When Matthew Young retired from professional football, he knew he needed to find his next challenge. What began with a single childcare centre in 2009 has since grown into Little Saints Early Learning Centres — a network of 11 centres supporting more than 1,000 families and employing over 250 people across regional Victoria.

But growth didn’t come without challenges.

As the business expanded rapidly, Matthew found himself working seven days a week, making every decision alone and trying to keep pace with the operational demands of multiple sites.

In this MYMAX Bites Meet the Owner session, Matthew joins MYMAX Advisor Andrew MacDonell to share the story behind Little Saints and the lessons learned along the way.

The conversation explores:

• How Matthew transitioned from AFL football to business ownership
• The parallels between professional sport, leadership and strategy
• The realities of scaling a business across multiple locations
• Why building the right support team was critical to sustainable growth
• How greater financial visibility improved decision-making across each site
• Why Matthew shifted from chasing growth for growth’s sake to focusing on quality and community impact
• The importance of values, culture and staying true to what matters most

As Matthew shares in the session:

“Values are what hold you to account and it’s who you are as a person.”

And reflecting on what he would tell himself a few years earlier, he says:

“Continue to review your strategy and seek advice from outside your business.”

This is an honest and practical discussion for owners navigating growth, building leadership teams and learning how to step back from the day-to-day so they can focus on the bigger picture.

Watch the full MYMAX Bites Meet the Owner webinar recording below.