As early childhood education providers, your jobs including serving many people, including children and families. But too often, you don't pour enough back into yourselves ... and that's where burnout comes from, says Anisha Angella, founder of the The Early Childhood Coach.
In this podcast, Anisha walks us through the roots of burnout and gives tips on how to stop teacher burnout from starting. She explains there are 12 steps that happen before burnout in ece begins and how to recognize the first steps so it doesn't progress. She also explains that burnout is experienced differently among people, including in ways like trouble sleeping or physical pain.
For more about Anisha and her work, visit her website at www.anishatheecc.com or check her out on her many social media platforms, including her Instagram page!
As early childhood education providers, your jobs including serving many people, including children and families. But too often, you don't pour enough back into yourselves ... and that's where burnout comes from, says Anisha Angella, founder of the The Early Childhood Coach.
In this podcast, Anisha walks us through the roots of burnout and gives tips on how to stop teacher burnout from starting. She explains there are 12 steps that happen before burnout in ece begins and how to recognize the first steps so it doesn't progress. She also explains that burnout is experienced differently among people, including in ways like trouble sleeping or physical pain.
For more about Anisha and her work, visit her website at www.anishatheecc.com or check her out on her many social media platforms, including her Instagram page!
Welcome to the Childcare Business Podcast, brought to you by ProCare Solutions. This podcast is all about giving childcare , preschool, daycare, after school , and other early education professionals. A fun and upbeat way to learn about strategies and inspiration you can use to thrive. You'll hear from a variety of childcare thought leaders, including educators, owners, and industry experts on ways to innovate, to meet the needs of the children you serve . From practical tips for managing operations to uplifting stories of transformation and triumph, this podcast will be chock full of insights you can use to fully realize the potential of your childcare business. Let's jump in.
Speaker 2:Welcome everybody. Back to the , uh, childcare Business Podcast. Uh, I'm Ryan Watney , uh, vice President of Sales here at ProCare, and really excited about today's show. Um, I'm just gonna jump right into it. Uh, I want to introduce everybody to Anisha Angela , uh, she's with us today. You're gonna learn a lot about Anisha's background and the work that she's currently doing, but , uh, she's kind of a triple threat. She's an entrepreneur. She's an early childhood coach, an educator. She's also , uh, an author of a children's book. So we'll talk a little bit , uh, about that. And, you know, just excited to talk about anisha's expertise in our space. Specifically, we're gonna spend some time talking about , uh, topics around staffing, which continues to be a theme , uh, and a trend that , uh, we continue to see come up in our space. And, and Anisha comes to us with a lot of experience in the industry. You know, many years in Cedar Senior Leadership for Large Childcare program running multiple low C locations , uh, across North America. And so, you know , I think it's gonna be a valuable conversation. I'm excited to dive into it. I think it's relevant , uh, to what many in our audience are experiencing in the industry right now. So , um, let's get started. Anisha , welcome to the show.
Speaker 3:Hello, Ryan. Thank you so much for having me . Yes, I'm all the way in Canada, but as we were saying earlier, early childhood speaks the same language everywhere we go. <laugh>,
Speaker 2:It certainly does. There is a , a , a language. It's not different dialects. You're not like traveling different countries where people are saying things we don't understand. There's a lot of commonality no matter where you are. And, and, and I think, you know, to the point that I mentioned even in the bio Anisha , like the things that I, I know that your company and your group is focused on and what you're hearing from your customers is certainly relevant, you know, to what we see and hear with our customers as well. I did wanna, I always try to talk with guests a little bit before we jump into maybe some of the topics of the show. I'd love to introduce you to, you know, the ProCare family and the ProCare network. Can you talk a little bit about who Anisha Angela is, how you got your start doing, what you're doing now and, and maybe anything else that you think is, is relevant.
