Meet celia fisher | Director/ Administrator

We had the good fortune of connecting with celia fisher and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi celia, what was your thought process behind starting your own business?
I had several thoughts before moving forward with my own business. My initial. thought was, “How am I ever going to be able to afford to send these daughters of mines off to college?” I was a single parent and had been working for the school board and chipping off at college classes for about a decade, before I actually did my first roll out. While working on all of those things, I ended up needing childcare myself. So at that point, creating what I needed as a working/college student became a motivating factor in the plan to launch my own childcare business. I did not see a lot of the types of services that I needed in the childcares that i was visiting; Alternative hours, good food, transportation & a home-like enviornment. Finally, the biggest thought that lingered was the finacial “freedom” I would be able to access if my business was successful. Although I had been working for the school board for over ten years before I started my own childcare business, I wasnt making enough to see myself getting off of the subsidized lifestyle I was living in my 2 bedroom apt in Santa Monica Ca.

What should our readers know about your business?
Beach Moms CDC is a for profit, private preschool program located in Mid City Santa Monica, Ca. We have been operating since December 2012. We offer a loving, safe constructivist preschool program to 30 children or less, daily in the city and surrounding areas. Our services are unique because we offer a free, state-funded food program, transportation from half day TK & Kinder programs throughout the City, and advocacy and resources to the family as a whole, when needed. We are very theraputic in our approach to communicating and meeting the needs of our participants. We work closely with fellow agencies that support the special needs community and allow certain therapist to provide service on our campus weekly. All these attributes have not been easy to come by. 90% of our enrollment is subsidized and can not afford to pay the rates that the schools in our area charge. However because we were blessed with the space that we rent from the Mason’s Crescent Bay Lodge, we can afford not to charge top tier rates for our services. What sets us apart from other traditional preschool programs is that We actually created what was needed in our community. We are most proud of the current development of our campus. We recently remodeled the inside of our school and are working on the exterior this summer. This was made possible from a $200000 grant recieved through the State of California for COVID recovery and sustainability for preschool programs throughout our State. We are also joining forces with a Speech program called Silver Lake SLP. This will give our Regional Center Clients an opportunity to recieve speech therapy on our campus. I want the world to know that we are here and growing. We are planning an expansion of our services to meet the school age need for after school transportation, therapy & care for children ages 7 to 12 years old, at the Calvary Baptist Church located in walking distance of our preschool campus. This is a need that has suffered, post pandemic. We want this for our community and our current children/ families that are enrolled in Beach Moms CDC.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
If my best friend was visiting the area and I wanted to show him/her the best time ever, I would take them to Gilbert’s El Indio for Mexican Food. I would take them to the Cayton’s Children’s Museum at the promenade (where we would also shop) and I would take them to Annenberg Beach House on PCH for a bunch of sun & fun.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
Aolelani Lutu “@mamalutu” , Cynthia Thompson &. My cousins Marion Hendrickson Foster & Shelly Crawford all deserves a little credit and recognition in my story. My cousin Shelly was working for a recource &. referral agency called Connections for Children when I was still trying to get the courage to launch an in-home childcare. One day she came over after work and said to me, “You should open a childcare here in your apt!” She also suggested that I call it Beach Moms! I took her advice, followed her lead and did just that.Thank you cousin for your vision! Aolelani was an employee of CFC and was in charge of Coaching and facilitating providers that were involved in the Los Angeles Unviversal Preschool Program that was being offered to family childcare providers in LA County. Mamalutu held me accountable to standards of proffesionalism and financial /book keeping that were required to participate in this program. She basically taught me how to run my Childcare home like a Center based program. My cousin Marion, left her director’s job with Knowledge Learning Corp & directed my first Center Based Program. She gave me the insight on how to actually run a school outside of my home. She passed 3 years ago. I miss her dearly. Finally, my mom, Cynthia Thompson loaned me my startup money that was required to pass licensing requirements. I am forever grateful for my mom. She took a chance and believed in my vision.

Website: https://Beachmomz.com

Instagram: Beach Moms CDC

Facebook: Beach Moms CDC

Youtube: famchan Beach Moms CDC Culmination 2016

Image Credits
Beachmomz.com

julius@justjmit.com