249: How Mentorship Can Elevate Your Childcare Program with Tafta Miller

In this episode, Kate and Carrie sit down with Tafta Miller, who runs two childcare centers in Monroe, Louisiana. They dive into the importance of mentorship and coaching for new directors in the childcare industry. With her 30 years of experience, Tafta shares how having a mentor could have made her early days much smoother. She offers practical advice on finding the right coach, navigating post-COVID challenges, and even how to convince owners to invest in coaching. 

It's a treasure trove of insights for anyone in childcare! 

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Transcript

Marie 00:00:01  Welcome to Child Care. Conversations with Kate and Carrie.

Kate 00:00:06  All the way from Louisiana is today's guest. And so we are excited. Not everything happens in New Orleans, and we happen to be recording this after, you know, a week of lots of interesting things happening in New Orleans. And so, we want to remind everybody that there is more to Louisiana than sporting events and, everything that happens in New Orleans. And so with that, we are going to have a conversation today with Taft Miller from the northeast part of Louisiana. And she says that she's got some Louisiana slang. So I'm going to make her start by telling us the story, because I thought it was great, and I'm not going to tell it on her. She has to tell it on herself.

Tafta Miller 00:00:57  I sure will. So I'm Taft Miller and I have two centers in Monroe, Louisiana, and the joke is, I was at a retreat a few years ago, and I was explaining that I had two centers, and the guy said, you have to centers.

Tafta Miller 00:01:17  S I n n e r s and I about died and I said two centers. So now I try not to say centers, I try to say centers. I would say that most.

Kate 00:01:31  Programs probably.

Carrie 00:01:32  Have more than two centers.

Tafta Miller 00:01:35  I would say so too.

Kate 00:01:37  I think this has changed my opinion of that word for the rest of my life. I am never going to be looking at anybody who has more than one center the same again, because I'll be like, yeah, you got two centers. I see you over there, you know so well. We are so excited. We had an opportunity to, to to spend some time with Taft. And we are going to talk today Day and kind of find out if she could do it all over again. Or a new director walks on the door. What would be the first piece of advice that she would give a brand new director? And we're going to just kind of go from there.

Tafta Miller 00:02:13  So after 30 years in childcare, if I knew at 18 years old or 21 years old when I opened my first facility, if that I needed a coach or a mentor or an accountability partner.

Tafta Miller 00:02:33  That's what a new director needs to find a coach. Someone that has wisdom, has learned some lessons, has some stories to tell to help guide them through the daily task and struggles that we all go through. Today may be good tomorrow. The bottom may fall out, but to have somebody that they can call on to help guide them through that. Sometimes we just need to talk through what we're going through to be able. I know I do. Sometimes you just have to speak it, to think through it. So I definitely would say to a new director is to find a coach, to be able to help mentor them through their journey in this child care industry.

Carrie 00:03:26  I think that's amazing. I mean, I didn't realize that you had opened as young as you had because very few people have done that, like you and I have, because I got my director's license when I was 21. And they're, you know, they were like, that's the youngest you can be. And I was like, cool.

Carrie 00:03:47  At 16, I decided when I was 21 I would have my director's license. so and I was lucky that I grew up with a, parent who was an entrepreneur. And so I had access to all of these lawyers and CPAs and insurance guys. And of course, my mom to be mentors in business in general. And I had one person in the industry that I could that I had as a mentor. Most of mine were outside the industry. And I got to say that one of the best improvements in the industry in the past 20 years is that there are more coaches and consultants inside the industry so that you're not getting all of your support from somebody who's business was, you know, an auto repair shop, and you're trying to. But how does that relate to my child care center?

Kate 00:04:48  Absolutely. All right. So, Taft, you've told them kind of that they need to do this. How would they go about picking that person? What are things that you think are important when it comes to selecting? We have our own laundry list of of do's and don'ts and understanding the differences.

Kate 00:05:07  But I'm going to let you shine today and you tell us what you think they need to look for and go from there.

Tafta Miller 00:05:15  Yeah. So I've actually been through, you know, 2 or 3 different coaches and there is a lot of programs out there. So I'm on my second program to say, but I've had multiple different coaches within those, coaching programs. Mentorship. And the first one, you know, we really dealt with and what I needed at the time that I was attending, you know, the academy was enrollment like how to get my enrollment up, how to prep create systems, Is how to get software like the basic business part of it is, is if that's what that person needs is to learn how to get the enrollment in what money is left on the table. if it's the business side of, you know, QuickBooks real estate, the business side of it has, totally different thing than the enrollment. I mean, enrollments got to pay the bills, so you gotta have the enrollment.

