Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Sarah Levy. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Sarah, appreciate you joining us today. One of the toughest things about entrepreneurship is that there is almost always unexpected problems that come up – problems that you often can’t read about in advance, can’t prepare for, etc. Have you had such and experience and if so, can you tell us the story of one of those unexpected problems you’ve encountered?

I am an over-thinker in the most intense way. Before I make a decision, I’ll have done an insane amount of research and talked to a bunch of different people and weighed all of the options. Then, when I make the decision, it’s full steam ahead! An unexpected problem that I encountered was clearly articulating my vision and expectations and how to get there. By the time I make a decision, everything is fully formed in my head, but I generally only give people to summary version, thinking they don’t want to hear the full thought process behind it all. And they generally don’t — very few people want to read all of the research and hear all of the background, but then how do they fully understand if they don’t? Honestly, it’s still a struggle for me to figure out where that line is and how to get everyone on the same page without pushing them off of the page by giving them too much.

Sarah, 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?

I’ve been in the field of education for 20 years, though I never intended to be here. In college I studied business, and then I started working in education “until I figured out what I wanted to do.” Well, 20 years (and two graduate degrees) later, I’m still here, I’ve worked in all sorts of areas of education from adults to kids, from schools to consulting, and now I am trying to figure out what is next. Most recently, I co-founded Einstein Academy (a private k-6 in Montclair), but we recently decided to close the school. I’ve dedicated my career to rethinking how we do things, shaking up everything around me to better understand the problems, and then seeking a solution that works best for those involved. And that’s what I intend to continue doing…just not yet sure the context.

Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?

We planned for a year and a half to start a school in the fall of 2020…and then COVID hit. In March of 2020, the whole world changed, and we had to pivot. We were still committed to starting a school, but everything we had planned had to change — from the class size to the programming to the staffing needs. And then, in addition to everything that comes along with running a school (and everything else that comes with starting a new school), we also had to deal with all things COVID. From air filtration systems to podding to masking and quarantining protocols, I had to become an expert in it all. And we did it. We successfully opened and ran a school during a worldwide pandemic, providing a fully in-person learning experience for all of our students while many others were at home for virtual learning.

We’d love to hear about you met your business partner.

I met my co-founder (Mark) while we were both working at a previous school. He’d previously worked there for many years and then took a year off to get a Master’s degree. As soon as I was hired, I just kept hearing everyone say how lucky the school was to have Mark back…how amazing he was and how great he would be for the school. I am inherently skeptical, so I thought to myself, “He can’t be that great.” And I was committed to not liking him. That didn’t last long, however. I still remember the first meeting we were in together — he didn’t speak much, but when he did, it was thoughtful and intentional. I remember the first question he asked me — it pushed my thinking and made me reflect. I remember the first time I saw him in action — I was totally enthralled and didn’t want to leave. Mark quickly became my most valuable thought partner, and I am so grateful our paths crossed!

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.einsteinacademyco.org/