September 2025 Education & Childcare Grant Awarded to Child’s Play School

Video Transcript

Marcia: Welcome to a chat today with our business-specific grant winner for September 2025, Kaamil Bey Isles of Child’s Play School. In September, the business-specific category was education and childcare. I’m Marcia Layton Turner. I’m one of several advisory board members and I have the pleasure of learning about our fantastic winners. So, thank you, Kaamil, for giving me your time today. I really appreciate it, and I know everybody’s going to be excited to hear about your businesses.

How about if you tell everyone a little about your company, where the idea came from, and how it’s going so far? 

Kaamil: Thank you. Child’s Play is an all-inclusive, play-based family childcare program, serving infants, toddlers, and preschoolers. We blend caregiving with joyful, developmentally rich learning, so children thrive, families feel supported, and teachers are valued as professionals. 

The idea grew from both passion and personal experience. I always dreamed of creating a school, and my path took me through many roles: middle school math teacher, principal, nonprofit operations director, and entrepreneur. But it was also, as a mom, when my own sons were expelled from daycare for developmentally typical behaviors that the vision became urgent. 

Child’s Play School is the intersection of my worlds—the educator, the leader, the innovator, and the mom coming together to reimagine what childcare can be.

Marcia: Fantastic. And where are you based, Kaamil?

Kaamil: We are in Oakland, California.

Marcia: Let’s talk a little bit now about any local or national resources that you found really helpful in moving your business forward? Was there any resource you might recommend to WomensNet members?

Kaamil: I would say to start, I leaned heavily on my professional and personal background. My MBA in social entrepreneurship gave me the business foundation. And then my years as an educator and principal gave me the educational lens. 

Collaborating with Wonderschool in my first two years was invaluable. They provided business coaching, guided me through the licensing process, supported the design and setup of my space, and established the initial infrastructure to launch. And then from there, I built outward. 

I worked with a graphic designer on Fiverr to create a clear, inviting website and then also partnered with Brightwheel to simplify tuition, admissions, curriculum, and family communication. And then there’s the perspective of being a working mom. That’s the spirit in which I created Child’s Play to meet the needs of both children and families. What continues to carry me forward is my entrepreneurial spirit and a constant drive to make things better. In many ways, tools help me launch, and it’s the drive to improve and innovate that kind of keep moving us forward.

Marcia: And you mentioned Wonderschool. That’s not a name I’ve heard. Is it a support system for schools?

Kaamil: Yes. It’s an organization that helps people launch their own family childcare program. And so whether you’re in a home or in an apartment, they help… It’s a two-year partnership, and they really help provide you the infrastructure and guidance to, kind of, get you off the ground. And then beyond those two years, you can decide if you’d like to stay with Wonderschool. They certainly can help amplify your voice, or if you want to, kind of go out on your own. And for me, those two years were invaluable, and I certainly felt ready after those two years to go out on my own and do my own thing.

Marcia: Fantastic. Thank you.

Marketing is so important for small businesses; it can be such a critical piece or launching pad for your success. Were there any particular marketing strategies or tactics that you’ve used that you found have worked really well for your business, Kaamil? 

Kaamil: So far, word of mouth has been our strongest tool. When families feel supported here, they naturally share their experiences with friends, and neighbors, and coworkers, and that sort of trust is priceless. 

We’ve built on it by including parent testimonials on our website and encouraging families to cross-post reviews on platforms like Google, Berkeley Parents Network, and Winnie. Having a professional website was also a really big differentiator. Not many family childcare programs have one, let alone one that’s information-rich and paired with a promotional video. That video still captures the energy, ethos, and joy of our program.

Looking ahead, I want to share more of our story, highlighting teacher voices, parent testimonials, and everyday learning moments on social media, which I’m still learning and partnering with local parent groups. For us, marketing isn’t about ads. It’s really about storytelling and building authentic community connections. We can’t grow in size, but we can certainly grow in influence by showing what high-quality childcare can look like.

Marcia: To wrap-up, what’s one thing that the WomensNet community can do to show support for your business? 

Kaamil: The WomensNet community can support Child’s Play by helping amplify our story. Sharing our mission on social media or with families who are looking for nurturing care can make a real difference. Beyond visibility, encouragement and connection are powerful. Introductions to like-minded educators, business mentors, or even parents searching for programs aligned with our values, every connection really strengthens our ability to grow and influence, even if we can’t grow in size. And of course, votes for the year-end Amber Grant help us take the next big step and creating an even richer learning environment for children and families. So, votes, shares, and introductions are really more than support. They’re fuel for a movement to reimagine what childcare can be.

Marcia: Amazing. Thank you so much for sharing your story with us, and congratulations again on being one of our September grant winners.