Aspen Nichols loved childcare as a high school student. Then she got pregnant with her first daughter and dropped out. By the time she had three young children, she was very low-income, and she enrolled them in Head Start and Early Head Start. That opened a door: while her children were in Early Head Start, she was able to take GED classes.

After she finished her GED, Aspen was encouraged to apply for the Governor's Opportunity Scholarship. She won it, and it covered her full tuition plus some living expenses. She says she couldn't have afforded college without that scholarship, and she wouldn't have had childcare without Head Start.

Aspen later worked for Head Start, which was one of her first steps into the wider childcare field. Today she owns All About Children Daycare (ABCD on E). She believes that being low-income doesn't mean a family deserves anything less than quality care. "I know what quality care looks like. I want to be the best that I can be."