Our episode this week is chock full of industry insights, innovative ideas, and nuggets of wisdom that you can plug right into your child care or preschool business! We are joined by the amazing Evan Goldman from Early Education Group. Evan is a true veteran in the industry and his take on the growth and change in the landscape is truly inspiring. He shares his family’s impressive background in high-quality early education and then he and Kris do a deep dive on several topics related to the business of early learning. Tune in to hear Evan’s advice on how to find your unique messaging in such a competitive field, an insider view on how funding and regulations could be improved and what a true rock star is to him. We think Evan is a rock star himself, and maybe we'll even have him as a return guest one day as he and Kris hike up Machu Picchu!   Key Takeaways: [1:02] Kris gives a wrapup of a very successful Child Care Success Summit 2017 Conference in Chicago. Thank you to everyone that helped make this transformative and amazing event a success. [6:43] Evan was influenced by his parents at a young age to make a difference in the education world. His parents were educational entrepreneurs and pioneers in the industry for over 40 years. His father was the provost of all the graduate education at Nova Southeastern University. His mother was a second-grade teacher and really valued early childhood education. Together they started a large chain in the early 80’s called Another Generation Preschool. Evan learned from the ground up and learned all aspects of the industry, including education, funding, organization, etc. [8:07] During Evan’s time at Kaplan he identified partnerships and funding streams and helped organizations meet their highest needs. [9:33] Evan lists a few of the changes he has seen in the industry over his many years of expertise and experience: massive consolidation and growth, state-funded Pre-K and subsidized child care, quality improvement systems, rating scales, and blended funding. It’s a much more competitive landscape with many more choices. [12:17] Evan is very tied to both Florida to North Carolina. He loves extreme travel and shares some of his recent amazing trips! [15:18] Evan’s current venture that he has been doing for the last decade is the Early Education Group. He shares his mission, clients and partners he works closely within all different industries. It is clear he is passionate about developing relationships with companies that have a mission to better education. [20:47] Strategic and high-quality messaging is something very important to both Evan and Kris. [28:33] Kris and Evan take a look at funding streams and how the model has changed over the past decades, with new challenges in both politics and technology. [36:59]  Evan shares his thoughts on common misconceptions within education and the value and experience of smaller neighborhood-based environments. [43:24] Evan describes the qualities a true rockstar has for him, using his experience of over three decades in the industry. [48:38] Evan gives the resources he would recommend people should get into right away to educate and inform yourself.   Mentioned in This Episode: Kris Murray Child Care Marketing Solutions Child Care Success Academy Holly Elissa Bruno Evan Goldman Kaplan Amazing Explorers Academy Zero to Three Childcare Aware How Children Succeed: Grit, Curiosity, and the Hidden Power of Character, by Paul Tough Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap...And Others Don’t, by Jim Collins     About Evan: Evan Goldman is an early childhood business development consultant with twenty years of experience at the national, regional, state, and local levels. His strengths include a vast network of business relationships among federal, state, and local policymakers, in-depth knowledge of federal and state early childhood initiatives and funding streams, and an abundance of successes in negotiating and implementing important partn