We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Angela Carroll. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Angela below.

Angela, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Parents play a huge role in our development as youngsters and sometimes that impact follows us into adulthood and into our lives and careers. Looking back, what’s something you think you parents did right?

My parents did many things right as I was growing up. They really emphasized the importance of education in my life. It was engrained in me from my early childhood. They were trying to prepare me for the world that we were living in. I had a few things against me one that I would grow up to be a women and that I was Black. This was a harsh reality that I would have to fight to be treated equally. I remember learning that I would have to work twice as hard, study twice as hard and definitely would have to get a degree to even be considered on a level playing field which really wasn’t level. My parents also taught me to chase after my dreams and that I could do whatever I wanted to do and I could be whatever I wanted to be in life. They taught me that I could do anything I wanted could do if I really wanted to, showing me not to let my life be determined by a gender. I remember my mom teaching me this song when we were in the grocery store and talking about things I wanted : If you want a C- A- R , then you need to get a J-O-B cause you gonna need some m-o-n-e-y. Life lessons were being taught at that very moment and I didn’t even know it and it stuck with me even today. I was adopted by a wonderful family and now that I am grown with my own kids , my husband and I adopted a sibling set of 3 children. Who knew that me being adopted might one day have me to adopt kids. Another way I was impacted by my parents. With my parents encouragement, I knew I would be successful if I just followed the map they had laid out for me, however there would be many mini stops along the way. With every life decision I made in my teenage years I always would hear my parents and my Grandma Hattie’s voice in the back of my mind saying You have to get your education if you want to have a life at all. Their words impacted my life and career in a major way. I knew I wanted to be a teacher at an early age. I Loved children and I wanted to make a positive impact in their lives like my favorite teacher Mr. Barbolla did for me, and that’s exactly what I have been doing for over 25 years, impacting lives. I was a teenage mom that finished high school and continued on to college accomplishing being the 1st in my immediate family to get a college degree. I love being a child care provider, helping families accomplish their goals while not worrying about their children because they are being well taken care of. I thank God for placing this gift of loving children down on the inside of me.

Angela, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

Carrolls Learning Angels was birth out of a Dream to leave a legacy behind for my children and grandchildren to have a part of my life forever. My love for children and families took me on a journey from high school becoming a mother at a young age of 16 and having to learn how to continue to move forward in my education as I had this bump in the road that shifted the way I would get to my goal. I graduated from high school at 17 and started college at 17 at a community college. Then along the way I was married at 18 years old still trying to attend college and had another child at the age of 20 years young. I had to take less classes due to needing to work at the same time and that would stretch out my time at community college but I was determined to finish one class at a time. I started working in private day care centers while attending school and raising a family with my husband. Later I worked at Head Start , started out as a Volunteer while my children were attending, then went to Subtitute, then Teacher Assistant, Then Teacher, Assistant Center Director, and Center Director. Time went on and after 5 kids later I finally finished my AS degree from Cuyamaca college then continued to National University to get my BA degree in Early childhood development and I’m soon to finish up my Masters degree. It was a long time but the key was to NEVER give Up no matter what Life throws at you Never Give Up. It’s a Family business so everyone plays a part in the business. Our motto is : We strive towards Excellence in Everything we do! Excellent service and Excellent Experiences for our families and children we serve.

How’d you build such a strong reputation within your market?

I think word of mouth from previous clients has helped my reputation within my market. Continuing to build good relationships with my clients will continue to grow my business.

We’d love to hear about you met your business partner.

I met my business partner 27 years ago before he proposed to me and asked me to be his wife.

Contact Info:

• Other: email :[email protected]