Laurelinda Hauksson, Parker-Anderson Enrichment-North Orange County Franchise
I was first introduced to Parker-Anderson through my husband,
Niels. It was the summer we met, 2012, and he was working as an
instructor teaching mainly science courses, his specialty. I
remember him telling me how much he enjoyed working with Jamie and
Josh and how much he was discovering his passion for teaching
science. A year later, when we moved to Orange County, Niels'
schedule didn't allow him to continue teaching with the Orange
County branch.
However, at the time, I was looking for a job in that area so
I turned to
Parker-Anderson. Starting as an instructor
gave me valuable experience teaching most of the classes from the
list of offerings. I started out teaching mainly chess classes. At
first, I was a bit nervous because my only experience with chess
was when I had played with my father when I was little. However,
when I started going through the extensive curriculum detailing the
ins and outs of the game, complete with strategies and teaching
tips, I started to feel more comfortable teaching the classes.
Reflecting back on that time, I think one of the best experiences
was how teaching from the provided curriculum helped me become a
better chess player and as my confidence in the game grew, I became
a more confident instructor. Before I knew it, I had the
opportunity to teach most of the classes Parker-Anderson has to
offer including Lego Robotics, Iron Chef Cooking Fun, Creative
Sculpture, Marine Biology, DinoWorld, and many more.
I, like my husband, enjoyed working as an instructor and being
part of the Parker-Anderson team. So when the previous Orange
County director left and Josh and Jamie offered me the director
position, I immediately accepted. And when Parker-Anderson started
looking towards franchising, I knew that I wanted to invest more of
myself into the company by purchasing the Orange County branch as a
franchise.
My time as the Orange County director and now as a franchise
owner has given me valuable experiences including teaching,
creating extended curriculum for longer summer programs, working
with various schools and city recreation departments, handling
finances – basically -- managing a thriving business from A to Z.
One of the most exciting parts of owning this franchise is
watching it grow as more schools hear about our programs and the
wide variety of courses we offer. This is a huge selling
point for many school coordinators who are tired of managing
multiple vendors and would prefer to work with one company that has
it all. Being able to offer classes in multiple categories such as
technology, art, science, dance, and robotics, however, is only one
of the many benefits of a Parker-Anderson
franchise. Our website is designed to handle
enrollments, generate rosters, flyers, invoices, and schedules,
manage instructor information, and keep track of inventory.
But perhaps the best benefit of a Parker-Anderson
franchise
is the 25 plus years of experience in after school
enrichment that Jamie and Josh bring to the table. Not
only have they been incredibly supportive throughout the
business-owned to franchise transition, my passion for what
Parker-Anderson does has increased tenfold. Getting to work with
schools offering much needed programs after school and during
summer has been incredibly rewarding both mentally and financially.
My husband and I are honored to be Parker-Anderson's first
franchisees and look forward to many wonderful years to come.
