We were lucky to catch up with Stephany Guzman recently and have shared our conversation below.
Stephany, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. One of the most important things we can do as business owners is ensure that our customers feel appreciated. What’s something you’ve done or seen a business owner do to help a customer feel valued?
I had been planning on having Parent Appreciation Day for a couple of weeks, I really wanted to have all of my Parents attend so I had been postponing since some where on vacation or they had unexpected absences. On August 4th, 2022 I finally had our Parent Appreciation Day. I woke up around 5:30 AM got ready and started setting up for our first family that arrives at 6:30 AM. I set up the table with the Keurig, coffee pods, teas, creamers. I had written personalized letters for our families letting them know how much I appreciate them and thanking them for trusting me with your little ones. I also added gift cards to Einstein Bagels, and a cup of churro cheese cake bites. I finished just in time before my first family arrived. I was patiently waiting like a child by the window to see when they would arrive. They had no idea I had been planning this! The surprised and in aw look on their face was unforgettable! I was truly blessed to have these families trust me with caring for their little ones, a random person they just called or texted to see if I had availability to care for them. Needless to say they have become a big part of mine and my daughters life.
Stephany, 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?
Hello! My name is Stephany and I am a child care provider for Prickly Pears Family Child Care located in Chula Vista. I opened my child care in 2021 to provide child care in my neighborhood. I have been in the Child Care industry since 2012! I started helping my Mother with her child care at the time from caring and doing activities with the children to helping her behind the scenes, creating ad’s interviews with parents, translating and taking classes through the YMCA and becoming more involved in running her business.
At Prickly Pears Family Child Care we run it as a preschool where I create a curriculum and teach them everything possible to get them ready for kindergarten without having their Parents go through the whole process of interviews for another school before kinder. I understand how hard it is to trust someone with caring your their child while one works, therefore I try my hardest to make it an all in one. It is an extremely rewarding job when the end of the day comes around and their child does not want to leave, or when I see them out at a shopping center and the their little one will come up to say Hi with a warm hug. Families at Prickly Pears become an extended part of my family and friends. Our main goal is to provide the best team between Parents and I to help the little ones develop in a healthy environment.
Can you talk to us about how your funded your business?
We were mid pandemic when I decided to open my in home child care, I had lost my job because of the pandemic and I was not really sure when I’d be getting hired again. The little income I had I started purchasing fixtures from Ikea and a couple other items from child care providers that were closing their business at the time and even going on OfferUp to finding toy kitchens that needed some love. During at time, I had a difficult time finding fixtures since during that time wood was at an all time low. It definitely took me longer than I expected to get my classroom ready for tours.
Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?
Being mid pandemic it felt like everything had become more difficult. I got married December of 2019, May of 2020 we had to leave our apartment and my husband and I moved to my Parents house for a couple of months since I had lost my job. October of 2020, with our savings and everything we had we were able to purchase a home, and that is when I changed my mindset and thought “okay, maybe me loosing my job wasn’t the worst thing”. I knew I wanted to work from home be my own boss, since I also had a baby on the way. What business could I do that I already knew? Child Care! I had been helping my Mother for my longest time, and my Aunts whenever they needed assistance. I took a leap of faith, went from thinking loosing my job and moving back home was rock bottom to being on top of the world with a new house, a baby on the way and in the process of becoming an small business owner. I just had to find take a positive perspective on a tough situation.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/pricklypearsfcc/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pricklypearsfcc