367: What’s the Real Problem Holding Your Childcare Center Back? With Danielle Credeur

In this episode, you'll meet Danielle, who has spent nearly 35 years in early childhood education, and her story of how she got there is genuinely heartwarming! She sits down to talk about leading multiple childcare centers, the real challenges of managing diverse teams, and why listening to understand beats listening to respond every time. 

The big conversation? Switching childcare management software after some serious billing nightmares. Spoiler: they landed on Playground Software, and that little blue support bubble? Total game-changer.

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Transcript

Childcare Conversations 0:00

Welcome to Child Care Conversations, the podcast where early childhood leaders like you get real-world strategies, honest talk, and a whole lot of support. Whether you're running one center or many, we're here to help you lead with confidence and clarity. This episode is brought to you by this quarter's sponsor, Playground, the all-in-one child care management software. We're all about managing monkeys and saving you time at your center. With this platform, you can. We're proud to partner with a team that's as committed to your success as we are. Learn more at TriPlayground.com. Now, let's get into today's conversation. One we think you're really going to love.

Kate Woodward Young 0:47

Welcome back to today's conversation. And I'm so excited because we've got some more folks from the South joining us today. And I'm going to have Danielle introduce herself, kind of tell us a little bit about how she found herself in early child care. And then we are literally just going to have a conversation about problem solving. And sometimes that first step is identifying what the problem is to begin with. So with that, Danielle, go ahead and introduce us to yourself and a little bit how you got started in early child care.

SPEAKER_02 1:21

Absolutely. Good morning, everyone. Thanks for having me on. I have been in the early childhood industry for almost 35 years. It'll be 35 years next month. I like to say that we are one big family where we are. We have seen challenges, we have seen excitement, growth, scared times, happy times, all the things in between. But our favorite part of it is watching all of these little lives grow up. So yeah. So thanks for having me on.

Kate Woodward Young 1:48

Awesome. So with that much experience behind you, did you find yourself in the industry because you had a child and you went, I need to find myself a job where that works? Or was there another avenue?

SPEAKER_02 2:03

It's a very unique story for us. So I actually started taking dancing from my uh then boss at four years old and continued through high school. I tried college. Wasn't my thing. So she owned a child care center that she opened because of her children and offered me a job. So I started working at that time. And he the son that she opened the child care center for at the time I was around when he was born is now my boss. So we are more like brother and sister. So that's kind of the the the quick version of the backstory. I've actually been with um with the family, I should say, for uh 46 years. I'll give my age away a little bit. So that's how it all came to be. And just I, you know, I believe that things happen for a reason. And this journey was definitely one of my big reasons.

Kate Woodward Young 2:53

I love that story. So we will drop Jonathan's episode in um the show notes. So if you would like to hear more uh from her boss, he has been a guest before. So go ahead and drop that story in so you can get both sides of the story because it is kind of fun. So you've been in the industry, you've been exposed to all levels, you've expanded. But what are some of the problems you guys have really struggled with over the last couple of years? As let's just say everybody kind of decides to be a little more modern and a little more uh strategic with how we spend time and money.

SPEAKER_02 3:31

Yeah. So it's hard. And look, in childcare industry, especially it's hard because we all know that you don't get into child care to make tons of money. You do it for the love of the children. And so that's where you have to really get creative in in your um your bookkeeping. You're you know, you're hiring, you're not too not too creative in your bookkeeping. No, not too creative. No, no, no.

Kate Woodward Young 3:53

We like to say that we do things by the book, but um, you know, just you said creative bookkeeping, and that is a whole other problem.

SPEAKER_02 4:02

That's a different episode. Um, so you know, it's it's just it's a challenging field, I guess, to be in, but such a rewarding field. And I think that's the thing we have to remember. But we did, you know, we had some ups and downs with um software that we're using, and um, it's really hard when you have four centers to find things across the board that work for each center and each person running your centers.

Kate Woodward Young 4:29

So tell me more, so tell me more about that. Is that because of personalities? What do you mean by finding things that work for all four of us?

