April 1, 2025 • 26 mins
Discover how personalized tutoring reshapes lives and builds pathways to success in this engaging episode of the Minimalist Educator Podcast, featuring Craig Rudolph, owner of School is Easy Tutoring in Edmonton. With a background in banking and a passion for education, Craig transitioned to tutoring, highlighting the critical human touch in learning experiences. In a world increasingly reliant on digital interactions, Craig underscores the importance of face-to-face guidance that fosters rapport and engagement.
This episode delves into the motivating factors behind parents seeking tutoring services and reveals insights into the tutoring process—ranging from academic support for struggling students to enrichment opportunities for high achievers. Craig shares the unique framework of his tutoring business, focusing on individualized learning plans tailored to each child’s needs. In addition, discover the significant impact of parental involvement during tutoring sessions and how those interactions contribute to a positive educational consulting experience.
This candid conversation addresses pressing concerns within education today, including the limitations of classroom settings and the increasing necessity for supplemental instruction. Craig’s commitment to quality education shines through as he discusses the qualities he looks for in tutors, emphasizing genuine passion for teaching and a thorough understanding of the curriculum. This episode not only provides practical advice for parents and educators alike but also inspires learners to seek out opportunities for growth. Tune in, engage with our content, and explore how humanity in education makes all the difference. Join us as we learn from Craig’s expertise—subscribe, share your thoughts, and leave a review to connect with the journey of learning and growth in education.
Find more information about Craig and School is Easy Tutoring:
School is Easy Edmonton is a home based tutoring franchise that has helped over 800 students in the 8 years we have been in business. We can provide in-person tutoring around parent’s schedules by one of our thoughtful, compassionate teachers.
Web: http://www.schooliseasy.com/edmonton
YouTube: https://youtu.be/u1wZUti34rM?si=FnDVICwb4Cgp3nes
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:18):
Welcome to the Minimalist Educator Podcast, a
podcast about paring down torefocus on the purpose and
priorities in our roles withco-hosts and co-authors of the
Minimalist Teacher Book, TammyMusialski-Bornemann and
Christine Arnold.
Speaker 2 (00:35):
In this week's episode we speak with Craig
Rudolph.
Craig is the owner of School isEasy Tutoring in Edmonton, so
we get to have a think aboutwhat tutoring is like and how it
can enhance what we do ineducation.
School is Easy Edmonton is ahome-based tutoring franchise
that has helped over 800students in the eight years they
(00:55):
have been in business.
They can provide in-persontutoring around parent schedules
by one of their thoughtful,compassionate teachers.
Speaker 3 (01:03):
Hello everyone and welcome to today's episode of
the Minimalist Educator Podcast.
Today we are talking to CraigRudolph, who is the owner of
School, is Easy Tutoring andsomeone I've known for a long
time, like 30 plus years, soit's nice to have someone from
the past on the show.
But before we get startedtalking to Craig, how are you
(01:27):
today, christine?
Speaker 2 (01:29):
I'm doing very well.
I'm excited to be interviewingtoday and to meet one of your
old friends.
Speaker 3 (01:35):
Yeah, me too.
How are you doing, Craig?
Speaker 4 (01:37):
Very well, I have the same sentiment.
It's nice to see you again.
Speaker 3 (01:41):
Yeah, for sure.
So I mean a lot's gone on sincewe've seen each other.
Like what, 30-ish years ago?
Speaker 4 (01:49):
That's impossible.
Speaker 3 (01:50):
I know it's crazy because we're like 29.
But besides, you know, seeingeach other on Facebook and that
kind of stuff, you've done a lotwith starting a business and
during was it during COVID orwhen did you start?
Speaker 4 (02:08):
school is easy tutoring yes, it was 2017, so I
bought it in April 2017, but wasup in operational September of
2017 okay so we had a coupleyears under our belt before
COVID.
Speaker 3 (02:23):
Oh, that's good.
And so what made you to decideto go into the tutoring business
?
Speaker 4 (02:30):
Well, funny thing, I was in banking and I wasn't
really enjoying it anymore.
So I thought I had to make amajor life change.
So I sold my ATB agency but Ialways used to tutor math on the
side.
So I really found out that Iloved tutoring and I was
enjoying it more than my realjob.
(02:51):
So I'm like, well, maybe I canfind something you know in the
tutoring industry.
So I went to like a franchisepage, looked at all the
different franchises andopportunities and I saw school's
easy read kind of their mantra,what they're all about,
something about the originalowner, and it was fascinating.
(03:14):
So I got in touch with her andall the pieces kind of just fell
together after that and I cansee you guys offer online and
in-person tutoring as well.
Speaker 2 (03:24):
What do you think are the main benefits to the two
different types of tutoring thatyou can offer?
Speaker 4 (03:30):
Well, pre-covid there was a lot more online.
Post-covid, obviously, withmost of learning being online,
there's been a switch to almostexclusively in-person.
But being honest, I don'treally even like offering online
to grades one through six.
(03:50):
I think it's somewhat of adisservice because it's really
tough.
We've seen how tough it iswhere kids are getting pushed
through grades and maybe theyweren't ready, you know, through
the COVID years.
Those kids are reallystruggling.
So I mean, mean, if a parent'sreally got their heart set on it
, we can still do it to the bestof our abilities.
But, um, you know, for highschool age kids they're so savvy
(04:12):
, you know, with technology andwhiteboards and you know they
can do online and it's not ahuge issue.
Um, but most people we findfrom parents they want in person
, they want you right there,they like the human touch, they
like you know they, then theycan observe and cause.
Our rule is if you're under 18,a parent has to be present.
(04:39):
Unless you're in a library orlike a social setting, then they
can go and buy groceries orwhatever and come back.
