A kid at heart
By Jesse Kawa/ JKAWA@CNC.COM
Wednesday, September 8, 2004
Although many people give up their dreams as they get older, one East Boston woman is making hers a reality.
Maria Baker, a mother of two, will be opening her own business here in Medford after graduating a statewide program designed to help dislocated workers find jobs. Baker will be putting what she learned in the Center for Women and Enterprise's Entrepreneurial Training Program to the test by renovating a Riverside Avenue storefront and turning it into the Play Academy, which is scheduled to open later this month.
"I feel really excited," said Baker. "It really is a dream come true."
The Play Academy will offer parents and their young children a number of programs to take part in together. Yoga, birthday parties and play classes will be offered during the morning and early afternoon hours. The programs are specifically designed to stimulate the development of infants, toddlers and preschoolers.
Baker said she was attracted to Medford because of the city's rich demographic and location. She said after reviewing the last census she found there are approximately 3,000 families in the city who have children under the age of 5, which is her businesses' target audience. Baker said Medford's proximity to the highway was also a plus.
"It made a lot of sense to come here," she said.
The Play Academy's grand opening will take place on Sept. 25 and will feature fun for the whole family. Baker said the event will have balloons, face painting and clowns for the kids and hopefully representatives from the police and fire departments to talk to parents about safety issues like how to properly install car seats.
Baker said if there is one thing she wants to accomplish through her business it is to help families with the development of their children. She said she thinks parents often underestimate how important play is in how children learn and grow.
Up until the end of last year, Baker had been working as an accountant for the better part of a decade. She said after her children, now 3 and 5 were born, she decided accounting was out and doing something with children was in.
Baker became unemployed earlier this year and began researching various training programs, but initially had difficulty finding one because there weren't many for college graduates.
Baker said now that her dream is becoming a reality, said she cannot imagine having to go back to the workforce. She said none of this could have been possible without everything she learned in the training program.
"It was a great experience," said Baker. "I would definitely recommend it to anyone who has a dream to start a business."
About 25 men and women were chosen to take part in the program and put their business ideas to work. Baker said many of their ideas were still in infancy stages at the beginning of the program, but developed into working business plans through marketing and financial research by the end. She said many of the original ideas were tossed out or completely altered.
The 10-week course met three times a week for six hours each day. Baker said the amount she was able to learn during that time was "intense."
More than 2,500 people have completed the program with 75 percent of them going on to stay in business for two years or more, according to a press release put out by the center.
- To learn more about the Play Academy, log on at play-academy.com.
