Episode 1: It's Going to Be Okay | Lissarette Nisnevich

It's episode 1 of The Child Care Business Podcast. Today, we're talking with Lissarette Nisnevich, who runs a child care center in New York City. Lissarette talks about her incredible background - from growing up in the Dominican Republic and hosting her own TV show to  traveling around the world and discovering her love for early education. She also dives into her struggles during the pandemic and how she's been able to navigate shutdowns, decreased enrollment and periods of hopelessness - and come out stronger on the other side.

About Lissarette:
Lissarette was born and raised in the Dominican Republic with a fully bilingual education, and started her career as an assistant teacher at the age of 15. She has traveled around the world teaching ESL, designing curricula, and doing volunteer work in local communities. 

She has a Masters in Early Childhood, and runs her own daycare center and preschool in New York, where she lives with her husband and young son.  

Fun fact: she also has a passion for entertainment, having worked as a performer, artist and a model, participating in tv, journals, radio as well as Broadway shows. She even had her own TV show when she was just 16. 

Additional Resources:
To get more insights on ways to succeed in your child care business, head over to our Resource Center at https://www.procaresoftware.com/resource-center/. 

Contact Us:
Have an idea for a podcast or want to be a guest? Email us at podcast@procaresoftware.com.  

Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:08):

[inaudible] welcome to the childcare business podcast brought to you by ProCare solutions. This podcast is all about giving childcare, preschool, daycare, afterschool, 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 chalk full and insights you can use to fully realize the potential of your childcare business. Let's jump in.

Speaker 2 (00:53):

Hi everyone, and welcome to the childcare business podcast. My name is Ryan Gwaltney and I'm thrilled to have you join us today. And since this is our first episode, I just want to tell you a little bit about myself before we get started. I'm currently the vice president of sales here at Pro-Care software. I've been with the company for 20 years, actually be celebrating my 20 year anniversary on April 23rd of this year. Um, when I started just to give a little bit of context that was at a time, if you were buying software from us at that point, we were sending you a CD and a floppy disc in order to install your software. And we were really excited about that. I remember the owner at the time, walking me through how excited he was that we were just now burning our software onto CDs and not sending out the installation just on floppy disks.

Speaker 2 (01:40):

Uh, so that dates me a little bit, but I started in 2001 as a software consultant, which is a fancy title we use here for sales representative. And over the years, you know, I've worked with everything from, you know, our largest customers in the enterprise space with hundreds of childcare locations across the country, uh, all the way down to our, our home daycare providers and, and everything in between. Um, currently in my role today, I lead our sales teams in terms of how we interact with our customers in the marketplace. Uh, but when this opportunity was presented to me to be a part of this podcast, I jumped at it because when I look back at my career, uh, you know, one of the, the most fun aspects of what I've been able to do is hear people's stories and get to talk to our customers and, and get to hear about how they started their schools and the journey that they went on to get there.

Speaker 2 (02:28):

And there's just a, a tremendous amount of expertise and knowledge. And, and I think within that, a lot of inspiration to share to the industry as a whole. And so, you know, what I'm looking forward to as part of this podcast is just getting to talk with some of the amazing people in our industry and try to highlight some of their stories and pass that on to you, our audience. So, uh, speaking of amazing people, uh, I am thrilled to introduce everyone to our guests today, lizard RET NIS NAWIC, and I'm going to let her correct me on any pronunciation. I get incorrect here in a moment, but, uh, as way of a quick introduction, uh, or bio Lizette was born and raised in the Dominican Republic with a fully bilingual education. And she started her career as an assistant teacher at the age of 15, she's traveled around the world, teaching ESL and designing curriculum and doing volunteer work in local communities around the world. She has a master's in early childhood and runs her own daycare center and preschool in New York city where she lives with her husband and young son. And here's a fun fact before we get started. Uh, she also has a passion for entertainment. Having worked as a performer artist and model participating in TV journals, radio, as well as Broadway shows. She even had her own show at the young age of 16. So Liz barrette, welcome to the show. It's an honor to have you,

Speaker 3 (03:52):

Oh my God. I don't even know how to, like what to say. I heard all of that. I forgotten about all that. So thank you for that. Nice intro, Ryan.

