We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Amber Campbell a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Amber, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Can you talk to us about a risk you’ve taken – walk us through the story?

Sure thing! My passion for teaching and understanding the process of learning inspired me to pursue a master’s degree in elementary education. During that time, I was transitioning from Criminal Justice to Education, starting as a first year lead teacher. It was the most challenging yet exhilarating time of my life because I was able to put theory into practice. I taught in the same public school system that I grew up in for three years. My initial goal was to use my experiences as a learner to help students who might have struggled like me, but the school system was operating in much of the same way that it was back when I was a student. I thought maybe moving from public school to a charter school would make for a different/more engaging experience, so I taught in the charter school setting for an additional three years, however, there was a significant disconnect between how teacher’s were being required to teach versus how students were able to learn.

It became clear to me that though education has evolved in so many ways, the school systems have not, which was causing me to feel like I was doing more harm than good working in a school system that was honestly, not student-centered.
I needed to change that.

Fast forward to the end of the school year of my 8th year of teaching, I decided I could no longer continue the injustice of teaching what was supposed to be “equitable education”, but instead was more like a glorified daycare experience. Without having another job/career move in play, I took a risk and put in my resignation. I immediately felt relieved but also nervous, because let’s be clear, I definitely had a sizable amount of student loan debt after pursuing my bachelors and master’s degree. During that summer, as I pondered what my next move would be, my older sister was experiencing challenges with my nephew learning how to read in school. After hearing her frustrations with the lack of support she was receiving from his teacher and the school, she asked me to work with him given my teaching background. After three sessions, my nephew was displaying so much confidence and progress that it caused me to really evaluate the whole circumstance. In that reflection was the birth of my company, {AC-a-d’AM’ic} K-12 Tutoring, Learning in Your Style (now {AC-a-d’AM’ic} K-12 Solutions, Education in your Style). I know the name looks funny, but I wanted it to be memorable. It is pronounced acadamic, with an /a/ instead of an /e/ because my name is Amber, and my nickname is Am. I capitalize the AC because those are my initials. I thought it was clever!

Amber, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

As a little girl, I always loved the art of teaching and learning. However, I personally struggled with learning in school, because I would get easily distracted with sounds, which would cause me to zone out and miss important information.  Because I couldn’t focus in school, I was the kid that would come home and “play school” with imaginary students, chalkboards, attendance, grade books, assignments (I would reteach what was taught at school, because I needed to be more hands on and it helped me understand the content better), and the list goes on. My teachers were always very supportive and encouraging, but because I was a “good” student that didn’t have any behavior problems, they didn’t readily notice the way I struggled as a learner.

Though I knew teaching was my calling, I detoured and actually studied Criminal Justice and Psychology at Howard University for my undergraduate degree. I enjoyed that work but still knew my gift was in education. After a few years in the Criminal Justice field, I decided to transition from what I like to call a reactive career to a proactive career. Though my passion was there, I did not have any formal training, so I went back to school to get my Masters Degree in Elementary Education. To this day, it is one of the best decisions I have ever made. I had a really amazing teaching career. I started in the DC Public School System, which was a full circle moment for me, because DCPS was where I fell in love with teaching and the art of learning when I was in grade school. I also had the pleasure of teaching at two of the top charter schools in DC and Maryland, whereby I was a pioneer in bringing technology into classrooms before it was what it is today. I taught for a total of 8 years and then began to get an itch that I could and should be doing more. I was becoming disappointed with the education system as a whole and felt like I understood what students really needed in order to thrive academically. I just needed the opportunity to show it…so I created my own opportunity. In 2015, I decided to leave the classroom altogether and embark on a new journey…one rooted in passion, experience, knowledge, confidence, learning styles and fun.

{AC-a-d’AM’ic}’s mission is centered around equity, teaching the whole person and meeting clients where they are socially, emotionally, and academically. We specialize in building trust and relationships with each client so that they feel comfortable learning. We create a safe space that encourages mistakes to be made, as mistakes are learning opportunities that help drive the understanding of a specific concept or situation. I am most proud of all of my clients who are enrolled in school and now loving it. It is so amazing when parents share with me the noticeable confidence in their children once they start sessions with us. It is encouraging and makes me very proud knowing that we are actually making a difference. My company is currently servicing approximately 75 students on a rolling basis, with a growing wait list. I have been approached several times by parents asking me to start a school, homeschool their children, or create an afterschool program. There are so many opportunities within the DMV to provide services to families. As my business currently exists, it is a private boutique company where parents must pay in order to receive services. In 2019, I was blessed to hire my first employee. Since then, I have hired 7 additional team members that deliver both face to face and virtual services. Several local organizations have asked to partner with my company to deliver services to elementary, middle, and high school sports teams as well. In 2021, we rebranded from just a tutoring company into a full education agency, providing tutoring, homeschool, and camp services to families, and professional development and consulting to educators seeking to bridge the gap of learning.

During the pandemic, I found another passion that I have been able to share with the world. CustAMized Incorporated was born, which is a general public benefit incorporation providing both for-profit and non-profit educational and general services to individuals, organizations, schools, programs, communities, etc. Our main community service project to date is knitting and providing beanie hats to cancer patients and homeless individuals.

Any advice for growing your clientele? What’s been most effective for you?

Surprisingly, the most effective strategy for growing my clientele hasn’t been social media, but it has been through word of mouth/referrals. As my business continues to grow, social media is a really great tool, but I must admit that the biggest form of flattery is working with a client and then having them share how amazing their experience has been/the growth their child has made and then sharing it with someone else. This has helped maintain my company’s integrity because there is a sense of trust amongst all parties. Sometimes, when dealing with strangers in small businesses, it is difficult to know who genuinely wants to see you succeed versus people who may want to sabotage you. I can truly appreciate the referrals I have received and love to encourage more with occasional referral discounts!

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

A lesson that I had to unlearn was being a “yes ma’am” and that your price is your price. As much as I love to help everyone, being a “yes ma’am” is not good for business. I had to learn the hard way to protect my peace by saying no when necessary and that that doesn’t make me a bad person, just a person with boundaries. Because this is my full-time career now, I have to operate it as such because if I don’t, then I can’t pay my bills, etc. In addition, I realized that discounting my services to an extreme discounts my credibility as a respected person in this field. I am a very charitable person and will always help where I can, but what I have realized is that if you let them, people will definitely take advantage of you, so you must set boundaries in order to maintain success.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.acadamick12.com
• Instagram: @acadamick12
• Facebook: /Acadamic K-12 Solutions
• Linkedin: /Amber Campbell
• Twitter: @acadamick12
• Other: @cust.am.ized

Image Credits
Nerissa Gravely Jones @njones_photography Alicia Hill @lovelicaptures