Leading with Love: Kiran Vuriti’s Approach to Childcare Management

Intro  

Welcome to another edition of inspired stories where leaders share their experiences so we can learn from their successes, how they’ve overcome adversity, and explore current challenges they’re facing.

Anthony Codispoti (07:12.133)
Welcome to another edition of the Inspired Stories podcast, where leaders share their experiences so we can learn from their successes and be inspired by how they’ve overcome adversity. My name is Anthony Codaspoti and today’s guest is Kiran Viritti. Along with her business partner, Chandra Serapu, serves as the president and owner of Safari Kid Preschool, an after school program in Dublin, California. She is leading an exciting expansion project into Mountain House.

which includes the development of a brand new school facility. For over 14 years, Kieran and her team have been dedicated to establishing nurturing environments that inspire and empower young minds to flourish through a variety of enriching educational programs. Their transformative impact extends well beyond the classroom, fostering a love for learning and overall development. Kieran’s enthusiasm drives her collaboration with other leaders, focusing on initiatives that support

women’s empowerment and future advancement. She is deeply involved in her community, always looking for ways to contribute to local causes and offer support where it is most needed. Known for her empathetic, energetic, and innovative approach to leadership, Kieran believes in the power of education to shape lives. As she continues to expand her educational footprint, her commitment remains to creating inclusive, supportive, and stimulating spaces where both children and educators can thrive.

Now, before we get into all that good stuff, today’s episode is brought to you by my company, Adback Benefits Agency, where we offer very specific and unique employee benefits that are both great for your team and fiscally optimized for your bottom line. One recent client was able to add over $900 per employee per year and extra cashflow by implementing one of our programs. Results vary for each company and some organizations may not be eligible. To find out if your company qualifies, contact us today at adbackbenefitsagency .com. Okay.

Now back to our guest, the founder of the Safari Kid franchise, Kieran. I appreciate you making the time to share your story today.

Kiran Vuriti (09:16.332)
Thank you so much for having me here, Anthony.

Anthony Codispoti (09:19.431)
So Kieran, tell me about the inspiration for starting your daycare, your childcare center. How did that come about?

Kiran Vuriti (09:26.722)
So Anthony, I’m going to be absolutely honest in my approach because my start and my beginnings have been very unorthodox where I cannot say that this has been a passion that I grew up with or this is what I wanted to be one day. But most of my career came up from very simple beginnings where in the most unexpected way. So I have twins who were toddlers back then.

and I wanted to do something while taking care of them. So that is when I started this home -based daycare where I started taking care of little kids and just so that that way my children also have company to play with while I get to take care of them. But the realization dawned on me one very soon after when the children also started to call me mama along with my kids. So that was when I started to have

realization of sense of belongingness that I had towards those children where I started to have, I realized that, I can give love to the children, all other children also just as my own, even in the presence of my kids. So that was something that I didn’t know I had in me, to be honest. And so that is where my journey towards this field began, I would say. And so that

And that is just one part of it. So that’s the reason I would say that children is where my stepping stool was and they made me realize where I am. And after that, my children went to this preschool called Safari Kid. And it was led by Ms. Shai, Ms. Shada Muddikavi, but we call her Ms. Shai. So she is the founder of Safari Kid also. So I saw how the impact that she brings in.

the way that the children had in an overall development, not just academically in the preschool. But so that is when I thought if she’s bringing so much of a difference, then maybe even I can do something by being a part of that similar set up. But however, I did not really think that I would be a part of Safari Kid. I just thought that I would be something by myself. I mean, at home is what I had started on a little basis. But then we were moving from

Kiran Vuriti (11:47.58)
Fremont is where we all used to live. And then when we moved to a new location, so that is where my business partner comes into the picture. So he is actually my, he’s actually a very dear family friend of ours. So more of a best friend to my husband. So that is how it was. And so it all happened. It’s a very funny story that it all happened in the, in front of a movie theater where one fine day, one evening we were waiting for my husband to come join us for the movies and Chandra, that is

my business partner and my kids we were all waiting at the movie theater and so that’s when he said, hey, you’re so good at what you do. So why don’t you start something bigger when you move to the new location? So I said, no, I don’t think I can do it because I did not think I can go above and beyond what I did not know what my limitations are. But he’s the one who pushed me and his trust and belief in me is what I got the confidence from.

But that was a magical evening, Anthony, would say, because that was the evening when right there from the movie theater, we just made a call to Michelle asking for tips. Like, if I have to open a school, what should I do? And then she said, hey, you know what? Why don’t we just start up a partnership or maybe a franchise? And I thought, mm, I was not very sure about it. But that’s where the story began. And she said, why don’t you guys come over today and we can talk about this?

And my husband came and he was also all in for it. And that story began in the movie theater. So it was very humbling for me that Ms. Shai had trust and confidence in me. The support that Chandra offered, he said that I will help you set up, whatever you have to do. And Manoj, who had only seen me as a mom to his kids, but the kind of confidence that he had in me and the way he was.

willing to offer all kinds of support, obviously, to be able to help me set up. It was a very humbling moment for me. And that was the evening. I think life changed for every one of us because each one of us because for Shandra, that was the day that that is how he became my business partner. Ms. Shy, I was the first person who made her think about the franchise option on the go. And today we have almost over 75 supply kits over over the world.

Kiran Vuriti (14:11.402)
So yeah, we were the first ones there and my husband, of course, because of the trust and belief. So that is the evening which I contribute towards my beginning. It all just, that is how I realized, okay, maybe I am worth doing something. But to be honest, I was still very anxious. I was very scared. It was a fear, but I overcame it. That day I rose from, I literally, I rose from ground zero.

to the success that we have seen. Of course, it was not a very easy cakewalk. Of course it was not. But with so many people that I had by my side, it is who I am today.

