Coach Donna Jensen

For a while now we’ve been hinting at something we’ve been building behind the scenes. It’s finally here.

We’re so excited to announce the launch of Elevate Coaching and Consulting.

Elevate is built for childcare owners and directors who want to think bigger about their business while still running it day to day. And it’s more than coaching. We’ve been building softwares to take the messy parts of running a center and make them simple, along with digital products, templates, and resources pulled straight from real operations.

Coaching, tools, and systems, all in one place, all designed to help you move from operator to owner.

We’re pulling back the curtain on all of it at our launch party. Join us Thursday, June 11 at 12:00 PM ET. We’ll walk through what Elevate is, who it’s for, and everything we have in the works.

Save your spot with the link below! https://elevate-coaching-consulting.kit.com/e2a2ac54b6

For a while now we've been hinting at something we've been building behind the scenes. It's finally here.

We're so excited to announce the launch of Elevate Coaching and Consulting.

Elevate is built for childcare owners and directors who want to think bigger about their business while still running it day to day. And it's more than coaching. We've been building softwares to take the messy parts of running a center and make them simple, along with digital products, templates, and resources pulled straight from real operations.

Coaching, tools, and systems, all in one place, all designed to help you move from operator to owner.

We're pulling back the curtain on all of it at our launch party. Join us Thursday, June 11 at 12:00 PM ET. We'll walk through what Elevate is, who it's for, and everything we have in the works.

Save your spot with the link below!

https://elevate-coaching-consulting.kit.com/e2a2ac54b6

Closing out a meaningful chapter with the Child Care Success Company today.
Grateful for what this season has meant to me, both personally and professionally, and especially thankful for Kris Murray. Your leadership and belief in me made a lasting impact that I’ll carry forever.
As one season ends, another begins. I’ve learned over the years that staying aligned with your values and protecting your peace matters, even when it means making hard decisions.
I’ll still be right here, sharing ideas, lessons, and real-life experiences along the way. I’m not exactly sure what the next chapter looks like, but I do know it’s going to be a good one!!! Let's stay connected!

40 years in this industry… and I’m still a student.
I’ll never outgrow learning from other incredible leaders—because every time I do, it fills my cup in a new way. It reminds me why leadership matters, why growth matters, and why we can never get too comfortable where we are.
The best leaders don’t know it all… they keep showing up ready to learn.

Thank you AELL for a wonderful conference with so many of my favorite speakers. I wish I could have been at all their sessions!!!

We saw the Eagles at the Sphere last night… and I’m still thinking about it.
First of all—a rock concert at the Sphere was a completely different experience than Wizard of Oz or a regular concert. I don’t even know how to explain it. It’s not just a concert, it’s an experience. You’re not watching the show… you’re in it. It was captivating in a way that’s hard to put into words.
But what stayed with me most wasn’t the visuals. Or the content they created- (they even joked about suddenly being “content creators”).
It was them.
Decades later… still on that stage. Still showing up. Still doing what they do. People still loving them even with faults.
You could see it and feel it, especially with Joe Walsh. There were moments where you could tell it wasn’t easy. And then I read more about his story…
78 years old
Battling pancreatic cancer.
A lifelong battle with addiction.
And navigating Asperger’s, ADD, and obsessive compulsive disorder.
And yet—there he was.
Showing up anyway.
At one point they said they’ve been “blessed by their fans with extra innings.”
That got me.
Because right now… child care is in one of the hardest seasons I’ve seen in my 40-year career.
There are days it would be easier to step back.
Easier to question it all.
Easier to wonder how long we can keep going like this.
And then I’m sitting there watching them…
And it hit me—
You never really know what someone has had to overcome just to stand on that stage.
Leadership isn’t about when it’s easy.
It’s about whether you keep showing up when it’s not.
It’s about the long game.
The years.
The consistency.
The commitment to something bigger than the moment you’re in.
In child care, in business, in life…
the people who make the biggest impact aren’t the ones who never struggle.
They’re the ones who stay.
They keep showing up. They keep learning, researching, attending events with other leaders.
They keep giving what they can—even when it looks different than it used to.
That’s what builds something that lasts.
Last night wasn’t just a concert.
It was a reminder that longevity is earned… and it’s something special. It made me stop and ask myself…
Are we building something that people would give “extra innings” to?

