Danica & Megan from the recent APNA Conference in Charlotte, NC
The relationships behind 25 years in business
When I look back over 25 years of business ownership, I can point to the milestones. Starting Preferred ChildCare, navigating difficult seasons, growing a team, building a consulting business, and working with agency owners around the world.
But when I think about what shaped me most, it isn't the milestones.
It's the people.
A conversation in a kitchen when I was 17. A crying baby at a swimming pool. An employee who thought I was Superwoman. And the agency owners who came to me looking for guidance, never realizing how much they would teach me in return.
None of these moments seemed extraordinary at the time. Decades later, they're the ones that stay with me.
A Conversation in a Kitchen
I was 17 years old when a conversation in someone's kitchen changed the direction of my life.
Lee and Ellen were one of my regular babysitting families. I adored their children, but what I appreciated most was how they always took time to talk with me when they came home from an evening out.
Lee was a successful attorney, and I can still picture him standing in the kitchen, practicing his golf swing while asking about my life.
One evening, he asked how many girls I was "farming out" to other families.
I casually answered, "Oh, I don't know, maybe 25 or 30."
He suggested I consider starting a business.
A business?
I was a teenager who loved children, knew a lot of families, and had become the person people called when they needed a sitter. I wasn't dreaming about becoming an entrepreneur.
But Lee saw something I hadn't recognized yet.
And he didn't just encourage me. He helped me make it happen.
My grandfather had left me $1,000 in his will, and I used it to hire Lee to incorporate my business and write my first contracts. Contracts I still use versions of today!
Looking back, that conversation could so easily have never happened. He could have paid the babysitter and gone to bed.
Instead, he asked questions. He listened. He saw potential.
And he said something.
I sometimes wonder whether Lee realizes how much that conversation changed my life.
Sometimes someone else sees what's possible for us before we can see it ourselves.
A Crying Baby at a Swimming Pool
Around that same time, another family entered my life. I didn't know it then, but they would influence far more than my business. They would help shape the kind of mother I hoped to become.
I met Caroline at a swimming pool while caring for two children on a swim team. Her newborn daughter, Stephanie, was in her carrier on the bleachers and started crying, so I went over to comfort her.
Caroline noticed, and we started talking. When she learned I also provided overnight care, she booked me for the following weekend.
Caroline, her husband Duncan, and their three children became one of my favorite families. I traveled with them, cared for the children while they were away, and experienced so many firsts through that relationship.
But what I remember most is how much I loved those children.
Caroline was the kind of mother I admired. Structured and consistent, but also incredibly loving and encouraging. She nurtured each child's personality and passions, and those kids were genuinely the best of friends.
I remember thinking I wanted a family like that someday.
And then there was little Stephanie. Oh, how I loved that girl.
Caroline once told me she'd asked her children who their favorite babysitter was. Her oldest son, Duncan, chose me.
When she asked why, he said, "Because she makes Stephanie so happy."
Even now, that brings tears to my eyes.
Stephanie was the first child who helped me realize how much I loved babies. I went on to have four children of my own.
Years later, Stephanie was one of the flower girls in my wedding.
The other flower girl? Anna, Lee and Ellen's daughter.
Two little girls from the families who shaped the earliest years of my journey, standing beside me on my wedding day. I still get emotional thinking about it.
Stephanie is grown now, building a wonderful career of her own, and we're still connected.
But there's another piece to Caroline's story.
Like many families, she had several sitters she would call when she needed childcare. One day, frustrated because I was already booked, she told me she wished she had one phone number she could call and be guaranteed a sitter.
Lee had already planted the idea of a business.
Caroline had just described it.
And I remember thinking, I can do that!
In many ways, that was the moment Preferred ChildCare began.
Sometimes the families we care for don't just shape our careers. They shape our dreams, too.
The Employee Who Thought I Was Superwoman
Not everyone who shaped my journey did it through encouragement or opportunity. Some people helped me see things about myself I hadn't recognized.
I had an employee I absolutely adored. She was smart, capable, and had such a strong work ethic that I affectionately called her my protégé.
One day, at the beginning of a very difficult divorce, she saw me crying in my office.
I'll never forget what she said.
"I thought you were Superwoman. I thought you were the strongest woman in the world until I saw you cry."
She was genuinely shocked.
And honestly? So was I.
Not because she'd seen me cry, but because I had no idea that was how she saw me.
I certainly didn't feel like Superwoman. I was a mom, a business owner, a leader, and a woman navigating some incredibly hard things in my personal life.
Yet somewhere along the way, I'd created an image of someone who always had it together. I was wearing a mask I didn't even realize I had on.
The mask that says you're fine. That you have all the answers. That you're strong enough to carry whatever life throws at you.
