How songs for seeds' New Leadership Plans to Make the Brand Impactful

Children’s early development and music education franchise songs for seeds had a momentous year in 2019 and plans to continue that growth throughout 2019 with a strategic leadership decision. Founders Allison and Craig Schlanger and Alison Qualter Berna and Bobby Berna announced at the end of 2019 that they would be bringing on Lisa O’Leary, an industry veteran with 15 years of experience working in a children’s achievement center franchise.

Along with songs for seeds’ rapid growth into new markets came with a need for extended franchisee support, and the founders began to formulate a new position to fill the gap. “We’ve learned that as we expand into new territories, some of our operators are more isolated in their markets. Having someone else on board at HQ gives our franchisees more resources and keeps us all in more consistent touch,” Qualter Berna said in the songs for seeds 2019 Year in Review, and she and her partners Bobby Berna and Allison and Craig Schlanger delivered on that promise by recruiting O’Leary.

O’Leary herself is a mother of two who has always had a passion for children and originally worked as a teacher. She adopted her twin sons from Korea—now age 16—at just 15 months old, and has loved every second of motherhood. O’Leary eventually moved into the world of children’s supplemental education franchising and worked for Brain Balance Achievement Centers. Through her work, she has been able to pass on her extensive knowledge of franchising and dedication to children to her fellow parents, educators and childcare professionals.

“Even though I started out as a teacher, I always felt like there was a limit to what I could do. I wanted to be able to do more with kids, and that’s when I joined a learning center franchise as director of operations and business coach,” said O’Leary. When she started at Brain Balance, the franchise had just 15 locations. Over the course of her 8-year tenure, O’Leary grew the business to 138 locations with another 30 in development.

While she felt proud of what she had accomplished at Brain Balance, she started looking for another opportunity to grow a fledgling franchise. “songs for seeds stood out to me as another amazing program that has been around for a while, but just needed help to get the word out,” said O’Leary. “ In the couple of weeks that I’ve been here, it has been amazing to see the balance between music and education created by the brand. I’m excited to put new systems in place within the franchise to help this business.”

O’Leary has begun offering support to franchisees by reaching out to each location individually to create a specific plan with each owner. “We talk about everything from marketing to managing their business,” said O’Leary. “We work together to break everything down into pieces that are easy to follow and implement.”

One of O’Leary’s first initiatives is tackling marketing as a whole across all locations. “I’m starting with marketing, and specifically community marketing,” said O’Leary. “Building relationships within the community is one of the best ways to get the word out about a business like songs for seeds. There’s a really incredible bond that happens among the moms, children, instructors and caretakers that attend, so the community aspect of this business is essential to growth.”

As Senior Director of Franchising, O’Leary will also be reaching out to existing locations that are looking to both grow within their current territories and expand to additional territories. “We want to show that every location currently on board is consistent and staying on brand,” said O’Leary. By strengthening these existing locations, we will then have a much bigger pool to choose from when it comes to the validation process.”

While she is just a few weeks into the job, O’Leary is excited to dig in, learn more about the process and jumpstart songs for seeds’ growth overall. “This is an incredible place to grow, and I’m really excited to take this momentum into the coming year,” O'Leary said.

The startup costs for a songs for seeds franchise range from $92,250 to $122,650. The franchise fee is $45,000. Multi-level financial incentives include two units for $70,000 and three units for $90,000. To learn more about franchising with songs for seeds, visit ***