Category: Franchisee Spotlight

Nine years ago, Shannon Lazaris was a stay-at-home mom who needed to find a place for her and her little one to interact with other families in the same stage of their lives. Gymboree Play & Music was the obvious answer! As if by design, the location she was attending was put up for sale a few weeks after she joined. 

Shannon immediately recognized the business potential, but also how vital the programs and community were for young families in her area, saying “I always try to remember how hard it was after becoming a mom to find yourself again and I love helping new moms find their tribe, somewhere they belong, and to feel comfortable.”

She goes on to say “There is no way anyone can be unhappy in the presence of giggling, playing toddlers. Learning through play is vital in early childhood and it is so important for parents to be present and disconnect from the outside world for their child.”

In addition to running her Gymboree Play & Music location, Shannon is an advocate for children with special needs. She founded the Buddy Soccer League in her home city, and enlists volunteers to help special needs children play soccer in a non-competitive environment.

“Gymboree Play & Music is something you don’t know you need until you have little ones of your own. Then you realize the importance of it. I try to reiterate that every day in my site.” 

Find a location near you.

Find a location near you!

Debbie Dunn was a young career woman when she got married and started a family. After her second child was born, she decided she wanted to be a stay-at-home mom, and attended an open house at a Gymboree Play & Music location with her sister. Her sister enrolled, she did not. But she went. home and told her husband “I could do that”.

A month later she saw an ad in Parent’s Magazine for franchise opportunities with the brand. She flew out to California with her sister and, within 23 hours, was back in New Jersey as the owner of Gymboree franchise number 88. Over close to four decades, Debbie has owned and operated four different locations, and has introduced and taught just about every class that Gymboree Play & Music has offered. She is the proud mother of four children (who all got involved in the business in some capacity from time to time) and eight grandchildren.

After all of these years, with all of the challenges that come along with being a small business owner, she still feels that Gymboree Play & Music is the greatest program out there for young children and their adults, and still gets great joy from the families in her program.

As Debbie says “it’s hard not to be happy when you walk into Gymboree”!

Erica Lincoln was a stay-at-home mom, taking her young daughter to classes at Gymboree Play & Music, when she decided to start teaching art classes there on Saturdays.

Eight years later, when she was considering leaving Gymboree to open her own business in the restaurant industry, she was approached by the owner about purchasing the location instead. She immediately said “yes”!

“I think we have the best jobs ever! I could probably write a book with the silly comments and stories our School Skills kids tell me. I also love teaching the babies classes. Watching them grow from infants to toddlers to preschoolers is the most rewarding experience I can think of.”

At Gymboree Play & Music, the programs grow with your child – from birth to kindergarten – supporting their physical, cognitive and social-emotional development. Find a location near you today, and discover the magic we experience every day!

Pooja Gupta was working in a high-stress job in Manhattan, when the market crash of 2008 gave her a chance to re-evaluate her career. She started taking her niece to her classes at Gymboree Play & Music, and realized that this was a business that she could feel passionate about.

She recognized that there was a huge need for quality programs for young children in her area, and started researching possible locations. She debated the pros and cons between various types of real estate options, and decided to start out in an older building in a third floor space. It allowed her to learn and make mistakes because she had kept her overhead relatively low. She gambled that the quality of her programming would offset any inconvenience for the families, and she was right – her business thrived.

After a decade of success, she started wondering if she should shut down her profitable space and move to a “better” location with higher rent. Another national crisis – the pandemic shutdown – forced her hand and gave her the opportunity to find a new space.

If you’ve noticed a few gambling terms sprinkled in here, it’s because Pooja is an amateur poker player, even playing in two national tournaments in Las Vegas! She’s also on the professional board for a non-profit that supports families dealing with homelessness.

Pooja loves teaching and “developing little humans”. She says that teaching helps her keep the spark, saying “It reminds me why I’m a Gymboree Play & Music franchisee and what I’m doing for my community”.

Like many of our franchisees, Wendy Shultz came to Gymboree Play & Music through her child. She and her husband, Mike, had transferred to the Indianapolis area for Mike’s job. Their two older sons were in school all day, and Wendy was home with a one-year old, desperate to meet other moms. 

She discovered a Gymboree Play & Music class in the basement of a church, and was hooked. The owner approached Wendy to train as a teacher and she fell in love with the creativity that our programs allowed her to bring to her classes, the joy she saw on faces – adult and child – and the relationships that grew, week-over-week. 

Twenty-eight years later, the Carmel location and “Miss Wendy” are still going strong. Ever humble, Wendy states “we are blessed to have a great team to make all the magic happen”. She goes on to say “I really love it when past clients visit with their (now older) child to see us and let us know what positive memories they have about the experience we provided. Many past Gymboree kids now bring their little ones to class”. 

Wendy and Mike are very active in their community, running food drives and supporting the Indiana Diaper Bank at their location. Their special events are epic, and Wendy is always willing to share ideas and the insights she’s gained over more than two decades with other Gymboree Play & Music franchisees. 

The days can be long, but the early childhood years are short. Gymboree Play & Music can help fill those days, while you make memories to last a lifetime!

Like many of our franchisees, Jigna Vyas was introduced to Gymboree Play & Music through her first child. They attended classes together, and both made lasting friendships. When Jigna had her second child, she realized that she wanted to step back from her demanding Engineering career, and find a business that would afford her a work-life balance. Her love of our programs made Gymboree Play & Music the perfect choice. 

Jigna enjoys both sides of the business: running the day-to-day operation and managing her staff, plus building relationships with the families who attend her location. 

“I have met some wonderful parents, grandparents, family members, and of course the little ones at Gymboree. It is such a joy to be part of special moments; from rolling over as a baby to taking the first few steps, or even jumping off a step box for the first time. My staff has been with me through thick and thin, and they are an asset to my business. Many of my teachers have become my close friends and I have had the pleasure of attending weddings, baby showers, and birthday parties of their kids.” 

Parents at her location thank Jigna for providing a safe, clean, stress and pressure free place for their children to play, socialize and learn, and for families to connect and build a community. 

Come build your own community at a Gymboree Play & Music location near you!