And I realized I didn't want to be that person. I didn't want my team to think leadership meant being perfect. I wanted them to know the real me.
That doesn't mean sharing every personal challenge with employees or clients. There's still a place for boundaries and discretion.
But it does mean being comfortable saying things like:
"I'm working on this."
"I'm praying about that."
"I feel good about this direction, but I'd love your perspective."
To me, leadership means knowing when to ask for help, listening to people whose opinions you value, making the best decisions you can, and owning it when you get something wrong.
And goodness, some days my best might only be 60%. That's life.
I think so many women, especially business owners, wear that same mask. And sometimes we don't even realize how heavy that mask has become until we finally take it off. It can feel like losing 50 pounds overnight.
That employee probably had no idea how much her words would stay with me.
I didn't need to become a different person to be a better leader. I needed to become more comfortable being the person I already was.
The Agency Owners Who Changed My Perspective
When I started Megan Metzger Consulting, I wanted to share what I'd learned building Preferred ChildCare. I knew firsthand how hard agency ownership could be, and I wanted other owners to have the guidance and encouragement that make the journey less overwhelming.
I'm my clients' cheerleader, their confidant, and sometimes the person who has to have the difficult conversation they've been avoiding. And if you've ever been on a coaching call with me, you know I'm not shy about sharing what we've tried at PCC, what worked, what didn't, and the occasional decision I wish I'd made differently!
But here's what I don't say often enough.
My clients teach me just as much as I teach them.
I think about Jen.
She came to me newly pregnant and worried about how she could possibly step away from her agency when her baby arrived. Her business depended so heavily on her that maternity leave felt almost impossible.
But she was willing to make changes. We talked weekly, and she trusted me enough to put in the work. She built systems, empowered her team, and created a business that didn't need her in every decision.
She hoped for six weeks of maternity leave.
She took six months. Six months of paid leave with her baby.
And her business kept growing.
What made that so meaningful wasn't that it proved coaching works. It was what that time meant for Jen and her family. Watching someone change not just how they run their business, but how they get to live their life, is an incredible privilege.
Then there's Amy.
Amy worked hard to build a business that gave her more freedom. Eventually, she and her husband were traveling full-time in an RV with their three children.
Amy has shared how much our work together meant to her. But watching her embrace those adventures inspired me. She reminded me that the people we love and the memories we make deserve just as much attention as the businesses we're building.
Her journey changed how I looked at my own time with my children.
A woman I had been helping was inspiring me right back. And that happens more often than people might realize.
Consulting has never been simply about giving advice. For me, it's about relationships. Believing in people, celebrating their wins, supporting them through the hard seasons, and learning right alongside them.
The people who come to us looking for guidance often end up teaching us things we never expected to learn.
The People Who Shape the Business We Become
As business owners, we spend an extraordinary amount of time on strategy. Revenue goals. Operations. Marketing. Hiring. Systems. Growth.
All of that matters.
But how often do we think about the people shaping the business owners we're becoming?
Not every relationship lasts forever, and not every experience is positive. But that doesn't mean those relationships haven't shaped us.
After 25 years, I can tell you the people I've encountered have shaped far more than my business decisions. They've influenced how I lead, how I serve, what I value, how I parent, and how I define success.
And these are only a few of the stories. Some of those people I still talk with regularly. Some I haven't seen in years. And some probably have no idea how much they mattered.
And I can't reflect on the people who shaped PCC without thinking about our caregivers.
The incredible people who have represented PCC in families' homes, built relationships, earned trust, and shaped the agency's reputation.
I may have started the business, but goodness, I certainly didn't build it alone.
So this month, I want to encourage you to think about the relationships that have shaped your own journey.
The person who saw something in you that you hadn't recognized.
The family who gave you an opportunity.
The employee who challenged you.
The caregiver who helped build your agency's reputation.
The agency owner who became a friend.
And the people who reminded you there's a whole life to enjoy outside the business you're working so hard to build.
Who has helped shape the business owner you are today?
And perhaps an even more meaningful question:
Whose story are you helping shape without even realizing it?
As I reflect on these 25 years, I'm convinced one of the greatest gifts of building a business isn't what we accomplish.
It's the people whose lives become intertwined with ours along the way.
And for that, I am so grateful.
These are the kinds of conversations I love having inside ARISE. Real stories, shared experiences, and relationships with agency owners who understand the journey.
If you're looking for people who truly get what it means to build and lead an agency, I would love for you to join us.
Megan Metzger is the founder of Preferred ChildCare and Megan Metzger Consulting, where she helps agency owners build stronger, more sustainable businesses. Through ARISE, she brings agency owners together for meaningful conversations, professional development, and community.
