Your Next Move - Recognizing the importance of finding good mentors

Episode Date: September 9, 2025

In this episode, Inc. recognition program manager Sarah Lynch chats with Latrice Galloway-Crawford, the founder of Kidzville Learning Academy. The company is ranked No.  2, 714 on 2024 Inc. 5000 list.   Kidzville Learning Academy is a child care center and preschool in Rosenberg, Texas, providing early-learning education for children six weeks to 12 years old. It has been in business for 17 years. Latrice shares stories of her experience and the company’s longevity, and offers tips to achieving fast growth.

With the VentureX business card from Capital One, you earn unlimited double miles on every purchase. Plus, the VentureX business card has no preset spending limit, so your purchasing power can adapt to meet your business needs. Capital One, what's in your wallet? I'm Sarah Lynch, and you are listening to Your Next Move, audio edition, produced by Inc and Capital One Business. For this season, we gathered a bevy of conversations with entrepreneurs who made last year's Inc. 5,000 list. They joined us in our Your Next Move booth at the Inc. 5,000 to share lessons learned and anecdotes from building their businesses. In this episode, I interviewed Latrice Galloway Crawford.

She is the founder of Kidsville Learning Academy, and they're ranked number 2,714 on the 2024 Inc. 5,000 list. Kidsville Learning Academy is a child care center and preschool in the Rosenberg, Texas area, providing early learning education for children ages six weeks to 12 years of age. And they've been in business for 17 years. I started the conversation with Latrice asking about the company's longevity and its fast growth in the last three years. I am very innovative in my business, so I am always networking. I'm looking in other industries to see how we can always be different and bring that wow factor to my center. And I think that has made a standout

among child care centers all over the world because it's not many that make this list in early childhood education. But that has really made me stand out as well as my amazing team. I think I have my dream team at this point. They have been with me for a long time and every single day they help me see my vision

and have it come to life. And I think that creating those wild moments and having my team by my side has really helped me in the last three years just really grow. Tell me more about that. wow factor in what you do differently at your company versus maybe other child care centers? So one thing we do at our center is we're always bringing the engagement in our lessons,

in our families, in the children, so our lessons are engaging. Any typical day you can come by a center. And it wouldn't be a thing if you saw a teacher standing on the table teaching. Or, you know, you saw the kids going up and down the hall or circle time in the hallway versus on the carpet in their classroom. Another thing that we do, we bring parents into our world all the time. So we invite them to events. We have big events for parents, where parents can come with their children, where parents can just come and learn more about what we do. We also have our amazing team, which is a big part of the wow factor. So I always do things to make sure I continue to show them the wow factor through what I'm doing for them. And then they, again,

turn it into the parents and the students. So we're always trying to be different. We're big on social media. So you'll see us doing all the trending TikToks with our kids, with our students, staff. And that makes people say, wow, they're really engaging. Again, we're dealing with Gen Z parents. So they want to see all the things going on. They want their child to be learning, but they also want them engaged. And I think we really bring that engagement piece and a lot of extracurricular activities that most centers don't have. We have STEM. We have a tumble bus. We have an on-site library. We have cooking classes for the children. So all the things that my competitors don't do, we've brought that to

the world of early childhood education where they thought, you can't do that with little people, we do it. You mentioned TikTok and social media. Talk to me about your approach to marketing in general and what's worked best for you? Honestly, what's works best for us is online marketing. I do a lot

of foot marketing because we're big in the community. Again, we've been here 17 years, so we get a lot of referrals just from people over the years. But in this new age and time in the last three years, those Google reviews have been so crazy. We've been viral on TikTok so many times and on Instagram. So that's where I always say focus on what works in your marketing. So everything doesn't work for every business. And what has

really worked for us is word of mouth marketing. So creating those wow factors with our parents, make them go tell everybody else about our center and refer them. And then also social media showing the world, the community and all the people, all the amazing things that we're doing with these little people in our center, making education fun again for our staff, for our children. That has really worked for us. So those are my main marketing. Of course, like I said, we do foot marketing.

We do a lot of events and things like that. But those are the two that really get most of the people in because we ask when they enroll. Interesting. You mentioned your team before and how amazing they are. How do you find the right people? That's something that's so many business owners struggle with. They think they made the right hire

and find out just a couple weeks later that they didn't. What are you looking for when you're hiring folks? Woo, that's a big one. So hiring is very challenging. And so for me, I look for people that align with my vision and the core values of my center. And if they don't, I don't keep them. I don't hire them. Now, have I hired someone that I thought in the interview they did and they get in there and don't?