Anthony Codispoti (14:57.349)
That’s a terrific story. I’ve got several follow -up questions for you, Kieran. What was the year that you started in your home with your kids and just a couple of others?

Kiran Vuriti (15:01.196)
Sure.

Kiran Vuriti (15:06.882)
In my home, I started in 2003. Yes.

Anthony Codispoti (15:11.719)
2003. And how many kids, including your own, were you taking care of at that time?

Kiran Vuriti (15:17.762)
I had two, my twins, I had, you I didn’t want to expand more than three to four kids and I had a help, house help, who used to help me take care of the children. So while I was able to focus on the kids and she was able to help us take care.

Anthony Codispoti (15:31.013)
So that evening in front of the movie theater, that magical evening as you put it, you were taking care of five kids at that point. And it was your soon to be business partner, was like, hey, you’re capable of more, you can grow this, I believe in you and I will be there and I will help you. And give me an idea of where you are today, how many kids are you able to accommodate in your centers today?

Kiran Vuriti (15:40.844)
See ya.

Kiran Vuriti (15:50.858)
Mm

Kiran Vuriti (15:57.706)
So I am very proud that I wouldn’t want to just put back the pre -COVID. By pre -COVID, I had four after -school programs and three preschool programs. But during COVID, we had to shut down pretty much all of those and concentrate everything. And we have this huge construction that I’m fortunate that in parallel, we were having our own construction coming up. So that is where that’s like saving grace after COVID. And this is where we are.

So today in this facility, we have almost around 230 to 250 students. so there’s another facility as big as this coming up in Mountain House. So we are expanding. They said that we may be getting the case sometime in October. So hopefully we will be able to start in the beginning of next school year.

Anthony Codispoti (16:34.459)
Wow, and there’s another facility on the way?

Anthony Codispoti (16:42.981)
And when do you anticipate that one, Willow?

Anthony Codispoti (16:54.681)
that’s very soon. So beginning of next school year. you wouldn’t fill the building this fall.

Kiran Vuriti (16:57.184)
Yes, yes, yes, because.

because we would have to wait for the processes of licensing and all that. It’s a little process that may take around three to four months. So I’m just giving it at max. If possible, we’ll start it earlier, but then hopefully.

Anthony Codispoti (17:07.303)
Okay.

Anthony Codispoti (17:15.311)
And how will you work on filling that new center? That’s lot of capacity. Is the demand there in that area?

Kiran Vuriti (17:20.674)
The demand is what made us think of opening a facility over there because it’s a new community with a lot of young families moving there and there’s nothing like this yet over there. So that is the reason we just immediately started the construction there.

And it’s all again, all due credit to Chandra, my business partner. So while I focus on the facility, running the center, he takes care of, he’s a hustler. So he is the one who pushes me to, I, my focus is more on running the facility, taking care of the children, how the functioning of the centers. And he, his confidence and belief in me is what takes me further. And as I said, everything for me has been.

Anthony Codispoti (17:58.18)
Ha ha ha.

Kiran Vuriti (18:03.318)
dependent upon realizations. So once he pushes me and then I realized, huh, okay, I could do it. And again, I couldn’t have done it again without having a proper team, a team that I can depend on at any time. So I am very proud that my biggest strength is that I have team who have been with me almost from the beginning of my career as a farrakid. So that is really an achievement I would say, because even through COVID, they could have

Anthony Codispoti (18:24.934)
Wow.

Kiran Vuriti (18:31.968)
There are so many options, but they stuck by me and they’re all with me.

Anthony Codispoti (18:36.005)
Let’s talk about that a little bit, because COVID was a rough time for everybody. But if you didn’t have kids in a childcare center, which I did at the time, or if you weren’t operating a childcare center, you may not understand or appreciate just how difficult things were for childcare centers, right? You had to close down for a period of time. And depending on the state you were in, when you were allowed to reopen, there all kinds of rules and regulations, and those rules were constantly changing.

You had to adjust the teacher -student ratios, which made it more expensive to provide the service. There were masking requirements. And if you had to do that for kids, that was really messy. So talk to me about how you guys powered through this really challenging and uncertain time.

Kiran Vuriti (19:23.682)
So that’s an interesting question because that has definitely been something that has been the changing point for me. Also, I would say more like a reset point because from the time that we started SafariKit, we have only seen success for 10 years, good 10 years. And of course, there were hurdles, as I mentioned earlier, little hiccups here and there. But we have seen in the business point of view, from the business point of view, we saw only rising success.

The moment COVID pandemic hit, it was a huge drop to the point where we had to shut down the facilities. But we tried, we did not just shut down without trying. So we tried for a good one year where we would be having teachers just in the building, just hoping that children would come. So that would.

That took me back to my day one when I opened the Safari kit when I only had one child, one teacher, and it was me in the building. And we were just peeping through the windows to see if there’s any more kids who would be coming in registering. But then eventually from one to five to 10, it just got multiplied by the day in those days. But after pandemic, to open, as you just mentioned, in new situations and new setups as

by following the CDA rules, regulations, and protocols. It was very difficult for us. And it’s not just that. It was a new learning environment for us as teachers too, because we had certain way of teaching. We were very good. My team is very good with what they’re doing. But then this is stepping into completely new waters where we had to come into online classes. We had to take crash courses, learning how to even operate Zoom, how to share screen. All these were very new concepts for all of us.

So, but then we adapted to that. So, and then that is how we continued. Even during the COVID, we did not stop the process of education. We realized that children’s education should not stop. So we continued having our students online and we would take classes just as instead of here, we would be having online classes and we would be giving them materials. We would sometimes drop off at home or we would have the children come, parents come into the school and we would create little goodie bags where, I mean little bags.

