Schools of Excellence: The No. 1 ECE & Private School Leadership Podcast

Do you know the difference between equality and equity?

It's a distinction that could be at the heart of some of the issues you're facing at your center. 

Equality is all about fairness. It's about treating each and every person exactly the same way. 

And while that may seem great in theory, in practice, it ultimately harms your center's culture and prevents you from maximizing your team's potential.

Let me give you a real-life example from a school leader who I'll call Lisa.

Lisa was leading a group of 30 teachers, and she was struggling with team accountability—specifically punctuality.

One of the teachers that was failing to show up on time was a single mom. Without any help at home, she couldn't find a way to get her kids to school and come to work on time.

Being the empathetic leader she is, Lisa could see that the issue was largely outside of the teacher's control. Plus, the teacher was otherwise very reliable and wonderful at her job.

So, to solve the problem, Lisa was willing to create a flexible schedule that would allow the teacher to stay late to make up for the missed time in the morning.

Except for one problem: fairness.

Even though she had come up with a reasonable solution, Lisa was afraid to implement it out of fear of being unfair to the other teachers.

The thing is, life isn't fair. Nor should it be!

Why? Because every single person is different. And by ignoring that fact, you risk denying what makes them unique and alienating them rather than lifting them up.

The solution, then, is to treat your team equitably rather than equally.

Unlike equality, which views everyone through the lens of sameness, equity is about seeing people's differences and providing them with what they need to succeed.

By recognizing that everyone has strengths and weaknesses, you can create a stronger and more cohesive team.

And isn't that the ultimate goal?

In this week's podcast episode, I'm exploring what I like to call "the fairness game," or the idea that treating people equally is the mark of good leadership. As you'll learn in the episode, this is far from the truth and can actually harm your center.

Join me for a conversation about:

• Why treating all employees fairly, or equally, is a bad idea
• The important difference between equality and equity
• How to create an equitable environment at your center
• Replacing fairness-based leadership with values-based leadership

Learn more and apply for the Director’s Inner Circle & Owner’s HQ: http://Chanie.me/jointhedic  

  If you're looking for long-term support in creating a healthier school environment, join our Owner's Only HQ and Director's Inner Circle membership programs. As a member, you'll gain ongoing access to tools, resources, coaching, and community that will help you become a stronger leader for your center.

In addition to creating a more equitable environment, you can learn to maximize your team's potential by attending our on-demand Delegate to Elevate Workshop. During the 90-minute online workshop, you'll learn how to delegate effectively so you can develop a high-performing team that can support you as you work toward building a school of excellence. https://schoolsofexcellence.com/delegate

More about the show:

If you are an Early Childhood director or owner, prepare to transform your school and life with the Schools of Excellence podcast. Tune in each week to learn from Chanie Wilschanski, the founder and host of the Schools of Excellence Podcast and a mom of 4 little kids. Each episode will be packed with tools and strategies – equipping you to build schools with higher staff retention, teacher motivation, parent partnership, collaborative culture, and beautiful quality of life. 

Every week, Chanie shares the truth about the journey to excellence, the strategies that are working TODAY, and the mindset about the critical decisions and choices that you make every day which impact yourself, your teachers, parents, family, and children who you serve every day.

As rewarding as leadership can be, it's also incredibly lonely.

When you're the person who people go to for guidance and support, where does that leave you in your times of need?

It's a question that many owners and directors I work with have grappled with, including Donna Rettle.

In 2016, Donna was hired to work under the Executive Director as the Director of Education at a preschool in upstate New York. Her talent, drive, and fresh perspective made her the perfect candidate to replace the Executive Director when she retired.

The only issue was, no one knew exactly when she would retire.

Although the Executive Director often talked about retiring, she never actually took the steps to make it happen. And this continued for years.

For Donna, this back and forth, will-she-or-won't-she situation was incredibly disheartening. She felt like she was being toyed with and would spend many nights in tears over the uncertainty of her future in the program.

And worst of all, she felt alone. As a director whose issue involved the Executive Director of the preschool, she had no one to consult or lean on for support.

By 2021, Donna had reached her limit. As much as she believed in the program and the work she was doing, she had had enough and was ready to move on.

