Providing child care is essential, demanding work — especially in today’s high-stress environment. A recent training series aimed to give providers the tools they need to manage stress, avoid burnout, and continue delivering high-quality care for children and families throughout Northwest Minnesota.
Rise of the Resilient workshops, facilitated by Deb McGregor — a life coach, neurotransformational coach, and consultant with the Northwest Small Business Development Center — offer strategies for managing stress through the lens of neuroscience. The Northwest Minnesota Foundation (NMF) launched the trainings in 2022 to support small business owners, and since then, multiple sessions have been offered across the region and online.
Most recently, NMF partnered with First Children’s Finance to create a fully virtual version of the workshop tailored specifically for child care providers. McGregor led four sessions, giving participants flexible options to join at a time that worked best for them. In total, 37 providers participated.
To support engagement in the virtual format, McGregor and First Children’s Finance mailed out physical materials ahead of time — something participants would typically receive at an in-person session. The workshop is designed to be highly interactive, so having the tools in hand helped attendees fully participate.
“Neurotransformational coaching is combining research from neuroscience to specific coaching tools and techniques. Everything is research-based, including the fun and playful component to the workshops,” McGregor said. “Each workshop is interactive, dynamic, full of learning, connection and more. We explore questions and scenarios … and use the tools to sort through the thought-process, discover in the process and come up with a solution or strategy.”
Participants explored how the brain responds to stress, learned techniques for managing it, and reflected on how their mindset and emotions influence their reactions and choices. McGregor introduced the concept of “above” and “below the line” emotions and led conversations around how to recognize and shift perspectives.
“Our child care providers are running small businesses in a really tough environment, and NMF is happy to provide these sessions to help them manage stress and be the best providers they can be,” said Sarah Linda, senior program manager of the Community Revitalization program at NMF. “They are an integral part of the workforce ecosystem in Northwest Minnesota and across the nation. We need them to succeed.”