What about you?

Coach Jody and I found some time for R&R this week in Vegas…between meetings, coaching calls and talking shop. It’s always a blast when we get together.

Truly one of the best parts of this trip—because it was intentional time.
Not accidental. Not squeezed in. Planned.
As leaders, we give all day long:
To staff
To families
To our business
But who pours into YOU?
Because if no one is… you will feel it.

Lesson: You can’t lead well if you’re running on empty.

Question: Who fills your cup—and are you making time for them? I will be filling mine again in a few more days with another intentional planned meeting. Can you guess who I will be hanging with?

Hate that we live so far apart!!! ❤️

Does your enrollment feel harder to predict and your pricing harder to confidently set than ever before?

Between inflation, staffing costs, and pressure from free or low-cost programs, many child care owners are underpricing and over-explaining their rates.

In today’s child care market, the programs that win in both enrollment and profitability aren’t the cheapest...

They’re the ones who communicate their value with clarity and confidence.

Join us live for a new webinar: The Pricing Power Play: How Child Care Owners Win on Value Tuition and Enrollment in 2026

Inside, you will learn
✨ The 3 shifts families use to justify premium tuition
✨ How to raise rates without losing enrollment
✨ Where most rate sheets are leaking profit
✨ The messaging that gets families to say yes before price even comes up

📅 Wednesday, April 15, 2026, at 1 pm ET
⏰ 90 minute live masterclass

Presented by Jennifer Conner and Coach Donna Jensen

Plus, when you register, you’ll unlock a special promo code to use on Child Care Success Summit tickets, valid that day only as we officially launch tickets to the public!

Register now 👉 https://bit.ly/4sfNvQV

Center Blind Series: Systems and “How We’ve Always Done It” (Final Day)

The most dangerous words in leadership are simple, and we say them without even thinking. We’ve always done it this way.

That is center blindness at its highest level.

Outdated systems, inefficient processes, and things that frustrate your team every single day start to feel normal over time. No one questions it anymore. No one challenges it. It just becomes the way things are done.

But normal does not always mean effective. The truth is, being center blind doesn’t mean you’re a bad leader. It usually means you’re a busy leader. You’re moving fast, solving problems, and keeping things running, and in the middle of that it’s easy to stop re-evaluating what’s actually working.

The best leaders do something different. They constantly reset their eyes. They walk in like a parent. They listen like a stranger. They question what’s become routine.

Because what’s normal to you might be the very thing holding your center back.

As we wrap up this series, I want you to take a step back and really think about your center with fresh eyes. What have you become blind to?

And this is where your team becomes one of your greatest assets. Ask them the question and really listen to the answer. If you could change one thing about how we operate, what would it be? You might be surprised at what comes up.

And I’d love to hear from you. What’s something you’ve realized you were “nose blind” to?

If this series hit home, save it and share it with your leadership team.

Center Blind Series: Staff Tone and Interactions

This one is easy to miss because you’re used to your team. You know their personalities, you know what they mean, and over time you stop really hearing how things sound.

But slow down and listen.

Short responses, flat tone, yelling across the room, rushed conversations with parents, talking over children instead of to them. You’ve gotten used to it. You’ve normalized it.

A new family hasn’t.

They’re walking in and taking it all in, and whether they realize it or not, they’re asking themselves one question. Is this how I want my child spoken to?

Tone matters more than we think because it sets the emotional climate of your entire building. You can have a beautiful center, strong curriculum, and great systems, but if the tone feels rushed, disconnected, or negative, that is what families will remember.

This is one of those areas where you have to be intentional enough to notice it again.

Stand still for 10 minutes tomorrow and just listen. Don’t intervene, don’t redirect, don’t fix anything. Just observe.
Because what you hear might be something you’ve stopped noticing, and once you hear it, you can start to shift it.

That is where culture changes.