Planting Seeds, Building Giants: How Mandy Doyle Broussard, Elevates Kids and Entrepreneurs Alike

In episode 32 of Elevate with Elsner, Blake Elsner interviews Mandy Doyle Broussard, the Owner of Seeds of Success Academy and the Founder at Go Be Greater Networking, as she shares her incredible journey from growing up in a family business to creating a nurturing environment for children and empowering entrepreneurs across the country.

Tune in to discover how Mandy is planting seeds for success in her community and beyond.

TIMESTAMPS

[00:01:35] Early childhood education gaps.

[00:05:07] Parenting without strict rules.

[00:12:34] Reaping what we sow.

[00:14:58] Breaking generational chains.

[00:21:46] Emotional intelligence in parenting.

[00:25:40] Self-control in parenting.

[00:28:06] Building a business network.

[00:33:20] Networking and community building.

[00:36:35] Support systems in entrepreneurship.

[00:40:21] Financial independence through struggle.

[00:47:44] Teaching kids to handle failure.

[00:49:11] The value of losing.

[00:55:19] People-driven sales approach.

[00:57:36] Dating after divorce challenges.

[01:03:34] Healthy seeds and blessings.

QUOTES

• "We need to teach our kids how to fail. We need to teach our kids how to survive the not-perfect times because they're going to happen. And they need to know that it's okay. It's okay to fall down." - Mandy Doyle Broussard
• “Things like growing up, you're always like, oh, I want to make the MLB. You can make the MLB. You can be an astronaut. You can do whatever you want. And at the same time, though, yeah, it's like you got to fail to make it to those spots.” - Blake Elsner
• “I just want to remind everybody that we all do reap what we sow. S,o plant healthy seeds so that you can have a healthy garden one day. Things do have a way of coming back around. Be blessed and be a blessing.” - Mandy Doyle Broussard

SOCIAL MEDIA LINKS

Blake Elsner

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bpelsner/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/blake.elsner/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/blake-elsner-a04396b5/

Mandy Doyle Broussard

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/mdflory

WEBSITES

Elevate with Elsner Podcast: https://elevatewithelsnerpodcast.com/

Elsner Real Estate: https://www.bradagent.com/

Seeds of Success Academy: https://seedsofsuccessacademy.com/

Transcript

Welcome to Elevate with Elsner. Join us for inspiring conversations with individuals who have transformed their lives and are making a difference through the work that they do. And now, here's your host, Blake Elsner.

What if your mission wasn't just to grow a business, but to grow people? Today's guest is doing both from nurturing young minds to empowering entrepreneurs across the country. Welcome back to another episode of Elevate with Elsner. I'm your host, Blake Elsner. And today I'm fired up to introduce someone who's not only elevating her community, but planting seeds for long-term impact. Joining me from Elizabethtown, Pennsylvania is Mandy Doyle. the founder of Seeds of Success Academy, where early childhood education is done right, and the visionary CEO of Go Be Greater Networking, a fast-growing platform for purpose-driven professionals. This episode is for anyone looking to grow something that lasts, whether that's a business, a movement, or the next generation of leaders. So let's go. Welcome to the show.

Blake Elsner

Thanks, Blake.

Mandy Doyle Broussard

Yeah, absolutely. So, Mandy, give us a little early backstory of what sparked your desire of, I guess, being around children or being around business.

Um, so I was, I was raised in business. Um, my dad became self-employed when I was one and due to finances, I never went to a babysitter. Um, my dad owns a excavating company and, um, I went with him every day in the truck and me and the business grew together. And, um, I guess that's where like. the seed for my love for business was planted. A lot of who I am today is definitely a direct impact of how my dad raised me and just his living example. I have found I'm a lot like him as an adult, which is a blessing. He's always been one to help other people and I'm thankful that I've been able to follow in his footsteps.

That's really, yeah, that's really awesome. I like how, so Seeds of Success obviously came from seeds and we'll get into that a little bit more, but that's pretty neat. I wondered where that came from. So what, you know, like what was, I guess you would say the, I guess the gap you saw, did you see a gap in early childhood that got you into this?

So I've always loved kids, since I was very little. I've passionately loved kids. But I never saw myself as a daycare owner. And I had never been in a daycare before I bought one. So I was a stay-at-home mom with my children, and I discovered I'm super opinionated on how I feel things ought to be done and how I feel. When I say that I'm super opinionated, I am super opinionated, but I'm not judgmental. I really am not. But I've always known that there was a right way for me to accomplish what I wanted to accomplish for my children. And everybody has a different role to play in life, and all of those different roles are needed and valuable. But for me, with my kids, it was always super important to me that One, I led by example, and two, that my children were involved. I have a very two-way respect streak with my children, and that was started with them super young, as soon as they were old enough to really comprehend what I was asking of them and such. And of course, that changed a little bit with their age. But yeah, we, me and their, their dad, thankfully, I was intelligent enough to marry somebody that had a like minded vision for our kids, but we both very much just showed respect to the kids and they showed it back to us. And that allowed for a more nurturing relationship with our children. And it just it worked really well for me. My kids are basically adults now. They're 20, 18 and 16. And yeah, they're they're grown, per se. And I have no regrets of how I chose to do it. A lot of people have judged and said we didn't have enough rules or specifically, I don't have enough rules for my kids. But the only rule that I have in my house is respect. And that really covers everything I feel that needs to be covered. I respect them. They respect me. At the end of the day, they still know I'm the mom. That's, you know, that's established. But it's very rare that I have to really exert that.

