How The Learning Experience reimagined engagement for 10,000+ employees

The Learning Experience (TLE) is a leading provider of early childhood education, serving children from 6 weeks to 6 years. Based in South Florida, TLE operates 410 centers across the U.S., combining corporate-owned locations with a large and growing network of franchises. Since launching in 2002, TLE has built a reputation for high-quality education, vibrant classrooms, and lovable brand characters that bring learning to life.

As a high-growth organization, TLE wanted to preserve a “stay small” mentality — where every employee, no matter their role or location, felt connected and heard.

Roughly 90% of TLE’s 10,000+ employees work in franchise-operated centers, many as classroom teachers without access to email or traditional desk-based tools. Communications were often sent to franchisees or center leaders with the hope they would trickle down — but there was little oversight or consistency.

TLE needed an internal communications platform that was mobile-first, flexible, and franchise-friendly. After evaluating several solutions, they chose Blink — which they’ve branded internally as the Happy Hub — to serve as the digital home for employee communication and culture.

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To generate buy-in, TLE’s in-house UI/UX team created a mock-up design of how the Happy Hub could look in TLE’s branding and tone. These visuals helped bring stakeholders along early in the process, securing alignment before rollout.

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The official launch took place at TLE’s annual franchise convention, where Blink joined TLE leadership on-site to walk center leaders and franchisees through the new platform — making adoption a shared, celebratory moment.

Since its debut, the Happy Hub has become the beating heart of TLE’s employee engagement strategy — a place for updates, recognition, resources, and feedback.

• 77% adoption across 12,000 users
• 99% of franchisees actively participating
• 10 daily app opens per user (on average)
• 29,000 chat messages sent over 90 days
• 2,748 feed posts with an average of 3.45 reactions per post
• 20,000+ hub items opened monthly

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TLE kicked things off with a 10-day launch challenge — daily prompts for center leaders to post content like staff shoutouts and key reminders — to encourage adoption from day one. The result? More two-way communication between leadership and staff, and a noticeable culture shift toward openness and participation.

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Internal content that previously saw limited visibility — like TLE’s monthly video series — has found new life in the Happy Hub, with engagement surging now that employees can access it easily on mobile.

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The Happy Hub has become a central hub for curriculum and planning. Teachers can quickly access learning materials — from ABCs to early math — and watch classroom videos that bring lessons to life. It’s an extension of TLE’s curriculum team, offering just-in-time content to the right teacher, at the right time.Additional initiatives launched through the Hub include:

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• TLE Cares: A new affordable benefits package franchisees can offer staff
• Teacher onboarding: Giving new hires the tools and resources they need from day one

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TLE introduced a new Happiness Index — informed by Blink — which combines results from employee and parent surveys to give franchisees a full picture of center performance. This data-driven view connects staff satisfaction with family satisfaction — and helps guide decisions that boost retention, morale, and enrollment.

With the Happy Hub, TLE has created a connected culture that spans classrooms and regions — where teachers can share their feedback, the leadership team has a direct line, and families enjoy a better experience through empowered staff.

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What started as a comms tool has evolved into an engagement platform driving real results — and laying the foundation for even more innovation in the employee experience to come.