Kiran Vuriti (21:38.272)
Parents would come pick up the bags, take it home, and then we would be having our own little activities while showing the children so that they are in sync with what we are teaching according to our curriculum and schedule. And that being said, it was actually a different new challenge once the schools opened because we were all in fear. The way we operated was everything was connected to fear because we were not very sure.

how the parents, parents were very frantic about it also because they were all COVID babies. And by that time, the preschoolers who joined us were COVID babies. They had absolute, and our school starts from 18 months onwards. So those were the babies who had zero interaction.

with other children, the people. there, and our Safari Kid curriculum, our concept is mostly based upon not just academic, but social, emotional, and physical development as a whole. So whole body development is what we believe in. So they missed out on those communications over there, their interaction with other kids, how to share and care and empathy, and all of those things were something that we had to again stop.

And we had to teach them having a social distancing where that is so difficult, very difficult because kids love to come and cuddle and the teachers were in fear too because they didn’t want to get sick because they had to go back home to their families. So many different factors there, but we overcame all of that. And I’m just happy to see that. And not knowing the future was again, we were still not aware about what.

we went to when we are actually safe, when we are past all of that because even till today we have COVID cases that we hear about but then those days we had to be extremely, we were supervised, we were careful ourselves, maintaining the hygiene, safety precautions and all of that too. It was a very difficult time but we rose above it all.

Anthony Codispoti (23:43.823)
Yeah. So interesting something you said about you did online classes for your students. What age group was that?

Kiran Vuriti (23:51.646)
Right. So the children who were already continuing with us, so that was like three years, at that point we did not have a toddler program. Basically our children used to be two years and above. but then the, again we used to have the classes based upon their ages because we understand that their attention span is not as much and not many parents were also okay with the children having screen time.

So that was another challenge, but we tried to do our best. So they would be anywhere between two and a half, three years to five year olds.

Anthony Codispoti (24:22.533)
Wow, and that’s impressive that you were able to get their attention on a Zoom call to some degree at least.

Kiran Vuriti (24:28.542)
right. Yes, yes. So yes, but we had good times. It was a good experience, learning experience for us too.

Anthony Codispoti (24:38.171)
I just say my wife is a speech therapist here in a local school district in Columbus, Ohio. And when everything first shut down, they wanted her to continue seeing her preschool age students, you know, a lot of them have learning disabilities and other challenges, and they wanted to see them on zoom. And, and you know, these are kids who’ve got, you know, higher needs than, you know, maybe

you know, non -divergent kids, but it was a real challenge just to get them to pay attention, to interact, to do anything, understand, to get the parents to understand how to use the technology. So it sounds like you guys were doing it with some levels of success, which is really impressive.

Kiran Vuriti (25:10.89)
Right.

Kiran Vuriti (25:18.974)
Exactly.

Kiran Vuriti (25:24.394)
Yes, the other challenge that was also with it is if the child is on a Zoom call at home, but the parents cannot be sitting with the child the whole time. The parents are also moving around, they have their own phone calls. So it was a lot of challenges that we had to, literally it was a difficult time for us.

Anthony Codispoti (25:41.829)
Yeah. I want to go back to something else that you said. You know, when you were first starting, you had the confidence and the hustle of your business partner behind you, but you had a lot of fear to overcome, right? You still had a lot of doubts and insecurities, especially in those early days. Talk to me about what that felt like and how you worked through that.

Kiran Vuriti (26:03.53)
So in the beginning, definitely it was new waters that we were testing because I had not expected that I would open a school someday. As I told you, it was not my childhood dream. I had not aspired to become an educator at all. So I wanted to be a classical dancer actually. So that was where I was. And then I come here and so I did because I was not prepared for this. had not observed.

Each day was a learning experience. I overcame different situations and there would be times I would just go to the bathroom. I would just cry my eyes out and then I would touch up real quickly and I come back to the office and take on whatever I had to do. But I did it and today I’m at a point where I’m just confident where because I’ve seen it all. So I can just deal with anything that comes to me. So that is where I am. But again, this is like 14 plus years that I’m into this right now.

Anthony Codispoti (26:59.707)
So I appreciate you opening up and sharing about that because those are the kinds of moments that people don’t see. What they see is you’ve got this beautiful facility, you’re serving lots of kids, you’ve got folks working for you, you’re opening a new facility, but they didn’t see you crying your eyes out, know, huddled up in the bathroom and then putting yourself back together quickly. What did… No, go ahead.

Kiran Vuriti (27:06.796)
Right.

Kiran Vuriti (27:21.556)
Yes. that’s where, sorry. So that’s where my business partner comes into the picture again. He’s like, that’s where he plays his role behind the scenes and he would give me the strength again, the support and strength that he would constantly give me that, no, you’re doing it right. We will be fine. Don’t worry. We got it. You got it. So that is something that even the times when I was not confident about myself, he literally ensured that I did it.

And I did it actually. I did not realize things that he saw in me.

Anthony Codispoti (27:56.763)
Wow, it sounds like you’ve got such a terrific partnership going on, a nice combination of personalities and skills. And how amazing that, you know, he’s been there to help build up your confidence over the years. And, you know, now you’re able to kind of stand a little bit more on your own and you carry that confidence in yourself, not having to rely on him so much.

Kiran Vuriti (28:00.607)
Absolutely.

Kiran Vuriti (28:20.082)
I guess the biggest support that he renders towards me is by taking care of the major chunk of the responsibilities that require in the back end, like administrative part or taking care of the supplies. There’s so many payrolls and everything else I do not get into at all. So my focus is solely on running the functioning of school. So that is why I think we thrive.

because we have our own responsibilities drawn and I do not step into his, he does not understand this, but then as long as we are both in it together.

Anthony Codispoti (28:52.401)
Did he have a background in childcare centers or has he run other businesses before and he just kind of figured this out?

Kiran Vuriti (28:55.798)
No, not it. at all. All that happened is he just saw me how I was with the kids. And yes, I did not just have him as my business partner just because of his strength in me. But I need to I can I’ll just go back a little bit back to those days when I used to her on this home base daycare is he was also our neighbor. So he would just come in between sometimes whenever he had time because he loved to spend time with the children. So when he would come.

