Meet Racheal Flanagan | Visionary at The Joyful Jungle Christian Learning Centers

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

Hi Racheal, what role has risk played in your life or career?
In my world of Early Childhood, it has always been clear that children need to take healthy risks to grow. As an educator we are always working on what we call “Aha moments” These are moments when a student has been working on a new skill and it clicks. It is our job as educators to give children opportunities to push beyond their comfort zone to grow and sometimes that involves failure knowing at some point there will be success. The same is true for leadership. When I began The Joyful Jungle, I had a huge vision, it had been my dream for years. My husband and I had a comfortable life, I worked from home with an in home childcare and he had a corporate job. We could have stayed status quo. When the opportunity arose, I jumped in feet first. The thing is, while I did think of the short comings, I didn’t see the pitfalls. I worried about not being able to pay my rent or salaries but that just pushed me to work harder, to bring new kids into our schools. Every day I take risks, from bringing in new teachers, to deciding when the best time to grow is. If I had to define what risk really means to me and my career I would call it opportunity.

Can you give our readers an introduction to your business? Maybe you can share a bit about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
The Joyful Jungle Christian Learning Center provides quality Christian early education.

Our name says it all, I am most proud of getting to live out the vision God laid before me when I was young and didn’t even know I wanted to work with children let alone in an early childhood setting. Every single day, I get to talk about Jesus, learn about Him and share that love of Christ with children and adults. It is a passion of our team to spread God’s love from our children, through our educators, and into homes in the Metro Detroit area. Every day I get to walk into classrooms and eat pretend food, sing songs(even if it doesn’t sound great to you or me the children never complain), and read stories. I get to create a passion for learning that will follow children from infancy through their whole lives. How cool is that!?!

As a business owner, you do not get to four schools and a recreation studio by yourself. I have a team of wonderful, passionate people who push me every day. It is my pleasure to see young adults grow in their teaching and leadership abilities. If I have learned anything while growing my business it is that there is talent all around me. There is not age limit to leadership so the possibilities are endless. Nothing is more exciting then to see a young talent come into one of our buildings to work as a “job” and before they know it there is an understanding that early childhood will be a career. It is and has always been my personal mission to give to others so I can leave them better than I found them and it is so fulfilling.

Business is tough too. I have heard over the years, “Don’t take it personally”. That statement is so unfair! This was MY dream, my vision. I am fulfilling God’s work. How could I not take it personally? In the childcare industry, we are responsible for tiny humans. We are molding them and shaping their future giving parents peace of mind while working. When we make a mistake, or we have a business low I lean heavily on my support system. As a leadership team, we look at every single situation and find ways to improve. I will also look deeper, one of the best ways I find to overcome any challenge I face is to look for the good. I look to the teacher who just completed a degree, a child who is beginning to walk, or writing their names. I look at our leadership team and what they have accomplished. I look back on the past experiences and relationships that have been built throughout the years.

When I was a new business owner, I had to do it all myself. I was in the middle of every event, activity, in classrooms, no one made a decision without my approval. It was exhausting. I did this for at least the first 8 years in business. I rarely took vacations and if I did I would call and check in hourly. It drove our managers nuts and probably drove some out the door. Then I got cancer. I didn’t have a choice but to stop. In that time, I learned that there were other talents and leaders out there. I was able to let go. Now, I trust the educators and leadership to make good decisions, to love children and support families. It’s okay to fuel the vision and watch it grow.

The Joyful Jungle Christian Learning Centers is driven by Faith to grow people and their families. We find joy in our day through fun with impromptu dance parties, lively classroom activities and playing on the playground. We support our families and team by celebrating their victories. We believe being part of the family is vital to successful school/home relationships. But most importantly we do all of this as a commitment to teaching children about Jesus.

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.
I LOVE to show people a good time! Day 1 would be a trip to my schools. I want them to be able to see all of the work that I have done and celebrate it with me. Who wouldn’t love seeing babies? Then there is lunch across from our Madison Heights location. It is this quaintly little Italian restaurant Salvatore Scallopini’s. The service is excellent, the food is delicious and you can not beat a cannoli and cup of coffee for dessert. We would meet some friends for a drink downtown and dinner at Lily’s Seafood. Other must haves would have to be a trip to Detroit. We would check out the stadiums, visit the riverfront and the DIA, dinner at Seva Detroit and dessert at For the Love of Sugar. My family loves theater so we would for sure plan a show at the beautiful Fisher building. Look into a nature trail at one of the Oakland County parks and have a game night at home with Green Lantern pizza.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
There are so many people over the years who have pushed and encouraged me to be the best version of myself but there is one who also allows me to be my true self and that is Rhonda Bohannon. Thank you for being there for all of the big stuff, but also being around for the little things. You are an inspiration to many and I am honored to be one.

Website: https://www.joyfuljungle.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thejoyfuljungleclc/

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/racheal-flanagan-69292683/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheJoyfulJungleCLC/