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

Stephany, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Let’s talk legacy – what sort of legacy do you hope to build?

As an early childhood educator, I am working with children in their most absorbent period of growth and learning. They are taking in everything around them and learning new skills every day. It is a critical time in a child’s growth and development, setting the bar high for expectations of an early childhood educator. My LLC is Leaving A Legacy because it is my goal to leave a positive impact on each child’s future, I want to leave a legacy. Whether they remember me or not, I want to set them up for success and help them succeed in whatever they choose to do in their future educational and professional careers. I am not sure what people would say about me when I am gone. But I hope that they appreciate all the hard work and dedication that I put into my program. I care about each and every child and want the best for them. I am helping to raise other people’s children, and it is incredibly important work. I want people to think that I gave my heart and soul to helping each child’s developmental growth, putting their needs ahead of my own in a lot of situations. I hope to be remembered for my passion for the Montessori method, my quality program, my ability to build a dedicated team of teachers, my ability to start a new state licensed early childhood facility in the middle of a pandemic and grow my program, and that I am very knowledgeable in both Montessori Education and Early Childhood Education.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

I have always had a passion for working with young children and always felt a pull to be a kindergarten teacher or to work with young children in some sort of capacity. I was unaware of the Montessori method of teaching until I graduated from Montana State University and was looking for a job. I saw a position for a teaching assistant at a local Montessori School and my first thought (as most people think) was that it was a religious style of learning. But that is a major misconception. I remember walking into the school and seeing young children (3 to 4 years old) carrying trays with glass, using fine motor skills with tweezers, and each child independently working. I fell in love with the method within days of starting my position and wanted to learn more. I enrolled in a 2-year teacher training program to learn about the proper techniques of sharing and teaching the Montessori method. I quickly became the director of that program and lead the school for almost 9 years before starting my own program. I am passionate about the independence it gives young children and watching them develop skills that most people don’t think they are capable of. Children are more capable than we give them credit for. After about 2 years of trying to create my own school, I finally found the perfect location which I could design for young children and create an environment to help them learn and grow within. Unfortunately, the pandemic arrived shortly after securing my space and starting the process of opening my program. It was unexpected and presented a lot more challenges than anyone could have planned for. I persevered as there was still interest and a high need for quality childcare. The first few years were very challenging to say the least. I am now going on my 5th year of business and am in a position in which I am extremely proud of my program, I have built an incredible team of teachers and have families that are supportive and dedicated to our community within our school. There are 40 to 45 children in my care with a team of 12 to 13 teachers.
Day in and day out I help my teachers develop their teaching skills, learn life skills and lessons to be a professional employee in the workforce, and I am always here for them when they need someone to lean on and talk to. I help children ages 6 weeks old to 6 years old to learn and grow through a critical developmental period in their life. There are new challenges everyday with children, there are no two children the same and it is a new experience with each child. I help parents to understand critical stages in raising their child. I manage their emotions and take the brunt of their negativity or frustration. I have heard many hurtful things from upset parents and staff and each time it makes me stronger and better at my job.
I recently completed my master’s degree in early childhood education. When state licensing made me feel inadequate and unqualified, I wanted to prove them wrong, and it drove me to learn more. There were also parents telling me I didn’t know what I was doing because I don’t have children of my own even though I have been helping to raise other people’s children for more than a decade. This also drove me to learn more. Throughout my master’s program, I reassured myself that I knew what I was doing, I was good in my field, and people relied on my knowledge and expertise to learn more on what it takes to be a program director and so much more.

What do you think helped you build your reputation within your market?

Reputation is really important in my field of early childhood education. Parents need to be able to trust the care that is being provided to their children. It is not easy to send your child off to a program all day when they are so young. Part of my reputation was built prior to opening my own program as the director of another program for nearly a decade. I was shocked that people knew my name and paid attention to what a did. I had a few families follow me to my new program, which was huge. The word of mouth from past and current families, sharing their experience with other families about myself and my program, is what built my reputation within my market. A lot of my enrollment is from word of mouth and my reputation as a quality Montessori educator and program director.

We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.

Over the past few years of owning and operating my business, there have been a lot of situations that has proven my resilience and my ability to keep pushing forward. I faced the greatest challenge of opening my new business in the middle of a worldwide pandemic and a detrimental change in our country. There were so many emotions with other’s fear of getting sick, how to protect the children and the staff, and how to make everyone feel comfortable bringing their children into school because they still needed to work. It was incredibly challenging to hire and retain staff during this time and it changed the young workforce dramatically. Employees were demanding more money but didn’t want to work. Employees would disappear with no notice and never return. There was no sense of professionalism or adult responsibility.
So many unexpected things happened in my first year of business and it was not what I envisioned or planned for my program. I had to be an over full-time teacher in the classroom from 7 am to 6 pm 5 days a week, year-round for a solid year while trying to hire staff, manage enrollment, payroll, and everything else that comes along with starting and operating a new business. It taught me a lot of life lessons and threw me into what it takes to own and run a small business in the most difficult of times.
I also experienced incredible hardship when my mother suddenly passed away within my first year of business. Losing your parent in and of itself is incredibly challenging and takes an emotional toll. But to put on top of that a pandemic and a new business that I could not properly staff, it was an emotion that is indescribable. I only missed two days at the school because I didn’t have a choice. I had to be there for the children and the parents that needed to go to their jobs and were paying for my services. I had to show up regardless of my feelings and emotions. I have to show up every day regardless of what I am going through, whether or not I am sick or grieving a loss of a parent or have a family emergency. Parents expect childcare and expect you to show up day in and day out. There were so many moments, even still, although fewer and farther between, that I wanted to give up, I wanted to walk away from something that I had built and something that I do not want to fail at. If everything I have gone through in the past 4 years has taught me anything, it is that I am strong, I am capable, and no matter what life throws at you, you will get through it and you will be better for it.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.alittlejourney.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/littlejourneymontessori/

Image Credits

Kelly Kuntz (Photo with my husband and I and our 3 dogs only).