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From: News and Views | BizNews | Therese Pow likes sharing, but not when her clients share their green grapes and raisins. "Bad habit. Bad habit," cooed the 35-year-old businesswoman. "And why is sharing food a bad habit?" she asked sweetly. "Gerrrrrrrms!," gushed five tiny voices that broke into a round of giggles. Pow — her clients call her Ms. Pow — is the founder and director of Happy Days Group Family Day Care in the South Bronx. As the snow fell outside her spacious two-family house, she led five preschool children in the Pledge of Allegiance, a round of show-and-tell, a very basic science lesson and a group nap. "The more activities we do, the more interesting my job becomes," Pow said. Pow founded Happy Days three years ago soon after the birth of her second child, Dominique. Before owning her own business, the Jamaican-born immigrant held a variety of jobs in pharmacy science, social work, real estate and even cake baking. She said once she had two children of her own — her son Ian is 6 — she knew her calling was child care. "I realized I could never be happy going back to a past job," she said. "All I wanted to do was work with kids." In early 1997, Pow called the Department of Health to start her licensing process. That May, she opened her first site on the ground floor of her parents' Bronx house. It took all of her savings to get up and running, about $10,000, but Pow said she made it all back within six months. "On the first day I had four kids. By the end of the week, I had a waiting list," she said. During the summer of 1997, Pow linked up with a nearby training and support organization, the Women's Housing and Economic Development Corp. "They took me to a level where it seemed like I was in college again," Pow said. "I've taken classes with them on how to manage my taxes and improve my food program." After some initial training, Pow applied and was admitted to the economic development group's Family Day Care Network, which offers marketing support, help with legal and insurance issues and access to business loans and grants. Eight months after her business launch, Pow opened her second Happy Days site in the two front rooms of her home, now painted bright colors and sporting posters, artwork and toys. Today, Pow has two employees at each site and is licensed to care for a total of 24 kids. Her weekly fees range from $50 to $150 per child, depending on attendance, age and family income. Pow estimates that she pulls in about $60,000 a year. Diana Perez, coordinator of the Family Day Care Network, said Pow "represents what our expectation of professionalism is. She really understands the importance of her work and how to tap into every available resource." |
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