Tafta Miller 00:06:31  So I think the director really needs to look for what they are struggling with. And that could be even leadership, because leadership's a whole nother part of different than the business side of it or getting the leads and the enrollment of leading your staff is a whole nother ball game there.

Kate 00:06:53  So absolutely.

Tafta Miller 00:06:56  Yes. and, and the industry has totally changed since Covid. Now it's more about culture and leading and finding people to work. And the kids are there, but now it's getting these people to work. So I think as a new director, they need to figure out what they struggle with and what their strengths are, work on their struggles, maintain their strength. But even if we're strong in one area, your accountability partner may be struggling with that. And I do have two accountability partners, and we will have our call after this today, too. And what she's in Kentucky. One's in Kentucky. One's in Nebraska, where we met through coaching. And we have been doing this for three years now.

Tafta Miller 00:07:47  And we could not have survived, you know, life, much less our businesses, without each other, even in three different states, we still have the same thing going on, but I would say a new director really needs to find a coach. And even if they can't afford that coach, if you learn, if you invest in coaching and you learn how to get your enrollment up, you learn how to do extra things within your facility. My second location, we have 6 to 7 birthday parties every weekend, and that is a money maker. Like that's money on the table. But the center before me did that. And that was the biggest question was are you going to continue to in birthday parties. Yes. And so learning money on the table, what can you do with your facility outside of traditional hours. So all of that has just like I've learned all that through coaching and you just listening to other people's stories on what they've done in certain things. I mean, that's the number one thing I would say a new director needs to do is, you know, look for a coach, an accountability partner, a mentor in your community.

Tafta Miller 00:09:05  If it's somebody that's been in child care that has a successful, you know, business for 30 or 40 years, has a good reputation, like, hey, can I take you to lunch or can I come tour your center and just have that connection? I've recently, took on mentoring a young director. She just bought her center a year ago. she's, I think 31, so we're about 18 years difference. But I have helped her tremendously through what I've been through. And now, in May, when she called me in tears. I need my enrollment up. I need a thousand more dollars by next Friday. I met with her and I. I showed her what she had to do, and she is completely Full now in six. Yes.

Kate 00:09:59  She.

Tafta Miller 00:10:00  She is just like she. She's just on fire. But you know what we had to do? And I say we because I sat in the car while she was crying is fired. Her director, because they weren't in line with what her wife was for her facility.

Tafta Miller 00:10:19  They were toxic and she had to get rid of them if she was going to grow, if she was going to get any more enrollment, she had to get rid of them. They weren't seeing what she needed. And I think that's one of the biggest accomplishments, was me to be able to hold her hand and help her through the tears, knowing that she had to do this, if she if her facility was going to go any, if it was going to blossom. And I told her, if when they're gone, you're going to see your A players move up and they did. There were people quitting because of her director. Yeah. And she had to let her go. And I know she hasn't bought into the coaching. You know, she hadn't invested in that yet, but she is going to attend one with me in April. That I think, you know, she's going to see the investment in that. So going back to I mean, find a coach. Find a mentor. An accountability partner is going to be the number one thing.

Carrie 00:11:24  Well, it's hard when you're still in that, you know, fight or flight mentality because you're just trying to keep your doors open and the whole, oh, I'm going to go pay somebody money that I could be using for payroll. That is hard to go past that, to go through that and to shift your mindset from if I pay this person, I'm never going to have to figure out how to make payroll work again because I will have so many more tools. It's just so hard to get there.

Kate 00:11:57  All right, so I have a question for you. So people who are listening, we've got folks who are listening, who listen to our podcast, who are owner directors like you and even your mentee that you talked about. But if you're somebody, our other half of our listener, our directors who have an owner, if you're a director listening right now and you want this coach, but maybe your owner doesn't already have a coach, your owner's not on board with that concept. Do you have suggestions on how to have that conversation with the owner? Do you think it's worth them spending their own money to do this? What's your thoughts?

Tafta Miller 00:12:37  So I think, you know a director does need a coach.

Tafta Miller 00:12:44  Sometimes the owners are not active. Like, I'm active in both of my facilities. Like I'm at one one day and the I mean, I'm at one one morning, the other in the afternoon every day. I've just recently started taking Tuesdays off. And that has been really hard. And like today, I thought I would go in because I'm going to miss two days this week and I'm like, no, I'm not. I'm going to stay loyal to my Tuesday off and do what I need to do at home and what I need to focus on. So back to the director. I think the director understanding what a coach could do for them and then letting the owner know what they see, that they could learn from having a coach because it is an investment. And I think even if they have to invest out of their pocket, maybe they could even go to the, you know, the owner and say, hey, can we add into the budget a line item for me to be able to get coaching at as professional development, because I think I could be a better director if I had accountability or I had a mentor that helped me through situations, whereas the owner may or may not be on site, they may just be an owner.

