On today’s episode, we talk with Mark Warren, Vice President of Facilities, Real Estate & Development at KinderCare Education. KinderCare is the nation’s largest provider of unparalleled early learning. There, Mark leads selection and building-value engineering to accelerate company growth. In this interview, he’ll talk about how valuable physical spaces are to the entire childcare industry. Mark describes the importance of a well-maintained brick and mortar to establish trust with his clients–parents of young children.
In this episode of Elevating Brick and Mortar, Sid interviews Mark Warren about how valuable physical spaces are to the entire childcare industry. Mark describes the importance of a well-maintained brick and mortar to establish trust with his clients–parents of young children.
TIMESTAMPS
**(00:23) - Mark’s beginnings
**(05:48) - Buildings and brand perception
**(09:08) - Mark’s expanding role
**(10:53) - The importance of KinderCare Teachers
**(13:00) - Thinking about location
**(13:48) - The labor shortage
**(18:42) - Supply chain issues
**(21:25) - Emerging technologies
**(26:27) - Making KinderCare sustainable
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LINKS
[00:00:00] Sid Shetty: Hello, everyone. Welcome to the show. Thank you for joining us. I am here today with Mark Warren, Vice President Facilities Real Estate and Development at KinderCare. Mark, thank you for being here. I really appreciate it.
[00:00:11] Mark Warren: Happy to be here. Talk to you.
[00:00:13] Sid Shetty: Thanks. So Mark, let's, let's start with your journey. You've been a leader at some pretty big brands. Can you share like what your journey was and what brought you to KinderCare?
[00:00:23] Mark Warren: I originally started out in retail at a Circuit city, when I was actually in high school. And I was doing returns at the customer service counter and then, uh, got into car stereo installations and, sales of that and ultimately got onto the facility side, uh, when I was with Circuit City in the early two thousands timeframe.
And so it was, spent some time with them, obviously, and then, um, left them and went to work for an auto parts chain for a brief period of time before landing at Petco. in a facilities capacity. And, uh, ultimately, uh, opportunity came up with KinderCare and I loved the mission of the company and what they do. Felt like it was a great opportunity for me to move into a slightly different world that, uh, still had a lot of the retail background. A lot of things are similar. and it's been a great fit. I've been here a little over seven years and, uh, loving it every day.
[00:01:16] Sid Shetty: So, you know, you have a big title, a big role in a wide set of responsibilities at KinderCare Education, but can you double click and explain like what does that mean? Like when you look at where you fit into the business, what does your team do and is responsible for on a daily basis?
[00:01:32] Mark Warren: I separate it out into groups and we have the facilities team, which is made up of about 170 people, and that's largely in-house field techs, that do a lot of the day-to-day repairs.
[00:01:42] and then we also have the real estate component of the business, which is, uh, actively searching for new sites. So, whether it's development deals to build one from the ground up or looking at existing retail space or other space to convert into a childcare use. And then the other component with that is design and construction.
[00:01:58] So my team does all of the design of the new centers and prototype and, actually bringing it out of the ground with the general contractors or or developer partners. So, I also support, which is not in the title lease administration, so all of our lease renewals so think everything physical plant is, is pretty much under my purview.
[00:02:15] So a lot of, uh, irons in the fire.
[00:02:17] Sid Shetty: Wow. That's a lot. I'll, I'll come back to that, but before we do, can you educate our audience about KinderCare, how many locations you have, what do you do. share some insight into what it is that, you know, your team is responsible for in a business like this.
[00:02:35] Mark Warren: KinderCare is a early childhood education provider, so we pro operate approximately. We'll just call it 1500 locations. throughout the United States, we are the largest provider of, uh, childcare in the United States. so there's a lot of great work that the team does and what we like to talk about in the education component and making sure that, not only are we caring for the children while they're in our care, but we're also helping teach them and better prepare them for.
[00:03:00] school when they go to kindergarten.
[00:03:02] we have a number of, uh, uh, of metrics that we use and tests to actually show that the chi child that has spent more time in our care can actually, uh, achieve a higher level of reading, a higher level of math, uh, than their other peers that were not in our programs as they enter kindergarten.
