We recently connected with Lydia Schumake and have shared our conversation below.

Lydia, appreciate you joining us today. We’d love to hear about the things you feel your parents did right and how those things have impacted your career and life.

My parents did right by exposing me to people and experiences that would equip me to being a great human to all who I come in contact with. This is for my professional and personal life. Ever since I was a little girl, my parents would take me to workshops, summer camps, and meetings to sit at tables with community leaders, teachers, business owners, etc. This allowed me to gain knowledge and experience to networking, social skills, and leadership. Throughout school, I was able to use these skills through student council, leadership groups, and clubs. If the school offered a program, I joined. This was because of the exposure and experiences that my parents provided me. They expressed not just the importance of surrounding yourself with the right people because of their status, but because of the way they treat people as well. They also did right by teaching me to make a difference and seeing a need and addressing the need. This ultimately has led me to opening B.E. Academy of STEAM. There is a need to close the academic and career gaps in STEM and women of color. I would not be as confident to taking risk and taking initiatives if it was not for my parents showing me the skills to do so at an early age.

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 come from a family full of educators. From my maternal grandparents, paternal grandmother, mother, and father. I have been in the classroom, literally since birth. I was introduced to the education industry. on the professional side, by beginning observations with my aunt on my school breaks. I would observe her class to learn classroom management skills and how to use assessment data to address the needs of each student. I then decided to become a substitute teacher while in undergraduate school to begin having hands on experience. I have been teaching for about 5 years now and currently working on my Master of Art Degree in Teaching. My passion is in middle school math. I love being in the classroom and having daily interaction with students and parents, however, I had a project in grad school, and it initiated my interested in researching STEM and women. This led me to wanting to leave the classroom to create a school design to connect the community, students, parents, and an educational institute. I began reading and meeting with groups to discuss this need. My cofounder and I began discussing the idea of opening an all-female school in Nashville. We started meeting, planning, and developing our school design with a team of educators and administrators, and the rest is history.

How’d you meet your business partner?

I had the great honor of meeting Tee Wilson in 2021. She actually interviewed me for a teaching position, which I did get hired for. We both are moms and have daughters and saw the need for them to have a place to feel seen, heard, and valued. We began to discuss not only our concerns, but solutions as well. The ultimate solution that we discovered was opening our own school, B.E. Academy of STEAM. Our daughters would now have access to a culturally responsive learning environment where excellence is habit.

We’d love to hear about how you keep in touch with clients.

I currently communicate consistently and make sure to follow up through email check-ins and meetings! I attend meetings and events that are hosted for partners to support them and their brand. I also make sure to support through social media.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.beacademycamp.com/

Image Credits
lydia schumake