Sharon Duke Estroff is the Chief Executive Officer, founder, and creator of the Challenge Island™ program. She is an award-winning elementary school teacher with two decades of experience in Atlanta public and private schools. She started Challenge Island in her second grade classroom and began running it as an enrichment business using the current model in 2003. It has been growing by leaps and bounds ever since.
With the popularity of STEM, STEAM, and 21st Century Skills in the educational marketplace, Sharon’s business model has successfully developed Challenge Island to be the #1 STEAM Franchise in the world and #198 on Entrepreneur® Magazine’s Top Global Franchises list. The fast-growing company has been ranked for 3 years straight on Entrepreneur’s Franchise 500 and Fastest Growing Lists and show no signs of slowing down – even as they face recent challenges presented by Covid-19.
Today Challenge Island has over 100 franchises in 32 states and 5 countries, with 8 new franchises being added in Q2 and Q3 or 2020. Challenge Island partners with 6000 schools and community organizations nationwide and has touched the lives of over 1 million children.
Sharon is a nationally recognized parenting and education expert and a freelance writer for numerous national publications including Scholastic Parent and Child, Parents, Woman’s Day, and Good Housekeeping magazines. She is the author of the popular parenting book, Can I Have a Cell Phone for Hanukkah? (Random House) and co-author of the upcoming Challenge Island book series that turns the Challenge Island curriculum into an exciting and educational story. She is sought-after speaker who has presented to scores of communities nationwide about the trials and tribulations of raising kids in the digital age.
Sharon received her undergraduate and graduate degrees from Emory University where she graduated Phi Beta Kappa and Summa Cum Laude.
She continues to run her local Challenge Island business in Atlanta, Georgia where she lives with her husband and four children.
For more information about Challenge Island programming and franchise opportunities, contact info@challenge-island.com or visit www.challenge-island.com.
Connect with Sharon on LinkedIn and follow Challenge Island on Facebook and Instagram.
What You’ll Learn in This Episode
- What is Challenge Island?
- What kids do in Challenge Island
- Sample destinations
- How Challenge Island has pivoted during the pandemic
- Book Series
- Advice for entrepreneurs
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