Storied Youth Brands Launches New Identity to Support Growth of Founder-Led Early Education Brands

Platform names Cory Hughes CEO, building on early momentum and expanded capabilities across franchise development, real estate, financing, and technology

RICHMOND, Va.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Storied Youth Brands, the early childhood education platform formed by Lunchline Partners and Trivest Partners in December 2025, today announced the launch of its new brand identity and the appointment of Cory Hughes as Chief Executive Officer. Formerly known as Lunchline Youth Brands, Storied brings together founder-led early education brands under a shared platform designed to accelerate growth while preserving the identity, leadership, and educational approach that make each brand successful.

The platform provides shared capabilities across franchise development, real estate, financing, technology, marketing, and other operational functions.

Since its formation, Storied has built a strong foundation of shared capabilities to support growth across its partner brands. These include site selection and market analysis, real estate development and financing relationships, franchise development, pricing and competitive intelligence, and systemwide performance reporting. By building these capabilities at the platform level, Storied provides its brands with resources and expertise that would otherwise be difficult to develop independently, while allowing local leadership teams to remain focused on delivering exceptional early education experiences.

Across its brands, Storied currently supports more than 33 schools across six states.

"Having spent years as a franchise owner myself, I understand the importance of providing meaningful support without losing what makes a brand successful," said Cory Hughes, Chief Executive Officer of Storied Youth Brands. "Our role is to provide the infrastructure and expertise that help our brands and their owners grow, while preserving the programs, cultures, and relationships they have built. We're excited about the foundation we've established and the opportunity to bring exceptional early education brands to more communities."

"I started this in 1989 because I believed a sick child shouldn't cost a parent their job, and that a school could be run to a clinical standard as well as educational excellence," said Gail Johnson, founder of LeafSpring School. "Partnering with Storied means that standard outlives me instead of depending on me, and that we can grow and impact the lives of many more children and families."

"Almost every great early education company in this country was started by one person who believed a community deserved better and then figured out how to build it," said Chase Begor, Managing Partner of Lunchline Partners. "We want a lot more of those people, and we want the reasons they give up — the site they could not find, the loan they could not get, the systems they had to invent from scratch — to stop being reasons. If we do this right, there are high-quality schools in communities across the country that exist because someone local was given a real shot at running one."

Storied continues to seek partnerships with founder-led early education and youth enrichment companies and franchisors with differentiated concepts, strong local or regional brands, and opportunities to expand through franchising and new market development. Its brands also continue to welcome prospective school owners in select markets.

About Storied Youth Brands

Storied Youth Brands partners with the best founder-led early education brands, not to change what makes them exceptional, but to give them the infrastructure, capital, and franchise expertise to scale without compromise. The platform absorbs the operational complexity — real estate development, technology, franchise development, and back-office systems — so brand teams stay focused on the programs and the children that made the brand worth building. Each brand retains its own identity and leadership. The platform supports more than 30 schools across six states through its brands. Storied Youth Brands was formed in December 2025 by Lunchline Partners and Trivest Partners, was previously known as Lunchline Youth Brands, and adopted its current name in 2026. Learn more at storiedyouthbrands.com.

About LeafSpring School

Founded in Richmond, Virginia in 1989, LeafSpring School delivers premium, health-integrated early childhood education across Virginia, Kentucky, Texas, North Carolina, and Indiana. LeafSpring pioneered the concept of incorporating skilled nurses trained in pediatric medicine within each school through its Get Well Place. The brand is NAEYC and Cognia accredited and operates on its proprietary PLAYWORKS and INSPIRED curricula. Information for prospective school owners is available at leafspringschool.com.

About Lunchline Partners

Lunchline Partners is an investment firm focused on early childhood education, youth enrichment, and the real estate that supports them. Lunchline built Otter Learning to 75 locations and grew West Street Capital from two properties to 45, which became part of Essential Properties Realty Trust (NYSE: EPRT) in 2026.

About Trivest Partners

Trivest Partners, headquartered in Miami with a presence in Charlotte, Chicago, Los Angeles, New York, and Toronto, is a private investment firm with approximately $6 billion in assets under management that focuses exclusively on the support and growth of founder-led and family-owned businesses across North America, in both control and non-control transactions.

For more information, visit www.trivest.com.