We recently connected with Cierra Hawkes and have shared our conversation below.

Cierra, appreciate you joining us today. We believe kindness is contagious and so we’d love for you to share with us and our audience about the kindest thing anyone has ever done for you?

While I was in undergrad, I began working at my church academy’s after-school program. I was responsible for picking up the children from their classrooms, providing them with snacks, homework help, and activities until their parents arrived. During my employment, I was dropped from my academic program and kicked out of school. Once my boss got a whiff of my drop-out, she would gently ask me whenever she saw me “Are you back in school yet?” I continued working for the after-school program until the next school year when I decided to work as a teaching assistant at a local learning center. I remember thinking, “Welp, I’m already doing what I wanted to do, so I can just work from here on out.”

I continued working at the learning center for the next two years and realized that this was as far as I could go in the Early Childhood field without a degree. However, at the time I had no clue where to begin to get myself back in school as the process was not as simple as just reapplying. I continued to procrastinate until my boss from the church academy invited me to dinner. At dinner she pulled out a notepad and begin to ask me about my goals. I answered. She then said “Okay, we’re going to get you back in school.”

The next few months, that is exactly what she did. We continued going to dinner until we had a reinstatement letter written, a meeting schedule with the head of the department, and my intended Fall schedule completed. She went with me to the meeting and advocating for me in a way I’ve never witnessed anyone do. I was reinstated back in school, she went with me to the registrar and saw me through the entire enrollment process. At this time, I was still working at the learning center full time and was not driving. Every month my old boss would drive to Coppin State buy my monthly bus pass and drop it off to me. I vowed to give my best and nothing less for the rest of my college career.

This woman who knew me simply through church invested in me beyond what she ever had to. She was only required to give me a paycheck, but she gave me the support, push, and help that I needed. She saw something in me and I am so thankful that she did not let me give up on myself or my passion.

I am the educator and business owner I am today because of her one act of kindness.

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?

My name is Cierra Hawkes. I have been an Early Childhood Educator for fourteen years, and this 2023- 2024 school year marks my 14th year of teaching. I teach preschool full-time during the day and operate Kiddie Coach Tutoring on my off time. I love what I do and couldn’t imagine doing anything else.

I obtained my B.S. in Early Childhood Education/Human Development from Coppin State University. I then received my M. A in Community-Based Education and Leadership from Stevenson University, I implemented and created an Early Learning Initiative that focuses on family involvement called Project B.R.O.A.D: Bridging Relationships, Opportunities, Academics, and Development. You will see Project B.R.O.A.D during the 2023-24 school year through Family Involvement activities. Upon graduating from Stevenson, I am pursuing my Doctorate at Johns Hopkins University’s Brain, Mind, and Teaching Ph.D. program. Ultimately, my goal is to change the stigma and relevance of Early Childhood Education everywhere. The first 3-5 years of a child’s development are the most important and I promise here at Kiddie Coach whether you’re starting or need a boost from your past start we’ll do all we can to get you back on track. I have dedicated my education, career, business, and heart to ensuring our children get the BEST start possible to strengthen them for all their future learning.

Kiddie Coach Tutoring is a sports-themed tutoring business that focuses on the whole child to effectively boost their academics and confidence. Kiddie Coach offers a free virtual consultation with the student to see where they are academically. Kiddie Coach then creates a game plan of the skills that we will focus on during their time with KC.

We offer tutoring sessions M-Th & Saturday Mornings and early afternoon.

We offer both in-person and virtual sessions. Our in-person sessions are held at local Barnes and Noble locations.

Pricing is a $ per minute – 30-minute sessions are only offered to children 5 & under.

Where do you think you get most of your clients from?

The best source of new clients has been word of mouth. I created business accounts for all mainstream social media platforms and even added my business to Google. However, I have found that most of my new student’s parents are friends, family, or colleagues of current students’ parents. Even the inquiries I receive through social media are because someone mentioned me to them, or referred my name under their post in search of tutors for their parents. Also, the second source of new clients is my job. The bulk of my current tutees are former students from previous school years. I pride myself in ensuring that I build a relationship of trust, warmth, and communication with my students and families – without it, no learning can be done.

Any stories or insights that might help us understand how you’ve built such a strong reputation?

I think my passion for what I do helped to build my reputation in my market. Oftentimes, people think that teaching is just the exchange of information. However, teaching young children and people in general begins and ends with a relationship built on trust. According to Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs, humans require multiple basic needs such as physical, safety, and love before they can acquire healthy self-esteem to reach self-actualization. Children come to tutoring possibly already feeling defeated or less than – I immediately begin to build their trust in themselves. As they hesitate to answer a question, stumble over a word, or say “I don’t know”; My job is always to instill in them trust in themselves and simply try. It is my job to handle the “weight” of them not knowing and teach them so the burden no longer rests on their shoulders. I truly believe that my intentional focus on children’s confidence in themselves and learning, as well as building genuine relationships with students and parents is what has helped to build my reputation.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://form.jotform.com/hawkescierra/KiddieCoachRegistration
• Instagram: www.instagram.com/kiddiecoachtutoringllc
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/KiddieCoachTutoring/