And the children would all just leave me and go run to him. And I saw how good he was with the kids and how much the kids loved him. So I saw that side to him also, which made me realize that, okay, even if I open something with him as my business partner, we will do good because he has compassion and empathy towards the children. And that fun part, he brings the fun and energy to the children. So I thought, okay, this is what makes us a perfect combination into this.

Anthony Codispoti (31:11.495)
That’s great. I think the other thing that’s really interesting is you and your conversation with this woman who started Safari Kids led to the whole idea of franchising. And now there’s, what did you say, 75 locations worldwide? most of them across the world? Are most of them in the States? Where are they kind of spread around?

Kiran Vuriti (31:28.276)
Yes, across the world, across the world.

Kiran Vuriti (31:33.93)
Yeah, the States, India, there’s some in Asia and some more. I’m not even aware where all they are. But I just know that. that’s again, most of the credit also again goes to Ms. Shai, the founder, because she also just as you mentioned, she showed that side because we were she started the fantasies when in her beginning of her career also. So because of which I saw her struggles as well. I have not just seen her as this.

founder who owns 75 locations. So I have seen her from Gramsirap and I’ve seen her where she does not hesitate in owning up where if she has done a mistake or how to learn and how to correct yourself and move forward making a difference. So that is where I learn from. take some, I get my motivational inspiration from her too.

Anthony Codispoti (32:26.535)
Do the franchisees ever get together to share ideas? How frequently does that happen?

Kiran Vuriti (32:30.006)
yes, yes, yes, we do, we have a party. We have parties, actually very recently also we had a huge party. We love to have, we interact with each other, we love to share ideas, what works for each other. So because each one of our goals are similar, our curriculum is the same, our setup is similar.

So we try to help each other out. it mainly started with all of our conversations and discussions started during COVID time when we were all in it together in the thinking board, because not knowing if there is a tomorrow where we can rise up.

Anthony Codispoti (33:04.743)
Yeah, it’s that uncertainty of that whole period that was probably the worst part. Like if you knew that, we just we need to hang on for three months or six months or 12 months, like it makes the planning a bit easier. But everything was up in the air. Any question? You mentioned how you get together and you would talk about other things, you know, including like the curriculum. Tell me about what the approach to curriculum is at Safari Kids.

Kiran Vuriti (33:07.272)
Yes. Right.

Kiran Vuriti (33:19.755)
Okay.

Kiran Vuriti (33:28.306)
So the curriculum is a constant research -based curriculum. So we have our curriculum coordinator who is constantly creating curriculum. That’s by Ms. Purnima. We have a designated curriculum coordinator. So she constantly creates the curriculum and updates us based upon the present needs and requirements of the children. every child nowadays, because there’s always a difference in the way the child’s development is maybe five years back to today.

So based upon their environment, the kind of backgrounds that they come from, and also we are mainly based upon our focus is on whole child development, that is social, emotional, and physical development apart from the academic part of it. And also updating ourselves to the current curriculum and requirements of the children.

Anthony Codispoti (34:20.337)
So what does a typical day look like for a child in your school?

Kiran Vuriti (34:25.607)
So the children, they come in the morning and we have, we start our time with circle time because we want them to, before the circle time, sorry, they have this free play time where social bonding is what we, that is where we focus on the social connection. We want them to interact and play with, we have the free play time where they get to, we have different stations set up where they can pick and play whatever they want. It could be coloring, it could be the dress up, it could be with blocks.

So they do that and they interact with other peers of theirs in the classroom. And after that, we have the circle time where they all sit and get to talk about each other. They learn about the weather and the seasons and the date and all the basic alphabets. And we have a morning routine. So we have that and followed by the academics. So we have a theme based, monthly theme that we go by. So based upon that, we get the curriculum that is followed by the teachers.

And so how I do is I just give whatever curriculum we get, I give the skeleton to my team and they put the body on it. So I do not micromanage the curriculum. So, I mean, how they operate as long as they bring and I get to that point only seeing what they do that with each one, each class is different, each teacher is different. They bring out their own creativity and they bring out the best that they offer and they also share ideas and that is how we operate.

Anthony Codispoti (35:50.641)
So I’m gonna guess the way that you approach curriculum might be a little bit different than what some other childcare centers do. Whether it’s curriculum or something else, I’m curious to understand more about what you do at your childcare centers that is maybe different than what you would typically find.

Kiran Vuriti (36:10.466)
So the first thing that I do, the base level, what I do is I listen. I believe in listening. It could be to even every child is different. We believe that every child is different and we could try to customize based upon every child’s requirements. and because of that, we try to listen. If a child is trying to say something, we want to understand what. We don’t just ignore saying that, okay, a child is just coming with a complaint and snubbing down. So, and likewise, if a teacher is having anything to speak.

I listen to the teachers too because no concern is small or big. We have to address and I want the teacher to be happy being in the classroom. So that is where I get it. And I listen to the parents. So again, if a parent is coming to me with a concern, it is something that has clearly bothered them or upset them. So it is up to me, it is for me and our team to be able to take care of it and take it constructively and work on it. So that is how we work.

So we built this community as Safari Kid where we all bring, I would say, a sense of belongingness and ownership that connects all of us together. So where I believe that it takes a village to bring up a child. So likewise, the parents, teachers, and us together, we work together in bringing up the children over here. So that is one part of it. And speaking about the children, so our curriculum mainly

is dependent upon an overall whole child development is what we cover.

Anthony Codispoti (37:44.401)
So Kieran, I’ve heard you talk glowingly and affectionately about your team many times. And you talk about how a lot of them have been with you since very early on. And another thing that struck me is that you’re getting ready to open up a brand new center. And a lot of the child care, and it’s a big one, you’re gonna need quite a bit of staff. A lot of the child care centers that I talked to are having a lot of problems finding

Kiran Vuriti (37:51.222)
Yes.

