Kris welcomes Ashanti Ordone, the Founder and CEO of Gifted & Talented Academy, and the 2025/26 Child Care Rock Star Award winner! They talk about expanding from a home daycare to three locations, transforming her school's culture, and overcoming challenges in the early childhood education landscape. Ashanti shares her powerful story of building a thriving early learning center, detailing how she developed rock-solid core values and poured into her leadership team, implemented innovative leadership strategies, and turned her school's culture into a model of excellence.

 

Key Takeaways:

[6:02 ] Ashanti shares her background, starting Gifted and Talented Academy in Indiana with her mom in 2002. They are family-owned and family-focused.

[6:21 ] Fun fact! They started with a home daycare and expanded to a center within three months due to high demand.

[14:31 ] Ashanti discusses her transition from practicing law to early childhood education, driven by her passion for working with children.

[17:07 ] How Ashanti's legal training and education background have been instrumental in her success in the child care industry.

[18:21 ] Ashanti talks more about her family and personal life, along with her love of a good beach!

[21:53 ] What led Ashanti to Kris and the Child Care Success family in 2018.

[23:47 ] Ashanti implemented strategies from the academy, focusing on core values and culture, which led to significant improvements.

[25:42 ] Ashanti explains how they crafted their core values: family, education, respect, excellence, and fun.

[31:30 ] Teachers were involved in the interview process to ensure a good cultural fit, and core values were incorporated into interview questions.

[36:19 ] They have a core value of the month award to recognize team members who exemplify each value.

[38:21 ] Ashanti gets candid about the struggles that providers are facing, and the importance of staying focused on your mission and staying on the course.

[42:30 ] The power of keeping a positive mindset and building with consistency and focus.

 

Quotes:

"I don't think there's anything more important as a cornerstone, a foundational element to your culture, than core values that you actually live and breathe." — Kris [4:55 ]

 

"She is absolutely my why. She is the reason that family and education are so important to me." — Ashanti [10:13 ]

 

"I think that that combination of just that core value of education, growing up with a mom who is an educator, and having a passion for young children, combined with the legal training, is what helps me to be successful in business." — Ashanti [17:33 ]

 

"For me, I think the biggest game changer that first year was focusing on our core values and really starting to turn our culture around." — Ashanti [26:40 ]

 

"If family is one of our core values, then you have to fit into this family." — Ashanti [35:26 ]

 

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