Speaker 2 (04:01):

We will, uh, maybe we'll take a little trip down memory lane because I do want to talk about what you're currently doing and, and your role in the industry and kind of how you view things as it stands today. But I'd love to talk a little bit and hear a little bit of your story first. And so in particular, I'd love to know a little bit about the Dominican Republic and what growing up in the Dr. Can you, can you give me a sense of what that was like as a child growing up in that, in that culture?

Speaker 3 (04:34):

Absolutely. So first thank you for having me. I'm really happy to be here and to talk to you about where I grew up. It was, it was a lot, it was very different for me than it may have been for many other people. So we have a very set, um, cast system back home. And so you have a very set, you know, middle-class high class and, and there's the lower class. And I was on that bottom tier. Um, despite the fact that my mother was a hydraulics engineer and she was working for a government organization, but she was a single mom and it, it was tough. Um, and so from a very young age, my mom always taught me to, to not, I'm not going to say, just stand up for myself, but she taught me what was my worth. And she always told me that it was my job to put that out there for people to see, and that I was more than just what people could see and that it was important for me to study.

Speaker 3 (05:34):

And so I started taking a lot of extracurricular classes and at the same time, I, I could also admire the beauty of my culture. We had a lot of music at home and a lot of beautiful books. And I learned about the writers and the poets and, um, from my mother's friends, you know, we, we were very involved in the arts and at the same time, there was also the conversations about if we were going to have a hurricane that year and what was going to happen. So beautiful beach weather comes with a certain, um, nature aspects that are not so fun, but I can tell you that it was a lot of sacrifice and hardship, but it built me for the life ahead. And I'm very, very grateful for that. Um, Dominican Republic is a gorgeous Island that smells like the ocean, whatever you are.

Speaker 3 (06:27):

Like, I remember walking into school, taking a deep breath and I could still smell the waves and, and the sea, because it's close to everything. And so walking with my grandmother to the market to buy the food that we were going to cook for lunch, all of this little experiences that I had shaped me for life, uh, shaped me to understand that no matter where you come from, your dreams are never too big to achieve. And that great things come from, from the struggle from, you know, from challenges. And, um, it was, it was a blessing to grow up in the small Island where we all knew each other, but more than anything where I could appreciate the beauty of nature and get hyped about the possibilities of the future

Speaker 2 (07:19):

Of what could come that, yeah, it's an interesting, so I, you know, I think a lot of people from the U S maybe aren't familiar with the caste system and what you described as you're, you're, you're really born into a social status. Do you think, you know, because I was going to ask you when you were born, were you born into, you know, middle-class or influence or poverty, do you think you, you mentioned something really interesting around the struggles in life, produced a lot of strength and a lot of learning, do you think, and we're going to talk a little bit about your journey and story, but do you think if you would have been born into one of those higher classes or higher, that that would have changed who you became, because it sounds like a lot of your early years were, you were aware of the struggle and the fight to get where you wanted to go.

Speaker 3 (08:07):

I, I remember the first time. So I learned piano when I was eight. And I remember my mother asked me at age five, what instrument I liked? And I said, I want to play violin. I'm a frustrated by all of this. Like, that's like one of those dreams that got like never got fulfilled. And that I remember I said, I wanted to play violin. And my mom said, that's that's for rich people. You can't learn that, pick something else. And it was a very straightforward answer. Like there was no conversation. It was just like, no, we can't afford that. And she always tried to be sincere with me even when I was very young, because she didn't want me to be disappointed. I, and I understand now more than anything, now that I'm studying how the, you know, how the human brain works and how, you know, for her probably was very tough to, to say no to me, but she just wanted to, to put things out there so I didn't get hurt.

Speaker 3 (08:58):

And, um, you know, it, it was the challenge, um, of, of knowing what were my options. And, um, and then, you know, playing with that, but I've always been a dreamer. It's like, I'm this person, Oh my God. My teachers would write this reports and be like, she's awesome. But she talks a lot. And she has these long stories. Um, and, you know, she needs help focusing. They were trying to be kind, um, to, to hide away the fact that I do talk a lot and I get carried away, but it's because my mind is always processing. What can happen next? How can I help? What can I do? And, and so that's, that's pretty much how everything sort of started for me. Um, always clear of where I was, what were my options, but as I grew up thinking, Hmm, how can we add better options to that? And so that's how it started. I remember I was, uh, learning English and I became a teacher at the same place where I was learning. And that was,

Speaker 2 (10:06):

What age was this? Just, just to give me a sense of your age at this time.

