Kidcreate Studio Franchise Owner Andrea Jones is celebrating an important anniversary! It has been one year since she opened the doors to her education franchise in Greer, South Carolina. Local news outlet The Greer Citizen featured Jones in an article this past week to commemorate her achievement.
Jones’ story began not unlike that of many concerned parents. A stay-at-home mom for the previous 15 years, she knew that her kids, like all kids, were constantly searching for the next fun thing to do. However, they were more often drawn to electronics than the arts, something that stemmed from them not having many other options. She searched for a way for her kids to have fun while expressing their creativity and learning, instead of being glued to a screen. Unfortunately, something like this simply didn’t exist within her community. Kidcreate Studio was the education franchise that Jones had been searching for, a way for her kids to have fun and be creative, all while developing their cognitive and social skills. In her own words, “I just thought, as a mom, what better way to add some value to the community than to work with Kidcreate”.
Extensive internet research led Jones to the Kidcreate Studio website, inspiring her to open up a Kidcreate Studio herself. After some consultation and planning, Jones was ready to open a franchise. She signed her franchise agreement in the summer of 2018 and the build-out followed soon after, officially opening Kidcreate Studio – Greer on October 6th, 2018. Jump forward one year and Jones and her franchise have just celebrated their one-year anniversary with an art-filled celebration open to the public. Since its opening, Jones’ franchise has seen widespread success around her community, drawing children from all over the state to come in and explore their creative sides. Owning a Kidcreate Studio franchise is not just a job for Jones, it is a way for her to enjoy herself and get in touch with her inner child. “We have a lot of fun and make a lot of messes. It’s a great time for the kids,” she says.
Variety is the name of the game at Kidcreate Studio, something that sets it aside from its other education franchise competitors. Projects at Kidcreate Studio can vary from drawing to painting to working with clay, continuing to cater to the creative needs of every type of child that walks through its doors. As Jones puts it, one of the best parts of owning a franchise is, “giving the kids a chance to experiment with different art techniques. It’s a great way for kids to explore. Being creative helps you think outside the box, and that’s our goal here.” This is something that is embodied by Kidcreate Studio franchises across the country, yet remains increasingly absent in today’s education system, which is becoming less and less geared toward artistic exploration. Kidcreate Studio and Franchise Owners like Jones are working to fill this void.
While Jones’ journey from stay-at-home mom to entrepreneur may seem quite impressive, it is not far off from that of Kidcreate Studio Founder, Lara Olson. Lara saw a similar struggle in her son to find a creative outlet away from a screen or within the traditional school system. When she searched for a way for her son to do this, there simply weren’t many options. Hence the idea for Kidcreate Studio was born. After opening up her first location in Eden Prairie, Minnesota, Olson quickly saw that there was a huge, untapped market for children’s art programs such as those at Kidcreate Studio.
Today, Olson’s idea has spread to nine franchise locations and two corporate locations across seven states. 21 more are already planned for the coming years. As the education franchise spreads across the country, so do the tenets of artistic expression and creativity that Kidcreate Studio upholds. The growth of Kidcreate Studio stems not just from the passion of Lara Olson, Andrea Jones, and other Franchise Owners across the country, but from the fact that today’s educational system simply isn’t catering to the artistic needs of school-age children. Not left with many options, many parents are simply turning to electronics to stimulate their children’s needs. This only shortens their children’s attention spans and further prevents them from using their creative potential.
Ultimately, like Lara Olson, Andrea Jones couldn’t help but see herself in the local children who are struggling to express their creativity in school, and her passion to drive change is part of what has made her Kidcreate Studio location so successful. Today, Jones and her fellow Franchise Owners see a bit of themselves in every child who walks into a Kidcreate Studio. The studio is more than just a business to own, it is a way to embrace creativity, a way to reveal your own inner child.
Andrea isn’t alone in seeing the lack of artistic opportunities for children in her area. If you are interested in bringing art to children in your area, we are currently awarding Kidcreate Studio Franchise opportunities to select investors. Learn more by clicking here.