Meet the Franchising Team

International experience, dedicated to your success.

Geraldine Smythe

CEO & President/ Co-Owner, iKids U Franchise and iKids U- Central Texas

Geraldine is a multi-award-winning business founder, strategist, business builder, and investor with over 25 years’ experience as a management professional, specializing in strategic growth. She has been involved in various management roles in franchising and children’s education since 2005 and has earned numerous certifications in business management, startup awards, and been an award-winning business professor for an online school since 2019.

Geraldine has been an award-winning franchisee in the children’s education space, a successful franchise consultant, and entrepreneur.

Geraldine’s goal is to bring the joy of the exceptional iKids U education model to 1000s of children, their parents, and communities all across the US, while helping ambitious, business-minded people to join the iKids U brand and build career paths for success on their own terms. Her personal mission is to be a powerful catalyst in inspiring the human potential in each of us.

She considers her afterschool experience in theater and lacrosse to have helped shape her as the creative team-player she’s known to be. She is excited by what the future holds for iKids U, our owners, and our communities, and especially the kids!

Nancy Garrett

Director and Co-Owner, iKids U- Central Texas

Nancy Garrett is a life-long learner. Throughout her education and careers, she has gained a unique set of skills that fits perfectly into the iKids universe and delivering high-quality childcare and programs.

After earning her bachelor’s from Texas A&M in Journalism, Nancy worked in afterschool care and day care while preparing for graduate school in Elementary Education at Columbia University Teachers College. She worked for Geraldine Smythe (iKids U Franchise President & CEO) as an art enrichment teacher from 2005-2007 until she landed a job as a certified elementary teacher with Round Rock ISD.

In April 2021 Nancy became a co-owner and director with Geraldine of iKids U – Central Texas, and was tapped to run the corporate managed regional territory of the national iKids U afterschool franchise company. iKids U Central Texas is the unit which serves as a model business operation, plus education and training center for iKids U Franchise, LLC and its national operations.

Nancy is thrilled to join forces with Geraldine and Paul to expand the iKids U franchise throughout Texas and across the USA, all while continuing to be an active adult soccer league co-captain, and continuing her love of the sport since her afterschool days!

Paul Phelps

COO and Co-Owner- iKids U Franchise

Paul is Geraldine’s business and life partner, and together they have built and sold several successful children’s education businesses, plus raised their son in the world of afterschool. Paul brings fourteen years’ experience developing and implementing financial, administrative, and business intelligence systems for companies experiencing or preparing for explosive growth. He oversees the iKids U team’s operational growth for both the corporate run-territory, our model territory, as well as the Franchising company.

Paul is a future-thinking business analyst with solid operations management experience. He got his start in accounting, event management, and the creative arena of music management in New York City, where he and Geraldine met, just as the traditional music industry was set to implode. He recognized quickly that gaining a solid understanding of new tech skills and merging his process improvement skills with Big Data and AI would help to provide growth-oriented companies with exponential business impacts.

Paul balances his position working as lead business analyst for Horne, LLP with his operational responsibilities for iKids U. He is excited to implement high-performing business systems for the benefit of the iKids U network.

Paul considers himself to be a product of great afterschool experiences having been a DJ and Program Director for WSDP, his high school’s 200 watt FM radio station.