Anthony Codispoti (38:14.259)
good workers, good employees, good team members. So it seems to me that you have figured something out, whether it’s how to find, how to recruit good team members, and then also once you find them, how to retain them. Talk to me about your approach to finding and holding on to good folks.

Kiran Vuriti (38:38.69)
So to begin with, I feel grateful for each one of them each day. So I tell them, I greet them every day that I come to the center facility and I meet the teachers. I don’t just say hello. I hug them and I told them a friend that each day when I give you a hug, it does not mean that I’m just giving you a hello hug. It is a hug with gratitude and great gratefulness that you are here doing what you are doing because of which I am here today.

because I cannot be, I may be having certain visions and dreams and passions, but I cannot do it by myself unless they do their part and the way they do it. So that is how my day with my team begins. Every time that I see my teachers, then that is how I start with gratitude is what I have in my heart. So, and we believe in partying also a lot. So because I believe in having fun.

along with working because even when if I’m giving a hug, I tell them that I give it. I’m giving you my positive energy also because they’re constantly in the classroom working around the children. The mind is trying to figure out to teach the children, also making sure that they’re fine, safe and so many different things are going on in their mind. But I just give them that little hug and energy that OK, little dose of it before I step up to the classroom and go to the next classroom to the to other teachers. So that’s my routine. All right. After I come to the school.

And we have fun, we party. We party quite a bit. and many, many friends also ask me, so you guys same thing, and we do post, we don’t refrain from posting and flaunting all over the social media also. So there’s a day that we party. I said, yeah, we party, we work hard, but we party also, we party harder. But.

Anthony Codispoti (40:06.459)
Yeah.

Anthony Codispoti (40:20.764)
You

Kiran Vuriti (40:24.994)
I think that is what makes it a happy place. I want it to be a happy place. Happy teachers, my recipe I would say is mantra, is happy teachers are happy kids and happy kids would be happy parents. And that is how.

Anthony Codispoti (40:39.885)
Is this just your natural personality or was this kind of a management style that you had to discover?

Kiran Vuriti (40:48.226)
No, this is my natural personality. I love to party. I think that is what it is. I don’t like to take things seriously. Yes, there would be my my my team also makes a joke with me because what I do is I have this way of putting lids on situations like there would be a lot of issues and concerns that would be happening. And in a day, if I’m having to deal with 10, I cannot have one impact the other. So I put a lid on that situation and then I move on and I bring out my

self and energy because what I reflect, my mood and how I am reflects onto my team and how they work. So they all really look up to me and I need to ensure that that is how and but it comes naturally so that it makes it easier for me.

Anthony Codispoti (41:36.391)
That’s great. So would I be correct in assuming that a lot of new employees come from referrals of existing ones because it’s such a fun place to work? do you have another mechanism? Like when you get ready to open this new center, you’re going to need a whole bunch of new folks. How are you going to find them?

Kiran Vuriti (41:52.51)
Right. So that is one of the major ways that we have found most of our teachers, the referral amongst themselves. And but when new teachers come, when I hire, that’s a good question that you asked, because that brings me to that point where when I’m hiring and I’m interviewing new teachers who I’ve never met before. So I try to say, apart from the the credentials that is required to be a preschool teacher, I also see if they’re working only from here or from here.

Because I believe that a teacher in the classroom, a preschool teacher working with little kids should have the right amount of compassion and empathy and also patience. Patience is the key to be with little kids. So the understanding. And so that is what I try to see if they have that. that is the reason all my teachers over here are very warm and loving. So that is what is the main foundation of my team.

Anthony Codispoti (42:49.723)
you’re looking for here first and then you can teach them, you can train them what they need to know to be a teacher in the classroom.

Kiran Vuriti (42:54.474)
Yes, yes. So that also brings me to that part, Anthony, where because my team is so constant and consistently with me, so that way, obviously not everyone is here. Some of them had to go for whatever reasons, maybe because I relocate or any other reasons that they may have. But my main core team has been with me, like my directors and assistant directors and my core team. So I’m not spending a lot of time in training.

new team again. So because they’ve been with me for this long, they already have the sense of ownership and responsibility. So even if I’m not here in the facility, I know that they’re just doing their job just fine. And I may be much better than what I would. I mean, thinking about every angle. So I’m just very proud of who I have with me.

Anthony Codispoti (43:46.065)
That’s terrific. Karen, what are some of the most common concerns that parents have when starting their kids in a new school like yours? And what do you tell them to put their minds at ease?

Kiran Vuriti (43:59.114)
Okay, so one of the concerns that I hear quite a lot is by the door, when parents are constantly worried that the child cries when they drop off the child at the door. But that is the part where I put their minds to rest, saying that don’t worry, just give it like a week time at most. And because I’ve had situations where children, they want to come back in the weekends too. The parents have to literally come, bring the children to the school to show the seat is closed, there’s nobody here.

because the child would not settle at home. So to that point, so I tell the parents, don’t worry. It takes a little time for us, us to build a relationship with the child and the child to know that this is not the only, the place that you’re leaving the child and going, that you can come back and you’ll pick him up, him or her, and he will have fun learning here. So while that process of building relationships, and even it takes time for the parents to trust us. So I just asked them for that one week time and, and

So far, I think they have had success with every child. The parents.

Anthony Codispoti (45:02.329)
once they get to the one week period, the problem is they don’t want to go back home.

Kiran Vuriti (45:06.088)
Yeah, there are some kids, exactly, there’s some kids who take maybe may take one day, two days, three days, and some kids don’t even take any time at all. They’re just right there. But then there are some kids who take some time, but not more than a week. So, yeah.

Anthony Codispoti (45:19.592)
What advice do you have for parents who are trying to decide between multiple child care centers? What advice can you give them for helping to make that decision?

