We recently connected with Torry Sledge and have shared our conversation below.

Torry, appreciate you joining us today. Can you talk to us about a risk you’ve taken – walk us through the story?

It seems that taking risks is truly the summation of who I am as a person all my life. I have countless examples that I can pour from, but one of the most monumental risks that I took was the decision to leave my job as an engineer and dedicate my full attention to my first business that I called Tutor4U. I had been working as an Aerospace Structures engineer for a couple of years and was making a decent living. Truly, in my heart, I was very discouraged to continue working there. Mostly it was because I felt that I was not making an impact in people’s lives. Which, I have come to find out that I am very much a people person. I am an introvert, but I am an introvert that enjoys being around others and interacting in the social dynamic of the world. So during my time as an engineer, I found outlets for myself, one of those being a tutor to high school students in math and science. Looking back at my life growing up, I always had a love for learning, but I also had a talent for teaching others as well. One memory that I had was during either second or third grade, I was actually assigned to help a classmate Stephen who was at a learning disability and without hesitation, I was happy to do it. That was me throughout my entire educational career, always happy to step in a lend a hand to others. That is probably why my mother was not surprised in the least that I somehow found myself being an educator in some capacity. It was actually during one of my tutoring sessions that the inspiration came for me to even start my own tutoring business and a bit serendipitous how it actually got off the ground. During one of my sessions, I had a mother approach me, after finishing a Calculus session, with tears of joy in her eyes because she had never seen her 14-year-old son light up and be so excited to learn, especially calculus and physics. Overhearing our talks about life, the future, and him pouring his interests and what he was involved in, she was overwhelmed with emotion. That moment lives in my memory for the rest of my life because it was then that I knew in my heart that this was something that was meant for me, as well as a need by many students in school systems that are undersupported. From that moment I created Tutors4U with no business experience and really no support from those close to me and left my engineering career. Now 6 years later I have no regrets as I have seen hundreds of students achieve what many of them did think was possible in their lives. Some are now adults working at their first jobs as engineers and accountants, others are in their first and second years of med and law programs. One of the best risks I ever took.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

Man, I really do not talk about myself much, probably a reason I have avoided other interviews and tried to stay out of the spotlight. I grew up as a military dependent, going to where ever my mother’s career lead us. Which happened to be many different countries around the world, before ending up in San Antonio. I am a UTSA alumnus and was a D1 athlete. Worked as an engineer for some time before I ended up in the career that I currently reside. I associate myself with a couple of brands and I’ll name just 3.
One is my education business which provides tutors to grades k-12 in all subjects called Tutors4U. We also do SAT and ACT test preparation classes, as well as specialized classes that I have designed for AP subjects and students who wish to excel and be accelerated.
The second is my personal photography and media business/brand called Quantum Lotus Labs, and those in the industry know me by my handle which is The Quantum Lotus. I do a lot of fashion and event photography, but my range is truly many different disciplines. I sell prints and artwork for home and office decor as well as help with commercial business with media and content creation.
The third one would be the newest one and that is Geisa Haus, but most of the claim for this would be to the main founder Saige Thomas. In our business, we do event production, mostly centered around the fashion industry, as well as, event consulting and social media management.

I don’t know if I can say truly what sets me apart from others. I know for me that I am passionate about the things that I do. I fully dive into my work and strive towards the goal of bettering or helping others in any way that I can. At least those are always my intentions.

I am proud of the people that I get to associate with due to the things that I have created. Whether it be students, models, production crew, photographers…etc. I have met many amazing and talented individuals that truly humble me when I think about who fill some of these rooms that I have been able to be apart of.

What’s been the most effective strategy for growing your clientele?

This is going to sound a bit odd since we live in the age of social marketing and AdWords and ChatGPT, but this might be the golden rule for all businesses that wish to grow. Provide the best possible product/service that you can to one customer. Then try to repeat that process to the best of your ability over and over again.
It does not matter how many people engage with your Instagram account if when the time comes with your customer you fail to deliver, treat them poorly or the product quality is not as good as it was claimed to be.
Because truly, word-of-mouth marketing, or marketing done by a recent or returning customer will always be the premium of marketing strategy. As the author Ken Blanchard would suggest when you turn a customer into what he calls a ‘Raving Fan’, that customer, will find you other clientele, without the need for incentive. Like a growing tree that starts to branch out you will grow a collective of ‘Raving Fans’ that will constantly bring you business with their own personal testimonies that they provide to other people. So that should be the foundation of how you grow your clientele and sustain clientele.

How do you keep your team’s morale high?

Let see…Be authentic and be honest, with yourself and with your team. I think we as leaders and business owners get caught up and lost in wearing so many hats and taking on some much responsibility ourselves, that we forget to lean on others, especially our team members. We are so used to having to know all the answers and making all the choices that there comes a time when we get in the way of progress for the team and at times the business. The truth is, we don’t have all the answers, and it’s ok that we don’t. Nor, do we always make the best choices for the business as a whole. So you have to honestly communicate with your team members, about situations, or if you don’t know something, and hopefully will give an opportunity for you to lean on the individuals around you and give them the spotlight and platform to shine and be valuable. I have a personal saying that goes, ‘ A quality of a good leader is knowing when to steer and when to get out and push.’
Meaning that many times you are going to have to figure out when it is necessary to take on more of a supportive role to achieve the goals that the team seeks.
And a team that feels valued, heard, and supported, will undoubtedly maintain a high quality of morale.     

Contact Info:

• Website: www.quantumlotusphotography.com , www.tutors4usatx.com
• Instagram: @the_quantum_lotus, @tutors.4.u , @qlotuslabs
• Facebook: Torry Sledge

Image Credits
All Photos Shot by Myself