Female Founders
BY KERRY PIPES
ART APPRECIATION
Sharing a passion for teaching, kids, and art
M
ary Rogers (at right) likes to
start things and she likes to
see children learn. In 1984,
she started Computer Explorers, a brand
created to teach kids how to work with the
newly arriving wave of personal computers. It was a successful brand she deeply
enjoyed being a part of, and it’s where she
first worked with Rosemarie Hartnett (at
left). In 1997, with about 150 franchises
in 11 countries, Rogers sold her interest
in Computer Explorers. “I left thinking
I would just spend the rest of my career
consulting and doing various other projects
that were of great interest to me,” she says.
But the franchise start-up bug wouldn’t
leave her alone. In 2002, she and Hartnett,
who had since spent time with the Tutor
Time brand, teamed up to launch a new
franchise company focused on delivering
art programs to children. They both had
observed schools cutting back on art curriculum budgets following the bursting of
the dot-com bubble of the late ’90s, and
thought there might be a niche for their
concept. They named it Abrakadoodle and
in 2004 started franchising.
NAMES/TITLES: Rosemarie Hartnett,
president; Mary C. Rogers, CEO
COMPANY: Abrakadoodle
SYSTEM-WIDE REVENUE: $5 million
(approx.)
NO. OF UNITS: 180 franchised
INTERNATIONAL UNITS: 130
GROWTH PLANS: To bring art education to
children all around the world
PUBLIC OR PRIVATE? Private
YEAR COMPANY FOUNDED: 2002
YEAR STARTED FRANCHISING: 2004
YOUR YEARS IN FRANCHISING: 25
years (both)
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