[00:03:17] So a lot of great work on that education front. We also operate under, a couple different brand names. Um, so primarily it's a KinderCare, but there's some out there called Knowledge Beginnings. We have some called Cambridge. Uh, we also, recently acquired Creme de la Creme, who's a premium childcare provider that was based in Denver, Colorado, and continuing to acquire new centers, actively.
[00:03:38] And so continuing to grow our footprint.
[00:03:40] Sid Shetty: Do you franchise at all or they're all company owned?
[00:03:43] Mark Warren: They, they're all corporately owned,
[00:03:45] Sid Shetty: Gotcha. So Mark, yours is a very interesting business, right? It's childcare and, and really unlike most other businesses cause there's a lot of emotions and, and trust involved. I'm a parent, I have two young kids, and there's a lot that goes into leaving your most precious part of your life with someone. And, and so can you explain in a business like this, what does it mean when somebody says brand and brand recognition and trust and, and how do you gain customer loyalty in, in, in this space?
[00:04:18] Mark Warren: I would say that the, the biggest way we have customer loyalty is our center directors and our teachers, because the parent needs to feel comfortable with who they're, asking to provide care for their child. And so that is one of the things we spend a lot of of effort as an organization to make sure that we treat the center directors and the teachers in a, in a great way, employee engagement surveys, and make sure that we're doing all the right things by teachers that we can. And my facilities team supports that as well.
[00:04:46] And some of the things, uh, that need to be repaired in centers, upgrades, things that we're trying to do, but everything we do is focused on health and safety of the children. Making sure that that environment, is right for a child to be there.
[00:04:57] Sid Shetty: Yeah. And it's a physical space, so when a parent is walking in for the first time, I know we did it, the first thing that you notice is how does the space look? cuz you know, it kind of represents how your kid's gonna be treated like if you treat the space well, if it looks clean, if it looks warm and welcoming, then you have more trust that okay, the people there inside and at the corporate office care about the brand, and so they'll care about my kid in, in, in the same way. So I presume facilities has a huge role to play in. In that perception too, right? How do you position what your team does in terms of the impact within the organization and, what is your mission statement, if you may, when you, when you talk about your, your, your teams, inside and outside.
[00:05:48] Mark Warren: From a brand perception, my team has a, a significant impact, with that physical plant, whether it's painting the building, whether it is, you know, upgrading playgrounds, even something as simple as, as making sure that the kitchen is, in working order.
[00:06:03] And so there, there's a lot of activity that goes into doing those projects to make sure that center looks warm and welcoming. Like every company, there's gonna always be some deferred maintenance in some o older locations, but we, we go through that, pretty regularly to try and make sure that there's no licensing issues. One of the, one of the challenges with childcare is it's heavily regulated, and so you have childre licensers coming in. You have a variety of other organizations, fire marshals, uh, other things that are all watching out for safety, and we have to have a more critical eye for that safety needs than most.
[00:06:35] It's interesting. We do some, uh, corporate partnerships where we will, uh, white label a childcare center on a corporate campus or a university or a, a hospital, where they want to provide childcare for their, their families, and, oftentimes when I'm talking to their construction teams or their real estate teams, and I talk about some of the nuances that have to happen, and a great example that I give is, when we do a project, if we were replacing a roof, we actually have to run magnets over the playground, to make sure that we, we don't have any nails that are, loosen the playground and have a child pick that up on a and and hurt themselves. And so there's a lot of nuances to making sure that children are safe in the centers.
[00:07:11] Sid Shetty: How interesting. you've clearly been in, in the space a long time and KinderCare and Childcare is got, I'm sure a lot of nuances like you just explained. What does it take, you know, to actually manage facilities in a business like this beyond like what you just explained, because I'm sure that there's some commonalities with regular retail or the restaurant space, but there's gotta be a lot of challenges that regular people don't even think about, that are similar to what you just talked about, things that you have to deal with on a daily basis.
[00:07:48] Mark Warren: There are a lot of unique things and a lot of similarities. As you mentioned. One of the things I, I. You know, I joke around about it, we're, we're probably one of the largest purchasers of small toilets, because
[00:07:59] Sid Shetty: That, yeah.
