When Irene Gomez stepped into her role as director at the J Center for Early Learning in El Paso, Texas, she carried what so many new leaders do: hyper-responsibility, people-pleasing, and the pressure to be the “hero” in every situation.

In this episode, Irene shares her journey inside the Schools of Excellence coaching program and the transformation that followed—from chasing fires and working late nights, to leading with clarity, boundaries, and trust.

You’ll hear how a calendar became her leadership lifeline, how gratitude reshaped her staff culture, and how self-trust shifted her from over-functioning into a confident leader who now builds sustainable rhythms for her team and balance for her family.

This isn’t just a story of better systems. It’s a story of reclaiming identity, building trust, and choosing to lead without sacrificing health or home.

What You’ll Learn in This Episode:

• Why boundaries start with the leader, not with the staff
• How shifting from “hero” to CEO changes your school culture
• The role of one-on-one meetings in building trust and career growth for teachers
• Why specific gratitude builds safety and resilience in teams
• How leadership growth impacts marriage, parenting, and personal life
• Why coaching is never “one more thing”—it’s the foundation of sustainable leadership

Key Insights

• Boundaries are for you first. Without them, you’ll always default to rescuing instead of leading.
• Culture starts with trust. One-on-ones and specific gratitude create safety for real conversations.
• You can’t hustle your way to sustainability. Systems and rhythms—not over-functioning—are what hold schools together.
• Personal growth multiplies. When leaders evolve, staff mirror that same growth in respect, empowerment, and culture.

Memorable Quotes

• “The boundaries weren’t just for others—they were for me.” – Irene Gomez
• “True success is having a strong team that wants to stay forever.” – Irene Gomez
• “Enough isn’t about getting ahead. It’s about trusting that what you did today was enough.” – Chanie Wilschanski

Why This Matters for School Leaders

• Ends the cycle of firefighting and hyper-responsibility
• Builds cultures of trust where staff thrive and turnover decreases
• Protects leaders’ health, marriage, and family time
• Shows how leadership coaching transforms not just schools, but lives

Resources & Next Steps

• Reflect: Where in your leadership are you holding on to hyper-responsibility?
• Audit your staff culture: Are you building trust, or chasing harmony?
• Share this episode with a fellow leader who feels stuck in people-pleasing

Ready to stop holding everything together alone? Book your Leadership Reset Consultation—a 90-minute strategy session that gives you a 30-day roadmap to build rhythms your team will actually own. Learn more here.

If you’ve ever thought, “It’s just easier if I do it myself,” or found yourself ready to “burn it all down” after one too many hand-holding moments—this episode is for you.

In this solo episode, Chanie Wilschanski exposes the false binary so many school leaders get trapped in: over-functioning or giving up entirely. Through real client stories, she unpacks how these extremes are both driven by the same craving for instant relief—and how true leadership means learning to live in the messy middle.

You’ll hear how one owner, “Sarah,” learned to hold her team accountable without lowering standards, what happens when you trade to-do lists for calendars, and why grace never means abandoning expectations.

This conversation is packed with practical wisdom for leaders who are tired of doing it all, frustrated that delegation still feels heavy, and ready to build rhythms of ownership instead of cycles of exhaustion.

What You’ll Learn in This Episode:

• The real reason leaders oscillate between over-functioning and firing everyone
• Why to-do lists create comfort but calendars create clarity and accountability
• How to show grace without lowering your standards
• The difference between outsourcing and ownership
• Why “getting ahead” is often avoidance disguised as productivity
• How to right-size the load while keeping standards visible

Key Insights

• Comfort isn’t clarity. A private to-do list may feel safe—but a calendar makes priorities visible, reviewable, and real.
• Grace ≠ lowered standards. True grace adjusts the load, not the expectation.
• Instant relief leads to instability. Sustainable leadership requires tolerating discomfort while building systems and rhythms.
• Outsourcing is temporary relief; ownership is transformation.

