We were lucky to catch up with Andrea Chernin recently and have shared our conversation below.

Andrea, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. We’d love to have you retell us the story behind how you came up with the idea for your business, I think our audience would really enjoy hearing the backstory.

Illuminate Educational Therapy Group consists of a curated range of Educational Therapists, Learning Specialists, Executive Functioning Coaches, and Educational Interventionists, At Illuminate, we mindfully connect a student with the specialist who best meets their unique educational needs, who has the skill set that a student would benefit from, and whose teaching style matches their learning style. When I was developing the business idea, I thought about wanting to “light up” each child’s learning path by illuminating their strengths while working on their stretches. Initially, I wanted to be able to “multiply” myself and what I was doing as an Educational Therapist in my solo practice. However, I had to remind myself that because each student is so different, that it would behoove parents to have a group of skilled professionals from which to choose the right fit, personality, and skill-set. Knowing that building a rapport is so necessary for the best edu-therapeutic 1:1 working relationship, I set out to build a practice of specialists that cover all the bases in the specialized education community — we can work with kids who have learning differences, with those who are gifted, with those who are twice-exceptional learners, with those who have mental-health difficulties, and with students who have so many more unique, specific profiles. When parents reach out to us, they feel like they have a choice of who could be a great potential fit for their learner; having the approach of a tailored experience in choosing a specialist helps parents feel confident in the abilities of this specialist to serve the specific learning needs of the student. There is nothing more fulfilling than hearing a parent report back that their child is able to make such incredible gains because they have found the right match who can scaffold learning across various areas.

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 Andrea Chernin, and I am a Professional Educational Therapist and the Executive Director of Illuminate Educational Therapy Group – a private practice located in Los Angeles, California.

I grew up in Calabasas, California and graduated from Calabasas High School. I attended college at UCLA (Go Bruins!) and majored in Psychology with a minor in Public Policy. During college, I was an English Composition, English as a Second Language, and Psychology tutor for my peers at the Academic Advancement Program for historically underrepresented students. I enjoyed the rewarding experience of working one-on-one with students so much that I began my own tutoring private practice.

It was at that point in my life in which I realized that my true passion lies within the realm of education. Thus, I went on to earn my Multiple-Subject Teaching Credential and my Master’s degree in Cross-Cultural Education, enabling me to teach 4th grade at the elementary school that I actually went to. While teaching, I had several students in my class who seemed to learn differently than the other students. I was intrigued by their self-taught compensatory strategies, yet I felt somewhat frustrated that I did not always have the proper metaphorical “tools” to help these learners. Therefore, I decided to further my education by immersing myself in a subset of special education in a field called Educational Therapy.

I finally felt as though I found my ideal niche as I worked toward earning my Post-Masters Certificate in Educational Therapy. In conjunction with my graduation from California State Northridge’s Educational Therapy Program, I became Bridges Academy’s first Educational Therapy Intern as I worked alongside a well-known Educational Therapist in the field named Marcy Dann. This invaluable experience combined with my education-rich background primed me to step into a private practice as an Educational Therapist in 2007. Since then, I have been an active Professional Member of the Association of Educational Therapists and have enjoyed continuing to develop professionally alongside my incredible colleagues.

Our practice, Illuminate Educational Therapy Group, serves students with learning differences across Los Angeles, providing intensive remediation and support that helps fill in gaps in their learning profiles. I thoroughly enjoy working with my own caseload of uniquely amazing students, and also being the “matchmaker” who understands what students need on a deep educational level in order to be successful with their own support specialist.

We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.

When COVID-19 hit in 2020, it was a terrifying time for all business owners. I was concerned about pivoting our sessions to Zoom, especially since students were spending a large part of their days on the computer with virtual schooling. It was a rough few months of getting students to keep up the momentum of the progress they had been making; instead of sitting side by side, working with manipulatives, giving high fives, and being able to see each other in person, we were now much more limited. However, we are so thankful that even with the limitations we had, we could still continue the work we were doing together without a great deal of growing pains. I felt thankful to see my students during this trying time, and they showed up with incredible fortitude. In fact, now that it’s almost 2024, some students prefer zoom and have stayed virtual. It was a bumpy road at first, but I feel thankful that we were able to maintain our students’ progress and prevent as much learning loss as possible during the pandemic.

What do you think helped you build your reputation within your market?

I think that what helped build our reputation within our field is what helps to build a reputation in any field: care, compassion, and personalized attention. When parents come to us to work with their kids, they are often anxious, scared, and trepidatious about the future. Speaking to parents, even if we don’t end up getting to work together, is one of my favorite parts of what I do. I try to provide my perspective, share my knowledge, and help with tangible tools that parents can start utilizing immediately to bolster their kids in and out of school. Our referrals are word-of-mouth, and I feel so fortunate that families feel they are in good hands with us; this trust and collaboration is truly essential to our success with students.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.illuminateedtherapy.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/illuminateedtherapy/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/educationalcareapist/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrea-chernin-a6761276/
• Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/illuminate-educational-therapy-group-santa-monica-3