MEET THE PEOPLE BEHIND THE BRANDS
Laura Coe, CEO
BUILD CONFIDENCE IN YOUR CHILD THROUGH HANDS-ON LEARNING Snapology is the premier partner for STEAM programs science, technology, enginnering, arts, and math offering year-round programs. By Christina Huang
S
napology was created by two sisters, Lisa and Laura Coe, who observed the love their children had for creative play using building blocks and other materials that snap together. The idea of offering enrichment classes and camps to teach science, technology, engineering, mathematics, arts and literacy concepts excited them given both of their backgrounds in mathematics and science. Cofounder and CEO Laura Coe outlined their journey to success. Can you tell us about yourself? How did you get started? I’m Laura Coe, CEO of the Snapology franchise system. I currently oversee the daily operations of the Snapology franchise, including franchisee support, lead generation, systems development, curriculum development, and the function of the local Pittsburgh-South franchise. Prior to starting Snapology, I held a successful career as a health care actuary for over 20 years. I have a B.S. in mathematics from Penn State University and am a Fellow of the Society of Actuaries. I live in the Pittsburgh area with my two children. My parents were entrepreneurs and, growing
18 FRANCHISE CONNECT | JUL-AUG 2020
up in a family business, I knew that I wanted to own my own business someday. While working as an actuary, I became a franchisee of two different franchise systems. While I enjoyed being a business owner, neither of these businesses were ultimately a good fit for me. Snapology is actually my third business. After selling the first two businesses (and having two children in the meantime), I stumbled onto the idea of Snapology while searching for activities for my two sons. Tell us about the Snapology history and how many locations you have both nationally and internationally. Snapology was created by my sister Lisa Coe and I, after observing the love our children had
for creating things using LEGO bricks, K’Nex and toys that snap together. We wanted to create a fun, safe environment for children to play, learn, and socialize with other children. With our combined backgrounds in science, math, finance, sales, and operations, dovetailed with our entrepreneurial spirit, we created Snapology in 2010 to offer programs that teach STEAM (science, technology, engineering, arts and mathematics) concepts to children ages 2-14 through play. Today, Snapology delivers unique learning experiences through after-school programs, homeschooling groups, summer camps, scouting programs, workshops, birthday parties, creative play, and custom events in over 150 locations in 13 countries, 98 of which are in the US. How is Snapology different than others and could you tell us about your program? What is unique about the Snapology program? What makes Snapology different (and so successful) is our curriculum. The Snapology curriculum has the perfect blend of academic enrichment, social development, and fun. Parents love our programs because they are educational, and their children have so much fun that they don’t even realize how much they are learning. With over 80 different program topics and over 1500 hours of curriculum, we