[00:07:59] Mark Warren: There's not a huge market for it. But we, I don't know that to be fact, but, uh, we, we make a lot of toilet purchases.
[00:08:05] and, uh, so little things like that that you have to know. Where I think the team does a great job is the local facilities techs that we have. They are really our eyes and ears and helping support. oftentimes they're meeting with, uh, contractors if we need to bring somebody in from the outside.
[00:08:20] But one of, one of the things that's interesting is, sometimes when, you know, we're having to do repairs when there's children in centers. we try and avoid doing that with the third party contractor just because sometimes it makes kids nervous. I mean, there's a,There's a real issue with stranger anxiety for some children, and so it actually makes it more disruptive to the teacher.
[00:08:40] Whereas if they're familiar with our tech, who they see regularly in the building, there's, they're a little bit less anxiety for the children. So there's a, a, a number of things like that, that just the, the, the local facilities techs are just a great resource for us to help manage those day-to-day, uh, activity needs.
[00:08:57] Sid Shetty: When, when you joined KinderCare, did you start with all this responsibility or did you, expand your role over the past seven years?
[00:09:09] Mark Warren: When I originally took the job, I was just leading the facilities team. And about 18 months in, I was asked if I would, be willing to take over the real estate and the design and construction side. I told my boss at the time, I said, well, I feel real comfortable in the design and construction space.
[00:09:25] I'm, I'm not sure I'm as comfortable in the real estate space. And he looked at me and said, that's okay. You'll learn.
[00:09:30] Sid Shetty: Yeah.
[00:09:32] Mark Warren: Five years, almost six years later, feel like, fortunately I have a, a team of people that is much smarter than I am when it comes to that stuff, but, they're doing a great job and I've learned a tremendous amount on the way, and it's been an incredibly fun journey to learn that aspect of the business.
[00:09:46] Sid Shetty: That's great. When you think about, you know, your customer. You know, you just mentioned that the center director is probably the most critical person in that building, which by the way makes so much sense, right? Because for us as parents, the way we are welcomed the first time by the center director and the way we are able to communicate with that person makes a huge difference.
[00:10:09] And so I completely, resonate with that idea that that person is, is ultimately the, the one that's making you feel comfortable as a parent. but your customers are also kids that don't necessarily have the ability to communicate if they don't like something, and all those parents that are leaving the kids as well.
[00:10:28] So it's a very complex set of challenges that you could face because you might not necessarily know exactly what's wrong, but something's not working right. Which is kind of unlike, regular retail where, you know, an associate's gonna just be like, yeah, these, these four things are broken, and they'll tell you if it's not working right.
[00:10:47] but sometimes, you know, in your business it's, it's, it could get blurry. Is that, is that right?
[00:10:53] Mark Warren: it's similar to the retail, what you would expect. The teachers, uh, you know, when they spot a safety issue or, or broken item, they're quick to report. Plus, we also, with the, our local techs, do monthly, uh, Preventative maintenance and inspections. And so we, we do spend a lot more time looking for that.
[00:11:13] Things that people don't think of as, if there's a, a, a gap in a fence that is bigger than your fist. That could create a licensing issue and a child could get their arm stuck. And so we want to stop those things or, and fix them before any injury occurs. But the teachers are, are, and center directors are really our first line of defense, cuz they're in that center every day and they'll report it.
[00:11:34] We, we've tried to move towards some of the automation and some of the. The building automation. So for things like air conditioning and, and what you would expect in, in other retail, which has worked out good for us because now oftentimes we, we've had, instances where, we know the air conditioning is broken before anybody at the center knows that the air conditioning is broken.
[00:11:53] and so we can dispatch a crew. And why that's critical for us is licensing regulates what temperature that classroom can be. And if it exceeds a certain temperature, we have to close that classroom. And if I have no place else to put the children, that means I have to call parents, and at work and say, I need you to come pick up your child.
[00:12:12] So now, not only did we not deliver on our promise to care for your child, Now we have disrupted your work. And your employer's not going to be happy that we, we failed in our mission. And so we take it very seriously that we, we need to get things right as often as we can.
[00:12:26] Sid Shetty: how do you look at locations when it comes to a capital injection? when you look at. How much the budget is for a certain location, because I presume in retail, right? it is based on sales. It is based on, you know, where they are in the list. Are they a, a plus a B, uh, location, and you know, the investments kind of match it accordingly.
