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• 0:00:06 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.
• 0:00:32 Kris Murray: Now, let’s go.
• 0:00:36 Kris Murray: This is Child Care Rockstar Radio, episode 218 featuring Megan Ferring. Welcome back, folks. I’m thrilled that you’re here and may I be one of the first to say to you, happy New Year. Well, this episode’s coming out on January 6th or thereabouts, so I definitely won’t be the first one. But happy New year, everybody. It’s 2026 and I’m thrilled about it. I have so much to be thankful for and I’m so grateful for 2025.
• 0:01:07 Kris Murray: You might not feel the same way if you didn’t have the best year, but I’ve shared this a little bit in my solo episodes. I had really an incredible year of creative output and experiences. You know, a TED Talk has been on my list for over a decade to become a TED Talk speaker. And I was almost feeling so remote and I was even wondering if it was still a goal for me. And I almost crossed it off of my bucket list, but I left it on there. And lo and behold, a book came out of me, a book that I finished called the Antidote to Fear, about my journey as an entrepreneur and a single mom of two.
• 0:01:46 Kris Murray: And if you haven’t picked that up, you can get a copy on Amazon. People are loving it. So I’m grateful that people are being impacted and inspired by it. And with that book, I pulled a few nuggets out of it and crafted a TED Talk which is going to be released here shortly in the next, hopefully week or two. So that’s a little bit about what I’m doing. I was just very, very grateful. Also, I got engaged in 2025, met the man of my dreams, and we are planning our wedding for late June this year.
• 0:02:17 Kris Murray: So I’m into my bridal season and loving that as a 59 year old, this will be my second marriage. I’ve been single for a while, let’s see, about a decade. So I hope that you’re doing great. And let’s learn about our guest today, Megan Faring. Megan has two teenagers herself and she is the regional director, one of her regionals at Hamilton Heights CDC in the Omaha, Nebraska area. And if that sounds a little familiar to you? If you’re following the podcast, it should, because Back at episode 202, we spoke to Megan’s owner, Adrian Agala, which was an outstanding episode full of writer downers. And this one is the same.
• 0:03:05 Kris Murray: We are talking to Megan because she’s an excellent regional director. She leads with clay. Playful leadership is her game, but she’s also focused on. She’s solely focused on compliance, process improvement, documentation, and operational consistency across all the six sites of Hamilton Heights. And so in most childcare organizations, the org chart is having the regionals focused more geographically.
• 0:03:36 Kris Murray: They might have two or three or four centers that they’re responsible for everything at versus dividing up your regionals into lanes or areas of focus. And so this is that model. And so we wanted to dive in and learn more about that so you could potentially adopt that or just lean into something different. I called this episode Stamp youp Center’s Footprint in the Community because that’s exactly what Megan and her team is doing.
• 0:04:04 Kris Murray: She is using community branding and community events to gain recognition and brand awareness in the community. She is using, as I mentioned, really fun leadership. Things like Christmas in July and inflatable Santas. And she’s known for wearing inflatable costumes is one of her things. So that always makes her team laugh and have fun, and they love it. She came up through the ranks at Hamilton Heights, and she was the manager of special projects for a while because I think Adrienne wanted to keep her on the team but didn’t know exactly where to put her.
• 0:04:44 Kris Murray: And then she grew into regional director. So you’re going to fall in love with Megan just as much as I did. She’s just. She’s like a quiet storm, and I love it. I love her energy. So let’s dive in and meet Megan without any further ado, and thanks for tuning in to the podcast, guys, here at Child Care Rockstar Radio. Let’s go. Hey, folks, welcome back to the podcast. I am very excited to introduce to you today my guest, Megan Fairing. Megan, how are you today?
• 0:05:19 Megan Ferring: I’m well, thank you.
• 0:05:19 Kris Murray: And yourself doing fantastic. Megan is a regional director at Hamilton Heights Child Development center in the Omaha, Nebraska area. Welcome to the show and tell us a little bit about you. How long have you been in the early childhood field? And just give us a little bit of your. Of your background.
