ve had many as a leader myself where I’ve had to learn and even like mea culpa, like, oh, yeah, I messed up. So anything there that you can share with the audience because I know that.
• 0:21:51 LaVonda Paul: Everybody’S feeling that, yeah, take ownership when you screw up. Take ownership when you don’t always get it right and I always don’t get it right. And that’s one of the things when people come to tour our facility, I always tell them, like my pastor Says, at my church, we’re not perfect, but we’re striving to be. And we don’t always get it right. So if something don’t look right, don’t smell right, don’t taste right, we won’t know if you don’t tell us.
• 0:22:17 LaVonda Paul: So we try to be open enough and honest enough to say, hey, you know, if something is not right, please let us know so we can correct and address anything that may not be right. I don’t think that we’re up on this high pedal step that we’re so perfect that we don’t ever get things wrong. No, I let people know I’m human, too, and I can own up to my mistakes and take on, you know, take ownership on it and just keep it moving.
• 0:22:45 Kris Murray: Yeah, no, I love that. That sense of honesty and being open and then being vulnerable. And I love what you said. Just, you know, we can’t be all eyes everywhere. There’s going to be things that occasionally would get missed. So please help us and bring it to our attention and let us give us the chance to fix it. So I love that. I think that’s all customers and clients want.
• 0:23:09 LaVonda Paul: I feel they do. They do, yeah.
• 0:23:14 Kris Murray: So that leads right into mindset. I feel that you have a very strong mindset. You are a very calm presence, and your energy is just really good. I love it. And I feel, you know, maybe you have done some work on your mindset. Of course, being in our group, and that’s a big thing for me that I teach constantly. But let’s talk a little bit about how your mindset has shifted. Maybe you went through some stuff during COVID or just share anything with how you’ve grown in that area. Maybe any resources that you listen to or read or anything that you’d recommend.
• 0:23:51 LaVonda Paul: Well, I started following you during COVID programs. I can do those well. But what I was lacking, and I still lack it a little bit, was the business side. So that’s when I started following you. And I was like, oh, my gosh, this is a whole nother piece to being in business that I just was totally missing. So I just started following you and a couple of more. But you’re my biggest one that I’ve been following for the longest.
• 0:24:17 LaVonda Paul: I had to shift. I had to. I couldn’t continue to do things like yesteryear. So I had to get in a position that, okay, yeah, I’ve listened to Chris Murray online. Now it’s time to step it up to go to a conference. And one thing I have to share. My husband’s going to kill me when I tell tell this story about him. But he got there and experienced firsthand what he experienced. Oh, my gosh. Each night we went back, compared notes.
• 0:24:51 LaVonda Paul: Fonda, when we get back home, we got to try this, this, this, and we did. We had resistance out of, like, one or two parents. We took your advice. You don’t have to stay. There are so many other child care centers here in town that you could go to. But guess what, Chris? They still heal. We didn’t lose not one person. They love what we do. So I have implemented a lot of things. Even your oddball holidays.
• 0:25:24 Kris Murray: Oh, yes. Oddball holiday marketing.
• 0:25:26 LaVonda Paul: Oh, my gosh. Just so many marketing tips that I have started my own little child care tribe here. And two of them joined this past time.
• 0:25:38 Kris Murray: Awesome.
• 0:25:39 LaVonda Paul: And what it is, we get together to talk about challenges that we have, how we can be. We pray for each other, we laugh at each other, celebrate successes and all like that. But I kept telling them different things that I was learning. So somebody made today your call today, and they was like, oh, my gosh, fun is everything you told us it was going to be. So, again, just changing the culture here in South Carolina, in Greenville of how childcare should really go and how it should be operated. So thank you for that.
• 0:26:09 Kris Murray: Oh, you’re welcome. I’m so grateful that you said yes and even in the face of potentially some resistance or just doubts. And I love that you came away with all that energy and excitement and ideas and wanting to implement it all and that you’re in this tribe and you’re expanding the tribe to fellow practitioners in your areas, like, everything. And they got on their first Q and A call today and got some.
