For Faroogh Quadri and her husband, Mohsin, opening their own Bricks 4 Kidz franchise in the Evergreen community in San Jose was the ideal opportunity.
Here’s your chance to meet the mother who is bringing new opportunities for your kids to experience hands-on learning through Bricks 4 Kidz after school programs and other engaging classes, unlocking fun new projects for them to learn science and engineering concepts through engaging and fun themed models, all designed by architects and engineers.
How did her path lead to hauling bins of LEGO Bricks to schools in San Jose’s Evergreen community? It’s one that is both familiar and interesting.
When she was 18, she moved with her family from Qatar to Canada, where she enrolled in college, earning earning an associate degree in pharmaceutical chemical technology and bachelor’s degree in physical science. After working in a lab, she married Mohsin, and eventually stayed home to focus on raising their four sons. When the boys reached school age, the family moved to Boston, where Faroogh worked as a math teacher and a teaching assistant.
Faroogh spent lots of time around kids, not only at work and as a mother but in her free time. In fact, she and her husband were very much the nucleus of an active, close-knit family. She serves as an Assistant Scout Master for Boy Scouts and teaches first grade Sunday school students. When she and Mohsin decided to coordinate and coach a FIRST Lego League Team out of their home, something clicked: There was so much possibility to create and show kids the fundamentals of engineering contained in those little bricks. They served in these roles for eight years.
That takes their story to California, where they relocated for Mohsin’s work. Here, they weren’t through with the LEGO Bricks. Their two older sons, now teens, worked part time for a nearby Bricks 4 Kidz franchise, and Faroogh would stop by before setting out for her daily job commute to assist with the very busy check-in for summer camp. Once again, something clicked: This program was a winner.
“There was never a moment when a child was not busy,” Faroogh recalls. “The kids were rotating constantly and always enjoying what they were doing. There were so many supplies and materials provided to the franchise owner. As a teacher, you don’t have to come up with ideas of what to teach!”
At that point, Faroogh and Mohsin began exploring the idea of opening their own Bricks 4 Kidz business. With their backgrounds in STEM-related fields, and their mutual love for children and learning, it was a perfect fit.
Once she became a franchise owner, she spent a week in training, which Faroogh says was useful and packed with information. “It gives you step-by-step instructions on how to make your business successful.” Each evening during the training, she got on the computer so she could teach Mohsin — who was back in California — everything she learned in class that day, going over the lessons on a shared screen.
Both are excited to learn more about the business, and both are planning for the possibilities. Their four boys are ages 20, 18, 16 and 14. After devoting years of their lives to helping their boys and their friends build a great future and achieve their best, the couple is now looking forward to helping other children have those same enriching opportunities.
For example, Faroogh is researching STEM grants through the school district in hopes of being able to provide the Bricks 4 Kidz program to lower income students. This is a great opportunity, because a significant portion of the schools in her district are Title 1 schools.
“We live in an underserved community. If these children have the opportunity early on to be exposed to STEM, they can consider these fields as career options,” Faroogh says.
She looks forward to helping these kids unlock their potential, one brick at a time.
If you’re interested in learning more about building a fulfilling career as a franchise owner for Bricks 4 Kidz, contact us today for more details!