13-05-2025
Skylar Early Learning owner Jo Talmage offers her secret to business success at 2025 ACCI Leadership Forum
The owner of a childcare business who tripled her revenue and expanded to four centres in two years explained the secret to her success at a business event in Albany last week.
Skylar Early Learning owner Jo Talmage spoke about revenue and resilience at the Albany Chamber of Commerce and Industry Leadership Forum last Wednesday.
The businesswoman, mother and foster parent used the child psychology theory of attachment to explain how resilient companies are like securely attached children.
'A resilient, securely attached business is one where staff know that their leadership is going to show up for them, that teams will be trusted and that they're psychologically safe, that mistakes will be repaired and not punished, and that people feel like they're a part of something that's bigger than profit,' she said.
'In these environments, people take risks.
'They stay at the companies longer, they speak up and they lift each other.
'That's not just resilience, it's retention, it's innovation and it's culture.'
Ms Talmage opened her first childcare centre in Albany 2023 and turned over $600,000 in revenue in her first year.
She has since opened centres in Bremer Bay and Mt Barker and is set to open her fourth in Centennial Park later this year.
She now reports an almost $2 million yearly revenue.
'We did what it takes to scale our business based on one belief that when children and families are supported by high-quality early childhood education care, whole communities are shaped and that if we put wellbeing and relationships first, everything else will follow — and it has,' she said.
'But what inspires me about Skylar Early Learning the most isn't the numbers, although I'm proud of those.
'It's when a parent tells me their child feels safe.
'It's when team members tell me they've never been felt more supported.
'And it's when I see our values not just written on a wall but lived in our centres, and that's why we're here.'
Ms Talmage was one of six speakers at the annual ACCI event.
