Our Story
This started with one moment in a parking lot.
The morning Jean's best teacher walked out, everything changed. Not just for her center, but for every childcare center owner who would come after.
I remember the exact moment everything changed for me.
I had taken over a closed childcare center, a place my own kids had attended for years. When the furnace went out, it shut down and went through foreclosure. I purchased it at a sheriff sale, remodeled it, and reopened the doors. We had secondhand furniture and a dream that felt too big for the building we were in. But we made it work. The kids were thriving. Parents loved us. Teachers showed up every day because they believed in what we were doing. I was proud of what we'd built.
But behind the scenes, I was falling apart.
The Weight
The finances were a constant weight. Staffing was a revolving door. I was the first one there in the morning and the last one to leave at night. I loved those kids and I loved my teachers, but I was burning out. I kept telling myself it would get easier. It didn't.
The Tuesday Morning
Then came the Tuesday morning that broke me.
My best teacher walked into my office. I knew before she even sat down. She wouldn't look me in the eye. She told me the school district had offered her a position with better pay, health benefits, and a pension. She didn't want to leave. She loved our center. She loved those kids, but she had a family to take care of, and I couldn't match what they were offering.
I couldn't match it. I didn't even know how to begin.
I watched her walk out, and then I sat in my car in the parking lot and cried. Not sad crying. Angry crying. I had built something beautiful, something that mattered, and I couldn't take care of the people who made it work. That wasn't right.
“I'd built something beautiful, and I couldn't take care of the people who made it work.”
The Climb
I didn't quit. I got back to work. I figured out the business side, piece by piece. I grew that center into a thriving operation. And eventually, I made the decision to sell. I exited for over $2M+.
The Discovery
After the exit, I thought I was done. Then I discovered the Sheperd benefits program for small employers. It was everything I had wished I'd known when I was running my center. My heart sank thinking about every teacher I'd lost over the years, every Tuesday morning conversation I didn't have to have if I'd known this existed.
That's Why Childcare Elevated Exists
Because no owner should have to watch their best people walk out the door. Not when there's a better way.
I can't go back in time for my own teachers. That's something I'll always carry. But I can make sure other childcare center owners don't miss this. I can make sure the next owner sitting in that office, watching her best teacher walk out, knows there was another option.
That's why I started Childcare Elevated. Not because I had some big business plan. Because I couldn't walk away knowing there's a better way.
Why This Exists
I didn't set out to be a movement leader.
I set out to run a great childcare center. That was the whole plan. Take care of kids, build something I was proud of, and maybe one day step away knowing I'd made a difference.
The coaching, the community, the benefits program, none of that was the original plan. But after my experience, after building and growing and exiting, after discovering something that could have saved me years of heartache, I couldn't just keep it to myself.
I started Childcare Elevated because I'm the kind of person who calls you when I find out about something good. Not to sell you on it. Just because I think you should know. And that's exactly what this is: one owner picking up the phone because I found something worth sharing.
The Real Jean
I'm not going to pretend I had it all figured out. I ate goldfish crackers from the snack shelf for lunch because I forgot to eat. I almost burned out more times than I can count.
I'm not a guru. I had a degree in Business Finance and 16 years as a mortgage banker, but none of that prepared me for running a childcare center. I figured that part out the hard way, and I want to save you some of the pain.
I believe childcare owners deserve better. Teachers deserve real benefits. And the system that forces small employers to compete without the right tools is broken.
That's my stand. That's what Childcare Elevated is about.
Today, Sheperd serves 2,000+ employer groups with a 4.8 client rating. That is the program Jean chose to bring to childcare center owners.
Your Story Starts Here
Ready to write the next chapter?
Jean's journey started with one hard morning and one decision to do something about it. Yours can start with a 20-minute conversation.