Memorable Quotes

“Comfort over clarity is not leadership—it’s avoidance.” – Chanie Wilschanski

“Grace never means lowering the standard. You right-size the load while keeping the standard visible.” – Chanie Wilschanski

“Outsourcing brings relief. Ownership builds leadership.” – Chanie Wilschanski

“When you complain about doing something, it just means you need more reps.” – Chanie Wilschanski

Why This Matters for School Leaders

• Helps leaders recognize and break the over-functioning vs. burnout cycle
• Teaches practical ways to build accountability without micromanaging
• Reinforces the connection between standards, systems, and sustainable leadership
• Empowers leaders to replace chaos with structure—and delegation with ownership

Resources & Next Steps

• Audit your leadership rhythms: Where are you over-functioning or lowering standards?
• Define your school’s standards—what’s visible, measurable, and consistent?
• Replace your team’s to-do lists with a shared calendar rhythm this week.

Ready to delegate without burning out? Join Chanie’s Delegation Workshop to learn the exact scripts, standards, and systems that make it work:

👉 schools of excellence.com/delegation

Scaling is glorified in our culture. In early childhood education, that often means opening more schools, adding more classrooms, and constantly chasing “what’s next.” But is that the only way to define success?

In this episode of the Schools of Excellence Podcast, Chanie Wilschanski sits down with Latrice Galloway, known as The Child Care Chick, to talk about the overlooked power of scaling with one location. Latrice shares how she built Kidsville Learning Academy into a multimillion-dollar school that has sustained for 18 years without expanding into multiple sites.

This conversation dives into the foundation of sustainable leadership: mindset, systems, culture, and defining what’s truly “enough.” You’ll hear Latrice’s powerful story of burnout and breakthrough, how she shifted from operator to CEO, and why her definition of success is rooted in peace, values, and sustainability.

If you’ve ever felt the pressure to open “just one more” location, or you’re struggling to sustain the school you already have, this episode will show you another path to growth—one rooted in clarity, culture, and deep alignment.

What You’ll Learn in This Episode:

• Why scaling doesn’t have to mean opening more schools
• The foundation school leaders often skip—and why it leads to burnout
• The mindset shift from operator to CEO
• How to invest in your team so they sustain without you holding everything
• Why defining “enough” is critical to long-term success
• How to filter opportunities through your values and vision

Key Insights

• Sustainability is scale. Long-term thriving in one school can build wealth, culture, and community impact.
• Foundations matter. Hustle and charisma cannot replace systems, rhythms, and leadership infrastructure.
• Enough is a filter. Defining what is “enough” keeps you aligned when opportunities (and distractions) come knocking.
• Your health and peace are part of the equation. Burnout is not the price of success.

Memorable Quotes

• “Scaling isn’t about adding more schools—it’s about sustaining the one you already have.” – Latrice Galloway
• “Enough is not a finish line. It’s a feeling of integrity.” – Chanie Wilschanski
• “Don’t fear if your staff leave after you invest in them. Fear what happens if they stay and you never do.” – Latrice Galloway

Why This Matters for School Leaders

• Helps leaders redefine success beyond growth at all costs
• Protects culture, peace, and sustainability by focusing on depth, not constant expansion
• Empowers leaders to filter opportunities through values instead of external pressure
• Provides a model for scaling to millions with one school

Resources & Next Steps

• Define your personal and leadership definition of “enough”
• Audit your school’s foundations: Are you building on systems, or on hustle?
• Share this episode with a fellow school leader wrestling with pressure to expand

Ready to stop holding everything together alone? Book your Leadership Reset Consultation—a 90-minute strategy session that gives you a 30-day roadmap to build rhythms your team will actually own. Learn more here.

Leadership doesn’t pause for grief, betrayal, or personal storms. In this deeply vulnerable conversation, Chanie sits down with Beth Cannon to talk about what it means to lead when life unravels. From walking through the terminal illness of a loved one, to staff exits and leadership mistakes, Beth shares her “discomfort zone” season and the messy middle of showing up for her people while falling apart inside.

