Umbelina Cremer of Harmony, Minn., spends her days and normally, part of her evenings doing whatever she can to take care of the children who attend Harmony Kids Learning Center, which she owns with her husband, Steve, and where she works as the executive director.
Cremer has spent much of her life caring for youngsters, as she ran an in-home daycare for 25 years, which is a long time to be in any career, much less such exhausting work as being a daycare provider.
Cremer says, “One day I woke up and I said, ‘I need to go find who I am’” besides nurturing her family and everyone else. So 12 years ago, she set off in a new direction. She got her real estate license and was then offered a great job working as a loan officer for Wells Fargo, where she was employed for six years.
She then went to work at Three Rivers Community Action, helping people with low to moderate income purchase homes and get out of the renting system.
Cremer got tired of driving to Rochester and further for work each week, so she began working at Harmony Enterprises, which the Cremer’s own.
One day her husband mentioned to her how many problems they had with employees having to leave work due to daycare conflicts. He commented that it would be nice to have something where people could really depend on somebody being there to watch their kids.
As the wheels began turning, the two starting thinking about using a building they had purchased right next to Harmony Enterprises. The building was being used as a warehouse at the time.
Cremer says she “got excited” thinking about the possibility of having a daycare, as she has always loved spending time with and caring for children. Cremer says she thought, “It’s a good cause let’s give it a try,” and the process began in earnest.
The first step began in October of 2015 just trying to see if they could get loans – the financial part – and then they had a private investor who came along and helped them. That investor was “an amazing gift from God,” says Cremer.
Construction began on January 6, 2016 and Cremer says, “Five months later, we had a building with everything in it” and a license. Harmony Kids Learning Center opened on June 6, 2016.
With classrooms that spark the kids imaginations and focus on learning, each room specializes in different age groups and Cremer is there to oversee it all.
She is happy to be around children again, saying, “I just love kids,” and enjoys “a very playful, innocent world we can be part of” each day. Cremer loves to experience the children and “the joy of being kids” and she often finds herself coloring, painting, and reading stories.
Harmony Kids Learning Center can hold 46 kids plus up to 12 school-age children after school. The children range in age from six weeks to twelve-years-old.
“We have really good enrollment,” says Cremer, adding, “and we are growing every day,” with many pregnant women already getting their babies on the list to attend.
Cremer is proud to say, “The teachers we have are amazing,” and the children enjoy the time they spend with their teachers and with Cremer, who undoubtedly comes running anytime she hears even the slightest cry from a baby.
“We stay really busy with the kids – they play all day and learn all day,” states Cremer. But after the children’s fun is over, the work goes on for Cremer, as she cleans, sanitizes and prepares for the next day. She is at the center by 5:30 a.m., getting things up and running to open the doors at 6 a.m. and normally leaves between 7 and 8:30 p.m.
Cremer’s advice for other women who would like to own a business is “do your research” to get answers to your questions and to be on track of what you’re doing. Know what your costs will be and “have your finances in order,” she says. In her case, the state had so many regulations which increased the cost of the project.
Then you have to “submerse yourself” in the business, she says. “You gotta be married to it, you gotta love it, you gotta want it, because it’s a huge commitment,” states Cremer.
Harmony Kids Learning Center currently employs 14 people, as Cremer notes, “Not only are we working with the community to help with the childcare crisis that we had, but we also employ people, so that’s been really awesome” for everyone.
Cremer states, “It’s very rewarding to be a business owner – as a woman we also want to say ‘I did it’ and know ‘it can be done’ and done well. “It’s not just a man’s world – we can do it – we just have to work harder sometimes,” says Cremer.
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