We recently connected with Sasha Chada and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Sasha, thanks for joining us today. Often outsiders look at a successful business and think it became a success overnight. Even media and especially movies love to gloss over nitty, gritty details that went into that middle phase of your business – after you started but before you got to where you are today. In our experience, overnight success is usually the result of years of hard work laying the foundation for success, but unfortunately, it’s exactly this part of the story that most of the media ignores. Can you talk to us about your scaling up story – what are some of the nitty, gritty details folks should know about?

When I started Ivy Scholars, it was just me, a real one-man show. That worked for a while, but the more students I worked with, and the more success I saw, the more interest I received. My business was mostly word of mouth then, but it was still growing quickly.

The biggest decision was hiring someone else. I knew my processes and goals, and was confident in running a business based on them, but was uncertain about this new managerial aspect. I looked for people who shared my drive and vision, and with skills that complimented my own.

The growth of my company wasn’t linear; things grew, then stalled, then grew, then expanded or contracted. There is a steady trend upward over time, but it doesn’t always feel like that when growth is happening. Each day is not always better than the one which came before. I made some mistakes along the way, but what I learned from those allowed me to do even better the next time, and those lessons directly translated into future successes.

Knowing when expanding was the right choice for my business, and what skills I needed to bring in helped me both grow my company, and spend my own time better. Delegating is a skill in itself, one all new business leaders need to learn, but invaluable to successfully growing a company.

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 consider Ivy Scholars a candidacy building company: it’s our job to help the students who come to us, become the kind of candidates that their target universities want to accept. I work with students from middle school and on, helping them in all aspects of their educational journey. I started out just doing college counseling; helping students compose essays and decide which colleges are the best fit for them, and this is still a central part of my business. College admissions is growing ever more competitive though, and students want an edge to help them stand out.

The other offerings of my business grew from this naturally. Candidacy building is the process of helping students round out their resume: finding and coaching them through internships, research projects, nonprofit collaborations, leadership activities, and all the other components of great college essays. I offered test prep services to help students prepare for the highly stressful exams that punctuate high school, from the SAT and ACT to APs or high school entrance exams. I offered counseling to younger students who were already worrying about college, and wanted to know what they could do right now to help them prepare.

Some students needed help adjusting to high school, and learning the skills to help them manage their time; building the sort of good habits that would serve them later in life. Others needed advice on specific aspects of their application, such as managing the athletic recruiting process, or figuring out how college admissions works when you’re homeschooled.

I’m still growing the company; recently I hired research mentors, PhDs with years of experience who help students conduct their own scientific research, giving them a taste of topics they otherwise wouldn’t be able to explore until college.

My goal remains the same through all of these services; to help students find and explore what they are passionate about, and achieve academic success in their chosen field.

Any stories or insights that might help us understand how you’ve built such a strong reputation?

I run a midsized company in a fairly crowded field; many competitors are much bigger, with a far greater reach. I have found success specifically from building relationships with clients, and offering a premium service for the price.

I love understanding students’ motivations, learning styles, and self-image. I think studying who you’re working with is the key to building great personal relationships, especially in such a personal field. Mentors working one on one with a student for several months or even years need to have great relationships so they can navigate students through stressful times, help them see the best in themselves, and coach them to higher levels of performance.

It is this close relationship that our clients enjoy, and the personalized service we provide. We have a lot of options, and tailor our offerings to each client, from what we help them with to the number of hours we spend on their case. Each client is unique in their needs and goals, so what we offer needs to be as well.

How do you keep your team’s morale high?

Managing others is a skill like any other, one which must be learned and practiced to get good at it. My advice is in stages, as each step of the hiring and management process allows for new opportunities to strengthen relationships.

First, when interviewing and hiring new employees, try to understand what their goals and values are, and make sure they align with your own. This is especially true if their work requires a great degree of independence, and you will need to trust their judgment. A long hiring process is better than churning through employees quickly.

Once an employee is hired, don’t be scared to invest in them. The field I work in is complex and non-intuitive in many cases, so new employees need to complete several weeks of paid training before they can begin working with clients. On top of this, I regularly invest in further training opportunities for existing employees, when they have questions or need new skills to better help a client. If your employees know you trust them and care about their ability to do their job well, they will meet your expectations for them.

Finally, compensation and benefits should be competitive for the position, and commensurate with their experience and skills. Giving regular raises and performance bonuses is key as well. I hire people who enjoy the work they do, but it is still work; it doesn’t happen for free. Acknowledging effort and growth in this way helps keep employees’ morale high, and assures their commitment to the company.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.ivyscholars.com/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/IvyScholarsHouston/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/ivy-scholars-education
• Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/ivy-scholars-sugar-land