This episode is not about perfection, it’s about presence. It’s about choosing honesty over image, showing up when you don’t have it all together, and finding systems and rhythms that carry your school (and your soul) through seasons of chaos.

• Why “waiting until everything is perfect” is leadership avoidance
• How to keep showing up when grief and business crises collide
• The difference between accountability and ownership in staff leadership
• Why leaders must choose honesty over image if they want trust and culture to hold
• How to find outer-circle people who can lead you through your own fo

• Culture isn’t built on polish. It’s built on consistency, clarity, and shared standards.
• Grief and leadership can coexist. You can hold heartbreak in one hand and still lead with purpose in the other.
• Leadership is a mirror. Staff accountability gaps often expose where owners haven’t built the right rhythms.
• You don’t wait for perfect conditions. Growth happens in the middle of the storm, not after it passes.

• “I wasn’t replacing a role. I was reacting to a wound.” – Beth Cannon
• “You have to choose honesty over image, because the day when everything is perfect doesn’t exist.” – Beth Cannon
• “Schools don’t need leaders who wait for the fog to clear. They need leaders who keep walking.” – Chanie Wilschanski

• Stops the cycle of waiting for perfect conditions before leading
• Models vulnerability without abdicating responsibility
• Builds staff trust through honesty and accountability, not polish
• Anchors leaders in rhythms that hold during grief, betrayal, or transition

• Reflect: Where are you waiting for things to “settle” before you lead?
• Revisit your staff accountability systems: Are they true ownership, or excuses and follow-up cycles?
• Connect with Beth Cannon: bethcannonspeaks.com | Instagram & Facebook: @bethcannonspeaks

Admin & Tech isn’t flashy like enrollment or emotional like staff culture—but it’s one of the biggest hidden profit drains in schools. In this finale of the Money Leaks series, Chanie breaks down how underutilized software, paper-based SOPs, missing automations, and messy file systems quietly torch your time capacity and cash. You’ll get a simple, CEO-level playbook to audit your tech stack, automate the right tasks, assign platform “champions,” and build rhythms that stop dependency and start true scalability.

👉 Take the free diagnostic mentioned in this episode: schoolsofexcellence.com/moneyleaks

What You’ll Learn

• The 5 Admin & Tech pillars that protect profit (workflows, utilization, automation, data & file systems, review rhythms)
• How to audit your tech stack and cut redundancies without chaos
• Why automation doesn’t replace people—it gives them back time for what only humans can do
• The “internal platform champion” model that prevents bottlenecks and builds team capacity
• A simple naming convention + 10-second file-finding standard that ends “final-final-FINAL-v6” madness
• How to move from dependency (it only works when Sarah’s here) to system (it works when anyone follows the rhythm)

SOE Playbook: 5 Concrete Moves

1. Run a Software Audit (30–45 min): List every tool, owner, cost, and actual use. Cancel redundancies, downgrade unused premium plans, and standardize what stays.
2. Assign Platform Champions: One trained “owner” per platform. Share quick wins, create 1-page SOPs, and stop knowledge hoarding.
3. Automate Repetitive Admin: Scheduling, reminders, links, confirmations, form routing, basic onboarding steps. Free people for gratitude, 1:1s, observations, feedback—the work only humans can do.
4. Lock File Hygiene: Cloud-first, consistent naming, and a structure anyone can understand. Measure success by: “Can someone find any file in ≤10 seconds?”
5. Quarterly Rhythm Block: Every 90 days: review tools, subscriptions, automations, and workflows. One block. Same calendar slot. Always.

Case Studies & Wins

• Sonia’s Tech Tangle → $4,000 Saved: She listed 19 tools; canceled 5–7 redundant platforms, downgraded others, and named champions for the rest—saving nearly $4K/year and loads of time capacity.
• The $9,000 Surprise: A leader who “couldn’t afford it” did a money leaks audit, canceled 3 subscriptions, and freed up $9,000—just by telling the truth in the tech stack.

Memorable Lines

• “If it takes more than 10 seconds to find a file, you have a leak—not a library.”
• “Dependency isn’t a system. It’s a risk.”
• “Automation isn’t about replacing people—it’s about returning time to the work only humans can do.”
• “When someone leaves, the brain of your business shouldn’t walk out with them.”

Resources

Free diagnostic: schoolsofexcellence.com/moneyleaks

Your Amazon bill isn’t proof of overspending, it’s proof of a missing rhythm.

In this fifth episode of the Six Money Leaks series, Chanie uncovers why supply management is one of the most overlooked operational leaks in schools. From the toner that’s reordered twice in a week to the “just in case” stockpiles that clutter closets, poor systems quietly drain thousands of dollars and create chaos for your team.

You’ll hear how one school leader cut supply costs by 50%, not by cutting corners, but by building rhythms of accountability, teacher ownership, and smarter purchasing strategies. Chanie explains how strong leaders use systems to bring predictability to supplies, just as they do in staff culture, enrollment, and every other gear of sustainable growth.

What You’ll Learn in This Episode

• Why supply challenges aren’t spending issues, they’re system issues
• The five pillars of supply management: inventory, seasonal planning, equipment lifecycle, vendor strategy, and storage organization
• How to create baselines that give you real data on usage and costs
• The role of leadership rhythms in preventing waste and burnout
• Practical steps to cut costs without sacrificing quality or culture

Key Insights

• Leadership is stewardship. Systems, not sticky notes, are what protect your budget and your team’s time.
• Culture is built in the details. When supplies are predictable, teachers feel supported and operations run smoothly.
• Growth requires optimization. Scaling isn’t about more—it’s about refining what you already have.

Why This Matters for School Leaders

When supply management runs on chaos, leaders end up overspending, overfunctioning, and burning out. When it runs on systems, leaders free capacity for strategy, teams feel supported, and operations hold under pressure.

Resources & Next Steps

Download the free Money Leaks Diagnostic and assess your school’s supply systems: schoolsofexcellence.com/moneyleaks

Pizza at staff meetings. Coffee for PD days. Uber Eats orders that feel small at the moment. These choices come from generosity, but without systems, they quickly become one of the biggest hidden drains on your budget.

In this fourth episode of the Six Money Leaks series, Chanie Wilschanski explains why leaders don’t have food budget problems, they have food system problems. You’ll learn how to build baselines, create seasonal rhythms, and plan for the actual people you serve, so generosity strengthens culture without draining profit.

Through real stories from school leaders, Chanie shows how small adjustments in food management save thousands, reduce waste, and create sustainable rhythms of appreciation.

• Why “spend as little as you can” is not a budget
• How to calculate your baseline with receipts and real data
• Why food budgets must shift seasonally with enrollment, staffing, and culture rhythms
• How to prevent waste by planning for allergies, sensitivities, and actual headcount
• The difference between indulgent overspending and intentional generosity

• Generosity needs guardrails. Without systems, your kindness works against you.
• Data builds confidence. Leaders negotiate budgets best when they bring baselines, not guesses.
• Culture thrives on intention. Food can build connection and trust when it’s planned with clarity.
• Why This Matters for School Leaders

Your staff and students deserve abundance. But abundance without systems creates chaos, waste, and guilt around spending. Food control isn’t about being stingy—it’s about building rhythms that protect your financial health and your culture.

Download the free Money Leaks Diagnostic and assess your school’s food systems: schoolsofexcellence.com/moneyleaks

Payment problems aren’t about “bad parents.” They’re about broken systems.

In this episode of the Schools of Excellence podcast, Chanie exposes the hidden money leak that’s quietly draining schools: payment systems. From failed cards and ignored invoices to outdated agreements and manual chasing, every gap in your tuition process pulls focus and drains energy.

You’ll hear real client stories, from a $15,000 recovery in failed payments to a 90% drop in late tuition within one billing cycle and walk away with practical steps to finally stop chasing money and start leading with clarity.

If you’re tired of payroll Fridays filled with stress and spreadsheets, this conversation will help you install systems that protect your cash flow, your culture, and your peace of mind.

