Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Myron McCant. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Myron , appreciate you joining us today. How did you come up with the idea for your business?

KD Academy, LLC Love, Education, Nutrition…

Formerly known as “The Kiddie Depot Daycare” was founded by Penny Dale’ McCant operating in the 3rd district and most underserved portion of Kansas City in 2005. The home-based business was a result of her teenaged, aged son and his girlfriend getting too close, one too many times….lol. This resulted in Penny becoming a grandmother at an early age. From there, she determined that she would start her own childcare business, with the grandchild being the 1st patron.

For the next 5 years, Penny a single mother, developed a great following a reputable business, experiencing the highs and lows of small business in an underinvested community. In 2010, Penny met her future husband (me), Myron McCant via: “Black People Meet” a social media dating sight. Myron a small business owner, renovating single family homes and a salesman in the printing and envelope manufacturing industry of 20yrs, was able to not only develop a love affair but merge business acumen, construction background and childcare expertise to develop Kansas City only fully functioning 24hr Childcare facility.

Penny’s dream was to scale and own a commercial center that would provide services to a greater capacity. A few months later, Penny and her soon to be husband Myron established an LLC becoming 50% partners with the intention of expanding the services and capacity.

The duo then signed a lease on a 3000sqft building at 28th & Prospect Ave in January 2012 that had been dormant for 6+yrs. For the next 8 months, singlehandedly, the 2 worked relentlessly to renovated the facility saving 100% of the labor expenses completing construction and opening the commercial space August 2012 operating from 6:00am-6:00pm.

Within 18 months, the business was at operating at capacity and had created a waiting list of approx 250-300 children with the market calling for a different venue. The President (Ms. Penny) advised, we were missing opportunities for a second shift. Evaluating cost, we needed 5 children to meet a breakeven threshold and we shortly thereafter had 7 commitments. The second shift was now in session! It was within 3months and the demand continued to expand and we were soon operating around the clock becoming Kansas City’s only 24hr childcare center.

April 2017 the lease had expired, and we were given 24hrs to sign the new lease that had astronomical increases and a renewal fee of $10,000 or vacated the premises. The alternative was to renovate another facility and relocate the business within 30 days and pass inspections so our parents could continue to go to work. Locating another facility within 2miles (3501 Woodland Ave), 4500sqft, the McCants returned to their tool belts and began the renovations on their 2nd commercial facility all a while, continuing the business in the initial location. In short, we worked for 28days, 7days per week at 16hrs/day completing construction and relocating fixtures and furnishings to the new facility on that weekend. Monday the state come in and completed inspections and we reopened that Tuesday. We missed 1 day of service!

Within 6months, the new facility was at capacity again, we were back to putting families on the waiting list that now exceeding 400 children. It was at this point we began to realize several thousand of dollars had went into facilities we didnt own.

From there, we set out to locate land to acquire to build our own facility that would house several hundred students. September 2017, we were able to purchase 90% of the 2100 block (east side) of Prospect Avenue. Attempting to gain access to capital for development we were turned down by 6 banks in spite the fact that our Woodland location cash flowed enough for the mortgage of the new facility, expenses and our business was “debt free”. Finally introduced to the 7th bank by way of an associate that believed in the vision, we were able to provide documentation, proof of concept, become the 2nd recipient awarded grant funds for development (CCED) the robust waiting list of families desiring quality childcare, all of which helped us cross the finish line…..shewww!

Today Myron and Penny McCant are proud owners of KD Academy, LLC. A state of the art 14,000 sqft development that has a capacity to accommodate 350-400 children 24hrs/day 6days a week. Please look us up at wwwkdacademykc.com.

Myron , love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

KD Academy provides 24hr childcare services to parents regardless of work schedules. Or core values are Love, Education and Nutrtion…..We began as 24hr/7days per week. the pandemic caused the business to pivot now providing services from Monday 6:00am-Saturday 6:00pm 24hr/day. Our business model also provides solutions for employers with employees who have children that need safe spaces after hours and overnight. ie: Fire & Police dept, Manufacturing industries, Casinos, Transportation, Hospital, Restaurants, ambulatory, to name a few.

Proud moments/highlights:
Kansas City’s only fully functioning 24hr childcare establishment.
We were able to persevere in the development of our business model despite the hurdles and access to capital for investing several million dollars in an area where the average household income is less than $30,000.

Moving from our previous location we transferred 10-12 employees, today we employee 32 and counting. We still employ 4 of our original staff from 2012.

Equity diversity and inclusion are woven into the fabric of our business model from the children we serve to those that are employed and the LGBTQ community.

Any advice for managing a team?

Today economy is stagnated by the lack of workforce. Understanding that our employees are the ground troops and to a great degree, the success of our business, it is vitally important they understand they are love and valued! We are family and are intentional about making our employees understand that.

They are encouraged, incentivized by team building initiatives and concepts in addition to the ownership providing a yearly expense paid retreat. We will be traveling to Clearwater Florida as a group August 11th 2023.

How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?

Our business was caused to pivot simply because of the Covid-19. We were recognized as an essential business however, the safety of our staff, children and parents was more of a priority than the monetary gain.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.kdacademykc.com
• Facebook: KD Learning Center

Image Credits
MacPen Enterprises Development, LLC Hoefer Welker Architects Centric Projects General Contractors