Kiran Vuriti (45:29.836)
So I would say that just give them, I would suggest that if I’m a parent who right now, maybe when I was a young mom, maybe my approach would have been different also. But now if I go back to my young days and then if I have to go and register my child looking for a preschool for my children, maybe I would also look at giving the space and time for the teachers.

maybe I would just see that approach towards the child and how the classroom setting is. I will go by my gut feeling if the vibes are right. If it is too much, I just try to see that if the work is by children or if it is just store bought materials on. So that also shows that if their belief is more about how to make the classroom look nice or it is more about what is good for the children and children based curriculum.

Anthony Codispoti (46:27.559)
Tell me again, Karen, what are the age groups? said starting from 18 months up to how old do you serve?

Kiran Vuriti (46:36.162)
Also, we have a preschool and an after school program. So the preschool runs up to from 18 months to four years, nine months in the preschool program. And then we have all the kindergarten through fourth to fifth graders we have in the after school program. So we pick up, what I mean by after school program is we pick up the children from the schools, public schools, and we bring them here. They have their snack.

and they settle down for the school homework. We help them with the school homework and we have our own Safari Kit curriculum packets that help them with, we again, over there again, we do the customizing. We evaluate where each child is and depending upon their strengths and drawbacks, we create packets and so we help them with that.

And the three hours that they are there, first hour is school, almost, second hour we do the practice. And the third hour, each day we offer different activities, like making it a one -stop shop. Like we each day, one day would be chess, one day we teach them public speaking, one day we teach them dance, one day it could be like this movie with popcorn, which is a Friday evening is a movie and popcorn time for them. And spelling, we teach them a lot of these activities in the third hour. And then of course they get to play outdoors and then they exit.

Anthony Codispoti (47:47.77)
That’s terrific. My kids are in a school that offers their own after school program and we just love the experience to death. The young women that run that program, they help them with their homework, just like you’re talking about. They have fun, like arts and crafts activities for them. They have toys to let them play and kind of, you know, relax. They’ll do movie night. I mean, everything that you’re describing is what they do in this program as well. And my kids love it.

They keep asking for us to pick them up later and later. They’re like, hey, it’s open till six. Can we stay in? Well, it’s like, we’re your parents. We want to see you too. So it sounds like you’ve built the same kind of incredible program.

Kiran Vuriti (48:18.146)
That’s good.

Kiran Vuriti (48:27.272)
No.

Kiran Vuriti (48:33.538)
Yes. So I am happy to say, yes, it is a proud moment for me to accept that and admit that, yes, we did build such an atmosphere and environment where not just us, but we have this parent community also where we have this relationship as working, being in this together, very understanding. Of course, it takes time for new parents to build relationships, but.

I have seen that I even I’m still attached and connected to the parents who I started like 14 years back. So that is an achievement by itself, including that little baby who started in the beginning, the first one with me. So it’s really humbling and gratitude is what I feel.

Anthony Codispoti (49:14.907)
That’s great. Can you think about maybe one of your children in particular throughout the years that maybe was a little bit of a challenging situation in the beginning and through the process that you have there, you were able to make a lot of progress with them. You consider them to be a big success story.

Kiran Vuriti (49:37.762)
We have actually many students like that. So where the child would not, I would say the child started off where I for some reason would only want the dad to begin with at the door itself. He would not want to come inside. we literally, it was very sad for us to do that, but then we had to literally pull him inside.

take him inside and the dad. So it was a very difficult time and the whole time in the classroom all he would do is daddy, daddy, daddies. The nap time also he would not. So that’s where the dad, spoke, we had a conversation with the parents. So all the other kids in one week time were settling down, but that child took quite some time I would say. And he would want dad nap time or even when coming back, he would be just stuck by the door waiting for his dad to come home, sorry, to pick him up to take home.

But we got there. So he started to enjoy. And to a point where the dad would be calling, he had to wait outside for quite some time before the child got out. So that is something that I would attribute it to the team, the teachers, the way they worked and the kind of care that they gave, because of which the child built in the trust. And so they understood what he wants. He did.

They try to take the time in understanding what makes him happy. And it’s not just making him happy is what our goal should be when we are here. Because we also want to ensure that they are learning and then their timing apart from just being taken care of. Because this is not just a daycare or a play -based preschool. So we believe in development, whole development, as I keep saying.

So the teachers took the time and then they built the trust and confidence and sat, gave them the child one -on -one attention till the child arrived and built the confidence and trust in them. And then that is where we are. So I would always, even now, and then he also joined from preschool, he graduated into after school program, and now he comes to into our after school program also. And it’s a joy to see him. And every time we see him and we all remember those days, how it was in the beginning and look at him now.

Anthony Codispoti (51:33.062)
That’s great.

Kiran Vuriti (51:50.06)
He’s a little big boy and he takes care of other kids. It’s very nice to see that. Yeah.

Anthony Codispoti (51:54.0)
That’s great. That’s great. I love that story. Kieran, talk to me about how transitional kindergarten there in California is affecting.

Kiran Vuriti (52:04.79)
That is a very good question because it is affecting us a lot, a lot. So we would be having transitional kindergarten and kindergarten together, I would say around three classrooms in the past years. But now one whole classroom is gone because that has started in the public schools. And because of which the impact is not just on the school overall, but even for the teachers who we had.

Aside from that structure and then now we do not have children to have those teachers here at that time So but regardless, I’m hoping that we will grow again. So I’m still have the teachers I’ve not taken away any hours from them. So I do Yes, yes, yes, so they have been with me when I need them so I have to be with them through this and so

Anthony Codispoti (52:44.687)
Okay, even though you’ve got one whole classroom sitting empty right now, you’ve kept the staff.

Anthony Codispoti (52:55.239)
And so is there a thought process to try to maybe go a little bit younger with the kids that you’re serving rather than starting at 18 months to infants? Okay.

