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Case Studies

Eimis, Ava, Sandra and Lilija

Sandra, Franchisee, Gymboree Play & Music Watford

Sandra had grown up with a passion for young children and knew from childhood she wanted to work with little ones.  Initially she’d wanted to be a midwife and started her career as a maternity nurse.  This role involved stressful work, early starts and late nights, but she loved it.  Sandra decided against the idea of being a midwife after the birth of her second child (!) but still wanted to work with babies and children.  She was passionate about newborn babies and learning about their early development.

Sandra brought both her girls to Gymboree Play & Music Watford and heard from another member that it was for sale, and a seed was planted in her head!  She’d never run a business before but her husband ran his own business so she had insights into what’s involved.  She’d always liked the structure of the Gymboree Play & Music classes, and could see her girls loved them, and really benefited from them.  Her youngest girl was only 2 at the time so still very much needed her to be around.  Deciding that her maternity nurse career would take her away from her family too much, she wanted a job which could fit around her family and allow her to continue working with little ones.  “It had to work with my kids because I love being mum”, Sandra remembered.  So in 2019 Sandra bought Gymboree Play & Music Watford!

Knowing the brand and having been a member put her in good stead for running the business.  She undertook the training involving 4 days of business, marketing, operations and finance training, and then 2 weeks of teacher training at a local centre.  It was a tricky time with the pandemic coming along only a year later but Sandra and the business have flourished and she’s now confident, happy and settled running a business which works for her.

Sandra lives in Watford with her husband Eimis, and their girls Lilija 13, and Ava 6.

Aaron, Franchisee, Gymboree Play & Music Wandsworth & Wimbledon

Aaron originally studied his undergraduate degree in Drama and Theatre Studies in his home country of Ireland, then moved to London to do his MA in Musical Theatre.  While he was waiting for his big break, in between auditions, he took on various part time jobs including working in a stage school, running storytime sessions in local nurseries, and also teaching at Gymboree Play & Music.  He loved his role at Gymboree Play & Music because he could see how the classes were obviously beneficial to the little ones, but also how members relied on the Centre for support. “It didn’t feel like a job, it felt like you were contributing to this little hub in the local community” Aaron remembers.  So when the previous franchisee asked him if he wanted to buy the business he was intrigued.

He’d always liked the idea of having his own business, and this seemed like the perfect scenario as he really enjoyed the work and the business was being offered to him!  So Aaron did his research and spoke to his family and took the leap to be a Gymboree Play & Music franchisee in 2019.

At this point he dropped his other jobs and focused full-time on this new project.  He’d never run his own business before so there was a lot to learn in terms of managing people, his time, and money.  But he knew the classes side of things having been a teacher for just over a year, so that was a big benefit.  Aaron found the training, systems and support he needed to manage the business very useful.  The website, booking system, and communication tools allow him to focus on running the business efficiently and professionally, and he still teaches lots of classes himself, but also employs 3 other teachers.

Aaron now runs Gymboree Play & Music Wandsworth & Wimbledon full time but still finds time to play basketball for his local team and perform, including taking a role in Kinky Boots in 2022!

 

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Reviews

Hampstead Reviews Icon

Both of my children (3.5 years and 11 months) go to Gymboree Play & Music and love it. My toddler goes to their drop-off Lego class which she raves about. It's very creative, working not only on Lego skills but also painting, drawing etc. My infant son loves his Gymboree Play & Music Crawlers class - particularly loves crawling all over their props, through the tunnels, etc. Great way to get the infant crawling over obstacles! Gymboree Play & Music is part of our weekly schedule for both kids and we look forward to participating every week. Invaluable!

Hampstead
Sevenoaks Reviews Icon

Gymboree Play & Music was a lovely and positive experience for my son Leo. We started when he was 9 months and he is now 3 years old, I wish we had started sooner.
He loves the songs (which is part of our daily singing at home), the freedom to explore and he was happy there. He looks forward to class every week and once class is over he will tell everyone about Gymbo and what he did.
For me, I liked that it taught him how to get down safely from a height, how to learn to use his body, and touching on different topics every 2 weeks. It gave me confidence in other environments to trust that he has the ability that he learned from Gymboree Play & Music and to trust him.

Sevenoaks
Tunbridge Wells Reviews Icon

I’ve been taking both my newborn and toddler to Gymboree Play & Music for a couple of months now and both boys are really loving the classes and open gym sessions. It’s a great way to meet other mums, entertain toddlers at witching hour(!) and get ideas for sensory play with babies. Sophie and Cat are fantastic and have so much energy and loads of different ideas for the classes, plus make sure the activities it’s help children meet their development milestones as well. Highly recommend this if you’re thinking about joining!! Thanks so much Sophie, Cat and the wider team :-)

Tunbridge Wells
Read more of our 1319 reviews
4.8 / 5