Speaker 3 (10:10):

So I I'm jumping a lot, but I was a teenager. I graduated the program. I was 13 and, um, I, I had managed to score scholarships, so that was really good. And then the director of the program came up to me and was like, you know, your English is great. You're like the proof that our program works, it would be great if you can come and work with the little ones. And at that time I wanted to be a star I wanted to, to go and being Hollywood. And so I was like a teacher, uh, but then I was like, Oh, well, this could be a good opportunity. You know? And so I started working and I loved it. And I was, I was 15 because I was not supposed to, they only accepted people 16 and up, but because I came recommended, um, they took me one year before and it was, it was, Oh my God, it was amazing. It was such a beautiful experience.

Speaker 2 (11:01):

So, and at that stage, when you were 15 years old, first teaching position, and maybe we could say, it's the, you know, the, the seeds were being planted about your career path. W what were the ages of the students that you were working with at that point? And even at that point, as you began, you know, kind of your journey in childcare, did you already sense? Because I think when people find something that they really love their calling or what they're meant to be doing, there's this, this joy that comes from that, did you sense that immediately as a 15 year old, or was it more of a process for you to realize that this is what your career was going to be?

Speaker 3 (11:42):

It was immediate. It was instant. I was in a classroom with five-year-olds and, uh, it's the, it was the first I remember, cause I started when I was five and it, those, I remember the names of the young girls who taught me, Oh my God. [inaudible] was my first teacher. I will never forget her name. And, um, I walked into the classroom. I was very nervous because I had no idea, but I remember the things that I did with my teachers and I had material and they gave us a training, but you know, you get a training and then you go in there and you're like, ah, I'm nervous.

Speaker 2 (12:19):

Just got everything that I was taught. Yeah.

Speaker 3 (12:24):

Um, so I walked in and it was very organic. And then I have this thing where children really connect with me. Um, whatever I've been, even children who do not speak the same language I do just connect with me. I could be sitting and they will find a way to come. And maybe sit next to me, ask me what I'm doing. Babies always like, act happy when they're around me. It's like a thing. So I can tell you that when I started working there, I told myself that it was great because I could have some money for college and it was going to be awesome. And I fought it. I fought badly. I was like, no, no. I even came to the U S and I tried not to get a job in education. I was like, no, no, I'm going to go. And I started doing auditions and I'm like, I'm going to do something else.

Speaker 3 (13:15):

I can not be a teacher because back home teachers are very underpaid. And it is just, it's a job that you do because you love. I was, I was working for an institution that's associated with the American embassy, so they are American run. And so obviously the things that are a little different there, but if you're a teacher working in via vocational system, back home, things might be challenging. And so I had that idea and I was like, Oh no, I don't want that. I want, I want, you know, those grandiose dreams of, of, Oh, I can be a star and I can do all these things. And then I always told grandma, then I'm going to come back and buy a house for everybody. And, and so I think that came from missing so much as a kid and feeling that the only way I could fulfill my needs and the needs of the people I love was to have a ton of money, which is yes. In a way, but not really. So, um, that's, that's pretty much it, it was, it was an instant love. And at the same time, I was fighting the whole time to not fall in love with it,

Speaker 2 (14:27):

With being a tutor. Yeah. I love how you said I was trying everything. I could not to get a job in education and you know, that you're called to something or that there's no way around it when, everywhere you turn doors, keep opening to, to land in that type of a career. So talk about, you brought up that you ended up coming to the United States when you left the Dr. How did you end up in the United States and then maybe talk to me a little bit about the education experience you went through once you got here.

Speaker 3 (14:57):

So I, I actually came to the U S for the first time when I was six years old, my father brought me and I hated it. I was like, this is not for me. I remember, Oh, he told me I had to go to bed at 8:00 PM and the sun was still shining outside. It was just a complete different experience. Um, and I had to be inside and it was cold. I was like, nah. So I was here for like a month. And then I went back home and I remember saying, I would never move there. Like, I don't know why, like I had so many friends dying to come here and I was that person who actually could be here. And I was like, I'm not going, I'm good here. So when I graduated college in 2008, that was my bachelor's. Um, my mom, uh, unfortunately got, uh, she, she was diagnosed with breast cancer and things got really rough.

