Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Danielle Florio. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Danielle, appreciate you joining us today. Talk to us about building your team? What was it like? What were some of the key challenges and what was your process like?

No. My business started with my co-founder and me. We were the sales team, the administrators, the tutors, the admissions experts, as well as the operational managers of the business. What started out very humbly (a small two person team), grew as our reputation did…

Within two years, we could no longer accommodate all of the families flowing into the business. At first, we stretched ourselves way beyond any appropriate capacity to avoid ever saying “no” to a new client. Once we realized that was (wildly) unsustainable, we set out to make our first hires.

We hired in areas that we were weakest in, but had a high level of demand. For example, we needed a College Admissions Essay Coach and a middle-high school STEM tutor, stat, so we set out looking for passionate educators with rockstar personalities.

While we had some nice successes with new hires in the early days, we also hired some duds! Folks that impressed us in the interview but their professionalism fell short once we put them to work. We found out quickly that an ivy league degree doesn’t always translate to an “inspiring tutor.” Credentials can be important! So I don’t mean to overlook one’s educational background or work experience, but there’s more to the tutoring game than knowing an exam or academic subject inside and out.

Can you inspire even the most reluctant student? Can you help them build confidence and independence? Can you handle an overly anxious (read: micromanaging) parent? Instructional skills have to be on point, but the personality of the tutor is what keeps families coming back and referring our services. We found that we needed folks who were socially adept, had high EQ’s, and were on point with their communication skills.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

My name is Danielle and I’m one of the founders of City Smarts Tutoring. We are a one-stop tutoring shop that offers a wide spectrum of services! We built our specialties up little by little to ensure we were always able to meet the needs of our growing community.

We specialize in Academic Subject & Standardized Test Prep Tutoring, Middle and High School Admissions support, (the admissions processes in NYC can be daunting, to say the least), College Admissions support, and Executive Function Coaching. Additionally, we offer small group test prep workshops, mock exams in Manhattan & Brooklyn, and have robust set of school partnerships ranging from Public, to Independent to Charter school programs.

Our origin story is sort of adorable / hilarious. I have known my co-founder since childhood. We were on the same sports teams so were always acquainted. We reconnected when we found ourselves at the same college years and years later. I mention all of this because when we were in college, Mark was slowly building a small tutoring practice. He’s a sharp guy and his professors started asking him to tutor their kids. What started as a side hustle grew into a full fledged business within a few short years. Cut to 2007 when I am complaining about my full time job. To be fair it was lovely and my boss was amazing but I was not in an industry / company I wanted to grow with. It was, essentially, my meal ticket to moving to NYC without going broke, ha!

Mark told me to stop complaining about my job like “so many 9-5’ers do” and DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT. Why don’t I quit and become his business partner? That is quite literally how City Smarts was born..

To ensure I am tackling all components of your questions – what we do is alleviate stress on students, families, educators alike. We provide mentorship-like tutoring to our community and always approach our work holistically. We want to not only help our students / families with whatever is at hand, but also help them to build skills that last a lifetime.

What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?

This is a great topic. How much time do you have? I have worked extremely hard in the last decade to deconstruct a “lack mindset” that was likely born from anxiety & perfectionism in childhood. To be clear, my parents (nor my family) never put any pressure on me – but boy did I learn to put an incredible level of pressure on myself…

In the early days, there was a fear based perspective that drove a lot of compulsive business habits. Responding to clients on the weekends, not being mindful of any manner of work / life balance. Never saying no even when a family was asking for time I truly did not have, texting a parent back at 11pm when them reaching out at that hour was – to be frank – inappropriate! However, if you run your own biz – you get to decide how you show up! If you set a tone that says “Danielle always available, even on the drop of a dime” and “Danielle always goes above and beyond” – you lock yourself into unsustainable patterns

Of course, what it takes to be a successful small business owner in NYC should not be overlooked! All of the above did build our business, company loyalty, and trust in what we had to offer. However, looking back now – I was “doing too much” almost all of the time. I could have worked a bit smarter had I leaned into self trust, but in my experience I had to go through those phases to develop the wisdom I have now…

Bottom line: Develop healthy work boundaries. When you stick to them, your clients will too. In fact, they’ll often appreciate you even MORE than when you’re always readily available to their beck & call.

What’s been the most effective strategy for growing your clientele?

When you care about your community, your community will take care of you. It’s all about authentic connection and organic growth.

This is a topic I raised in a lecture I gave last week – about how to invest in your own community of clients, (we call our clients “families” for obvious reasons), to inspire referrals, community partnerships, etc – all that lead to business growth.

1. Find the “mavens” who work with you. A maven is someone who loves your work and is a cheerleader / referral stream whether you asked them to refer you or not. Take them to coffee, grab a drink – ask them about their kids or their aging parents. Bottom line: be thoughtful, show up, and be yourself. Not every client who engages with your services is meant to be a maven. Don’t force it.

2. Incentivize referrals – do some kind of give back or kick back. Ask your mavens if they might recommend you to their social / professional networks. We are in education, so any parents in our network who are connected to school communities can be a growth opportunity. For someone running a business like ours, ask a maven to connect you to their child’s school PTA! They are always looking for donations to prop up their fundraisers, so donating a gift certificate for your service is a great way to increase visibility.

3. Take it a step further – offer a free lecture or service related to an important issue or challenge in your industry. This is often a low lift for you but packs a high impact punch. If the community takes you up on your free lecture, for example – you’re now suddenly in front of a new set of people who you’ve never met before. Don’t make your presentation sale’sy. The less aggressive your sales pitch is, the more people will want to work with you…

4. IRL visibility. Nothing beats in-person networking, presenting, and community building. In our increasingly digitized professional landscape — getting out from behind our screens is invaluable. Folks will not only learn about your offerings, but they’ll get a sense of your personality and disposition to boot. For us, this has been extremely effective – in person networking opportunities.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.citysmarts.net/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/citysmarts/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CitySmarts/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/city-smarts
• Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/city-smarts-new-york
• Other: Google (has some great reviews): https://maps.app.goo.gl/DuBB94uNGQZaDqat8

Image Credits

All photos (except for the one of Danielle & another person in front of a City Smarts table), taken by Nate Mumford.