Young Ones To Watch: Jennifer Turliuk, CEO of MakerKids

When some people see a kid playing a video game, they just see a kid wasting time. 

Not Jennifer Turliuk.

She sees tomorrow’s coder, creator or entrepreneur. All they need is a little direction.

That’s why in 2013 she founded Toronto-based MakerKids, a STEM-focused educational enrichment business. The curriculum focuses on three core areas: coding, robotics and the virtual-world-building video game Minecraft. 

Why Minecraft?

“It is a very educational game,” she explains. “It leverages kids’ interests in video games to teach them real-world transferable skills like coding, as well as 3D design ... as well as softer skills like group collaboration and goal setting.”

Her unique approach is paying off. MakerKids has been a success in Canada, and today, as its CEO, she’s starting to franchise it out to other entrepreneurs who are passionate about the supplementary education space. In fact, her plan to franchise the concept landed her the 2017 NextGen in Franchising Grand Prize, a global competition to find the best new ideas in the industry. 

We asked her about her start, why she thinks franchising is right for her business, and her growth strategy for 2021.

1851 Franchise: What inspired you to start MakerKids?

Jennifer Turliuk: It kind of stemmed back to my experience as a kid. I coded a Harry Potter website for a class project that ended up being featured in a magazine and going viral. It really helped empower me to become more engaged at school. Suddenly, the bullying I was experiencing became less relevant. 

1851: How did you begin?

Turliuk: Many years ago I became a camp instructor. Then I was in a program, Singularity University, based at NASA Research Park in California, where we learned about technology and how to apply it to areas like education. And I want to try to provide opportunities like that for more kids.

1851: Tell me about the early days.

Turliuk: We started in a basement, actually. It was full of all sorts of materials and machines for projects including sewing and woodworking. We just started to attract more and more kids. And then we ended up moving it and focusing on our three core topics of coding, robotics and Minecraft, and it just started taking off and getting more and more enrollments. Then we started to get a lot of people asking if we were considering franchising the business.

1851: You were only the third Canadian to win the NextGen in Franchising Grand Prize. What was that experience like?

Turliuk: It was a really cool moment. I was presented the award by someone who's heavily involved in franchising Subway. That was cool because I had read all the materials I could get my hands on about Subway to learn about franchising. And then, here I was up on stage with someone who was instrumental to Subway franchising. It was quite a cool moment. 

1851: Why is MakerKids a good franchise model?

Turliuk: It allows local owners to really get to know the families that are coming to the programs and to develop a bit of a community and relationship with them. For franchisees, it's a great opportunity to experience the potential for a year-round income, as well as to tap into a multi-billion dollar after-school program market and a growing trend of parents wanting more extracurricular enrichment opportunities for their kids.

1851: Like schools, your programs are class-based. How did you respond to the COVID-19 pandemic? 

Turliuk: I heard about some of the lockdowns and asked one of my colleagues to start developing a plan for delivering our programs virtually. It was more of a side project at the time, because obviously, no one was sure how things were going to go. He identified things like what software to use and how to deliver the virtual programs. When campuses were mandated to close the Friday before March Break, we basically spent the weekend developing all our plans for virtual programming and pivoting all of our training for franchisees to virtual formats as well.  We had a couple of days where we were closed, but then by Tuesday, we were up and running with virtual programs. 

1851: So what’s your growth strategy for 2021?

Turliuk: Our strategy is to continue focusing on our virtual programs, which we're running right now and our franchisees are running as well. Then if we find franchisees that are a good fit, we can present them with a ready-made set of contacts who are participating in virtual programs within their area. They can get up and running with that virtually and then open in person down the line.