• 0:05:40 Megan Ferring: Yeah, thanks for having me. So I started in early childhood working at a child care center in high school, and I did that until I was ready to start college. And when I started College. I started working on my degree in elementary education and that was right about the time that Common Core came into play. And I just felt in my heart that that wasn’t really where I wanted to land. I wanted to do more with the youngers and learning through play and things like that.
• 0:06:09 Megan Ferring: So I found my way to Hamilton Heights and I have been with the company a little over 16 years now.
• 0:06:15 Kris Murray: Wow. So that’s very cool that you joined them right out of college, it sounds like. And you’ve been with them for your whole career so far?
• 0:06:24 Megan Ferring: Yes, I joined one year after college. I was working some retail prior to that through schooling. But yeah, they’ve been my, my home.
• 0:06:33 Kris Murray: Nice. And for those followers of the podcast, we somewhat recently, about three or four months ago, had the owner of Hamilton Heights, Adrienne Agula on the show and she was fantastic, had a lot of fun on that episode. And so Megan is here to talk about her experience as a regional and, and she is compliance focused and she’s helping with these roles for all six centers. You heard it with Adrienne’s story, how she, she grew to six centers.
• 0:07:02 Kris Murray: And so we’re going to talk about that and we’re going to talk about all the things related to leadership in a, in an ECE setting. So tell us a little bit more about your home life, Megan, and if you have any children or any on the way or what’s, what’s going on, any hobbies, just tell us more about you at home. Yeah.
• 0:07:23 Megan Ferring: So I have a husband who I have been married to for 18 years and together we have a 17 year old son who’s getting ready to graduate in May.
• 0:07:34 Kris Murray: Wow.
• 0:07:34 Megan Ferring: And also a 12 year old son who is finishing up his last year in elementary school. So May is a big, big time for our family. Coming up with transitions. Yeah, we love to go camping together as a whole unit. We have some four wheelers and side by sides and golf carts and things like that. So when time allows, we like to go down to our camper and spend some time on the Platte River.
• 0:08:01 Kris Murray: Love it. I love the outdoorsy component. I’m into all that stuff myself, as you may know. So very cool. You look very young, so I thought maybe you would be a younger mom, but it’s so, it’s, it’s hard for me to believe that you have a 17 year old. So you look so young. So way to go.
• 0:08:19 Megan Ferring: Thank you.
• 0:08:20 Kris Murray: Yeah, love it. That’s very, very cool. Let’s talk a little bit about your journey into the role of Regional, because you’ve been, you know, with Adrienne and her team. And so. Because you didn’t start that way, I’m sure. Right. So talk about, talk about how you stepped into that role and what your journey has been. Yeah.
• 0:08:43 Megan Ferring: So when I was first hired at Hamilton Heights, it was under a different owner. And I started out as a preschool teacher and I did that for several years and then transitioned to a toddler teacher. And that was shortly before Adrienne came into the picture and took over ownership of Hamilton Heights. And once she did, she obviously had bigger plans of growing and things like that and really poured into wanting to cultivate a leadership team based on who was already vested in the company.
• 0:09:16 Megan Ferring: So an opportunity presented itself for me to move locations. At that time, it was just three centers that Hamilton Heights had. And I moved over to a different location as part time assistant director and then part time classroom teacher and probably about two years or so in that role. Her first baby came to our Lincoln center and she approached me and asked me if I would want to go and be the director of that location.
• 0:09:50 Megan Ferring: And that location is about an hour and 15 minute drive from where I’m located. So that took a lot of thought. But I also didn’t want to squander my chances of being able to grow in my role. So of course I said yes. That was February 1st of 2020 is when we took that over.
• 0:10:09 Kris Murray: Wow.