SPEAKER_02 4:36

I think personality is is definitely a key part, but I also just, you know, you have some people who run, they can run a great center and they deal with the children really well, but they're very scared of computers. Or, you know what I mean? Or um you may have somebody who's really good at computers, but they're not so great at the paperwork part of it. And so it's just finding all the little ways to make your team align. Um, we have been very fortunate. We have people that have been with us for a really long time, but again, that also comes with some challenges because you got to get them all on the same page when you make any kind of change. Because what we want is for our centers to run, you know, not identically, because we we do give them their own leeway, but we want them to be similar in the way they're run. And so it just, you know, it but I will say when you give your team buy-in on the changes you're making, it makes those changes that much easier. We don't just do it without them getting to give us their input.

Kate Woodward Young 5:37

So what tell me a little bit more about what that looks like to your program? I don't care what change you're talking about, but what does that look like? Because I know that I have been part of change uh more more than one time. And uh it was more of a we're gonna tell you we're doing it, and less of a conversation. So how did the conversation happen? How did people get to feel like if they disagreed that maybe their voice was heard? What was some of that look like?

SPEAKER_02 6:06

So, and I will tell you that was a learning curve for us because there were a few times that we were like, okay, guys, this is what we're doing. Would they do it? Yes. Would they do it wholeheartedly? No. And so Jonathan and I actually realized that we had a great team. So why not give them? So now what we try to focus on is, hey guys, we're out there looking for some new software or new playground equipment or whatever we're looking for at the time. We would really like your input on it. And they are comfortable enough now. We've done it enough with them that they're not scared to say, hey, this is why I really don't think that's gonna work, or this is the way I think we should go because it's just gonna work better for the kids. So um I think it's just all about giving them a voice and allowing them to use that voice either way, not only for the good, but you have to listen to the not so good too, sometimes.

Kate Woodward Young 6:56

Do you have a couple of great starter questions for a director who might be listening to this or an owner who goes, ooh, maybe I don't do that as well as I should? Do you have some tips on how to open that conversation?

SPEAKER_02 7:11

I think just being open-hearted, not open-minded, but open-hearted. So I talk a lot about the heart just because that's that's me. I and I treat everyone I meet like family, like you're part of my family now. Um, but I think if you're open-hearted, you're more um in tune to the people around you and the way they work and operate. And so it allows you to listen more than react. Um, you know, a lot of leaders tend to listen to respond instead of listening to understand. And I think that is a huge part of it. And once you stop and start listening to understand, you know where your team is and you're willing to meet them where they are. So that's yeah, it's my little take on it.

Kate Woodward Young 7:57

I love that. That's a great tip too. Uh and I've heard similar statements. And having been one of those people who definitely um I am more notorious for listening to respond than to understand. Um, it definitely, I mean, I don't care how old you are as a leader, I don't care if you're a new leader, if you've been a leader for a long time. Sometimes that takes some real work. So coming up with your internal strategy for that, like mine is literally I gotta have, I gotta take notes. Um, by taking notes, it keeps me concentrated on what they're saying and less likely to blurt out my instinctive response. Yes. Um, I can tell on podcast episodes where I'm taking notes versus ones where I'm not, because if I'm not, I am really quick to respond because I'm afraid I'm gonna forget. So uh so sometimes uh that tip can go in a lot of different places, not just getting um real honest feedback from your leadership team. So with four locations, I would presume you guys have somewhere between four and eight additional uh administrative team members. How big is your administrative team total between the four locations?

SPEAKER_02 9:12

So we have seven on site. So we have one center that's a little smaller than the other three, so there's one director. Um, the others all have a director and assistant director, and then we also have our C-suite in our office here. So we have four here. So we have 11 total in our our admin um bubble. And so um, you know, something you just said though, and I want to, we're fixers by nature, right? And so when somebody talks starts talking to us about a problem, we do. We want to we wanna say, oh well, well let's and let's fix it and let's fix it. And that was so me about I'm gonna say eight or 10 years ago. But once you start really honing in on that understanding part, it just changes the whole game. It really does. So 11 of us total, do we all agree all the time? No, absolutely not. But we all understand each other enough and are willing to work with you with each other enough that we give everybody the opportunity to speak their mind.

Kate Woodward Young 10:08

That is so, I mean, that's just refreshing to hear that there are people who are trying really hard. And I know that we've got folks who are listening that are like, well, I try really hard. Yes, right? And that's that's kind of where it stops, is that they try really hard. And I think it's really important as leaders to remember that sometimes trying is better than not trying. Um, sometimes owning, like you said, eight to ten years ago that wasn't you. I am really quick to say I still haven't mastered that. And um, you know, there's taking notes, giving yourself an agenda, even for things like small conversations or things you don't think you need an agenda for, I think is really, really important because that way as a leader, you stay with the mission of the original conversation. At least you have the intent. Now it doesn't mean it's gonna stay on target, right? Right? It doesn't mean that you may not have a little side something happening.

