April 3, 2017

Meet Ena Hackaday of Brainy Bytes in Northwest Atlanta

Local Stories

Today we’d like to introduce you to Ena Hackaday.

Thanks for sharing your story with us Ena. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
I guess it is best to know what we do first. We provide courses like robotics, game creation, programming, 3D printing and animation, stop-motion movie making and more to ages 5 and up. We do this through after-school/home-school class, summer and year-round camps, workshops, and parties.

Brainy Bytes is a family business at its core. It was started in 2010 out of a passion to learn (and teach). I was a homeschool mom to my son and daughter (Sean and Leah) for at least 5 years prior to starting the business…after leaving the world of corporate management. I honestly was not looking to “start a business”; it just became this amazing thing that kept growing into what it is today! Sean, then 14 years old, expressed an interest in computer game creation. I did what I always did, looked online for something that would encourage his desire to learn. I found nothing in the area. What I did find was an opportunity to become part of a small company that offered technology classes to kids. Seriously, I was just thinking, “I’ll teach him game making and maybe make some money teaching to other homeschool kids and that will be that”. That fall we taught a handful of classes within the homeschool community. I was amazed how fast word got out and soon requests started coming in for spring. But, just as things started to come together, we got hit with the news that the company we invested with was dissolving and we would lose support. Suddenly we had to decide if we wanted to keep this going or not… did we want to invest the time to invent our wheel and do this on our own.

My family prayed long and hard about the next decision and, as a family, we decided this was something our community needed and we knew we could be an incredible benefit to the families we served. So, we took a deep breath and a really big jump! Having to launch out on our own was a blessing in disguise; we could bring something we knew our community needed and craft a program that was uniquely ours. Fast forward to now, 6 years later, we have introduced thousands of kids to technology and are focusing on helping others do the same.

Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Our greatest struggle wasn’t really anything to do with the business, but it almost closed the doors completely. The fall of 2011, we had just promoted our first after-school season and were preparing to launch classes in several schools in our area. I was teaching at 3 homeschool locations by then and Sean was even accompanying me as an assistant. Everything was running smoothly and we were beginning to get an idea of how to pace our growth for success. Then, in one brief second, everything turned upside down. My son was diagnosed with a brain tumor, a 3.5-inch mass that was pressing down on his cerebellum and they would need to perform surgery immediately.

The surgery itself was a success and the tumor was removed entirely, and we were told we would be home within a week. During our stay at the hospital, it became vividly clear that things were not going to be “normal’ for a long time… if ever. Sean needed to learn to talk and walk and do small everyday tasks all over again. At that point, I had a part-time staff of 3 and they immediately took over the business for me. I honestly have no idea what they did, but they kept it moving.

Things for Sean got worse before they got better. He came down with Chemical Meningitis which prolonged his hospital stay. Then the extremely high dose of steroids given to control the swelling and pain caused his Adrenal system to shut down. Everything was working him and putting a toll on all of us… except Sean. He stayed strong. His eyes didn’t focus on what he could no longer do, but what he could do a little bit better every day. In his words, “God is just preparing me for what He needs me to do.” At 14 he had more strength than most adults.

Before we left the hospital, I shared with him that I was considering selling or closing down the business. I told him that I needed to prioritize and I couldn’t imagine trying to keep it running and focus on his rehab needs (which at that time we had no idea how long he would be in rehab). Well, he wasn’t having any of that! According to him, I basically had to get a grip and find a way to make it work. “It will all work out mom, just tell the kids at Timothy (where he assisted) that I will be back before the semester ends.” What was I supposed to do?! He was determined to get back to work so I did everything I had to do to make sure his job was there waiting for him. He stayed true to his word and on the last day of class, he made it to Timothy.

Sean is now 20, his new “normal” is a little slower but he doesn’t let that stop him. Rehab, graduation, college and even work… he took it one day at a time back then and still does today. Not that I am suggesting you make business decisions based on your child’s words, but he has proven he knew what was best way back then. 🙂 He is an integral part of Brainy Bytes… there isn’t anything that goes on in this business that he doesn’t know about. He has his hands in equipment management, program writing, curricula writing and even instructs classes.

We know the desire for our program stretches much further than we can reach. That is why in 2016 we launched our business licensing opportunity to help others start their own business and make a difference in their community like we did in ours.

Alright – so let’s talk business. Tell us about Brainy Bytes – what should we know?
Brainy Bytes’ mission is to introduce children to the world of STEM and STEAM in a way that will instill a passion for learning for years to come. We maintain a strong focus on education and pride ourselves in programs that can’t be found anywhere else… straying away from the pre-packaged plans. We keep our programs flexible so that they can be personalized to meet the need of every child or school. Our aim is to create programs that will grow a child’s interests and encourage them to continue, this is made easier by providing parents with courses that work together and easily glide from one skill to the next.

I take immense pride in our reputation in our community. We love the relationships that we have built with our families. It is so cool to have our past students as instructors and we take great joy in having students share what they have accomplished over the years… not just because of what we taught, but because of the encouragement that one, really cool instructor gave them. One of the things I personally enjoy the most is giving back, whether it is by supporting students on their mission trips, participating in the yearly walk for Pediatric Brain Tumor Foundation, donating video games to Scottish Rite, or bringing awareness to Pediatric Brain Tumor Month. (Yes, Sean and Leah, have a lot of say on these decisions.) We are not successful if we are not giving back.

Is there a characteristic or quality that you feel is essential to success?
Our success doesn’t just lie in our courses, our instructors are truly one-of-a-kind with their minds and HEARTS in the game. We believe so strongly in the importance of every child being seen as an individual that our staff goes through additional and extensive training that focuses solely on creating an environment that considers each individual (and spectrum) as well as the whole group.

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