Kris welcomes Gigi Schweikert, CEO of Lightbridge Academy, to explore what it takes to lead at scale and stay grounded in the human side of early childhood education. With 85 centers across the U.S., Gigi shares how she thinks about quality, culture, and decision-making at the organizational level, and why trust is still the best metric. They discuss industry trends, mentorship, and the habits that help leaders grow. Gigi also reflects on what she’s learned after publishing 18 books, raising four children and embracing grandmotherhood, and showing up consistently for her team and community.

Key Takeaways:

[6:52] Gigi explains how Lightbridge Academy evaluates quality across its network and why it comes down to trust more than checklists.

[8:52] Gigi talks about her passion for mentoring women in leadership, her new role as a grandmother, and how watercolor painting gives her space to recharge.

[10:54] Both Kris and Gigi reflect on the importance of creating safe spaces where women can speak openly about challenges and goals.

[13:42] Gigi breaks down the balance of running a business with high accountability while preserving joy and mission-driven work.

[16:08] Lightbridge is made up of 20% company centers and 20 and 80% franchise centers.

[20:38] The Serene Seedlings rollout program.

[23:50] Gigi reflects on how technology, when used intentionally, can improve connection and enhance the customer experience in early childhood environments.

[25:45] She shares a (funny) standout memory from a speaking engagement in China and what it taught her about cultural differences and the universality of leadership challenges.

[33:51] Kris and Gigi talk about the upcoming Child Care Success Summit, with Gigi returning as a main stage speaker, and why she's especially excited for this year's event.

[41:22] Why you have to spend money to make money, and you can’t save your way to success.

Quotes:

“I really see ECE so much as that quality piece, that education piece, that opportunity to make sure that every child gets the best start, from zero to three, zero to six, etc. And so I've always said that early childhood education is the trust business.” [6:52] - Gigi

“At the end of the day, when I am out in the field and looking at quality, my judgment of quality is trust.” [7:56] - Gigi

“Being a mentor for women is one of the most meaningful and fulfilling things that I do.” [10:37] - Kris

“I just want to make sure that I can create a safe space wherever I go, where people can feel like they can be themselves and talk about their vulnerabilities and talk about their aspirations with equal enthusiasm to overcome whatever barriers and boundaries they might have.” [11:45] - Gigi

“Families are about love, reconciliation, understanding and about getting through tough times together, and about having each other's back and all those things. I think childcare centers are the same. They just look different all over. So my desire, my personal desire and passion is that every child has access to affordable, quality childcare. I just think it's paramount.” [19:36] - Gigi

“I want people to recognize that in so many ways, when you think you can't, you can.” [35:19] - Gigi

Sponsored By:

ChildCare Education Institute (CCEI)

Use code CCSC5 to claim a free course!

Mentioned in This Episode:

Kris Murray

@iamkrismurray

The Child Care Success Company

The Child Care Success Academy

The Child Care Success Summit

Grow Your Center

Childcare Education Institute: Use code CDARenewal22 to get $100 off your renewal

Lightbridge Academy

Kris welcomes young inspiration and rising leader Whitney Burkman, owner of Magnolia Academy in Payson, Utah. Whitney shares more about her journey from in-home childcare to a full 125-spot center before age 30. She talks about building confidence as a young business owner, gives some great advice for hiring, marketing strategies, leadership challenges, and the critical role of mindset in growing her successful childcare business.

Key Takeaways:

[4:55] Whitney opened Magnolia in 2022, and they are currently at 122 enrollments.
[7:43] Opening a center at age 27 and what inspired the move from home to center.

[12:59] How is Magnolia Academy different from its competitors?

[15:44] Becoming an off site owner and the shifts she had to make in her habits and mindset when going from in home to an actual center.

[21:09] Whitney’s chaotic home life (in the best way) with a busy husband and four boys.

[23:43] Whitney shares some of her best marketing and branding tips.

[27:12] Enrollment and staffing is always cyclical.

[28:42] Using organic content for social media to show the cool things going on at Magnolia Academy.

[30:30] Lessons learned in leadership and building a team.

[35:04] Reminding staff that there is always something that can be fixed, but they also must remember it is a business with parents and children depending on them.

[38:06] Whitney shares challenges as a young leader and owner.

[40:53] What’s next for Whitney in the rest of 2025 and beyond?

[45:57] How joining the Academy and shifting her mindset helped change things for Whitney.

Quotes:

“I feel like I've really been able to pull that in-home feel into my center, which makes us stand out a lot.” [13:56] - Whitney

“I feel like our program has just far exceeded just giving trust into my teachers and my directors and letting them do what they're supposed to do.” [20:08] - Whitney

“You can't make everybody happy.” [30:56] - Whitney

“To me, leadership is not for the faint of heart. It's not easy to do all those things. It's much easier just to smooth it over or pretend like everything's fine and shut your door, but that's not really serving people.” [37:02] - Whitney

“Once I was able to change my mindset, then just everything else fell into place, my enrollments, my staffing, just everything. It's just weird how it works.” [46:02] - Whitney

Sponsored By:

ChildCare Education Institute (CCEI)

Use code CCSC5 to claim a free course!