• 0:26:35 Kris Murray: Got some value. So everything you’re sharing, it just makes me so happy in my heart. And I love that. So much talk about maybe something that you learned from the academy or from following coaches, that maybe you were having a big challenge about a specific thing and how did you overcome it?
• 0:26:58 LaVonda Paul: Challenges meeting people where they are. It’s lonely at the top. Everybody’s not going to buy into what it is you’re trying to tell them at first, but just don’t toss it to the side. Keep revisiting and try to get. Keep reminding your staff of the why. Why is it we’re here? And as I often share with the staff, we have parents that drive a great distance just to get to me, and I’m like, oh, my gosh. Once I sat down and saw it on paper, I’m like you really drive 45 minutes one way.
• 0:27:33 LaVonda Paul: Ain’t no way I would do that. But then I said to myself, why not? I must have a good program here that people are willing to drive that far. So I have to remind my staff, even during difficult times, even though sometimes some parents can be like, oh, they tear your nerves up, but you still gotta love them anyhow, as my grandmother used to say, I don’t know. And once my teachers really get to know the parents and the parents get to know the teachers, it reminds us of our why the children need us.
• 0:28:06 LaVonda Paul: The parents need us because nobody gets a manual on how to be a parent. So you would think we’re here solely for the children. Ms. Chris, it’s a lot of parents that we here for, the counselor, the Dr. Phil, the Oprah, helping them navigate through life, navigate being a parent.
• 0:28:26 Kris Murray: So yes, you’re playing all those roles, all those hats.
• 0:28:30 LaVonda Paul: Yeah, yeah. So those are the challenges that we deal with sometimes not so much as childcare issues, but just life issues that the parents have to deal with and how do we help them? So would we change anything? No. Even our most difficult parent, we’ll still go out and buy them Christmas stuff. We’ll still pay a bill for them, we’ll still counsel them, we’ll find counseling services for them and pay for. I mean, we won’t change. We’ll be mad for the moment they make us mad. We’ll be, ah, but we’ll still do whatever we can for that family.
• 0:29:07 Kris Murray: Yes. I love this. Something that you just shared touched me. Remind yourself of the why and yeah, I lost it. There was something else. We’ll just edit that part out. There was something else that you said that I wanted to ask you as a follow on question, but I lost it. Tell us about what’s next for you. Where are you headed the rest of this year and into 2026? Do you have any expansion plans in your mind or what do you want to do to try to take it to the next level if you do?
• 0:29:46 LaVonda Paul: You know, I really don’t know. I keep getting asked that we don’t know. I don’t know which way the wind is going to blow, but I do know I see myself on the political side of things. I’m asked a lot for interviews, asked a lot to be on this committee or to be this advocate. So I don’t know. But I do want to be at the table when major discussions are being made about childcare because this is my livelihood and if anything is going to affect me I need to be at the table to voice my concerns and then be the voice for the voiceless.
• 0:30:24 LaVonda Paul: Because a lot of times children and families are overlooked or decisions are made that’s not in the best interest of the people I serve. So I need to be that voice and that advocate. So I don’t know. I think I could see myself on that side of the. At the table. So we’ll see. Fingers crossed.
• 0:30:41 Kris Murray: Yeah. I’m not sure South Carolina has that active of a child care association. Do they? That you could like, try to. Maybe you could become some kind of a leader in. In this. In the South Carolina child care association world.
• 0:30:55 LaVonda Paul: Well, we used to have a bigger association, but now it’s not as big as it was. But I’m on this South Carolina. What is it called? Institute. Oh, they’re gonna kill me because I messed up their name. But anyway, I’m an advocate. We wear pink T shirts early. Common. Common agenda. Anyway, I’ve been able to go and speak with a lot of lawmakers and, you know, like I said, spread the spotlight on Chalky. I was trying to find a little card. Cause they’re gonna kill me. Cause I forgot their name during the most important time. But anyway, they have allowed me to be in front of so many lawmakers to explain. Express, you know, the needs of childcare centers here in my area.