But for anything in home theparents have to be present,
which is good.
And yeah, that seems to beprobably 85.
I think last I checked it wasabout 85% of all our tutoring is
in person.
Speaker 3 (04:56):
Wow, that's awesome.
But yeah, particularly becauseof the having lived through the
pandemic and being sodisconnected from people for
such a long time to know thatpeople are really wanting to be
together in person.
It changes the experience forsure.
So I was going to ask you abusiness question, but I'm.
(05:19):
But then you mentioned that theparents are at the in-person
sessions, for you know ifthey're at home, or whatever.
You mentioned that the parentsare at the in-person sessions,
for you know if they're at home,or whatever, and so I wondered
if.
How does that change theexperience for the students?
Because or are they justsitting there passively?
I'm interested.
Speaker 4 (05:37):
Passively.
Yes, yeah, so they just have.
Just legally they have to be inthe same room, ok, so I always,
like some of these families,get so comfortable with the
tutor.
They've been there six, sevenyears, but we can't deviate from
having a parent there.
That's a legality.
And I mean, typically theparents are on their phone or
watching TV or something, or youknow the.
The.
(05:57):
They're not actively, um,interfering with the lessons,
maybe with the younger kids.
The parents will help, you know, with the interactions or
whatever they're doing.
You know grades one, two, threeor whatever, and the tutors
don't mind that.
Really We've never seen wherethe tutor have come to me and
say, oh, this parent's justpoking their nose and do all
(06:19):
their lessons.
And you know they've already.
Typically they've already triedtutoring their own child and
it's failed.
So they're happy to step backand let somebody else do it.
And in that same vein we get Ialways find this comical, but
we'll get math teachers that areincredible math teachers and
you know they can't teach theirown child math because they just
(06:42):
fight the whole time.
So a math teacher will phone meto get a math tutor.
Speaker 2 (06:49):
I just find that ironic oh yeah, that makes that
makes total sense to me.
It's such a differentrelationship, dynamic, isn't it?
Between parent and child andteacher and so on.
For sure, absolutely.
I'm wondering.
You know I'm still in a school,full-time.
I'm teaching as well as workingwith curriculum.
I'm wondering what is theimpetus for people coming to you
(07:12):
to seek out tutoring for theirkids?
What are the main reasons whypeople want something more than
just school for their children?
Speaker 4 (07:22):
Okay, that's a loaded question.
I can give you a lot of reasons.
I would say, for the youngerkids it's reading and writing.
They're behind a couple ofgrades in the most basic of you
know linguistics and literacy,um, then you'll get to grade 12
where it's we need a certainmark to get into university or
(07:45):
trade school.
We're at a 75.
We need an 80.
Help us, um, we have people thatjust want an ongoing tutor 52
weeks a year, once, once a week,just for maintenance.
Their students may already beexcellent students, but the
parents want to keep themexcellent and you know we're
there every week, year round,without fail.
(08:06):
And then there's the studentthat is failing, that needs to
pass to move on to the nextgrade.
So you're bringing them from a45 or whatever.
If you just get to that 50,everybody's happy.
You know, maybe it's not asubject they need to move on in
whatever they're doing in future, but they got to pass that
class.
So that's vital.
And some students with learningdisabilities, a lot of students
(08:32):
have autism, dysgraphia,dyslexia, so they're looking for
experts that can help with that.
Some of our classroom sizes areover 30 students now.
So there's no one-on-one extrahelp from the schools, and I
don't blame the schools, I don'tblame the teachers.
It's pandemonium right now here.
I hope I don't get in troublefor saying that, but it's
(09:03):
extremely difficult for theteachers.
I'm very empathetic to them.
So the parents need extra helpbecause I mean they just can't
provide that extra help for somany students of so many
different learning requirements.
It's impossible.
Speaker 3 (09:09):
Yeah, for sure it's too much.
There's not enough teachers inthe system to be able to.
You know we need smaller classsizes so teachers can get to
know their students well andprovide the support that's
needed.
And you mentioned that you havea number of students with
diagnosed learning disabilitiesor on the spectrum, and so how
(09:33):
do you navigate that as like anoutside provider, um, with the
schools?
Do you have a relationship withthe schools or is it very
separate?
Do you have contact, becausethere's a lot of stakeholders,
that at play or school communitymembers, because you're working
with the children, the parents,the finding out what's
(09:54):
happening at school and then youknow if they have a document
that's attached legally, andthen you come in as a, as a
outside source.
So what's that like kind ofnavigating all that?
Speaker 4 (10:06):
Okay, well, I will say this um like, we hire tutors
as subcontractors so I'm notreally their boss per se, but I
find them the students.
But if they say they're anexpert in, say, dyslexia, I need
a reference related to tutoringthat they are.
For starters, I'll send themout on a student and I really
(10:31):
have a one-strike policy.
If they say they're an expertin it, they better be an expert
in it, have at least two yearsof experience, impeccable
references, you know, do whatthey say they can do.
But yeah, they have to have theexperience and get the feedback
from the parents right away.
(10:52):
You know, after a couplelessons typically you know if
they really can do what they'retalking about.
But, um, it hasn't been aproblem.
I find just being really honestwith the tutors and them being
really honest with me, you cankind of filter out who's who's
you know, kind of over expandingon their resume or embellishing
(11:12):
a bit on the resume, becauseyou I mean parents and students
will know they they're thegreatest um decider of that.
So almost all our tutors,they'll have some kind of
experience.
It's just so prevalent in theschool system with diagnosing
learning disabilities that Iwould say the vast majority of
(11:34):
ours have at least worked withADHD, most with autism, some of
the more complicated ones, likedysgraphia, maybe not so much.
That would take an expert thatwe only have four or five of
those.