But just as she was ready to walk away, something happened that changed Donna's perspective: She came across my guest appearance on the HiMama podcast.

Hearing about Schools of Excellence and the work we do with owners and directors suddenly made Donna feel less alone in her struggles. For the first time in five years, she realized she was part of a community—she just needed to find them.

In this week's podcast episode, I sit down with Donna Rettle to talk about her journey from being trapped in isolating limbo to becoming the successful executive director she is today. 

We chat about Donna's experience within the Schools of Excellence Director's Inner Circle membership program and how it transformed her life and leadership.

Join us for a conversation about:

• Donna's struggles before joining the membership
• Her experience being a part of the Director's Inner Circle
• How that experience impacted her leadership
• Her goals moving forward as the  executive director of her school

Learn more and apply for the Director’s Inner Circle & Owner’s HQ: http://Chanie.me/jointhedic  

If Donna's story resonates with you and you're looking to transform your leadership just as she did, I encourage you to apply for our Owner's Only HQ and Director's Inner Circle membership programs. As a member, you'll gain ongoing access to tools, resources, coaching, and community that will help you build the skills that will propel your leadership and school forward.

In addition to our membership programs, we have a variety of other resources for owners and directors who want to level up their leadership. One of our latest offerings is our on-demand Delegate to Elevate Workshop. During this 90-minute online workshop, you'll learn how to delegate effectively so you can achieve your goals while reclaiming your life and your time.

More about the show:

If you are an Early Childhood director or owner, prepare to transform your school and life with the Schools of Excellence podcast. Tune in each week to learn from Chanie Wilschanski, the founder and host of the Schools of Excellence Podcast and a mom of 4 little kids. Each episode will be packed with tools and strategies – equipping you to build schools with higher staff retention, teacher motivation, parent...

As a leader, you're responsible for a lot of people.

But what does that responsibility really mean?

Is it about taking on the problems of your team and staff? Or is it about helping them become the best professionals and individuals they can be? 

You see something I often see when working with owners and directors is their tendency to take responsibility for issues that don't belong to them.

They see a teacher struggling to manage their classroom or come to school on time, and their first reaction is to step in.

Why? Because seeing people in discomfort is uncomfortable, and we think that by taking on their pain, we're helping them in the best way possible.

But the truth is that when you intervene, you're actually taking away from their human experience and eliminating the opportunity for them to learn and grow.

The best thing you can do as a leader is learn to sit with the discomfort of watching others struggle, so you can support them to make their own decisions.

How? That's what I'm discussing on this week's podcast episode. 

Join me as I sit down with author, speaker, podcast host, and leadership coach Heather Chauvin for an enlightening conversation about emotional discomfort and how changing your perspective on it can help you become a stronger leader.

We'll be talking about:

• What Heather's learned from her journey through motherhood & cancer treatment
• Compassion fatigue and how it impacts leaders
• What practices you can use to learn to sit with discomfort
• How to help your team & staff learn to manage their own emotions
• Practical tips to help you take action toward developing stronger leadership

Learn more and apply for the Director’s Inner Circle & Owner’s HQ: http://Chanie.me/jointhedic  

If you'd like to learn more about Heather and her journey, you can check out:

Emotionally Uncomfortable Podcast: https://heatherchauvin.com/podcast

TEDx talk: https://www.ted.com/talks/heather_chauvin_dying_to_be_a_good_mother/details

Dying to be a Good Mother book: https://heatherchauvin.com/book-order

Free resources from Heather: http://heatherchauvin.com/freegifts

You can also attend our on-demand Delegate to Elevate Workshop to learn how to set healthier boundaries around your time. During the 90-minute online workshop, I'll show you how to delegate effectively so you can better manage your schedule, decrease your workload, and develop a high-performing team that can help you build a school of excellence. https://schoolsofexcellence.com/delegate

More about the show:

If you are an Early Childhood director or owner, prepare to transform your school and life with the Schools of Excellence podcast. Tune in each week to learn from Chanie Wilschanski, the founder and host of the Schools of Excellence Podcast and a mom of 4 little kids. Each episode will be packed with tools and strategies – equipping you to build schools with higher staff retention, teacher motivation, parent partnership, collaborative culture, and beautiful quality of life. 