Speaker 3:Oh, awesome. You know what, I always have to ask myself, who is Anisha , Angela? I need to ask myself. But anyways, Anisha Angela is a very proud early childhood educator. I've been in the industry for going on 15 plus years, maybe a little more. I tell people I like to stop at 15 'cause we don't wanna age myself, but I've been in the field for quite some time. Played every role. I've worked in the classroom with infants, toddlers, preschoolers, you name it, school age. Um, I've done the leadership thing, actually majority of my time in the field has been within leadership. So, you know, being a supervisor, assistant supervisor, a director. And then as you mentioned, I did some , uh, corporate leadership where I was overseeing 50 childcare centers , uh, for a corporate center. And that's where I really, you know, developed a love for professional education, talking about the real stuff in early education that we don't get to talk about. And that's where my business, the early childhood coach was born. So the early childhood coach is all about just having that coach in your pocket, having that individual to pep talk . You walk you through some of the , uh, ups and downs in the journeys that happen in ECE , um, with our team. So I have a team of eight. We are , um, all early childhood educators except for one , um, which is our marketing director, but he's learning as we go. Um, and we do professional education, consulting, coaching, you name it, to serve the early childhood community. So it came from a heart of just seeing a need for educators and directors and leaders just needing somebody to continue to change , cheer them on and, and have all the great stuff going. So yeah, that's a little bit about me, <laugh>.
Speaker 2:Yeah. Uh , did , did you always know that you wanted to be a teacher or an educator? Like when you rewind to like Anisha as, I don't know, young adult going through school, maybe even as a child, was this like something that was always a passion of yours or something you, you more stumbled into out of , um, you know, just opportunity?
Speaker 3:Oh, you know what, I think all , most of us educators have that story where we're like lining up dolls and we are teaching the doll. So I have one of those unique stories. But what's interesting is throughout my time, before it became an easy , I kind of ran from it. I can't even lie, I kind of ran from it. I went into nursing for a little bit. I went into , no offense to the nurses, you guys do amazing work, but I ran into different professions and it always brought me back to the children. Um, so yeah, I definitely knew deep in my heart, my parents knew deep in my heart that I, I always wanted to be an educator, but I just never thought it would come to this area of what I'm doing now. But yes, it's always been in my bones and in my DNA <laugh>.
Speaker 2:Yeah, you are right. We've heard that story. Like when I, when we talk with other guests or when we talk with our customers, you know, that story of like, when I was a kid, I had all my siblings and cousins in the neighborhood, kids around, and I was the one that was like, up in front just kind of leading and teaching all the kids . Like you said, you referenced dolls, but we hear that story, whether it's dolls or siblings or neighborhood kids, there is definitely , uh, it seems to be a pattern of that presents itself early for, you know, individuals like yourself who become teachers. And then, you know, I know it sounds you like you started as a teacher, you worked your way through the different roles within a school, within a center, moved into senior leadership. But I am curious, 'cause I saw this as well, like there was a specific day, if I'm not mistaken, where you actually made the transition from. All right . I , I was maybe a little, I don't wanna say disillusioned, but I think I, I saw some things around being in leadership and feeling like, you know, I have these ideas and this passion to help, you know, other providers that was maybe not being fully utilized , uh, in your role in a , in a corporate setting. And there was literally a day, if I'm not mistaken, where, you know what, this is the day to launch into something new. Can you talk about that? Am I right? Was there a day and how did that happen? Oh,
Speaker 3:Yeah. Yes. You read me like a book, Ryan, you read me like a book. There was, there was several days, there was weeks, there was months <laugh> where I kind of was like, you know what? I wanna do something. But I think it definitely happened during my corporate role, as you've mentioned, where in my role I played a very, very dynamic role where I was sitting at the boardroom with the C-E-O-C-F-O , you know, vice president of the company talking about, you know, those higher level things , um, which are very important to the clients, the parents , all of that stuff, being sure that things are being done. But then also what was really dynamic about my role is I was also going to the locations, talking to the teachers, talking to the leaders, and you know, bringing the information back. And there's a little bit, there was a little bit of a disconnect between what the educators needed, what the leaders needed to be successful versus, you know, what the , uh, you know, corporate partners and, and individuals were really looking for. And it's no fault of the corporate partners because of course the clients are very important, like the parents are what keeps us going. But there was a little bit of a disconnect between that, and that's where the early childhood coach was born to be that connection between the two. So, you know, the corporate leaders might not have the time to sit down and train and go over and coach , um, but that's what their team needs. And that's where the early childhood coach came into play. And basically, I kind of fit the puzzle. That's what I tried to do. <laugh>.
