RUN THE MILE YOU'RE IN

A first-generation Haitian-American entrepreneur built a $7.2M childcare empire in Manhattan, sold it to a Fortune 500 company, then got sued by that same company over 100 feet

NEW YORK, March 19, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- New York City entrepreneur and debut author Kettia Etienne Ming is set to release her memoir, RUN THE MILE YOU'RE IN: One Founder's Journey Through Success, Loss, and Reinvention (Evergreen House Press; 979-8-9946392-1-4), a gripping account of what it actually costs to build something extraordinary, lose it all, and come out whole. Kettia's debut book is set to release on May 5, 2026.

In 2002, Kettia Ming was a working mother of three in Manhattan, desperate for quality childcare she couldn't find anywhere. So she built it herself. What started as a midnight idea on the couch with her husband Robert became Smarter Toddler, a boutique childcare company that would grow over twelve years into two thriving Manhattan locations, a staff of 36, and over 160 families. Bright Horizons Family Solutions, one of the world's largest childcare companies, came calling. They wanted in. In 2014, they acquired both of Kettia's centers for $7.2 million.

It should have been the finish line. It was the beginning of the fight.

Two years after the sale, Kettia and her husband opened a new childcare center in Lower Manhattan's Financial District. Bright Horizons sued her for $1.5 million. The claim: she had violated a non-compete clause by 100 feet,

measured "as the crow flies." The judge ruled in their favor. Rather than close her doors, Kettia appealed and entered months of grueling mediation. The settlement that followed crippled her new business before it ever fully opened. What came next tested everything she thought she knew about herself: bankruptcy, isolation, the slow unraveling of her marriage, and a medical crisis that took ten years to diagnose.

She survived all of it. And she wrote about it.

RUN THE MILE YOU'RE IN is built around a philosophy forged in 13 marathons and tested in the courtroom, the boardroom, and the darkest corners of personal crisis. The central thesis is disarmingly simple: presence is the strategy. Not resilience as performance. Not "bouncing back." Just this mile. Just this moment. The only one you can actually run.

In RUN THE MILE YOU'RE IN, Kettia Etienne Ming takes readers inside:

• The midnight conversation that launched Smarter Toddler, born from a mother's desperation at the childcare options available to working families in New York City.
• Twelve years of building a business that Bright Horizons would eventually pay $7.2 million to acquire, and the high-stakes negotiation that got her there.
• The $1.5 million lawsuit over 100 feet "as the crow flies" and what it means to fight a Fortune 500 company from a stairwell, crying on the phone, and still refusing to quit.
• What it means to do business while Black in New York City, from the investor who offered $200,000 like he was doing her a favor, to the landlord who told her, "you don't belong here."
• The physical and emotional cost of carrying a collapsing business alone, managing everyone else's stress while having nowhere to fall apart.
• How 13 marathons taught her that the only mile that matters is the one under your feet right now, and how that mantra became survival.

RUN THE MILE YOU'RE IN speaks directly to the high-achieving woman who has kept everyone else afloat while quietly drowning. The strong friend nobody thinks to check on. The one who shows up, performs, leads, and goes home to fall apart in private. Kettia Ming wrote this book for her.

About the Author:
Kettia Etienne Ming is a New York City entrepreneur, nonprofit executive, and debut author whose story spans the full arc of American ambition. A first-generation Haitian-American, she spent twelve years building Smarter Toddler, a Manhattan childcare business she grew from the ground up, before selling it to Bright Horizons Family Solutions in 2014 for $7.2 million. She is currently the Executive Director of Black Theatre United, where she leads advocacy and visibility efforts for Black theatre artists and institutions. A mother first and a high-capacity builder who thrives in service to a higher purpose, Kettia has spent two decades creating institutions that serve families and communities in New York City. She is also a marathoner who has completed 13 races, including the Boston Marathon. She lives in New York City.

Run the Mile You're In: One Founder's Journey Through Success, Loss, and Reinvention
by Kettia Etienne Ming
Publication Date: May 5, 2026 Publisher: Evergreen House Press
Hardcover ISBN: 979-8-9946392-1-4
Paperback ISBN: 979-8-9946392-0-7
Ebook ISBN: 979-8-9946392-2-1
Pre-Order: Available now on Amazon (Kindle, Paperback, Hardcover) Author/Press Contact: Valerie Carter
Advance Copies: Available upon request 

Pre-Order Available Now: evergreenhousepress.com
Publication Date: May 5, 2026
ISBN (Hardcover): 979-8-9946392-1-4 / Price: $36.99
ISBN (Paperback): 979-8-9946392-0-7 / Price: $24.99

Author/Press Contact: Valerie Carter
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SOURCE Evergreen House Press