Kim Covert - Helping Kids Succeed
I met Kim Covert for breakfast at First Watch in Ann Arbor (oh my goodness it was yummy!) and she shared her story about how she became the owner of a successful tutoring company.
Before Kim jumped into tutoring she worked seven years for Dexter Community Education in Michigan. She began as an activity programmer and in three months she was asked to apply for the job of Director. As the Director she worked hard to rebuild the department, helping to create an Early Childhood Center as well as hiring and managing new personnel.
Under her leadership the budget grew more than twice in size, and she enjoyed success in building a thriving community program.
But with four kids, one with a profound disability, she needed flexibility, and the 50 hours a week at Community Ed was a problem. In her heart she’d always been a teacher and she knew her passion was not for managing money and adults. Although the training and relationship building at her job was something she enjoyed, the job, in her words, “wasn’t filling her cup.”
At the time, she was doing a bit of homeschooling and she found herself really enjoying it. The turning point was when her local school district began to teach a new Everyday Math program. She began having lunch with moms in order to teach them how to share the new math approach.
At some point these moms began to ask if she would simply tutor their children directly and eliminate the middle step. At the time, Kim’s son was moving to a private school and the extra income would really help with tuition. And so she started holding sessions with a handful of kids one evening a week at the library.
With just five or six children in her sessions, Kim began to build her numbers simply by word of mouth. As tutor requests grew, she told her husband how much she loved teaching and he encouraged her to figure out how to make it work! It meant personally covering insurance costs, but all the pieces fit together when her husband was offered a promotion. And so in the summer of 2017 she quit her Community Education job and became a full time business owner.
It wasn’t long before Kim realized she couldn’t teach every advanced subject in math and science, so she posted a single ad on Facebook – “Can you teach this?” She also tapped into the local college employment site to find reputable teachers.
Her business grew, and in 2020 she had 9 sub-contracted employees scheduling over 300 appointments per week! Initially she managed her employees through Google Docs, but fortunately she found software designed by a tutor that efficiently manages the various teacher schedules and pay. So much better!
Contracts with her teachers are for one year at a time. To make sure the quality of teaching is maintained, Kim does an evaluation every semester and collects feedback from students and parents. This gives her the flexibility to retain or replace instructors, and it gives her teachers the opportunity to stop if the work just isn’t for them. After Memorial Day she sends offers to continue to those she wants to keep and the week after the 4th of July she’s scheduling for the next school year.
The Pandemic did inevitably slow her momentum, requiring that she learn a digital toolset including Zoom and other online tech. She also found that some retired teachers weren’t comfortable meeting in person anymore. At one point Kim was down to three employees, but they managed to stay afloat. Even today she isn’t up to the numbers she once had, but she continues to grow her business in creative ways.
For example, her teachers have learned to work in “pods”, allowing neighbors to share the expense of a tutor by grouping their kids together twice a week for 2-3 hours.
Her college aged tutors also meet near campus at the public library with students, to make it work for all involved.
And although tutoring is mostly in-person again, some are still taught remotely. Referrals remain the most powerful force behind her success and she never turns anyone away, even if it means a remote session. Kim has found that being a business person in the community in which she lives is, however, both a “blessing and a curse”. Referrals are powerful, but folks sometimes use personal avenues to talk with her, such as sending session cancellations to her personal Facebook account.
Today Kim has five tutors and she also continues to teach students herself. Because her passion for teaching is what drives her, Kim never wants to give up her personal tutoring sessions. She teaches less now that she’s managing the business but she still loves it. She currently teaches about eight hours per week and then spends 15-20 hours on business activities. She loves the flexibility and the fact that she can set the place and time for her work.
Kim’s core business philosophy is to provide for students wherever they’re at and she’s happy to do this! She’s also beginning to specialize in teaching “executive functions”, helping kids learn how to organize, how to follow through, a problem students often struggle with. She’s also contemplating working on a Masters degree to allow her to provide mental health training. Kim knows that learning is seriously impacted by mental health issues, and problems with the mental health of children have been growing to serious proportions over the past few years.
Her background in Child Development and her years of parenting have helped her provide good advice to kids and parents, but a Master’s degree would help her to take the next step. Up until now she has run her business without debt, but in her mind the investment in a Master’s degree would be a worthwhile business expense.
Advice:
If you have an idea for self-employment, work that idea in a small way while still keeping your secure full-time job. This will help you make clear decisions with less stress! By experimenting with tutoring on the side, Kim was able to confirm that her idea would work, would be sustainable, and that she would actually enjoy doing it.
Why she loves being a Tutor :
Kim has two favorites. The first is flexibility. As a self-employed tutor she can be at her kiddo’s soccer game without sacrificing her business goals. As a mom this is golden!
Her second favorite thing is to watch a reluctant, often angry child get enthusiastic about the tutoring process. Often these kiddos come in feeling discouraged and initially they might only be willing to meet for a short time. But when they see the reality of what a little help in learning can do, it does wonders to build their self-image and help them feel successful! Kim says she tells her students to never say they “can’t do it” but that they just haven’t learned how yet.
(RK: I love that bit of advice! Perfect for anyone trying to do a new thing...)
For more information on Kim's successful tutoring service, visit her online at: Covert Educational Services.