My saying is I'm slow to hire and quick to fire. So if you're in my business and within two weeks or a week, I see that you are not aligning, I would rather let you go now and find the right people. And so I have created this team over the years. It did take me time. I tell people that all the time. But my team have been with me for 17 years, 15 years, 11 years, 10 years, because I also create those wild moments for them.

So they don't want to leave and go down the street because they know how I treat them and the things that we do here in my center. They're not going to get down the street. But just interviewing a lot of people. and I don't hire out of desperation anymore. Been there, done that. I do not do that anymore. That never led me to building my dream team.

We may have to talk to and interview 25 people to get one. And at this point in my career, I'm okay with that because I've pretty much built my dream team and I won't allow new people to come in and hinder that. And so I think when you're hiring, stick to what you believe in, what your vision is, your core values, and hire people that align with that is the biggest thing

that I can say, and I see people just hire. I need somebody today. And this person doesn't even have the same vision. They don't align with your core values, and you wonder why they're not working. Interesting. So as your business grows, how are you thinking about where to strategically invest within the business to make it even better and further drive revenue? So right now I'm looking at franchising. My center, that's really the next step. We are usually at capacity at our center. So what we do for other revenue is we do extracurricular activities, we do drop-ins, we have events that maybe are on the weekend that people can pay for. But my next big step is looking into franchising because I don't particularly want to own another center myself that I have to run. But I think I have this model downpack that I know people would want the blueprint and they would go from there.

So that is my next big thing is to look into franchising. How are you starting to prepare for that? or what are you thinking about to know, how can we do this successfully? So definitely have been writing on my processes and systems down. That is one thing that people lack when they are opening on their own. They don't have these systems and processes so they buy into franchises because the blueprint is already there laid out. So I have been working on actually documenting everything,

thinking about the things that when I franchise that I'm not negotiating on. This is how it's supposed to look. This is the curriculum we're using. this is how it's supposed to feel and all those things I'm now documenting where it used to just be in my head now if I know this is something that I'm going to have to sell later

I need to lay it all out so that has been the first process is really just starting to document everything even from construction what do I want it to look like what are some things in the center that like my center has a library and a cafeteria most centers don't

that is something that every kid'sville will have to have you will have to have a cafeteria You'll have to have our library. You will have to have your lobby the same way with this built-in coffee bar. You will have to use this curriculum. These are the steps when you're enrolling a new child. These are the services and the different apps that we use to run our facility. So now it's getting all that out of my head onto paper

and then meeting with attorneys to help me make sure I'm making the right decisions legally when I'm doing this and different people that is in a franchise model. I'm meeting with different people to see who I want to hire to help me. go out in this process. But the first step is getting it out your head documenting. Thank you for telling us that. In your role, how do you make sure that what you're doing on a day-to-day basis is driving growth and is supporting the company in the best way that you can as leader? Again, my team is, I tell them they're the most important asset, right? We can have all the children, but if we don't have staff, we don't have it. So every single day, one thing that I am doing, I work behind the scenes a lot. But when I am in

the business, I am working on my team. I am making sure that they are the best they could be. I'm investing in them. I send them to trainings. I have them mentors because I know the teachers are what keep the parents there. Not me. I tell them they love me, but I'm not the one in the classroom every day. I'm not the one that little Johnny is with every day. So I really continue to invest in my team. I always invest in my business when it comes to anything technology-wise, It's like we are big on technology, so parents love that. Parents want easy at this point, you know. So I'm always investing in finding the next new app

and how can we be more efficient with the check-in process. How can we be more efficient with sending them updates? So I'm always behind the scene doing things different. And I told you in the beginning, I study other industries. I don't just study childcare. I study other industries. I go to events like this where I'm meeting people from all different industries and I take what I can back to my.

