Darren Chase, founder and CEO of Chase Youth Programs LLC, graduated college at 20 and founded a company four months later. But his real competitive advantage wasn't his degree, it was a childhood experience in an after-school program that changed the trajectory of his life. We’re talking about what it actually looks like to scale from zero to 16 schools in under a year, his 'servant-leader' approach to staff management, and the specific, long-term relationship strategy he used to secure over $100k in grant funding.

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Episode Highlights

2:10 The real origin story, not a business plan, but a third grade experience that shaped everything

7:45 The moment coaching turned into something bigger than just working with a few students

9:30 Why early growth came from being personally involved not building systems first

18:40 How high school interns helped land actual school partnerships (not just support tasks)

20:50 The cash flow reality of schools fronting costs and waiting 30, 60, even 90 days to get paid

23:10 The operational challenge no one talks about managing different background check systems across schools

31:20 How he secured over $100K in grants by building relationships before submitting anything

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Resources mentioned

- Profit First by Mike Michalowicz: a practical system for managing cash flow in service-based businesses

- enrops: Dr. Arielle Hammond is building the all-in-one platform this industry has been missing. We’re talking scheduling, instructor management, and parent communication all in one place. I built it because we need it. Go to getenrops.com to get on the list.

Guest bio

Darren Chase is the Founder and CEO of Chase Youth Programs LLC, where he’s building and scaling after-school, enrichment, and youth development programs across schools in Atlanta. Before launching his company, he grew a school programs division from the ground up expanding to 16 school and community partners, running 35+ weekly programs, and serving roughly 350 students while managing a team of 40. He’s led programs that generated over $200,000 in just six months, helped drive multi-million dollar growth across organizations, and played a role in nonprofit initiatives that served nearly 1,000 students at no cost. Now, he’s focused on building systems that allow programs like this to expand into tutoring, community service, and new school partnerships while keeping the quality of the experience intact.

Where to Find Darren

You can learn more about Darren at chaseyouthprograms.com, connect with him on LinkedIn, or reach him directly at [email protected].

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