[00:12:55] It's probably different in, in your business or is it,
[00:12:58] Mark Warren: It,
[00:12:58] Sid Shetty: that work?
[00:13:00] Mark Warren: it's pretty similar. but obviously there's some basic infrastructure that just has to happen. We can't just leave something that is going to create a risk of, uh, injury or, uh, or as a licensing violation. So regardless of what my, my capital budget is, uh, we fix it. and so we, we continue to, to make the investments in, looking at other areas of, what is the age of the building.
[00:13:24] Do we have competition nearby that is brand new? And we need to be competitive in that, that market and make some incremental investments. And we lease the vast majority of our building. So we're also looking at it from the standpoint of what, how much time do we have remaining on the lease?
[00:13:39] Is this a location we would think about relocating versus, Putting in, facilities capital. And so it's a pretty complex equation.
[00:13:46] Sid Shetty: Yeah. Yeah. So let, let's talk about some challenges that just face industry as a whole, right? You and have talked about this at length as well, but you know, would love to kind of dive into it. The labor shortage. You know, there's a massive problem, in our space with the talent pool as an aging workforce and not enough people entering into the space.
[00:14:07] And I would love to understand, one, how it's impacting you and your business. What are your thoughts on this, but also understand. have internal texts, like did you do that recently or did you always have it? What was the reason behind that model as well?
[00:14:23] Mark Warren: I'll, I'll, I'll tackle the, uh, tech question first. Uh, because I, so KinderCare, uh, had the tech program long before I. I was here. They had a great tech team well before I, I, uh, came here. Now one of the reasons why we have the tech team is it's a lot easier to control the background checks and all the things that we need from a licensing perspective, with our own in-house techs.
[00:14:45] that model. Not changing. Specific to the, the labor shortage, we're, we're absolutely seeing that with, with our techs. I mean, I've had positions open for, for months and struggling to hire people and, and frankly, we just, there's not enough, young people going into trades. for generations we've been telling children, you need to go to college to get ahead.
[00:15:06] a lot of 'em have gone to college and, there's a huge opportunity to make a, a very good living in the trades if you, if you're willing to do it. my personal experience, I, I had my son, He, he told me he didn't wanna go to college. He's, almost 21. But I said, well then learn a trade.
[00:15:22] And so he got accepted into the electrical union as an apprentice. Yeah. and was making great money, not paying for school, you know, and, and, and he was enjoying it for, at first, and then it got to the point where he, he said, this is not for me, dad. I'm tired of getting yelled at and told that I don't know what I'm doing by these other guys that have been here for forever and didn't feel like it was a. The environment that he was going to get, the development that he wanted out of it, and, and ultimately self-selected outta that union apprenticeship program and, and is now in college. Not to say that he might not have landed there one way or another, but you know, it was a little frustrating to hear because,
[00:15:59] I took it a little personally of what are we doing with our techs if we're trying to bring somebody new on, making sure that they're getting the right experience, even though this was, had nothing to do with KinderCare, that this was just, you know, making sure that we're training and building people up in the right way so that they want to continue down this path.
[00:16:16] I think we're gonna continue to have a labor shortage.
[00:16:19] Sid Shetty: Yeah, I mean, how do we put our arms around this? Like how do we get more, of the younger generation to embrace the idea of joining the skilled trades. I have a lot of guests on the show and we talk about this a lot and everyone agrees that, one, there, there's, there's a real problem here.
[00:16:39] It's only gonna get worse, I think in the next five years, it's gonna be a massive amount of the trades, in a workforce that's gonna retire and not enough people to backfill that. And the rate at which the new generations entering into the space is not enough. So, something needs to happen because overall, like this is hurting the providers, because they don't have enough technicians.
[00:17:02] The ones that they do have, they have to keep. And so prices are going up, which is then affecting, the facilities teams because their budgets are going up.
[00:17:10] And so prices are going up, and people are like, that makes no sense. Well, yeah, it does. If you're in the space and you talk to enough people, so how do we, how do we embrace this? How do we, how do we change the narrative? How do we fix this?
