We are excited and proud to bring you a new feature, Talking With...., where each month we will feature a local entrepreneur and their journey to bring their business to Long Island families. This month, we interviewed Debra Whitefield, owner of Gymboree Play & Music, where so many moms take their first classes with their babies and make friends for life.
In the early 1990's, Debra Whitefield was a journalist who had been writing about and editing business news for almost 20 years when she started to think about becoming a business owner. At dinner one night, a friend relocating from New York City to her native Indonesia said rearing her children was harder in Indonesia and she "didn't know what I would do without Gymboree." Up until that point, Debra had never heard of Gymboree, but she began doing some research and soon became very interested and excited at the prospect of opening a business that not only helped families but also combined the fields of education and the arts. Within a few days, Debra discovered that the most current Long Island franchisee had just put her business up for sale and felt that owning her own Gymboree Play & Music location was written in the stars. In April 1994, Debra opened her first three Gymboree franchise locations in Rockville Centre, North Woodmere and Merrick, and fifteen years later, she is the largest Gymboree franchisee with 13 total locations (7 on Long Island and 6 in Manhattan).
During the first few years that Debra was trying to get her business off the ground, her husband Barry Hanson, supported her all the way, at first with a reliable paycheck and health benefits, and later as a partner, joining her full time. We spoke to Debra about her journey into entrepreneurship.
What would people be surprised to learn about you?
That I grew up in a small town of about 250 people outside Lincoln, Nebraska.
What was your first job?
I was a grocery checkout clerk when I was in high school.
What was your childhood ambition?
I always wanted to be a writer and reporter.
What's your favorite thing about living on Long Island?
The Long Beach boardwalk and beach.
What was your biggest fear when you launched your business?
Fear of failure. Not too many journalists make the leap into the business world and many people close to me warned me against straying so far from what I knew. I worried that my skills in journalism might not translate to running a small business and that I would have to go crawling back to journalism with my tail between my legs. Instead, I found that the news business was actually an amazing training ground for running a small business because it had allowed me to develop great communication skills as well as the ability to make fast decisions, switch gears quickly and often and multi-task on a regular basis.
As an entrepreneur, what has been your biggest challenge?
Withstanding economic forces beyond my control while trying to stay focused on the things I can control.
What do you do to unwind/relax?
I love baseball! I watch or listen to virtually every Mets game, even this year! And my husband and I often build our (rare) vacations around visits to minor- or major-league ballparks. We even have a small investment in an instructional-league team in North Carolina.
What do you think is the most important thing for new moms to know when looking for activities to do with their new babies?
Learning to treat people with respect and kindness is an important part of pre-preschool learning, so look for warm and genuinely friendly teachers. Activities should be age-appropriate, and repetition, makeups and unstructured playtime are essential. You should feel like part of a community!
Any advice or words of wisdom for aspiring entrepreneurs?
Expect to work harder and longer and for less pay than you can imagine. Expect to need far more capital than your initial projections and budgets show. Expect the unexpected and don't build the Taj Mahal before you have the customers to support it.
Give us one phrase or saying that you live by?
"Your own resolution to succeed is more important than any other one thing." - Abraham Lincoln. I love this quote because I believe in hard work, determination and humility, traits that Abe Lincoln exemplified.
What has been the most gratifying aspect of being a Gymboree Play & Music owner?
Seeing parents bond with their children and with other parents. Just today I received an email from a former Gymboree customer who wrote me about the possibility of teaching at Gymboree because she had done Gymboree classes with her now-adult child and enjoyed it so much that she " would like to give that feeling to a new generation."
Learn more about Gymboree Play & Music, including their newest location in Plainview, on their website by clicking here >>>. Remember to check our Events Calendar and Parent Perks for fun classes and great discounts that especially for LIParentSource users!
Do you know a local business owner or "mompreneur" that we should profile? Nominate yourself or someone else by sending an e-mail to info@liparentsource.com and tell us why we should feature your nominee! |
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Did you ever have a day where you feel like the absolute worst parent in the world? I did today, and it's an awful feeling. This morning was a crazy morning in our house because Mommy didn't feel well, something that isn't allowed to happen, but inevitably does, and always at the worst time possible. Between trying to schedule a doctor appointment and getting two kids ready for school with lunches, book orders, homework, pictures and everything else that they needed, I accidentally sent my first grade son off to school without his lunchbox and snack. As I'm running between one doctor to another and then to the pharmacy, I received a phone call from my son's school that when he came to the office to let them know that he was missing both his snack and lunch, they let him call me at home. The secretary then went on to let me know that when I wasn't home, he left me "the saddest message" but that she did give him a snack for his classroom snack time. When I heard the message he left for me, I felt about 2 inches tall. With his toughest 6 year old little boy voice trying so hard not to cry, he said, "Mommy, you forgot to give me my snack and my lunchbox and I'm at school right now and I really don't know what to do. Bye." Did you hear that heart breaking? I ran up to his school as fast as I could with his lunch in hand, vowing that this will never happen again. 
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