Our new member Chase Thacker started his first job at age 13, helping his father with maintenance at a preschool. He had dyslexia in school, but thrived in the Boy Scouts in North Redondo Beach and then in South Redondo Beach, attaining Eagle rank at age 14. Exercising leadership skills, he started an Adventure Crew. The Venturing program is for Scouts over age 14 (now including young women) to focus more on career exploration and less on advanced outdoor activities.

After graduating from Redondo Union High School, he attended community college while working for his family. He loved climbing and backpacking in Colorado, and attended the University of Colorado at Boulder for a business economics degree.

Chase helped his father in business from an early age and started a Gymboree franchise, eventually expanding to 9 centers in Los Angeles. He became frustrated that the franchise contract wouldn’t allow “innovative business development”, and lost a lawsuit on that issue. He started Tumble Camp for preschool children, but it struggled due to not being a full-day program. Now his Leap & Bound Academy (LBA) owns 3 preschools in Torrance, Redondo Beach, and The Medical Center (2 Blocks North of PCH in Torrance).

Chase works as Operations Manager with many roles, never boring. His future plans include improvements in the website, marketing, teacher morale and employee perquisites, training, customer database, and maintenance department. He also wants to open an infant care center with bus transportation.