“It takes a village to raise a child.” Most of us, if not all of us have heard that at some point in our lives. Tiffany Ford takes that to heart. She has been building her version of the villages that are needed to implement the importance of education, and educational resources to build the bridges of success for inner-city children and their families. She is also working on her family’s entrepreneurial success, and furthering her education as well. She’s a boss, a nurturer, a mom, and much more. She opened up to FEMI about her commitment to education and entrepreneurship:
You’re known as “The Childcare Guru”. This shows me that you are considered to be a leader with expertise when it comes to childcare. I literally grew up in a family-owned daycare. I know that it’s a super rewarding, and special path to take. It’s not easy, and you have to be business savvy, creative, intelligent, loving, nurturing, strong, and so much more, before even thinking about stepping into something like childcare. What moved you to want to be in the field of childcare?
“I would say my biggest motivation was to make sure that we are increasing educational awareness at an early age. My platform’s message is that parent involvement has a lot to do with children’s educational success. So, it was definitely my goal to make sure that parents who have children in early educational settings, understand that their involvement is key to ensuring the success of students. I specifically wanted to focus on the inner-city population, because there is a large need for resources within that demographic, and I wanted to be the person to provide them with that information.”
You are the owner of “Little Leaders Learning Academy”, co-owner of “Stages Community School”, and the founder of “Leaders and Legends Performing Arts Academy”. That’s a big deal. Give us a glimpse of a day in the life with Tiffany Ford, “The Childcare Guru”.
“My day starts around 5:30 am. When I wake up, I take some time for myself. I don’t have any specific routine at that time, but that is my “woosah” period. I may work out a little bit, do some stretching, or maybe a little reading. Whatever I need to do for me until 6 am. Then, at 6 am I wake up my daughter and prepare her for school. Recently I took on the task of preparing meals for our Little Leaders center. I have a Servsafe license, so I transport the lunches. We are in the process of training new kitchen staff, so I am currently taking on the role of making meals for the center…
During the early part of the morning I will do observations of classrooms, then take the rest of the day at home doing administrative work. At 11 am every day I meet with my virtual assistant, who lives in India. At 12 pm, I go home and have some lunch. Then I have a 2 pm meeting with my personal assistant, who I talk to daily to give her tasks and we discuss priorities. For the rest of the business day, I have virtual meetings with my administrative staff, and then I wrap up at 6 pm. Then I have dinner and spend time with my family.”
What advice would you give someone looking to open up their own childcare center?
“The best advice I would give is to have patience. Take your time to find the correct staff members, because your staff can make or break you. Also, make sure you have a clear business plan and a strong mentor, because you are going to need it. In most cases, if you aren’t able to find a mentor that can help you, you may want to get with a consultant to provide you with a step-by-step play of the process.”
What are your favorite memories of working in the field of childcare?
“Most of my favorite memories are those “A-ha” moments for my students – the times when they are working hard and trying to understand how to complete a specific task, and when they finally get it! Another one of my favorite memories is when parents have come to show appreciation and gratitude for our service, and the work we do for their children.
This field can be really challenging. When parents are understanding and appreciative, it does make the job a little easier. Lastly, I would say the work that I do with the staff, as far as professional development. I love when they show the desire to learn and further their education to grow in the field. I am a stickler for education and professional development in childcare.”
You posted a quote on Instagram: “Being your own boss is a lifestyle.” I absolutely agree. Please explain your point of view on that quote.
“Being your own boss is more than just a picture. It’s more than what you see on Instagram. It is all about discipline…having the discipline to keep going when no one is there to motivate you, and you motivate yourself. You have to stay on top of the tasks you set for yourself and be accountable. It is far from easy, but at the same time, it’s very rewarding because you don’t have to answer anybody and what you say goes. However, you have to create goals for yourself and actually accomplish them.”
You’re from Philadelphia, I’m from Newark, New Jersey. We both know the importance of education, the importance of (families in urban communities all over) knowing how to go about preparing our youth for educational success. Can you speak on that for us today?
“For our children, I believe it is important that we provide structure not only at school but at home as well. This means getting them in a concrete routine because it promotes consistency for learning. A concrete routine includes setting designated times for homework, discussing what they learned in school, and making sure they are on top of their responsibilities. Even for parents, I recommend setting designated times to correspond with the teacher, whether it is weekly or monthly. Parents should be consistent, and the follow-through should be consistent to ensure that the goals for students are met.”
What are you working on in 2022?
“This is the year of professional growth for me. Last 12 years I focused on everybody else. This year is all about me. Sometimes that is difficult for us to say because we feel bad about it, but it took a long time for me to get to this point. It has to be done. In this industry or any industry, when you have been doing it for a long time, sometimes you get complacent. I don’t want to be like that. So I will be growing my consultation business, and also, I started some businesses with my daughters- so we will be working on those. I am going back and getting my PQAS (Pennsylvania Quality Assurance System) Certification, so I will be able to teach childcare for continuous education credit. Lastly, I will be enrolling myself in school to become a CPA instructor.”
If you want to find out more about childcare consulting or keep up with the latest on Tiffany Ford, you can find out more here:
Website: tiffanyfordchildcareconsulting.setmore.com/tiffanyhill
Instagram: @tiffany_thechildcareguru
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