Tafta Miller 00:14:10  They don't know what's going on, they may not be connected with their director. So I think looking for a coaching program and finding out what, I guess, what they offer. I would tell the director to start with that. What do they see that they would get out of it? I mean, leadership skills is one, but if it's systems and programs and enrollment, I mean, they could go to their owner and say, hey, if I if I could learn how to get our enrollment up, how to do marketing, how to get leads, how to get more tours, that's more money for you as an owner. But I just need some tools to help me think outside of the box for your organization. So I think it's just a selling point of, you know, to the owner and what it's what it's going to do for them, even though it's through the director.

Kate 00:15:07  Gotcha. Well, I think that's great. So I've got two different directors in my head who I'm going to share a story.

Kate 00:15:14  And I would love to get your insight without because I'm not going to call them out. but both of them are longtime directors for kind of founder owners that are kind of on site, kind of not on site. And so from the exterior, they all look like they're they work together. we've had conversations with them privately. They do not currently have active coaching. even though we have tried to encourage. So I'm hoping that maybe if they hear you without me calling them out on the episode. They can share this with their owners. so what would you say? So we've got so I'm going to use, you know, quasi a version of scenario one, because I'm trying not to make it too specific that they'll go like, hey, you called me out. both of them are directors of Multi-location facilities. And, you know, the owner is, like I said, they think they think they know the business stuff, but they really don't. and they think they hired the directors to do exactly what you just said.

Kate 00:16:32  And again, these directors have both been there for somewhere between 3 to 5 years. But they both both directors recognize they need something to get to the next level. this also means that when they do that, they're going to probably bypass the owner. I my my my personal opinion is maybe is it's time to go to someplace else. But I'm trying not to tell them that. What would you say if you had a director who's been a director for quite a while? Their program's doing okay. It definitely has room to improve. They're definitely leaving money on the table every day. But they do need that coach accountability partner, somebody other than the owner to move to that next level. How would you encourage that director to to have that conversation? Because it's going to be one of those difficult conversations.

Tafta Miller 00:17:23  Yeah. And I'm a person that I don't like confrontation. So that's that's one of those things that I struggle with.

Kate 00:17:32  And this is an even better question to ask you, because I would kind of put both of them in that category as well.

Tafta Miller 00:17:37  Yeah, I, I think if they seek out a coaching program, I mean, kind of going back to finding out exactly what they would learn from that coaching and mentorship, maybe asking that owner to join them on a call with that coaching program so that they could hear what the offer is, because I feel like if they saw it in action or, you know, where the coach could say, this is what we've done in the past and this is how we can help your director. Maybe she already has that that, can't think of what it is, but that call with that coach just to inform infomercial, I guess with that coach and to figure out exactly what that director needs and then invite them to a call with that coach and say, you know, this is an investment for your director, but it's also your program that she is investing in. So if she's it getting your enrollment up? She's putting systems in place to make things better flow, whether it's enrollment, business, staffing, culture.

Tafta Miller 00:19:00  If we pour into her you, your business is going to thrive. So I think that's I think.

Kate 00:19:08  It makes sense.

Tafta Miller 00:19:10  That inviting them after they found what they want.

Kate 00:19:14  Oh I love that. So doing kind of a self-assessment. Go do some research and then do a joint fit call. I'm sorry. You saying something?

Carrie 00:19:23  Yeah, I was just saying. I think that makes a lot of sense. And part of the reason why we're asking these questions of Taft is because not only has she run her schools, but she's also been part of regional and statewide initiatives and helping lots of programs. So she's been the person on the receiving end and on the giving end of feedback, and not just for other people running schools, but also for regulators and things like that. So we're kind of picking her brain in a different way than I think she's used to. But it's since she said the most important thing for a new owner or director is that coach is how do we help them to get there.

Carrie 00:20:13  So, you know, hear it from somebody who's been in the industry for a while and knows what they're talking about, like NAFTA. Okay, great. So go to a an event like Taft, who's mentee is going with Taft to to a coaching event to see okay, maybe. Yeah. So, you know, get a buddy so that you don't have to go out there by yourself. If you're the owner assigning some small budget amount and giving it a try, if you're the director and you've got to convince the owner to do it. This co fit call or find one that you can afford without the owner's support and know that you may outgrow the owner, and then you have to be willing to outgrow the owner and maybe move on to another program. Because if your owner's not getting the coaching, their growth in their development is going to be hampered.

