04 Feb Franchisee of the Month Spotlight: Sonja Brummer

Sonja Brummer, Amazing Athletes of San Diego

Each month, Amazing Athletes will spotlight a new franchisee to share his or her distinct experiences as an Amazing Athletes business owner in and out of the classroom. This is the first in a series of monthly blogs to highlight a day in the life of an Amazing Athletes owner.

This month, Amazing Athletes of San Diego owner, Sonja Brummer, is celebrating 10 years as part of the Amazing Athletes team, and she can’t imagine her life without it.

Sonja first began coaching for Amazing Athletes while she was in college — back before franchises were even being sold. After graduating and seeing the rapid growth of the program on a national scale, Sonja and her husband Randy couldn’t think of anything better than buying into the thriving, children’s fitness franchise. Now, 10 years later, she and Randy have experienced a decade of tremendous growth and business achievements, they have become thought leaders and educators in early childhood development in their San Diego community, and they have enjoyed the growth of their beautiful, happy, and healthy family.

Sonja was raised in a world of sports. She was a gymnast for 13 years, her mother owned a gymnastics facility, and her father and grandfather were both NBA coaches, so a career in sports was a natural fit. Randy too was always active in sports growing up, and, together, they valued the many benefits their active and athletic lifestyle offered. After graduating from college, Sonja and Randy couldn’t think of anything better than owning their own Amazing Athletes franchise and bought their first franchise in San Diego in 2008.

While Randy makes a living outside of Amazing Athletes as an engineer, he also helps Sonja out in the office, making the business a family endeavor. When they first began their business adventure, they had 75 little athletes enrolled in three schools. The following year, the opportunity arose and they purchased three more franchise territories in San Diego County and rapidly grew to 650 students enrolled in 31 school locations. In 2010, Randy and Sonja were awarded with Amazing Athletes’ 2010 “Franchisee of the Year” award, as well as honored with a “500+ enrollment” award.

Today, Randy and Sonja’s sports enrichment program is an integral part of the fabric of the San Diego early education community. They are also proud sponsors of many local youth soccer, basketball and baseball teams in their community and enjoy supporting and cheering on their alumni athletes as they move from non-competitive to competitive or school sports.

Sonja and her staff are often the first introduction many kids have with coaches and sports, and she delights in the fact that she can watch kids in her non-competitive classroom grow at their own pace and build a true love for sports, fitness, and healthy lifelong habits at such an early age.

“It’s been fun to see Amazing Athletes grow to be as big as it is today from 10 years ago. When I first started, we only taught the basic fundamentals of 6 sports. Today, we teach 9 sports and have also incorporated a food and nutrition component, making our program even more valuable,” she said. “I’m so lucky to have a career that I enjoy that also makes an impact in the lives of young children.”

Randy and Sonja are proud of their business accomplishments over the years, but their biggest accomplishment, they say, is in reaching 10 years of marriage last October and becoming proud parents to their two young sons, Kyson and Kameron. Sonja’s proudest moment to date is when her son was old enough to finally join the Amazing Athletes team, beginning his own journey toward a lifetime of healthy habits and sports fun!