How Franchisees Can Make a Big Difference in Their Communities Don't underestimate your impact as a franchisee. Leverage your business acumen to make a positive impact.

Look around. Franchises are all around us. Some of these franchises provide food, automotive repair, gas stations, hotels, and pet supplies that are essential to our everyday lives. But how many actually contribute to making our world and the future of our community a better place?

That's the sense of purpose that many Kumon North America Instructors were seeking when researching business opportunities. Many of Kumon's Instructors had high-level positions as doctors, engineers, lawyers, and military officers before making the jump into franchising.

And while they all came from different walks of life, they overwhelmingly shared one common thread in their passion to seek a new career – the opportunity to improve the world around them.

"Many of our instructors already had successful careers before finding Kumon," says Kumon North America's Vice President of Center Development John Collins. "But they all have told us the same thing over and over again: Their professional lives were missing something in those other positions. It turns out that many of them have a deep desire to make the world around them better. As a Kumon Instructor, they are able to meet that need."

Before she became a Kumon Instructor at the Kirkland-Juanita Center, Yolanda Chao had a successful career with internet and software development firms.

Chao, a software engineer, worked exclusively in the STEM field as the director of technology and software development for ProQuest and AOL Sprynet, which created "Internet-in-a-Box." She also served as the vice president of engineering at InstantService.com, DeepCanyon and Wildtangent Inc.

"I loved my career as an engineer and being able to work in a cutting-edge field," she says. "While I am no longer there, I love being able to teach and enrich the future generation of young STEM professionals through Kumon."

Fawad Shaikh, who is now the Kumon Instructor at the Kumon Center of Eldersburg, had been a registered pharmacist before finding his calling with Kumon.

"In addition to working as a registered pharmacist, I have also taught at private vocational schools and at my local community college for over a decade," he says. "My background in education and experience working with others made Kumon a perfect fit for me in my career."

By being able to work with students, Instructors like Chao and Shaikh have the ability to directly influence their learning and impact in the world. Those impacts by current and former Kumon students are significant and the students recognize the influence their instructor and Kumon experience had on them.

Joshika Jeyaprakash, who attends the Kumon Center of West Chester in Ohio, has been enrolled in the program for six years and says it's made a significant difference in her life. She was elected president of Kiwanis K-Kids in her school and started her own company, Joshika's Jewels for Joy.

"Kumon has taught me many valuable skills that have helped me," she says. "One of those is don't give up whenever the work becomes challenging. You just need to keep on trying and you'll get it."

Joshika was also the youngest recipient of The Cincinnati & Northern Kentucky "17 under Seventeen Awards 2021" and received a $5,000 scholarship to the University of Cincinnati.

"Joshika is just one of the many amazing students to come through and thrive in the Kumon program," Collins says. "Being able to encourage and influence students like her is what our Instructors have a passion for doing every day."

To learn if the Kumon Franchise opportunity is right for you, visit kumonfranchise.com.