Every week, Chanie shares the truth about the journey to excellence, the strategies that are working TODAY, and the mindset about the critical decisions and choices that you make every day which impact yourself, your teachers, parents, family, and children who you serve every day.

Let me know if this sounds familiar:

• You're emotionally, mentally, and physically exhausted on a daily basis
• You feel disconnected from your work, your team, and your staff
• You're doing only what needs to be done to keep your center afloat

If you identify with these statements, you're not alone.

Exhaustion, disconnect, and reduced performance are the three core signs of burnout, and they're running rampant in early childhood education. 

But what's perhaps even more common than burnout itself is the denial about how to address it.

While not a medical condition, burnout is not something you can fix with pedicures, bath bombs, or weekend getaways.

Think about it—you didn't become burned out overnight. It's the result of ongoing, damaging behaviors like overworking yourself, failing to set boundaries, and prioritizing success over all else.

So, how can you expect to overcome it in just a couple of weeks?

The truth is that recovering from burnout takes years of intentional self-work.

It's a long and difficult process that requires a strong commitment to yourself, your team, and your staff.

But the end result is not only a stronger leader, but a stronger center.

In this week's podcast episode, I'm exploring the topic of burnout: what it is, why it happens, and how leaders can overcome it so they can create healthier cultures in their schools.

Join me for a conversation about:

• The primary signs of burnout
• The four pillars of burnout & burnout recovery
• How leaders in particular reach the point of burnout
• Strategies to work through burnout (HINT: They don't include taking a vacation)

Learn more and apply for the Director’s Inner Circle & Owner’s HQ: http://Chanie.me/jointhedic  

If you're looking for long-term support in burnout recovery, join our Owner's Only HQ and Director's Inner Circle membership programs. As a member, you'll gain ongoing access to tools, resources, coaching, and community that will help you become a stronger and more grounded leader for your center.

One of the primary reasons leaders reach a state of burnout is because they try to take on too much on their own. You can work on combating this issue by attending our on-demand Delegate to Elevate Workshop. During the 90-minute workshop, you'll learn how to delegate effectively so you can reclaim your time and improve your quality of life. https://schoolsofexcellence.com/delegate

More about the show:

If you are an Early Childhood director or owner, prepare to transform your school and life with the Schools of Excellence podcast. Tune in each week to learn from Chanie Wilschanski, the founder and host of the Schools of Excellence Podcast and a mom of 4 little kids. Each episode will be packed with tools and strategies – equipping you to build schools with higher staff retention, teacher motivation, parent partnership, collaborative culture, and beautiful quality of life. 

Every week, Chanie shares the truth about the journey to excellence, the strategies that are working TODAY, and the mindset about the critical decisions and choices that you make every day which impact yourself, your teachers, parents, family, and children who you serve every day.

I hear a lot of leaders say they'd love to provide advancement opportunities for their staff, but no one's interested in taking on more responsibility.

They insist that even with the promise of higher pay, staff members turn down the offer.

Why do you think that is?

The mainstream answer is that not everyone wants to be promoted—some people just want to show up, do their job, and go home.

While that may seem true on the surface, the reality extends far deeper.

At their core, people want to level up—they just lack the confidence to accept the opportunities that come their way.

Your job as a leader is to not only create opportunities for your staff to grow, but also give them the resources to be successful.

In this week's podcast episode, I'm closing out our multipart series on building a culture of retention within your center by focusing on promotion and how you can help everyone on your team and staff reach their full potential.

Join me for a conversation about:

• Why people don't "want" to be promoted
• The different types of growth opportunities available
• Strategies for building a culture of promotion
• How to know whether someone is ready to be promoted

I hope you've found this deep dive into building a culture of retention valuable. My hope is that by combining the strategies you've learned throughout the series, you start to see a difference in your center's retention and can create a team that's just as committed to building a school of excellence as you are.

Learn more and apply for the Director’s Inner Circle & Owner’s HQ: http://Chanie.me/jointhedic  

If you're looking for more intensive support than a workshop can provide, I encourage you to join our Owner's Only HQ and Director's Inner Circle membership programs. As a member, you'll gain ongoing access to tools, resources, coaching, and community that will help you become a stronger leader for your staff. 

