The Faces of YAMA

Maggie Nobach

Owner, Director, Nurse

For more than 20 years, Maggie Collins has dedicated her life to helping children grow into kind, confident, and capable individuals. As the founder and owner of You and Me Academy, she believes every child deserves to feel safe, deeply loved, and excited to learn every single day.

Maggie's journey began in 2002 when she opened her first in-home daycare. As a single mother, she worked tirelessly to provide for her children while earning her Associate Degree in Child Development in 2005. Shortly after graduating, she poured everything she had into opening her first childcare center. When the economy took a downturn in 2008, she faced one of the biggest challenges of her career and returned to operating childcare from her home. Rather than viewing that season as a failure, Maggie embraced it as one of life's greatest teachers. She believes that growth comes through adversity and that every challenge is an opportunity to learn, improve, and come back stronger. Those lessons helped shape the leader she is today and laid the foundation for the thriving academy families know and trust today.

Today, You and Me Academy proudly maintains the highest level of Michigan's Great Start to Quality system by Demonstrating Quality. Maggie believes that providing exceptional care means continually learning, growing, and investing in both children and the educators who guide them. Together with her dedicated team, she has had the privilege of positively impacting the lives of thousands of children and their families while creating a program built on excellence, compassion, and meaningful relationships.

Maggie is proud that You and Me Academy has grown into a true family endeavor. She and her husband, John, have built a life centered around caring for others. While Maggie pours her heart into early childhood education, John farms crops and helps care for his family's beef cattle operation. Together, they have a blended family of five children—Colin, Sophia, Braylon, Easton, and Blaine—and Maggie especially enjoys working alongside her daughter, Sophia, at You and Me Academy.

Outside of the academy, Maggie enjoys being near the water whenever she can, spending time with her family, and loving on her two Labrador Retrievers, Rooster and Poppy. She also cherishes time with her sister, Amity, who has always been her person. Although most of Maggie's time is devoted to You and Me Academy, she enjoys helping on the family farm whenever she can and appreciates the values of hard work, dedication, and caring for others that both farming and early childhood education share.

Whether she's leading her team, helping on the farm, or spending time with the people she loves most, Maggie believes the strongest communities are built through hard work, kindness, and genuine relationships.

After more than 20 years in early childhood education, Maggie still believes the same things that inspired her to open her first daycare in 2002: every child deserves to be deeply loved, encouraged to explore, and given the opportunity to become the very best version of themselves. She also believes that mistakes are opportunities to grow, resilience is built through challenges, and the greatest successes often begin with the courage to keep going. Those beliefs continue to guide every decision she makes and remain at the heart of You and Me Academy.

Infant Room: Ms Shelly & Ms Lindsay

It takes a special team to make a place feel like home. At You and Me Academy, our educators are passionate about building meaningful relationships, creating engaging learning experiences, and supporting each child’s unique journey. We are honored to play a role in helping children learn, grow, and thrive every day.