For Teams of Tomorrow Director Anna Minvielle, time and life felt like they were just passing by.

Working eight hours a day at a mortgage company left very little time to spend at home with her two sons after work. The monotonous daily grind eventually lost its luster, and Anna reached a point of discontent.

“I told my husband, there’s got to be more than this,” she said.

Meanwhile, Anna’s oldest son was taking TOT at school. She said her son had never showed an interest in playing sports. However, when he came home one day, he was doing figure eights with a basketball—a skill he picked up in TOT class.

Anna checked into the program to learn more, and she saw it offered the opportunity to become a franchise owner.

“I had never really thought about having my own business until I started checking into it, and I thought, I think I could do this,” she said.

The nearest metro area to Anna was already occupied by another franchisee. However, after growing up in a small town nearby and playing high school basketball around the region, she knew many rural, unreached towns that could benefit from TOT.

While Anna loved the people with whom she worked, she left the mortgage company after a 25-year run and set out on her journey as TOT director of northeast Louisiana in 2010.

Anna considers the program a “godsend.” Personally, the flexibility of the job allowed Anna to have more family and holiday time, including summer vacation when school finished. In regards to teaching classes, she said she relishes the chance to be a bright spot in a child’s day.

“I love, love, love when the kids get [the skills],” she said. “I love that I get to build those relationships with them.”

Anna said that if one is considering becoming a TOT franchise owner, getting started may be smoother than perceived.

“Their training is top notch,” she said. “They have everything to start the business, to run the business—it’s all there.”