Speaker 2:Yeah, you put the puzzle together. And was it, did I read that? It was right when, you know, we as a, as a, I guess as a world went into a pandemic, right? Like that day was significant. I don't know if it was because the, the organization where you're working at the time had to make significant changes and it just was a kind of a forced change for you. Or was it a decision or a combination? Can you speak to that and then maybe we'll get into your business and what you guys do.
Speaker 3:Oh, I love, I love the story. So , um, the world shut down, the world shut down, and we actually all got laid off. We all get laid off. I have to privy though that before I , um, you know, worked for that company, I always did professional education on the side. So on weekends I would do speaking engagements, evenings, I would, you know, pop in and do a little bit fa facilitation on the side, kind of stumbling in and out to see if this is something that I really wanted to do. But the world shut down and there was nothing but time. So in that time, yeah , I kind of got to work and said, you know what? Um, and I think , uh, I have a lot of conversations with other ECE entrepreneurs and I think , uh, something really remarkable happened during Covid and a lot of that was really taking a deep dive and reflection on , um, what we want to accomplish and what our legacy wants, what our legacy is, you know, as, you know, individuals in this world. And yes, it was at that moment when, you know, things were shut down. I always tell the story about, you know, I wasn't happy that things shut down, but I was like, I'm not actually that mad because it gives me an opportunity to kind of think about, you know, what my next steps were. And that's when I went full throttle into building the early childhood coach. Um, and you know , uh, they did ask me to come back when everything was better, but I was, I was okay. I was okay. Not only that, they're one of my clients. So my old corporate job is one of my clients. I go in and I do workshops for them. So , um, it all worked out for the good <laugh>.
Speaker 2:Yeah , that's an amazing story of being, you know, things coming full circle because, you know, as I read, you know, some of the, you information you , you know about you and doing a little bit of research for this conversation, it was, you know, I I got the sense that there was this real hunger within you to like, make a bigger impact and have your voice be heard. And that was one of the things that spurred you to, you know, step out and take the step of faith. But it's interesting to hear now, it's like now your voice is being heard within the four walls of that organization, but it took you taking a step away for that to happen, which is, you know, kind of a cool, like full circle story. Alright , other question before we talk a little bit about some of the staffing topics. Can you talk about the, the image behind you? And I don't know if people are gonna see this video on YouTube, but I do know this is associated with your book, if I'm not mistaken . So talk about, talk about like who that is behind you , if that, if it's, if there's a story behind it, and then maybe your book a little bit.
Speaker 3:Oh yes. You know, I forget that she's there. She's always looking out for me. So that is Zoe. So also during Covid , I also had a book idea in my head. So I just went really crazy during Covid and I decided to do everything. So , uh, the book is called Zoe has an Allergy, and it's all about a little one who is navigating anaphylactic food allergies. And , um, she's actually based on me, I'm anaphylactic to tree nuts . And you know, I always grew up , um, in life not being able to explain to my friends, you know, what's happening with my body when it comes to allergies, why I cannot eat that peanut butter sandwich, or whatever those aspects are. So, you know, I developed this children's book to talk about, you know, anaphylactic allergies, just kind of taking everybody through an empathetic story of what it is like for a child to discover they have allergies. And really by the end of that story, Zoe talks about how confident she is. 'cause that was also, even as an adult today, I still kind of struggle with my confidence. You know, when you go to a restaurant, you're like, okay, I can't have that. You know, just, I still struggle with that. And I, I realize that confidence building with children with allergies , um, really, really comes from when they are little, having those conversations around using your voice to advocate for yourself and for your body. So that's where Zoe has an allergy was born. Um, yeah. And that's the children's book that I wrote. So that's another part that's like a different part of the business that kind of comes together 'cause it's still children, but yes . So that's that <laugh>.
Speaker 2:Yeah. You're throwing it all out there. And, and , and I like, you know, the best stories are the ones that have a personal relevance and it comes from a place of like, you know, real strong understanding and experience. And , uh, what was the process of getting your book ? So you, you write a book, you're like, Hey , I haven't done this before. I'm starting a business. I might as well write a book. Um, you know, maybe I'll learn to fly a plane run merit . You just do it all right. Uh, but when you start to write a book, how did you find a publisher? Did you self-publish? And then is there, you know, a a promotional period after that that you went through? I'm sure it was a learning experience. I'm just curious if people listening maybe have ideas on this topic, how that looked for you.