Oh, you know, I love that because when you say like, you didn't have many rules, I grew up the same way. Like, it was kind of like, you know, they're kind of like you, Hey, if you want to do it, you're going to find out the consequence and it makes you learn on your own. And, and then you're like, well, I don't, I don't want to do that because I know it's wrong. Like, and I don't want to, I don't want the consequence of it. Right.

Right. And, and actually something else that, um, I discovered as an adult, looking back on my childhood, I do a lot of self-reflecting. I probably do more self-reflecting than the average person, for sure. But when I looked back on my childhood, there were a couple things that stood out to me. One of them was, as a parent myself, there There have been days, I mean, not now, because my kids are easy now, but when they were little, there were days that I was like, OK, it's got to be bedtime or nap time or something. I would get worn out with them. I don't ever remember my father getting worn out with me, which is wild, because I was always with him, around the clock, all of the time. And I don't remember him ever getting tired of me. And the other thing. I didn't have rules growing up, like I didn't have rules as a child, really. But I always knew to respect my dad. And there were three times in my childhood that I remember getting into trouble. And what's crazy is all three times that I got into trouble with my dad, like he was upset with me. was a correction of my emotional intelligence. That is the only thing that my dad corrected me for growing up. And as an adult, it's just wild to me that how important that was to my dad, that I was aware of my surroundings and aware of how to act in those surroundings. That was the thing that my dad was hung up on with me. And so, of course, I've tried to make that a fundamental thing with my kids, that I'll point things out to them that are Like, it's more about dealing with people than anything else and just making sure that they're catching cues and that they know how to lead a situation or a conversation, that they're not throwing away relationships, that they're always building a network. And my kids are a beast at that. I mean, they have a network unlike most adults. I'm really proud of them for that.

That's awesome. So it's kind of like I always say, you tell your kids, hey, I want you to sit in the exit row. As strange as that sounds, right? But you want them to either lead by example or lead shoulder to shoulder. And to have a 20, 18, and 16-year-old, that's tough because, I mean, they're all in their, I mean, one, they're all still under, you know, proper drinking age. But, you know, two of them can take a bullet, right? One can't and none of them can drink, but that's a whole different story. And, you know, I always was one like that. Like my parents were like, hey, if you want to drink, Figure it out. If you want to, you know, try that, you know, high school, you know, you're going to you're going to find out what happens. And you do figure out what's right and what's wrong. So the way you did it, obviously, is it's working right. And some people probably will say like, yeah, you don't have as many rules. But I can tell you, I was I was from that same thing. And yeah, you know what? We're not perfect. But at the same time, I've never been in trouble. I am 32 years old. So and that's the exact way I was raised. So I think I think that's that's awesome to hear that.

Yeah, I would say probably. And I've got I've got one kid who is actually actually that's a lot. I've got two kids that the only reason why they're not in trouble is because they they know how to They know how to talk. They know how to address adults. They know how to address situations. And if their personalities were different, it'd probably be a little bit of a different story for them. But yeah, they know how to manage. They know how to manage well. And then I have another child who is she doesn't really get into trouble. But if she ever did, she could definitely handle it too. I'm slightly scared of her. My boys are rough and rowdy. They're farm kids. They're not afraid to address the situation, we'll say, and they're rather large. They're six foot two, six foot three, I'm not scared of them at all. I will get right in their face. I always say if I'm going to lose my temper, because I am a female, like I have days and sometimes like I normally can tell when I'm just like maxed out and things are about to go sideways. I always direct it at my oldest son because he can handle me. He's really, really good at handling me. whereby my daughter, she is so much like me. I will walk away and talk to a wall before I will lose my temper with her, because I know that will not lead to a good place for either one of us. Because she's pretty blunt and to the point.

And that's obviously emotional intelligence right there. And to be able to teach that, when you go back to what you said about, I believe it was your father, he was the one that kind of instilled that in you, correct? Yep. How did he understand that back then?

You know, I said to him, I said to him one time, I said, you taught me so many valuable lessons in life. I know we said we would get to this, but I want to make sure that I make this point because it's huge. I 100% live my life and have raised my children to live their life. I put this out in any speech that I give. We all reap what we sow, and that is a foundation that my dad instilled in me growing up. And that's part, that's the biggest part of where seeds of success comes from. Like I want to plant seeds that will with nurturing turn into success for the children in my center, for my staff, and even for the parents, for everybody that I interact with. I want to constantly be planting seeds in them and helping to nurture that so that they can succeed. Honestly, other people's success makes me happier than my own success. It should matter more to me. It's not like I'm anything special and I don't need to succeed anymore. But that's just how I'm wired. I just really like to see other people succeed. But how did my dad learn it? My dad grew up on the rough side of the tracks. And I think he learned it as a sense of survival. I think it was one of those things whereby you're either going to succeed and make it, or you're going to be nothing. And he had nobody to fall back on. So being nothing wasn't 100% an option for him. So I'm kind of... I'm blessed because my dad broke a lot of generational chains for me, gave me a completely different life than what he had. But he also is really, really, really, really, really hard on me. That's been difficult to navigate in my adult life, because growing up, I was a daddy's girl and there was nothing that could come between us. And as an adult, he has really pulled back and forced me to get on my feet on my own, figure it out on my own. And he always tells me he doesn't want me to be weak. So, but there is a point in place where you can push that too far. Cause I'm pretty sure I can like bench press a Buick with my mind by now. So, yeah, we're, but we're all figuring it out. Um, And I'm thankful that He has made me strong, because life has really dealt me some less than favorable situations. Some of which, of course, I created on my own with stupid decisions, but not all of them. And I've always figured it out, and I've always succeeded, and I'm blessed, super blessed.