• 0:31:37 Kris Murray: Yeah. If you send me the name after, I’ll put it in the show notes.
• 0:31:41 LaVonda Paul: Okay.
• 0:31:41 Kris Murray: So.
• 0:31:42 LaVonda Paul: Yeah, so.
• 0:31:42 Kris Murray: And a link. I’m happy to link if they have a website. Where do you think in terms of advocacy? What would you like to see South Carolina implement? What are you. What are you trying to get them to take action on? Or what would you like to see developers in your state.
• 0:31:59 LaVonda Paul: In my state, funding for childcare to be able to give a competitive child care wage for workers, benefits that’s affordable.
• 0:32:15 Kris Murray: What else?
• 0:32:16 LaVonda Paul: I would like to see more resources. For instance, since COVID we’ve seen an increase with children with just behavior issues or needing services like ABA therapists. But it’s so hard to get those type services here at a child care setting. So what are we to do? They don’t have enough facilities or the ones that they do have here, the waiting list is so long for the children that have special needs.
• 0:32:46 LaVonda Paul: And unfortunately, a lot of our childcare centers, due to our class sizes, you may have one teacher with. I just say maybe eight kids. And then you have one in there with special needs. It’s kind of, you know, people leave staff because it’s like, it’s too much. And you know, sometimes the training that we receive is not comparable to public school. When teachers have gone to school to get a degree for years, going to a class for one or two hours, it’s.
• 0:33:21 LaVonda Paul: It’s not even compared apples to apples at this point. So those are some of the things that I wish that more spotlight was on, that we had more resources for the workers and for families with children with special needs. We do have a first step 4k program here. And what that is is children are able to come to us for free for our 4K program. So that’s been a good thing for us. But another part of South Carolina, they have it for three year olds. So I wish we could get it across the board in South Carolina that we could have that program expanded.
• 0:33:59 LaVonda Paul: But nevertheless, I was glad to be one of the pilot programs that they used to start the first step 4k classroom some years ago.
• 0:34:09 Kris Murray: I remember what I was going to say, which was that I was really impressed when you said that a parent is driving 45 minutes one way for their child to attend your school. Now, I have heard of people driving 10, 15, 20 minutes each way, but not 45. So you might want to put that into a testimonial and frame that and put that on the wall of your school. Because when other parents find out that somebody’s driving 45 minutes, that is definitely going to help your enrollment.
• 0:34:34 LaVonda Paul: Okay, I’ll do that. And I post a lot on Facebook and if I’m talking to a parent, honey, I pull myself up cell phone out in a minute. Now what you just say now? This morning doing teacher parent conferences at the end, you already know what I’m. I know, Ms. Lavonda, I already know what you’re about to do. Come on, let’s go with it. That’s free. It didn’t cost thing.
• 0:34:55 Kris Murray: That’s right.
• 0:34:56 LaVonda Paul: I put it on Facebook. And that has been the biggest marketing tool for me. Just my little silly videos that I put. No professional videos, just a little silly videos that I post from my little iPhone. And it just parents just steady coming. Because right before I went on with you, I had a tour and I told her she got to go out the thing. Gotta go out there quietly because I’m online and she’s like, okay, okay, okay. But yeah, just my little city videos. That’s. That’s getting traction for us.
• 0:35:24 Kris Murray: Yes. I mean, that is one of the things I shared in my marketing session at Summit was social proof. Social proof marketing, which is using a video that looks homemade, which is way more legit than something fancy and polished. It’s just. People love it. They just love it. And so it’s just. It’s got that trust factor built in. And so I’m so happy, Lavonda, that you’re doing that and you’re getting results from it.
• 0:35:48 LaVonda Paul: Thank you. And one last plug I want to give a couple of weeks ago. It’s this. They’re like, number one or number two private schools here in Greenville County. My daughter actually went to the school, and so I have some of my preschoolers that have gotten enrolled there. It’s, like, top notch. Now. The fee there is, like, college tuition. Right. So you have to apply. You got to get interviewed. They even test you.
