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When Jodi Harvey tells people she teaches anger management the first response is usually “Isn’t that dangerous?” Jodi not only feels safe teaching at her business, Simply Your Best, in Santa Cruz, CA, she is now offering franchises in the western states hoping to bring her philosophy of skills training to people in many states.
“We focus on education, teaching people the life skills they need to maintain effective relationships with their spouse, their children, co-workers and friends. Most of our clients are referred to us by the courts, a probation office or from a divorce proceeding where the parents are required to take a cooperative parenting course as part of the settlement,” she said.
But what about the danger? “We are working with people who have volunteered to enter our training program because they really want to change their lives,” said Jodi with reassurance in her voice. “They recognize that they may be able to learn something here that will have a significant impact on their future.”
Harvey and her husband and partner, Rob, are careful to point out that Simply Your Best does not offer therapy or psychological counseling, although many clients also see therapists. “We focus on building awareness and what to do to prevent personal and interpersonal problems,” said Harvey. “It’s about being the best we can be for both ourselves and others.”
The co-parenting program which is required by the courts in many divorce cases produced this evaluation from a male participant: "I never thought it would change, the screaming, the accusations, the crap I would give and endure. Until I learned that I was the only one who could change it all. And I did. With the basic simple tools this class has taught me I now communicate with everyone I know or just meet on a totally higher level. Situations with my ex or even my girlfriend that I used to find baffling, I now find an opportunity to better understand who they are and what their needs are. This class totally changed how I think about myself and others."
A male participant in the domestic violence program put it this way: "When I first started this class I was in denial about my behavior. I believed that I did nothing wrong and that my actions were justified. Plain and simple I thought I didn't belong in these classes nor did I want to be in them. Now that I have completed my classes I realize that what I did was unacceptable and I am 100% responsible for my actions. I know now that abuse at any level isn't OK. Nobody deserves to be physically, emotionally or mentally abused."
The business holds most classes in their own facility, but when they started eight years ago they offered classes in adult education centers, church classrooms and community facilities and they expect new franchises will do the same as they get started.
“It is a fairly low cost franchise with the franchise fee based on the population of the county. Franchises are offered with exclusive rights to offer the Simply Your Best program in that county,” according to Harvey.
“We’ve spent very little in marketing expense, because most clients come through referrals from the justice system and human service agencies. They are looking for effective programs in anger management, domestic violence prevention and parenting skills.”
Jennifer Buesing, Deputy Probation Officer for Santa Cruz County says “I have seen how their life skills education has made a remarkable impact for the victims and offenders of domestic violence. Their innovative educational approach has shown to be effective at helping clients recognize and stop using abusive behaviors.”
Simply Your Best is now expanding in California, Oregon, Washington, Nevada, Utah, Idaho, Arizona and New Mexico. Franchise Smith (www.franchisesmith.com), a Portland, OR law firm specializing in franchising is handling the legal work, disclosures and registration in those states.
“We have invested in developing a database system which allows our facilitators to track client progress and generates reports for the referring agency or court system as needed while still providing security and privacy for all client records,” said Rob Harvey. “Now it is basically a turn-key system, so a new local franchise can start-up almost immediately. We provide all the training materials, the secure database system and management guidance on recruiting and hiring program facilitators and handling marketing and central operations.”
Harvey says they designed the system to work in a small county where the franchisee might manage the program from a home office, or to scale up easily to large urban counties like Los Angeles with one or more dedicated office and meeting space.
Most of the trainers at Simply Your Best are educators who teach one or two classes a week. “We recruit from public and private school teachers, college faculty, corporate trainers, retired teachers, and human service professionals. Most of our classes are evenings and weekends, so it makes a great part-time job at professional wages” said Jodi Harvey. Classes run once or twice a week for 12-52 weeks.
The Harveys also point out that this is a recession-proof business. “Unfortunately, economic downturns create extra stress in families and we see the need for our services going up.” In fact, the Santa Cruz office increased its business by 50% last year.
“We consider it a vote of confidence that the first people considering franchises are people who have worked for us as facilitators. They have seen how effective the programs are and are ready to take the system into new communities.”
More information is available on-line at SimplyYourBest.com or by calling the SYB headquarters in Santa Cruz at 831-464-2378. The Santa Cruz office has become the training and demonstration site for new franchisees. The franchises are being offered by SYB Franchise Systems, Inc., the corporation the Harveys set up to manage and support franchise operations.
Comments
Rob Harvey
We've gone through our annual renewal process for the west coast states, and are ready to go!