Think of AB Studios as your best supporting cast.

Brian Heaton began his career nearly 18 years ago as a kindergarten teacher, where his passion for creating immersive, student-centered learning experiences first took root. That foundation has shaped his path ever since, from designing hands-on classroom projects to leading educational innovation at scale.

A visual storyteller and tech enthusiast, Brian used his background in design and photography to transition into roles where creativity meets pedagogy. He brought this blend of skills to Kaplan Early Learning, developing programs and products that support both educators and young learners.

Brian later served as Chief Operations Officer at AlphaBEST Education, a national leader in before- and after-school programming. There, he helped scale high-quality, engaging enrichment across hundreds of sites, deepening his commitment to expanding access to meaningful out-of-school-time learning.

Today, Brian is President of AB Studios, an education technology company that creates cinematic, video-based enrichment experiences for before- and after-school programs. At AB Studios, he works with educators and creators to transform enrichment time into dynamic, story-driven learning adventures. Under his leadership, AB Studios delivers high-quality, ready-to-use content that sparks curiosity, builds connection, and empowers both students and staff.

Zoe Ballin is the Director of Marketing & Sales at AB Studios, where she partners with schools and afterschool programs nationwide to design enrichment experiences that are sustainable for staff and meaningful for students. Over the past six years in educational technology, she has focused on empowering educators and leaders to use technology to support belonging, creativity, and student voice in ways that fit into real classrooms and afterschool spaces.

Prior to AB Studios, Zoe served as the Demand Generation Manager at The Social Institute, empowering K-12 students to navigate social media in positive, high-character ways.

Today she works alongside school and afterschool leaders to bring story-driven, hands-on learning to life using practical AI planning tools that reduce preparation while increasing engagement. She regularly presents at educator conferences and webinars, sharing strategies educators can immediately apply to build participation, confidence, and connection throughout the school and afterschool day.

Zoe has a Master’s in Digital Marketing at Wake Forest University. Originally from North Carolina and now based in Tampa, she believes the best learning happens when curiosity leads and every voice is heard.

Elizabeth LeCompte is the Head of Product at AB Studios, where she leads how the product comes to life from early ideas to what educators use every day. Her work sits at the intersection of product strategy, UX, and emerging AI, focused on building tools that actually fit into the pace and realities of afterschool programs and classrooms.

She is known for bringing clarity to complex systems, shaping experiences like AI-assisted lesson planning, flexible scheduling, and educator-facing dashboards that turn data into meaningful action. Elizabeth approaches design as both a craft and a system, ensuring every feature not only works well on its own, but contributes to a more cohesive, scalable platform.

Before joining AB Studios, Elizabeth led product and design across multiple EdTech companies, where she built products from the ground up and helped teams move from ambiguity to execution. She has a strong foundation in establishing design systems, guiding cross-functional teams, and creating processes that allow products to evolve without losing focus on the user.

Her perspective on AI in education is grounded in practicality. She believes the best tools don’t replace educators, they give them time back, reduce friction, and create space for more meaningful connection with students. With a Master’s in Communication Design from the University of Glasgow, Elizabeth brings a thoughtful, systems-driven approach to everything she builds, with a clear focus on improving the day-to-day experience of teaching and learning.

John’s path in education began where curiosity lives loudest — in the informal learning space. From hosting STEM summer camps where students explored animation, coding, digital art, robotics, and exergaming, to leading youth through sports and community programming at the Police Athletic Association, he built his career around the belief that trying new things is where real growth begins. That conviction followed him into the classroom, where he taught secondary science, led professional development teams, coached sports, hosted robotics teams, and contributed to the school district science curriculum.

A lifelong learner in the truest sense, John went on to earn a graduate degree in Curriculum and Instructional Design, which anchored more than 15 years of work as an instructional designer in the EdTech and afterschool space, focusing on STEM curriculum, products, and software development. Along the way, he developed a distinctive blend of disciplines — educator, business consultant, edtech strategist, and video producer — always focused on making learning more creative, engaging, and meaningful for students and the organizations that serve them.

Today, John serves as Head of Studio at AB Studios, where he leads the media-driven production studio in designing high-impact enrichment experiences for enterprise clients and education-based organizations. His work is rooted in a practical mission: give educators a labor assist through content so compelling it practically runs itself. From concept ideation to the final product, he is hands-on at every stage — building courseware that bridges the gap between traditional curriculum and the kinds of creative, story-driven experiences students simply don’t get anywhere else.

A tech enthusiast actively building with AI tools, John brings the same fast, efficient energy to everything he creates. When he steps away from the screen, you’ll find him traveling and photographing new places — still curious, still exploring.

John holds an M.A. in Curriculum and Instructional Design from Colorado Christian University and is based in Charlotte, North Carolina.

