Multi-Unit Franchisees Discover Emotional Return on Investment with Sylvan Learning

In life, everybody needs assistance to reach success—especially in academics.

As the owners of 13 Sylvan Learning centers throughout Dallas, Fort Worth, Houston, Waco and Killeen, Texas, brothers Chris and Jano Pittner have provided just that—they’ve assisted more than 3,000 students across the state by giving them access to tutoring.

Originally hailing from Arizona, Chris spent nearly 15 years with Blockbuster Video as a regional director, overseeing the operations of 120 stores. But after Blockbuster’s sales started to dip, Chris realized it was time to take a hard look at his career.

“I realized it was time to pursue something more meaningful. During my time in the retail industry, I felt like I wasn’t putting anything back into the world,” Chris said. “My father was a math teacher for nearly 47 years, and I saw firsthand the importance of dedicating your career to helping kids. It’s an incredibly noble profession, and I wanted to follow in his footsteps.”

In his pursuit of a new career, Chris discovered that Sylvan Learning was looking for a regional director. Impressed with the brand’s quality product, he believed Sylvan truly aligned with his own values of education—especially as a father of four children. And the fact that Chris realized he could run his new business alongside his brother, Jano, made the investment even more rewarding.

“Sylvan was clearly the best brand from a program and curriculum standpoint—everything they offer is highly customized for each children they serve. I didn’t find anything else like that amongst Sylvan’s competitors,” Chris said. “This is a strong brand with a lot of history. I was eager to be associated with such a high-quality company.”

Chris and Jano opened their first location in 2005, and over the years, the brothers decided to reinvest in the brand—13 times to be exact. Most recently, the Pittners won an award for bringing in the second-highest amount of revenue among Sylvan groups nationwide—where there are more than 750 different franchises. It’s the fourth year in a row they’ve received such an honor. Chris credits much of their success to their internal hiring efforts, and they oversee nearly 300 employees that are spread throughout Texas.

“We try to hire very enthusiastic center directors and directors of education,” Chris Pittner said. “We are focused and passionate about good customer service and keeping parents engaged and students learning. You have to be able to keep your promises. If you do that, you’re more likely to get the kids motivated.”

Seeing firsthand the impact that Sylvan has on kids is one of the greatest reminders for the Pittners that their decision to invest in the brand was the right one. Chris recalls one single mother who was working full-time as a security guard. Concerned that her two children weren’t getting the kind of academic support that they needed, she brought them to Sylvan. They thrived at the center—so much so, in fact, that their mother was motivated to start a nonprofit that would raise money to help send countless more kids to Sylvan.

“I’ve seen so many cases where parents would come to us in tears because they were so concerned that their children were falling behind in school. A few months later, they’d come back to us crying tears of joy because of the positive impact Sylvan had on their lives,” Chris said. “In all of our centers, we see so much appreciation and gratitude for our curriculum in the way parents interact with teachers—there are so many positive moments every single day. Kids who go to Sylvan genuinely love learning. And that makes me grateful every single day to do what we do in communities throughout Texas.”