Exploring Life & Business with Veronica Cabello of Green Beginning Community Preschool, LLC

Today we’d like to introduce you to Veronica Cabello

Hi Veronica, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
I am a child of war. My family fled from Nicaragua in the late 70’s escaping political turmoil. It was a very rough time in our lives. We left what we held dear to come to the United States. My mother who was already a widow raised three children without speaking a word of English. I am the youngest of the three. The culture shock lasted a few years and the adaptation was difficult, but we endured the tough times with a lot of family support, encouragement, and love. My mother’s strength, dedication and hard work put all three of us through college. My mom used to say “the biggest riches I can give you is your education. You can lose everything, but not what you have cultivated in your head through knowledge”. And with that thought, I focused in obtaining my degrees. Since our brothers and I had to work while going to school to help our mom support the home, it took me a decade to obtain each of the degrees I hold, but I did it! My last degree was a master’s in early childhood education; and I am hoping it is not too late to start my doctorate sometime in the next couple of years. I knew by my 20’s that I wanted to have my own preschool at some point. Even before vision boards were a “thing” I had a vision board of my own. My vision board was more like a manila folder with catalog and magazine clippings of play spaces with little children engaged meaningfully with teachers and materials. Everything I did at a professional level was to be where I am now. Staying focused with the goal of having my own school finally paid off and in my 40’s I founded Green Beginning Community Preschool (GBCP) in 2010.

The name of the school was given with the ideal in mind to start a green movement at the early childhood level. Shedding light and the importance of adopting a “green” vision embraced in “community” was key. Back in 2010 very few schools practiced sustainability and nature play based education. Fast forward 15 years, many more preschools, elementary schools, and higher-level institutions are adopting green practices and developing green spaces for students. It is gratifying for me to see this change in our educational system. There seems to be more awareness of how we need to be more mindful of our carbon footprint on our planet and the role that nature plays in the mind, body and soul of children and people, in general.

I have been in the field of Early Childhood for over 35 years now and have worked with children of all ages from infants to college students. I used to work at Santa Monica College as a college professor teaching a practicum course as well. Currently, I just dedicate myself to operating the preschool but continue with my passion to work closely with children and families as a Parent Educator in our Parent and Me program.

Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
The challenges that I have faced in this journey have been many to say the least. In the beginning, the biggest challenge was funding. Since Green Beginning is a private institution and I was an entrepreneur, I was turned down by every bank when requesting a loan. I was not going to allow this hurdle to turn me away from my dreams, so I was forced to think creatively. First, I turned to my husband for support, and we refinanced our house. It was not an easy decision for my husband, but he had faith in me. He had witnessed my passion for my education; and I knew in my heart that I would succeed. That only took care of a portion of the investment. With no financial institution backing me up I turned to friends and family. I did a quick internet search to find out how much banks were paying in interest rates, and I wrote a letter to all the people I could think of proposing them to be angel investors and offered them a higher yield of return than their banks depending on how long they allowed me to keep their money. Then, I sat and waited. To this day I remember and get chills from the first phone called I received from a family member of my work partner, Keone Kealalio. His mother and father offered to be angel investors and gave a substantial loan. I cried. After that, I received many more phone calls and people who were really excited for me and supportive of my dream. As an entrepreneur, I wouldn’t advise to rely on this type of financial strategy, but it worked for me. I was able to pull the funds needed to upgrade a graffiti and bug infested building into an oasis for children surrounded by fruit trees and plenty of nature.

The latest challenge that is affecting preschools everywhere is the opening of the Transitional Kindergarten (TK) programs in some LAUSD schools. Lowering the public-school entry age and offering free education is wiping out some private preschools. We have seen a drop in enrollment for older preschoolers. However, our high-quality standards in caregiving, strong sense of community, and reputation have continued to sustain us. In response to this change, we are offering more Parent and Me classes and toddler classes.

Appreciate you sharing that. What should we know about Green Beginning Community Preschool, LLC?
I don’t consider my work, work. What I do is my calling for advocacy, for children, for families and the environment. I have been blessed with a life I have forged with strong held beliefs about children. Thanks to my warrior-spirited mother who raised her three children in a “no judgment” zone, when I set out to live my dream to have my own school, I knew that I needed a village to do just the same. Children do not raise themselves. When they are raised in a community with likeminded individuals, children thrive. Children, like nature, flourish when they have responsive and nurturing people around them. We welcome all types of families. In fact, our student population is made up of a little bit of everything, mixed races, cultures, religions, family structure, and socio-economic diversity. We strongly believe that by having a diverse environment that reflects the real world we are fostering tolerance, promoting acceptance and teaching children to embrace their humanity.

As far as our environmental work, we feel that being green is a way of life! Our life with the children involves sustainable practices, composting, recycling, gardening and teaching the children to care for the environment. We have earned several certifications and accolades, such as Outdoors Classroom Certification, Green Business, Outstanding Green Citizenship Award, Green People Green Planet Award and Wild Habitat Certification. I live a meaningful life with purpose surrounded by amazing and dedicated staff members who are like family willing to roll up their sleeves at any time for the love of children. Together with the community of parents who are our partners in education we make a mighty team. Now that we have been operating for nearly 15 years, we see our impact and the fruits of this lifelong journey.

My next goal is writing a book to promote our non-judgmental approach to education that will serve as a guide for caregivers, parents and educators.

Do you have any advice for those looking to network or find a mentor?
My advice is that no matter what field or profession you are in, there are always people that have walked that path before you. Therefore, finding someone who you find inspiring that you can learn from is important. For example, I am part of the selection committee of the California Early Childhood Mentor Program (CECMP). The mentor program supports a diverse workforce of private child care centers, Head Start Programs, family child care programs, and State Preschools. Since I am in the selection committee, I am blessed to be surrounded by an extensive network of dedicated and passionate educators and directors that I can reach out when I need support of any kind.

What has worked for me in life, in general, is building strong relationships with people. Being authentic and supportive of people has a boomerang effect. I have made life long friendships along my journey that I can count on. Always. So, if you are reading this, I hope this story helps you find your own tribe and inspires you to make your own dreams come true.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.greenbeginningpreschool.com/
• Instagram: green.beginning.preschool
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/greenbeginningpreschool/