The Book & Authors
Whether you are just opening an early care and education program or have owned or operated a program for decades, Build It Strong! How to make Your Child Care Business Thrive from Start-up to Retirement is a smart and straightforward guide to ensure your business practices are in place for your success. With warmth and wit, Paula Drew, Kelly Matthews, and Amy Friedlander bring their extensive experience and passion for early childhood education to the forefront, as cheerleaders and accountability buddies, as they provide step-by-step expert guidance.
About The Book
Kelly Matthews shares her journey from various roles in the field to becoming an advocate for empowering family child care providers. Paula Drew reflects on her transition from her role as a child care teacher to a center director, emphasizing the impact of budgeting and systemic issues on program quality. Amy Friedlander focuses more than a decade of learning related to early childhood education systems and policy into improving business practices that enhance work-life balance and compensation for providers.
Build It Strong! addresses key financial management issues and concepts in early childhood education, emphasizing the importance of robust business practices for sustainability and success. We focus on the “Iron Triangle,” which highlights the critical balance between full enrollment, full fee collection, and covering per-child costs. The book underscores the necessity of data-driven decision-making, effective budgeting, and strategic business planning, using real life experiences to move these concepts from big ideas to do-able everyday tasks.
Build It Strong! equips you with foundational knowledge, practical, tested tools, and multiple resources needed to make informed financial decisions, ensuring the longevity and quality of your program. This call to action invites you to take control of your business operations and create a sustainable future for early childhood education and yourself.
About The Authors
Paula Drew, MS
WECA Director of ECE Policy and Research
With decades of experience in early care and education, Paula has held various roles in ECE programs, ranging from part-time substitute to executive director. Paula now focuses this experience on policy and research to advance the sector. She resides in Madison, WI, with her husband, children, two cats, four chickens, and a guinea pig.
Kelly Matthews, MA
WECA Director of Family Child Care Strategy & Advancement
From a family child care substitute, Head Start lead teacher in a trilingual (English, Arabic, Spanish) classroom, child care director, to family child care provider, Kelly has spent her entire career in the early care and learning profession. She lives in Oshkosh, WI, where she loves to cook, play volleyball, and read.
Amy Friedlander
Early Childhood Education Consultant
Independently and with Opportunities Exchange, Amy focuses her national practice on implementation of new business models for child care, business coaching for child care providers, and automation of the field.
About Wisconsin Early Childhood Association
WECA is a leading state non-profit organization, founded in 1971, that advances comprehensive and transformational support of the early childhood workforce and early care and education in Wisconsin through administering programs and services and advancing policy, research, and engagement efforts. It is the state affiliate of National Association for the Education of Young Children.
About Opportunities Exchange
OppEx’s mission is to transform the business of early care and education to both improve child outcomes and also ensure practitioners are well-compensated and work in supportive environments. It is a nonprofit consulting group cofounded in 2009 by Louise Stoney and John Weiser.