Speaker 3:Yeah , so you know what, like many people that want to jump in to writing a book, a lot of us are scared of rejection. So I said, you know what, I do not wanna go the traditional route. And I went the self-publishing route, and usually there's like an underlining , um, uh, mindset when it comes to self-publishing that there's a lack in quality and all of that stuff as well. But with self-publishing, you have a lot more freedom to choose, you know, your illustrator, your editor, to build your, your passion into life. So it is a self-published book, but it's been traveling all over the world , um, with copies sold all over. So definitely if anybody's listening that wants to tap into self-publishing, it is definitely worth it. Um, as well as, you know, I think the most beautiful part, I always talk about how this book was more so selfishly for me to kind of fulfill that need of, you know, I wanna do a story about, you know, anaphylactic allergies, but the many parents and children that I connect with that just were looking for a story , uh, for a child to feel confident about their allergies, now parents are using this book as they're registering their child for childcare and their child has an allergy, they're putting the book in the bag. So here you go, read this to the class before my child gets there. Um, and using it as a resource and tool. And then that other part of, you know, DEII was, there are other allergy books out there, but none of them that looked like me. So that's why I went ahead and, you know, built this book. And , um, it's been doing wonders, which is great.
Speaker 2:Yeah, that's actually cool. I like how you said like, that's a great tool for a , a school, a center to use to educate a classroom and, you know, other students about, you know, an individual who has an allergy. What a, what a great idea. And, and I think, you know, I think it, it also to your point about, you know, taking the risk to write a book and trying things that had kind of been on your heart. I , that is a theme that I continue to hear as we talk with consultants and coaches and as they work with their clients. This idea of like, there's a lot of tactical pieces to being a coach. And I , and I want you to speak to this, a lot of strategic, you know, content of how I'm gonna come into a center and talk about building process or managing staff at marketing your business. But there's a lot of coaching on mindset. And so I think, you know, what I'm already hearing you say is, or at least what I'm seeing is you're modeling that mindset of you have to find confidence to fail, if that's what it is. Or at least confidence to take a step. So talk about when you started your business, like that mindset for you of transitioning to an entrepreneur and when you were building your business , talk about your focus, how you envision, like, what are we going to do and how are we gonna go find customers to help, if that makes sense.
Speaker 3:Yeah. You know what , um, so many things come to mind. I went through so many aspects, imposter syndrome, who am I to even think about, you know, starting a business? But you know what, I find that entrepreneurs are so important because we're solving problems. And I think when I started to envision that aspect into mindset of the early childhood coach being , um, you know , uh, a resolution to a consistent problem that we're seeing in ECE, that's what got me, you know, really, really in the level of seeing my business grow and support others. Um, so I think , uh, mindset is a huge, huge piece when you're moving into that world of entrepreneurship. But I think the way that I battle that and stay positive and stay focused is understanding the leverage and the, just the, the opportunity you have to make impact in that specific community. So I am an advocate for early childhood education. I live, breathe, and walk early childhood. My family knows every time I get , I was on the news the other day talking about early childhood, like I go really hard for early childhood education. Yeah . Um, but , uh, it really stems from knowing that you're impacting and solving an issue and a problem, and that's where you can really, really flourish and keep that mindset. And that's where basically the early childhood coaches born.
Speaker 2:Yeah. And so you guys, I I , I know we're gonna talk about staffing and you know, it's interesting, I , I don't know if this is a remnant from still some of the, you know, the pandemic time or if it was happening before or if it's a new challenge, but this, the theme of staff challenges. You know, there's the piece of finding enough staff and being able to equip the schools across, you know, our industry with enough really quality teachers and, and staff and team members to be a part of an organization , uh, is a huge challenge. And we continue to hear it. But, but you also have a different side of this conversation, maybe the same but different as well around the staff that are working in these centers and the impact that you're seeing to burnout. Can you, can you talk a little bit about, when you're talking about , um, to your clients about burnout? Define that for me and what are you hearing and what's the trend that you guys are seeing?
