The appointment of Justin Nihiser as CEO of Code Ninjas comes on the heels of private equity firm Eagle Merchants Partners acquiring an equity stake in the coding franchise.
Nihiser, who succeeds co-founder David Graham, aims to create deeper alignment between corporate’s capabilities and the needs and expectations of Code Ninjas’ franchisees. This undertaking will include optimizing multiple business features, such as: programmatic and curriculum development; onsite and virtual-learning opportunities; and training for operators at Code Ninjas’ centers.
By garnering franchisee insights, Nihiser believes it will help Code Ninjas reinforce its support system and create a clearer path to success as the franchise enters its next growth phase.
“My intent is to team up with owners to further drive student engagement and results while growing each and every center’s economic opportunities,” said Nihiser. “Strong success at individual Code Ninjas Dojos translates into a strong global franchise system, and we have an opportunity to gain essential insights from our franchisees. We will transform this feedback into action plans that promote even greater success for all franchise and corporate stakeholders.”
Prior to Code Ninjas, Nihiser was chief operating officer of Brain Balance Achievement Centers, where he developed a company-wide turnaround strategy that increased franchisee satisfaction, reorganized headquarters staff to improve training and operations support and successfully led initiatives to expand program offerings.
Before that, Nihiser’s journey in franchising began over a decade ago as a general manager of an individual School of Rock location. He climbed the ladder at School of Rock, moving into operations and development roles before becoming vice president of franchise operations. There, Nihiser was responsible for supporting the opening and operations of domestic and international locations systemwide.
Nihiser is optimistic that his previous experience in the franchising space will help stimulate Code Ninjas’ growth worldwide.
“Code Ninjas has a substantial head start in the brick-and-mortar coding education space,” said Nihiser. “With a system of determined and passionate franchise owners and corporate staff that believe ardently in Code Ninjas mission, our work will result in better problem-solving and critical thinking skills for the ninjas that enter our Dojos. Building these STEM-related skillsets at a young age equips Code Ninjas students with valuable tools to navigate today’s increasingly tech-centric world.”
