We recently connected with Clairessa Cruz, M.Ed. and have shared our conversation below.
Clairessa, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Taking care of customers isn’t just good business – it is often one of the main reasons folks went into business in the first place. So, we’d love to get a conversation going around how to best help clients feel appreciated – maybe you can share something you’ve done or seen someone do that’s been really effective at helping a customer feel valued?
When I first started my tutoring company, Cruzversity Tutoring LLC., I did it because I wanted to help the Hispanic and Black population and I wanted it to be a service that parent’s did not have to stress over. Therefore, to show my appreciation and help my parents I provide tutoring services at their house or if they prefer at the nearest public library near their home. To me this is one of the ways to show my clients my understanding of parenting struggles such as motivating the student to get up and dress, preparing the car, and possibly having to find a sitter for the younger child/sibling.
Because I offer tutoring at the client’s residence the child can stay in their comfortable clothes, has toys and food they prefer when it’s time for a brain break.
As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?
I started Cruzversity Tutoring LLC because after my first year of teaching I quickly realized that parents of Hispanic/Black descent truly wanted to help their child succeed in school but they were unaware how much the Texas Standards had changed from when they were in school. I worked at a primarly Title 1 school with a population of Hispanic and Black and I would make up songs to song tunes the kids were familiar with. From there parents started asking me where I got the songs from becaue their child were singing them and the parents would beg me to record them. I then created a YouTube channel for parents to watch my instructions of sight words and word families so their child could continue to hear and/or watch. However, my “aha-aha” moment of making my tutoring comapny into an LLC was when I serviced a client for several years and had watched her child grow academically. The parents were in the military and when they would come to Texas during the holiday and summer breaks they would have me tutor their daughter. I was able to see how much growth she had made until last year when the family moved back to Texas and reached out to me for tutoring and guidance. I quickly observed the student had regressed and quickly identified she needed accommodations and the assignments assigned were not child appropriate or easy for even a teacher such as myself to understand the grading system used. I sat in on this parent-teacher conference and because of my knoweldge in education and my Masters in Education, Curriculm and Instruction with an emphasis in Literacy, I was able to provide the adminstrative team and the child’s teachers my feedback and observations. From that moment the school’s adminstrative team and her teachers began to offer her accomodations, providing 6 week updates, and the child was able to end the year far better than how she was progressing before my intervention. When I work with students I find out their interest. I once had a child who loved Super Sonic and made him custom flash cards so he could orally count pass 20 and now he can count to 100. I have helped students re-learn how to hold a pencil properly and the essential knowledge on why when we form a letter we start in a systematic way – especially if the child goes to private school and is expected to write in cursive by end of second grade.
I have taught in public and private schools so I feel this expereince is vital in helping my families and helping their child become successful in their academics.
My sorority sister, Maria Bustamante has helped me in the process of creating my business logo by helping me get the professional help on creating my business card. My motto is “I teach you academics and life skills.” My business card has a rose because this symbol represents me but also because we all bloom differently and have the ability to bloom academically and socially. I have a crown because the life skills I teach you go hand in hand with academics. You can be the smartest person but if you do not have respect for yourself or others or know how to talk and act properly then you are looked over, I also have quill pen because I want to make a positive impact in History. And the quill pen was the type of pen used to write the Declaration of Independence. It is seen has something very elegent and that also represents myself and my brand.
How’d you build such a strong reputation within your market?
I believe the positive reputation I have built is truly through my mindset from my role model. My favorite boxer is Floyd Mayweather, Jr and he always says he is “The Best Ever!” To me any business owner needs this mindset because to be the best you have to believe you’re the best! I took his motto and modified it into my own by saying I am “The BEST Educator Ever!” Because I genuinely love teaching, I come with a certain spark that cannot be bought or taught. My clients and their children feel my genuine engery and from there they share my services to their family and friends and my reputation of being “The Best Educator” is formed.
Can you talk to us about how your funded your business?
When I was ready to make my tutoring company into an LLC I used my earnings from my part-time job to help fund the process. I absolutely love dancing and helping children feel successful. On Saturdays I teach at Motiv8ion Dance Studio. I teach two- to four-year-olds ballet and tap. This part-time job is my dream come true and with each paycheck I would set aside for the funding of Cruzverfsity Tutoring LLC. I have used the payments from my part-time job to help fund the launching of the LLC, website, business cards, ect…
Contact Info:
- Email: [email protected]