Speaker 3:Yeah, you know what, it's so interesting because burnout is not a new topic in early education. And I remember years and years ago, you know, working in the field, we were burning out at those times as well, but it became such a hush, hush conversation that you just show up, do what you have to do, deal whatever personal stuff afterwards. So now we're in this transition where mental health is a big conversation, how to support yourself. And I think it's beautiful that we're actually finally having these conversations about what burnout is and how it actually affects. So the fact that it's not, you know , um, new is a big part. The other aspect too is that educators are burning out left, right, and center multiple times as well. So, so many things are happening, but , um, and I know we'll dig a little bit deeper in, in the conversation when it comes to burnout, all of that stuff. But burnout is just a, the last place that you get in terms of physical, mental, spiritual , emotional exhaustion where you just feel like you cannot go on anymore. Um, and what is really interesting, and we'll talk a little bit about that as well, is that there are so many theories around burnout. Um, and one thing that I like to talk about on my platform and with my clients is that there's actually a whole 12 steps that happen before you get to burnout. And that's where we really wanna encourage educators and directors to really focus on, is that there's so many levels before you get to burnout syndrome and the conversation needs to be moved towards what are those first few steps that are happening to our educators that are bringing them to that level of burnout so we can stop it before it actually gets to a point of no , uh, turning back and stuff like that as well. So , um, that's the biggest aspect of what burnout is. And it's such an interesting area too, because we come from such a serving profession. We serve families, we serve children, we're serving the profession. So we're always in this mode of having to perform and, and provide , um, but we're not pouring back into ourselves. So that's exactly what's happening when it comes to burnout and ece.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it made me what , you already touched on this, but as you started to describe what you guys are seeing, you know, it made me immediately think like providers have to get in front of that because there's already the challenge of recruiting and finding, you know, teachers and staff. And so that's already a challenge. But if now we're having a challenge with our existing team members burning out, we've kind of doubled the challenge. Are there some things that you guys talk with your clients about in terms of being able to identify maybe some of the early warning signs before it becomes a problem? Anything you can speak to on that level?
Speaker 3:Yes, yes, yes. That's a topic I could go on about all day, but I'll give you a couple of things. So one thing I would say it's really important for owners, directors, providers to really focus on is the relationship building with your team from the very jump, because that's when you'll be able to observe changes in your team. What's happening is we're not seeing the changes that are happening with that particular person that makes you say, you know what, that person is actually acting a little bit different or they seem a little bit different. Right. And it's because we're not taking the chance to actually get a moment to learn and connect and build a relationship with them. So we could be more observant when they're getting there. Um, usually we're at a, we're at a phase where people are calling in sick more often, and it's kind of an annoyance on our end as providers and leaders because, you know, we have to make the staffing, but there's a reason why that's happening. So one of the key things I always tell, you know, leaders to take a look at is, you know, getting to know your team so you can understand and observe when there's changes that are happening. Um, another aspect is just having that real open door policy for communication so they feel comfortable to say when something is a little bit off. A lot of us, in a lot of educators that are in the field, they're kind of navigating the workplace in a sense where they don't have a space to have that conversation. So they battle it alone, which in turn , it kind of leaves us in the dark when things are starting to happen. When you open up that door, you get an opportunity to have those conversations to see if there was something you can do to help, or it kind of sets you up in a way where you can kind of make things work and make things change to solve the issue before it gets to a certain point. Um, so really relationship building and observing is a two key tools. I always tell, you know, my clients and my leaders to really look at when it turn comes to burnout for sure. For their teams.
Speaker 2:Yeah, that's good because I, I, I would think if, if, if a teacher, for example, who you know, is gonna call in sick, 'cause like you said, that's really difficult for owners and directors, now I'm having to shuffle things around to fill classrooms or I'm having to get pulled outta the office to be in the classroom. You know, if your staff understands if I can go talk to my director or the owner about how I'm feeling, you know, maybe that person can move some things around and repurpose some of my time because I'm burnout in the classroom, that's better for everybody. Nice . That we can work together on it. And so that communication piece, I think what I'm hearing you say is make sure that you have those relationships with your teachers so they don't feel like they just have to go take care of it themselves, you know? Right,
Speaker 3:Right.
Speaker 2:You can partner on it.
