Bonus Episode: The Greatest Lessons on Leadership and Connection from “Devil Wears Prada 2”

In this fun bonus episode of Childcare Conversations, Kate and Marie chat about the new Devil Wears Prada 2 movie and what it means for early childhood leaders. They dig into how technology can never replace the human heart in childcare, and why encouraging your staff to share their stories matters so much. 

Vulnerability, authenticity, and celebrating the people around you are big themes here. With Teacher Appreciation Week as a backdrop, this episode is a warm reminder to lead with heart and keep discovering new perspectives!

Thanks for Listening 🎧

• Want to learn more? Check out our book; "From Overwhelmed to I Got This: Guaranteed Success Route to Directing Your Childcare Center" 📖
• Join our Facebook Group for Childcare professionals!
• Join our Podcast Newsletter!
• Want to be a guest on our podcast? Go to our website to learn more.
• Are you looking for director training in Texas? Check out our Texas Director Website for our training and additional resources!

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:01

Welcome to Child Care Conversations, the podcast where early childhood leaders like you get real-world strategies, honest talk, and a whole lot of support. Whether you're running one center or many, we're here to help you lead with confidence and clarity. This episode is brought to you by CenterIQ. If you've ever added a child to a classroom, adjusted staffing, or made a quick schedule change, and then spent the next two weeks fixing the ripple effects, you're not alone. Most leaders make decisions and then see what happens. CenterIQ's decision intelligence lets you see what happens before you decide. Start your free trial today at centeriq.io. Now, let's get into today's conversation. One we think you're really going to love.

SPEAKER_00 0:51

This is a bonus episode of Childcare Conversations with Kate, Carrie, well, and today with Kate and Marie. So you've probably noticed in the last week or two that there's been this movie that came out last week called Devil Wears Prada 2. And if you were paying attention to our social media, you know that I really was fascinated by the number of brands that kind of jumped on the bandwagon in their own way. But today, Marie and I are going to talk a little bit about what it means from, well, the human side. So, Marie, tell us a little bit about your take, no major spoilers, for folks who are listening to today's episode.

SPEAKER_01 1:36

Yeah. So I think a lot of us can see in several different industries, but especially in like journalism and fashion. And I think it's a worry that everyone has. I'm in my 20s, and it's something we've definitely looked at coming out of college, is the risk of technology and growth getting rid of some of that human aspect. And that was a topic that they touched in the movie that I think is something that we didn't see in the early 2000s version of this movie. You know, a lot of people are making sequels and uh remakes of movies, but this one told a new story with characters we loved originally. And that new story was helping remind people that change is a good thing, but that there's so much human element and heart in so many different places in life. And for them specifically, it was telling that story and making sure that the stories for the people for the soul is still there. And when we were talking about what aspect of this movie would make a good podcast topic, I really think when it comes to childcare, it's an industry that always is gonna have a heart, always gonna have a soul, because it's about the children, it's about helping them. And I think the more that we remember that, the more that we think about it like that, also for the business and leadership leadership aspect of it.

SPEAKER_00 3:14

Okay, hold on, hold on. You're you're going on a on a monologue. This is not a monologue, this is a conversation. I can monologue. You do it every single time. I listen to all these episodes. But I think that what's really important and I'd like you to share is what is one human elephant, human elephant, human element, or what was the one heart piece that kind of resonated with you as a 20-something thinking about working with older generations in your jobs? What was there a piece that kind of like caught ya?

SPEAKER_01 3:54

Well, and this is she knows this and a personal aspect of it. I believe artificial intelligence can be a tool that can be used, but if I ever think it's gonna actually make anything that is uh par with what a human can make and create, I don't think that that's ever gonna be true, even if it looks the same. I think there's so much thought and creativity coming for all of us that is just more important that we share than any time-saving device or product can do. And we see that one part in the movie of just the idea of that possibility of a magazine not telling the stories of humans, but instead doing something completely different.

SPEAKER_00 4:47

Well, so one of the things that I thought was interesting is because we do see in the movie the human story on every character's level. And I think one of the things that really stood out to me was even Miranda, who is Meryl Streep in the movie series, even she wanted the younger generation to continue to tell their story and to even tell other people's stories. Like they wanted the stories told. And so it wasn't um entirely all fluff, it wasn't all entirely really short, scrollable content. Like I think that there was something that um all four main characters from the first round, they were all encouraged to follow their story and to follow their path. And I think that as leaders, especially this week, it is teacher appreciation week. And I think that one of the things that we need to remember as leaders is to continue to encourage our staff to tell their own story and that their story isn't necessarily going to be our story.

