Libsyn Directory

Ep. 189 - The Power of Story with Jon Sieber

Release Date: 11/21/2024

Ep. 219 - Having a Seat at the Right Table Is Everything with Kyleigh Tolman and Keaton Ross

Child Care Rockstar Radio

Kyleigh Tolman and Keaton Ross are the powerhouse sister duo behind Klever Kidz Academy in rural Southeast Oklahoma. With three centers and over 300 children served, Kyleigh and Keaton have built something deeply rooted in family, community, and intentional leadership. During their chat with Kris, they share how they’ve infused fun, core values, and heart into their culture, from heart-shaped tattoos with their leadership team to parent survival kits and walkout-proof staff meetings. They also open up about enrollment challenges in rural areas, personal development routines, and...

Ep. 218 - Stamp Your Center’s Footprint in the Community with Megan Ferring

Child Care Rockstar Radio

Happy New Year and welcome to 2026! In this episode, Kris sits down with Megan Ferring, a dynamic regional director at Hamilton Heights Child Development Center, where her 16-year journey began as a preschool teacher. Megan’s deep commitment to both operational excellence and playful leadership recently earned her the Director of the Year award. Kris and Megan talk about how Hamilton Heights approaches leadership structure, branding, and enrollment strategy across its six locations. Megan shares her perspective on centering community connections, building team culture, and...

Ep. 217 - Not Your Typical Childcare Center with LaVonda Paul

Child Care Rockstar Radio

This week, Kris welcomes LaVonda Paul, a trailblazing early childhood leader and fourth-generation entrepreneur, for an inspiring conversation about legacy, leadership, and the power of showing up. As the owner of Small Impressions Child Development Center in Taylors, South Carolina, LaVonda has spent 19 years building a community-first program. In the episode, LaVonda talks with Kris about how she’s cultivated deep trust with families, built a rock-solid team culture, and gone all-in on advocacy, helping shape policy while showing up for children, parents, and educators alike. She opens...

Ep. 216 - What “Trust the Process” Really Means with Kris Murray

Child Care Rockstar Radio

It’s solo episode time! Kris shares insights from her new book, The Antidote to Fear, and outlines three practical ways to trust yourself and the process. She talks about embracing fear and self-doubt, including her “yoga mat” moment that changed her career direction. Kris discusses manifestation as a giving process and highlights the importance of creating quiet spaces for intuition and growth. She also gives an update on her recent women’s retreat in Maui. Key Takeaways: [2:22] Kris explains the concept of “trust the process” from the Success Academy’s guiding...

Ep. 215 - How Disney's Service Values Can WOW Your Customer with Vance Morris

Child Care Rockstar Radio

Kris welcomes Vance Morris, former security guard turned Disney leader and successful entrepreneur, for a trip to the happiest place on earth — great customer service! Vance helps business owners get, serve, and keep clients for life through creating experiences and response-required marketing. He shares real-world strategies to delight customers, build community buzz, and drive word-of-mouth referrals. In this episode, Vance breaks down Disney’s hiring and training magic and the “why” behind it, how it transforms the customer experience, the role of linertainment, and how...

Ep. 214 - Fixing a Broken Culture with Intentional Leadership with Ashanti Ordone

Child Care Rockstar Radio

Kris welcomes Ashanti Ordone, the Founder and CEO of Gifted & Talented Academy, and the 2025/26 Child Care Rock Star Award winner! They talk about expanding from a home daycare to three locations, transforming her school’s culture, and overcoming challenges in the early childhood education landscape. Ashanti shares her powerful story of building a thriving early learning center, detailing how she developed rock-solid core values and poured into her leadership team, implemented innovative leadership strategies, and turned her school’s culture into a model of excellence. Key...

Ep. 213 - Getting Your Operational “Stuff” Together with Jami Hartmann

Child Care Rockstar Radio

Want to stop the revolving door of teachers and create a rock-solid childcare team? Kris talks with Jami Hartmann from Trainual about how the right systems can transform your center’s operations. They dig into practical strategies for finding great staff, training them effectively, and keeping them motivated. Jami shares some great insights on getting your whole team aligned, creating smooth onboarding, and using technology to make documentation easier. If you’re struggling with staff turnover and want to build a more consistent, high-performing center, this episode is packed with...