Speaker 3:Exactly. Exactly. And, and really a lot of educators don't even know they're burning out. That's the other aspect. They don't know. They just know that they don't wanna be there anymore. Right. Um, and another aspect, as I've mentioned as , as well before, is the fact that sometimes when you have that open door policy and that communication, you can kind of help them filter in what they can do to change. So one thing that comes up a lot is , uh, delegation in the classroom. Sometimes it's a matter of, you know, two teachers taking the full load, not sure how to communicate that with their partner in the classroom, but with a director or a leader is able to step in and kind of work with both of them. You've just alleviated a lot of that stress in that classroom, but that all comes from the communication piece.
Speaker 2:Yeah. Like that. Do you, do you guys recommend just as a, as double clicking on that a little bit with your clients? Is there a regular best practice of how you stay connected with your staff on those types of things? Like, is that like a, is it a weekly one-on-one where you're having, you know, connection with your teachers? Is it monthly? How frequently does that type of communication need to happen? Or is it different in every school? I'm just
Speaker 3:Curious . Absolutely. Absolutely. It's definitely different for every school 'cause it's not really a one size fits all approach when it comes to communication. But because every team has a different dynamic and operation, so I know a client that I have , they have , um, she's a director and she has a leadership team. So what I've encouraged her to do is break up the leadership team to do those monthly or biweekly check-ins with each classroom and bring the information back to her collectively. Some people don't have that pleasure of having a leadership team to send them out and do that, so they have to do that for themselves. So it's about understanding where you can have those communications and those, those meetings that meet , um, you know, what works for your center for sure. But definitely there should be a conversation happening at least monthly, even if it's just a huge group conversation at a team meeting or getting the chance to slip in during nap time while the two teachers sitting at the table. Just finding those ways is really key, but it really isn't a , a one size fit all kind of situation for communication.
Speaker 2:Yeah, that makes sense. And you gotta find the opportunity and , and within your structure and in your environment and figure out the best way to make that happen. And there are different kinds of burnout too, right? Like, I mean, there's like the individuals that are, you know , physically burnt out, just the demands of the job. There's the emotional side. I think we saw a lot of that during the pandemic, just like, man, there is a lot coming at these teachers. Does the type of burnout from what you see with your clients, does that change the strategy of how to solve it? Any, any thoughts around that and what you guys are hearing and seeing from your clients?
Speaker 3:Yeah, so it really, really piggybacks on the point that , um, really burnout can look different on anybody. They look different on everybody. Um, but it is really important to know , you know , uh, in an emotion , in a physical aspect. A lot of people are lacking sleep. They're not eating , um, you know , uh, their body starts to be in pain for no reason. I know educators are probably listening to this and saying , yep , absolutely. My back hurts, my knee hurts, everything hurts. Um, so , um, that's what it might look like in a physical sense. Emotional. It could be, you feel like you wanna cry every two seconds. I am, I put no shame out there that I've burnt out too many times to count in the, in the, in the field completely. And the emotional part is me , um, where you just feel like you need a good cry before you go in. So those aspects are really, really huge. And depending on the type of burnout will , um, move you into the direction of what supports you need. So if it's physical burnout, there's not really a whole lot you can do to fix that in a classroom. You need to take the time off to either seek, you know, medical attention or whatever it is that you need to feel better , um, emotional. It could be the fact of having that work life balance and, you know, creating that thing or whatever. Or I'm very much pro, you know, seeing, you know, getting professional help in that sense, mental health resources and all of that stuff as well. But it really, again, kind of similar to the last, you know, conversation we had around the communication. It's not a one size kind of fit all kind of approach with navigating it, but it's just understanding that burnout can look different on so many different people. Um, and it can affect you in different ways, but just being really in tune with what is the norm for you is what's really important.
Speaker 2:Yeah. And, and I think our industry, I mean we, this obviously we all love the ECE space. This is where we all spend our time and our energy, our clients and your clients or these providers out there that are really, you know, doing this mission oriented work. And I, and I think generally Anisha , the , and I want you to correct me on this, or at least I wanna get your perspective. You know, the , the individuals who go apply for jobs in preschools and childcare programs are, you know, these invi , they love kids and they're nurturing and they're the kindest people. And they come to this with the idea of like, I want to serve these children. But it also creates some unique challenges, like in our environment, I think. 'cause I, I, I feel like I hear about burnout and challenges for teachers more than maybe other industries. And I , that could be because I'm closer to this one, but it also seems like it presents some unique challenges that CR can create that it true. Do you guys see this and do you agree with that?