But yeah, we do our best and ifit's certainly not a match, we
refund their money and find themanother tutor right away.
Speaker 2 (11:57):
I'd love to hear a little bit more about the tutors
themselves.
Are they people that are, youknow, working full-time in
schools and doing this on theside?
Are they doing just thetutoring?
What sort of people are doingit and what's the benefits for
them?
Speaker 4 (12:13):
Yeah, I mean, it's essentially supplemental income
for them.
Yeah, I mean, it's essentiallysupplemental income.
So our minimum requirement istwo years experience.
Past criminal record check ofcourse we don't want to send
criminals into people's homes.
At least two references from astudent they've tutored or the
parent, and then two references,educational references.
(12:34):
And then they got to meet withme too.
So, just trusting my owninstincts, meeting them.
So that's our criteria.
But what do all these teachersdo?
Okay, yes, current teachers,for sure.
Some of them do it because theylove it and they just want a
couple students a week.
Some do need a supplementalincome.
(12:54):
Times are tough in Alberta.
Tammy probably hears it fromeverybody.
I do yeah, it's been tough here.
Inflation I mean inflation istough everywhere, but it is
really.
It's been a pinch.
So lots of the teachers do wantto work for the extra income.
And then in the math departmentI get a lot of engineers and
brilliant, brilliant mathteachers.
(13:17):
Um, some have 20, 30 years ofmath experience, know the
curriculum inside note, they canteach a little bit of chemistry
, physics, general science.
But my engineers are awesomemath tutors.
My tutor of the year this year,david, is a six-year chemical
engineering student and he justwants to start paying off his
(13:41):
student loans and he lovestutoring.
So he takes on like 20 30 hoursa week of tutoring.
I don't know how he does it.
He's an amazing guy plus hisstudies, um, but he loves
tutoring too.
So it's not a job to him, heloves it.
But he must work 60, 70 hours aweek, counting his homework and
(14:01):
everything, because he's in atough program as well.
So we do let students, but theyhave to be at least third-year
university.
We don't really want anybodytoo young.
To be honest, that's kind ofour criterium.
I had retired teachers teachers, fantastic, and most of them
just do it because they love ittoo right, um, we have up until
(14:22):
a 70 year old lady, cynthia.
She's she's an amazing tutor.
She's good at the younger kidsum literacy.
They've been very comfortablearound her.
You know, she's just a warm,welcoming person in your home.
So, and then everything inbetween, for you know people
(14:44):
that are exceptional in thatsubject matter.
So maybe it's biology, it's abiologist, or you know, you
don't necessarily have to havean education degree to teach, as
you know, but they have to knowthe curriculum.
That's without fail.
You have to know the curriculum.
That's, that's without fail.
You have to know the curriculum.
Ultimately, we're trying to getthe students either how to read
or better marks, or you knowsomething tangible, um, but yeah
(15:06):
, I, we've had tutors from allbackgrounds.
We certainly don't restrict it.
Speaker 3 (15:13):
So that's awesome to be able, because there's just so
many different needs too, right, you have a lot of families
coming to you with, you know,all kinds of needs, all kinds of
like you had mentioned before,just like the little bumps up or
the enrichment and all of that.
So it's awesome to have such awide range of people to choose
from and have in your bank.
Um, I'm going to switch gears alittle bit, because I'm also a
(15:40):
business owner and Christina andI talk a lot to people about
their systems and like how tokeep track of everything,
because I mean, you know you'renavigating families and their
needs and then you have thatbusiness aspect that you have to
take care of too.
So do you have a couple of mainthings in your system or like
kind of a streamlined way ofdoing things to make sure
(16:03):
everything that you're on top ofeverything?
Speaker 4 (16:06):
You darn right, we do .
It's done through our franchise.
So it's a website called Opusand it will.
So once we enter the parent andthe student and the teacher in
there, um, when we make a match,we can link the, the student to
the teacher, and the parentscan enter, you know, their
(16:29):
credit card information in there.
And after every lesson it'sincumbent on the tutor to write
a lesson report Was a studentengaged?
Was progress made?
What were we working on?
Was homework assigned?
So instantaneous feedback thatgets sent to the parent.
If it's an older student, thenyou know they can be involved
(16:50):
with that process too.
Or they get a student note thatthe parent doesn't necessarily
have to see.
And then we bill them rightafter the lesson um, build their
credit card, send them areceipt, um, cause we do have a
pay-as-you-go program where theydon't have to sign a long-term
contract, which differentiatesus quite a bit from other places
(17:10):
, cause typically some otherbusinesses you have to buy a 40
hour block or you know a twomonth term to start, but we find
what?
If people just need somecramming before a final exam,
you know they might only needfour or five hours and that's it
, but then they might refer youdown the road to their neighbor,
or you know that student has asibling that needs help later,
(17:34):
so it's a good service to dothat.
Um.
But yeah, everything'sstreamlined.
So as long as my tutors entertheir lessons into opus um,
payrolls are really easy becauseit's already tracked all their
hours that they've entered um.
I can pull out my revenueversus um what I've paid the
tutors and get an idea what Imade that month.
Yeah, there's like 169 reportson there, so I think I only use
(17:59):
15 of them.
But yeah, it's a.
It's a very efficient system.
That's where it's nice having alittle bit of it help Cause I
am by no means an it guy.
I'm.
I'm a marketer, essentially.
Speaker 3 (18:14):
Really, I was just going to say it's helpful to
have a franchise.
Then right, because thosepieces are built in for you.
It's like my business is not,and so it's like I had to figure
everything out I'd be doomed,yeah yeah, like just just
figuring it all out, stillhonestly after a few years.
Speaker 4 (18:32):
So anyway, thanks for sharing that, bill craig no, of
course, and I should say thisthey like, they're not intrusive
on us, they're an awesomefranchise.