You know, when you when you talk about breaking those like generational change or cherish beliefs, as I say, you know, my father came from a similar background. I think I, you know, now as an adult, I work with him. Right. He's my dad. He's my boss. And so I've seen the bottlenecks and it's part of the reason why I started a family business consulting firm was because of, you know, there needs to be some type of a middle mediator. You know, you don't even work with your dad, but you were brought up pretty similar and you still kind of have those tensions where it's like, Hey, he wants you to do it on your own. And, and that's kind of how, how I am now too. And except I'm in business with him too. So, I get what you're saying, and it's powerful to hear that. Like, hey, you're all the way up in Pennsylvania. I'm in St. Louis, Missouri. Like we have so many similarities that, you know, just popping on here and props to your to this daycare, because like you said, seeing people happy is, you know, truly a special talent. And to know like, hey, if I, if I had my kid at this daycare and I'm listening to this podcast, I'm like, wow, I, I, I love that my kid is at this daycare. Like that's truly a pop because having two kids in daycare right now, and I know they're safe, that I can do this podcast. It means a lot. And so that I can know that, Hey, you know, I can see that everything is awesome and perfect inside of, I mean, you know, not perfect, but inside of seeds of success that you are, you know, nurturing and planting.

Yeah, the kids' hearts really, really, really matter to me. My staff really matters to me. I want to see them grow. I want good things for them. I told them at our last meeting that I don't really have any experience in daycare. not, I don't really, I do not have experience in daycare. Like just to be clear about that, there is maybe the business side, but in, in business, I have, I have a lot of experience in business. Um, and not only my personal experience, but It's funny, all of my friends are self-employed. So Friday night, I got asked by a guy that I went to school with if I wanted to go with them to the casino on Saturday night. So to me, I was going to meet a couple of guys I went to school with, they're friends, like we were going to the casino, like, you know, fun stuff. Since my divorce, I have spent the grand majority of my time either at the gym or in my bedroom. So for me to start going out and mingling with people, I was like, it's a big step for me. So I get to the casino and I'm sitting there at the table, like we're all like talking, we're talking like, and I don't know all of these people. You know, I knew a handful of them, but then their friends were there too, who I didn't know prior to that night. And we're talking about like different things in business and stuff like that. And like, I look around the table, every single person there was self-employed. Like, it's not something that I do intentionally, but I'm always surrounded by self-employed people. I ran into two different people that I knew at the casino that I didn't know were going to be there, like just happened to come upon them, who I know in real life, both of them self-employed. So I'm like, like, there's just like, I think energies attract. And so, so yeah, I just I have that mentality. So I have like a really, really good business sense. And I told my staff at the last meeting, I was like, I am going to pour into you guys, I want you guys to be successful, because I know that that seeps down to the children. And the more we pour into the children, the children hopefully are happier, to see their parents. Now, we do have a number of children that cry when they get picked up. I feel so bad for the parents. But I mean, the parents are happy that their kids are happy to be here. But I do feel a little bit bad for them for that. But if we can pour into the kids and then The kids can be happy or at least not sad to be dropped off in the morning. That helps the parents to go out and do their mission in life. So it's a circle. It's a circle. And I love to see that happen. And I just, I'm praying that One day down the road, there will be children that come back and they're like, you know, Mandy, like, I just appreciated that you loved us. All of the kids here in the center will give me a hug. Most of them will tell me that they love me and I tell them that I love them. And I'm told that at some point in time, a parent may, may not appreciate that. I'm going to be honest, that's going to hurt my feelings because I am just a very loving person. Like I just, I love people. And especially I love kids. I mean, kids are great, but, but yeah, I guess I'll cross that bridge when I get to it.

No, yeah, I'll tell you. I'm a I'm a I'm a soft person. You're going to have me over here getting in tears because I when you talk about the frustration part, like, you know, I have a five year old and a one year old. And, you know, sometimes when you do have those like long days, you're like, you know, you start to kind of take out that frustration a little bit. And his like his emotional intelligence is so high. And I'm like, You know, I try my hardest. I'm like, we can't do that anymore to him. Like, I can't be around that. And that's cool that you've figured that part out with your daughter. Mm hmm. Yeah. I mean, that's highly high, high intelligence right there.

