We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Claudia Arango a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Claudia, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. How did you come up with the idea for your business?

The idea for MiniArt Childcare Center was born from my lifelong passion for early childhood education and my determination to create a nurturing environment where children feel loved, valued, and inspired to learn. Growing up in Cali, Colombia, I always knew I wanted to work with young children. Despite my father’s encouragement to pursue more traditional careers like law or medicine, I followed my heart and studied preschool education and child psychology. With the help of a friend, I even opened my first daycare in my family’s garage, gaining hands-on experience that shaped my vision for quality early learning.

When I moved to Tampa, Florida, in 2000, I faced the challenges of starting over in a new country — I didn’t speak English, and my professional credentials weren’t recognized. Yet my passion never faded. After years of working in different fields, I returned to what I loved most: caring for children. While working in local childcare centers, I noticed gaps in the level of personal care and attention children received. I realized that many centers lacked the warmth and individualized focus that help children truly thrive. This realization fueled my idea to create something better — a bilingual, home-based childcare environment that combined professional standards with the love and comfort of family life.

I spent five months studying, preparing, and transforming part of my home into a learning space that met licensing requirements and reflected my vision. In November 2015, I opened MiniArt Family Home Daycare, offering a unique program where children could explore art, language, and self-expression in a safe, creative, and culturally rich setting. My confidence in this endeavor came from both logic and love: I had the experience, the trust of families, and the deep belief that quality care begins with genuine affection and respect. By offering a bilingual, small-scale, home-centered approach, I filled a need that larger centers couldn’t meet — giving children a true sense of belonging while supporting families from diverse backgrounds.

Over the course of nine years, my vision and dedication transformed MiniArt from a small family daycare with only six children into a thriving childcare center that now serves 25 children. This growth stands as a testament to my unwavering commitment, passion, and the trust I have built within my community. What makes MiniArt Childcare Center even more special is that it is truly a family endeavor. My daughters, Calita and Lina, have joined me in this mission, working alongside me and sharing my values of love, patience, and excellence in early education. Together, we have created a warm, family-oriented environment where every child feels seen, supported, and celebrated. For me, MiniArt Childcare Center has never been just a business — it is the realization of my lifelong dream, a place where love, learning, and family come together to build a brighter future for every child who walks through the door.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

My name is Claudia Arango, founder of MiniArt Childcare Center, and for me this work is much more than a job—it’s a calling that has always been rooted in love, culture, and deep respect for each child and family we serve. I grew up in Cali, Colombia, studying preschool education and child psychology because I always felt drawn to helping young children learn, grow and feel loved—even when the path wasn’t easy. Still, I never lost the vision: that children deserve respectful, warm, creative environments where they can flourish.

What we provide at MiniArt is a bilingual (English/Spanish), early-childhood program for infants through preschool (ages 0-5) that embraces art, play, movement, language, and culture. We run several programs: our “Mini Baby” for babies 0-12 months, our “Mini Toddler” for children 12-35 months, and “Mini Preschool” for ages 3-5.

Through a boutique-style approach (we cap at about 25 children), we ensure truly personalized attention, so each child is “seen, valued, and part of a close-knit family.”
We follow a creative curriculum that encourages imagination, expression, motor skills, language development, and a healthy mix of indoor and outdoor play.
We also provide nutritious meals and strong safety practices so that parents know their children’s well-being is anchored in care.
We solve a few key problems that many families face:
Many children’s care settings are large, impersonal, or one-size-fits-all. At MiniArt, our small scale and family-oriented environment allows us to build real relationships, adapt to each child’s pace, and be mindful of culture and language.
For bilingual families (or families who value bilingual development), we immerse children in both English and Spanish environments—it’s not an afterthought, it’s integrated.
We believe in supporting not just the child, but the entire family: children feel part of a safe home-like community; parents feel heard and connected. This relational aspect sets us apart.
What really sets MiniArt apart is the combination of professional early childhood education, bilingual immersion, arts-based curriculum, and the warmth of a genuine family-run program. We began as a licensed family‐home daycare in 2015 and have maintained the ‘heart of a home’ even as we’ve grown.