We have a marketing guy, we so,anyway, thanks for sharing that
, bill Craig.
No, of course, and I should saythis they're not intrusive on
us, they're an awesome franchise.
We have a marketing guy, wehave an IT guy, but they let us
run our own businesses.
So somebody in Dubai is goingto have a way different business
model than me here in Edmonton,even to Vancouver, to Florida.
(18:54):
So all they're doing is helping, but they're not telling it,
which is awesome.
Um, that's good we just work inunison together.
There's no um hard fast.
There's rules and, obviously,regulations and representing the
company well, but um, you know,they just give you guidelines
that'll make you be moresuccessful and I'm happy to
(19:14):
follow them.
Speaker 2 (19:15):
They're the experts yeah, sounds like there's so
many cool things going on there,you know, with your systems,
and having that one theopportunity to do one-on-one,
giving the parents feedback andthe kids feedback straight away,
you know, all of those systemsare awesome.
I'm wondering, what do youthink is the special source that
(19:37):
makes a tutoring situationreally, really successful?
Speaker 4 (19:44):
I would say that we're very human.
Lots of these companies you canonly contact them by text or
email.
You can't get a person on thephone even even which is insane
to me, because is there anythingmore personal than your child's
learning like?
I can't imagine my son's mebooking a tutor without ever
(20:05):
meeting the tutor or talking tothe tutor or having a
consultation with the tutor andbreaking down exactly what you
want.
I don't want to go back andforth on email or texting, doing
that like.
I want a face to the company.
We're just, we're like a familybusiness.
We're out I do events almostevery weekend.
Me and my family are outpounding the pavement, doing
(20:26):
door knockers.
We visit schools all the time.
Um, lots of our contentsfamily-based, because we
essentially we are a familybusiness.
This is, this is all we do.
It's our only source of income,so it's, uh, extremely
important, to say the least.
Um, so, yeah, and our program isobviously good because we don't
(20:46):
make you sign, like I said,those long-term contracts.
So we're one of the few placesthat do pay as you go, um, and
we just sit back and let theparents tell us what they want.
It's not, you know, some placeshave their own curriculum and
you have to be at a certainplace at a certain time teaching
a certain thing.
We just sit back and I justclose my mouth and I let the
(21:07):
parents tell us exactly whatthey want, when they want us,
where they want us, what theywant to work on personality
traits of the student.
You know you'll hear where you.
You know the student came homethey were crying and they got a
bad mark and they want to getinto university and it really
humanizes the business and youreally want to help these people
(21:30):
.
You know it's it's trying tofind the right tutors that care,
you know, that are thoughtful,they're going to be patient.
It's a certain type of personthat I would say we hire and you
can tell if people aren'tgenuine in it.
The first thing they're askingme is how much do I get paid?
When do I get paid?
When do I get a raise?
(21:51):
How do you pay me?
You know red flag alert.
Of course, money's part of it,but I have to know that they
genuinely care and they're goingto, you know, do the best they
can to help these students andbe prepared and show up and, you
know, have a game plan and knowthe curriculum of course is
vital.
Speaker 3 (22:12):
Yeah, we're kind of getting near the end of our
episode and at the end of ourepisodes we always ask our
guests for a pare down pointerand I feel like what you just
said kind of is already that.
But the pare down pointer islike essentially what's like one
tip or strategy in all that youdo that just makes you guys
(22:33):
successful.
Speaker 4 (22:36):
Well, answer the phone, I mean things like that.
Or people come up to you at ashow and stuff like be available
.
It's huge because lots of theseplaces don't get back for you
for two or three days.
Instantaneously.
Get back to people.
So if I get an online inquiry,if I can't get to it, I'll get
to it as soon as I get home andrespond to people.
(22:56):
Be genuine.
I mean there's times you can'thelp people.
We don't get to it as soon as Iget home and respond to people.
Be genuine.
I mean there's times you can'thelp people.
We don't have the, maybe wedon't have the tutor, but I'll
always point them in anotherdirection, even to a competitor,
if I have to.
Just try to get them the help,because they'll appreciate that
and they may circle back to youregardless if the student ended
up learning and having a goodexperience.
That's really all we want andyou show that that's always good
(23:18):
.
Um, I don't see a lot of othercompanies out in the community
doing things and give you know,giving stuff back and doing
farmers, markets and stuff.
I do a zillion of them.
Um, it's pretty fun.
I love it.
You meet, then you're meetingsomebody in person, maybe the
(23:39):
student or the parent or a tutorthat you hire.
So it's kind of nice.
It's like a first meeting rightaway and you just have a
discussion and more justlistening to what people want
instead of telling them whatthey want.
I think that's massive.
And then being able to makethat match right away.
So we say within 48 hours wecan have somebody in place with
(24:01):
you.
If we can't, we'll try to guideyou in the right direction.
But 99 times out of 100, we'reable to do that.
Speaker 3 (24:10):
Yeah, that's awesome.
Thanks, that's.
That's a lot of great tips,like the listening, the being
available, because you do.
You know it's clear that youwant to make sure that people's
needs are getting met.
So, um, I did remember what Iwas going to mention.
It was the um, your, yourfamily related posts, I think,
are really a great way forpeople to connect to you, right
(24:31):
as a business owner, and justsharing, like your little ones
are like I forget your kidsnames, but it's like so-and-so,
is like answering the phonetoday, I guess really cute.
So, yeah, thanks for sharingthat.
Christine, did you want to sayanything else as we wrap up?
Speaker 2 (24:46):
No, I just you know we talk to so many different
people in the field of education, doing lots of different roles,
and it just it's amazing how italways keeps coming back to
relationships and communication,like it's always the same sort
of themes coming out, no matterwhat roles people have in
education.
