We LOVE to see it!
Source: Shayna Isaac / Courtesy
If you were looking for a sign to get out and make your dreams happen this is is. Shayna Issac, known as The Childcare MentHerto her clients says her proudest moment happened she realized all of her staff at her own daycare center was pushing luxury vehicles. Now she wants to provide the same mentorship that helped her evolve from teen mom to successful entrepreneur for other women.
What really pushed you to make your dream happen?
Becoming a teenage mother truly pushed me to make my dreams happen because I knew I had no other choice. I remember when I had my daughter. I was laying in the hospital bed and at that time, visiting hours were over, so it was just me and her in the room at the time.
So, I decided that my dreams of moving to Atlanta and going to an HBCU still had to happen! After I graduated high school, I moved here with my daughter. Twenty years later, that is what I am still doing. My daughter is still my motivation. My three sons born after her are still my motivation. My children push me to make my dreams happen because I realize that if my dreams don’t happen, their dreams won’t happen. And that’s NOT an option!
What has been your proudest moment so far?
My proudest moment continues to be when I cut paychecks and have those paychecks deposited into my staff’s accounts. It makes me feel so good inside to know that what I have created is also helping other women feed their families and help them reach their dreams.
I remember one time I pulled up to my childcare center and I felt so proud because all of my staff had nice cars outside. It just made me tear up because I remember there was a time when some of them were walking to work and we were all chipping in to make sure that we could pick them up for work and take them home.
What sets you aside from other agencies/businesses that provide the same service?
What separates me from other businesses that offer my same service is the fact that I really focus on home child care providers as well. That’s simply because my journey started as a home childcare provider. A lot of times home child care providers are forgotten because sometimes we forget that they are business entrepreneurs too. We forget that that’s where many of our journeys began. It did not begin when you first bought your center. It began when that dream was birthed in you.
And a lot of times it was birthed in us when we were at home, building our businesses at that level. I remember that as a home childcare provider, I wanted to go to the next level. I wanted to provide more for my family. I wanted to really grow as an entrepreneur, but I didn’t know where to start.
There weren’t any coaches that really focused on us. So, I wanted to make sure I went back and helped my sisters that were in their home. I started as a home childcare provider, and there were a lot of struggles filled with a lot of ups and downs. Most of the struggles weren’t necessarily just because of the business, but also my personal life and my home life were mixed within life’s ups and downs. What separates my service from others is that I take all of that into account. I take into account the woman herself, how she feels, and what she may be going through. I take into account her home life and what she has to balance to be able to be a great CEO to run her home childcare business smoothly to be able to grow as an entrepreneur and get to the next level. That is what separates me from other businesses in my industry.
What’s the best and worst part of being an entrepreneur?
The best part of being an entrepreneur is that “get it from the mud” experience. It’s nothing like knowing that you made something from nothing…knowing that you took your hands and molded it into something great that your family eats off of and that other families eat off of it, too. I mean, that’s THE BEST part of being an entrepreneur. The worst part of being an entrepreneur is that “get it from the mud” experience because sometimes that experience gets really muddy and is not so great at times. Sometimes that stress of knowing that “if this is gonna happen, it’s up to you” is a bit much. YOU HAVE TO MAKE IT HAPPEN. You get no days off. You get no moments off. So, even when you’re going through things in your own
life–loss of family, relationship issues, broken hearts, your children going through their issues–it doesn’t matter. You have to still get out there and get it because at the end of the day, that’s the only way you eat, and others are depending on you. It is almost like a double-edged sword.
Where can everyone find you?
You can find me on IG @thechildcarementHER
.
0 Comments