Yeah. Yeah. My my kids, my kids are the first ones to call me out on stuff like. I'm telling you, my kids have a pretty high bar and they're quick to correct me if I get out of line. I'm not a big yeller. I don't normally yell, but if I do raise my voice and yell, like I said, it's always at the oldest. And it's because I'm safe. I'm safe to yell at him like that almost doesn't even sound fair, but I, I know that he can handle it. And, um, I know I yelled at him one time. He whipped a deodorant, um, a deodorant stick at his brother and I just like reactionary, like. started yelling at him, and he just stood there and looked at me. He just respectfully stood there, making eye contact with me, let me get all of my words out, and I ended up yelling at him that I was sorry that I was yelling at him. And he's like, he's like, It's okay, mom. He's like, I forgive you. He's like, I deserved that. Okay, don't make me get out of character like that. Again. I don't like it. I don't. I don't like who I am when I hate losing self control. And that's another thing that I learned from my dad. I learned from my dad very young that when you yell, you've lost self-control. And once you lose self-control, you're no longer in control of the situation. And I guess secretly on the down low, I do like to be in control. That also scares me because I kind of feel like y'all may be in for a wild ride while I'm in control. But I do like to be self-controlled. That is something that's super, super important to me. And I think because I've modeled that, my kids are pretty self-controlled also, which is a blessing. And that's something that I hope that I can model here in the center too, obviously. I know that I can't fix everything for everybody, but if I can model my self-control, I'm hoping, you know, my staff, my staff is amazing at this point in time. They're very patient and self-controlled, but I'm hoping that between me and the staff, that we can help the children to regulate themselves.

Yeah, it's truly awesome the impact you're making. And like you said, I can tell that you don't really raise your voice. You don't yell. And yeah, it might be nap time for the kids right now, but I'm sure this is how you still act. It's like those bedside manners where almost you have to have daycare manners, right?

Yeah.

Yeah. Don't get me wrong. Some days are really, really frustrating. Some children are more challenging than other children. But I'm really frustrating some days for people too. And that's something I always remembered with my own children too. I have bad days. They have bad days. Like, just because they're two or four doesn't mean they're not allowed to have bad days. I think a lot of times adults have higher expectations on children than what we do on ourselves or each other. And that does not make sense to me. That's actually super confusing to me. Why ask the kids to clean up if you're not going to clean up after yourself? Like set the example or shut your mouth, one or the other. I don't have different rules for the kids than what I hold for myself at home or here. And we like, I don't know, like things, I guess another big thing that really shaped me in life, two of my boyfriends were killed when I was a teenager drinking and driving 15 months apart. And there was a before and after for me in life. And after that, I... Like, I just evaluate situations a lot differently. I mean, a lot of the reason why I don't yell or lose my temper with my children is because I don't want that to be the last thing they remember of me if something were to happen to me. And I don't want that to be the last thing I remember of them if something were to happen to them. So I'm super conscious about, I pick my battles. Like, I really, really pick my battles. If it's not something that would matter if they died today, probably doesn't matter. Probably really doesn't matter. Respect matters to me. But whether they put their dirty clothes inside the hamper or in front of the washing machine, either way, I got to bend down and pick it up. So it really don't matter. It just doesn't matter.

I love that. It's bringing back just so many things. I mean, you're making me emotional. I'm like sitting here going, I never in a million years thought I'd bring this lady on and she'd make me emotional. And here you are. But I'm a cancer. Things, things, yeah, that's usually the sensitive side of cancers, right? We like to kind of, it's the emotional intelligence is what it is. It's very high, I think, inside of probably both of our human designs. I'm sure we're very built similar and, you know, we like to lead and I'm sure you like to lead and as you are right now, you lead and I'm sure you like to bring people up with you shoulder to shoulder because that's, that's how it should be.

Yeah.

So I, you know, I haven't, we didn't really touch on the, the networking thing, but if you, what, what, what's that about? What?