More about the show:

If you are an Early Childhood director or owner, prepare to transform your school and life with the Schools of Excellence podcast. Tune in each week to learn from Chanie Wilschanski, the founder and host of the Schools of Excellence Podcast and a mom of 4 little kids. Each episode will be packed with tools and strategies – equipping you to build schools with higher staff retention, teacher motivation, parent partnership, collaborative culture, and beautiful quality of life. 

Every week, Chanie shares the truth about the journey to excellence, the strategies that are working TODAY, and the mindset about the critical decisions and choices that you make every day which impact yourself, your teachers, parents, family, and children who you serve every day.

A while back, I was working with a school that was having trouble with one of their new teachers. She was relatively new to her role, and although she was gentle and loving to the children, she was struggling with classroom management and transitions.

The owner and director of the center knew they needed to discuss the issue with the teacher, but they were afraid of initiating such a difficult conversation. In particular, they feared that if they tried to provide feedback, the teacher would leave her job.

If this situation sounds familiar, I'm not surprised. It comes up again and again among the leaders I work with.

One of the hardest parts of having difficult conversations is holding people accountable for their actions. We think that when we push people toward accountability, they'll leave and never come back.

But holding people accountable isn't about pushing people away—it's about creating stability, safety, and continuity inside your center, which are all things that significantly contribute to retention.

In this week's podcast episode, I'm continuing our multipart series on building a culture of retention within your center. 

This time, I'll be focusing on accountability and how you as a leader can better hold your staff—and yourself—accountable and increase retention.

Join me for a conversation about:

• Accountability and why we fear it
• How accountability is foundational to relationships
• The difference between a culture of blame and a culture of accountability
• How to create a culture of accountability within your center

Learn more and apply for the Director’s Inner Circle & Owner’s HQ: http://Chanie.me/jointhedic  

if you're looking for support that you can rely on long-term, join our Owner's Only HQ and Director's Inner Circle membership programs. As a member, you'll gain ongoing access to tools, resources, coaching, and community that will help you as you build a school of excellence.

Get the Difficult Conversations Template here: https://discovered.thrivecart.com/difficult-conversations-template/

Get the Scripts Workbook here: https://discovered.thrivecart.com/script-workbook/

More about the show:

If you are an Early Childhood director or owner, prepare to transform your school and life with the Schools of Excellence podcast. Tune in each week to learn from Chanie Wilschanski, the founder and host of the Schools of Excellence Podcast and a mom of 4 little kids. Each episode will be packed with tools and strategies – equipping you to build schools with higher staff retention, teacher motivation, parent partnership, collaborative culture, and beautiful quality of life. 

Every week, Chanie shares the truth about the journey to excellence, the strategies that are working TODAY, and the mindset about the critical decisions and choices that you make every day which impact yourself, your teachers, parents, family, and children who you serve every day.

One of our core needs as human beings is a sense of service which prompts us to help and support others. Put differently, we have an innate need to want to contribute in a meaningful way.

Yet the pattern I see in a lot of centers is that their culture is built around obligation rather than contribution.

In a culture of obligation, people see obstacles as burdens, changing demands as reasons to give up, and unclear directions as an excuse to wait to be told what to do. It's a type of environment where people are there because they feel they have to be.

On the other hand, in a culture of contribution, people view obstacles as situations to step up, changing demands as chances to collaborate, and unclear directions as opportunities to become a leader. 

In this culture, people aren't there because they feel they have to be—they're there because they want to be. They stick around because they want to contribute to something greater than themselves.

But that sort of environment isn't created out of nothing. It takes careful reflection on your part as a leader to cultivate a space where your team and staff want to show up in meaningful ways.

In this week's podcast episode, I'm continuing our multipart series on building a culture of retention within your center. 

This time, I'll be focusing on contribution and how cultivating this type of environment can create long-term benefits for your center. 

Join me for a conversation about:

• The difference between a culture of contribution and a culture of obligation
• Contribution and why it has a place among the 6 core human needs
• Why few people have contribution as part of their retention strategy
• 7 questions to consider when cultivating a culture of contribution in your center

This episode requires a lot of reflection, so you may want to listen more than once or save it for a moment when you can sit down and focus. But rest assured that the effort you dedicate to self-reflection now will help you immensely as you start to make changes within your center.