Speaker 3 (15:50):

Uh, I was working two jobs. I worked at a school in the morning and then at an English Institute in the afternoon. And then I went to college at night and it was just challenging. And I was young and, um, I had graduated very early. And so basically I, my world was turned upside down. I had a lot of plans and my, my whole thing was like, if I only have my mom, I have no brothers or sisters, nothing. So it's mom and I, since the beginning. And then I'm like, if mom is gone and I can not celebrate my victories or success with her, what's the point. So we sat down and we, we talked about possibilities and my mom told me, I think it's best. If you go to us, you're working very hard here. And obviously it's not paying off as it would. If you go get a job over there and you already speak English. So she gave me this whole lecture. And then she was like, you know, we don't want to think about it, but if something happens, you would be better over there by yourself than here by yourself. And so I did, I took all my stuff and I came over on an international women's day in 2008. I remember this, Oh my God,

Speaker 2 (17:03):

To make a big change. Right.

Speaker 3 (17:04):

And, um, I stayed with, with some friends and, uh, family, friends, and I, I remember being extremely overwhelmed and I was like, wow, what's, what's going to happen now. And years passed and education found me, it's like I was running away and people will come and be like, Oh, did you know that if you become certified, you could get a job at DOE or, Hey, there's this trainings. And I'm like, I don't want to know, cause I'm going to go be on Broadway and do so. That's, that's pretty much how it started. But I ended up working at a school and got my master's and here we are.

Speaker 2 (17:46):

And as they say, the rest is history, so speak. And I, you know, as a side note, it would be amazing. You know, your mom sounds like an amazing woman. I mean, to, to raise you. And, and I love the stories about the way she did raise you the way she did, but also the stories about how, you know, she encouraged you're dreaming, you know, and who you are as an individual and how that impacted your life in the way that you lead it today. It's, uh, it's amazing to see that imprint that that parents have on their kids, but I want to fast forward a little bit, cause I there's so many things I would love to drill into. I'd love to talk about some of your world travels and places you've been, and the impact that that has had on you and how it applies. But I, because of time, I want to fast forward a little bit to early 2020, and about a year ago, pretty significant events happened in the world last year. And I'm curious for you, was there a point early last year when you realized that this COVID situation was serious and was going to require you to pivot in any way? Was it, was there a moment that you recognize that or was it more, uh, like over a period of time?

Speaker 3 (18:58):

Um, I think it was a moment. So when we found out, I think it was early February, we had just come back from a trip to the ER and in January something. And, uh, we took, we went as a family for like a weekend. And when we came back, the department of health had gotten in touch with me, giving me all these guidelines and saying that it was a developing situation. And I remember being very positive. I was like, okay, we'll get through this. We'll take precautions. I started talking to my girls and, but the more time passed, the worst things got. And I think the moment when it hit me and I was like, okay, this is real. And it's threatening in so many ways was when we had to close in April. So the state shut us down. And many of my clients, I think they panicked and they just left.

Speaker 3 (19:54):

Uh, they left New York. And so when we were allowed to reopen a month later as essential workers and I contacted everyone more than half of my clients were gone, gone for good. They had moved to Texas, they had gone back to hometowns. They had decided to stay leaving upstate. And so basically we had like, we had no, no business. And I remember, and then at that point it had like, I was talking with colleagues and people were losing family members. And like we had, so from my PhD group, we had one girl just randomly stopped coming. And then we found out that, um, she was sick and uh, you know, we, all our classes just became conversations about how are you guys doing? Like, how's your mental health? And, um, and that was it. April was the moment when I said, Oh my God, you know, we put everything into this dream and it might be gone.

Speaker 2 (20:54):

Yeah. It's, it's been severely impacted. Yeah. You, and it is a good segue to talk a little bit about what I want to chat with for the last few minutes of our conversation. But during that month, I'm curious, state came in and told you, you needed to shut down. Can you share from, uh, from your own personal perspective, what you, what your talk track was to yourself during that month around staying positive and, you know, cause you shared a lot about adversity you had as a, as a young child. And so that's something that, that, that you have as a skill set that you've been equipped with. W what did that sound like for you during that month? What were you saying to yourself to keep the right frame of mind?

