Ankita Singh
Ankita Singh currently serves as an Assistant Director at a child care center under Learning Care Group, with over 18 years of experience in early childhood education. Her journey into education was unexpected—she originally earned a bachelor’s degree in fashion designing and worked in merchandising. After moving to Japan following her marriage and the birth of her daughter, she realized how difficult it was to leave a child for work. Drawing inspiration from her father, who had a background in the military and later became a professor, Ankita discovered that teaching was in her genes. She began her career by interviewing at her daughter’s daycare nearly two decades ago and immediately fell in love with nurturing children and watching them achieve milestones.
Ankita’s passion for children’s growth and development inspired her to pursue numerous courses and certifications in child development and explore various curricula, including the International Baccalaureate (IB) program. Over the years, she progressed from classroom roles to lead teacher, earning the trust and admiration of both parents and students. What she finds most rewarding is how quickly children learn and how closely they bond with their teachers, often imitating what they observe at school in their own homes. Her commitment to early childhood education is reflected in her ability to create rich, engaging, and developmentally appropriate learning environments.
In her current role, Ankita’s expertise spans conducting school tours, driving enrollment, addressing parent concerns, marketing, overseeing daily operations, and hiring and mentoring teachers to ensure they feel valued and supported. She is skilled in curriculum development, staff coaching, and ensuring compliance with state and company standards. Every aspect of her work is driven by her dedication to fostering environments where both children and educators can thrive, combining operational excellence with a genuine passion for teaching and nurturing the next generation.
• Multiple certifications in child development
• Bachelor's degree in Fashion Designing
• Multiple courses and certifications in child development
• Volunteers at children's school projects and events
What do you attribute your success to?
I attribute my success to time management above all. As a mom, a wife, and a working professional, some days are hard, but with better time management skills, I believe you can accomplish everything in one day if you truly want to. This goes back to my upbringing - my dad was in military, so we had very structured time schedules for everything, with distributed time slots. That discipline helped me maintain my time management and be able to do everything in one day. I also believe you cannot run away from hard work - you simply cannot get everything done without putting in the effort. If you need to get things done, you have to wake up earlier in the morning and get half of the things done before you even step out of your house for the office. At the end of the day, when you know you've accomplished everything that needed to be done, you feel motivated within yourself to face the next day. I do have a set timetable and schedule, though I acknowledge that some days are not manageable and you have to work things out here and there. But the key is to keep learning every day - nobody can take away your learning, and whatever you learn will stay with you even when everything else comes and goes.
What’s the best career advice you’ve ever received?
The best advice I've received, which I learned from my husband, is to be honest to your own words and to your own self. If you value your own words and commit to something, that's the biggest thing. I would not want somebody speaking something else and then doing something else. If you commit to something, please try and do it from point A to point B - complete the loop. If you commit it, just do it. Otherwise, just don't commit it. Hanging in between is not a good idea. This value of being a person of your word and following through on commitments has been fundamental to my success.
What advice would you give to young women entering your industry?
I would definitely tell them to first listen to their heart and figure out what exactly they want deep down. I know we have to listen to our mind as well to execute everything, but what you really want to do from deep down is crucial. At the end of the day, whatever you are doing, if you don't love what you do, it does not matter you're not able to give your best if you don't love what you do. It's really important for whoever wants to do whatever they choose, to find that passion deep down. You really need to think, do you really like doing it? Every day when you wake up in the morning, it shouldn't be like 'oh my god, I have to do this again.' That feeling should not come. You should be happy, thinking 'okay, it's a new day, let's see what's happening today.' It should be fun for you. Most of the time people work just to earn money, just to pay bills, or just because they have to work something. But I feel like those people who know what they want to do, they do much better far down the line. They're much more satisfied with what they do, they're more content. If you love what you do, you will somehow find time to do that thing and make other things work around your schedule.
What values are most important to you in your work and personal life?
The values most important to me are being honest to your own words and to your own self. I learned this from my husband, and I believe that if you value your own words and commit to something, that's the biggest thing. I don't want to be someone who speaks one thing and does something else. If you commit to something, you should complete the loop from point A to point B - if you commit it, just do it, or otherwise don't commit it at all. Hanging in between is not a good idea. Another important value is working in details and understanding the process yourself. Sometimes we skim things and don't get into the process, but I really believe that if you learn the process by yourself, you will have a better understanding of whatever you are doing. It makes things easier for you to do, and easier for you to help somebody else understand. If you yourself don't know the process, you might not be able to make somebody else understand. Most of the time we don't know what exactly the problem is and just beat around the bush, but if you know the whole process, you can literally see where the loophole is and try to fill that in with certain other options. And of course, you cannot work alone, so you have to be a team player. You have to work with your team, understand them - that's very important in a workplace for sure.