• 0:10:10 Megan Ferring: So shortly after Covid came in. And it was really bizarre driving down every day on an interstate that was empty and just really surreal. And that came with its own challenges. And eventually we hired a director that was local to Lincoln. And so my trips down there were still necessary, but became less frequent as we transitioned into that employee having full ownership as the director of that location.
• 0:10:43 Megan Ferring: And then that just kind of left a hole of, okay, now what? What with Megan, like, we don’t want to just let it go, you know, find something for her to do. So I became director of Special Projects and I just kind of dabbled in different things, whether it was assisting in process writing or working with hiring, things like that. And it really allowed me to learn a vast set of skills. And then as she built the fifth location and renovated the sixth location, I had a pivotal role in that, from working with architects to buying supplies, buying furniture, creating those lists, and then, you know, going in and checking, how are things coming?
• 0:11:31 Megan Ferring: What do you need from us? That kind of stuff. So it really has given me a great opportunity to just really grow in my role.
• 0:11:41 Kris Murray: Yeah, I love the manager of Special projects role, because it allows you to learn a ton and touch all the different pieces of the business and then see opportunities where other people might not be seeing those opportunities because they just aren’t, you know, don’t have that vision. Vision of that moment. So that’s.
• 0:11:59 Megan Ferring: That’s right. And one thing that I’ve recognized about myself is I’m just a lifelong learner. Like, that fuels me. So being able to do that and put it into my toolkit is just great.
• 0:12:12 Kris Murray: So how long have you been in the regional director role?
• 0:12:16 Megan Ferring: So the regional director role, I have been in 2, 2 and a half ish years. So that came about right as we opened our fifth and sixth center, and my region then became the Lincoln center that we acquired and then the remodel and the build center, because all of those centers were working for the same goal. Building enrollment, getting our, you know, our name known in the community, and things like that.
• 0:12:47 Megan Ferring: So that role looked different than the regional director for our three existing centers because we already had our name established.
• 0:12:57 Kris Murray: So when it came to that role, with growth and enrollment and marketing, what did you learn? What were some gems that you picked up that helped spur the enrollment for those locations? What were some best practices or things that were working for you as you learned and got and dove into that role?
• 0:13:15 Megan Ferring: Yeah, I think the big thing to learn in all of this is that it’s important that you put your footprint in the community, the community that you’re serving. And in some areas, that’s a slower uptick than what you’d like to see. But first, to build that enrollment, you have to have name and brand recognition. So what are those things that you’re doing that allow that to happen? So Hamilton Heights becomes a house name.
• 0:13:43 Kris Murray: Yes. So what are some of the things that you did in the community? Marketing aspect. I mean, of course, with regard to branding and getting your name in the households in those communities, does anything stand out with, you know, whether you were in the parades or you went to parent events and had tables or just what are some of the things that you tried?
• 0:14:06 Megan Ferring: Yeah. So we still to this day do what we call yellow boxes. And that’s basically what you guys talk about when you say muffin runs. Yeah, we just fill them with different things and hit different occasions. Adrian also runs Milton’s Amazing Kitchen as our catering partner, and so we leverage their help to make different special treats. This past week was World Kindness Day, so we delivered little mini hand pies out to the community.
• 0:14:37 Megan Ferring: So being able to utilize their skill set to Assist us. We’ve done parades. We’re also very active in different early childhood community partnerships, especially in Lincoln. So that helps get our name out, especially down there. Mm.
• 0:14:56 Kris Murray: So the brand color, I’m assuming, is yellow. So you have yellow boxes.
• 0:15:01 Megan Ferring: Yellow.
• 0:15:01 Kris Murray: Okay. And so that becomes known as a thing. That’s right, the yellow boxes. So that’s got brand recognition related to brand colors. So I love that you’re tying it into holidays and. Or what we call oddball holidays. So World Kindness Day being an example of a lesser known holiday, but there’s lots of those out. National Siblings Day talk like a pirate day, and we could go on and on. So I love that you’re tying that in.