Kiran Vuriti (53:02.211)
That is what we are doing. Yes, that is what we are doing. So this is the year that we have started is we are getting into the infant program. We are applying for that. But before that, I’m glad that three of my directors are already aware and they are credentialed, fully credentialed for infant program. But at the same time, are having our teachers also enroll themselves into the program because we were not prepared for infant program at all. But then we already have.

our experienced directors here in that. So I’m confident that we’ll be fine. And we will be starting it in the next six months.

Anthony Codispoti (53:36.655)
Okay, so there’s a special license that’s needed for infants and special certifications for the teacher that are needed as well. So you’re going through that process and hopefully in the next six months you’ll be able to open up to infants.

Kiran Vuriti (53:39.616)
Yes, yes, yes, yes. So.

Kiran Vuriti (53:47.018)
And this exactly at the setup of the classroom also will be very different for infants. So with that said, in Mountain House, the new location that we are opening, are opening, the construction is happening based upon the infant classroom also. So we will be starting with the whole program in place.

Anthony Codispoti (54:00.739)
Okay, great.

Yeah. I’m curious, Kieran, and this might be a better question for your business partner, of understanding how the duties sort of divide. But, you know, as a business leader, we’re always keeping our eye on the bottom line, right? Are we making enough money? And we’ve got sort of two levers that we can pull. And one of them is how do we increase sales? And the other one is how do we decrease expenses?

Can you think of any interesting things that you’ve tried and found success with in pulling either one of those levers?

Kiran Vuriti (54:39.148)
So what we do is there is not much room for us to decrease costs because we are dealing with children here and we cannot compromise with the expenses there because in terms of the ratio in the classrooms, I provide more ratio than required because the goal is to provide quality and not quantity is for me. Again, maybe that is a drawback because I’m not into the.

admin part of it. my focus is only on the classroom. So I try to provide that. I ensure that the teachers are not overwhelmed, so because of which more teachers are in the classrooms. So more teachers than required in the campus we have. So, however,

How we compensate is because we have started to bring in new processes and programs in the facility, which do not require us to do manually, lot of things manually. So that gives us, that directs us the time to be able to do more online, because social media is all over the place now, we are utilizing it to the fullest, and where they do the marketing and they’re believing they’re able to do more of training and all of that, which helps us get more kids in balancing this up.

So that is where, he is not, and the other thing is again, my directors are my angels where they have the right balance. They make sure that the schedule, the teachers are right way. And my teachers are also everybody, they work together. So if they see that not many kids are in the classroom, they themselves make, they just decide to leave because they just decide to sign out and all.

So basically we all work together as a team and likewise when we have more kids and there is a requirement and need, they do not mind extending their hours too. that is one part of it. And speaking about the other part of it also, he is very sound businessman, I would say. And I think one of

Kiran Vuriti (56:39.422)
as has to be that way. He keeps a check on, he never control curves any requirements that we have. So, but at the same time, he’s a smart shopper. So that’s what he does. All I do is, hey, I need this, this, this and how he gets it, I don’t care. he makes sure that, so he gets, he just makes sure that we get the right items from the right places. And so he does not have any complaints and I do not.

Anthony Codispoti (56:57.031)
He’s got a magic wand behind the scenes there.

Kiran Vuriti (57:09.37)
So we are a good team that way. I do not question, he does not question me. So as long as, of course, if we are going overboard, those are the times he gives us a little nudge. And then my directors, again, they take care. They’re extremely on board with everything. So nothing.

Anthony Codispoti (57:26.449)
Kieran, what’s a fun fact that most people wouldn’t know about you?

Kiran Vuriti (57:31.628)
Fun fact about me, I won’t know how to, does it sound that I love to, silly fact I would say, not fun fact, that I like to have ice cream and coffee both at the same time. So it’s just, yes. So maybe that also speaks about my personality and me is because as much as I love to have fun and

Anthony Codispoti (57:48.197)
A little cold treat, a little warm treat, huh?

Kiran Vuriti (58:00.136)
party and all that, but at the same time when it comes to work, I’m very particular about the way that it has to function. So the boundaries are drawn and of course I work and I’m a leader who do not believe, who does not believe in just leading the team, but I believe in walking together forward. That is how I am. But ensuring that we are going the right path. So

My team now, okay, 14 years now, they know what to do and all, but then even in the beginning too, I would just make sure that I do not compromise about quantity at all. So maybe, I’m sorry, I just kind of deviated from the subject, but then as this kind of analogies, what I was just looking at. And the other fun fact I would say is the classical dance part that has been my childhood dream. So that is something that not many people know about it.

Anthony Codispoti (58:39.441)
Okay.

Kiran Vuriti (58:54.674)
But I have begun to pursue that again now. I’m like, yeah, now I’m able to find the time. so I’m able to just connect back, like making my life full circle. And I’ve started my classical dance classes again.

Anthony Codispoti (01:01:08.903)
So there’s a new center coming soon and I’m sure all the the attention and the energy is on that and you probably can’t think Past that at all But are there maybe some plans in the back of your mind to expand even further past this new center that’s in progress?

Kiran Vuriti (01:01:27.234)
Absolutely, absolutely. Because for me so far, I was thinking about myself and my business partner. We had our own plans. But my daughter, it is just against such a blessing I feel, is that she has joined me. And it is a pleasure to see her working. Of course, she has joined at the base level. I wanted her to learn the basics. So because of it, she has joined as the office.

coordinator over here. So, where she just understands the ins and outs and all of that. Administrator, office administrator actually. So, but however, I see her being able to take over and I want to be able to, think together we will be able to take it to the next level. And so that they can continue. And I’m just happy that she’s here when I’m here in the facility and so that she sees the culture that I bring in. And because I believe in respect.

