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Child Care Rockstar Radio

Child Care Rockstar Radio

By: Kris Murray
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 Early learning leaders around the globe are breaking through challenges, leading the way in innovation, testing new best practices, and impacting children and families in a much more powerful and positive way than ever before. Each week, tune in to top child care business guru Kris Murray on the Child Care Rockstar Radio podcast for interviews with early childhood leaders and experts that will leave you inspired to get to the next level of success, whatever that means for you. Kris Murray is President of Child Care Marketing Solutions, and the Founder of the Child Care Success Academy, the world’s largest and most comprehensive business coaching program for early childhood entrepreneurs and leaders. She is the author of two top-rated books on early learning business, and the mom of two great kids. She and her team are based in the mountains of Colorado. Listeners are encouraged to visit https://www.childcaresuccess.com/podcast/ and leave a message for a chance to have your questions/thoughts featured on a future podcast episode!©2021 All Rights Reserved
Episodes
  • Episode 204 with Whitney Burkman - From Home to Center: Young Leadership in Action

    Episode 204 with Whitney Burkman - From Home to Center: Young Leadership in Action
    Jul 3 2025

    Kris welcomes young inspiration and rising leader Whitney Burkman, owner of Magnolia Academy in Payson, Utah. Whitney shares more about her journey from in-home childcare to a full 125-spot center before age 30. She talks about building confidence as a young business owner, gives some great advice for hiring, marketing strategies, leadership challenges, and the critical role of mindset in growing her successful childcare business.

    Key Takeaways:

    [4:55] Whitney opened Magnolia in 2022, and they are currently at 122 enrollments.
    [7:43] Opening a center at age 27 and what inspired the move from home to center.

    [12:59] How is Magnolia Academy different from its competitors?

    [15:44] Becoming an off site owner and the shifts she had to make in her habits and mindset when going from in home to an actual center.

    [21:09] Whitney’s chaotic home life (in the best way) with a busy husband and four boys.

    [23:43] Whitney shares some of her best marketing and branding tips.

    [27:12] Enrollment and staffing is always cyclical.

    [28:42] Using organic content for social media to show the cool things going on at Magnolia Academy.

    [30:30] Lessons learned in leadership and building a team.

    [35:04] Reminding staff that there is always something that can be fixed, but they also must remember it is a business with parents and children depending on them.

    [38:06] Whitney shares challenges as a young leader and owner.

    [40:53] What’s next for Whitney in the rest of 2025 and beyond?

    [45:57] How joining the Academy and shifting her mindset helped change things for Whitney.

    Quotes:

    “I feel like I've really been able to pull that in-home feel into my center, which makes us stand out a lot.” [13:56] - Whitney

    “I feel like our program has just far exceeded just giving trust into my teachers and my directors and letting them do what they're supposed to do.” [20:08] - Whitney

    “You can't make everybody happy.” [30:56] - Whitney

    “To me, leadership is not for the faint of heart. It's not easy to do all those things. It's much easier just to smooth it over or pretend like everything's fine and shut your door, but that's not really serving people.” [37:02] - Whitney

    “Once I was able to change my mindset, then just everything else fell into place, my enrollments, my staffing, just everything. It's just weird how it works.” [46:02] - Whitney

    Sponsored By:

    ChildCare Education Institute (CCEI)

    Use code CCSC5 to claim a free course!

    Mentioned in This Episode:

    Kris Murray

    @iamkrismurray

    The Child Care Success Company

    The Child Care Success Academy

    The Child Care Success Summit

    Grow Your Center

    Childcare Education Institute: use code CDARenewal22 to get $100 off your renewal

    Magnolia Academy

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    51 mins
  • Episode 203 with Brett Neller — What’s Your Customer Journey? (And Why You Should Care)

