Libsyn Directory

Ep. 197 - Creating an Extended Family In Her Community with Neshanta Linson

Release Date: 03/27/2025

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...

Ep. 209 - A Family Affair! Tales of a Multi-Generational ECE Company with Tea Shong and Trina Romanowski

Child Care Rockstar Radio

Kris sits down with Tea Shong and Trina Romanowski, the powerhouse mother-daughter duo behind a thriving, multi-site early childhood business in Michigan. Winners of the Partnership of the Year Award at the Child Care Success Summit, Tea and Trina share how they scaled from an in-home daycare to three high-quality centers, all rooted in purpose and shared vision. They discuss navigating family dynamics, leading with clarity, embedding nature-based learning, and using creative systems like coaching calls and color-coded lanyards, to keep their team culture strong across every location. Key...

Ep. 208 - Creating Leadership Magic In Her Ruby Slippers with Rachel Supalla

Child Care Rockstar Radio

Kris is joined by longtime friend, business visionary, and rockstar early childhood leader Rachel Supalla. Rachel is the founder of Vision Tree, a TEDx speaker, and the author of The Playful Leader’s Toolkit, a book packed with wisdom on leading with joy, grounding, and energy. With 10 schools across Montana and Utah, Rachel shares how she’s scaled her business while embracing what she calls “ruby slipper leadership.” They talk about managing energy instead of time, why remote teams need tight leadership structures, and how playfulness is more than just dress-up — it’s a strategy...

More Episodes

Neshanta Linson is the owner of Hermes Enchanted Garden, a boutique early childhood program in Lower Alabama. Starting as a home-based daycare, her center has grown into a thriving, community-driven school that blends classical education, family values, and a strong sense of connection. Beyond her role as a business owner, Neshanta is deeply committed to servant leadership, fostering an environment where families, staff, and children feel like an extended family. In this episode, she shares how she built a family-centered school culture where staff and parents feel truly connected. Neshanta also talks with Kris about the power of mindset shifts and personal growth in leading a successful business, the ECE Mafia, and the importance of setting boundaries to avoid burnout and ensure sustainability.

Key Takeaways:

[7:42] Neshanta started her program as a home daycare and expanded into a boutique school due to growing demand.

[8:33] The name Hermes Enchanted Garden came from blending two meaningful influences — an early childhood program she admired and her family’s cloth diaper business.

[10:41] The culture of her school is laid-back yet structured, emphasizing Southern values, community, and support.

[12:50] Fun fact: Neshanta loves folding a hot towel and hates traveling home with dirty clothes!

[14:10] Neshanta is part of the mafia! Well, the ECE Mafia, a small group of accountable, high-performing child care leaders who challenge each other to grow.

[15:05] Joining the Freedom track of the Child Care Success Academy helped Neshanta implement systems, delegate leadership roles, and reclaim her time.

[19:01] For Neshanta, 2021 was a pivotal year — she battled personal losses, business struggles, and health challenges, but found strength through her team and accountability group.

[22:39] Working with Kris on mindset coaching and awakened leadership has helped Neshanta recognize the impact of ego, expectations, and balance in business and life.

[27:46] Rather than traditional tours, she hosts one-on-one “meet-and-greet” sessions to ensure a mutual fit and strong parent-school relationship.

[30:22] Her strong word-of-mouth reputation allows her school to stay fully enrolled without aggressive marketing.

[32:27] She learned to set boundaries to avoid over-giving and protect herself and her team from burnout.

[33:30] Hosting family events like Mom’s Night Out and private Facebook community discussions helps strengthen parent connections.

[37:32] A rare snow event in Alabama reminded her how much parents and communities rely on child care centers as a support system.

Quotes:

“I would say our culture is laid back, but structured and firm. We believe that kids need to have a balance. I’m a Southerner, and so Southern values really matter to me, and so we want to instill those Southern values into our students. We want them to be well-rounded kiddos.” — Neshanta [10:55]
“I think we have cultivated a small community where they (the staff) hang out outside of work. They’re becoming real friends and real family, and that’s who we are. Family.” — Neshanta [11:16]
“It’s like putting the right people in the right seats and people love to give more, especially if that’s their gift.” — Neshanta [18:09]
“I’ve always been a bit driven, and nobody can tell me no if I believe that that’s where I’m supposed to be.” — Neshanta [19:04]
“Real love just is. And being authentic, which is something that I do professionally, being authentic is a way to be, and a lot of times that ego gets in the way of that. And so you have to check yourself in the roles that you play, in your shenanigans when that ego comes to play, and then just realize that life just is. And you have to realize life is about duality, but you want to be balanced.” — Neshanta [24:03]
“I think that part of our unique brilliance is holding space for parents to be parents.” — Neshanta [26:36]

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