Rising Stars: Meet Toni Poling of Findlay, Ohio

Today we’d like to introduce you to Toni Poling.

Toni, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
I’m a Findlay Ohio native and a 1990 graduate of The Ohio State University with a Bachelors degree in Secondary Education. I am a former high school teacher. I was married in 1990 and have a son and a daughter.

In 1998, I found myself a single Mom with two small children, wanting to open my own child care center so that I could be with my children and provide the type of child care and early education I wanted for them. A friend in the real estate business showed me an ideal property in my hometown of Findlay, Ohio. The property was $200,000 and I needed $40,000 to close the deal. I had $10,000 to my name. My real estate agent told me that he had an “anonymous investor” that wanted to assist in my start-up as a silent partner and they would invest $20,000 with terms. I borrowed another $10,000 from my Mom and went to closing. I was surprised that one of my childhood friends was the “silent partner” that made this dream possible. On that day, I very literally, gave my last dime betting on my own success. Failure was not an option and there was no back-up plan. I had two small children and I had to make it work.

The purchase of 801 E Lincoln Street happened in May of 1998. The bank wouldn’t give me a business loan at this time, but they would give me a mortgage to buy the property as my primary residence. My children and I moved in and made our home in one wing of the building. Almost Home was born as a small child care center in the other wing of this 5,000 square foot property on one acre of land. After renovations to bring the space up to code, we were open for business in August of 1998. I remember these days so vividly. I was the only employee: chief cook, educator, caregiver, janitor and maintenance man! I was working 6am to 6pm with the chldren and cooking, cleaning and mowing after hours. I had one child in attendance (besides my own) for 7 financially strapped weeks. Somehow, word finally started getting out about Almost Home and enrollment slowly started to rise.

At the end of 6 months, Almost Home was 50% full and I was hiring staff. At the end of the first year, Almost Home was at our maximum capacity of 30 children with a waiting list. At the end of 3 years, I bought out my silent investor according to terms. At the end of 5 years, I approached the bank for an expansion loan.
In 2003, the entire building was renovated to become a child care center serving 70 children. My children and I and my new husband moved into our own home.

Almost Home continued to garner an amazing reputation in the Findlay Community for quality, loving infant/toddler care and amazing preschool education!

In 2008, we renovated the 3 car-attached garage of the building to provide more preschool services.
Over the years, Almost Home has been recognized as a Highly Rated Child Care Center, Voted Findlay’s Favorite many times and I was honored with the Chamber of Commerce Business Woman of the Year.

In February of 2019, with a waiting list of over 400 children, Almost Home opened our second location in Findlay at 800 Canterbury Drive. Today, Almost Home serves a total of 130 children at two locations and employees 27 teachers, moms and college students. From the beginning, this has been a “Work of Heart”.

I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
LOL.
Absolutely not.
In the very early years, money was very, very tight. I had never mowed a lawn in my life and now I had an acre of property to care for! I learned how to mow for sure and bought my first riding mower. I learned to do some maintenance myself too: I can now do minor plumbing repairs and hang a new ceiling fan! #LifeSkills
In the first few years, before Almost Home had a reputation, I would print flyers and my children, nieces and nephews would help me put them on car windows in church parking lots and tuck them into door handles in neighborhoods. We did that once a week for what felt like months!!
We started a “Cookie Campaign” in the early years, which involved baking 300 cookies and tucking them into Trick-or-Treat Bags with a little tag about Almost Home. We got a lot of great feedback about the homemade cookies and continued that tradition for 15 years. When we found ourselves baking over a 1,000 cookies, we went to frozen dough! Parents of currently enrolled children offered to pass out cookies and, before you knew it, we were handing out over 3,000 cookies every Trick-or-Treat!
I was concerned, in the early years, about Almost Home providing enough profit for me to put my two kids through college so I took classes toward a 2 year degree to be a Registered Nurse. I worked in the ICU at our local hospital on nights and weekends to save money for their college. This second career was a real savior when COVID hit. Almost Home stayed open to serve the children of Emergency Personnel and I worked full time at the hospital. During those years, Almost Home served only 30 children from our Lincoln Street location. It was probably the most financially difficult time we have ever experienced.

Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
I’m a Findlay Ohio native and a 1990 graduate of The Ohio State University with a Bachelors degree in Secondary Education. I am a former high school teacher. I became a Registered Nurse in 2010 and have 10 years of ICU nursing experience.
My certifications include:
Advanced Cardiac Life Support
Pediatric Advanced Life Support
Trauma Nursing Critical Care
American Red Cross First Aid/CPR/AED Instructor

I’m a member of First Lutheran Church and serve on Church Council.

I also serve the field of Early Childhood Education through participation in the Hancock County Childcare Collaborative and the Hancock County Early Childhood Education Work Group

Can you talk to us a bit about the role of luck?
When I was first trying to open a child care center, I had filled out multiple business plans for multiple possible projects and received multiple rejections. I felt like the Queen of Rejection and my ability to take it on the chin was improving with every blow.
Shortly after my divorce, I felt a little lost and just wanted to move back home, to Findlay, to be closer to my family. When my friend in Real Estate reached out to me about the property at 801 E Lincoln Street, I took the tour, looked at the price and felt another rejection coming my way. Somehow, things sort of “fell into place”: the silent partner stepped in, my Mom offered to help, the bank said yes…….It felt very serendipitous. I don’t know if I would call it luck or divine intervention, it felt like it was “meant to be.”
After that, there has been very little “luck” involved in running a successful business. The two most important personality traits you need to be successful in business: Integrity and Tenacity. Do the Right Thing and Never Give Up.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.almosthomekids.com