Ep. 206 - Leadership Lessons in Child Care with Regina Miller
Release Date: 07/17/2025
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...
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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...
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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...
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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...
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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...
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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...
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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...
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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...
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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...
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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...
info_outlineKris welcomes the joy-inducing and magnetic Regina Miller, a nationally recognized trainer, author, and owner of Trailblazers Academy in Wichita, Kansas. With nearly five decades in early childhood education and 35 years in leadership, Regina shares fantastic insight into what it really takes to lead a team, stay connected as an owner, and build lasting impact in your center.
Regina shares some great takeaways from her new book Leadership Lessons, including how to hire smarter, mentor without ego, and avoid becoming an absentee owner. Kris and Regina also talk about how to stay engaged, inspire your staff, and create a culture that works, starting at the top.
Key Takeaways:
[5:05] Some exciting new info about the Summit! [7:06] Regina brings more than 47 years of experience in early childhood and 35 years in leadership, with a clear focus on mentorship, literacy, and building long-term community impact.
[8:58] After losing her daughter in 2022, Regina downsized her center to honor her daughter’s dream and now focuses on a smaller, literacy-driven program model.
[11:46] She has no plans to retire and emphasizes purpose-driven longevity in leadership, reinforced by consistent self-care and boundaries.
[14:13] The beauty of an early wake-up time.
[17:02] Her newest book, Leadership Lessons, was years in the making and centers on transparency, personal growth, and lessons from mistakes made as a leader.
[20:34] Regina encourages leaders to stop being intimidated by talented hires. She views strong team members as a resource to grow the organization, not as a threat.
[23:18] New directors often assume the title alone is enough. Regina challenges them to build systems, listen to input, and avoid siloed decision-making.
[25:59] Veteran leaders can become disconnected. She emphasizes the importance of owners remaining present and actively involved in culture-building.
[30:18] Regina is deeply involved in policy advocacy and stresses the need for early educators to be consistently vocal with legislators, not just during funding crises.
[34:04] Fun fact: You may catch Regina on the dance floor, and she moved for four hours at her own birthday party!
[34:24] Joy and energy are core to Regina’s leadership style, and she believes team morale can be shifted through presence, celebration, and meaningful connection.
[36:13] The connection between dancing and leadership.
[39:03] For introverted leaders, Regina recommends finding trusted allies, preparing in writing, and participating in leadership through small, strategic actions.
[41:54] Regina uses creative, real-world training exercises, like immersive people-watching in Las Vegas, to help emerging leaders build confidence and self-awareness.
[45:04] Her upcoming literacy program not only supports child development but also functions as an enrollment strategy by drawing families back into the center.
Quotes:
“I believe that all of us have a part. So there’s no better school, bigger school, best school. There’s all of us, and then there are all of these children that need us.” — Regina [8:43]
“Hire someone smarter than you.” — Regina [22:08]
“As a new leader, be willing to listen.” — Regina [24:14]
“Leaders cannot ask of their people what they’re not willing to do themselves. And a lot of times you can’t just delegate that down.” — Regina [29:28]
“Once I dance, I make everybody dance. I can boogie off anything you give me.” — Regina [39:29]
Sponsored By:
ChildCare Education Institute (CCEI)
Use code CCSC5 to claim a free course!
Mentioned in This Episode:
The Child Care Success Company
The Child Care Success Academy
Childcare Education Institute: Use code CDARenewal22 to get $100 off your renewal
Funding and Advocacy for ECE, Across All 50 States with Cindy Lehnhoff