That human touch, that, um, youknow, being trustworthy and
(25:09):
extending trust to people is isjust at the heart of so much of
what we do, and we're hearing itagain here today.
Speaker 3 (25:14):
So thank you for that , craig yeah, thanks so much,
craig, for being with us today.
Speaker 4 (25:19):
Yeah, you're welcome, absolutely.
Speaker 2 (25:25):
This episode is brought to you by School is Easy
Edmonton.
Discover the difference a tutorcan make in Edmonton.
Find out more atschooliseasycom backslash
Edmonton.
Speaker 1 (25:36):
Be sure to join Tammy and Christine and guests for
more episodes of the MinimalistEducator podcast.
They would love to hear aboutyour journey with minimalism.
Connect with them at planzplson Twitter or Instagram.
The music for the podcast hasbeen written and performed by
Gaia Moretti.
Thank you.
Welcome to the Minimalist Educator Podcast, a
podcast about paring down torefocus on the purpose and
priorities in our roles withco-hosts and co-authors of the
Minimalist Teacher Book, TammyMusialski-Bornemann and
Christine Arnold.
Speaker 2 (00:35):
In this week's episode we speak with Craig
Rudolph.
Craig is the owner of School isEasy Tutoring in Edmonton, so
we get to have a think aboutwhat tutoring is like and how it
can enhance what we do ineducation.
School is Easy Edmonton is ahome-based tutoring franchise
that has helped over 800students in the eight years they
(00:55):
have been in business.
They can provide in-persontutoring around parent schedules
by one of their thoughtful,compassionate teachers.
Speaker 3 (01:03):
Hello everyone and welcome to today's episode of
the Minimalist Educator Podcast.
Today we are talking to CraigRudolph, who is the owner of
School, is Easy Tutoring andsomeone I've known for a long
time, like 30 plus years, soit's nice to have someone from
the past on the show.
But before we get startedtalking to Craig, how are you
(01:27):
today, christine?
Speaker 2 (01:29):
I'm doing very well.
I'm excited to be interviewingtoday and to meet one of your
old friends.
Speaker 3 (01:35):
Yeah, me too.
How are you doing, Craig?
Speaker 4 (01:37):
Very well, I have the same sentiment.
It's nice to see you again.
Speaker 3 (01:41):
Yeah, for sure.
So I mean a lot's gone on sincewe've seen each other.
Like what, 30-ish years ago?
Speaker 4 (01:49):
That's impossible.
Speaker 3 (01:50):
I know it's crazy because we're like 29.
But besides, you know, seeingeach other on Facebook and that
kind of stuff, you've done a lotwith starting a business and
during was it during COVID orwhen did you start?
Speaker 4 (02:08):
school is easy tutoring yes, it was 2017, so I
bought it in April 2017, but wasup in operational September of
2017 okay so we had a coupleyears under our belt before
COVID.
Speaker 3 (02:23):
Oh, that's good.
And so what made you to decideto go into the tutoring business
?
Speaker 4 (02:30):
Well, funny thing, I was in banking and I wasn't
really enjoying it anymore.
So I thought I had to make amajor life change.
So I sold my ATB agency but Ialways used to tutor math on the
side.
So I really found out that Iloved tutoring and I was
enjoying it more than my realjob.
(02:51):
So I'm like, well, maybe I canfind something you know in the
tutoring industry.
So I went to like a franchisepage, looked at all the
different franchises andopportunities and I saw school's
easy read kind of their mantra,what they're all about,
something about the originalowner, and it was fascinating.
(03:14):
So I got in touch with her andall the pieces kind of just fell
together after that and I cansee you guys offer online and
in-person tutoring as well.
Speaker 2 (03:24):
What do you think are the main benefits to the two
different types of tutoring thatyou can offer?
Speaker 4 (03:30):
Well, pre-covid there was a lot more online.
Post-covid, obviously, withmost of learning being online,
there's been a switch to almostexclusively in-person.
But being honest, I don'treally even like offering online
to grades one through six.
(03:50):
I think it's somewhat of adisservice because it's really
tough.
We've seen how tough it iswhere kids are getting pushed
through grades and maybe theyweren't ready, you know, through
the COVID years.
Those kids are reallystruggling.
So I mean, mean, if a parent'sreally got their heart set on it
, we can still do it to the bestof our abilities.
But, um, you know, for highschool age kids they're so savvy
(04:12):
, you know, with technology andwhiteboards and you know they
can do online and it's not ahuge issue.
Um, but most people we findfrom parents they want in person
, they want you right there,they like the human touch, they
like you know they, then theycan observe and cause.
Our rule is if you're under 18,a parent has to be present.
(04:39):
Unless you're in a library orlike a social setting, then they
can go and buy groceries orwhatever and come back.
But for anything in home theparents have to be present,
which is good.
And yeah, that seems to beprobably 85.
I think last I checked it wasabout 85% of all our tutoring is
in person.
Speaker 3 (04:56):
Wow, that's awesome.
But yeah, particularly becauseof the having lived through the
pandemic and being sodisconnected from people for
such a long time to know thatpeople are really wanting to be
together in person.
It changes the experience forsure.
So I was going to ask you abusiness question, but I'm.
(05:19):
But then you mentioned that theparents are at the in-person
sessions, for you know ifthey're at home, or whatever.
You mentioned that the parentsare at the in-person sessions,
for you know if they're at home,or whatever, and so I wondered
if.
How does that change theexperience for the students?
Because or are they justsitting there passively?
I'm interested.
Speaker 4 (05:37):
Passively.
Yes, yeah, so they just have.
Just legally they have to be inthe same room, ok, so I always,
like some of these families,get so comfortable with the
tutor.