SPEAKER_01 5:58

No, I I agree. I think that knowing where someone is coming from and being able to have teachers be able to tell their stories and to be able to interact with kids so that the kids so that children can interact with peoples of all different walks of life, you know. The earlier that we allow children to meet and interact with all sorts of different people, the more that those kids will be able to be able to see where they come from and where we come from all as, you know, human beings and uh people. That was a funny term of people in the movie. And so just remembering that we are all people and we all have things that I think are the same and similar, and being able to share that and have that piece in common, I think, is really important. And especially when it comes to your staff and how you help your staff and helping them be the best versions of themselves, you know. That's the leadership we saw in the movie, which if you've seen the first movie or if you haven't seen this one, you know uh Miranda, who's in charge, you know, she has a lot of power and is often not the nicest about it. And so I think um, but she celebrates the the wins of her staff and uh he lets them be their own people and tell the stories and the important aspects, even if she doesn't always agree. Uh so.

SPEAKER_00 7:33

But I think some one of the things that I think is really interesting about her character is that sometimes I think she agrees, but she doesn't want to show that vulnerability. And I think that when she does show that vulnerability in both the first movie and even in this movie, it's when you connect with her. And I think that that's important as a leader to remember that sometimes we have to be a little vulnerable for our staff to connect with us. Now, I have to just do my the the part that resonated with me that I went in looking for, that I went in thinking, you know, everybody's kind of jumped on this from the movie theaters and their little red popcorn boxes and Starbucks and Coca-Cola, like everybody jumped on the marketing bandwagon. And I think that in a week where we are celebrating all of the people who who care about humans, like it's National Nurses Week, it's Teacher Appreciation Week, it is US Small Business Week, right? So we've got all of these opportunities that in childcare we can jump on to get our voice out to kind of grab the coattails, shall we say, of what other people are doing. And I think you can do that without losing yourself. And I think that's the part that um it's not that Starbucks said, go see the movie. Starbucks was Starbucks was saying, hey, come get your Emily, or you know, come get your um Nigel or your Miranda, right? Like so there are some different ways that you can order your coffee. I also thought that the balance of being who you are, even if you've changed. So when we start thinking about STEM and technology and curriculum, we've seen um some programs embrace it over the the last two decades and how some are coming back to changing what that technology embrace kind of looks like. So, all right. So, what would you tell folks if they're going to see this movie? If they haven't seen the first movie, do they need to see the first movie? Because we don't, this is not generally a movie review podcast. Um, so what are your thoughts?

SPEAKER_01 9:52

You know, I don't remember all aspects of the movie. There was definitely a few times that you pointed out things from the original movie, and I was like, I don't remember that, but I mean, we won't talk about how old she was when the first movie came out, right?

SPEAKER_00 10:06

So she's only seen it pretty much as a as a the equivalent of a rerun.

SPEAKER_01 10:11

And so uh I did enjoy that the second movie definitely brought elements. I don't know, like I think if you were going with a friend who has seen the first movie and you go to watch it with them, but you haven't seen it, that it's okay. You can go watch it, give it a chance. You know, it definitely talks about different elements of the changing generation and what content looks like. Uh one thing we kind of touched on but didn't go super into is the like scrollability, the change from newspapers to now short form videos is very different kinds of things and adapting what do people want to hear about and what do people need to hear about? What are the topics and stories that people actually like? And so it goes into all of those elements. And I think anyone who watches it or anyone who maybe not gonna watch it, but anyone who is listening to this uh should find a different news outlet to listen to today. Like try going exploring a new podcast or a new blog article or website that you haven't before, whether it be about child care, about a different hobby topic you like. Just go find some other stories from some other people. That that was the one thing that kind of watching it inspired me to be like, oh, maybe I'll go check out and actually read a few articles that have been posted the last few weeks about different topics and see what I can learn from it.

SPEAKER_00 11:44

I love that. So almost anything that you can do, you can apply back to your own role, whether it's as a daughter, as a mother, as a business owner, as a business leader. Uh, we want you to stay connected. And I always love the idea of thinking about things from a totally different angle. So thank you so much, Murray, for joining us on this bonus episode of Childcare Conversations with Kate and Carrie and Murray. And we hope to talk to you in a few days.

SPEAKER_01 12:14

Write a review. Thanks for tuning in. We love bringing you real talk and fresh insight from the world of early childhood education. Be sure to follow us on social media to stay connected and catch all of the latest episodes. And if you're planning a conference, training, or special event, Kate and Carrie would love to speak to your audience. You can learn more about their keynote sessions and workshops at kateandcary.com. If you learned something today, share the show and leave us a review below. We'll see you next time on Child Care Conversations.