EdMentor
Interview #50 - EdMentor
Welcome back to Business Anthropi! I can’t believe that this interview and this blog post is my 50th one; it just seems crazy. Just over a year ago, I started this journey, and over time, I have been fortunate enough to meet and speak with some amazing business owners. I am thankful for all the support I have been given, and am glad to provide a voice for business owners to share to the world what they are about.
So in honour of this 50th interview, I now present the next business in the line-up, EdMentor. A newly founded business that launched not too long ago aims to bring a teachers perspective to help parents understand their kids and help them excel with their education. EdMentor allows for parents to understand their kids and their learning, giving the tools they need to motivate them into becoming independent and integrated learners in the classroom. Just over a month ago, I had the chance to speak with Andy, founder of EdMentor, to find out just how much this business can do for the everyday parent.
MEET ANDY!
Andy is a qualified primary school teacher and the mentor behind his business, EdMentor. The idea came about well before the pandemic but shifted to target those who were struggling with their learning during school lockdowns. While teaching, Andy has had the opportunity to speak with both the parents and kids, getting a full view of the dynamic and what they are like. It took some time, but Andy realised that sometimes parents found it challenging to stay connected with what was being taught in the classroom and how. This made it difficult for well-meaning families to replicate the approaches used at schools, and this lack of consistency could sometimes get in the way of true learning progress. Andy found this gap in the market; he knew that a business like his, to be able to go into more depth and detail with the parents can help empower the kids to give them the best education possible, without all the time constraints of a typical school day. This is something he has found to be possible outside of a school set up.
Before getting into primary school teaching, Andy was in the IT world but wasn’t keen on the environment and how it was so profit-driven with no sense of a community. He always knew he wanted to teach English in Japan, so when it got to the point in his IT career where he felt there was no real future, he managed to explore overseas and spent two years as an assistant English teacher in Japan. Going to Japan gave him the push he needed to begin on the journey and get his Masters of Teaching. With the skills he got from the IT industry, it has helped him progress through the years, especially with EdMentor. His relationship-building skills as well as a background in web development helped shape the future of his career.
Has anyone shaped who you are now?
“When I was in Grade 5/6, I had the same teacher two years in a row and he was really influential. I think back to those days in the 90s when teachers were quite strict and they would just focus on getting students to complete tasks. But this teacher, he was pretty new at the job and was almost ahead of his time. He really understood the concept of relationship building and the importance of questioning us and helping us come to our own conclusions. He really inspired me. He turned the idea of education around for me - that it was more about the love of learning rather than just getting the marks and moving on to the next topic. When I eventually graduated as a teacher I looked him up and found out he was a principal, so I contacted him and was thrilled to discover how clearly he remembered me. I ended up getting a job at his school and it was really special to reconnect after so many years.”
EdMentor has officially been running, since launch, for just over three months; Andy is continuously building upon the business, knowing it can rely on the type of educational environment we are in now, being that person people can turn to for answers. Before this year, the business model and idea was still a notes document on his computer, so from the pandemic this year, it has pushed Andy to go forward and has led to the development of EdMentor.
Since home learning and teaching kids from home became a new normal for the majority of the year, parents have gotten that insight into their children’s education. With the expectation that they would prefer to stay engaged in some way following that experience, Andy is now adapting his services so that by 2021 it becomes more about how schools and parents can work together collaboratively to achieve greater outcomes for the students.
It seems that Andy has always had this forward-thinking mindset, much like his old primary school teacher, which makes what he is doing that much more remarkable. There is no one else that Andy has come across that provides these services and insight like he does. Child psychologists are speaking to people from a psychological point of view, and then there are tutors doing sessions with kids who are falling behind or failing, but no one like Andy coming from a teacher’s point of view. This unique point has enabled Andy to deliver a seminar through a Department of Education funded a community centre to send his message to a wider audience.
What tips would you give someone wanting to start their own business?
“Do your homework on how you’re going to go about starting it up. I tried to start a business at 23 when I was still in IT. At the time I was keen, eager and willing to get it done but just wasn’t experienced enough and didn’t do my homework. I just jumped into it. Even though this business is brand new, I’ve been speaking to a range of parents and getting people to do surveys as well as delving into the related educational research, far more than what I was already doing when employed at a school. I have focused more this time to make what I’m doing really meaningful. So my advice to people is to just do your homework but then also back yourself because it’s not going to work straight away. You have to make a plan and just build, build, build slowly and don’t worry about the little day-to-day pluses and minuses. Just look at the bigger picture.”
When Andy decided to commit and start EdMentor fully, this is when he gave his notice to step aside as a teacher, in the hopes of just being a casual relief teacher. This was one of the challenges he faced as he then realised he was unable to do so (as the schools were closed), while also having this mindset of wanting to grow a lot quicker. I am sure every business owner has this doubt and challenge to develop fast and bring in an income, and the path is no straight road. Even with all the roadblocks this year has put forth, Andy is pushing through and slowly working everything out for the better. He hopes that EdMentor can provide parents with tailored strategies to help them manage their situations with positive and clear communication.
What makes a good teacher is that they not only need to be competent but also confident in what they know and to be open and honest with consistency to each student. Given this understanding, this is what makes Andy the great teacher he is. He is not only qualified with a university degree but is also qualified in the classroom and understands how young minds work.
I can’t wait to see what the future holds for this unique business and how it will change the way parents and kids view learning and education.
How would you describe your business in one sentence?
An opportunity for parents to better understand the world of education
Thank you for reading my latest blog post. I am so glad that everyone who is reading these posts are enjoying them and that you are learning something new in the world of business; maybe even discovering a new local business next to you.
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