PARENT YOU SHOULD KNOW
Matthew Breman
BY JESSE BERMAN
O ne of the aspects of Matthew
Breman’s new home-based business
that he is most excited about is the
opportunity to spend more time with his family.

In addition to daily activities such as getting
the kids to and from school or helping them
with homework, Breman is looking forward to
incorporating fitness into their routine as well.

“Regular exercise, including weekly
soccer pick-up games, will continue to be an
important outlet for my mental and physical
wellbeing,” he says.

These activities tie in directly with Breman’s
new venture.

In July, the Silver Spring father of three
became the owner of a franchise of Apex
Leadership Co. in Montgomery County,
which offers a two-week program that
teaches children leadership and character
lessons through fitness. The program’s online
fundraising platform helps schools and clubs
to increase what they normally raise through
traditional means.

Breman lives with his wife Rachel and
children Sebastian (a rising tenth grader),
Aviva (a rising seventh grader), and Leora (a
rising fourth grader).

He spoke to Washington FAMILY about
fatherhood and what he’s hoping to learn from
his career in the coming months.

Has your role as a father given
you any insight into how Apex
can best serve students and
young people? Or conversely,
has the work Apex does with
young people given you any
insight into how best to be a
father to your children?
Being a father has highlighted for me the
importance of a) listening to, supporting, and
validating our children for who they are, always
with a positive attitude; and b) how critical
socio-emotional or life skills are to our kids’
success, at school, in the home and eventually
I am just starting out, so there will be much in the workplace.

I am excited to see how Apex’s leadership
to learn over the coming months and years.

Nevertheless, I have been a Montgomery and character lessons, which are designed to
County Public Schools (MCPS) Dad for 10 meet student needs using Positive Behavioral
years, with three kids currently in MCPS Interventions Support (PBIS) best practices
schools, so that will facilitate my entry to improve student/school outcomes, can
into the business of working with PTAs complement MCPS’ new social emotional
learning “Leader in Me” curriculum (also
and schools.

How do you balance the
responsibilities that come
with owning a franchise with
the responsibilities of being a
father and husband?
26 Washington FAMILY SEPTEMBER 2022



grounded in PBIS). Apex has many fantastic
testimonials from teachers and parents about
the positive impact Apex has had on their kids,
from how they began taking on leadership
roles in the classroom to proactively doing
chores and helping around the house.

To anyone reading this article
who may have their own
business and struggle to find
time to spend with their family, is
there anything you’d like to say,
or any advice you might have?
I too am on a lifelong journey to balance work
and family. I have always worked crazy hours,
relying on exercise to keep me mentally and
physically fit. Starting my own business will
challenge me, yet I will strive to follow a few
things I try to remind myself (of): 1) Plan
Family Activities – planning and carving out
time in the week to spend with family and/or
getting a fun activity or trip on the calendar
that everyone can look forward to keeps things
positive when life gets stressful; and 2) Find
Balance – work hard, yet stay positive and
even keeled during the peaks and valleys, and
try to laugh as much as possible. Laughing and
smiling helps you to relax and elevates your
mood and that of others around you too! T
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Family Favorites
Favorite Family Meal:
to have family dinners together
(Friday nights in particular),
and (we) enjoy going to
soccer (Washington Spirit
and DC United) and baseball
(Nationals or Orioles, when
playing the Braves) games;
also, going to see a movie and
the occasional board game.

Taco Tuesdays at home or
Chinese take-out.

Favorite Family Vacation
Destination: We enjoy Cape Cod summers
at the grandparents’ and
traveling to different places.

Over the years we have been
to South Africa, Costa Rica,
Sicily and Jamaica.

Favorite Sports Team
You Root for as a Family:
I am an avid University of
Georgia college football fan,
along with Atlanta area pro
teams (Braves, Falcons,
Hawks), so my kids have
had no choice but to join
(or tolerate) my fandom,
especially UGA football!
Favorite Way to Spend
the Weekend Together
as a Family:
Hiking and biking when the
kids were younger, yet as
they get older this becomes
more difficult given different
activities and interests. We try
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WashingtonFAMILY.com 27