• 0:15:32 Kris Murray: Very, very cool. Anything else that comes to mind with. So how did you do. I mean, focus on enrollment? How were your results? How did you do it, growing the enrollment in those schools?
• 0:15:42 Megan Ferring: I would say that overall it’s been a slow build in any of those three, depending on what year. We’re talking about our 86 and cast location. That one has been a quicker build just because there are centers around the area that unfortunately have had to close. But when you do that, you get the influx of families that are struggling to find immediate care.
• 0:16:06 Kris Murray: Yes.
• 0:16:06 Megan Ferring: So that has helped fill us in that location specifically.
• 0:16:11 Kris Murray: Yeah. I mean, we’re in an interesting season in the child care industry right now where we are in a slower build of enrollment and we’re having people’s enrollments dropping as well and sometimes unpredictably. And because of inflationary pressures, families. Today’s families are opting to stay home more than probably families in the 90s and 2000s. So it’s an interesting time. So you guys may have experienced some of that as well.
• 0:16:44 Kris Murray: We have, yeah. So it’s just a matter of, I guess, keeping your nose to the grindstone and continuing to try and test and do all the things that we teach you guys in the academy and what you’re learning from other people.
• 0:16:56 Megan Ferring: People.
• 0:16:57 Kris Murray: Because the people that can stick. Stick through this season will. Will win, you know, because at some point the market’s going to recorrect.
• 0:17:06 Megan Ferring: Right. And I think the important piece of that, too, is remembering or re. Centering back on what you feel your quality programming is and your unique benefits.
• 0:17:18 Kris Murray: Yes.
• 0:17:18 Megan Ferring: To use that as leverage to help you gain that enrollment and maintain that enrollment as the times are difficult and once the market flips.
• 0:17:29 Kris Murray: Yes, completely agree. And people that lose focus on the unique benefits and that messaging, that differentiation, messaging, they lose can lose enrollments because they forget to Continue to marketing to their existing families too. So I love. I love all of this. This is really important stuff to talk about right now. So then you shifted out of that growth or build focus for those three centers and you became more of the. You. She like reorganized you guys a little bit. So you now you’re focused on all six centers, but you have specific lanes of your strengths or what your focus is. What’s your focus right now is compliance and process.
• 0:18:09 Megan Ferring: That’s right.
• 0:18:10 Kris Murray: Right. So talk a little bit about what you do now in a typical day versus what you used to do. And just some of the things that you do that are your, you know, getting into the whole compliance piece. Like do you have software that you use to assist you with these things and how do you continue to try to improve the compliance in the process, like consistency across the sites of operations, all that kind of stuff. So just talk more about what that role looks like and what you do on a typical week.
• 0:18:41 Megan Ferring: Yeah, so this role is actually really new. It was mentioned the week after summit. So I. I’ve been in about five weeks, six weeks or so. Wow.
• 0:18:51 Kris Murray: Okay.
• 0:18:53 Megan Ferring: But it’s been going really well. And there’s still. I feel like I have a lot to learn about what Adrian is looking for and what best serves our company. But right now what I’ve been focusing on is going into the centers and making sure that they are following our SOPs that have been written and checking for compliance on that. I’ve also been checking staff files and ensuring that they are in compliance as well.
• 0:19:28 Megan Ferring: One tool that I’ve used that has really helped me with that piece is bamboohr. They have a phenomenal reporting structure that I can build reports based on what exactly I’m looking for, not only in one specific center, but across the entire company. And then I can tailor it and customize it to share with specific locations or with Adrian or our executive team. So that’s been really helpful. It also has alerts. We have trainings that expire every five years.
• 0:20:02 Megan Ferring: I can set up in the training tab what those training requirements are and the names of the trainings. And then as that comes up for an expired date, it does send the directors an email saying, hey, this person’s going to expire within the next 90 days. And that’s a new feature that we just started as I’ve moved into this role. But I do think that that’s going to serve us very well in the future as we come up on those trainings expiring.