Mentioned in This Episode:

Kris Murray

@iamkrismurray

The Child Care Success Company

The Child Care Success Academy

The Child Care Success Summit

Grow Your Center

Childcare Education Institute: use code CDARenewal22 to get $100 off your renewal

Magnolia Academy

In this episode, Adrianne Agulla, CEO of Hamilton Heights Child Development Centers in Nebraska and the true definition of an education entrepreneur, joins Kris. Adrianne shares how she went from working in the corporate world to owning six successful daycares and a catering business called Milton’s Amazing Kitchen. Together, she and Kris talk about growing from three to six locations, empowering a leadership team, using VAs to streamline operations, creating a strong scorecard, and what it really takes to scale with excellence. Adrianne goes through the very real ups and downs of growing with intention and building a company that inspires.

Key Takeaways:

[6:19] Adrianne owns and operates Hamilton Heights Child Development Centers, with six centers across Nebraska. She originally purchased three as a package in 2017 and has grown from there. She also owns Milton’s Amazing Kitchen, a catering company focused on child nutrition.
[8:27] Hamilton Heights believes that it’s their professional responsibility to protect childhood from all of the external threats in today’s world, and they have a focus on play.
[9:31] Adrianne’s earlier career included leadership roles at Coca-Cola and ConAgra, before pivoting into child care.

[11:30] She juggles the business while raising three busy teenagers.

[13:46] Adrianne shares reflections plus a funny story about upgrading her wardrobe from a trip to Vietnam.
[15:19] What benefits Adrianne has found being part of the highest-level membership of the Child Care Success Academy: the Empire level.
[22:15] She explains her leadership structure, including a director of ops, finance lead, and a high-tenure team.

[24:15] The leadership team meets weekly to review scorecards and KPIs. Accountability plus support equals success.

[28:55] Adrianne shares how she works with three virtual assistants (VAs), including one for marketing, one for data and reports, and one for administrative support.

[31:05] She talks about the industry-wide challenge of attracting and retaining staff and how her company stays focused on its leadership vision.

[38:37] Her 2025 goals: simplify, streamline, and build an even stronger team.

[40:55] Why she acquired a catering business and how it’s improved their food program and opened new business channels.

Quotes:

• “We say that we’re very serious about play. And we believe that it’s our professional responsibility to protect childhood from all of the external threats in today’s world.” — Adrianne [8:27]

• “That combination of loyalty and commitment and tenure and then new energy and new ideas and fresh faces, has created a really, I think, a unique and just a sustainable culture.” — Adrianne [9:12]

• “We are working to create an Early Learning Company that inspires because of the opportunity it creates for staff, families, and children, and so we are just trying to be single-mindedly focused on what it means to create abundant opportunities for our staff from a professional development standpoint, from a wage standpoint, and from a benefit standpoint.” — Adrianne [34:40]

Sponsored By:

ChildCare Education Institute (CCEI)

Use code CCSC5 to claim a free course!

Mentioned in This Episode:

Kris Murray

@iamkrismurray

The Child Care Success Company

The Child Care Success Academy

The Child Care Success Summit

Grow Your Center

Childcare Education Institute: use code CDARenewal22 to get $100 off your renewal

Hamilton Heights Child Development Center

Milton’s Amazing Kitchen

Zac Alcampo, Creative Director at Grow Your Center, brings a fresh perspective to leadership, culture, and creativity in early education. With two decades of experience in the gaming industry, Zac is a dynamic entrepreneur and inventive strategist who has helped build immersive digital experiences that merge gamification, artificial intelligence, and user engagement. Now, he’s applying those same ideas to the world of child care — reimagining everything from team collaboration to marketing to parenting itself.

In this episode, Zac joins Kris to talk about gamification in parenting, business, and leadership. They cover how AI can boost productivity and creativity, how to use jam-style collaboration in your team culture, and how behavioral design can be a powerful tool in both the classroom and the breakroom.

Key Takeaways:

[6:15] Kris shares her summer travel adventures and spiritual coaching work.
[7:48] Zac joins from Minsk, Belarus, where he splits his days between parenting and leading creative tech projects.

[9:12] Zac explains how his video game industry background led him to gamify tools at Grow Your Center.
[13:24] From Microsoft to Bangkok startups, Zac’s global career shaped how he solves problems creatively and at scale.
[18:23] He shares how he co-parents a bilingual preschooler and how every moment becomes a playful game.
[25:51] Fun fact: Zac is a seasoned street dancer and battle organizer who once crowdfunded a street culture festival in Thailand!
[33:07] Kris and Zac talk about the tools that the GYC team uses to build next-level content.