So that's an interesting story. Um, so I will preface with the fact that the, the networking business has kind of just simmered out. Um, I started that in Alabama. Uh, my, my second husband had bought an all state agency in Alabama. Um, I was not supposed to be involved in it, but as things happened, um, I was asked to travel down, leave Pennsylvania, go to Alabama and, um, see what I could do in the Allstate agency. And the only people I knew were the people that were on payroll for us at that time. So I had to build a network because my dad taught me how to build business. I needed a network. And I couldn't rely on my dad's network anymore, which I have kind of piggybacked off of. So here in Elizabethtown, literally Saturday night when I was out with those guys, like I'm sitting there and we're like talking and I'm like, you know, we're all business owners. And I was like, do you know my dad? And like three guys there knew my dad. Like, of course you guys do. But anyways, I moved to Alabama, knew nobody. Nobody knew my dad. And so I was like, OK, like I got to build a network. So I went to a BNI meeting. And that's that's a networking program, association, whatever you want to call it, group. And I loved it. I absolutely loved it. I was like, this is amazing. I met, I went one time and I met the most amazing people, made the greatest connections, people I'm still friends with to this day. And so I was like, well, I want to build a BNI group. And I started to do that. I got paired up with somebody. I started to do that. My kids, this was towards the end of a school year, and my two youngest were coming down for the summer. had had them coming down on building this BNI group, getting people to join the group and stuff. We have a director through BNI. And I had always said like it was part of my intro was that I am straddling two states because my kids are in Pennsylvania. Business is in Alabama. I'm straddling the two states. So that was like always understood. It was always like I it was my way of saying I'm not from around here. Like I would make comments about my accent was not like there's like y'all know I'm not from around here. Well. There ended up being a situation where I had asked somebody to join a group who was a stay-at-home mom with a side business, and we wanted her business in the group. It would have been valuable for us. And she said, I would love to join you guys, but she's like, I'm not getting a babysitter once a week for two hours in the morning. She's like, I just bring my kid with me. And I'm like, of course you would bring your kid with you. I mean, unless you're a gynecologist, please take your kid with you every day. You should. Or you want to bring your kid to me to stay with me. That's fine, too. But no, I 100% encourage people to involve their children in whatever they do, because you can teach them emotional intelligence. No matter what you're doing, you can teach them emotional intelligence. But teach them your trait. Spend time with them. So I was like, yeah, absolutely. And she's like, well, I don't think that's allowed. I was like, it's my group. I'm building the group. It's allowed. But I had a partner and we had a director. So I went back to them and the partner was like, no, I don't think so. And the director was like, absolutely not. This is a professional environment. I was like, are you that bad at your job that you can't do your job or focus on the group if there is a child present? Because that's weird. And within a week, I was sent an email that said that the group was being dissolved because we didn't have enough people, which we had just hit 10 people, which was what they wanted. So I was like, OK. And it was a massive blow to my life. to my self esteem, I guess, because I had gone all around town in a town that I didn't know anybody trying to build this group, like, like talking up this group and selling BNI to these people. And I got kicked out. And I knew I knew when I received that email. I knew that the group was not dissolving. I knew they were just getting rid of me. And it was because I essentially said exactly what I just said. That's really terrible if you're not that good at your job that you can't do your job with a three-year-old present. Come on, people. Like that's, that's insane to me. My dad built a multimillion dollar business with me tagging along from one to in my twenties, like, don't give me that line of crap. So, um, so I knew immediately when the email came through, the group was not being dissolved. They were just getting, they were kicking me out. So I sent a text message out to the people that were in the group and I had connected with. It was a group text message. Everybody got the same message just saying, this happened. I do not agree with this. And like the kid thing that I did not agree with. And I'm being told that the group's being dissolved. but I do believe that the group will continue, and I do believe that it's a good thing. Like, I believe that networking is a good thing. I believe that BNI is on to something here, and I wish them well. And I started getting individual texts back from people in the group, and they were like, Mandy, we stand with you. We support you. We agree, like, this networking thing is great and amazing, and we want to be a part of it, but we don't want to be in BNI. And I was like, well, I don't know, if you find something, let me know. And so two of the guys in that group really like, I'll say, fed into me and encouraged me to go out on my own. And that was the birth of Go Be Greater Networking. So I just wanted to build something that we could help each other And, uh, we, we, they did pay a monthly fee, but 100% of that went out into the community. We did quarterly, um, donations to something. And so I didn't, I didn't make any money off the business if it would have multiplied, which was my, um, my vision for the group and I'm still not letting go. I've learned a lot with that first group that I built that kind of, it dissipated after I left Alabama. It kind of just faded off. I learned a lot in that process. And so there's a good possibility that when I get the daycare on its feet here in Elizabethtown, I'll build a group here. So much good stuff came out of that so much. encouragement because a lot of times it's lonely at the top. Um, even salespeople like those groups attract salespeople and you get so much rejection. Even if you're a great salesperson, you get rejected like all the time. And so, um, like the, the, the group is definitely definitely in my heart and soul. And I love networking. I'm huge in networking. So yeah, it's something that I may re-fire up. I'm definitely not ready to let go of it. It was emotional for me when the guy that I left to lead the group when I had to leave Alabama and get planted here in the center to get this going, when he reached out to me and he was like, I think it's time to just shut it down. I didn't talk for a little while. And then I finally just was like, this is hard for me.

Just coming back from our quarterly meeting with Apex and networking, like you say, it's such a massive thing and just putting yourself in the right rooms. It's crazy what happens when you put yourself in the room. And even if you you know, just find positive people that are, you know, because like you say, business is lonely. Entrepreneurship is lonely. Like it is a lonely path because there's not a lot of people that are supporting you on the way up until you make it. And then everybody's clapping. So, um, yeah, it's a, you definitely need a support system on the way up. So that's pretty cool that you might continue that.