Ep. 212 - Leveraging Word of Mouth Marketing for Fast Growth with Josh and Pamela Hernandez

Child Care Rockstar Radio

Kris welcomes Josh and Pamela Hernandez, owners of Montessori Kids Universe Stone Oak. The duo talks about their path into early childhood education and opening up MKU, tips for starting out with cash flow out of the gate, and enrollment strategies that worked for them. They also chat with Kris about using referral rewards, how they balance family and business, marketing tools that help them build trust and stand out in their community, the need for the industry to collaborate more, and how they keep their staff happy and inspired. Key Takeaways: [5:04] Joshua and Pamela talk...

Ep. 211 - Chasing Cows and Building Dreams Into a 12-Center Empire with Jennifer House and Jenni Grawvunder

Child Care Rockstar Radio

Kris welcomes “The Jens”, aka Jennifer House (CEO) and Jenni Grawvunder (COO) of Children’s Choice Preschool, to share the remarkable story behind their 12-center child care empire in San Diego County. What started as a nonprofit program with 25 children has grown into a thriving operation serving nearly 1,300 kids across 11 centers (with a 12th on the way) and supported by a team of over 300 staff. From pet chickens to RV-based school openings, the Jens talk about blending practical business strategy with fun, managing both nonprofit and for-profit centers, building culture...

Ep. 210 - When You Love Kids This Much, Success Comes Naturally with Dominique Gill

Child Care Rockstar Radio

Kris welcomes Dominique Gill, heart-centered leader and owner of Unique Kids Childcare in Nashville and Smyrna, Tennessee, to share her journey to multi-site child care leader. Dominique opens up about starting as a young mother seeking affordable child care, working in exchange for tuition, and eventually moving from home-based care to two thriving centers. Dominique built her program around love, family, and celebrating every child’s uniqueness. She discusses the challenges of opening during the pandemic, shifting into leadership, raising tuition for the first time, and creating a...

More Episodes

It’s all about the story this week as Kris welcomes Jon Sieber, Co-Founder of Story Time Learning, and Story Time Chess, an innovative early learning and education-based product for kids and adults of all ages. Jon shares how he went from theater to chess to Story Time, the power of storytelling to help children learn complicated concepts such as chess or coding, and the importance of storytelling in creating meaningful connections and learning experiences. He and Kris also talk about the importance of consistency in personal and professional goals, and the future exciting plans for Story Time Learning.

Key Takeaways:

[4:10] Congrats to Sister Mercedes for being named the new Rock Star!

[8:33] Jon joins the show from Brooklyn, New York.

[9:30] How a chess tutoring company evolved into Story Time Learning.

[13:26] Jon is a direct descendant of which royal figure from history?

[20:01] How can you use the power of storytelling?

[25:42] Jon highlights the success of their program in Singapore and the interest from parents and educators.

[28:16] Shaping 450‒500 preschools.

[30:27] Kris shares a great story on how she and Jon met.

[35:24] The key lessons Jon has learned as an entrepreneur.

[37:02] The importance of positivity, consistency, and showing up every day.

[41:47] What’s next for Story Time?

Quotes:

“Children are capable of learning big, complex things like chess or coding if you throw out the rule book and you tell them fun, engaging, silly stories and let them discover the rules, rather than use rote memorization or rules that they have to stick to.” — Jon [10:26]
“The same way that I train my teachers or tutors in New York City, we can train teachers, educators, librarians, anywhere in the world, to deliver our fun, engaging curriculum.” — Jon [12:10]
“The power of story is one of the most powerful things you can do as a business owner, as a marketer, as anybody who’s trying to make a difference.” — Jon [19:27]
“Storytelling is what we think is the best vehicle to deliver something.” — Jon [20:48]
“We feel very strongly about the powerful tool and the vehicle that is storytelling.” — Jon [21:32]
“You have to be positive and optimistic and believe in what you do. And if you approach things with eternal optimism and the ability to show up day after day, you will expose yourself to enough surface area that you will start getting ‘lucky.’” — Jon [37:21]
“Consistency over time equals success.” — Jon [37:53]

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