Speaker 3:Absolutely. We do a workshop actually add a little bit of research in terms of, you know, the fields and different industries that are burning out the most. And the top two are nurses in the medical and the teachers are burning out the most. And that's because we're coming from such a serving profession. Mm-Hmm . Everything you do is serving the children and the families. Everything you do on a day to day , when you get into that aspect, which is , it's a beautiful thing to serve a community, but really what's happening is you're not also pouring back into yourself. Um, educators are going through, you know, feeling guilty when it comes to work-life balance and taking a day off, or , uh, sometimes they feel like they can't or having some sort of self-care, they're feeling guilty about it. Um, another aspect , uh, I find when, especially when I'm coaching educators, there's this need for perfection that we put on ourselves. We need to be perfect. And it's because we wanna be the best for the children. We wanna have the best programs, the best activities, the best toys for the children , um, because we know our impact that we have with the children. Um , but we do also place a lot of pressure on ourselves. So that combined with being a serving community, that's why we're seeing a lot of these equations happening in our field.
Speaker 2:Yeah. And it's not just, you know, the, the nurture and care that they have for kids. I, I mean, I think in my experience talking with, you know, people in our space, I've heard teachers talk about like, dealing with the kids is my favorite part of the job. I love it. It's the interactions with the adults that surround that. So, you know, interactions maybe with leadership and, and other teachers can be a challenge depending on the environment. But the other one is parents. Like sometimes the parents can create that extra stress on the teachers that contribute to the burnout. Do you guys see any ways when you're coaching your clients how the administrative and ownership team can maybe help provide some covering to their teachers if that's a factor in their burnout? Like that relationship with, with parents, difficult parents, if , if that's fair.
Speaker 3:Yes. Yeah, absolutely. Yeah. You know, it's, it's so interesting because I know for myself being an educator, I've gone through the ringer when it comes to parents. Um, a lot of the times you , you have to think about it too, in their perspective, you're taking care of their most prized possessions in this whole world. Um, so they really can be very particular about certain things. And usually parents are coming off of their own busy lives and their stresses . So I've also had it where they've had a stressful day on their boss, and guess who gets the stress when they come to pick up? It's Anisha , right? Um , so, so many aspects. But I think what I really encourage leaders and directors and providers to do is create a culture and a community in their center to remind the parents that, you know, it , it takes, it takes a village to raise a child, it takes a village. And we as educators and providers are a part of that village. So we have to work together to make things work better for the child. So having those community-based conversations with them to get the parents to realize that we're actually all on the same team for the child. I find when you transition those kind of conversations, those sort of help as well. I think , um, another aspect and something that I've also been through myself, but I've also seen in the field as well, is just , um, having leaders , um, support educators navigating through challenging situations , um, as you mentioned so beautifully. Having that covering right, having somebody to have your back , um, is, is a big aspect as well. And, you know, leaders being very observant of the conversations that are happening, being a part of the conversations not micromanaging , um, which is something I work with leaders as well on micromanaging what that looks like in ECE 'cause it's so much different. Um, but , um, supporting them and being that other person, you know, in a conversation to help navigate things, but then also to kind of gently say, you know what, we are a team. We're together. We're a team. We're gonna work on this together. Um, and having those aspects in place for sure.
Speaker 2:So do you guys, as an organization with your coaches, 'cause I know it's, it's yourself, but you also have a team and you're building this business that's now able to support more and more providers. Walk me through that process. Maybe as kind of a final question. I'd love for our , our, you know , audience to hear when Anisha and her team engages with, with a center, what does that initial process look like? How are you identifying the areas that they need help? Because I, there's probably sometimes they come to you and they know specifically this is the area I'm struggling with. Yeah. But I'm also gonna assume that there's times where they, they know that there's some challenges, but they haven't been able to pinpoint them. So what does that process look like between you and your clients when you first start working with them ?