SPEAKER_02 11:11

If only life didn't come with speed bumps, we would be okay. But we are gonna have the speed bumps.

Kate Woodward Young 11:17

Oh, the speed bumps, the side tracks, you know, like the road closures. Yes, yes. Yeah, I mean, the detours uh alone, right? So so let's talk about the issue that you guys, your biggest recent issue. Sure. Um, that you guys made some big changes as a result um of a identifying the issue. So let's start with what did the identifying process look like, and then we'll talk a little bit about that process to make that change.

SPEAKER_02 11:46

Absolutely. So in December of 2025, we decided it was time to make a move with um with our software, our childcare software. Um so why? What was the what was the reason? What was the problem you were having with the previous? There were some uh customer support issues, there were um some accounting, some very severe really accounting issues. Um people that weren't with our center anymore for years were suddenly being charged. Like it was wild. It was really wild. And so um, you know, we started reaching out to customer support. And listen, customer support for us is everything. If I can't get you on the phone to help me figure it out, then I, you know, we but when I tell you scary, we have been using the same people for I'm gonna say at least 18 years. So when you're using them that long, I was so used to it. And I creature of habit right here, right? So I know these things in and out, and then you say change, and I'm like, okay, I can do this. Um, so we reached out to our team. Do y'all think it's time? Do we need to do and they were like, yes, we need to do something. So we started um just kind of okay.

Kate Woodward Young 12:57

Before I just want to clarify because I think I heard you right. You had clients who hadn't been clients for over a year who got filled from the platform you had been using. And so therefore you then had to go back and credit and find them and apologize and call them and say, listen, oh my gosh, I'm really sorry. I know that I mean that's not that's more than a security breach. That is a that's a breach of trust. I mean, we work so hard in this industry to have our families know, like, and trust us that oh, I can't even what a I'm just curious, are we talking like one or two people or are we talking like it ended up in like thousands of dollars kind of an issue?

SPEAKER_02 13:38

I'm not gonna say thousands of dollars, but I will say a thousand. Um, and I'm gonna say we had to call probably 10-ish par 10-ish families between the four centers. And there were no, it was no rhyme or reason. It wasn't like it was everyone from August of 2022. You know what I mean? It was just this ran a couple of them were people, unfortunately, who had left us owing money, who had a balance on their account. But still, I mean, eight, however many years later, that account information is not, we don't have the authorization to do that. So it would, it was some very humbling phone calls that had to be made, you know, and there was no solution. And I think that's the biggest problem.

Kate Woodward Young 14:18

Like if they had said Was there, was there, would did the platform at least take some ownership? Did they at least explain, like, did they try to do a backup or something?

SPEAKER_02 14:28

They knew there was a problem, but to this day, and we have now been with our new software for seven months, no eight months. I still don't know what the reason was. Like, we still don't have an answer. There's a lot of um, you know, we were updating this, we were doing that, and and this could have caused this, and this could have caused that. But no defiant, like no definite answer on why, when, how, where. That sucks.

Kate Woodward Young 14:55

Exactly. There's no other phrase for that. Okay, so yeah, so that's a good reason to, I mean, even if you had only been itching before, that would have been a sway, I think, for anybody listening. So if you have a platform that all of a sudden you had a a major breach in confidentiality, you've now charged clients who haven't been clients. I mean, that, I mean, that is that I can't even imagine. Okay. So you had this major issue. How many different platforms should you guys explore? What was that process? Let's who decided where you were going?

SPEAKER_02 15:32

Was that the first thing we did was put, you know, there's all these um support groups for child care centers. And so we just kind of started putting feelers out. What's everyone using? Has anyone changed recently? What are your your pros, your cons? One thing we had always wanted to track, and we really didn't do a great job of, was um having a CRM uh portion of a software where it would track our our um calls to tours, our tours to enrollment, and all of those kind of things. Okay. So we were like, okay, while we're making this switch, let's make sure it's something that can also handle all of that. So I'm gonna say we did a demo with only two um companies.

Kate Woodward Young 16:13

Okay, so so you things you looked for was customer service.

