Influential Woman · Childcare, Education, App Development

Danielle Leist

Founder & CEO, Mama Launch Studio

Stamford, CT

Certifications · Degrees · Memberships

Degree Bachelor's Degree in Secondary Education with concentration in English from SUNY New Paltz Degree Master's Degree in Childhood Education and Special Education from Touro College Cert Master's Degree in Childhood Education and Special Education Cert Assistant Principal Cert Licensed Home Daycare Operator

Her Story

About Danielle

In my early career, I served as a teacher at Success Academy Charter Schools in New York City, a highly competitive charter school that has since expanded to approximately 61 schools. During my tenure, I successfully completed a master’s degree through the institution and specialized in special education and childhood education. After four years of dedicated service, I was appointed as the assistant principal due to my exceptional communication skills with parents.

During my time at the school, I had the opportunity to teach the daughter of the CEO of a platform called ClassTag. At that time, ClassTag was a groundbreaking tool that effectively bridged the gap between teachers and parents. It provided language translation, facilitated classroom communication, and enabled the scheduling of events. As the first user of the platform, I played a pivotal role in shaping its features and functionalities. Subsequently, I transitioned to a full-time role at ClassTag, where I contributed to the development of their implementation pipeline and retention strategies. The platform was eventually acquired by SchoolStatus.

When my son was a year old, I embarked on the journey of finding a suitable daycare for him. However, I encountered challenges in finding a facility that aligned with my expectations. This experience led me to consider the possibility of licensing my home as a daycare. I partnered with another mother who had two children of her own, and within four months, we successfully established a daycare in my home. We obtained the necessary licenses, hired a lead teacher, and within8 months at full capacity. This experience further solidified my belief in the inherent power of mothers to nurture and provide for their families.

Currently, I am developing an application called Mama Launch Studio, which aims to empower mothers by encouraging them to recognize their potential to create and monetize their own businesses. This platform provides a platform for mothers to fulfill their income needs, find purpose, and establish foundational businesses that are resistant to the impact of artificial intelligence.

Her Interview

Ten minutes with Danielle

01What’s the best career advice you’ve ever received?

Being solutions-oriented. Going to someone with a problem isn't going to give you the outcome you ever want in terms of how you present yourself. Being able to come solutions-oriented gives you the opportunity to show your creativity in the mix, and I think that's what has driven me to be successful in all the different career shifts I've had and the roles that I've had. I'm really good at finding a problem and coming up with a solution, or at least trying it. Being okay to speak my mind in a professional way and be okay with rejection. I think a lot of women who are coming into their womanhood, mid-20s, are afraid to fail now, and I grew up in a household where that was okay. My dad was a business owner, my mom tried a lot of different things, and she always came with solutions to our problems, and it kind of helped shape me to who I am.

02What advice would you give to young women entering your industry?

You have to learn AI. If you don't, you're going to be obsolete. But you have to learn how to use it in a way that also uses your critical thinking skills. My app idea was not just generated by AI - it's using all of my experience throughout my career to the point that I am now. I needed my daycare experience, I needed to use my experience working with code developers and in a product team, and my assistant principal experience to support with how you build systems and routines. You have to learn how to use AI, and I think you just have to try. I'm using Bubble, it's a no-code app, I have no app experience in terms of how to code, but I just started throwing spaghetti at the wall. You have to be patient, you have to persevere, because that's the only way it's going to move forward. You can't just give up on it, you have to spend every day doing something towards it. I'm building something that AI cannot replace in terms of the business model - I'm encouraging women to build their own modernized childcare that fits their needs, their children, and their community. But AI is helping me do that. It's helping me with task management. You still need to use your critical thinking skills.

03What values are most important to you in your work and personal life?

Perseverance. Just always persevering and waking up every day and being like, it's a new day. Continue working towards whatever it is that you're working towards, and just checking one thing off is still progress. When you look at motherhood, you look at your career, all the things that you're juggling, being mentally strong is important. Moving forward with one fresh day, one fresh opinion, one fresh thing moving you forward is still going to make you feel successful. It doesn't have to be this huge thing that you do, but every day chipping away towards a larger goal is still moving you forward. I've used my perseverance during motherhood, because my kids are so young and I'm home with them and I'm alone a lot of the day. Taking a moment at a time, using my perseverance to get me through, always has made me feel better, makes me feel more successful. I need things to check off to feel successful. It's just how I am. Even cleaning my kitchen, just knowing I checked it off the list, I feel successful.

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