Scott Wayman is a founder, inventor, and company builder with a career defined by turning complex markets into elegant, scalable software platforms. He has helped raise more than $90 million in venture capital across category-defining companies in education, healthcare, and vertical SaaS, building products that serve real-world operators, frontline teams, and the communities they support. As the founder of Kangarootime, Scott helped pioneer a modern childcare management platform designed to bring operational intelligence, parent engagement, and business automation to one of the most important and underserved sectors in the economy. His work combined deep customer empathy with enterprise-grade software, helping childcare owners, directors, and educators run stronger businesses while staying focused on the children and families they serve.

Scott has also played a meaningful role in healthcare technology, contributing to the growth of platforms that improved clinical workflows, operational efficiency, and specialty care delivery. Across every chapter of his career, his work has centered on a single belief: technology should not replace human care, creativity, or judgment. It should give great people more leverage.

At AB Studios, Scott brings this founder’s lens to the future of afterschool learning and AI-powered content creation. His focus is on building intelligent systems that help educators, operators, and enrichment teams create better learning experiences faster, with more consistency, more creativity, and more joy. Through AIO, Scott is helping shape an AI operating layer that supports curriculum generation, script development, activity design, quality assurance, and scalable educational content production. Scott’s work sits at the intersection of invention, education, storytelling, and operational excellence. He believes the next generation of educational technology will not simply digitize old workflows. It will give educators superpowers.

Charlie’s logged more flight hours than anyone else on the AB Studios roster — real or paper. Zipped into his signature yellow bomber jacket, goggles parked on his flight cap and shades on (indoors, outdoors, doesn’t matter), he’s the kind of veteran who’s seen it all and files most of it under “just physics.” Ask him how his day’s going and there’s a decent chance you’ll get an answer about lift, drag, or the optimal angle of a wing.

Charlie doesn’t do hype. He does precision — the calm, seen-it-before confidence of a pilot who trusts the build because he trusts the fundamentals. That’s exactly what makes him the right host to walk young engineers through paper aviation: every fold has a reason, every flight has a lesson, and every kid in his classroom is basically pre-flight crew. He’s dry, he’s deadpan, and somehow he still makes you want to build a better plane.

If Charlie’s the steady hand on the yoke, Lucy’s the reason the flight’s never boring. Teal hair peeking out from under her helmet, goggles pushed up and ready for the next stunt, she rolls into every episode like she’s already mid-story — and she probably is. One minute she’s talking wingspan, the next she’s somehow quoting a movie nobody in the room has seen, and somehow it still makes sense by the end.

Lucy brings the energy Charlie won’t admit he needs. She turns “fold here” into an adventure, treats every test flight like a launch party, and makes sure the paper aviation lab always feels like the most fun place in the building. Where Charlie’s precision, Lucy’s pure momentum — and together, they’re the perfect flight crew.

Decked out in a crisp navy uniform, gold wings pinned to his chest and cap set at exactly the regulation angle, Safety Pigeon takes his job as seriously as anyone possibly could. His mission: make sure every experiment, every build, and every “let’s find out what happens” moment stays safe for young learners. He’s got the briefing voice, the checklist, and the unwavering commitment of someone who genuinely believes safety is the most important subject in the building.

There’s just one small issue — he’s a giant pigeon, and giant pigeons are not known for their grace. He’ll deliver a flawless safety briefing and then walk straight into the prop table. He’s earnest, he’s a little wobbly, and he means every word of it anyway. Underneath the mishaps is a host who actually cares about keeping the lab safe — he just can’t always keep himself upright while doing it.

Fedora tipped just right, pinstripe suit pressed to perfection, Jim carries himself like he just stepped off a stage at the Sands. He grew up on Sinatra, Sammy Davis Jr., and the rest of the Rat Pack, and it shows in everything from his walk to his wardrobe — he’s a modern guy with an old-soul playlist. Give him a spotlight, even a metaphorical one, and he’ll find a way to stand in it.

Jim’s real conviction, though, is that nothing teaches quite like a song. Fractions? There’s a tune for that. Photosynthesis? Give him a verse and a half and a snap of the fingers. He turns lessons into showstoppers, chases every “aha” moment with a little flourish, and genuinely believes the world would run smoother if everybody just had better arrangements. Corny? Sure. Charming? Absolutely.

Same hat game, entirely different playlist. Where Jim’s dialed into the Rat Pack, George is deep in the golden age of hip-hop — De La Soul, A Tribe Called Quest, Digable Planets on repeat. Suspenders on, tie snug, ever-so-slightly wide-eyed at whatever Jim’s about to try next, George is the grounded half of the duo — the one keeping time while Jim chases the spotlight.

And when it comes to the actual craft, George is the one you want next to you at the table. What Jim brings in showmanship, George brings in precision — clean creases, tight corners, a beat-perfect sense of rhythm that somehow translates straight into his folds. He’s proof that you don’t need to belt a note to make something land just right.