They've been there six, sevenyears, but we can't deviate from
having a parent there.
That's a legality.
And I mean, typically theparents are on their phone or
watching TV or something, or youknow the.
The.
(05:57):
They're not actively, um,interfering with the lessons,
maybe with the younger kids.
The parents will help, you know, with the interactions or
whatever they're doing.
You know grades one, two, threeor whatever, and the tutors
don't mind that.
Really We've never seen wherethe tutor have come to me and
say, oh, this parent's justpoking their nose and do all
(06:19):
their lessons.
And you know they've already.
Typically they've already triedtutoring their own child and
it's failed.
So they're happy to step backand let somebody else do it.
And in that same vein we get Ialways find this comical, but
we'll get math teachers that areincredible math teachers and
you know they can't teach theirown child math because they just
(06:42):
fight the whole time.
So a math teacher will phone meto get a math tutor.
Speaker 2 (06:49):
I just find that ironic oh yeah, that makes that
makes total sense to me.
It's such a differentrelationship, dynamic, isn't it?
Between parent and child andteacher and so on.
For sure, absolutely.
I'm wondering.
You know I'm still in a school,full-time.
I'm teaching as well as workingwith curriculum.
I'm wondering what is theimpetus for people coming to you
(07:12):
to seek out tutoring for theirkids?
What are the main reasons whypeople want something more than
just school for their children?
Speaker 4 (07:22):
Okay, that's a loaded question.
I can give you a lot of reasons.
I would say, for the youngerkids it's reading and writing.
They're behind a couple ofgrades in the most basic of you
know linguistics and literacy,um, then you'll get to grade 12
where it's we need a certainmark to get into university or
(07:45):
trade school.
We're at a 75.
We need an 80.
Help us, um, we have people thatjust want an ongoing tutor 52
weeks a year, once, once a week,just for maintenance.
Their students may already beexcellent students, but the
parents want to keep themexcellent and you know we're
there every week, year round,without fail.
(08:06):
And then there's the studentthat is failing, that needs to
pass to move on to the nextgrade.
So you're bringing them from a45 or whatever.
If you just get to that 50,everybody's happy.
You know, maybe it's not asubject they need to move on in
whatever they're doing in future, but they got to pass that
class.
So that's vital.
And some students with learningdisabilities, a lot of students
(08:32):
have autism, dysgraphia,dyslexia, so they're looking for
experts that can help with that.
Some of our classroom sizes areover 30 students now.
So there's no one-on-one extrahelp from the schools, and I
don't blame the schools, I don'tblame the teachers.
It's pandemonium right now here.
I hope I don't get in troublefor saying that, but it's
(09:03):
extremely difficult for theteachers.
I'm very empathetic to them.
So the parents need extra helpbecause I mean they just can't
provide that extra help for somany students of so many
different learning requirements.
It's impossible.
Speaker 3 (09:09):
Yeah, for sure it's too much.
There's not enough teachers inthe system to be able to.
You know we need smaller classsizes so teachers can get to
know their students well andprovide the support that's
needed.
And you mentioned that you havea number of students with
diagnosed learning disabilitiesor on the spectrum, and so how
(09:33):
do you navigate that as like anoutside provider, um, with the
schools?
Do you have a relationship withthe schools or is it very
separate?
Do you have contact, becausethere's a lot of stakeholders,
that at play or school communitymembers, because you're working
with the children, the parents,the finding out what's
(09:54):
happening at school and then youknow if they have a document
that's attached legally, andthen you come in as a, as a
outside source.
So what's that like kind ofnavigating all that?
Speaker 4 (10:06):
Okay, well, I will say this um like, we hire tutors
as subcontractors so I'm notreally their boss per se, but I
find them the students.
But if they say they're anexpert in, say, dyslexia, I need
a reference related to tutoringthat they are.
For starters, I'll send themout on a student and I really
(10:31):
have a one-strike policy.
If they say they're an expertin it, they better be an expert
in it, have at least two yearsof experience, impeccable
references, you know, do whatthey say they can do.
But yeah, they have to have theexperience and get the feedback
from the parents right away.
(10:52):
You know, after a couplelessons typically you know if
they really can do what they'retalking about.
But, um, it hasn't been aproblem.
I find just being really honestwith the tutors and them being
really honest with me, you cankind of filter out who's who's
you know, kind of over expandingon their resume or embellishing
(11:12):
a bit on the resume, becauseyou I mean parents and students
will know they they're thegreatest um decider of that.
So almost all our tutors,they'll have some kind of
experience.
It's just so prevalent in theschool system with diagnosing
learning disabilities that Iwould say the vast majority of
(11:34):
ours have at least worked withADHD, most with autism, some of
the more complicated ones, likedysgraphia, maybe not so much.
That would take an expert thatwe only have four or five of
those.
But yeah, we do our best and ifit's certainly not a match, we
refund their money and find themanother tutor right away.
Speaker 2 (11:57):
I'd love to hear a little bit more about the tutors
themselves.
Are they people that are, youknow, working full-time in
schools and doing this on theside?
Are they doing just thetutoring?
What sort of people are doingit and what's the benefits for
them?
Speaker 4 (12:13):
Yeah, I mean, it's essentially supplemental income
for them.
Yeah, I mean, it's essentiallysupplemental income.
So our minimum requirement istwo years experience.
Past criminal record check ofcourse we don't want to send
criminals into people's homes.
At least two references from astudent they've tutored or the
parent, and then two references,educational references.
(12:34):
And then they got to meet withme too.
So, just trusting my owninstincts, meeting them.
So that's our criteria.
But what do all these teachersdo?
Okay, yes, current teachers,for sure.
Some of them do it because theylove it and they just want a
couple students a week.
