Chanie's Story

How a child of immigrants…
Born and raised Jersey & NY girl…
The Rabbi’s daughter…
And a mom of 4 little kids…

Started a global conversation around what it takes to build and sustain a school of excellence!

I didn’t come from a long-standing entrepreneurial family and I never had a lemonade stand.

I come from 7 generations of Rabbis and Chassidic leaders.

I have 8 brothers and sisters, and am blessed beyond words with hundreds of cousins! (yes hundreds)

But…that also meant that I was already running my own mini pre-school as I was diagnosing problems into systems and processes by the time I was 5 and making dinners at 9.

If someone started crying, I was accessing if there’s danger and I need to get the parents or if everyone was fine. I was constantly trying to find new ways of doing things more efficiently for everyone and for myself.

I created a snack time, playtime, and bath time system that get kids in and out of the bathtub in under 10 minutes.

I crave creating simplicity from the complex and enjoy making things run smoother

I’m hunting for patterns of behavior in the schools, so I can get to the root of the issue.

And I LOVE hard work. I take pride in doing hard things that bring more meaning and purpose to my life.

You see:

High turnover

Lack of motivation

Not meeting deadlines

Lack of commitment to goals

They are symptoms.

They call me the School Culture Doctor because I can diagnose the root cause of the struggle in your school in less than 10 minutes

My job as a coach is to ask you the right questions and help you so you become your own leader.

I've been an:

Assistant Teacher

Teacher

Assistant Director

Director

Executive Director

I worked my way through each role,
and in each role, I was obsessed with two things:

Clarity & Relationships

I graduated with my Masters 10 days after giving birth to my third child

I went to school on the nights and weekends for my Masters in Early Childhood Education and Special Ed when I was pregnant with my third child. I was also taking care of my other two children during the day and doing workshops and consulting when I first started trying my hand at my business.

In that time of (struggle), I learned that you have to work hard and have a work ethic and hustle, but at the same time just because you have dreams in your professional life doesn’t mean you have to sacrifice your personal life, and it doesn’t mean you don’t get to reach your dreams.

I saw a massive void in the market when I started working closely with schools

Everyone was talking about training teachers and running the business side of a pre-school. At the same time, no conversations were talking about the humanity it takes to build an incredible culture and legacy within your organization.

You build sustainable growth by creating human connections.

People are not robots, and you can’t grow your school with only automation. Humans need connection.

Building a School of Excellence is not about:

Did you close the toilet seat cover?
Are the outlets covered?
Do you have the curriculum standards in place?
What is the license needed for this school?
How do we market and enroll families?

Those are basics!!

Building a School of Excellence is about how you’re showing up and training every person to elevate themselves to the next level of leadership.

No one was talking about this, but because I had been inside the classroom for years, I had been closest to the pain of what’s happening.

The chaos of being a teacher in a toddler classroom
The wiping of snot on my clothes dozens of times a day
The toilet training of 18 little 2-year-olds
Communicating with families as they leave their precious babies for the first time

This creates a new level of empathy and perspective when I’m talking to directors who are dealing with those same things that I’ve firsthand been a part of so I get it.

But my journey wasn’t straightforward

After college, we had three kids, and my husband was working three jobs. In addition to my consulting with school teachers and leaders to pay rent in New York City and everything else that came along. We fell knee-high into debt. It became a struggle to move forward.

The afternoon that my card was declined at the grocery store while I was seven months pregnant after we maxed our cards on food and basic baby necessities.

I cried in my car and told myself that there was more to life than just running on this never-ending road.

I’m playing the wrong moves and playbook.

I had something special to offer, and I needed to fi¬gure this out.

The School of Excellence’s Story

I Knew I Had to Disrupt the Way Schools Have Been Doing Things

I turned toward help and mentorship to spread my message of creating a school culture of humanity and human connection.

I knew that 3 things drive
growth in any enterprise:

Coaching

People

Advertising

“Success moves the speed of relationships”
-Todd Herman

I knew I needed someone that understands that everything in life is about relationships.

When I met Todd, I knew he was my person.

We developed the Pyramid of Excellence that became the foundation and framework of The Schools of Excellence.

I took my experience of being in the classroom, and it was up and running.

When I stay closest to the pain, I understand the struggle

I have a practice of talking to directors, owners, teachers, executive directors, parents, and the heads of school boards, every single week.

Talking to people every single day and I find at least one person from one of those areas.

I have clocked 2,182 hours of 1-1 coaching and counting every single day.

So I’ve developed these processes and systems to help the school leader.

You can find tips and tricks on doing all the things you want in your school, and you don’t need Schools of Excellence or me to help you with that.

In your quest and desire to build a school of excellence,
you’ve sacrificed your life in the process.

You might have big ambitions and want to make a bigger impact in the world.
You might have core values that steer your decision-making.
You have other commitments you want to honor.

But… underneath the call for help on anything you say you want, is a greater calling…

It’s a calling for
“I want to stop bringing the leftovers home to my family”

I want to bring the best self forward to the people I love more than life itself.

But then life happens.

Interruptions
Fires to put out
Emergencies for glue sticks and toilet paper
Knock on the door
Parent emails
Inspections
Interviews
Meetings
More meetings
Teacher drama
A child needs a bandaid

Need I go on???

In my journey to build this company, I have consistently used my top two values to guide my decision-making

FAITH & FAMILY

There are foundations of all choices, decisions, and hardships that come with building a business.

Especially true if you’re a school leader.

You have the training, years of experience, and degrees that help you be an excellent teacher, but where’s the training and support to build an excellent school?

Being a leader is hard. PERIOD.

If you want to know what to think, go to google and youtube, it shows you so many things.

But if you want to learn how to THINK differently, it’s a different skill.

With skills for your brain and your heart, you can learn to show up stronger, wiser, and faster.

Anytime we get to the point where we need to change, our brain immediately goes to: how do I do it? What are the 50 steps to get there?

And how to make sure I do it perfectly and don’t mess up?

As the coach, I ask: why does it matter?

Get on the field
Do the work
Fail forward
Ask questions
Dig deep

The results will come after.

When you join my world, you will change your identity to believe

you’re confident
you’re a finisher
and you can do hard things

Gain momentum and learn to keep to it!

If you want to know what to think, go to google and youtube, it shows you so many things.

But if you want to learn how to THINK differently, it’s a different skill.

With skills for your brain and your heart, you can learn to show up stronger, wiser, and faster.

Anytime we get to the point where we need to change, our brain immediately goes to: how do I do it? What are the 50 steps to get there?

And how to make sure I do it perfectly and don’t mess up?

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