BFS celebrates its 10th anniversary this February. Founder-director Cheryl Chia talks about BFS’ growth over the last 10 years.
“We started out in Feb 2001 as a fledgling company, calling ourselves Therapyworks and then Kidzgrow. We had a team of 6 members and about 100 clients initially, mostly children with cerebral palsy who needed physiotherapy. As a qualified physiotherapist with some good years of experience at a large government hospital, I was happy to start in the private sector with like-minded colleagues. It enabled us to have control over therapy processes and outcomes. We also started several school-based projects, something that we continue to be enthusiastic about.
I have always been aware of the importance of smooth motor functioning for a child’s developmental progress. At the same time, I was becoming increasingly intrigued in how the brain is key to overall development of any child. Brain development is so important to a child’s overall potential. When I heard about Fast ForWord, a range of research-based brain fitness programmes developed in the US, I was interested. In 2003, I went to the US to receive training on Fast ForWord, together with 2 colleagues. With Fast ForWord, we extended our range of programmes, particularly in the language and literacy aspects. We also started sharing our expertise on brain fitness by presenting at conferences and seminars, both in Singapore and internationally.
In 2004, we moved premises due to expansion. We also ventured regionally, starting our first overseas centre in KL in 2005. This was an exciting step for us as it meant more children would benefit from scientifically validated cognitive programmes. At the same time, we also took care to ensure that we maintained high quality standards, both logistically and operationally, so that our programmes are consistently well delivered. Our pool of clients also started to expand, as we started providing services for teenaged clients as well. We had another name change, to Brain Revolution.
In 2008 we moved to our current premises, and in 2009 we took on the name BrainFit Studio (BFS). Today, BFS offers a full range of brain fitness programmes, and continues to develop some more. Clientele has also developed significantly – just at our Goldhill centre, we see about 500 clients a week, ranging from toddlers to seniors with very different profiles. We have also been able to provide services to more people through our partnership with Focus on the Family. Regionally, we have BrainFit centres in five different cities, and will continue to expand internationally.
Adhering to high quality standards continues to be a hallmark of our company today. We take pride in providing great service to all our clients, who in turn have consistently given us good feedback on the level of service as well as the real gains they have made through our programmes. I thank all our clients for inspiring us to do our best at BrainFit Studio, and look forward to their continued support in our future endeavours.