The Great Franchisees: Joe and Alison Friedman, Lightbridge Academy, Charlotte

Alison Friedman was so inspired by the work her daughter-in-law accomplished with early-childhood education daycare and development brand Lightbridge Academy* that it motivated her to go into franchise ownership with her husband, Joe, in Charlotte, North Carolina.

The duo will open two Lightbridge Academy locations to serve the Greater Charlotte area. The Friedmans, who are passionate about supporting their community and local families, are committed to serving the area by offering mission-driven, innovative child care services. 

Alison and her husband will start opening their education centers starting in September of this year.

1851 Franchise: Tell me your story – what did you do before franchising? 

Alison Friedman: We’re all from New Jersey, and we work for All American Poly. They’re a polyethylene extruder and large packaging provider. Joe and I oversee the sales organization. He’s been with the company for 41 years, and I’ve been there for 13. To put it simply, we supply packaging, but we’re in the business of people. That’s really the All American Poly brand — taking care of people. We work for a family. We value that — they take care of their people. It’s been a great place for us to thrive. Joe’s daughter, Dana, worked in early child care, and she worked up from teaching to directing. Dana has turned around a number of centers and had opportunities to launch a couple of centers. One was a Lightbridge Academy in New Jersey. She did that and did very well.

1851 Franchise: How did you initially find out about franchising? 

Friedman: So, we were watching Dana be very successful with what she was doing. We were all at a salon getting ready for a wedding and talking about how things were going. Joe and I were talking about investing and expanding and franchising with Lightbridge Academy just clicked. What better way to invest than in our future?

1851 Franchise: Why did you pick franchising over starting your own business? 

Friedman: We’re not looking to leave our current jobs. We think this is a perfect formula with a great brand —the Lightbridge brand. Their values align with ours. We appreciate that support. We moved to Charlotte five years ago, and the growth here is just incredible, but there's a strong need for child care centers. All the demos show that too.

1851 Franchise: What types of brands did you look at?

Friedman: We did interviews with other major competitors in the industry, and it just had that kind of feel of, “We’re the biggest, we’re the baddest.” That’s not us. On the other hand, Lightbridge Academy is a solid organization, but it still remains flexible with a level of personalization. There are growth opportunities. After meeting everyone at the corporate office it just felt right. We just knew we were a match. When I was up there and we were first vetting out the partnership, I mentioned that we had just completed our branding work at All American Poly. If you swapped the names in all of the branding and purpose statements, they’re almost exactly the same. We liked that. 

1851 Franchise: Why did you pick Lightbridge Academy? What excited you most about the brand’s potential? 

Friedman: Really, the excitement comes from the opportunity to offer solutions to working parents and make an impact for families and children. We want to give the children in our community the best start possible by offering a warm, welcoming environment for clients and employees. Taking those ideas as far as we can take them is most exciting. 

We want to promote ourselves as a brand of trust. We want to know everything we can know about the families we’re serving. We want them to know they can trust us. The cameras in the facilities speak to that. Lightbridge Academy is essentially a home away from home and an extension of our family. Really, it’s the trust that’s most important when you’re leaving your child with someone else.

1851 Franchise: What are your dreams with the business? What does the future look like? 

Friedman: We already have our team together but no building quite yet. We’ve been doing some light marketing and social media posts. We do want to get out in the community and see what kind of events we can get involved in.

1851 Franchise: What value do you see your business providing to the greater Charlotte community?

Friedman: We’re an innovative child care center. We’re a solution for working parents, which means we have extended hours, having cameras with virtual access. Full transparency. The curriculum is expansive and covers a wide domain. It covers many different ways children learn.

1851 Franchise: What advice would you have for others looking at buying a franchise?

Friedman: I would say definitely do your research in vetting. It’s a commitment. It’s important that your values align. 

1851 Franchise: What do you do in your personal time?

Friedman: I’m into Zoomba! I nearly have my Zoombeanie certification. I didn’t get to finish because of COVID-19, but I think it would be cool to bring that into the centers. We’re pretty active people. We’re into the gym and sports. Lightbridge Academy offers those kinds of activities. It won’t just stop at Zoomba — it will include all kinds of sports and activities.