Learn more and apply for the Director’s Inner Circle & Owner’s HQ: http://Chanie.me/jointhedic  

Looking for support as you work on developing a mindset of contribution among your team and staff? Our Owner's Only HQ and Director's Inner Circle membership programs provide the perfect space to validate your struggles, learn from other leaders, and brainstorm solutions. Plus, you'll also get access to other tools, resources, and coaching that will help you on your journey to building a school of excellence.

More about the show:

If you are an Early Childhood director or owner, prepare to transform your school and life with the Schools of Excellence podcast. Tune in each week to learn from Chanie Wilschanski, the founder and host of the Schools of Excellence Podcast and a mom of 4 little kids. Each episode will be packed with tools and strategies – equipping you to build schools with higher staff retention, teacher motivation, parent partnership, collaborative culture, and beautiful quality of life. 

Every week, Chanie shares the truth about the journey to excellence, the strategies that are working TODAY, and the mindset about the critical decisions and choices that you make every day which impact yourself, your teachers, parents, family, and children who you serve every day.

Do you remember when the only people on-call 24/7 were emergency workers?

Back then, there was a much clearer divide between work and life. Once you left the "office," you could focus your attention on whatever was happening at home until you returned to work.

These days, it's far less simple. We live in a world of instant gratification, where smart phones and watches and other devices ping and ding at all hours, programming us to always be on-call.

This has blurred the separation between our personal and professional lives, leading to enormous amounts of stress, emotional exhaustion, and burnout within our centers.

But contrary to popular rhetoric, the answer isn't to return to a complete separation.

In fact, I don't think there was ever a real separation between work and home. So much of what we do professionally impacts our personal lives and vice versa.

What we need is to find harmony between the two worlds.

By creating space for your staff to enrich their lives through activities and experiences that exist beyond their professional lives, the more likely they are to feel fulfilled in their work and want to stick around.

In this week's podcast episode, I'm continuing our multipart series on building a culture of retention within your center. 

This time, we're focusing on quality of life and how it impacts your staff's performance, wellbeing, and willingness to stay.

Join me for a conversation about:

• The impact of instant gratification on our ability to create a work-life balance
• Why we need harmony rather than separation between work and home
• How to create that harmony within your center
• Specific strategies to encourage work-life harmony and integration

Learn more and apply for the Director’s Inner Circle & Owner’s HQ: http://Chanie.me/jointhedic  

 Quality of life is an ongoing topic of conversation within our Owner's Only HQ and Director's Inner Circle membership programs. If you're looking to get support and solutions from other leaders who are on the same journey, I encourage you to fill out an application. In addition to an incredible community, members also gain access to tools, resources, and coaching that can help them build schools of excellence.

More about the show:

If you are an Early Childhood director or owner, prepare to transform your school and life with the Schools of Excellence podcast. Tune in each week to learn from Chanie Wilschanski, the founder and host of the Schools of Excellence Podcast and a mom of 4 little kids. Each episode will be packed with tools and strategies – equipping you to build schools with higher staff retention, teacher motivation, parent partnership, collaborative culture, and beautiful quality of life. 

Every week, Chanie shares the truth about the journey to excellence, the strategies that are working TODAY, and the mindset about the critical decisions and choices that you make every day which impact yourself, your teachers, parents, family, and children who you serve every day.

What does it feel like when you belong?

It's not always easy to put into words, but when you know, you know.

Think about what it's like to go to the mall. Each of its stores has a unique environment and style that appeal to different types of people—you won't find the same crowd in Abercrombie & Fitch as you would in Old Navy.

The reason for that has to do with belonging.

Even if you can't explain why, you feel drawn to certain stores over others because in some way, they make you feel like part of a community—one that welcomes you in without judgment.

It's an experience that many leaders have had at our Summit of Excellence, including Sheila Smozynski. At last year's event, Sheila was deeply moved by the connection she felt with other owners and directors:

"This room is a safe space. I feel so supported! People shared hard things at the table, and there were tears. I feel I can relate, and most importantly, I belong here! I can share my story because no one will judge me. Chanie created an energy in the room where we all just want to connect and build relationships." 

