I have 7 nieces and nephews so before I even had a kid I was very familiar with Gymboree and it’s awesomeness. In fact my family in Israel congregate at a local Gymboree every Tuesday after school! The call it “happy hour”. As soon as my mini chicpea came into this world and turned 6 months old I signed her up. Gymboree is not just a place where the kids can roll around and play, it’s a place where they can learn so many skills that will help them grow into confident children and adults.

After every class, I saw the difference in mini chicpea’s confidence… Now when I take her there she commands the room and knows exactly what to do. She sits and listens when its time for song and play, and listens to the instructions of her teachers when its time to explore the room. We also try to take Mia when they have open gym, it’s a great way to have your kid run around and tire them out without the fear of them getting hurt like at the park. Take your shoes off and watch your kid have fun!

To be honest, I kind of want to rent Gymboree out one night, get some drinks and have adults play. It’s really that fun!! Pooja invited me to come by and I had the whole room to myself! so fun! she also gave me the background story about this awesome kid spot. Pooja is also a lady boss, and that’s awesome.

What is your name? Pooja Gupta.

What do you do? I own the Gymboree Play & Music of Jersey City.

When did Gymboree open? It opened February 8 2011.

How did it start? I purchased a franchise. I had the franchise since June 2010 and then I found a location and we built it out and here we are.

Can you tell me more about what Gymboree is? Yes Gymboree, is a play and music center targeted for children ages 0 to 5 years old and what we focus on is development… never in one area… cognitive, social, and physical and we go through different aspects into these developments. Through songs, through playing, and social interaction between a grown up and a child, usually it’s a daily caregiver, a teacher in class, and other children so you have the same age groups. Even when children are not playing they have the opportunity to watch the other children play in order for them to become inspired… and see what life is like outside their home,  and their comfort space.

Can you tell me more about the different classes that you offer? One of the classes that we offer is what Gymboree is based on of and that’s Play and Learn, it’s this space where we have equipment and padded floors, and taking everyday play and understanding what children get out of it by repeating it and altering it a little so there can be a challenge.

We also have music classes, the big differences between our music class and a typical music class is that we have music from all over the world.

We also have an art class that starts at 18 months, we start working on a child’s motor skills, it’s very systematic and that comes from following a lesson plan. We do our projects in a different way because in our art class we are process focused, not product focused so it doesn’t really matter what the final product looks like, our littles guys are peeling and doing things for themselves it’s really more beneficial.

We have story time… we learn colors, shapes,  and numbers. For 3-5 year olds we have a sports class, its super fun it’s a small class, a drop off to a coach for 45 minutes and we couple it with music and sports, or art with sports.

So fun. What is great about the sports class, is that when they leave here they will know bats are not for hitting friends it’s for hitting balls… I have to put the bat down before I run or you have to stretch before you do anything physical, you’re kind of setting up the foundation of what they are going to do in their physical aspects of their life because they’ve been taught at a young age.

That’s awesome. We have a School Skills class for 3-5 year olds we don’t have a lot of children in that yet it’s usually popular in the summer. It’s for parents that don’t want to put their children in school until kindergarten, so they are being homeschooled in some way, so this is a nice supplemental program for that .

We had children who came 3 days a week, following a lesson plan we had subjects like science portion, it’s kind of like an actual school setting, and that’s another drop off. Our drop offs are 3-5, when you enter a schools system it’s usually abrupt, and we tend to try to avoid that and get them used to being on their own.

When children are 6 months years old and you have this time when you say its parachute time and maybe for the first time when they are not home and not in the safest place in this world that they don’t see their parent and the parachute comes down….and even if it is for a split second there are some kids that freak out and then the parachute goes back up and they see their parents and the children are like “where did you go?” and through this process we are trying to eliminate permanence.

We also have special events for people who are non-members who have very hectic schedules that are forever changing. So once a month we have a 90 minute party , where you have an inclusive play, art, story time , a project, a snack and then a huge parachute time at the end. That’s for $25 dollars, 30 dollars for non-members but if it was for members it will be a little cheaper

So you mention earlier that you’re indoors, and you are in between two parks, how is Gymboree different from going to the park? So many ways, we change our equipment every two weeks, regardless of the age group we are always following a lesson plan. There are targeted milestones developmentally that we are trying to reach.  We will teach you how to go to the play ground and have an amazing experience, it’s not fun to fall off of something and hit concrete but it’s not that bad to fall on a mat, and its taking a normal play activity and making it more guided.

The teachers are going to step up in an activity, and teach children who to use their arms and bodies for stability so eventually the child will be able climb to the top of the big slide by themselves without a grown-up to build confidence. There are children that are just scared to try anything…I feel that children need a little more coaxing to try different things, and the benefit of knowing that they can climb up the stairs, go down the slide by themselves and that confidence, starts now and its going to help them in any part of life.

It is said the 80% of the brain is developed before the age of 3 and most of it is coping mechanisms, and are like that go to place that we know, whatever that is for a different person, like crawling in a corner and hide, or closing your eyes and that’s when children are 1 or 0, and then you put them in a place with adversity and I say adversity because that’s where people shine.

How did you get into Gymboree? It’s a crazy life story. My background was Economics and Math in college so I was a very logical thinker and for my professional career for the last 7 years I was working in sales, and my focus was in relationship development, and management… my job was to obtain and keep clients, and if someone was to mess up then I had to do damage control which is something that, I’m really good at so dealing with people is my specialty.

One day I was watching my niece…. On my way home I walked through Van Vorst Park and would see all these kids but they would be with their parents, none of them were playing together. So It has occurred to me… what do these Jersey City children do?… one day I was sitting with my niece, she had no activities for the day I was on the website and I saw that she had a makeup class at Gymboree and I scrolled down and I saw that there are franchising opportunities. I was like could you imagine if I opened up a Gymboree? Like why the hell not ? I filled out the form on January 2010, and then I got it in July.

You said that you have lived in Jersey City for 8 years do you have a favorite hangout spot? My favorite spot ever in Jersey City is the Porto Lounge because they have the backyard. I knew Phillip when that place first opened so that place is very close to my heart. I haven’t found another place like that yet so I’m kind of coasting and also try to do a lot more with my business so I don’t go out as much as I used to. I play poker at PJ Ryan’s… a lot of people don’t know that there are tournaments

Really? Yeah every Wednesday night,  like a lead game I just went to the regionals I finished in the top 15 but I didn’t get a seat in the nationals

Well that’s cool. Maybe in 3 years you’re going to hear about me getting a seat in the World Series of Poker.

I love it a poker player. That’s so badass, that makes you so much cooler now!! 

Anything else you want people to know about Gymboree? You have to come, the only benefit that can come from consistency that is guaranteed I don’t know any other program, that is so cohesive at the age that these little ones are fighting for their place in the world, and they’re fluid and changing and the things that help them is routine and consistency and having that feeling of safe wherever they go.

People don’t realize that our feeling of safe is kept inside us, and it goes where ever we let it go.  My goal in life is to make a little of a difference because when everyone is safe and secure they will eliminate things like hate, and making others feel bad because they feel bad. So many of the world’s problems comes from the lack of being safe… safety and confidence is what people need.

So fun!!

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