her inspiration Building Blocks
Little School is recognised as one of the top preschools in New Zealand and now its founder, Maria Johnson has been awarded the Greater Wellington Her Businesswoman of the Year 2012.
MarIa JohnSon MoveD To Wellington after training as a primary school teacher at Hamilton Teachers College and completed a Bachelor of education at Waikato university in 1989 While living in Sydney, Maria
experienced the pre-school education system there and both her and husband, Craig felt there was a huge need for quality education in Wellington. "In the Australian system there is more structure within the day, which is what we've tried to establish in the Little School curriculum," she explains.
The Johnsons mortgaged their home
to self-fund the business and within the first year the money was rolling in. Little School in Khandallah doubled its roll and built a waiting list of 75 children. Today the business consists of four schools in Wellington that educates more than 180 children. "Owning four preschools is exciting and
challenging," Maria says. "Each new centre was a gamble to open and luckily each has been a success. I enjoy my journey as a leader and am passionate about teaching and keeping up with the latest research
Maria's tips on establishing a successful business model
Believe in yourself and your vision
Have supportive people around you that can give
you a hug when the going gets tough or provide a
well earned glass of wine Maintain your values. Don't forget who you are there for Listen
Delegate 44 | February/March 2012 | HER MAGAZINE
Make your team feel valued and appreciated
Leverage your team's strengths Take time to establish relationships
Gain the trust of your team Give clear goals
Always re-direct and praise Accentuate the positive Enforce core values
and ideas in education, and bringing this into the Little Schools." Maria admits the hardest thing about
starting her business was going into the unknown. "Nine years ago when I started there
weren't a lot of early childhood educational centres around. It was difficult because I had two three-year-olds, a five and a seven- year-old at home. Having young children and working very long hours is a recipe for stress. "Also, I wasn't trained in early childhood
education when I first started, which did attract some criticism. There were some people watching and waiting for me to fail."