Yeah, and I am blessed so many times over because I sincerely have that support system. Sadly, it is mostly men. But I have so many guys who I've known. I mean, some of them I've literally known my whole life that are self-employed. So it goes off those relationships with my dad. They've watched me grow up. They know how strong-willed I am. They know how determined I am. They know that even after I drown, I will keep swimming. Um, and they are like there to say like, you're, you're going to make it like you would not believe how many messages I get. Even a previous employer of mine. Um, I actually, I, I worked for him when I went through my first divorce, which was brutal. Uh, it was, it was, it was a very painful time for me. And um, He always would say to me, he's like, he's like, Mandy, he's like, I've never seen anybody take a bull by the horns the way that you will take a bull by the horns. But he can tell by my Facebook post, like where I'm at mentally. It's, it's funny, like there's so, there's so many people that are so in tune with me. And when I'm off my game, my phone lights up. And that is, I have, so growing up, Not in the beginning of my childhood, but until I was ready to launch, my dad was very successful and wealthy. And when I got started in life, there was a lot of that talk of, like, daddy's money or, you know, my first husband and I bought a commercial farm when we were 22 years old. And a lot of people, you know, had their comments. They're like, oh, you know, well, her dad helped with that or whatever, which is absolute, utter lie. That was 100%. My first husband did that on his own. irked me that people tried to take that away from him. But I It took me a long time to really process how people perceived me because I knew my dad always made me work for everything. Now he provided me opportunities to work, but I always worked for everything. Like I budgeted and bought my own school clothes since I was nine. I paid for my own pets since I was like 10 or 11. I sold a dog to pay for the other dog's dog food and vet bills. I always carried myself financially, but people always had all this stuff to say. And I realized another thing, self-reflecting as an adult, my dad did not give me money and I had no financial advantage that way. He'll tell me now that he's not leaving me an inheritance, which is fine because I got the best part of my dad. And I don't know if those are just words, but my dad's one of those people that will leave his inheritance to somebody he met at the bar. And that's fine. I hope that they need it and I hope it impacts them well. And if he leaves it to me, that's great too. But what I did get from my dad was a solid network. I got the most powerful network. like I had access to the most amazing attorney from from the gate. I knew all of the business people. I had the mindset that I've always known it can work. You can make this happen. I took ownership of this business January 1st, and I'm rated for 56 kids. I had nine kids, and I had four staff members. So if you're a business person, you can just imagine what my cashflow looked like. That was a little painful. But just two weeks ago, I hit my cashflow number of enrollment, and I still haven't even fully financially realized that, but it's there. But I knew the whole time along, while I was failing, and I was literally coming to work every day for hugs from these kids, I have not taken pay out of this business yet. I'm pretty sure God's just paying for my bills. I don't really know how anything's getting paid for. I'm kind of scared to look in my bank accounts right now. But thus far, I've made it to work. My card works for gas every day. Like I knew because of my dad that I can succeed. I know it's possible. And I think a lot of people in life get held back because they're not sure they can do it. Whereby I, like I've seen it happen. I know I can do it. I know that I can succeed. I've seen other people succeed. I've seen other people in this valley. I've seen other businesses start and how hard it is, and they make it. I would say even both of my ex-husbands, I've watched them go through things in business. My last divorce, I got $1,328 in my divorce. I mean, it was true to his character. We actually had a prenup that protected me financially, and he chose not to follow the prenup that he needed to have. And that was his character. And my character was to not fight that, because I can make it on my own. I don't need him or anybody else. It's been hard. It's been really, really hard. But I can make it on my own. And I think that's one of the greatest gifts that my childhood and my network has given me. And there's been, um, there's been a couple people in my network that like, I reach out to them. I'm like, I don't, I don't know if I'm going to make payroll. Like, that's my biggest concern. I don't know if I'm going to be able to make payroll. I don't know if I can make payroll. And I've had two different, three different people tell me they're like, if you can't make payroll, let me know. Like I'll send you money. And as long as I know that There is somebody that will help me if I cannot make payroll. I've not gotten any money, but I will say after payroll one week, there was $68 left in the bank account. So, I mean, we cut it close sometimes, we cut it close, but $68 is $68. I mean, that's almost a full tank of gas. So, I mean, what more can you ask for at the end of payroll?

Yeah, it wasn't negative. I mean, that's no, that's it. I mean, that's impressive because you just it's just I mean, that wasn't that long ago.

Yeah. Yeah, I know. And that's something I I've told my staff and my children because my children are watching me. And I don't know that my children will ever have any interest in this daycare. I mean, I'm 100 percent sure my boys have no interest in running a daycare. I kind of doubt that my daughter will either, not that all three of my kids love kids, but it isn't their calling. But my legacy is not the daycare center. My legacy is who I am and who I become in the process of this. I have messed up so many times in my life, and I've done so many things that were wrong and bad that my kids know about or have witnessed. I want them to have that legacy. I want them to see me make it because I want them to know that they can make it. No matter what comes up in their life, I want them to know that they can make it. My one son has a dream to own his own excavating company. It's going to be hard. It's going to be really hard. There may be months that you don't get a paycheck. I actually, for Black Friday, I bought myself a cruise, a week-long cruise to Mexico. I don't know if you saw this Facebook post or not, but it was on my bucket list. It was something I've never gone on a cruise. I really want to go on a cruise. It's like, I don't know, it's just like something I really want to do. And so I was like, you know, I'm just going to buy this for Black Friday. because I know it'd be cheaper on Black Friday. So I bought it and I had it scheduled for March because I was going to be doing amazing by March. If I start January 1st, March, everything will be great. Well, that cruise ship came and went without me on it. And I want my kids to be able to make those hard sacrifices. So I paid for a cruise that I never got on. A couple people offered to go with me and pay for me. I wasn't going to walk away when I didn't. The business is not where I need it to be for me to take time off. So that was really important to me that I set that example for my children. We don't walk away when we're not winning. My team needs me here right now. I feel like the kids need me here right now. Yeah, I hope that my kids are able to make those hard choices one day themselves. And I know their dad also sets a very similar example. So they're getting it on both ends. I'd be disappointed if they didn't figure it out for themselves when they are adults. But yeah, it's just really important to me that I set an example of how to weather the bad times I think a lot of times as parents, we want everything to be perfect for our kids, and we try to make it perfect for our kids. But really, we need to teach our kids how to fail. We need to teach our kids how to survive the not-perfect times, because they're going to happen. And they need to know that it's okay. It's okay to fall down. I have failed at so many things, it's not even funny. And it's completely fine. Like, I'll get back up. And I'll get back up with more knowledge and more determination. And I just, I think as parents, that is one of the biggest things that people fail on, is trying to perfect their children's lives. You know, if you lose out, I used to always tell my boys were really, really athletic. I'm not athletic at all, but I always told them, I'm like, there's so much more to be learned in losing than what there is in winning. So be thankful for every loss y'all take. The oldest one, they didn't take very many losses. So, you know, and of course you don't wish for losses, but I always told them to appreciate them.

