I spent most of my childhood in West Virginia. I graduated from Concord University and moved to Fayette County to join the whitewater rafting community. Me and my husband opened A Place To Grow Children’s Center in 1995, out of a personal need for childcare. We had an infant and a toddler of our own and we both wanted to work to provide for our family. I previously worked in a childcare program and I knew the difference a high quality early childhood program could make for our children. So, the adventure of childcare as a business began. I have strived to provide a high-quality early childhood program to children in our community. The center currently employees 25 staff; caring for 115 children ages 6 weeks to 12 years. I am an active member of West Virginia Association for Young Children, West Virginia Childcare Centers United, The Small Business Majority, as well as The National Association for the Education of Young Children. I am currently leading a research and planning project, funded by The One Foundation, to find viable business models and community specific solutions to the barriers to access and affordability of childcare in Southern West Virginia. My current goal is to produce specific program planning and design that can be replicated in rural communities that are historically underserved in early childhood education.