SPEAKER_02 16:17

Yes.

Kate Woodward Young 16:17

And it sounds like a CRM. What were some of the other things you were looking for as you were starting to filter out? Um, because we know there's a lot of software right now, right? And it probably more in July and August of 2026 than we've ever had. We have, you know, people popping up right and left with a chat this and an AI that and uh and uh I've got the solution, or we've been a CRM forever. So you've got you you had two major issues. What else were you looking at?

SPEAKER_02 16:49

We also wanted a software that we could, and now I I'm gonna use this term because I've heard it from them, but I didn't know I needed it at the time. A set it and forget it. So I want to set everything for this family that I need to happen, and I just want the software to do it. I don't want to have to go in every week and check it. I don't want to have to, you know, and so a set it and forget it feature. Um, we also wanted something. A lot of times software is have two separate platforms for their like accounting part and their staying in touch with their families part. And so we wanted a software that it was everything. We could do our billing, our parents could see their billing live. Um, and we could also um communicate with them through the software with the parents, with um the teachers could communicate with the parents and everything we've used prior to this, it was you had to have an app for the teacher to communicate with the parent. You had to have a separate app for the accounting part. They couldn't always see, so we just wanted one software that would just make our life easier.

Kate Woodward Young 17:52

Gotcha. All right, so let's talk transition because even once you make so I would presume you, based on our previous conversation, you probably had conversations with other members of the leadership team. So not just the two of you out of the 11, how many of you had convenient involved in the conversation?

SPEAKER_02 18:11

11. Yes.

Kate Woodward Young 18:12

All 11 of you were involved in the conversation. What were some of the concerns about making a switch, other than it's been 18 years and we've been with the same platform?

SPEAKER_02 18:22

Um, the questions I got were how much time is this gonna take out of our day? Because we all know if you're running a childcare center, you don't have much of that. Right. Um, how hard is it gonna be to learn? Um, let's see what else. Um, are our parents gonna be upset? So your parents get used to what you're using too. And so then you're like, hey, we're switching to this whole thing. So how are we gonna roll this out to our parents? That was a big, uh, a big one. Um, and I think that was pretty much the only three that they were worried about. Time was the biggest thing. Okay. Uh, you know, how am I gonna have to spend the weekends here getting everything transferred? Because, oh, that was another one. Transferring information. Are we gonna have to re-input all of this information again? You know, so those were the big ones. Gotcha.

Kate Woodward Young 19:06

All right. So you've decided, you've made a change. How how smooth and beautiful was that?

SPEAKER_02 19:14

So it was smooth-ish and beautiful-ish. Um, we did run into a couple of snags, but this is what I will say the customer service part of this software is outstanding. So when we did have those not so beautiful-ish moments, they were right there to either and listen, they didn't have an answer every time. But the good news about it was there were things we were running into, and then they immediately, I'm gonna say immediate within a week, would have what we needed up and running. So they're very um, what's the word I'm looking for, Kate? Responsive? Responsive and uh proactive when you come up with with a problem. You know, we ran into a couple with the CRM and um it was never, well, sorry, this is just how our software is. It was, oh, that's a great idea. Let's see if we can implement that for you, you know? So that's that was huge for us.

Kate Woodward Young 20:15

Now, okay, so let's talk about implementing and then we're gonna kind of wrap this up, only because I want to make sure that we think of it through through through one standpoint. Sure. So when we start talking about that whole implementation piece, have you noticed something where they've made an update and it maybe didn't work backwards for you? Or um do you think it only worked for other people? Like when they're making an adjustment for you, are they making it for everybody, or is it just for you? Like, is this custom?

SPEAKER_02 20:45

Well, this is my understanding is that once they make a change, it's it's available to everyone. Um, I'm gonna give you uh, for instance, so we have four centers, right? All of the funds come through this main office. So our directors take it, they mark it down in the software, but then it comes here to get double checked and deposited. So we've always been able to have a deposit report. Here's the cash, here's the checks. We didn't have that with this software and we didn't realize it till after we implemented. So we reached out to them, we told them, but now it's there, we can use it, but so can any other person that's using their software anywhere. So it's it's it's around the board. Yeah.