You know, it's funny you say about the like losses and failures. I think that is one of the, Things like growing up, you're always like, oh, I want to make the MLB. You can make the MLB. You can be an astronaut. You can do whatever you want. And at the same time, though, yeah, it's like you got to fail to make it to those spots. And if you're not taught that, you know, you just think you're going to go right to the MLB or the AA, the AAA. I mean, it just doesn't work like that. You're going to fail so many times. And yeah, that's a good point.

Yeah.

I, you know, I guess I would say this has just been a very powerful conversation, honestly, for myself. I mean, you've kind of inspired me to to be a better person. So this has been truly like really a special conversation. And I think just from, you know, parents to business owners, you've really shared a lot of information that I think people can take.

Yeah, I just I just want to help people. I'm just I'm just a girl. I always say, I'm just a girl. I'm just a regular girl. I have a great network of people. I've got the most supportive people behind me. Honestly, I would not be able to do it without the people that send me messages. I've got one guy that, once a week, he's like, mental health check-in. And I'm like, I'm falling apart.

Well, it's impressive that you skipped this cruise, too. Like, I meant to touch on that. And the fact of the matter is you paid for it and you said, I mean, that not only your kids, but your staff, like you said, the team, I mean, all the way to the kids, like you said, the parents of the kids that are in your center, like that shows a lot of a lot of character.

Yeah, I don't think the parents I don't think the parents know. that I've done that, but I think the parents do know that I really care. I really, really care about these kids. The kids, they sincerely matter to me. And a lot of daycare centers, I think people get, either in a smaller daycare, not that I consider myself small, but in a daycare my size, people get burned out. I'm not burned out yet, I'm brand new. Maybe one day I will be burned out, but at that point in time, I'm going to choose to move on because I don't like to be miserable. So I don't I don't tolerate misery around me. And I I'm not a tree. I'll move when it's time to move. I'll move on to the next thing. But in some of the bigger daycare centers, like it's so corporate that like everything's about a dollar sign. And it's not about that for me. It sincerely is not. I'm a very, very expensive person. I'm very expensive to just feed. such a picky eater. It's ridiculous. But I'm expensive to feed and my hair is expensive. Those are like the two most costly things on me. But um, but that that aside, I really am not financially motivated. When I worked, I worked in sales for a Ford dealership. And the sales manager used to get really frustrated with me because I was not financially motivated. And the owner the owner of the dealership. I talk really loud. I think from being around the equipment my whole life, I can't hear very well, so I talk really loud. And the owner of the dealership overheard me one day with a client, and I had sold him a car. And I came over, went over the deal with him, told him how much we were giving him for a trade-in. And they're like, yep, yep, that's good. And I was like, I can get you more money for your trade-in. And I was like, I'm going to go back to the desk and get you more money for your trade. And they were happy with the deal. But I told him I could get them more money because the sales manager made the mistake of telling me that he could give like another $700 on the trade. So there was like serious money to move. So The person accepted the deal and I was like, no, I can get you more money for your trade. I went back up to the desk and I was like, give me another 250 to 500 on this trade. We're still in the green, we're still making money, but give me that. And he did, I forget how much it was, it was like $300 or something like that. And I went back to the client and I was like, I got you another $300, which is not very much. But that client, like I just got that client money that they did not ask for. And the owner of the dealership heard me and the client was so ecstatic. He's like, I'm telling everybody about you. So what I did was I brought in referral business. Which is amazing in sales. And I did it on purpose. That was my goal. Because I knew I was not hurting the dealership. We had plenty of money to move. And I could make myself look better. Plus, I was always super, super conscious to be a representative of the company that I worked for. I'm not very good at staying in my lane. I think I own everything. So, like, I needed to own my own business because, like, I make a terrible employee. I'm terrible as being an employee. But when the owner asked me about it that night, he was like, Mandy, why in the world did you do that? I explained to him, I was like, do you know how happy that client is with us right now? Like, do you know how like they think that this dealership is like the greatest dealership ever? And I am the best salesperson. Like they're going to tell all of their friends and family. And I was like, you were, you were still in the green. Um, so like, I don't know, like that kind of stuff has just always been natural for me. So I'm, I'm just, I'm not, I'm not financially driven. I am people driven. I care about people. I care about being appreciated. Um, like somebody just saying like, thank you. Like you did a good job. Like. That's like everything to me.

Yeah. Cause well, you know, being codependent upon money is, you know, you see that relationship all the time and it's a very toxic relationship. And I had to get rid of that out of my mind because I was, I was the same thing chasing, you know, deal after deal and you just don't find happiness and money and you figure that out eventually. Um, but I, I know I, I really, I mean, this has been a really cool conversation. Now I, now the parents at your daycare, I'll know that you are still there and you skip the cruise once they listen to this. So that'll be good. Cause cause you deserve to, you know, have that told and that'll, that just, you know, it gives, I think somebody else, uh, uh, a push, you know, to, Hey, maybe, maybe I don't need to, you know, go have that fun. And maybe I should stay in on a Friday and work on this project that I've been working on.

