We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Kamilah Ellis. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Kamilah below.
Kamilah, appreciate you joining us today. Parents play a huge role in our development as youngsters and sometimes that impact follows us into adulthood and into our lives and careers. Looking back, what’s something you think you parents did right?
My parents were teachers and administrators in the education field for many years. They always worked so hard and rarely took any time off. They were nurturing yet firm with students, loving each one of them. Fast forward to when I graduated from my undergraduate program at Oral Roberts University with a degree in theology. I wanted to be in full-time ministry. However, my parents were very instrumental in steering me towards education. They told me about a Master’s degree program where I would get dual teaching certification. So I enrolled and finished in a year and a half. I began my career in education immediately, and I quickly realized that I found joy and fulfillment in being a teacher, which was a form of ministry, like I had always wanted to do. No wonder my parents were in it for so long! During the course of my career, I found that many parents didn’t know how to advocate for their children, like how my parents advocated for me, and how I now advocate for my own children. So, when I started my business, my services include specific skill sets that I have, one of them being educational advocacy. In this, I help families of special needs children navigate the education system and ensure that their child is getting the proper care and supports. This is something that I have found to be very needed and useful.
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?
Fruition Consulting LLC offers professional services to assist individuals and organizations in maximizing their potential, performance, and productivity through providing training, planning, and mentoring in the areas of cultural responsiveness, educational efficacy, and experience coordination. Cultural Responsiveness: Find out how to implement cultural relevance in relation to your organization, in order to mitigate bias, thrive equitably, and develop greater collegiality. We strive to inform, admonish, uplift and offer solutions to a variety of circumstances where cultural barriers exist. Educational Efficacy: Do you need guidance in your child(ren)’s elementary or secondary educational experiences? Learn how to better navigate them through academic or behavioral intervention, Section 504 Plans, Special Education or other related services. We also offer individual coaching sessions or staff professional development workshops to educators who would like additional support in culturally responsive instruction, classroom management, or special education information. Experience Coordination: Milestones and special occasions occur frequently year after year. We believe that your celebration is not just an “event.” Contact us to help you coordinate an amazing “experience” of a lifetime! Other Professional Services: Website Designing & Development, Book Editing & Ghost Writing, Resume & Curriculum Vitae Support. I also have four books and counting that I have written that touch on some of the aspects of my business, through a Christian lens. Motto: “Inspiring hope, optimizing potential.”
Can you open up about how you funded your business?
Funding my business came about as a result of a legal matter that I had gone through. A few years prior to starting my business, I was assaulted by one of my students. I worked without pay for a long time, and after finally receiving a worker’s compensation settlement, I decided to use some of the funds from that case to fund my new business endeavor.
Do you sell on your site, or do you use a platform like Amazon, Etsy, Cratejoy, etc?
I sell my books on my website, and they are also available on Amazon. It is far better to sell on my website using an app called Jotform, because here I keep all of the funds. Amazon, although a big platform to get my book distributed, takes around 60% of the profit for selling my books.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.getfruitionconsulting.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/fruition.consulting.llc/profilecard/?igsh=Z2pmbmtvOTM3anEz
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/share/1BiSnJJfBS/
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kamilah-ellis-178844161?utm_source=share&utm_campaign=share_via&utm_content=profile&utm_medium=android_app
- Other: https://form.jotform.com/251104037441140
Image Credits
Glory Harris, Kamilah Ellis