We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Lindsey Wander. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Lindsey below.
Lindsey, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. We’d love to have you retell us the story behind how you came up with the idea for your business, I think our audience would really enjoy hearing the backstory.
I originally enrolled at Cal State Fresno to study Biomedical Engineering. Several domestic and international internships later, I discovered my passion for teaching and re-enrolled in college to earn my teaching credentials.
For several years, I taught STEM in the low-income neighborhoods of California, making it my mission to create a learning environment that was so engaging that it motivated my students to come to school. We explored, questioned, innovated, learned, laughed, and loved – all within my classroom walls. However, time and financial restraints, added to endless bureaucratic red tape, prevented me from being able to dedicate the 1-on-1 time to my students who needed it. Thus, many of my “kids” fell through the cracks – and there was nothing I could do about it.
So, when I moved to Chicago at the age of 29, I decided to start her own tutoring business, which later became WorldWise Tutoring. My mission was to help students of all abilities to not only improve their grades and scores, but to also learn the skills to become confident and independent lifelong learners, and grow into competent and conscious leaders. I sought to empower our youth with the tools to succeed in school, work, and life – so that they were in the powerful position to be agents of change in their own lives and in the lives of those around them.
My methodologies were so effective that my business quickly grew beyond what I could handle alone. So I started to “teach the teachers,” guiding tutors dedicated to my mission of empowerment through education with my best practices. Now, years later, my business has 100+ tutors providing online services worldwide and in-person services in Illinois and Texas to students of ALL ages and ALL abilities in ALL subjects. I have seen our students grow into accomplished, self-sufficient adults who are still eager to learn more.
I found a career that I love and that makes the world a better place. My goal is to inspire my students to do the same.
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?
I founded WorldWise Tutoring with the mission of empowering our youth with the tools to succeed in school, work, and life. My team of instructors and I deliver personalized instruction to help students of all ages (2 years old and above) and all abilities to improve their grades and scores, as well as to learn the skills to become confident and independent lifelong learners, and grow into competent and conscious leaders.
I also founded the nonprofit Educate. Radiate. Elevate. in 2020 with the mission to provide quality education support to underserved students, at no cost to their families.
Skills/Services (in-person in IL & TX, online globally):
Ages 1 – adult
Academic Subjects
Enrichment Classes (Acting, Art, Finance, Coding, Economics, Entrepreneurship, Game Development, Leadership, Music, Philosophy, Psychology, Public Speaking, Robotics, Social Justice, Sign Language, Spanish, Statistics, Writing, etc.)
Test Prep (HSPT, ISEE, CPS SEHS, STARR, PSAT, PACT, ACT, SAT, SAT II, AP, IB, A-levels, GRE, GMAT, MCAT, LSAT, TOEFL, IELTS, etc.)
Foreign Languages (Spanish, French, Italian, Russian, German, Ukrainian, Turkish/Azerbaijani, Arabic, Farsi, Tamil, Bengali, Mandarin/Chinese, Japanese, Vietnamese, Taiwanese, Sherpa, Tibetan, Nepalese, Urdu, Gujarati, Hebrew)
College/Scholarship/Job Research & Applications
Learning Difficulties
Metacognition, Executive Functions, & Interpersonal Skills (time management, self-assessment, mindfulness, focus, critical thinking, creative problem solving, innovation, self-advocacy, entrepreneurial mindset, etc.)
We often hear about learning lessons – but just as important is unlearning lessons. Have you ever had to unlearn a lesson?
Increasing my positive to negative self-talk ratio has been a personal mission of mine for the past few years. In the face of recent challenges, I realized how detrimental my negative self-talk was, especially to the success of new projects. It seemed like every time I would undertake a new endeavour, I was fully committed and excited, working hard with enthusiasm every step of the way – until the final step, that is. As I would put the finishing touches on a project, suddenly a little voice would pop into my head saying, “Well, that was a waste of time because it isn’t going to work.” It was so frustrating! So I began to evaluate the source of this negative self-talk. After months of personal reflection and even some counseling, I realized that much of my negative self-take stemmed from things that were said to me when I was a child that I have since internalized. Clearly, this is not serving me in a positive way. Thus I have consciously sought out ways to recognize and address my negative self-talk, while also deliberately increasing my positive self-talk.
Just as the source of my negative self-talk was from others, I began to realize that people around me who love and support me were filling my ears with positive self-talk. So I began to internalize that more and more. I embraced compliments, whereas before they made me uncomfortable. I soaked up praise, whereas previously I would brush it off. Pretty quickly, I noticed that I viewed myself – both as a person and as a business leader – in an entirely different light. My pride and confidence increased, as did my positive self-talk. And then the ripple effect amplified: I noticed the people in my life were more positive and the outcomes of my efforts were more positive, which then increased my positive self-talk even more.
How’d you build such a strong reputation within your market?
It is important for CEOs or Founders to have a personal brand in order to set their companies apart from the competitors. To do this, CEOs and Founders ought to narrow in on what makes their services or products unique: how they are doing it much better and with more far reaching benefits than other similar businesses. This will lead to the development of clearer messaging that better targets their ideal clientele.
It is also important for one’s personal brand presence to be maintained. For me this is easy because my brand is about lifelong learning and competent, conscious leadership. These are virtues that I intentionally live out every day. Through my actions, I show my students, instructors, and followers the immeasurable benefits of taking a proactive stance on your self growth so that you can better serve others. I find joy in learning and sharing my knowledge with others through media, blogs, events, and resources that I have created. Especially in recent times, I have also found social media to be extremely valuable in aiding with community building, something that is critical for developing relational (versus transactional) interactions. Social media has afforded me the opportunity to connect with, learn from, and help people who I may never meet in person. It also provides a platform for me to share my experiences and knowledge in practical steps we can all take in order to be a part of the change. Empowering people with knowledge and support makes others take notice and remember your brand
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.worldwisetutoring.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/WorldWiseTutoring/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/LindseyWander24
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/chicagotutor/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/worldwisetutor
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCzmHvAEv6InRTM-h5e8L5bw
- Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/worldwise-tutoring-chicago
- Other: https://www.pinterest.com/WorldWiseTutoring/