    Episode 203 with Brett Neller — What’s Your Customer Journey? (And Why You Should Care)
    Jun 19 2025
    Kris welcomes Brett Neller, CEO of LineLeader by ChildcareCRM, to explore the real meaning of the customer journey in child care, and why it’s critical for sustainable growth. Brett shares insights from his professional evolution, including how dropping his kids off at care centers helped him deeply understand the needs of operators. He and Kris talk about enrollment challenges, operational bottlenecks, mapping a full customer journey, and how automation can power human connection, not replace it. They also discuss fear-based leadership, what small businesses often get wrong in scaling, and why “state-of-the-art” doesn’t have to mean complicated. From CRM misconceptions to the power of unified data, Brett drops insight after insight on how to grow with intentionality, and why understanding your brand touchpoints matters now more than ever. Key Takeaways: [6:49] Brett shares how he got started at LineLeader in 2018 and how the mission of the early childhood industry drew him in. [9:30] Brett explains how their offering goes beyond a CRM. [10:20] What is the customer journey really, and how does understanding it boost your enrollment? [12:18] Many small businesses are still using whiteboards and sticky notes to manage leads, and why that doesn’t scale. [13:02] Brett breaks down what most get wrong in enrollment. [15:08] How automation can be a gift for parent experience, and why tech doesn’t have to feel robotic. [16:07] Brett shares more about his family life, and how he and his wife rely on child care as well. [18:28] Fun fact — Brett grew up in a military family and moved many times throughout his childhood. [19:30] The biggest mindset shift for owners: from reactive to data-driven. [22:04] How to spot where you’re losing families in your funnel. [25:55] The real ROI of mapping your journey: improved staff morale, better conversion, and clarity. [27:03] The “wow” experience. [30:31] Brett and Kris talk about the danger of fear-based leadership and the difference between helpful automation and shiny object syndrome. [34:17] Practical tips on how to start your journey mapping even with a small team. [39:45] What it really means to lead with empathy and insight. Quotes: “I love the mission behind the space. I love having kids and then dropping my kids off every day at childcare centers. So every day I see operators. And it’s been fun to live the professional journey in parallel with, you know, the personal journey of raising kids.” — Brett [6:46] “Our thesis is to provide the best unified platform experience for staff and parents from a digital experience perspective.” — Brett [10:12] “That’s the most important aspect of the family journey when they’re seeking care, is that you need to execute a great tour. If you don’t, that’s the make or break point, where a family is either like, I’m in or I’m out.” — Brett [23:02] “Yeah, you have to get your teams excited about engaging and selling your school. It shouldn’t be a dirty word. We have the opportunity to serve this family. Sales is service, and so let’s just use that service mindset and get our teams excited about being able to win that family over so that we can actually make a difference in the life of that child.” — Kris [28:19] “The first thing we generally ask is what’s your customer journey, and have you mapped it out?” — Brett [33:09] Sponsored By: ChildCare Education Institute (CCEI) Use code CCSC5 to claim a free course! Mentioned in This Episode: Kris Murray @iamkrismurray The Child Care Success Company The Child Care Success Academy The Child Care Success Summit Grow Your Center Childcare Education Institute: use code CDARenewal22 to get $100 off your renewal LineLeader
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    50 mins
  • Episode 202 with Adrianne Agulla — A Great Story of Scaling Up and Growth

    Episode 202 with Adrianne Agulla — A Great Story of Scaling Up and Growth
    Jun 5 2025

    In this episode, Adrianne Agulla, CEO of Hamilton Heights Child Development Centers in Nebraska and the true definition of an education entrepreneur, joins Kris. Adrianne shares how she went from working in the corporate world to owning six successful daycares and a catering business called Milton’s Amazing Kitchen. Together, she and Kris talk about growing from three to six locations, empowering a leadership team, using VAs to streamline operations, creating a strong scorecard, and what it really takes to scale with excellence. Adrianne goes through the very real ups and downs of growing with intention and building a company that inspires.

    Key Takeaways:

    [6:19] Adrianne owns and operates Hamilton Heights Child Development Centers, with six centers across Nebraska. She originally purchased three as a package in 2017 and has grown from there. She also owns Milton’s Amazing Kitchen, a catering company focused on child nutrition.
    [8:27] Hamilton Heights believes that it’s their professional responsibility to protect childhood from all of the external threats in today’s world, and they have a focus on play.
    [9:31] Adrianne’s earlier career included leadership roles at Coca-Cola and ConAgra, before pivoting into child care.

    [11:30] She juggles the business while raising three busy teenagers.

    [13:46] Adrianne shares reflections plus a funny story about upgrading her wardrobe from a trip to Vietnam.
    [15:19] What benefits Adrianne has found being part of the highest-level membership of the Child Care Success Academy: the Empire level.
    [22:15] She explains her leadership structure, including a director of ops, finance lead, and a high-tenure team.

    [24:15] The leadership team meets weekly to review scorecards and KPIs. Accountability plus support equals success.

    [28:55] Adrianne shares how she works with three virtual assistants (VAs), including one for marketing, one for data and reports, and one for administrative support.

    [31:05] She talks about the industry-wide challenge of attracting and retaining staff and how her company stays focused on its leadership vision.

    [38:37] Her 2025 goals: simplify, streamline, and build an even stronger team.

    [40:55] Why she acquired a catering business and how it’s improved their food program and opened new business channels.

    Quotes:

    • “We say that we’re very serious about play. And we believe that it’s our professional responsibility to protect childhood from all of the external threats in today’s world.” — Adrianne [8:27]

    • “That combination of loyalty and commitment and tenure and then new energy and new ideas and fresh faces, has created a really, I think, a unique and just a sustainable culture.” — Adrianne [9:12]

    • “We are working to create an Early Learning Company that inspires because of the opportunity it creates for staff, families, and children, and so we are just trying to be single-mindedly focused on what it means to create abundant opportunities for our staff from a professional development standpoint, from a wage standpoint, and from a benefit standpoint.” — Adrianne [34:40]

    Sponsored By:

    ChildCare Education Institute (CCEI)

    Use code CCSC5 to claim a free course!

    Mentioned in This Episode:

    Kris Murray

    @iamkrismurray

    The Child Care Success Company

    The Child Care Success Academy

    The Child Care Success Summit

    Grow Your Center

    Childcare Education Institute: use code CDARenewal22 to get $100 off your renewal

    Hamilton Heights Child Development Center

    Milton’s Amazing Kitchen
    Show more Show less
    46 mins
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