Brooklyn Robot Foundry awards a free franchise for a year to Janine Harper –

Janine Harper never expected to turn out to be a franchisee while working abroad as a television news producer in Japan. After returning to the United States, she began looking for her next big move.

In 2015, Harper enrolled her six-year-old daughter in Brooklyn Robot Foundry’s programs and was immediately impressed by the brand’s hands-on approach to teaching children about STEAM (science, technology, engineering, art and math) and their commitment to learning and keeping classes led by a diverse staff in order that every student can meet someone who looks like them working in the sector.

Harper, who has a background within the technology industry, loved the incontrovertible fact that Brooklyn Robot Foundry was founded and run by a woman who had worked as an engineer. Harper’s technology experience includes software development, a support engineer role, and: Scrum Master v Kaplanleading technical teams.

According to their website, Brooklyn Robot Foundry’s goal is to share the enjoyment of STEAM learning with children ages 2-12 all over the world and encourage them to pursue lives of exploration, problem solving and imagination. In 2022, the Foundry announced a Franchise Competition, under which one franchise was awarded free of charge for the primary year to one deserving owner.

At the time, Harper was working at IBM as an Associate Data Scientist. After learning concerning the Frandowment Competition, she knew it was a possibility she would at all times regret not taking. After doing due diligence and contacting friends with experience within the franchising industry, she decided to take the danger and apply.

The entire Foundry team was impressed with Harper’s experience and her thoughtful application, where she spoke concerning the importance of ensuring programs like these are equitable for all children and the necessity for parents to lead, and knew she was the proper franchise candidate to join them of their mission. In July 2023, Harper was announced because the winner and opened her first location in September 2023.

The Frandowment opportunity is exclusive within the franchising industry. Incentives for franchisors to own a franchise are available in many forms, but rarely include free or significant discounts on the initial investment, licensing fees, inventory and marketing fees. And while discounts might be a motivating consider considering purchasing a franchise, they’re just one factor.

Harper shared BLACK ENTERPRISES“I truly believed that I was the CEO of my own career, so to that end, I continued to learn and pursue certifications that would land me the next best position. I just didn’t think of myself as a real entrepreneur. I realized it was more my mindset than the money that was getting in my way. I feel like the competition to win the franchise was a kick in the pants for me. I don’t think owning a franchise would be impossible without competition, but the thought of lowering the fees for the first year really motivated me for some reason. I felt like I could always go back to data science, but it felt like a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, so why not give it a shot.”

Harper’s realization that it wasn’t just concerning the discounts the Frandowment opportunity provided speaks to the importance of a lot of these programs within the franchise sector in encouraging other BIPOC entrepreneurs and potential entrepreneurs to take the leap into franchising.

“The Frandowment competition allowed me to imagine a different future for myself and my family. I think it could do the same for other people. Historically, our communities have been blocked from accessing capital, which shapes how we move today and what we can imagine. Competitions like Frandowment are a great way to combat this. I hope that other franchisors will see this as a way to achieve greater diversity among their franchisees,” Harper explained.

As a native of Jamaica, Harper believes that running her own business, specifically Brooklyn Robot Foundry, provides her with an incredible sense of freedom, perfectly fitting in with the celebration June this month.

“I can win, but I can also lose. By creating truly inclusive classrooms for emerging engineers, I hope we can help solve the lack of diversity in technology. The curriculum we use enables young people to solve problems creatively and builds their self-confidence. These skills will help them succeed in any field in the future,” she said.

She added: “To protect equality, we maintain a list of scholarships so we can provide financial assistance to families who need help. We are actively seeking grants and partners, such as the New York Public Library, so that we can provide classes for free to the public.”

“When I worked in the tech industry, I couldn’t help but notice the lack of diversity and symbolism and think about how it negatively affects us. There are no appropriate solutions when we only hear the same voices. I hope that my franchise will change the lives of the children who attend my classes and their families. The greatest motivation in everything I do is knowing that my daughter is watching. I hope to inspire her to use her own talents and ideas to one day create a company that solves a problem she cares about, after learning from all my mistakes.”