TheChildCareCoach

TheChildCareCoach Childcare business coaching with Kate Woodward Young, M.Ed., PCC. Stronger decisions. Clearer leadership. Sustainable growth.

INCREASE & IMPROVE your business by building enrollment & profitability through The Child Care Coach’s exclusive coaching program.

05/17/2026

ROI in coaching is not always one number.

Sometimes it is:
Better follow-through.
Fewer urgent escalations.
Clearer director performance.
Improved staff retention.
Stronger enrollment decisions.
Less owner dependence.
More confident leadership.
A business that no longer runs entirely on your nervous system.

The question is not just, “Did coaching feel good?”

The question is, “What changed because you had space, accountability, and support?”

The first batch of books is on its way to Missouri childcare leaders this weekend.Our publisher hit some unexpected prin...
05/15/2026

The first batch of books is on its way to Missouri childcare leaders this weekend.

Our publisher hit some unexpected printing and delivery issues, so we did what childcare leaders do best: we got creative, called in the village, and found a way.

Thanks to a little crowd-sourcing, some innovative problem-solving, and a very roundabout route, 200 books made it to Kansas City.

Not exactly the original plan.
But leadership rarely happens when everything goes perfectly.
Sometimes it shows up in the detour, the backup plan, the extra phone call, and the people who say, “I can help.”
Building heroes sometimes takes the scenic route.

05/15/2026

Coaching with me is not passive encouragement.

I will encourage you.

But I will also ask the hard question.

I will help you look at the pattern.

I will challenge the story you may be telling yourself.

I will ask what outcome you actually want.

I will help you decide what needs to happen next.

Because the goal is not dependence.

The goal is stronger leadership.

05/15/2026

I’ve been credentialing childcare directors since 2002.

That means I have spent a lot of years listening to directors and owners talk about what really happens behind the office door.

The staffing issues.
The money stress.
The parent pressure.
The leadership loneliness.
The “I should know how to handle this by now” moments.
Here is what I know:
Strong leaders are not the ones who never struggle.
Strong leaders are the ones willing to stop pretending they have to carry everything alone.

05/13/2026

Stronger childcare leadership often starts with stronger decisions.

Not louder decisions.
Not faster decisions.
Not decisions made from guilt, fear, exhaustion, or pressure.

Stronger decisions.

The kind that protect margin, reduce burnout, increase enrollment stability, build leadership capacity, and align with the business you actually want.

That is the work.

05/13/2026

A childcare business can be successful and still be too dependent on the owner.
If every staff question comes to you…
If every parent concern escalates to you…
If every director decision waits for you…
If every system lives in your head…
You may not have a growth problem.
You may have an owner-dependence problem.
And that can be coached.

05/11/2026

One of the reasons I like an annual coaching rhythm is simple:
Childcare leadership has seasons.
Enrollment seasons.
Staffing seasons.
Budget seasons.
Burnout seasons.
Licensing seasons.
Growth seasons.
One call can help with one moment.
An annual rhythm creates a runway.
Annual goals.
Quarterly benchmarks.
Measurable momentum.
Traceable ROI.

That is how leadership growth becomes more than a good conversation.

05/09/2026

Childcare leaders live in the tension between mission and margin.

You want to care deeply.

You also have to make payroll.

You want to support families.

You also have to protect capacity.

You want to keep good staff.

You also have to hold clear expectations.

You want the program to feel loving.

You also need the business to be sustainable.

Leadership is not choosing one side.

Leadership is learning how to hold both.

05/08/2026

A good coach does not just cheer you on.

Sometimes a good coach asks:
What are you avoiding?

What decision keeps coming back?

Where are you overfunctioning?

What are you calling a staffing problem that may actually be a leadership problem?

What is the business asking you to outgrow?

Encouragement matters.
But so does accountability.

05/07/2026

I started business coaching in 1994.

My childcare business development work began in the 1990s, helping home-based childcare providers operate more like businesses.

Since then, I’ve worked with directors, owners, administrators, associations, credentialing programs, and childcare leaders in more ways than I can count.

The work has changed.

The core truth has not.

Childcare is heart work.

It is also business work.

Strong leaders have to honor both.

05/07/2026

At some point, most childcare leaders outgrow generic advice.

Another checklist does not fix owner exhaustion.

Another template does not fix unclear leadership.

Another training does not automatically create accountability.

Sometimes the question is not:
“What do I need to do?”

Sometimes the better question is:
“Who do I need to become to lead this business well?”

That is where coaching starts.

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Austin, TX

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