Kate Woodward Young 21:24

Well, I love hearing that you've contributed to growing and working with the platform. Yeah. So one of our first guests um for this series um actually was involved heavily in the CRM. So the CRM didn't really exist when they came on. And so they were very involved with like regular weekly calls with the platform uh to be involved in what they personally needed for a CRM. And um, so this is where I'm gonna be just my little bit geeky self. So um there was a time in the late. 90s, where I was actually a database developer. Oh, okay. And so as a result, I am very aware that sometimes when we add features that weren't part of original design, we can totally mess up a back-end map. And I think that that is what some of the older software that was built in the 90s and earlier, or even you know, early 2000s, when you start developing in that format, um, it makes it harder to do an update. So again, it's not like they were trying to be difficult. Uh, they just had uh an older system. So tell us a little bit about the software that you switched to and what was your final deciding factor.

SPEAKER_02 22:47

Absolutely. So we ended up switching to playground software. Um, I think the deciding factor was the amount of support and the ease of use of their software. Um, the set it and forget it was my because I do the accounting. That was uh, I was like, okay, can we do it? So that could we do yesterday? Um so, but I think honestly, and even to this day, the customer support, I call it the magic blue bubble. So when you're in their software, there's this little blue bubble at the bottom. And anytime you have any kind of question, you click this magic blue bubble, and then someone just appears like to help you. And within five minutes, you either have an answer or you have a date that you're going to have a solution. So to me, that's just um, you know, I pray that it stays that way the whole time. But so far, you know, we've been with them right at eight months, and um, the magic blue bubble is probably my favorite feature right now.

Kate Woodward Young 23:46

All right. I'm just gonna that's good, that's the okay. So, Marie, when you're listening to this, that's the name of this episode. Um, and I it could be because I I am old enough to remember the the the blue light specials with Kmart. Yes. And so I am like, oh my gosh, we have our own blue light special. And so um the the flashing blue bubble is absolutely um, I still tell stories about their grandma feature. Uh so um if you've never heard that story, when the the three founders started the software, the whole goal was could grandma figure it out. Yes, grandma was still in the industry at the time. And so I think that that is really, really important. And I as somebody who so I have a whole private tech life, and so I try not to really get into that too often. But one of the things I absolutely hate to do is ever to update my tech stack. So if I have to update a tech stack, whether it's a new phone, new computer, new software, Lordy B help us, it's a whole new everything software. Um, we did that about a year ago, and we've now done that twice in the last three times in the last two months. And um, yeah, it makes my stomach hurt just thinking about it. So um, so I think that knowing your ease of use, your set it and forget it, and even your customer support uh magic blue bubble, I think really do hopefully help folks at least to go, okay, maybe this is something I need to check out. So if people want to get in touch with you and ask you questions, either about what it means to be a heart uh-centered leader or even um about your experience with the software, how can people get a hold of you? Obviously, we'll have it in the show notes, but yes, absolutely.

SPEAKER_02 25:36

I would love, and listen, that's one of my favorite things in life is to share good, bad, ugly, great, listen, vit, all the things. So Danielle at inspire managementgroup.com. It's super long, but you'll never forget it. So again, it's Danielle at inspire managementgroup.com. You can email me. I would love to chat with anybody that has questions because we had a lot of questions. And they did, they gave us a list. That was another thing. They gave us a list of people we could contact um just to see like how hard was it, how well, you know, what was the transition like? And so um, Inspire Management Group is something that we run out of this office and we do consulting and different things. And you said lead with heart, and one of my favorite things to do in the world is to speak to people about just being a good human and having a kind heart. And so I would love to help anyone who has questions at all.

Kate Woodward Young 26:29

Love that. All right. Well, thank you so much for joining us in today's conversation. If you have not already subscribed to the podcast newsletter, go to childcareconversations.com and subscribe to the newsletter. Uh, we actually have two episodes that go out every week, and with that, we have a newsletter that goes out every week. And sometimes those newsletters have specials and things that are not in the podcast or in the show show notes. So, with that, we can't wait to talk to you soon.

Childcare Conversations 27:00

Thanks for tuning in. We love bringing you real talk and fresh insight from the world of early childhood education. Be sure to follow us on social media to stay connected and catch all of the latest episodes. And if you're planning a conference, training, or special event, Kate and Carrie would love to speak to your audience. You can learn more about their keynote sessions and workshops at kateandcary.com. If you learned something today, share the show and leave us a review below. We'll see you next time on Child Care Conversations.