DreamHire Express: Our Super-Hero Origin Story

I’ve been an aunt my whole life—literally. By the time I was born, my parents were already grandparents. As a tween, I applied to work at a neighborhood daycare. A few hectic days and a painful bite mark later, I abruptly quit, deciding I did not like working with children. My nieces and nephews were sufficient for me.

I also decided I didn’t want any kids of my own (something I repeated often). In the 10th grade, I took a child development class and was selected as a student teacher for my high school’s preschool. Although I enjoyed it, I tucked that experience away in my mind.

A Life-Changing Encounter

Half a decade later, I found myself a homeless, triple college dropout desperate for any job that could help me get out of my situation. I applied to every job on Indeed, whether I met the qualifications or not. Once again, I came face-to-face with an early childhood education (ECE) opportunity—one that would change the entire trajectory of my life.

In 2016, I was offered a job as a preschool administrator at “ABC 123 School” and learned everything hands-on. I didn’t have a concrete plan for my life at that point, but I certainly didn’t plan on staying in the child development industry forever—that is until a fateful encounter with a parent (we’ll call her “Kayla”) changed everything.

Finding My Purpose

Wanting to help people has always been at the heart of who I am and what I do. I get it from my parents. Wanting to help people is what made me so good at my job. I didn’t just want to substitute in classrooms; I tried to fill in the gaps in any family’s needs by connecting them with resources. I didn’t just want to interview teachers; I wanted to make sure they felt supported, encouraged, and valued. I didn’t just want to do tours and turn away families who couldn’t afford the tuition; I tried to guide them through the process of getting subsidized child care. A big part of my job became researching resources for the parents, teachers, and students.

People would tell me how grateful they were, but at the time, I felt like I was just doing my best at my job. A few months into working at ABC 123 School, Kayla called to inquire about child care. She was struggling to afford reliable care because she was having trouble finding and keeping a job. It was a disheartening cycle I’d heard time and again. I invited Kayla to tour the center and walk through the process of applying for subsidized child care. She was starting from square one, so the process took about 60 days, but I supported her every step of the way until she was approved and her child was enrolled.

Shortly after, she got a job. A few months after that, she moved into her own place. One day during pick-up, she gave me the biggest hug and told me that I had changed her life. Because I’d helped her get child care, she was able to get a job and leave an abusive relationship—but I was just doing my job. I didn’t know any of that was going on. That’s when it hit me. I don’t know what’s going on with every family I encounter. I hadn’t thought much about how impactful something as simple as childcare could be. I started reflecting on everyone who expressed their gratitude and realized that I was doing exactly what I was passionate about—helping people.

Building DreamHire Express

I will always be grateful to my boss who took a chance on me, saw my potential before I saw it in myself, and helped me realize how much the preschool had grown under my administration. My core network was built around her referring me to consult with other preschool owners.

I built on that base network and started working with other preschools who also referred me to other preschools. In 2017, I enrolled in school for the fourth time, and BOOM—within a few months, I was pregnant with my first child, my brilliant and beautiful Melody. When she was born in 2018, I left ABC 123 School for educational and financial reasons—being a preschool administrator wasn’t paying enough to support my growing family, and I needed to diversify my experience.

I continued to consult for various preschools, including providing continual training and support at ABC 123 School, but my full-time job was as an office manager at a highly specialized learning clinic/private school. This was a critical growth period in my life. I gained a lot of insight into the childcare industry through my preschool clients and a lot of insight into operational, growth, and scale strategies from my office manager job. As I continued to grow my client base, I noticed that every preschool owner experienced unique challenges in their business, but almost all of them were related to staffing issues.

The Struggles of Staffing

Their challenges resonated with me. Attendance issues derailed my whole day, staffing shortages kept us from letting go of teachers who were bringing the program down or caused us to hire people out of desperation, low staff morale kept teachers walking out, low staff motivation made the program stagnant, and high turnover had the whole team feeling burned out.

I pulled out tricks from my operational tool belt and, while they effectively resolved many staffing challenges, I still had to defeat the final boss—attendance issues.

As an administrator, I was secretly fuming inside with every callout, and I was cynical and skeptical of every reason given. But by 2019, I was starting to get it. Becoming a parent helped me empathize with people who didn’t have any other choice but to call out due to childcare issues, to take their children to the doctor, or even to get some rest after staying up all night. It was also very challenging to submit my best work on time while working a full-time job and raising my kids. I completed my entire degree online, but I realized that people who needed to attend school in person faced the added challenges of finding a job that accommodated their school schedule. They would also have even less time to study because of the additional commute time. I was gaining understanding, but I still didn’t have the answers.

The Birth of an Idea

Shortly after I’d given birth to my son in June 2019, the Director from my old job at ABC 123 School called in a panic. The infant teacher (who was also the closer) had called out. She was already short-staffed, behind on administrative duties, working additional hours, and now—this. She called me for help, but this time, I was just a week or two postpartum, and I couldn’t. But that’s when the intersectionality of my experiences as a mother, student, and administrator came out to shine. When I told her I couldn’t help, I could feel her defeat and exasperation over the phone.

I began carefully building DreamHire Express based on not only input from my preschool clients but also from the preschool workforce. In our industry, there is often a battle of wills between the administrators and the teachers—but DreamHire Express was something we could unite behind. It was something that could be beneficial for everyone.

What’s Next?

In November 2019, I accepted an offer to return to my job at ABC 123 School at almost double the pay plus bonuses. This is an important detail to me because that offer told me that I had earned my right to call myself a professional in this industry, that my expertise was valued, and that not only could I do it, but I had to because the very same people who believed in me, were the ones who were also counting on me to do this. Then the pandemic hit. Little did I know that this would exacerbate the current staffing issues in our industry and create new challenges. I was now working full-time, going to school full-time, working with my development team to build the DreamHire Express app, mentoring, consulting, and parenting. It was a lot on my plate. Honestly, I wish someone had invented DreamHire Express before me because I would have been able to accomplish my goals quicker and easier, without worrying about being able to take care of my family. I kept picturing other people like me who didn’t even know they were waiting for an opportunity like this—and the rest is history in the making.

Since launching DreamHire Express, I have interacted with ECE professionals of all positions who are relieved and excited about DreamHire Express. There is so much work to be done, and I am honored to do it with you.

Well, that’s my origin story. What’s yours, and what’s next for you?

Ready to get liberated? 

Whether you’re struggling with staffing issues in your preschool or looking for a flexible career opportunity in the ECE field, DreamHire Express is here to help. Call or text me today! (310) 919-0109.