Owning and operating a Learning Express Toys franchise provides an exceptional opportunity to work with family. While all of our store owners greatly enjoy the entrepreneurial aspects of running their own businesses, many also appreciate having family members as business partners.
Within the organization, there are several parent-child teams who are exceptional at balancing their work and personal lives on the job—including CEO, Sharon DiMinico and her daughter Lauren, director of marketing.
Owner of Learning Express Toys of Naperville, Steve Zdunek enjoys working with his daughter, Ashley. They both take great pride in each other’s accomplishments—and agree that their work has brought them closer together. Their complementary personalities and skill sets make them the perfect duo, as Ashley excels in the creative aspects of the business, while Steve enjoys the methodical, back-room functions. This team uses their relationship to their advantage in creating a wonderful store atmosphere.
The key to their success? Steve and Ashley maintain a definitive separation between work and home. At the store, they work in a professional manner and are able to challenge each other as coworkers, while in their personal lives, they minimize their conversations about the business.
Diane and Amanda Bowser, owners of Learning Express Toys of Denville and Morristown, are another parent-child power pair. Their established communication style allows both women to be completely honest with one another. Diane and Amanda enjoy brainstorming new ideas and initiatives together and building upon each other’s strengths. They have cultivated a personal, family-oriented environment in their stores that adds to the overall customer experience.
There are more than 10 Learning Express Toys stores nationwide that are operated by dynamic parent-child duos as well as countless other stores run by extraordinary spouse and sibling partnerships. Their success is a result of a mutual appreciation and respect for each other’s hard work and dedication.
Learning Express Toys takes great pride in providing families with an opportunity to achieve their dreams of joint business ownership. These remarkable pairs add to the family-oriented culture of the franchise and strengthen the bonds within the organization.