What You’ll Learn in This Episode

• Why most tuition issues are about systems, not parents
• The #1 step to immediately reduce late payments
• How to install a proactive collection process (not a “hope and faith” system)
• The role of late fees in protecting your standards and cash flow
• Why payment agreements must be reviewed and stored digitally

Key Insights

• Broken payment systems = hidden money leaks.
• Hope is not a collection system. Predictability is.
• Enforcing policies isn’t mean, it protects your staff and your culture.
• Outdated agreements open the door for confusion and chaos.

Memorable Quotes

• “If you’re still chasing tuition, you don’t have a payment system, you have a hope and faith system.”
• “Late fees aren’t punishment. They’re protection for your cash flow and your peace of mind.”
• “Your agreements aren’t set-and-forget. They’re living guardrails that protect your school.”

Why This Matters for School Leaders

• Stops financial chaos from undermining your leadership
• Creates consistent, predictable revenue
• Protects your time, energy, and staff trust
• Moves you from reaction to rhythm

Resources & Next Steps

• Require auto-pay at enrollment (make one-time payment the default)
• Create a 24-hour failed payment follow-up system with backup cards on file
• Automate late fees to protect cash flow without awkward conversations
• Review and digitize all payment agreements this quarter

👉 Ready to stop patchwork fixes and build leadership systems that hold up under pressure? Book your Leadership Reset Consultation here: [Leadership Reset]

And if you want to see where payment systems and other money leaks may be draining your school, take the Money Leaks Diagnostic.

.This is the second episode in Chanie Wilschanski’s Six Money Leaks series, and it’s all about a leak that quietly drains thousands from your school each year, schedule efficiency.

Your payroll is your biggest expense, which means inefficiencies in your staffing schedule are some of the most expensive mistakes you can make. From unnecessary shift overlaps to inconsistent break coverage and directors constantly stepping into classrooms, the lack of a strategic coverage system can cost you tens of thousands annually, without you even realizing it.

In this episode, Chanie shares real-world examples, including how closing a 20-minute daily overlap across 20 teachers saved one school nearly $28,000 a year. She also breaks down the systems and rhythms that create consistent coverage, protect teacher energy, and ensure directors can focus on leadership, not constant classroom coverage.

If you’re ready to end reactionary scheduling and install a predictable rhythm that protects both profitability and staff culture, this conversation is your blueprint.

What You’ll Learn

• Why “coverage for the sake of coverage” is a profit leak
• How to design schedules that serve your school’s needs, not just individual preferences
• The impact of shift overlaps and how to eliminate them without hurting culture
• How schedule predictability reduces chaos and burnout
• Why break coverage is a culture issue, not just an operations task
• The high cost of directors covering classrooms, and how to stop it

Key Insights

Coverage Must Be Strategic

More staff doesn’t always mean better coverage. Without role clarity, ratio management, and coverage protocols, you’re paying for bodies, not results.

Small Overlaps Add Up to Big Leaks

A 20-minute overlap between shifts across 20 staff members can cost nearly $30,000 a year, money that could be reinvested into your team and programs.

Predictable Schedules Protect Culture

When staff know their schedules weeks in advance, it reduces stress, improves retention, and prevents constant shift reshuffling.

Break Coverage Is About Trust

When teachers consistently return late from breaks, it erodes trust and damages classroom culture. Strict break coverage protocols protect relationships and morale.

Directors Covering Classrooms Costs More Than You Think

Every hour a director spends in the classroom is an hour of leadership work undone, directly impacting profitability and long-term growth.

Try This Instead: Schedule Efficiency Systems

• Audit Shift Overlaps: Eliminate unnecessary double-pay time blocks.
• Standardize Break Coverage: Assign coverage roles and protect break start/end times.
• Create Predictable Schedules: Require advance time-off requests and manage peak request seasons.
• Build an Emergency Coverage Plan: Stop relying on directors as the default coverage solution.

Memorable Quotes

“Coverage for the sake of coverage is not strategic—it’s expensive.”

