Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Dee Harris. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Dee, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Coming up with the idea is so exciting, but then comes the hard part – executing. Too often the media ignores the execution part and goes from idea to success, skipping over the nitty, gritty details of executing in the early days. We think that’s a disservice both to the entrepreneurs who built something amazing as well as the public who isn’t getting a realistic picture of what it takes to succeed. So, we’d really appreciate if you could open up about your execution story – how did you go from idea to execution?
I wanted to service children through education on my own terms. I realized over the years that many students were graduating high school still not equipped with life skills to sustain themselves. I kept wondering and getting baffled that students were going off to college and starting their adult lives only to find themselves dropping out and/or returning home to figure out what they were going to do. They didn’t have proper time management skills, personal development skills, communication skills, and couldn’t properly goal set.
You see, these are not things that you can necessarily sign up to take a class in. So I said, what can I do to change this narrative. And The Skillful Learner was birthed.
So I started by building an online community, building a website, and email list, and marketing my services.
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
I’m Dee Harris, founder of The Skillful Learner, LLC. I academically coach tweens and teens to show up with confidence in and outside of the classroom and I equip them with strategies and skillsets to become a better student. I teach high school full time as a Child Development Teacher, and have been teaching for 20 years.
The problems I solve for my clients are coaching tweens and teens in the areas of student confidence and motivation, personal development growth, academic mindset, time management, study skills, communication, and goal setting.
I am most proud of starting my business and brand to educate parents on the skillsets that many of our kids lack that don’t allow them to perform at their best.
Many of our kiddos are faced with so many challenges in and out of the classroom, and I am proud that I get to impact students to build their confidence and believe in themselves to empower them in their academics.
Any insights you can share with us about how you built up your social media presence?
I am still building my audience, but the main thing is to stay consistent and show up with confidence. It takes time for people to get to know who you are and trust you to be able to feel comfortable to work with you. Consistency goes a long way in building trust. It’s the same way in the classroom when I am building relationships with my students. I have to consistently show up with confidence so I can be a role model for them and allow them to trust me.
Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?
Getting up and doing the work when you don’t feel like it, or when you feel like no one is watching or paying attention. Entrepreneurship is hard. It requires a different skillset. That’s what I am learning on my journey as I am building. I have to continue to push daily and continue to show up and stay consistent.
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