Over ten years, we’ve expanded from caring for just 6 children in a home setting to now a childcare center serving 25 children—while still keeping our core values of love, family, and happiness. (You’ll often see my daughters, Mrs. Calita and Mrs. Lina, working with me and bringing additional energy, creativity, and operational strength to the center.)

I am most proud of the children: seeing a toddler who started shy at our center began to speak Spanish confidently and engage in group art and play; hearing from parents that their child is thriving in kindergarten and continues to flourish; knowing that our families trust us as part of their village. Success for me is our children’s success.

What I want potential families, followers, and supporters to know about us and our brand is this: When you choose MiniArt, you’re choosing more than childcare—you’re choosing a family where your child is valued as a unique individual, where their culture and language matter, where creativity, respect, kindness, and joy are front and center. We invest in each child’s journey and welcome you into our family.

What’s worked well for you in terms of a source for new clients?

The best source of new clients for us has always been word of mouth and local social media community groups. Families who have experienced the love, care, and dedication we provide at MiniArt Childcare Center are our greatest ambassadors. Many of our current enrollments come from parents who were referred by friends, neighbors, or even former clients whose children attended MiniArt nearly ten years ago. It’s incredibly rewarding to see families return to us or recommend us after so many years because they still remember how much we cared for their children. That lasting trust and connection mean the world to us — it tells us that the relationships we build go far beyond the years a child spends in our care. Our reputation has truly grown through genuine relationships and the shared experiences of families who know that at MiniArt, children are always at the heart of everything we do.

Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?

A story that truly illustrates our resilience is the journey of expanding MiniArt from a small family daycare into a full childcare center. When I first opened MiniArt in my home, the dream was always to one day grow into a larger space where we could welcome more families while keeping the same loving, home-like atmosphere. What I didn’t realize was just how long and challenging that journey would be. The process of finding the right commercial space alone took over four years. I wanted a location that was safe, accessible, and true to the heart of our mission — and that took patience and persistence. Once we finally found the perfect place, another year and a half passed before we could open our doors. Between navigating permits, construction, inspections, and licensing, there were countless delays and unexpected hurdles that tested our determination every step of the way.

During that entire period, our small home daycare had to sustain the expansion financially. We were operating at full capacity while saving and planning for a dream that sometimes felt just out of reach. To make it possible, we took out our very first business loan — a huge risk for a family-run center that had always operated debt-free. As first-time business owners going through such a major project, we also faced a lot of hard lessons. There were moments when money wasn’t spent wisely simply because we didn’t yet know what we know now. We made mistakes, faced unexpected costs, and learned through experience what it truly takes to build a licensed childcare center from the ground up.

Throughout this entire process, the work never stopped. I, Ms. Claudia, was working over 12 hours a day caring for the children in our family home daycare, while my daughters, Mrs. Calita and Mrs. Lina, were both working full-time jobs. After long days, we would all come together — nights and weekends — to continue working on the expansion of our space and brand. It was exhausting and overwhelming at times, but we were united by the same purpose: to grow MiniArt into something bigger without ever losing the heart that made it special. The dream of expanding and being able to serve more families was stronger than any fear, fatigue, or obstacle. When we finally opened the doors to our new MiniArt Childcare Center, it was more than just a business milestone — it was a symbol of our family’s resilience, sacrifice, and unwavering love for what we do. That journey taught us that resilience means working hard even when the odds feel impossible, learning from every setback, and continuing to move forward with faith, gratitude, and passion.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.miniartfamily.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/miniartfamily
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/miniartfamily
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/miniart-childcare-center/
• Other: https://share.google/qedN65Vq6fEBcTJJS

Image Credits
Photography by: Greg Suarez, Mrs. Jalpa Patel – Infant Teacher, Ms. Claudia Arango – Owner & Director, Mrs. Calita – Owner & Director