Today we’d like to introduce you to Craig And Amanda Carpenter.
Hi Craig and Amanda, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today?
We are the proud parents of two amazing daughters, Kelsey and Brenna.
Brenna was born with an exceedingly rare random genetic defect. This defect produced several severe physical health challenges, but also cognitive developmental challenges. Brenna is an adult, but her cognitive development is best described as being between the fourth and fifth grade levels. She was diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder at age 13.
For most of Brenna’s life, we were most concerned with the treatment of her medical challenges, as those were most critical at the time. Fortunately, Brenna’s medical health has been effectively managed for several years now, which gave us time to consider what seemed unthinkable: what does adulthood look like for Brenna? What sort of job might she have? How does she want to contribute to society? How can we help her experience adult life to the greatest extent possible? How can we help her live out her own goals and dreams?
My job relocated us to the Houston area in 2021. This blessed us with educational options we didn’t have around our home in Louisiana. We enrolled Brenna in the “lifePATH” program at Lone Star college, working towards an Associate’s Degree in Occupational and Life Skills. We were also able to get Brenna into an internship working part time at a café that offers internships specifically to special needs adults.
Brenna has been inspired by all the great healthcare providers and people who have been part of her life who all specialized in working with special needs children. She has consistently said she wanted to work with and help children…and especially children like herself. Unfortunately, as we’ve searched for businesses willing to employ folks from the special needs community in roles centered around children, mostly we’ve gotten very polite smiles and “no’s.”
With few-to-no great opportunities in the market for her to have a job, we have resolved to simply create it ourselves.
Our research and brainstorming on kid-centric businesses led us to We Rock The Spectrum Kids Gym For All Kids. The company’s mission about creating inclusive kids’ gyms and sensory play spaces really spoke to us. We were inspired by the concept of a space where all kids of all abilities could play together. We were especially moved by the opportunity to create a hub for parents of special needs and autistic children to connect and lean on each other for support. Being parents of a special needs daughter, we understand that sometimes the only people who can truly empathize and understand are other parents of special needs children.
We reached out to We Rock The Spectrum in the fall of 2024 to discuss a franchising opportunity near our home in Fulshear. As luck would have it, there was a franchise territory covering much of the western Houston area. After a few conversations with We Rock the Spectrum’s corporate officers, it seemed like their values and goals aligned with our values and goals. We made the investment to license that franchise territory and dive in to starting our gym.
The next 12 months were a blur of marketing events, commercial real estate, construction, hiring, and learning. The response from the public has been overwhelmingly positive at every marketing event. Our friends and family have been invaluably supportive along the way. And, now, here we are on the verge of our grand opening, scheduled for Oct 18th. We are so excited to bring We Rock The Spectrum to the area, and we truly aspire to make a kids’ gym for all kids.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
As with most business launches, there have been some challenges along the way.
Like many brick-and-mortar small businesses, we needed funding for commercial real estate, construction, and our starting inventory. Getting a Small Business Administration loan was a slow process until we got connected with a regional bank that was able to help us move quicker.
The commercial real estate journey was also a challenge. We spent weeks in negotiations with landlords only to have deals fall through at the last minute. For a while, it seemed like we might never find a good spot for our gym. We had to learn a new level of patience and just keep trying.
Construction is always filled with ups and downs. Our location is a former restaurant, which required an unexpected amount of renovation and rehabilitation, so the overall expense has been greater than expected.
We also had an unusual challenge we’d never wish on someone trying to start a business: our builder was victimized by a sophisticated identity theft that resulted in our bank issuing payment to a scammer. Thankfully, the fraud was realized fairly quickly and the vast majority of the funds were recovered. Still, there were a couple of weeks where we were genuinely afraid the whole project would be derailed by a cybercrime and some funds were unrecoverable, leaving us with little choice but to extend ourselves further to complete the project.
Between the fraud loss and unexpected costs of rehabilitating the space, we’re putting everything we personally have and more into this gym. But we believe in the concept and we believe in the fundamentals of our market. We’re betting on ourselves and the value this kids’ gym can bring to our area.
Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
Amanda has spent most of her career as a physical therapist. She has worked in a wide variety of settings, from pediatrics to geriatrics. She is most proud of her patient advocacy, patient education and compassion. She has fought hard to get patients approval for the care she believed they needed to be the most independent they can be. She goes the extra mile to educate patients and their families on how to adapt their environment and continue improving after therapy sessions are done. Amanda spent most of her career in geriatrics, either in assisted-living environments or in home health, and made sure to treat her patients with dignity as they deal with age-related needs. Amanda has been a full-time mom and caretaker for her aging parents since relocating to Texas in 2021.
Craig has spent his career in Information Technology. He started as a software developer for a variety of small shops in the New Orleans area, later moved into consulting, and then progressed to more senior and leadership roles for a global oil & gas company. He is most known for being a rare hybrid among the IT community: someone who fundamentally understands technology but is also a social extrovert who can speak in plain language to a crowd. He is most proud of his ability to reduce complex concepts down to their essence for easier understanding and of the overwhelming positive feedback he has gotten from his employees over the years about his impact on them as a leader and supervisor.
Alright, so to wrap up, is there anything else you’d like to share with us?
We want to thank the community again for all the positive feedback at in-person marketing events and on our social media. We’re excited to open our doors and welcome you all to our kids’ gym, especially our friends in the autistic and special needs community who are looking for an inclusive space.
Pricing:
- Open Play Passes (120 minutes) – $20 for one child, $18 for siblings
- Birthday Party Packages (120 minutes) start at $500 for 20 kids
- Unlimited Play Monthly Memberships – $150 for one child, discounts for multiple kids
- Private Rentals for larger groups start at $150 for 60 minutes
Contact Info:
- Website: https://werockthespectrumwesthouston.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/wrtswesthouston
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/WRTSWestHouston/