Speaker 3 (21:38):

I, I usually, um, I'm very observant and I say, you know, resilience is, is a thing. You know, many people develop resilience after events that shaped them for life. Um, and we may not confuse resilience with this association. Those are two different things, but I am very resilient and I'm the type of person that there is a decision to make, and I'm going to be like, this is what's going to happen. And I figure it out, but I felt hopeless, uh, for the first time in a long time, which is unusual. And then it was unusual for my husband who is usually the person who is always telling me, Oh my God, that's crazy. Don't do that. Oh my God, no, what you're going to do what to come in and say, it's going to be okay. And it's just the way he said it.

Speaker 3 (22:23):

So calmly, so sure. And he's the person who does our numbers. And so he looked at me, he's like, you're going to be fine. It's going to be fine. This is a crisis. And you know, this is what I do for a living. I predict these things you're going to be okay. And when he sat fat, I came back and I was like, it's going to be okay. But I think that if we've, if I would have been alone, it would have been very different. So it was important for me to have that support system to remind me that, you know, it's going to be okay, which is, I'm sure this is something that many people needed and had, and, and help them get through this terrible, terrible time.

Speaker 2 (23:02):

Yeah. Amazing. And did you, during that time, eh, you know, maybe talking a little bit now, specifically about your school and your interactions with your parents and their children, you know, one of the things that we've heard a lot over the past year, cause this is, you know, our industry as well. And our customers are all individuals like yourself who are, you know, running schools and preschools and, and Montessori is a childcare programs that there's a lot of like fear from parents around the idea that their children are missing out. And I'm curious, have you heard that from your families? And, and then my followup to that is, do you think parents should be worried about this disruption in their kids' education? So this

Speaker 3 (23:46):

Is going to be taken in, in the context of how old are your children. That's the most important part before answering this question in a substantial way. Um, young children thrive, uh, when they are in a social environment. So it is no lie that the research backs up the fact that this was tough for anybody five years and under, because they, for, for many people, their schools where their safe space, their homes might not be that place where they feel safe, supported, where they can be themselves. And so not seeing their teachers, their peers are having that space where they can, you know, reconnect, um, might have been beyond a challenge. So it it's just a lot of variables, but I feel that one, um, after dealing with our own clients, I can tell you that after being locked down and all the horrible things we went through, it's hard for people to, to come back to you with empathy and from the teachers, from the teachings of my grandmother, I always learned to do the right thing no matter what, and what she always told me was, even if people, cause I always complained as a kid.

Speaker 3 (24:59):

Oh, but they were mean to me and they didn't do that for me. And she would always say, that has nothing to do with you. That is them. That is on them. And they'll have to, to account for that. You do the right thing because of you. And so I received a lot. It was a very stressful time. And at the same time I was dealing with the stress of some of our clients who sent very interesting emails and phone calls. And so it was that that line of, I have to find the empathy for myself, for my clients, for my children, which I love all 90 of them. So, um, I think parents should stop and think several things. One, how old is my child and what do they need for their effective and, and healthy development at this point and to whatever decision you make, it needs to be based on your family's needs and what, you know, it's best for them.

Speaker 3 (25:56):

So when a lot of parents, I did actually show him that a lot of parents ask me, should I send my towel back to school? What do you recommend? And my answer is always, you need to assess what are your family's needs? I, there are children who are in a, in a critical and delicate stage that they need to be in that social environment. So now it's not that you're just going to send them back. It's what can I do? Or what is the school doing to make the environment safe for everyone? And if you feel that, you know, you were in a vulnerable group or, you know, your family situation is vulnerable, then you might be like, it's not the best idea for me to send my child back. So if you make that decision, then the next step is like, so what can I do to make my home environment effective for my child's learning? Um, and again, it's, it, it's not easy. Uh, coming up with all of this logistics, we had to adapt and take cut off from our learning experience to clean and to make sure the kids are washing their hands and to make sure we are putting them in, in certain parts. And so, but still we are glad that we were able to have him here because we know the three-year-olds really need that.

