Lisa’s story is one I wanted to feature on the podcast because her story is one that exemplifies what someone can do when they don’t know what they don’t know. Lisa never set out to become a curriculum publisher or entrepreneur. No one in her family was a business owner. She was a teacher and a mother who when asked to create a written outline of her writing strategies thought she could maybe make enough money with her lesson plans to take her kids to Disney. Her story is inspiring because of this and the fact that she breaks several common beliefs of what someone must do to be successful in business.
Lisa Collum is the founder and CEO of a multimillion-dollar curriculum company, Top Score Writing, Inc., and the owner of a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, Coastal Middle and High School. She developed her first writing curriculum while teaching in a low-performing Title I school, creating a systematic approach to helping students improve crucial writing skills. In the first year, Lisa’s step-by-step program increased the percentage of her students scoring at the proficiency level on state writing assessments from 38% to 95%, rising to 100% for the following two years. Due to the program’s success and starting with only $100 and a binder of 25 lessons, Lisa began selling the curriculum to others and grew Top Score Writing into a nationwide seven-figure business.
With a mission to serve children in her community, in 2016 Lisa bought a local private school and turned it into a 501(c)(3) nonprofit. Coastal Middle and High School is a place for students who need a unique approach to their education. In addition to positively affecting thousands of students with her curriculum and school, Lisa has dedicated her career to helping fellow educators get the training and resources they need and inspiring other women entrepreneurs to create successful businesses of their own. When she’s not running her education companies or presenting as a keynote speaker, Lisa can be found cheering on the sidelines of her children’s games, giving back to the community, and spending quality family time with her husband and four children.
Discussed in this episode:
- How Lisa developed her writing program
- How Lisa Googled “how to start a business”
- What Lisa’s mother did that helped her believe in herself as a child and when she was starting her business
- The challenges with starting a business that Lisa feels is unique to women
- How Lisa went 6 years without a single employee before she finally saw this as a full time job
- How Lisa handled ‘Mom Guilt’
- How Lisa tripled her business when she hired her first team member
- Lisa shares how she tackled this business despite serious concerns and doubts from her husband.
- Why it took Lisa 6 years to embrace her title as a Author and a CEO of a Curriculum company
- Why Lisa didn’t realize she had sold a million dollars in curriculum until 2 years later
- Why Lisa decided to buy a private school after having her 4th child and running a multi million dollar business
- How the Nashville private school shooting has affected the safety decisions made at Coastal Middle & High School
- The person who has made the biggest impact on Lisa’s life
Quotes and Take-Aways from this episode:
"With anything you want to do, when there’s a passion behind it, it makes all the difference in the world."
"Having an impact on anyone or anything makes a difference more than just having a job.”
"Women are the overseers of everything so you don’t get to just do your job and come home.”
"Just because your husband doesn’t see your vision doesn’t mean he’s in control and you don’t need to do it. You can still do it.”
CONNECT WITH LISA COLLUM
Lisa Collum's Coaching Website
CONNECT WITH KARIN TAYLOR
On Instagram KarinTaylorOfficial
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