Feeling like you belong is a powerful experience. It has the potential to make or break the way you feel about an entire community of people.

And that's exactly why it's so important that you nourish a sense of belonging among your staff.

Creating a culture of community in your center not only supports the health and well-being of your staff, but it also makes them want to stay—which is what so many owners and directors need during a time when staffing is such a hot topic within the early childhood education space.

In this week's podcast episode, I'm diving into the first of a multipart series on building a culture of retention within your center. 

To begin, I'm focusing on the role of gratitude and community in creating an environment that your staff are excited to be a part of.

Join me for a conversation about:

• Why retention continues to be a struggle for early childhood education programs
• Community and what it means to design a culture of belonging
• Why the way you were raised affects your mindset toward community
• How the gratitude matrix can make staff feel valued and appreciated 

Learn more and apply for the Director’s Inner Circle & Owner’s HQ: http://Chanie.me/jointhedic  

I love doing these deep dive series together, but in truth, there's so much more to explore than I could ever put in a podcast. If you want to go even deeper in building a culture of retention and challenge yourself as a leader, our Owner's Only HQ and Director's Inner Circle membership programs are the perfect space for you. 

You'll have the opportunity to grow alongside other leaders through a combination of tools, resources, and coaching that will help you build a school of excellence and leave behind a legacy.

More about the show:

If you are an Early Childhood director or owner, prepare to transform your school and life with the Schools of Excellence podcast. Tune in each week to learn from Chanie Wilschanski, the founder and host of the Schools of Excellence Podcast and a mom of 4 little kids. Each episode will be packed with tools and strategies – equipping you to build schools with higher staff retention, teacher motivation, parent partnership, collaborative culture, and beautiful quality of life. 

Every week, Chanie shares the truth about the journey to excellence, the strategies that are working TODAY, and the mindset about the critical decisions and choices that you make every day which impact yourself, your teachers, parents, family, and children who you serve every day.

Within the early childhood education space, many owners have dreams of growing their centers but are hesitant about taking on investors. 

Oftentimes, their skepticism stems from the fear of their vision being compromised by a loss of control and misaligned values.

And while this is a valid concern, it's also misplaced.

Taking on an investor isn't like hiring a boss. It's not about handing over the power to the person with the most capital.

Instead, working with an investor is like building a partnership. The goal is to find a person who understands your vision and shares your values, so they can help you build your legacy.

In this week's podcast episode, I'm sitting down with my long-time collaborator and friend, Scott Wayman of Kangarootime, to chat about how to change the narrative surrounding investors and funding in the early childhood education space.

Join us for a conversation about:

• Scott's journey in building his business as someone from a modest background
• His experience finding Kangarootime's first investor
• What you should look for in an investor
• How to prepare your business for seeking out capital funding
• The latest exciting updates from Kangarootime

Learn more and apply for the Director’s Inner Circle & Owner’s HQ: http://Chanie.me/jointhedic  

Capital funding and investment partnerships are just one aspect of building your legacy. Through our Owner's Only HQ and Director's Inner Circle membership programs, you can join other leaders who are working toward creating schools of excellence and gain access to tools, resources, community, and coaching that will help you achieve your goals.

 Speaking of partnerships, this year I'm collaborating with Kangarootime by participating as a speaker at their annual Bounce conference for childcare owners and leaders. I'll be one of many experts and business owners presenting on topics related to the industry. You can find out more about the conference and grab your ticket here: https://www.bounceconference.com/registration

More about the show:

If you are an Early Childhood director or owner, prepare to transform your school and life with the Schools of Excellence podcast. Tune in each week to learn from Chanie Wilschanski, the founder and host of the Schools of Excellence Podcast and a mom of 4 little kids. Each episode will be packed with tools and strategies – equipping you to build schools with higher staff retention, teacher motivation, parent partnership, collaborative culture, and beautiful quality of life. 

Every week, Chanie shares the truth about the journey to excellence, the strategies that are working TODAY, and the mindset about the critical decisions and choices that you make every day which impact yourself, your teachers, parents, family, and children who you serve every day.