[37:48] Zac explains how “art directing” AI is the key to using it effectively. It’s not about replacing creativity but amplifying it.
[45:31] Zac outlines the structure of a “session” — collaborative cycles that build energy, creativity, and connection.

[48:26] Gamification isn’t just games; it’s strategic behavior design. Done well, it increases engagement without being overwhelming.

[53:45] Ideas for using gamification in parent events, leadership retreats, classroom behavior, and team training.
[55:08] Tip: Split leaderboards into categories so everyone has a lane where they can win and feel valued.
[56:28] S3 clients will soon see new gamified systems for onboarding, tracking progress, and celebrating wins.

[58:59] Zac spills some beans on what’s coming to S3, including visual progress tools, Slack AI, and more rewards.

[1:01:35] Zac shares what he’s most excited about: launching the M3 platform (Marketing Made Easy) for 2026.

Quotes:

• “I always tell people, GYC is childcare center marketing on the outside, but inside it’s this crazy, cool tech, innovative kind of machine going on inside.” — Zac [9:40]

• “I have to say, I have a huge sense of purpose with everything that I’ve learned in my career beforehand and applying it to child care centers.” — Zac [12:10]

• “Everything turns into a game, and it’s quickly become like having a little best friend.” — Zac [18:50]

• “That’s the biggest thing, the mentality shift in the team, instead of like a doer, or just like, you know, a run-of-the-mill worker, really put into their heads to just act like the art director of what you’re doing, and use the AI as a pencil, a really, really fast pencil. And you still have to know what looks good. You still have to have your design principles and your theory in there, but you can just produce so much more content with that.” — Zac [40:11]

Sponsored By:

ChildCare Education Institute (CCEI)

Use code CCSC5 to claim a free course!

Mentioned in This Episode:

Kris Murray

@iamkrismurray

The Child Care Success Company

The Child Care Success Academy

The Child Care Success Summit

Grow Your Center

Childcare Education Institute: use code CDARenewal22 to get $100 off your renewal

Zac Alcampo LinkedIn

He’s back! The great Vernon Mason returns as one of the podcast’s most popular guests to help celebrate this milestone 200th episode. He and Kris reflect on leadership, legacy, and what it really means to be present.

In this episode, Vernon shares his beautiful wisdom and journey from growing up in an in-home child care program to building and selling a five-site child care business, and now helping grow The Nest into a 52-location powerhouse. Together, he and Kris chat about the realities of leadership today including accountability, toxic positivity, turnover trends, universal pre-K challenges, and financial uncertainty. They also remind us that every day is a gift, and leadership is all about showing up authentically, building real relationships, and staying grounded in gratitude.

Key Takeaways:

[6:15] Kris, the bucket list queen, talks about her adventure to the Middle Fork of the Salmon River.

[8:09] Vernon is the only person to be on the podcast three times!

[9:19] Vernon talks about being the “trifecta” in child care. He shares how he grew his child care company from one to five centers before selling, and how that transition shaped his leadership.

[16:18] Is labor starting to stabilize?

[22:04] The mindset to get out of fear-based leadership, crisis mode, and the scarcity mindset.

[24:26] The difference between toxic positivity and effective leadership and management.

[27:33] Strategies for accountability and preparing for the unknown in the future.

[30:15] The importance of both staying optimistic and taking action in the right direction.

[34:15] Building a parent referral reward program.

[38:29] Vernon talks about The Nest and maintaining relationships with leaders.

[42:47] Incentivizing teachers to stay present and view the classroom as a safe space.

Quotes:

• “We don’t have a dress rehearsal for this. This is the real show here, right? There are no do-overs, right? This is the life we’ve been given, and I want to make an impact. I want to be the best person that I can be.” — Vernon [15:17]

• “Accountability without a relationship is viewed as harassment.” — Vernon quoting Stephen [19:22]

• “Your people will never be more enthusiastic than leadership.” — Vernon [22:04]

• “Whatever you focus on most, you get more of.” — Vernon [25:57]

• “To me, presence is everything. That’s it. We only have this moment, so we’ve got to just juice it up and just be here for it.” — Kris [42:16]

• “The kids, they have that sixth sense, that intuition, they’re going to feel that whether the teacher is coming to the day with the energy of openness and presence or worry and stress and fear and arms crossed.” — Kris [44:41]

• “I really feel as if this industry is in my DNA.” — Vernon [46:52]

Sponsored By:

ChildCare Education Institute (CCEI)

Use code CCSC5 to claim a free course!

Mentioned in This Episode:

Kris Murray

@iamkrismurray

The Child Care Success Company

The Child Care Success Academy

The Child Care Success Summit

Grow Your Center

Childcare Education Institute: use code CDARenewal22 to get $100 off your renewal

Don’t Waste a Crisis, by Vernon Mason

The Nest