New Franchisee Sheetal Riyat .
I first heard of Stretch-n-Grow when my son was at nursery. The nursery offered us the classes when my son moved to the 2-3 year olds room. I had never heard of ‘Stretch-n-Grow’ but several parents with children already in the 2-3 year old room recommended that enrol my son in the classes. We received a few leaflets after my son’s classes and saw the detail of what was being covered by the classes. Needless to say, my husband and I were impressed by the content!
My son started asking each morning whether ‘today is Stretch-n-Grow day’ at nursery, which we took as a positive sign that he was enjoying the classes. One day when walking upstairs my son pointed to his bicep and told me that was his muscle. I was surprised that he knew this as it wasn’t something I had discussed with him. I assumed my husband had told him about muscles, but when I asked how he knew about muscles, he told me quite proudly that the Stretch-n-Grow instructor had told his class. It was at this point that I fully appreciated the value of the classes – I had initially thought that my son would just get to run around to music for the duration of the class, and that in itself was sufficient if he enjoyed the classes, but to actually discover that my son was learning about healthy eating, parts of the body as well as getting regular exercise were huge bonuses.
I had reached a point in my career where I couldn’t progress further while only working part-time, and when my son started at school last September I started looking for a job which I would enjoy but which would also give me a work-life balance allowing me to spend more time with my two young children. For my purposes, being my own boss seemed the ideal solution, but I needed to find a business in which I could see myself thriving. I started looking at franchises, and familiarising myself with how they work, and concluded that this was the most appropriate model for me. I looked at a number of franchises but struggled to find a ‘product’ which I truly believed in. I recalled the ‘Stretch-n-Grow’ classes which both my sons enjoyed so much, and thankfully there was a Stretch-n-Grow franchise opportunity in my area. I filled out the application form and 6 months after my initial conversation with Deno here I am, running the Stretch-n-Grow Pinner/Harrow franchise!! I’m excited about the next few months – visiting nurseries, generating a lot of interest in Stretch-n-Grow in my local area, and of course, teaching lots of Stretch-n-Grow stars.