Anthony Codispoti (01:02:20.133)
you

Kiran Vuriti (01:02:24.424)
And the children nowadays, they are very straightforward. They may or may not. I’m sure she does a good job. my way of working is, as I told you earlier, that I feel gratitude towards them. And I treat and I talk to each one of them with respect every day. Because I think that you can’t command and demand respect. I need to be able to give respect. to be able to get, not to get the respect is why I don’t do it, but that is how my work culture is.

Anthony Codispoti (01:02:50.309)
You earn it. You earn it. Yeah.

Kiran Vuriti (01:02:52.206)
Yes, yes, I am. Because yes, they all earn my respect day in and day out. And even if there are some slip ups and mistakes that happen, we all learn from mistakes. Even I make mistakes every day. So that is how I am. I wanted because she I’m sure that she will excel in what she’s doing the new generation with the new ideas and concepts. I’m sure she’s going to do a great job. But I want her to remember what the base roots are to be able to.

Anthony Codispoti (01:03:15.687)
Mm -hmm.

Kiran Vuriti (01:03:16.904)
have that empathy and respect and humbleness. So that is something that I hope she learns and then she can take it forward. with that in mind, definitely we will now had it been up to me just up to me and Chandra to be able to open more centers I would have because now with Asia I would want to just kind of stop and focus on what I have. But seeing her with me, why not? So

Anthony Codispoti (01:03:42.009)
with her help, once you’ve indoctrinated her, once you’ve sort of taught her and showed her the ropes, she can be very helpful in opening additional centers down.

Kiran Vuriti (01:03:48.125)
Yes.

Kiran Vuriti (01:03:51.572)
Yes, I’m making more difference because I see how our children thrive here, how happy parents are, how happy teachers are to be able to create more spaces like this to work and for the parents to have the children in. That is something that I would be more than happy to do if I can.

Anthony Codispoti (01:04:09.767)
Kieran, are there any specific mentors or books that have been helpful for you in either your personal or professional career?

Kiran Vuriti (01:04:20.002)
The first person I would say is hands down is Ms. Shai again. So she has been the inspiration and she has been guiding me all through. even I can just pick up the phone and I can just call her about anything and anytime about anything and she’ll be there right there with an answer for me. And like she just has it up there right there and giving me the right answers.

So that gives me the confidence that, I don’t need to worry about anything, a situation happens, whatever, because situations are very different each day. So if it happens, then she’s right there to help me and she guides me. And apart from that inspirations I take each day. Each day I take my inspiration and I learn from different people. Like even from you, can say that you…

You inspire me when you connected, contacted me and also, and I went through your website and also you inspire me in thinking that you are making a difference in so many people’s lives by just bringing these stories, inspiring stories to them, giving them a platform where they can see that otherwise people would be just wondering if I can do it or not, but listening to these stories and you are providing that platform that is very inspiring. Or I would see my team who is very inspiring for me that each day.

Even if I sometimes kind of take it easy, that, OK, maybe we can just relax and do this. But then they say, no, let us just do it to that extent. And then that inspires me. That gives me happiness, of course, but at the same time inspires me. There are some directors where I have to literally tell them, hey, you sleep now or I’m going to fire you. They’re working at 12 o ‘clock, 1 o ‘clock in the night. And that happens only because they have a sense of ownership with the way I would work, they work.

So that happens. Children inspire me. So I would say that not I don’t read books about taking notes about inspiration. I take on real world and real situations that I get and they’re all inspired. children in the classroom.

Anthony Codispoti (01:06:24.015)
you find inspiration just moving through the world and interacting with everyday people.

Kiran Vuriti (01:06:28.754)
every day. talk to the parents and I get some inspiration from there. I take some energy. So I just work that way.

Anthony Codispoti (01:06:38.439)
Kieran, I just have one more question for you, but before I ask it, I want to do two things. If you’re listening today and you like today’s content, please hit the like, subscribe, or share button on your favorite podcast app. I also want to let people know the best way to get in touch with you, Kieran. What would that be?

Kiran Vuriti (01:06:55.37)
We have our website and I can just share the links. we have mostly our websites and the Instagram pages where they connect with us.

Anthony Codispoti (01:07:06.245)
And it’s safarikids .com and then your particular location would be Positano. Okay, great. So last question for you, Kieran. I’m curious, what do you see are the big changes that are coming to childcare industry in say the next five years?

Kiran Vuriti (01:07:10.742)
Positano. Positano, yes.

Kiran Vuriti (01:07:23.508)
In the next five years, am thinking that especially because the public schools have started the TK and kindergarten, the TK also going up there. So it is a constant struggle and

I think it’s a constant, the world is also evolving and at the same time our industry is also evolving quite a lot. So I think that the challenge is, I did not think about that to be honest.

Anthony Codispoti (01:07:57.799)
Okay, fair enough. You’re living in the moment.

Kiran Vuriti (01:08:01.118)
Yes, yes, yes, in the moment. And when it comes to that, we will get there. My partner, my business partner is because as he’s into that thought process, he’s been on it. So what do we do about it? What if it was, I just say that, OK, we’ll get there. We’ll get to that when we get there. But for now, let us just focus on what we have. And of course, we are getting into this infancy program that we are trying to do. But how what will happen that I know I don’t want to think about that.

Anthony Codispoti (01:08:30.545)
I love that. It’s a non -traditional answer. I’m here, I’m in the present moment, I’m thinking about today. I’ve got a business partner who’s wired for that other kind of stuff.

Kiran Vuriti (01:08:39.968)
There he is, there he is.

Anthony Codispoti (01:08:41.499)
Well, Kieran, I want to be the first one to thank you for sharing both your time and your story with us today. I really appreciate it.

Kiran Vuriti (01:08:48.246)
Thank you so much, Anthony, for having me here.

Anthony Codispoti (01:08:51.249)
Folks, that’s a wrap on another episode of the Inspired Stories Podcast. Thanks for learning with us today.