The Franchise Woman is Driven
Failure is Not an Option for Juliet Boydstun of the COOP I
by Elizabeth Denham
f you ask Juliet Boydstun what she thinks is the key to success, she will tell you it’s not having a great idea, it’s having great execution – and believing that failure is not an option. “Having the idea is not the hard part. It is having the idea and doing it. It’s showing up for 11 years,” Boydstun said. “You have to have faith in yourself. We had moments of panic, but we kept pushing.” Boydstun and her partner, Lucinda Lent started the COOP 11 years ago in Los Angeles as a special event space for children’s parties and have attracted celebrities such as Julie Bowen, Isla Fisher and Liv Tyler. The space is a fun, cool play and party space for kids, and adults are not forgotten. There is a lovely outdoor garden, free WiFi, cappuccino bar, fabulous magazines and stress-free parties where adults can relax and let the staff do the work. Kids’ parties are filled with fun, themed decorations and activities. Play times throughout the week offer an enormous ball pit, a two-story curly slide, a rope climbing tunnel and a fantastic bouncer equipped with a basketball net. Kids can pow wow in the COOP teepee or dance the day away on the electronic dance and gaming floor. When Boydstun and Lent started the COOP, they always believed in the concept. But execution wasn’t easy. “We went to get a loan, and every banker was male. At the time, there was no one doing what we were doing, and the bankers didn’t get the concept,” Boydstun laughed. “We wound up getting an SBA loan specifically for women, and here we are 11 years later with at least 20 direct competitors.”
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The Franchise Woman
