When You Believe in a Brand So Much, You Decide to Invest in It Kumon franchisee talks about going from customer to employee to owner.

4,826 miles. That's the distance between Rio de Janeiro, Brazil and Westport, Conn. It's also the distance travelled in Laisa Mathissen's journey with Kumon.

Mathissen was 9-years-old, living in Rio de Janerio, when her parents enrolled her in Kumon—the world's largest after-school math and reading program. She remained enrolled for six years and credits the discipline, time management, and organization skills she possesses today to those years spent as a Kumon Student.

Mathissen's academic studies eventually led her to London where she studied economics. After briefly working in the finance industry, Mathissen and her husband moved to Connecticut in 2010. At the time, she had some difficulty finding a job because of the state of the economy. Around the same time, Kumon had a unique way of re-entering her life.

"My stepchildren needed a little extra help with math," says Mathissen, owner and instructor of Kumon Math and Reading Center of Fairfield-Downtown. "I recalled the success that I had with Kumon as a child and told my husband that we should enroll them. Shortly after enrolling, I realized that it could be a good job opportunity for me as well and asked the instructor if she needed help."

Mathissen worked at the Kumon Center for about a year-and-a-half as a center assistant. Because of her background in finance, she primarily worked with the higher-level math students. She eventually started working with newly enrolled students and was exposed to many of the business aspects of running a Kumon Franchise.

"After about a year or so, I realized that Kumon didn't just have to be a job for me. I could turn Kumon into a career," Mathissen says. "After experiencing Kumon as a student and as a parent, I knew that the method worked, but then seeing how the center was run as an employee, I was immediately drawn to the idea of becoming a small-business owner."

Running a business wasn't a new concept to Mathissen. Both of her parents were small business owners, so she grew up with the mentality of "we work for what we want." Because of that, the idea of going out on her own wasn't scary. It also helped that Laisa had spent the previous year learning the ins and outs and do's and don'ts of running a Kumon Franchise.

"You can run a business many different ways, but because I had experience in a center prior to opening my own, I knew going into it how I wanted to run my Kumon Center, what aspects of business management I wanted to implement and what I needed to do to ensure quality of service," Mathissen says. "I knew I liked the product and believed in the method, but learning about center management was invaluable to me."

Mathissen also brought to Kumon two very unique advantages that help her on a daily basis. Firstly, she was a Kumon Student so she knows what they are going through every step of the way. She has experienced their joys, successes, failures and fears. Second, she was and still is a Kumon Parent.

"My two older children were enrolled in Kumon, but now my youngest, six and four years old, are also enrolled," Mathissen says. "Parents see that I'm not just passionate about what I do, but that I also believe in the product enough to have my own children enrolled in the program. That helps me build a relationship with my parents because I can give them tips not just as an instructor, but also as a parent."

Mathissen's international journey from Kumon Student to center assistant to Kumon Instructor represents the strong connection between the academic program, its students and the global scale of the Kumon Program.

"The amazing thing about Kumon is that you can technically be enrolled in one country, move to another and still learn the same curriculum—picking up right where you left off," Mathissen says. "Kumon can provide a fantastic education across all nations and really gives kids opportunity, where they may not have it."

Learn more about the Kumon franchise opportunity or call (844) 753-5533.