Speaker 2 (27:14):

Yeah. I was going to ask you that cause you were right. Even like in my, you know, circle of friends and community, you know, I have a lot of friends with, with young kids and a lot of friends that are educators and, you know, the challenge as, you know, parents who are having to continue to work and learn how to work remotely, but also in many cases also be their own childcare providers and their own teachers. There's people are caring a lot more and wearing extra hats. Um, you know, in light of some of the things that have happened over the past year, I'm curious, like from your perspective, you talked about what the parent's kind of responsibility is and how they view and how they should view like their child's wellbeing. What about the actual childcare provider? So in our industry, in your opinion, as a provider yourself, what do you feel your responsibility is in trying to partner with parents during some of the times that we've been going through?

Speaker 3 (28:07):

So I think it's important to have an open and effective communication with the families you're working with. Um, that is important not only for this time, but just always, um, because that's what builds trust and community. And you want to have the trust and the sense of community from the people you are servicing. Uh, so I feel that as a provider and as a school, our jobs is to one have the right information. We need to find the information that's updated, that's factual. And then with that information create plans that adapt to our personal situation. So if you have a center that has 10 kids, if you have a center that has a hundred situations are different. So our job as, as for me, for example, as an owner and, and as the person who is leading the group, it's to reassure my staff, it's to give them the plans that we're going to follow and to be there with them, because I'm not, I never want to be a boss.

Speaker 3 (29:12):

I always set that, which is a person who is delegating things from afar and saying, Oh, you're going to do this. You're going to do this. I try to think of myself and I try to act as a leader. So when my girls are cleaning, I go in, I'm like, you guys need me to do anything. Is there anything that hasn't been done? Do I need to take the kids to wash your hands? Just let me know. And it's, I believe them seeing me doing that makes them feel motivated because it's exhausting. And, and we, we now have extra things to put into our schedule. And so the motivation, sometimes it's not fair. And I feel it's important for leaders and people in that position too, to make others feel that I'm grateful for what you're doing, what you're doing is essential and needed. And I'm here for you. It's critical in order to continue to run effective childcare and education centers.

Speaker 2 (30:04):

Yeah. I think that's really insightful because I think one of the things that we hear and maybe that we've observed as well as that fatigue sets in, where there's just been so much added, that the simple approach of making sure the people that you can influence, understand that you're grateful and that you're doing meaningful work and it's making a difference, uh, can go a long way. So it's not just the paycheck, it's not just the work schedules. It's, it's the actual other things that come with that, like you said, not from a boss's perspective, but from a leader's perspective, what do you think as you look forward into 2021, and as we look ahead with the changes that have happened and your outlook on, on your school personally, and maybe you can speak to the industry as a whole, but I, I'm curious about your view for your school. What's your outlook? Are you optimistic? Are you bullish as they say about what the future holds and then maybe as a follow-up to that, um, lizard RET is, what do you think the biggest change that you've learned through this is going to be, that you apply to your school as you move

Speaker 3 (31:11):

From up there from adversity comes opportunity. You have to see the opportunity in everything. I wrote a book during the pandemic. I illustrated and wrote a book while at the same time, checking on everybody that I knew. I think it's, I'm, I'm an optimistic person. I can't help it because when I was growing up and because my whole life, I just, I haven't been given a choice. I have to be my cheerleader. I have to be that person who says, yes, it's going to happen. And, and I have to be the person who builds and materializes my dreams. Nobody else is going to come do that for me. And I don't expect that to happen. And so I am very, very optimistic about 2021 it's, it's not only a new beginning. And I understand there is no magic wand that is going to just undo everything that happened or that a change in one number in the year, it's going to be magically. We're all going to go back to what we had, but it's just looking at the opportunity in the situation and creating positive things out of that, because what you focus on, it's what you will get more off. So I highly, highly, highly recommend to everyone that thinks they can't or thinks there are challenges to really evaluate those challenges and try to turn them into opportunities. It's what I've been doing my whole life. And it has worked perfectly.