• 0:20:33 Kris Murray: That’s super helpful. Is that that’s being done through Bamboohr too.
• 0:20:37 Megan Ferring: Yes.
• 0:20:38 Kris Murray: Cool. Love that. Do you sometimes feel, I know this is a new role for you, but do you sometimes feel like when you walk in that people are like, oh, Megan’s here. Get your stuff together, guys. Like, oh, like, do you feel like the police a little bit?
• 0:20:55 Megan Ferring: I. I hope that I don’t ever feel that way.
• 0:20:58 Kris Murray: Yeah.
• 0:20:59 Megan Ferring: Because anybody who truly knows me knows that that is, like the last thing I want anybody to feel about me. But I do think it’s been good. And so far I’ve been met with smiles, so I hope that continues.
• 0:21:11 Kris Murray: Okay, good. I’m glad. Yeah. I’m sure that it will. I mean, you’re just there to help and you’re there to really. It’s like in the best interest of the child and the family and each other. You know, from a team’s perspective, like, we want to make sure that everybody’s pulling their weight and properly following process so that everybody can be on a team and support each other with best practices, you know, so nobody gets caught with their proverbial pants down.
• 0:21:41 Kris Murray: That’s right. And then get licensing violations too. So that all goes hand in hand.
• 0:21:46 Megan Ferring: Right. And the goal is that any licensing violation that may come up would be caught with me going in and doing these compliance checks prior to it becoming an issue. So.
• 0:21:58 Kris Murray: Cool. I forgot to ask you what your fun fact was. Do you have a fun fact that you’d like to share about yourself? Not that many people know about you.
• 0:22:07 Megan Ferring: Yeah. So I am actually very, very shy. And growing up, I would not even call and order a pizza over the telephone, let alone answer the door when it was delivered. I would make other people do it. And this last year, I actually got on stage twice at Masterminds to present, so. So it’s just really speaking to the growth that I have done in my adulthood.
• 0:22:33 Kris Murray: That’s awesome. Yeah. I was a shy kid, too. I never liked to get on the telephone. I was always as a. As a young teen. I kind of broke out of that in high school more. But yeah, definitely when I was the 13 year old me. No way. It’s not happening. I love that. Yeah.
• 0:22:49 Megan Ferring: I would say mine lasted even through college. Yeah. Oh, yeah.
• 0:22:53 Kris Murray: Huh. I get that. I totally get that. My daughter’s kind of like that too. So kudos to you for getting on stage and presenting talks at the Academy. How are you liking your. Your friendships that you’re making? What’s your. What’s your favorite part about being in the team program in the Academy.
• 0:23:11 Megan Ferring: I think that in that team room something special happens where you. And honestly, in the main room too, you don’t feel alone. Right. Like you’re hearing that people are struggling with the same issues you are and it makes you feel better.
• 0:23:30 Kris Murray: Yeah.
• 0:23:31 Megan Ferring: And that you’re not, you’re not in it alone.
• 0:23:34 Kris Murray: Yes. Yeah. It can be very lonely for owners and for regional and executive directors for sure. And directors, they’re all difficult jobs dealing with lots of different stakeholders, parents of young children, you know, not, definitely not easy to manage or please. And then we get into that whole people pleasing thing and that’s, you know, can, can be unhealthy. So I love that you said that because that camaraderie, that community, that tribe, that belonging, that having someplace to vent and someplace to ask questions, like I’m dealing with this issue, is anybody else dealing with this?
• 0:24:15 Kris Murray: And just having that is so valuable. So thanks for sharing that and always.
• 0:24:20 Megan Ferring: Coming back with something that you can take action on that’s different than anything that you’ve maybe tried before.
• 0:24:28 Kris Murray: Yeah. Yeah. Cool. Love it. Let’s talk about the playful leadership component. So talk to me about ways that you get into the play side and how you have fun with your team and how you show up in that way.
