We were lucky to catch up with Jessica Bonner recently and have shared our conversation below.

Jessica, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. We’ve love to hear an interesting investment story – what was one of the best or worst investments you’ve made? (Note, these responses are only intended as entertainment and shouldn’t be construed as investment advice)

The best investment I made includes mindset and business coaching I underwent Fall 2020 through Fall 2021. Before I engaged in any of this coaching, I tended to think more negatively and exhibited more doubt about what was possible in my life and my business. For instance, at one point, I didn’t believe anyone would pay me an hourly rate of at least $100 because I had been accustomed to accepting $25 to $40 an hour for so long. Yeah, I admit I’m to blame for my low rate.

With mindset coaching, I engaged less in negative talk and more in positive talk. This change helped me to see more of what I could do, which led me to doing more after I became intentional about creating goals with my mindset coach’s guidance. By the time I had completed the mindset coaching, I had achieved more goals than I had previously imagined. This point marks where my confidence began to increase.

My confidence boosted immensely when I underwent business coaching in Summer 2021. With my coach’s guidance, I strengthened my credibility by going live on social media several times a week and increasing my prices. It was this summer that I gained customers who paid me an hourly rate of at least $100!

This confidence followed me all the way to a November 3-day group live coaching event that I attended virtually. At this event, I learned to pitch myself for speaking opportunities (e.g., consulting, workshops). A week later I approached a client who had already exhibited an interest in my workshop services months before, and the client accepted my $60k proposal for quarterly music-involved ACT workshops. Though I knew the money would be paid in increments over time, I was floored at the “yes!”

I don’t believe I would have reached where I am today had I not started with mindset coaching Fall 2020. Given how much my life has improved, that coaching and my business coaching experiences are indeed my best investment.

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 background and context?

I’m a school speech-language pathologist who runs tutoring and exam prep coaching business For Other Prizes Consulting. Since 2008, I had been tutoring English at universities (3 total) I attended. In 2014, I decided to start tutoring independently via a tutoring marketplace company called WyzAnt. Noticing the fees the company removed from my pay and realizing I could run my own company, I opened For Other Prizes Consulting June 2016. I included “for other prizes” in the name because I once entered sweepstakes often, and the words “or other prizes” would appear in the rules most times. These prizes consisted of winnings that were not the grand prize. I recall winning some of the “other prizes” (e.g., gift card) and not being disappointed about not winning the grand prize because the “other prizes” were sufficient for me. When it came to my business, I thought of “other prizes” as our skills we often overlook because we’re busy focusing to reaching our best skill level (our “grand prize”). I figured focusing on the “other prizes” or skills would help clients grow more confident, and that’s how my business’s name came to be.

For Other Prizes Consulting offers tutoring in reading, English, math (up to pre-calculus), ACT, SAT, GRE, GED, ASVAB, and PRAXIS. The exam prep coaching option consists of assisting clients with their mindset as well as scheduling, using their interests to study, and leveraging their current skillset when studying. Aspects of the services are music involved in that clients can work with some of their favorite songs in a way that helps them to retain knowledge more easily than they would studying with traditional methods.

I’m most proud of helping clients acknowledge and act on their “other prizes” or overlooked skills and become noticeably more confident as a result. As I relish in this type of progress, I want clients to be comfortable knowing that I don’t mind assisting them from where they currently stand. I’m patient because I’ve noticed that giving clients enough time to grasp a concept before moving on helps them grow more confident when handling more difficult concepts. That’s exactly how I want clients to leave each session.

Have you ever had to pivot?

A recent pivot in my life includes my divorce. This time last year, I didn’t think at all I was headed for divorce. Actually, my then husband and I had decided we would start focusing on tackling our debt so that we could increase our chances of purchasing a home in Fall 2021 or Winter 2022. So we paid down debt until our credit scores were in really good places and we were more financially stable than we were before. Unfortunately, during our journey, especially Fall 2021, my marriage began to unravel quickly. I noticed that my then husband did not like the new woman I had become after I had undergone mindset coaching in Fall 2020 and business coaching in 2021, as I refused to accept his projecting his negative energy on me because of his own shortcomings that he didn’t attempt to address. By mid-December 2021, it was apparent that divorce was the best option. So instead of preparing to move into a home my then husband and I would have bought, I found myself moving into a rental home in March 2022. However, given the statistics regarding divorced women experiencing much difficulty purchasing or renting, I’m proud that I worked on improving my credit such that I could rent on my own. Before divorce, I didn’t think it was possible at one point. Now I know it’s possible because I’m living it. I love this pivot.

Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?

I experienced my first miscarriage in November 2020, and I experienced my last miscarriage in November 2021. When I think back on both of those times, what I did within a week of both of them amazes me. Specifically, I created Instagram reels. I can still see myself in the reel after the first miscarriage the most. I moved more stiffly due to bodily discomfort than I had in reels I’d recorded before that pregnancy loss, but I was so determined to get it done because I knew I needed to start the process of moving forward. I could have decided to sit in grief for a lengthy period of time and shy away from creating reels, which I thoroughly enjoyed doing. However, creating these reels have helped me with my healing since that point, and I feel I can take on about anything today. I thank God for sending me the message to reconnect with my inner child via reels creation in Fall 2020.

Contact Info:

• Website:www.forotherprizes.com
• Instagram: www.instagram.com/forotherprizes
• Facebook: www.facebook.com/forotherprizes
• Linkedin: www.linkedin.com/in/jessica-bonner-ma-ms-ccc-slp
• Twitter: www.twitter.com/forotherprizes
• Other: www.tiktok.com/@forotherprizes www.fanbase.app/forotherprizes

Image Credits
Professional photo: Elise Ferrer Photography Other photos: Jessica Bonner