Some do need a supplementalincome.
(12:54):
Times are tough in Alberta.
Tammy probably hears it fromeverybody.
I do yeah, it's been tough here.
Inflation I mean inflation istough everywhere, but it is
really.
It's been a pinch.
So lots of the teachers do wantto work for the extra income.
And then in the math departmentI get a lot of engineers and
brilliant, brilliant mathteachers.
(13:17):
Um, some have 20, 30 years ofmath experience, know the
curriculum inside note, they canteach a little bit of chemistry
, physics, general science.
But my engineers are awesomemath tutors.
My tutor of the year this year,david, is a six-year chemical
engineering student and he justwants to start paying off his
(13:41):
student loans and he lovestutoring.
So he takes on like 20 30 hoursa week of tutoring.
I don't know how he does it.
He's an amazing guy plus hisstudies, um, but he loves
tutoring too.
So it's not a job to him, heloves it.
But he must work 60, 70 hours aweek, counting his homework and
(14:01):
everything, because he's in atough program as well.
So we do let students, but theyhave to be at least third-year
university.
We don't really want anybodytoo young.
To be honest, that's kind ofour criterium.
I had retired teachers teachers, fantastic, and most of them
just do it because they love ittoo right, um, we have up until
(14:22):
a 70 year old lady, cynthia.
She's she's an amazing tutor.
She's good at the younger kidsum literacy.
They've been very comfortablearound her.
You know, she's just a warm,welcoming person in your home.
So, and then everything inbetween, for you know people
(14:44):
that are exceptional in thatsubject matter.
So maybe it's biology, it's abiologist, or you know, you
don't necessarily have to havean education degree to teach, as
you know, but they have to knowthe curriculum.
That's without fail.
You have to know the curriculum.
That's, that's without fail.
You have to know the curriculum.
Ultimately, we're trying to getthe students either how to read
or better marks, or you knowsomething tangible, um, but yeah
(15:06):
, I, we've had tutors from allbackgrounds.
We certainly don't restrict it.
Speaker 3 (15:13):
So that's awesome to be able, because there's just so
many different needs too, right, you have a lot of families
coming to you with, you know,all kinds of needs, all kinds of
like you had mentioned before,just like the little bumps up or
the enrichment and all of that.
So it's awesome to have such awide range of people to choose
from and have in your bank.
Um, I'm going to switch gears alittle bit, because I'm also a
(15:40):
business owner and Christina andI talk a lot to people about
their systems and like how tokeep track of everything,
because I mean, you know you'renavigating families and their
needs and then you have thatbusiness aspect that you have to
take care of too.
So do you have a couple of mainthings in your system or like
kind of a streamlined way ofdoing things to make sure
(16:03):
everything that you're on top ofeverything?
Speaker 4 (16:06):
You darn right, we do .
It's done through our franchise.
So it's a website called Opusand it will.
So once we enter the parent andthe student and the teacher in
there, um, when we make a match,we can link the, the student to
the teacher, and the parentscan enter, you know, their
(16:29):
credit card information in there.
And after every lesson it'sincumbent on the tutor to write
a lesson report Was a studentengaged?
Was progress made?
What were we working on?
Was homework assigned?
So instantaneous feedback thatgets sent to the parent.
If it's an older student, thenyou know they can be involved
(16:50):
with that process too.
Or they get a student note thatthe parent doesn't necessarily
have to see.
And then we bill them rightafter the lesson um, build their
credit card, send them areceipt, um, cause we do have a
pay-as-you-go program where theydon't have to sign a long-term
contract, which differentiatesus quite a bit from other places
(17:10):
, cause typically some otherbusinesses you have to buy a 40
hour block or you know a twomonth term to start, but we find
what?
If people just need somecramming before a final exam,
you know they might only needfour or five hours and that's it
, but then they might refer youdown the road to their neighbor,
or you know that student has asibling that needs help later,
(17:34):
so it's a good service to dothat.
Um.
But yeah, everything'sstreamlined.
So as long as my tutors entertheir lessons into opus um,
payrolls are really easy becauseit's already tracked all their
hours that they've entered um.
I can pull out my revenueversus um what I've paid the
tutors and get an idea what Imade that month.
Yeah, there's like 169 reportson there, so I think I only use
(17:59):
15 of them.
But yeah, it's a.
It's a very efficient system.
That's where it's nice having alittle bit of it help Cause I
am by no means an it guy.
I'm.
I'm a marketer, essentially.
Speaker 3 (18:14):
Really, I was just going to say it's helpful to
have a franchise.
Then right, because thosepieces are built in for you.
It's like my business is not,and so it's like I had to figure
everything out I'd be doomed,yeah yeah, like just just
figuring it all out, stillhonestly after a few years.
Speaker 4 (18:32):
So anyway, thanks for sharing that, bill craig no, of
course, and I should say thisthey like, they're not intrusive
on us, they're an awesomefranchise.
We have a marketing guy, we so,anyway, thanks for sharing that
, bill Craig.
No, of course, and I should saythis they're not intrusive on
us, they're an awesome franchise.
We have a marketing guy, wehave an IT guy, but they let us
run our own businesses.
So somebody in Dubai is goingto have a way different business
model than me here in Edmonton,even to Vancouver, to Florida.
(18:54):
So all they're doing is helping, but they're not telling it,
which is awesome.
Um, that's good we just work inunison together.
There's no um hard fast.
There's rules and, obviously,regulations and representing the
company well, but um, you know,they just give you guidelines
that'll make you be moresuccessful and I'm happy to
(19:14):
follow them.
Speaker 2 (19:15):
They're the experts yeah, sounds like there's so
many cool things going on there,you know, with your systems,
and having that one theopportunity to do one-on-one,
giving the parents feedback andthe kids feedback straight away,
you know, all of those systemsare awesome.
