Meet Londyn Garner

We had the good fortune of connecting with Londyn Garner and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Londyn, can you walk us through the thought-process of starting your business?
The pandemic made me realize that I could not depend on a job for the rest of my life. It also gave me time to think about what I’m really good at and if I never had to return to work for anyone else again, what would I do? At the time I worked as a gymnastics coach and would make pre-recorded videos for my gymnasts to practice their skills at home. The skills they could do at home were limited since not everyone had the equipment or space, I felt bored! Then I thought to myself, “how can I keep my online teaching engaging, fun, and safe?” With gymnastics being a deep passion of mine and my love for teaching preschool children I began writing ideas for videos that would develop children’s motor skills while they also learn core standards. I have always believed that gymnastics was more than a sport, but an engine for children to think cognitively.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
I am the creator and founder of Get Up & SHINE! which is a move & learn program that keeps children active as they explore concepts of math, science, and language. We offer video lessons, some can be found on YouTube @ The Neighborhood Fun Leader https://m.youtube.com/@theneighborhoodfunleader/videos?fbclid=PAZXh0bgNhZW0CMTEAAaYpZ54SF-an4jLAd-745n5qQVn45UR-eMPJb7LTlUgtMWvs5oWm1m0q0N0_aem_d4WH1oEt6rgg9dfetiPx1Q. We off in person classes located at Airborne Gymnastics Club in College Park, GA. We offer online classes on Out School under: Move & Learn: Math, Science, and Language Concepts (Ages 3-4). If you’re a school owner we offer training & curriculum for teachers to become movement educators in their own class room! We are the only move & learn program for 3-4 year olds that intentionally uses movement as a tool to teach core standards.

I am most proud of having an online school use my videos as an important part of their students weekly learning as well as being able to teach my lessons at the school I served. I’m excited about pushing my YouTube videos more and getting my program into schools across Georgia. I believe children need more opportunities to connect their bodies to their brains, teachers see a need for more opportunities to keep their students active & happy, I’m proud to be the solution.

I got where I am today because I have a background of coaching a wide range of physical activities, I have my M.A, in Creative & Innovative Education, and I’m a certified Early Childhood Learning Guide. I took pieces of every journey and put my heart into creating the best move & learn program.

This is not easy at all. At first it was hard for me to explain what it is that I do but the more I kept doing it the easier it became. I still don’t think the way I describe it does it justice. I’m taking something that is not common and pushing to making it relevant. Some people say kids move around so much or play already but this is more than that, I have created another way for learning.

I’m learning to stop doubting myself and put out the content! I tend to sit on the things I created out of fear that people won’t like it or that it’s not good enough. I am learning to be okay with hearing no. This is my baby and I’m very sensitive about it so it hurts when I pitch to schools and they’re not interested. It has taught me to go back to the drawing board and try again.

I want the world to know that I am going to change the way we look at early childhood education. Like many others my age we were brought up on Reading Rainbow, Mr. Rodger’s Neighborhood, Zoom, and many other great shows that taught us so much. Imagine if they took their scripts and made a curriculum out of it the way that I am? I feel like I’ve been handed the baton and I’m going to run far with this.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
We would have a picnic at Piedmont Park and hopefully there’d be a festival going on at the time. We would eat at 26 Thai and walk around midtown. To get some much needed relaxing time we would go to Jeju Spa. We would catch a good movie at Silverspot Cinema at The Battery. I live in Decatur so it’s only right we visit downtown Decatur to walk around to get some yummy ice cream from Jeni’s Ice Cream and catch live music. You can’t say you’ve visited Atlanta if you have gone to Waffle House!

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
Shoutout to my mom! She is the reason that I am the braniac I am today. She pushed me to get the best grades in school, become a leader, and to always be a go getter. Shoutout to Ms. Jamelle Jones at Heartflluence Academy for seeing my one YouTube video and paying me for my video lessons for an entire school year. Shoutout to Ethan Robinson for taking on this passion project with me and helping me bring my vision to life using his amazing video editing skills. Finally, shoutout to all of the jobs that fired me, honestly. It didn’t mean that I was a bad worker I was just obviously more passionate about my own business than others. Each fire pushed me closer to taking my business more seriously and betting on myself.

Website: https://lgarner6.wixsite.com/getupandshine

Instagram: @theneighborhoodfunleader @getupandshine__

Youtube: @theneighborhoodfunleader

Image Credits
Lifetouch + Shutterfly