• 0:24:44 Megan Ferring: That is probably one of my favorite things, honestly, about being a leader. So I, I have ordered multiple blow up inflatable costumes that I put on and roam the halls of our centers or make silly marketing videos. Christmas in July, I was a blow up Santa with a flamingo and you know, based, based a marketing ad off of that. The kids love when I go out onto the playground and they’ll blow up inflatable costumes.
• 0:25:18 Megan Ferring: Last year at one of our centers, I pretended like I was elf on the shelf and they hid pictures that had been laminated around the building of me. And as staff found it, they were able to come in and collect a prize. And so just finding ways like that to make your staff smile, I mean all of our jobs are difficult and when we can smile together and laugh together, it does something one for the culture, but just lifting your heart up too.
• 0:25:48 Kris Murray: Yeah, I love that when you said that because my kids, we did elf on the shelf for their whole childhood and my daughter still gets the elf out. She’s 20 and she pretends like, you know, and so we. And then he goes around and yeah, somebody, yeah, Elfie does move and Elfie is still watching for any bad behavior he’s going to report back to Santa. So it kind of inspired me when you said That I don’t know if we’re going to do any academy parties that are holiday themed in the future, but I would like to be elf on the shelf one of these years and like create a little shelf for my bud and.
• 0:26:28 Megan Ferring: Oh, that’s fun and that fun.
• 0:26:30 Kris Murray: So, yeah, maybe, maybe we can do a few of us can be elves on the shelf together or something. Yes, that’s fun.
• 0:26:35 Megan Ferring: Yeah, I might have to bring that in this year in some capacity.
• 0:26:38 Kris Murray: Yeah. Yeah. Very cool. I love that. Well, I love the playful leadership piece. Recently had Rachel Zupala on the podcast and she did a book and a TED talk all about her magic playful leadership like, platform and how she does that with her team. So I love that. What else would you like to share about being on a leadership team that is growing, learning, adapting, changing, you know, working with Adrienne, working with the other leaders?
• 0:27:10 Kris Murray: Any fun things that you guys do as leadership teams that you want to share or just anything about your experience on this team?
• 0:27:16 Megan Ferring: Yeah, I think one thing that sticks out is in a leadership role, you have so many different personalities, and it can be really hard to accommodate all of those personalities and make them feel valued in what’s meaningful to them. So one of the things that we have started doing is every onboarding packet does contain the love languages or workplace appreciation. And I have made it my mission to have that for the leadership staff.
• 0:27:55 Megan Ferring: So I know how to appreciate each one of my fellow team members in the ways that speak best to them. And I think that’s really important. And I feel like those people who adopt a practice similar to that can help mitigate any issues from big to small, when you’re speaking how your staff feel valued.
• 0:28:23 Kris Murray: I love that you brought that up because so many things we’ve shared in the academy over the years, and I forget sometimes the things that have been really impactful. And that is one of them. The five languages of appreciation in the workplace. Book the assessment. Having your people take it and then actually using what the language the love language is for that employee is phenomenal because also it shows that you took the time to ask and then you actually listened and then you acted on the result, which just is like an extra level of caring and listening. People, I think, really respond to that, especially women, I’ll say, in the workplace. So I love that that you guys are using that so actively.
• 0:29:08 Kris Murray: So for anybody that kind of forgot about that one, because there’s a lot in the, you know, over the years in the academy, we’ve shared so many books, resources, assessments Ideas, and sometimes they can get, you know, forgotten because we’re doing so much so that that is a valuable one to pick back up again. So thanks for sharing that. What is a challenge that you face? What’s the time when you just felt really, you were really struggling or overwhelmed or had to overcome a big challenge? And how did you overcome it?
• 0:29:40 Megan Ferring: Yeah, I think for me, being such a shy person and an introvert, anytime there’s a conflict, it just bubbles up. All these sleepless nights questioning, am I the right person for the role? And over the years, I’ve just learned, like, dig deep, you’ve got this, you can handle it. And most often, you’re not walking through the fire alone. And I feel like that’s something. Our leadership team is very strong in that at the end of the day, we all support each other and we’re all there for each other, whatever that looks like, given the situation.