team or to my center and implement it. So I'm always looking for the next big thing and innovation that I can bring to make my center just continuing to be the best, continue to stand out. In your growth journey, can you tell us about a time when you had a huge obstacle or made a mistake and had to navigate out of it? What you learned from that experience. So many. Oh, God, let me pick one. Let me pick one. Starting out, it was so many. I would say even starting out, I was the first time business owner. I didn't know what. to look for. So I signed a lease on a building that was falling apart from the day I got it. And I was in a five-year lease, so I had to make it work. I remember it was times I would have

to bring a bucket and come an hour before we open to catch the rain because the roof leaked. But knowing what I know now, I would have had a contractor go check out the building and all the things before I signed the lease. That was a nightmare. But it was actually a blessing because I tell people, had I never went through that in four years, I grew that, right? he building to be able to build my current school a 15,000 square foot from the ground up. But had I never went through that, I wouldn't have never appreciated it and knew how to do these things. That was one more recent where I was like, I'm just thorn in the towel, was COVID. Yeah. One day, I had 200 children. The next day I had 40 because they said, you don't have to

close down, but you can only keep essential workers. So all my parents that weren't essential workers, couldn't bring their children. So now I have this payroll. I have all these bills, I have these staff, and what am I going to do? What am I going to do? So I have learned through that to, one, always safe, always, always for a rainy day. Thank God for me, I did, but it was still like, what do we do now? You know, so that taught me to save and that anything could happen in business. And we just had to pivot. We had to pivot our business. And then when we were, we had to pivot our business. when the world kind of slowly started opening back up, we had to just continue to grow, continue to implement new things to drive in more revenue because we had to make up for all

that loss. But COVID was one of the times, I thought I was just out of there. I was like, this is just too much because, again, overnight, 200 to 40. So that's a lot of money. When we come back, I speak to Latrice about the company's pivot to expanding their programming. But first, a quick break. Here's a tip for growing your business. Get the Venture X business card from Capital One and start earning unlimited double miles on every purchase.

That's right, with unlimited double miles the more your business spends, the more miles you earn. Plus, the VentureX business card has no preset spending limit, so your purchasing power can adapt to meet your business needs. The VentureX business card also includes access to over 1,000 airport lounges. Just imagine where the VentureX business card from Capital One can take your business. Capital One. What's in your wallet? Terms and Conditions Apply. Find out more at Capital One.com slash VentureX Business. Tell me more about that pivot and is that when you started introducing things like the weekend programming and other avenues? That is definitely when we started saying we're going to take drop-ins. We open. We do nightcare sometimes, not all the time, but we do parents' night out.

Like once a month, they are able to drop their children off and go on date night with the spouse or do whatever they want to do. So we did start implementing some more programs to bring additional revenue in. And then outside of my center, I personally had to pivot to. And then that's when I started my coaching program and all the other things, too, because I said, no, no more eggs in one basket type of thing. Do you have any productivity hacks to be able to do all that you do, you know, as leader and I guess still stay sane? I tell people all the time, people that I coach always ask me, like, how do you do it? And I say, it is no balance. I have no balance.

I don't care what I make it look like. But I am a person that gets it done. I'm a mom of three. I own five businesses. My husband owned businesses. But I just get it done. I do prioritize. That's a big thing.

I do time blocking too. I prioritize what's due now, what's the most important. And that's how I kind of work my to-do list, especially running a lot of businesses. But now I'm at the point in most of my businesses where I don't have to be there 24-7s because I have staff that do amazing. And so I am able to have a little bit more time to work on the business than not in the business. So I am the brains of the business. But honestly, I just make it

happen. Balance is something that we all struggle with, but I make it happen. You mentioned before your approach to hiring the right people. But once you hire, I imagine still you have to do the work of building the culture that keeps them there and retains that talent. What does that look like to you. That is so important. And I told you before I've had staff with me 17, 15, 10, you know, all these years because I build that culture of family. And I always laugh and say, just like family, we don't always get along. We have our differences. But at the end of the day, we are a family. And so we're going to work together for the greater good of the business. But I also believe in the children should not be the only ones having fun. And a lot of my staff understands that. So they love that it doesn't always feel

like work. Like you're working with children. If you need to dress up silly, dress up silly. That's the beauty of it, right? I also pour into my team a lot, a lot, not just financially, but just give them knowledge. I encourage them. I praise them. I let them know that I really appreciate them and I show them that all the time. I do all kind of things for my staff. Randomly I may walk in with just breakfast. I haven't seen them all week. It's random things. I took all my staff to Disney one time with their children. I'll go on a cruise next year. So I just do things within my budget. Some years it's better. Some years it's not. But I still let them know I appreciate them, even a little note. I'm big on that. I'm not in my center a lot, and I still build great culture. And people

will say, we love working for you. And I'm not even in there all the time. When I go in there, if I want them to create that wild factor for my parents, I go in there wild with them all the time. I don't care how tired I am. My energy is going to be there from the time I walk through the door. I'm going to go around and speak to everybody. I'm going to ask them how they're doing, but not how they're doing at work. How are you doing? If I know something about them, like I have a staff member going through a divorce, I'm going to take that extra minute during nap time and ask her how she's doing. How are your kids doing if I have a staff member of that? You know, just keeping that personal touch and I let them know that they're a person. Yes, you're my

employee, but you're also a person. And we all build that culture of family. When I hire you. that's what I'm looking for. I'm a big relationship builder, and that's a big part of why my business has grown so much, building relationships in the community with the families, with the children, and with my staff. And so I think that has been a big piece, too. I build relationships with them where they love working for me.