Yeah. Yeah, absolutely. I'm at the gym every weekend. I don't take time off. I don't know. I've only been with self-employed men since I was 18, which was also another thing I realized after I was older. I was like, when was the last time I was with a guy that was actually an employee somewhere? And it's really weird for me. like that people get off at five o'clock in the evening and then like, they're just off. Like, I don't, I don't know. Like, it's just weird. Uh, I had a, I had, I'm going to say pre past tense. I had a gym crush and, um, he asked me out, uh, at the, at the gym. He asked me out on a date. He was the only guy that I had dated, um, since my divorce in June. And when he asked me out, I knew that he's an employee. Not that there's anything wrong with that. He makes incredibly great money. But I was like, what do you talk about? Because I'm used to talking about tax write-offs and HR issues and business planning. And I don't know. I need to know what revenues are. Yeah, I'm like, I'm like, so what do you talk about when you go to dinner? He's like, I don't know, like, whatever comes up. I was like, like, that may work for like, a year or two. But after that, like, what are we going to talk about? Because, like, I mean, after you like know each other's families and stuff like, like that, that just sounds so boring to me. But I also sometimes miss like some of the greatest plays in the football game because I have my calculator out on my phone, like trying to figure out different business things. So there is a balance that should be there. And I do have a hard time finding it sometimes.

Yeah, it's not balanced. It's the alignment. And honestly, it sounds like you're doing it right. I mean, I was at the Blues game the other night, and yeah, I looked down at my phone to answer a text, and yeah, they score a goal, right? And you're like, gosh, like what? Like typical business, right? Business owner, you got to look at your phone, and then they score a goal. Just same thing, I'm sure, with your son in football. You're looking down on your calculator, crunching some numbers, and then you miss a long play, I'm sure, yeah.

Nope. It's happened. And then he'd come off the field. He'd be like, did you see that? And I'm like, yeah, it was amazing. He's like, you didn't see it, did you? I was like, I'm sorry.

They told me right next to me. They told me. I got to hear it.

I heard your name getting cheered. Yeah.

Well, no, I, I really like, I appreciate you coming on here because this is really, it's inspiring. And my wife being a first grade teacher, she, you know, I think they'll all listen to this. And I just had a, a children's book off author on it. And he, he wrote, uh, We mix up our ABCs and it's this really cool little children's book and I had him on and it's kind of like LMNO-T instead of LMNO-P. He wrote this kind of just thinking so creatively and he spoke at my Y school and I had him on my podcast as well and so it's pretty cool just to see the people that really are or putting themselves out there for kids. And it's a calling because, like I said, it's a hard job. What you're doing is not easy. Just seeing all the different color-coordinated cubbies behind you in the picture, some people listening to this can't see it, but that takes money. Every single one of those cubbies that you have to buy, every piece of item that's hanging from your classroom ceiling, you have to buy that stuff. Yeah, it's not cheap. I know how that is. So to be honest, to see that you've come this, I mean, this short of time and, you know, it probably is what, because you, you stayed home from the cruise is the only reason why, otherwise you're probably pushing yourself out another few months, I would guess.

Honestly, I enrolled enough, I finally made cash flow that week that I should have been on the cruise. And I think that was a gift from God, confirmation that I made the right choice. And it was gifted back to me. So yeah, I have no regrets. I'm thankful for the sacrifices. I'm thankful for the humility. I'm thankful that it took me a hot minute to get on my feet, even though I know looking back, when we get a year out and further, I'm going to look back and be like, oh my gosh, it only took four months. But right now, four months is a long time to go without a paycheck. So that's been painful. Thankfully, like my, my kids are like, I'll like, I'll, I'll actually say to my kids, like, let's go somewhere. And they're like, mom, you don't have any money. That's right. I don't.

Yeah. Typical, typical business on it. Right. One day, one day you got 65,000 and the next day you got 36. Right. We've all seen that mean.

Yeah.

Yeah. But, but same time we, we get to control our lives and we get to be our own boss and that's the best part.

Yeah. Yeah.

Yeah, I appreciate it. I appreciate coming on here. And if people want to find you, they can find you on Facebook is because that's how I found you. Because you have a good, good content distribution. And like you said, you You put out good stuff and obviously I don't see everything, but there's certain stuff I see and it resonates with me and that's kind of how I found you. So people listening to this, find her on Facebook, Mandy Doyle. That's B-O-Y-L-E, or Broussard.

Yeah, B-R-O-U-S-S-A-R-D.

Yeah, and we'll have all that and the links in the show notes for that. And if you want to check out her daycare, it's seedsofsuccessacademy.com, which we'll also include in our show notes. So if you appreciate this episode or any of the other ones, please go ahead, like it, share it, give it a five-star review on Spotify and tell your friends about the show. So any last words, Mandy?

I just really want to thank you for reaching out to me and letting me share a little bit of my story with your audience. I appreciate that opportunity. And I just want to remind everybody that we all do reap what we sow. So plant healthy seeds so that you can have a healthy garden one day. Things do have a way of coming back around. Be blessed and be a blessing.

I love that. That's right. Until next time, elevate everything. Keep planting seeds. Right, Mandy? And remember, you don't have to be great to start, but you have to start to be great. One love.

Amen.

Thanks so much for tuning into this episode. We sure do appreciate it. If you haven't done so already, make sure you're subscribed to the show wherever you consume podcasts. This way you'll get updates as new episodes become available. And if you feel so inclined, please leave us a review and tell your friends about the show. Until next time.