[00:17:24] Mark Warren: I, I'm not sure that it's the, something that I can personally do, but I do believe that some of the high schools that took out a lot of the vocational programs, uh, I, I know. From experience. The high school that I went to, you know, many moons ago, took out a lot of the vocational programs. And, and so when you're not able to expose students to things like that while they're in the, in that point in their life where they're still trying to figure out what they want to do, I think that we're failing.
[00:17:52] if we don't do that. the problem is going to continue. The only other thought I've ever had on this topic is how are you working with different community colleges or other things and making sure other educational institutions to come up with, trade schools.
[00:18:06] they already exist and they're just not getting the applicants, I assume. It's a tough problem that the, that the country is going to have to acknowledge at some point.
[00:18:15] Sid Shetty: Yeah. What about, you know, the supply chain shortages and, and issues that exist today? I mean, that's something which started kind of during Covid and, the world's kinda moved on from Covid, but it's not like the supply chain issues have, have been resolved. maybe they've gotten slightly better, but nowhere close to gone away, you know? how are you facing, you know, some of the repercussions of that disruption and how do you kind of get around it?
[00:18:42] Mark Warren: it's tough, but we're, we're seeing improvements in a lot of the supply chain, but, air conditioning still seems to be one that, is lagging behind a little bit. I had a project, uh, that we, we were working on that we were ready to open, or start setting up and we're missing two five ton air conditioning units because they're the manufacturings behind.
[00:19:03] So one of the things we've done on the new side or new center side is we're ordering equipment basically when we start construction. that way by the time, and we'll store it on site if we have to. we can't risk the delays. and so things like, playgrounds, playground manufacturing can take a bit of time and getting all that out there.
[00:19:21] And then, then you have risks of weather, can't put it in the ground when it's frozen. And so trying to do a little bit of timing with that. But I, I do know that we're still continuing to struggle. The bigger challenge though is when we don't have that inventory or stock of those five ton units or, some of these smaller ones, when I need a replacement unit, that's when on an existing site, that's where it gets real tough.
[00:19:44] a lot of times we're having to get temporary coolers, and it's incredibly inefficient and it doesn't work as well. But we can, we can limp things along until we can get a new unit, you know, sometimes four or six weeks from now. it is a real problem though.
[00:19:58] Sid Shetty: Yeah, I mean, we are hearing, it could be weeks, but even months, right, to get a new unit. It's, it's pretty crazy out there. You have techs, you have trucks. So are you deploying any interesting strategies around building a, like a larger inventory or, buying parts and supplies that, you know, at some point you will use?
[00:20:17] how do you, uh, leverage the model that you have to do things that maybe most other retailers who don't have internal techs have the ability to do?
[00:20:28] Mark Warren: Yeah, all of our techs have a, a truck stock, where they carry the, the commonly replaced parts so that we can do things andwe also have a online web system that we can order anything that they don't stock.
[00:20:40] And part of the reason for that is the KinderCare Learning Companies as a whole is made up of about 95 acquisitions. There's not a lot of consistency in the actual parts that are being used. Because they're a smaller center, we're not looking for necessarily the largest commercial grade water heater.
[00:20:59] In some cases we're able to go to local, home Depot or Lowe's and pick up a, water heater and get it installed the same day. So we're managing, but some of the specialty stuff is a little bit more challenging, I believe there's only one manufacturer for those tiny toilets now.
[00:21:13] So when you can't go to, uh, you, you have no alternate. So if there is no inventory, you can't, it's not like I can switch from, a carrier to a train or to a Lennox unit. It, it then an air conditioning, you're sort of limited on your options when, with some of those parts.
[00:21:27] Sid Shetty: What are your thoughts on some of the interesting technologies that are coming out and it, you know, It might not apply directly to, to childcare, there's interesting things happening with robotics and AI and
[00:21:40] I'm having some really great conversations with a lot of people around what is being tested out there. Maybe you are thinking about things with your teams, in different departments about how you could leverage those technologies. But what are your thoughts on what the next five, seven years look like?
[00:21:57] Mark Warren: Well, for our business, uh, I I don't think that, anybody's gonna build a robot that can change a diaper.