So even though I'm not there all the time, they know my expectations are still met when I'm not in the building. And I think retaining is so important in this industry. No parent wants their child to have a different caregiver every week. And I think another reason, while we have stood out, parents come back with their grandchildren after their kids went there. And they're like, she still works here? I get here all the time. I'm like, yes, she still works here.

Oh, my God. You know, and that to them says a lot. Like, that doesn't happen in child care often. So that makes the people in the community want to come here because they know, like, their staff have been there forever. They're great with the kids. You know, Ms. Galloway's been in business 17 years. She's doing something right. And so I think that's very, very important retention.

And I feel like people don't work on that enough. You hire. And then once they're in there, you're like, okay, that's why they quit. And then you're back in this cycle. So I do everything I can to retain my staff as much as possible. Do you have specific core values at the company? Yes. So we are big on family.

I told you family. Building relationships, keeping the children. Safety is one of our core values. building relationships, safety, engagement, and it's one more. I forgot. I shouldn't have forgot. It's going to pop up later. It'll remember. I'm like, what? Hold on. It'll come to you in a vision. How did I just forget what I wrote, what my core values are? But I'll think of it in a minute. But we do every single day, every person we hire, we try to live through these core values. Community is one, too. We try to live through these core values. And when we hire people, we let them know these are some of the things we expect.

These are our core values and these are the things we live by. And not only do we just expect it from staff, our parents do. What advice would you give to another business owner that is either wanting to experience that fast growth that brought us all here or is in the midst of it and feels the chaos of it as well as the excitement? What would you share with them? So I always, it sounds so cliche, but I tell people it's going to be hard. Keep going. Whatever your vision is, go for it every single day that you can. Write the vision down.

and make it happen. Hire the right people. I didn't expect to grow this fast. Trust me, I didn't, but I kept the vision plane and I followed it. No matter when times were hard, I told you COVID, almost knocked me off my feet. But what took me back to saying you could do this was your vision. So whatever it is that you want to do, make it happen. Don't settle for no. I tell people that one no, okay, I may have 20 knows to get the yes, but I'm persistent. Then I'm going to keep going. It will be hard work, But if that's what you want, just go for it. Do you have any mentors who have been extremely important in your journey? So Mary is actually one of my biggest mentor.

She was my first mentor. If we could just give Mary's full name here. Oh, yeah, Mary seats. She started off helping me with marketing, but she's been so much more than that and helping me scale pretty much all of my businesses. So she has been pretty much that one. I've had several before, but she has been that one that's been with me for years

and really has helped me the most when it came to. business. What was maybe the most important lesson that she taught you when it came to scaling? Hmm. So I was one of those people, not necessarily with my child care business, but I was very shy and very doubtful of myself. And she really forced me to believe in myself. You can do it. You really have it. And she would tell me that and she would pour that into me. And I would say, you think. And she's like, I know. And that really did something for me. Because once you told me that And it boosted my ego and my confidence level. It was nothing that could stop me then.

Even now, like I had my first biggest speaking engagement last week. I was so nervous and I'm telling her. And she's like, you got it all this time. This is what you've been one preparing. She just poured into me. Gave me some tips on what to go out there and do. And I went out there and I killed it. So having, she's really a big confidence person when it comes to me growing my businesses.

And of course, she's a marketer. So right? So she has been able to give me marketing tips. to really take a lot of my businesses to the next level, which is her market and strategies that we have built out for pretty much all of my companies. Latrice, thank you so much for being here with us and for sharing these tips and insights.

I appreciate it so much. I appreciate you having me. That's all for this episode of Your Next Move. Our producers are Blake Odom and Avery Miles, editing and sound design by Nick Torres. Executive producer is Josh Christensen. If you haven't already, subscribe to Your Next Move on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen.

Your Next Move is a production of Inc and Capital One business.