Tafta Miller 00:21:13  I agree.

Kate 00:21:14  Absolutely. So one thing I just want to say for anybody who's going programs, programs, what are they talking about? I'm going to suggest that if you are interested, that you actually shoot us an email at Kate and Cary at Childcare conversations.com, because there are so many programs and none of them are paying me today.

Kate 00:21:32  And so I'm not going to sit here and give you a laundry list of all the programs. but I am happy to tell you what to Google and how to Google that. if you shoot us an email because I don't want any of my preconceived ideas or biases on programs to come through because they all work differently for different people. but definitely consider, that commitment, from if you're going to events, where are those events held? How easy it to is it to get to and from where you live? if you don't live in a major metro, that may be something you really have to consider. You know, are there things in your state? some states do offer some of these programs, especially if you're in the northeast and or northwest. Both both states up in the in the corners have, invested in hiring people, through this, as well as state contractors, contractors with the state, to provide some of these services. So not everything has to be, large scale or fancy. And you can also Find, you know, these coaches and business coaches in your backyard, which, if they're in your backyard, you should expect to pay less than somebody who is part of a national program, at least.

Carrie 00:22:59  And I just want to say, if you're in a more rural area, that doesn't mean you can't find coaching. It just may have to be online more than in person. And there is nothing wrong with online coaching if it works for you. For some people, they have to see somebody's the whites of somebody's eyeballs in order to believe them. And if that's you, then you'll have a little bit harder time finding a coach. If you live in a rural area. Does that make.

Kate 00:23:29  Sense?

Tafta Miller 00:23:29  The wonderful world of zoom has made a lot of this more possible in the last few years, and I think that's where a lot of programs have been able to grow, is being able to have that easy access to zoom whenever we need to. you?

Kate 00:23:46  Yeah. We've all become the masters of the zoom, right? Like there was Skype for a while. You know, about about, you know, 15 years ago, Skype was a big thing. Then zoom kind of made its way around, but nobody really used it unless you absolutely had to.

Kate 00:24:02  And then literally five years ago, about the time this episode airs, our lives all changed. So, so with that, what would you like to say to kind of wrap up, our conversation and then I'm going to toss it back to Carrie.

Tafta Miller 00:24:19  I just want to say that, you know, the the childcare profession is not easy, and my journey has not been easy, and my journey has been that of, I've hit rock bottom and I've come back up and it just shows that if you put in the work and you put in the work after 30 years, That, you know the blessings will come out. And my story is, you know, 30 years and I lost basically had to close my first facility because of, you know, financial difficulty. And then, in 2015, I was losing that facility, losing my marriage had hit rock bottom. And that's when I got a call from somebody in my community to come take over her facility. And here I am. That was in 15.

Tafta Miller 00:25:19  So ten years ago, I was at rock bottom and here I am with two facilities, 373 licensed kids with, you know, two directors, a curriculum coordinator. Most people don't even have those, I do. I am so blessed with her. You know, three buses. Who would have ever thought, you know. So I would have never thought that I would be here. And, I'm still growing. my second facility. We just installed a sensory gym. My daughter will be, an ot graduating in May. And we right now are looking out there to find other facilities that have sensory gyms within their child care facility so that we can learn how to incorporate, incorporate that into my center. And so who's going to have a OT on their staff. Well, here I am.

Kate 00:26:20  So we got somebody to connect you with. Let me just tell you so.

Tafta 00:26:24  Hey. Yes.

Kate 00:26:26  But you definitely man, there's a story in there and I want to get that book. So we'll we'll chat about that later.

Kate 00:26:31  Kerry, wrap us up and take us home.

Carrie 00:26:35  Okay, well, I just first I'm going to say I think we'll probably have to have Taff to back because we did not even scratch the surface. So if you enjoyed it, please let us know. No.

Tafta 00:26:44  Yeah.

Carrie 00:26:45  And if you learned anything from this show, if you got a little bit of uplift of that feeling of, okay, I may be slogging through it right now, but NAFTA has given me some ideas of how to get through what you're going through right now. I would encourage you to share the show with other people who need to know. Maybe you're the director and you need to share it with the owner, or you're the owner and you need to share it with the director. Get. Share this with as many people as you can, because I think this has just been a very uplifting episode. And please go in and leave a review in your favorite podcasting app and we will talk to you next week.

Tafta 00:27:26  Thank you.

Marie 00:27:27  Thank you for listening to Child Care Conversations with Kate and Carrie.

Marie 00:27:32  Want to learn more? Check out our website at Texas Director. And if you've learned anything today. Leave us a comment below and share the show.