---
title: "Relationships Drive the Business: How These Sylvan Franchisees Grew Through Connection"
url: https://burnaze.com/article/8b3c5c44-e3e2-41d3-bf43-6c5baa6d03cc
source: "1851 Franchise"
original_url: https://1851franchise.com/relationships-drive-the-business-how-these-sylvan-franchisees-grew-through-connection-2720098
category: "Tutoring"
industry: "Education & Childcare"
segment: "Tutoring"
published: 2022-10-20T19:14:32.000Z
modified: 2026-11-01T02:09:25.993Z
image: https://newimage.1851franchise.com/cdn-cgi/image/quality=85,format=webp,width=1280,height=720/story/featureImage/4c91c06032f71b520eaf193ea9909fd99725.jpg
---

# Relationships Drive the Business: How These Sylvan Franchisees Grew Through Connection

**TL;DR:** Sylvan Learning franchisees Lauren Webster and Marissa Roh emphasize the importance of relationships in growing their businesses. They have learned that building connections with community members, families, and students is crucial to success in the personalized learning space.

*originally published in 1851 Franchise on 2022-10-20. [Read the original](https://1851franchise.com/relationships-drive-the-business-how-these-sylvan-franchisees-grew-through-connection-2720098).*

## Story

For Lauren Webster and Marissa Roh, the strength of relationships within the Sylvan Learning network has shone through since day one. Roh took over a Sylvan Learning center that her mother-in-law previously owned, and Webster eventually invested in the center where she previously worked.

As the two have grown their respective businesses, their understanding of community connection and the role relationships play in a Sylvan business has also evolved.

“Coming in as a CPA, I was all about the numbers when I started out,” Roh explained. “I quickly learned that this is a relationship-driven business. While the numbers are really important, the relationships are just as important.”

In the personalized learning space, building relationships with community members, individual families, and each student served is crucial to success.

“A lot of it is just reminding families that we’re here,” Webster said. “Sylvan is a very popular name.” She went on to explain that, while many families know about Sylvan, taking any opportunity to be visible in the community and connect with potential students keeps Sylvan top of mind.

For franchisees who believe in and have a passion for what Sylvan does, making these connections is not necessarily difficult. Attending events like local fairs and community holiday celebrations allows Sylvan franchise owners and their employees to connect more naturally with the populations they intend to serve.

In addition to more traditional marketing techniques, making oneself known in the community and forging organic relationships with those they hope to serve, franchise owners can make an incredible impact.

## Entities

- 1851 Franchise (publication)
- Education & Childcare (sector)
- Sylvan Learning (company)
- franchisee growth (topic)
- relationship building (topic)
- personalized learning (topic)
- community connection (topic)

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Originally reported by 1851 Franchise (https://1851franchise.com/relationships-drive-the-business-how-these-sylvan-franchisees-grew-through-connection-2720098). Summarized by Burnaze (https://burnaze.com/article/8b3c5c44-e3e2-41d3-bf43-6c5baa6d03cc).