“If you’re regularly stepping into classrooms, you’re stealing from the school’s profitability.”

“A 20-minute overlap may feel small, but across your team, it’s an entire salary lost.”

Why It Matters for School Leaders

• Stops payroll waste caused by poor scheduling
• Reduces burnout and turnover with predictable rhythms
• Protects your role as a leader by keeping you out of constant coverage
• Strengthens staff trust and school culture through consistency
• Improves profitability without cutting quality or programming

Resources & Next Steps

• Audit your schedule overlaps and calculate the annual cost
• Review and update your break coverage protocol
• Create or refine your emergency coverage plan
• Download the Money Leaks Diagnostic at schoolsofexcellence.com/moneyleaks to see where your biggest leaks are

Turn Underused Classrooms, Time Blocks, and Facilities Into Predictable Profit With Systems That Last

This episode kicks off Chanie Wilschanski’s Six Money Leaks series, diving deep into the first profit drain most school leaders overlook: space optimization.

Your school building’s square footage is either making money or silently draining it. If your classrooms feel full but your budget is still tight, you may be missing out on hundreds, sometimes thousands, in unrealized revenue.

Chanie shares real client stories where underutilized classrooms, missed extended care opportunities, and unused rooms were costing schools between $96,000 and $130,000 a year. More importantly, she breaks down the systems and rhythms that turn those gaps into sustainable income, without overloading teachers or sacrificing your school culture.

Whether you lead an early childhood center or a private school, this conversation will help you stop making emotional space decisions and start using operational systems to create predictable, sustainable growth.

What You’ll Learn

• What space optimization really is, and what it’s not
• How to uncover hidden enrollment gaps that quietly drain revenue
• Extended care strategies that boost profit without exhausting your team
• How room licensing and usage flexibility can add thousands in monthly revenue
• Using external rentals strategically without adding operational chaos
• The systems and rhythms that keep your space working for you year after year

Key Insights

Feeling Full Isn’t the Same as Being Full

A school reporting 85% capacity was actually at 72%, a $96,000 annual revenue leak. Real data, not perception, should drive your enrollment strategy.

Protecting Staff by Avoiding Enrollment Hurts Everyone

Limiting enrollment to “make it easier” on teachers reduces resources, which ultimately impacts their long-term stability.

Extended Care and Tiered Pricing Unlock Prime Revenue Blocks

Charging for early or late care, with systems to test and staff them, can turn unused time into high-value revenue.

Room Licensing Flexibility Creates Opportunities

Re-zoning or re-licensing underused rooms can meet demand and significantly increase monthly income.

External Rentals Work When Structured

Renting space for community events or seasonal programs can be profitable if built into your operational rhythm, not as a one-off scramble.

Try This Instead: The Space Optimization Systems

• Room-by-Room Enrollment Audit: Track licensed capacity vs. actual enrollment by room.
• Extended Care Revenue System: Run quarterly audits of arrival/departure patterns and pilot premium care offerings.
• Licensing Flexibility Process: Regularly review demand vs. licensing and pursue rezoning where profitable.
• External Rental Structure: Decide if rentals should be seasonal or ongoing, and set clear policies for use.

Memorable Quotes

“Every square foot in your building is either generating profit or stealing profit from you.”

“Protecting staff by avoiding full enrollment is not protection—it’s a slow drain on your entire school.”

“Feeling full is not the same as being full. Data, not perception, should drive your space strategy.”

Why It Matters for School Leaders

• Stops revenue leaks caused by underutilized space
• Builds operational systems that increase profit without overburdening staff
• Protects your school culture by aligning resources with sustainable growth
• Creates capacity to invest in your team, programming, and long-term stability

Resources & Next Steps

• Run a room-by-room enrollment audit to see where you’re losing capacity
• Identify one underutilized space or time block and assign a revenue goal
• Share this episode with your leadership team and hold a 15-minute debrief on potential space optimization strategies
• Learn how Schools of Excellence can help you install systems that work HERE.