Speaker 3:Yeah, so I kind of take everybody last when I say this, but I kind of take like a doctor approach to it. So we have a discovery call where we sit on the call. I let the person tell me the goals they have for their team, the needs, the problems, and then we kind of come up with a very unique way of supporting them. So that unique way could be coaching, whether it's coaching the leaders to how they can better serve their team, or maybe it's coaching the educators, maybe it's training, maybe it's coming in and doing a set of different workshops on a specific topic. But basically that's basically how we work at the ECC, we do a discovery call, we jump on there, we ask certain questions, we have a great conversation, and then we build out a specific plan just for you and your team. Um , mainly because again , uh, early childhood is one of those fields where it's not cookie cutter every, but there may be over lining overviews that are the same, like burnout and staffing that are the same, but the unique challenges are specific to the center. So we really handle that when we take on new clients and we really , uh, we listen, we listen to what they need and we try our best to be able to serve it. So , um, for myself, I'm the lead coach. Um, so I do majority of the calls and navigating. And then I also have my other coaches and my community advisors that are also CEEs with several years of experience in the field, but they all have expert streams. So I have like my expert that's really great with the classroom and curriculum and set up . Then I have my expert that's really, really great for leadership. Um, and we all have experts , teams , and we kind of could just come together as a group to see how we can navigate and support that center or that provider.
Speaker 2:And is, and then is that relationship, is it ongoing? Is it, hey, we're gonna have like a monthly touch base or we're going to work together for, you know, a workshop over this period of time? Or again, is it different for every client based on their needs and what they're looking for you to support them with?
Speaker 3:Yeah, so it is generally different for every single client that we have, every single person that we work with. But because we have such a wide range on how we can support from supporting educators to the classroom, supporting with classroom setup , supporting with leadership development , um, they usually come back with something else because we really wanna pride on being that one-stop shop for them for anything that they need. So we've had both scenarios where we've kind of done a one-off and then in a couple months they, you know, come up with something else that they need to navigate if they need support or we've had long-term contracts where we've worked on, you know, let's work with the educators first, let's get them lined up. It's good, let's get, let's work with the leaders, then let's look at, you know, how we can, you know, build our program to be the best version of itself. So , uh, there's many different scenarios. So we are an open book for anything.
Speaker 2:That's excellent. And we're, what we'll do, you know, I know we're kind of running outta time. I wanna give you a chance as well to tell our audience how they can find you. We're gonna put this information in the show notes. I think you know the topic around staffing and if you start to do, you know, a return on investment and a calculation about, you know, the benefit of finding a coach, if this is something that you need help with, that can come in and provide you with some, you know, maybe , uh, some perspective, but also strategy at avoiding some of those challenges, it will pay for itself because the impact of those staffing costs and the turnover are so significant. So talk to our audience a little bit about, you know, where they can find you, how they can conte connect with you if that's something they wanna do. And, and we'll also put it in the show notes.
Speaker 3:Awesome. So I'm everywhere. I'll say I'm everywhere. If you've got TikTok , I'm on TikTok, that's Anisha dot the ECC as well as Instagram. That's the same handle, Anisha dot the ecc. We also have our website where there's lots of clickables and opportunities to connect with us in different levels. Um, that's anisha the ecc.com. I'm on YouTube and I'm everywhere. Let's just say I'm, every , any, any social platform you have, well, most of them we are there. Um, and I'll definitely give you guys all the links that we can have, but definitely hop in my dms. Um, there is so many opportunities to, to even hop on on our website and fill out a form and we can just have a conversation and go from there.
Speaker 2:Yeah, that's perfect. And I can attest to that. I did a quick Google search doing a little bit of research for this conversation, and I found plenty of content. So, you know, if you are interested in anybody reaching out to Anisha and her team, we will also put that information , uh, in the show notes. And it's an important topic and it's super relevant to what's happening in the industry right now. So, Anisha , I just wanna make sure, and , and thank you from ProCare's perspective and from our audience, thank you for taking the time. It's been a pleasure talking to you this morning.
Speaker 3:Thank you so much, Ryan and the ProCare team, and you guys keep doing the amazing things that you guys are doing. Having this content available, whether it's me or somebody else, is really, really key right now. So thank you for having me.
Speaker 2:Absolutely. Have a great weekend .
Speaker 3:You too.
Speaker 1:Thank you for listening to this episode of the Childcare Business Podcast. To get more insights on ways to succeed in your childcare business, make sure to hit subscribe in your podcast app so you never miss an episode. And if you want even more childcare , business tips, tricks, and strategies, head over to our resource center@procaresoftware.com. Until next time.