Speaker 2 (32:40):

Yeah. I love that because I also love that we have people in this industry that are sharing that message with their kids and the children in their schools about, you know, learning through adversity and being positive and being grateful. Uh, we need more and more of that. So I appreciate that. That's what you're doing. Um, and I, and I want to, you know, in respect of your time, cause I know right before we started recording, uh, we were talking about the fact that you're still running your school today and everything's operating outside of you. So I want to be really respectful of your time, but I want to kind of end this with a couple of really quick questions, just quick reaction questions, just for fun at the end of the show, uh, give me a word or a phrase to describe yourself

Speaker 3 (33:26):

A word or a phrase that you would use to describe yourself. There's a phrase I really like, and it comes to my head right now. And so the phrase in Spanish is [inaudible] [inaudible], I'm sorry about that. You're just fine. But in English translation would be, she fell so much that next time she tripped, she flew. Um, and it's it just related to, to the same thing I was telling you about just seeing opportunity and learning from our mistakes. It's not, you know, if you're falling it's because you're trying. And so I identified myself with, with that resilience strength moving forward. Yeah.

Speaker 2 (34:18):

Great answer. And then a followup to that question is give me a word or a phrase that you think your very first teacher would have used to describe it.

Speaker 3 (34:30):

I'm sorry. I actually have a picture with this teacher. Um, Oh my God. She had a word for me. Wait, wait, wait, give me two seconds. She said I was, it was, I could say extroverted, like she's like very extroverted she's uh, but it's, it's another word I'm translating, which is why it sounds weird, but she would always tell my mom, she is so out there and like she's not afraid and just always telling stories. So, uh,

Speaker 2 (35:04):

Yeah, in English, in English, a lot of teachers will tell parents that children like that are very social or very talkative. How would you say social or an extrovert in Spanish? What's the word in Spanish?

Speaker 3 (35:18):

[inaudible] those are the words. Yes,

Speaker 2 (35:19):

But that's probably what she talked referred to as when you were young. What about, um, alright, so for you personally, you can only choose one play time or nap time.

Speaker 3 (35:30):

Oh my God. You just asked me the hardest question of the whole podcast, because if like, I, I want to say playtime, but as a mom, I really want nap time. So what I want and what I need fighting, um, I I'm going to choose nap time because I, I really need to rest. Yeah.

Speaker 2 (35:56):

It's, it's, uh, it's understandable when we did a little bit of a test run to do some audio testing for this, uh, I was interviewing one of my colleagues and she has two young children and, and it was a no brainer immediately nap time. So if you have young kids, I think nap time you go with every time. Uh, and then, you know, maybe final question of the podcast. This has been amazing and a lot of fun for me, but I want to give you an opportunity. Is there anything, if you could share one thing from your experience over your career, whether it's over the last week, the last month, the last year, like one thing that you think would be helpful for others in this industry to hear right now,

Speaker 3 (36:34):

My goodness, we need you, um, to, if, if there's any, I've said this before in other interviews, but if you're thinking about early childhood, please join us. It's an incredibly rewarding field and changes and great things are coming and it would be awesome if you can join us, do not get discouraged. And always remember that the biggest reward is that you're putting healthy, emotionally, healthy adults out there that you're putting children out there that are going to, you know, build that future that we're always talking about it's them. And they can only do that if you're there to tell them that they can. So please, please do stay positive. You are loved and you're appreciated

Speaker 2 (37:17):

Great stuff. And then I want to make sure that if anybody listens to this podcast, uh, lizards and wants to, you know, follow you more and hear more of your insights, I want to give you an opportunity to share. Cause I, I believe you have a YouTube channel and, and you're active in social media. So where can people find you if they want to continue to tap into what you're sharing?

Speaker 3 (37:39):

L I S S a R E T T E Atlas barrette everywhere. Like literally an Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, that's my website. You type it on Google. You're going to find me. And I am always so excited to connect with other, um, early childhood educators and childcare childcare providers. And if you have a questions or you feel I can be of help in any way, reach out, um, I have an open inbox policy. So, um, that's yeah. At lizards in absolutely every social media handle.

Speaker 2 (38:14):

Wonderful and leatherette again, it's been an honor. Thank you so much for that.

Speaker 3 (38:18):

Thank you, Ryan. You're wonderful. Thank you for having me.

Speaker 1 (38:21):

Of course. 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@caresoftware.com until next time

Speaker 4 (38:49):

[inaudible].