In this episode, I am joined by Leann and Jake Chamberlain, a husband and wife team that run Brighton Montessori in Brighton, Michigan. Leann was the recent winner of the Child Care Rockstar contest at the 2018 Child Care Success Summit. Her vulnerable and authentic approach won the hearts of everyone there. They discuss what it felt like to get out of their comfort zone to enter the contest, the ways they continue to grow their enrollment and connect with the community, the unique challenges of running a Montessori school, and what’s next for the dynamic duo.
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Here Are the Key Takeaways From This Episode:
- Leann and Jake have three children, all of whom were surprised with a trip to Disney after she won the Child Care Rockstar contest!
- Brighton Montessori is in its third year currently and has a capacity of 100 students.
- Leann and Jake entered the Child Care Rockstar contest solely with the intention of getting out of their comfort zones and try something new. They ended up winning, connecting with a great tribe of people and learning a ton of new information to bring back to their school.
- Next year, the Rockstar contest is going to be a “Margarita and Flip Flops” themed party in Orlando with a $5,000 cash prize.
- Leann and Jake built their program around the community they were in.
- They knew they needed help with tripling their enrollment for the first year, and that is when Leann found Kris and the Summit. They took the Amtrak train to the Summit and found a tribe and a whole new set of resources. They pooled together everything they learned, and discussed core values with the teachers, put a CRM system in place and implemented email marketing, more follow up, and better tours.
- Leann’s “why” is to bring out the best in people. When she approaches anyone, it’s aligned with the core values of integrity, honesty, commitment, passion, and partnership.
- People tend to have pre-existing ideas of what a Montessori school is, but Leann and Jake take the time to fully explain and educate families about the level of quality and the unique differences that make them stand out.
- Their mindset shifts were persistence, patience, and more faith in abundance.
- Goal-setting is a huge part of success. Leann writes hers out on Post-It notes and immediately replaces an achieved goal with a new one.
- To Leann a child care rockstar is someone that knows their “why” and executes it with empathy, perseverance, and love. To Jake, it’s someone that takes action on their goals with courage.