• 0:30:26 Megan Ferring: And we’ll hold hands, walk through the fire, and we’ll come out on the other side better for it.
• 0:30:32 Kris Murray: Love that. Have you guys utilized your core values a lot in building your culture or what do you do? What are some of the tools that you use to keep your culture strong?
• 0:30:46 Megan Ferring: So I think that that is very location dependent on whether or not they leverage into core values what I do specifically, and it’s obviously accessible to other members of the team, but we have core value cards, and on the backside, it’s like you rocked by using our core value, and then you’re able to write a note for what you saw them doing that exhibited the core value. So that in hand with the playful leadership idea, I feel like just goes leaps and bounds.
• 0:31:24 Megan Ferring: Culture’s hard sometimes, especially in this industry, when there’s not often opportunity to mingle because you should be focused on the children in your care and building that relationship. So finding those playful moments and those opportunities to just kind of drop little culture events or challenges or activities throughout the day.
• 0:31:52 Kris Murray: Well, and those things, I mean, I love that you have the playful side and the culture, you know, that warm, loving side, because that helps people want to follow the checklist. Right. So you’re doing process and compliance. And without the culture piece, it can get, you know, very onerous. It can get very not positive that people can be like, oh, this place just wants me to follow the checklist, and I get dinged when I don’t.
• 0:32:24 Kris Murray: And so leading by culture and by values is helping you give people.
• 0:32:30 Megan Ferring: I think the other.
• 0:32:31 Kris Murray: Go ahead.
• 0:32:32 Megan Ferring: Important piece is that for myself, I am very much a servant leader. I’M not going to ask you to do anything that I’m not willing to do myself. And I make sure that that is on display when opportunity presents itself, when I’m inside of buildings, because there’s no reason that because of my title, I’m not doing something that I’m asking you to do. And I think that goes a long way in building rapport.
• 0:33:03 Kris Murray: Yes, for sure. And it also can help with having people just feel more empowered.
• 0:33:10 Megan Ferring: That’s right.
• 0:33:11 Kris Murray: So very cool. How do you define a child care rock star?
• 0:33:18 Megan Ferring: I would define a child’s care rock star as somebody who wakes up each day knowing that it is their mission to change the lives of children and families that they serve on a daily basis, whether that’s through large actions or small actions, processes or procedures. You know, I. It’s just important that in the roles that we are privileged to be in, we put those things first.
• 0:33:56 Kris Murray: Do you ever see examples of team members going above and beyond and how do you reward that behavior? In other words, how do you bring into your culture that spirit of excellent service or going above and beyond for families or children?
• 0:34:14 Megan Ferring: I think we’re privileged to see that a lot, honestly. And we have a variety of different ways to call that out, whether it’s location based or through the company as a larger whole. Adrienne’s really good about publishing a State of the Company every quarter, and she uses that to call out celebrations and wins within the team so that all of our locations are able to. To hear the wins because we don’t have an opportunity to get together often.
• 0:34:50 Megan Ferring: She also has created something we call the Hammy Awards. And so when we get together for In Service, it’s all six locations together, and directors and staff members can nominate people that they feel exhibit our core values. So being able to call that out in person, too, is a great way at building that culture.
• 0:35:12 Kris Murray: The Hammy Awards.
• 0:35:13 Megan Ferring: Yes.
• 0:35:14 Kris Murray: So, yeah, I just keep digging because there’s just more gold in there, I swear to God. I mean, you guys are just an amazing, shining example of excellence. And I’m so glad that she nominated you to be on the podcast.
• 0:35:31 Megan Ferring: Yes.
