Lynsey Colgan admits she wasn’t born with the entrepreneurial spirit. “While in college I never would have pictured myself running two successful businesses,” she said in her 40 Under Forty application. “I assumed I would be a middle or high school English teacher for the rest of my life.”
But Colgan in fact has started and continues to run an early childhood school with two locations and annual revenue of $1.6 million.
How did she get the gumption? She says it was her husband, Jay.
“My husband is always shooting for the stars,” she said. “He is a continuous source of encouragement to never stop and to always take our success one step further. My husband’s entrepreneurial spirit was like a wave of energy that pulled me into this entire new dimension of life.”
Colgan founded A Safer Start Child University in Cranston in 2002, leaving a public school teaching position. Two years later, she opened a second location in Lincoln and within six months both schools had full enrollment.
Now Colgan oversees a staff of 50 employees and five managers between the two locations, handles hiring, manages tuition payments and guides teacher training.
But she also gives credit where it’s due. She said her husband and her two children have been inspirational, and the school’s teachers have been the schools’ strength.
“We pay our teachers more than other schools in this field, contribute high amounts to their health insurance, provide catered lunches, massages, baked goods, and I try to compliment everyone I come into contact with each day,” she said. “I feel my greatest skill is to make others realize how special they truly are.”
A Safer Start Child University received accreditation from the National Association for the Education of Young Children, scoring 100 percent in nearly every category. There is now a waiting list at both locations. •