I'm wondering, what do youthink is the special source that
(19:37):
makes a tutoring situationreally, really successful?
Speaker 4 (19:44):
I would say that we're very human.
Lots of these companies you canonly contact them by text or
email.
You can't get a person on thephone even even which is insane
to me, because is there anythingmore personal than your child's
learning like?
I can't imagine my son's mebooking a tutor without ever
(20:05):
meeting the tutor or talking tothe tutor or having a
consultation with the tutor andbreaking down exactly what you
want.
I don't want to go back andforth on email or texting, doing
that like.
I want a face to the company.
We're just, we're like a familybusiness.
We're out I do events almostevery weekend.
Me and my family are outpounding the pavement, doing
(20:26):
door knockers.
We visit schools all the time.
Um, lots of our contentsfamily-based, because we
essentially we are a familybusiness.
This is, this is all we do.
It's our only source of income,so it's, uh, extremely
important, to say the least.
Um, so, yeah, and our program isobviously good because we don't
(20:46):
make you sign, like I said,those long-term contracts.
So we're one of the few placesthat do pay as you go, um, and
we just sit back and let theparents tell us what they want.
It's not, you know, some placeshave their own curriculum and
you have to be at a certainplace at a certain time teaching
a certain thing.
We just sit back and I justclose my mouth and I let the
(21:07):
parents tell us exactly whatthey want, when they want us,
where they want us, what theywant to work on personality
traits of the student.
You know you'll hear where you.
You know the student came homethey were crying and they got a
bad mark and they want to getinto university and it really
humanizes the business and youreally want to help these people
(21:30):
.
You know it's it's trying tofind the right tutors that care,
you know, that are thoughtful,they're going to be patient.
It's a certain type of personthat I would say we hire and you
can tell if people aren'tgenuine in it.
The first thing they're askingme is how much do I get paid?
When do I get paid?
When do I get a raise?
(21:51):
How do you pay me?
You know red flag alert.
Of course, money's part of it,but I have to know that they
genuinely care and they're goingto, you know, do the best they
can to help these students andbe prepared and show up and, you
know, have a game plan and knowthe curriculum of course is
vital.
Speaker 3 (22:12):
Yeah, we're kind of getting near the end of our
episode and at the end of ourepisodes we always ask our
guests for a pare down pointerand I feel like what you just
said kind of is already that.
But the pare down pointer islike essentially what's like one
tip or strategy in all that youdo that just makes you guys
(22:33):
successful.
Speaker 4 (22:36):
Well, answer the phone, I mean things like that.
Or people come up to you at ashow and stuff like be available
.
It's huge because lots of theseplaces don't get back for you
for two or three days.
Instantaneously.
Get back to people.
So if I get an online inquiry,if I can't get to it, I'll get
to it as soon as I get home andrespond to people.
(22:56):
Be genuine.
I mean there's times you can'thelp people.
We don't get to it as soon as Iget home and respond to people.
Be genuine.
I mean there's times you can'thelp people.
We don't have the, maybe wedon't have the tutor, but I'll
always point them in anotherdirection, even to a competitor,
if I have to.
Just try to get them the help,because they'll appreciate that
and they may circle back to youregardless if the student ended
up learning and having a goodexperience.
That's really all we want andyou show that that's always good
(23:18):
.
Um, I don't see a lot of othercompanies out in the community
doing things and give you know,giving stuff back and doing
farmers, markets and stuff.
I do a zillion of them.
Um, it's pretty fun.
I love it.
You meet, then you're meetingsomebody in person, maybe the
(23:39):
student or the parent or a tutorthat you hire.
So it's kind of nice.
It's like a first meeting rightaway and you just have a
discussion and more justlistening to what people want
instead of telling them whatthey want.
I think that's massive.
And then being able to makethat match right away.
So we say within 48 hours wecan have somebody in place with
(24:01):
you.
If we can't, we'll try to guideyou in the right direction.
But 99 times out of 100, we'reable to do that.
Speaker 3 (24:10):
Yeah, that's awesome.
Thanks, that's.
That's a lot of great tips,like the listening, the being
available, because you do.
You know it's clear that youwant to make sure that people's
needs are getting met.
So, um, I did remember what Iwas going to mention.
It was the um, your, yourfamily related posts, I think,
are really a great way forpeople to connect to you, right
(24:31):
as a business owner, and justsharing, like your little ones
are like I forget your kidsnames, but it's like so-and-so,
is like answering the phonetoday, I guess really cute.
So, yeah, thanks for sharingthat.
Christine, did you want to sayanything else as we wrap up?
Speaker 2 (24:46):
No, I just you know we talk to so many different
people in the field of education, doing lots of different roles,
and it just it's amazing how italways keeps coming back to
relationships and communication,like it's always the same sort
of themes coming out, no matterwhat roles people have in
education.
That human touch, that, um, youknow, being trustworthy and
(25:09):
extending trust to people is isjust at the heart of so much of
what we do, and we're hearing itagain here today.
Speaker 3 (25:14):
So thank you for that , craig yeah, thanks so much,
craig, for being with us today.
Speaker 4 (25:19):
Yeah, you're welcome, absolutely.
Speaker 2 (25:25):
This episode is brought to you by School is Easy
Edmonton.
Discover the difference a tutorcan make in Edmonton.
Find out more atschooliseasycom backslash
Edmonton.
Speaker 1 (25:36):
Be sure to join Tammy and Christine and guests for
more episodes of the MinimalistEducator podcast.
They would love to hear aboutyour journey with minimalism.
Connect with them at planzplson Twitter or Instagram.
The music for the podcast hasbeen written and performed by
Gaia Moretti.
Thank you.
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