• 0:35:31 Kris Murray: Because there’s so much. Yeah, there’s so much there that what you guys are doing, it just continues to amaze me. I’m. I’m. The State of the Company newsletter I didn’t even know about. I got to see a copy of that thing because I’m sure it’s awesome. And the fact that she’s basically making like many celebrities of the team members by putting Them in the newsletter and then the Hammy Awards. I mean, this is celebritizing.
• 0:35:57 Kris Murray: Great, great service, great behavior, you know, cultural behavior.
• 0:36:02 Megan Ferring: Right.
• 0:36:02 Kris Murray: Really cool. Love, love, love. Okay, well, I guess I’ll have to have you on the podcast one more time. Somebody else from the team will have to come on so I can keep digging at all the good stuff that you guys are doing. This has been great. Anything else that, as we come to a close, Megan, that you want to share with the audience? What didn’t I ask you that I should have asked you.
• 0:36:26 Megan Ferring: Maybe the number one lesson that I’ve learned.
• 0:36:28 Kris Murray: All right. What’s the number?
• 0:36:30 Megan Ferring: And I see you’ve learned that. That is. It took me a long time to learn it, but now that I’ve learned it, it definitely has made an impact that not everybody has the same heart and drive that I do. And that’s okay. It’s what sets me apart.
• 0:36:48 Kris Murray: Interesting. So I’m sure there can be feelings, some kind of feeling, some kind of way about, you know, like this player doesn’t. Isn’t playing as hard as me or, you know, those, all of those emotions. But it sounds like you’ve come to acceptance around that. Yeah.
• 0:37:10 Megan Ferring: And I think it’s not just in work. Right. Personal life too.
• 0:37:15 Kris Murray: Yeah.
• 0:37:15 Megan Ferring: And that if what other people do, they feel like they’re giving their best, that’s. That’s on them.
• 0:37:23 Kris Murray: Right.
• 0:37:24 Megan Ferring: And at the end of the day, I need to be able to look at myself and say I know that I put in my full potential and that I didn’t leave anything on the table.
• 0:37:35 Kris Murray: Yeah. Yeah. Your journey is your journey and their journey is their journey.
• 0:37:39 Megan Ferring: That’s right.
• 0:37:41 Kris Murray: So love that. Wow. Well, this has been an amazing conversation. Thank you so much for being here today on the podcast. Megan Fairing, Omaha, Nebraska. Love it. 17 year old, a 12 year old. Lots of fun changes ahead for you this spring. Yes.
• 0:38:01 Megan Ferring: Some that I’m emotional about for sure.
• 0:38:03 Kris Murray: I am sure. I have been there. I hosted my daughter’s graduation party with three other families. It was a four girl high school graduation party and we had like, I don’t know, probably 200 people here. But just embrace it, have fun with it, have a good old time and. But yes, you will get emotional, but.
• 0:38:22 Megan Ferring: That’S okay, I’m sure, because I’ve already been there a couple times.
• 0:38:26 Kris Murray: Yes. Yeah. Yeah. Well, thank you so much again for being here. Big blessings to you. Shout out to Hamilton Heights everybody who’s gotten a Hammy award and even those who haven’t. Yours is coming up.
• 0:38:39 Megan Ferring: Their time is coming.
• 0:38:41 Kris Murray: That’s right. Their time is coming. And you know, all the families that are impacted by these six schools, I’m thinking about all the children running in and out of the day and it just gives me chills. And I just love it so much in the heartland of America. Very, very cool. Thanks for tuning in, guys again to another amazing episode of Child Care Rockstar Radio. And we will see you next time. God bless.
• 0:39:10 Kris Murray: I hope you liked this episode of.
• 0:39:12 Kris Murray: Child Care Rockstar Radio.
• 0:39:14 Kris Murray: If you did, please leave a review and share it with someone you know to help spread 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. 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.
• 0:39:40 Kris Murray: To watch my new video, just go to www.fixmyschool.
• 0:39:46 Megan Ferring: Com.
• 0:39:47 Kris Murray: That’s FixMySchool. Com. Thanks. Take care and God bless.