[00:22:02] Sid Shetty: Yeah, yeah,
[00:22:04] Mark Warren: And nor do I think we want that, uh, uh, but the, the, so our automation is, is probably not going to evolve the way Restaurant or retail is going to evolve and, and the, at least the way I see it. I think they'll see some evolution in certain building technologies like the energy management systems or other things that are using more AI based, to gather at outdoor weather data and, you know, try and time when to turn units on and, and things like that.
[00:22:35] But I, I don't see a significant change. Ironically, this is exactly one of the reasons why I liked the idea of coming to KinderCare when I made that decision, because internet sales were, this is back in 2016, internet sales were going up in every major retailer. And my perspective was, well, how much are they gonna need brick and mortar?
[00:22:54] And this has even come up on some of your other podcasts that I've listened to. so I thought, KinderCare, that you, you can't, outsources it, it can't be done online. The physical building has to be there and they have to go to it. So there's no way that you can do this over the internet. So it felt like a great move to me. Now, clearly I was wrong, uh, that the internet sales are still, you know, have, have not gotten to a place where they're closing, brick and mortar like crazy. But, at the time I thought, uh, you know, this is, this is internet proof. It's Amazon proof.
[00:23:26] Sid Shetty: Yeah, no, for, for sure. Brick and mortar is here to stay. It might, might be evolving. Uh, it definitely is evolving, but, the great part of the conversations we're having is we're seeing all these leaders from different, businesses and industries come on and, and talk about how in their own respective companies new things are being tested out to change the customer experience. to change the brand experience, to elevate the brand experience.
[00:23:51] And so, It's really fascinating. It's, we're at a point where I think we're gonna see a lot of new things being tested out. Some will work, some won't. But I think transformational next five to 10 years. No, no doubt. When you look at the future, of KinderCare and growth. what does growth look like?
[00:24:10] Are you, do you always acquire, like local or regional, childcare providers or, is the goal to be in all 50 states? what does it look like and, and what role does your team play in that?
[00:24:23] Mark Warren: So we continue to add new centers through, ground up builds, as well as acquisitions. so there's a, a number of sites coming on a, a year, and so we're gonna continue to grow year over year. We've done a lot of work around where are the opportunities as we go forward? Um, I, I'm not sure, we'll make it to all 50 states, only because it's tough in some markets.
[00:24:45] Uh, you know, you'll,You hear a lot in the news about childcare deserts and some of those markets are more challenging because the financials are, are difficult because. the tuition rates that a family can afford to pay are, are substantially lower than what it costs for us to build a building. So it becomes very difficult for us to go into some of those markets, but we're gonna continue to grow, year over year.
[00:25:08] Sid Shetty: Do you get any incentives to come into markets that maybe there's, there's a lack of, service providers, from like state and local governments. Do they welcome you with open arms? How, how does that business work?
[00:25:20] Mark Warren: In, in some cases they do. They're looking at how do we get creative about bringing child to care to our community. a government relations teams that, that actually does a great job working with different municipalities and, local, state and federal leaders to try and figure out how do we help solve this problem because, One, one of the things we do know is without people having childcare, they can't go to work.
[00:25:43] And so if you want workers in your workforce to show up, you need to have childcare. And so this, there's this, conundrum that is, that is difficult to solve. So, number of states have issued application or grants for building childcare locations and, and other things. So, a lot of that money was coming from CARES Act.
[00:26:01] or various other, other things. And so, it'll be interesting to see how that evolves over time, but I know that there's a lot of work going on from a government relations standpoint to try and figure out how do we help serve those families.
[00:26:13] Sid Shetty: What is like the next frontier, like in your mind of, of the space?what is, what do you think will make brands stand out, like in, in your business?
[00:26:24] Because if you look at other businesses, consumers expect that the brands that they're loyal to stand for something, right? It's not just, Hey, you have a great brand and that's enough. Now, today, like you need to stand for something. You need to be sustainable. You need to do the right thing.
[00:26:44] and that makes your consumers, uh, more loyal. How is it like in your business? What are you looking at? What are your leaders looking at, you know, five years from now, what's gonna be important to, the average consumer?
[00:26:57] Mark Warren: Over the next five years, I think that sustainability is gonna continue to be a focus, for us because we continue to hear that from parents and family.
