We were lucky to catch up with Nandi Edouard recently and have shared our conversation below.
Hi Nandi, thanks for joining us today. How did you come up with the idea for your business?
As I have journeyed through multiple educational spaces, I’ve seen my family embark on entrepreneurship. I have seen them win and struggle. Entrepreneurship is not easy, it takes a lot of creative thinking, critical thinking, effort and discipline, ideals and philosophies most people are not taught in their traditional school. I know that if my family understood entrepreneurship and all that it may entail from a younger age, we would be billionaires by now. The Simple Vue LLC, birth The Simple Vue Academy just like my parents birth me. The Simple Vue Academy is built on the vision that we will create legacies of families who use their Voice to advocate for themselves and their communities. They will work in community and collaboration because we can not do this work by ourselves or in silos. Ubuntu is a term that means I am because we are, which for TSVA means I can’t be me, without you. We are stronger together and we will Empower ourselves and each other to tackle obstacles, overcome adversity and cultivate an entrepreneurial spirit in our students and help to give them a can-do attitude through project and place based learning. In conversations with more than 200 voices in metro Atlanta, we heard repeatedly that Atlanta is growing and evolving, and that young people need access to the knowledge, skills, and confidence that will allow them, as the next generation, to thrive in their chosen communities. An entrepreneurial spirit will help our communities thrive in all situations as they explore what they want to do and how they are going to get there. In the process, they also explore and may discover personal strengths and areas for development—thinking carefully (and critically) about their interests and where they are great, natural contributors, or where they may need support. In an increasingly complex workforce and economy, our students need guidance and assistance in managing their education and career development, particularly when challenged with unexpected events. So, our vision is simple: We want to help our community figure out who they are, what they want to do and how they are going to get there. We see things with a Simple VUE.
Nandi, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?
At the age of 7, I realized I didn’t fit in. I was in first grade and got diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes. Class parties and celebrations looked different. I couldn’t have the candy at Halloween and kids would make sure to remind me. Middle school is a blur and high school was an interesting experience. I never felt seen or experienced throughout my secondary educational journey. It was the classic narrative of the lone black girl in a classroom full of white folx and when they mentioned slavery or black history month, I was the center of attention. It wasn’t until I attended Spelman College, that I found out what just and equitable education looked and felt like. I learned what it meant to be a black woman in the world. I was loved and nurtured by my professors and classmates. I met some of the most amazing women in the world and was applauded for my brilliance. It was a transformational experience. I left Spelman and went to teach 6-8th grade English and Language Arts in Houston, TX. I always say teaching was never hard for me. Most people have a tough first year of teaching, my first year was great. I had a great coach and learned so much from my students. Family and community mean alot to me. I made sure that whatever space I was working in and whoever I was working with felt like home. After noticing that as a teacher, I didn’t have much say in the day to day decision making for our kiddos, I applied for a leadership position. The year I applied, no one wanted to leave their role, therefore, I had to choose to either teach for another year or go and do something different. I chose to pack up all my stuff and move to New York City! I became the Dean of Student over a high school in Brooklyn, NY, started my masters of educational leadership through the Summer Principals Academy at Columbia University’s Teachers College, transitioned to the middle school in the same network and then ultimately became the Director of School Culture, which is like an Assistant Principal. After making it to the decision making table, I found that the decision making that we were engaging in wasn’t what was best for students nor their families. Add a pandemic in there and it was chaos. I couldn’t continue to watch as mayhem took over the school and decided to exit. I applied to a fellowship program, where they support me in building the school of my dreams. The Simple Vue Academy’s mission is to create a sustainable pathway to entrepreneurship by providing scholars grades 6-12th with a STREAM based education(Science, Technology, Reading, Engineering, Arts and Math), guidance on business and financial management and a village of support.
Have you ever had to pivot?
Education has always been easy for me. I love to learn, get excited about the small wins and love to see others grow. However, educational leadership is tough. You’re making decisions for thousands and still trying to service the individual. Throughout my time at my last job, I struggled. I struggled to figure out my leadership voice and how to navigate a place of power while holding equity close. My environment and circumstances were not conducive to learning or growing. The people who said they would support me and my growth, didn’t and I was left to figure it out while managing a large team and the educational space pre, during, and back to school after two years on screen pandemic. I’d say this was actually the beginning of my entrepreneurial journey. The thought of building my own school dropped on me like a ton of bricks and I couldn’t stop dreaming about it. At the time, I just didn’t know how I was going to do it. After some research and talking to a bunch of people. I decided to apply to a fellowship that would support me in that dream. That’s when I started manifesting my dream school and figuring out the current space I was at, wasn’t for me and I needed to move on. All of my effort and energy went into figuring out how I was going to build and open my own school. I was living in New York at the time, and wanted to transition back to my home of Atlanta to build my school. I had made NYC my home for five years, but my dreams were so vivid that I could not pass up on the opportunity. Thank god for a village of support and wild dreams; I am now back home building my dream.
Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?
I think the biggest lesson that I have had to unlearn is that people are not going to be you and you can’t expect you from them. I classify myself as a giver. I am always worried about others and how I can support them. Many times throughout this journey, I have been let down or treated in a way that I would never treat someone. I live my life by the golden rule, “treat others, how you want to be treated”, or through the bible verse, Matthew 7:12 – “So in everything, do unto others what you would have them do to you…”but that is not true for everyone. I am new to this journey and so far it has been rooted in deep healing and growth. I have uncovered nooks and crannies, I never thought I would ever see. I cry, a lot and have to keep rerouting myself back to my vision because I would not be able to maintain my emotions if I continued to operate thinking that others needed to treat me how I treat them. I think now, I understand, at its core, the idea is that to deal with others with humanity, dignity and respect, but if you don’t know what dignity and respect are for that person, you put yourself in danger of not actually following the ideal behind this thought.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.thesimplevueacademy.org/
- Instagram: @nanthephenom
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nandi-edouard/