• 0:36:13 LaVonda Paul: And so I have some current students that are in the K4 program that’s trying to apply for next year. So they was like, Ms. LaVona, we want you to go with us, because I got six other kids that have gone there. And so when I went, the guidance counsel was like, remember I sent you that email telling you how well prepared your children were when they come to our school? We just love your school. Let me get this on video.
• 0:36:36 LaVonda Paul: I got her. I got the headmaster as he was talking. We love smiling. It didn’t go, wow.
• 0:36:43 Kris Murray: Yeah.
• 0:36:44 LaVonda Paul: It didn’t cost me a thing. So if I can’t tell anybody anything else, don’t be afraid to ask. Hey, let me get that on camera. Do you mind recording that? I record what you just said, and people have been listening. That little video took off. Yeah. Yes. Is getting children ready for this prestigious private school here in the area.
• 0:37:04 Kris Murray: Right? Amazing. I mean, that’s worth its weight in gold. And I’m so proud. And so not only of the, you know, the program that you’re doing that’s getting kids that preparation and those results, but also that you’re then singing your own praises and marketing it. Way to go. I love it. Is this. This. This is what I live for. So thank you.
• 0:37:23 LaVonda Paul: Thank you. And I tell you, just learning from you, following you over these years, and attending your assignments. Summit number two. Yep.
• 0:37:33 Kris Murray: I’ll tell you.
• 0:37:34 LaVonda Paul: I’ll tell anybody. Like I said, I had two friends to join, and they are still talking about it. Oh, my gosh. Funny. It’s everything that you said. And my husband, he still. You remember we said we gonna do this. You know what Chris said? I’m like, all right, I was there too. Now, come on. And so anyway, you just changing his whole mindset in the way of looking at things. I can’t thank you enough. Because he’s one of your biggest friends too now.
• 0:37:59 Kris Murray: I love that.
• 0:37:59 LaVonda Paul: Yeah. So he couldn’t stay. He had to go home because I’m accessible at work. He’s taking a Spanish class because guess what? We’ve seen an increase with children enrolling that only speak Spanish, but we don’t.
• 0:38:11 Kris Murray: Oh, wow.
• 0:38:12 LaVonda Paul: So, yeah, got the translators and stuff going and the children now are learning to speak Spanish, but the parents speak English. But the parents still doesn’t speak English. Yeah, but that hasn’t been a. A barrier for us. We just roll up our sleeves. Okay. How can we connect with these children and been able to do that?
• 0:38:32 Kris Murray: I love it. Wow. All right. Any final thoughts? Also, how can people find you? If you want to give your website or your Facebook or anything, how can.
• 0:38:40 LaVonda Paul: The people find you all impressions? CDC.org is my website on small impressions on Facebook. I’m located in Taylor, South Carolina, and I’m running.
• 0:38:54 Kris Murray: Very good. Well, if you guys want to see a great example of some Facebook marketing, definitely go check her out. Small impressions. CDC.org and Lavonda Paul, thank you so much for being here with us today. I have really enjoyed getting to know you a little bit better.
• 0:39:14 LaVonda Paul: Thank you.
• 0:39:14 Kris Murray: Thanks for being on the podcast.
• 0:39:17 LaVonda Paul: Thank you for having me.
• 0:39:18 Kris Murray: And I love the energy. I love what you stand for and the impact that you’re making for families in your neck of the world is just amazing.
• 0:39:28 LaVonda Paul: Thank you. Thank you for that opportunity, too. Thank you.
• 0:39:31 Kris Murray: You’re welcome. Thanks, everybody for tuning in to Child Care Rockstar Radio. And we will see you next time. Take care and God bless. Bye. 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.
• 0:39:58 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 system. To watch my new video, just go to www.fixmyschool.com. that’s fixmyschool.com thanks. Take care and God bless.