[00:27:05] And let's be honest, it's the right thing to do, to save energy and reduce water usage. Um,
[00:27:11] Whether you believe in climate change or not, saving water, saving energy, saving money is, is good. There's no harm that can come from that. And so we, our families see that. it tends to be, something that I think we'll continue to focus on,
[00:27:24]
[00:27:24] Sid Shetty: No, that makes a lot of sense. I mean, if you look at your spaces, there's a lot of opportunity for you to do things that. Know, contribute to your company's ESG goals. right? I mean, has KinderCare set any kind of ESG targets? And what would you do like in the next few years to, to help towards those goals?
[00:27:45] Mark Warren: So we started back in 2016 dipping our toe in the water with some energy management systems and some e d lighting. but we didn't really have a formal process and so we've actually brought in a leader to oversee, sustainability as well as diversity, equity, and inclusion.
[00:28:01] And so there's a lot of work going on in both those firms. So that we can make sure that we're meeting the needs of not only our employees, but also exactly what you're asking about with the, the families, because they want that too. But I know the sustainability specifically the journey that we're on, on that, we just recently partnered with a company to help us, uh, prioritize where we, where our spending is because, you know, we, we've done the low hanging fruit when it comes to water and l e d lighting. But where should we really be focusing? Is, is it, is it solar? should we be looking at, some other, technology for cooling our, our spaces?
[00:28:38] I, I don't know what it is, but, um, we're definitely headed down that path.
[00:28:42] Sid Shetty: That's great. And when you look at the future, is there any particular trends or technologies, or movements that excite you? Like putting your KinderCare hat aside and just a leader in our space? what gets you going? What are you excited about, for the next few years?
[00:28:58] Mark Warren: I'm kind of excited to see where this AI stuff can take us. I don't know exactly where it's gonna go, but like, how can we leverage some of that for, for certain things. Is that possible for it to help figure out what is the, you know, ideal preventative maintenance program like, or, after this many cycle times, we know something's gonna fail.
[00:29:17] I, I don't know, but I, I'm, I'm curious where that is going to take us.
[00:29:21] Sid Shetty: Yeah. You know for sure. I mean, if you look at my kids and how they interact with their iPad, I feel dumb, you know, uh, just with an iPad because I don't know where to click, and they're, they're at it. Like my, my two and a half year old knows exactly what to do, uh, on an iPad, and it's pretty phenomenal.
[00:29:39] I think at some point, even, even in childcare, it's gonna be a lot of like digital experiences that are, are going to show up because the kids are kind of gonna demand it. Don't you think
[00:29:53] Mark Warren: Yeah, it, it'll be interesting, right? One of the things we've done historically, is. Tried to avoid having a lot of technology in our centers. And the reason being is exactly what you're describing. Your kids probably get enough screen time at home. So let's get 'em off, let's get 'em off the screen in our building.
[00:30:10] a few years back, we rolled out some iPads to, uh, our centers. And it's been a really cool thing because we have a, a KinderCare app that we can actually, take a quick picture of your child and send it to the parent and you can get your daily, sheet of, this is what little Johnny did today, um, all through the app, which has been a great tool for communication with our families.
[00:30:32] We have a whole education team that does a wonderful work. there will probably be some evolution, but I don't know exactly what that'll be at this point.
[00:30:40] Sid Shetty: That's awesome. Well, with that, mark, I just wanna say a huge thank you. Honestly, without childcare services, I think a lot of the parents would not be able to do what they do. Uh, and also there's a huge contribution, like you mentioned, in a child's growth and evolution.
[00:30:56] So we are really thankful for, for businesses like KinderCare, that exist, that help with our children's development. So thank you for that as well. And again, thank you for being on the show. Mark, can you share with our audience where they can find you?
[00:31:11] Mark Warren: LinkedIn. I'm not a big social media person, so that's about the only place I have an online presence.
[00:31:17] Sid Shetty: Got it. Sounds good. Well Mark, I really enjoyed this conversation. Thank you for taking the time. It's truly appreciated and I hope to see you soon.
[00:31:25] Mark Warren: All right. Thank you, Sid. Appreciate it.