Sharon Estroff Fiercely Following her Dreams, Continues to Take on the Challenge

No path to success is a straight line, but when you are fiercely dedicated to your vision, you figure it out. That’s exactly what Sharon Estroff, founder and CEO of Challenge Island has done. And she has turned it into an international franchise company that is now the number one STEM/STEAM program on Entrepreneur Magazine’s Franchise 500 and is made up of 90% female franchisees.

Sharon Estroff Fiercely Following her Dreams, Continues to Take on the Challenge

Leading by example, Estroff shares her lessons in learning from her mistakes and growing in her ability to believe in herself. “Every time I have made a good decision it has been because I trusted my gut and my instincts,” said Estroff. But it has taken time for her to build the confidence to follow her inner voice. “Being a female CEO in the male dominated franchise space can be daunting - especially when you are coming from the field of education, not business,” Estroff says. “Sometimes I feel like I am wearing a sign that says, give me all of your unsolicited advice about what I should and should not be doing! I know people are only trying to help, but Challenge Island is just as out of the box as I am in the franchise world, so their advice doesn’t always align with my core values and vision.”

by Elizabeth Denham

Each time she has allowed herself to be steered in a dubious direction, Estroff has learned critical lessons. And each time she has managed to pull herself back on course after making a mistake, she has gained a clearer view of her big picture goals and greater confidence in her ability to make the right choices for her company. It’s been an important – albeit bumpy - evolution. In 2003, Estroff was “at the height of what she calls her “Dr. Jekyll and Mrs. Hyde phase.” She spent her days as a cheerful, engaged second-grade teacher and her evenings as a stressedout mom attempting to help her own four children with homework. “I knew it was time for a career shift,” she says, “but as an educator born into a family of educators, I was afraid to stray too far from the field of education. So I took Challenge Island, a STEAM

program I created for my students, and turned it into a full-time gig.” Estroff began offering Challenge Island as an afterschool enrichment class in nearby schools while tutoring on the side to make ends meet. Before long, she had created a profitable home-based business that she could run around her family’s busy schedule. “With the popularity of STEM, STEAM and 21st Century Skills in the educational marketplace, I had a hunch that this business model would work for other parents out there,” Estroff says. That hunch was right and today, Challenge Island is one of the fastest growing educational franchises in the world with 100 units in 30 states and 4 countries. Part of her journey has included staying true to who she is. “I have learned to recognize what I am good

at and what I am not,” Estroff explains. “The key is embracing your strengths while building a ‘tribe’ of people around you who have skillsets that are different from your own, but share the same fundamental values and mission as you do.” In fact, the tribes model is at the core of both the Challenge Island curriculum and company. “Our entire franchise system is built on the power of the tribe.” she says. Estroff notes that about half of the Challenge Island franchisees come from the education world and the other half come from the corporate world, running the gamut from former lawyers to marketing executives to Wall Street Bankers. One quality that all owners share is the desire to make a difference as well

as an income. Challenge Island franchisees bring STEAM education and 21 st Century skills to their communities through after-school programs, camps, in-school field trips, scout badge workshops, family nights, and corporate STEAMBUILDING® events.

There are a few things that set Challenge Island apart from other STEM franchises, which are generally based in coding, Legos and robotics curriculums. Challenge Island takes a wholistic, cross-curricular approach to engineering, adding the arts (fine arts, language arts, dramatic arts, music, and good old-fashioned imagination and creativity) and focusing on essential soft skills like collaboration, communication, critical thinking and problem solving. This

STEAM program also uses the original definition of technology: a new solution to a problem. “While we are all for digital technology,” Estroff explains, “we also know that kids need a break from their devices. Research shows that depression, loneliness, anxiety, and lack of creativity and imagination abound among digital native children. Challenge Island gives them a chance to imagine up worlds that are not powered by an electrical current and to read facial expressions rather than emojis, for a change.” Through the use of a thematic island with a map and passport stamp, playful costumes, music and artwork, the kids solve problems using only the items in the treasure chests. This method caters

to kids of all ages, abilities and strengths and encourages the use of creativity and imagination. The path to success has not been smooth. In 2012, a franchising company acquired Challenge Island and began franchising it in 2013. Estroff believed this was a good deci- sion because of the re- sources and experience available to her through this group -which franchised a Lego-based brand - were appeal- ing. As time went on, Estroff realized this was not a match made in heaven – the other company’s values and vision did not align with hers. She began to feel like she had sold her baby. Then, by some miracle and after a long-fought battle, Estroff was able to buy Challenge Island back in December of 2015 along with 25 then-wobbly franchi- sees who were looking to her for support and guidance. Today, Chal- lenge Island is 100 fran- chises strong because of Estroff’s vision and leadership, yet she is still awestruck by both the success and scope of it all.

“I have these incredibly talented and passion- ate franchisees whom I thank my lucky stars for every day,” she says, “and I have the Chal- lenge Island enterprise, this entity that – like my children – contin- ues to grow in ways and directions beyond my wildest dreams. Leading this fast-grow- ing company requires me to continuously broaden my skillset, to be introspective and proactive, and to make strategic and financial decisions that are both healthy and aggressive.” Looking ahead, Estroff continues to push boundaries and chase the next big idea. She is starting a series of books for Challenge Island. Each book will feature a different island and have fiction- al stories along with activities. Throughout her pro- cess, Estroff has learned who she is and contin- ued to push success. “I may be a fish-outof-water-teacher in a great-big-franchisingsea; but whatever we are doing seems to be working, so we keep on swimming forward.”

For more information, please contact info@challenge-island.com