Interested in starting your own entrepreneurial journey in education but unsure what to expect? Then read up on our interview with Mitch Weathers, Founder and CEO of Organized Binder, Inc., located in Sacramento, CA, USA.
What's your business, and who are your customers?
My business is Organized Binder, Inc., and we serve K-12 teachers, school/district leaders, college educators, and parents.
Tell us about yourself
I became a gifted teacher because I was a mediocre student. I rarely felt comfortable in the classroom. In fact, it took seven years for me to graduate from college.
Choosing to become a teacher, I was fortunate enough to experience school when I was a student as if it was happening all around me. I was unsure how to jump into my learning with confidence and agency. There is a loneliness to experiencing your education as a passive object as opposed to an active subject.
From the moment I entered the classroom, I relied on my personal experiences as a learner. I recognized that what we teach, the content or curriculum is secondary. We must first lay the foundation for learning before we can get to teach.
I designed Organized Binder to empower teachers with a simple but research-backed strategy to teach students executive functioning skills while protecting the time needed for content instruction. The secret is found in establishing a predictable learning routine that serves to foster safer learning spaces. When students get practice with executive functions by virtue, we set them up for success.
What's your biggest accomplishment as a business owner?
There are two things:
- When I get to observe students who have struggled academically for most of their lives begin to develop the skills and habits that set them up for success and, as a result, dive into their learning with a sense of agency and dexterity.
- When I get to watch an educator who entered the profession to change the world, one person at a time but has been kept from fulfilling their calling, is equipped with the teaching strategies and routines that set them up for success.
What's one of the hardest things that come with being a business owner?
There is no roadmap.
What are the top tips you'd give to anyone looking to start, run and grow a business today?
- Start: Know your "why" before you begin. Solve real problems for real people.
- Run: Have fun and create your own utopia - you don't have to do it the way others have done it.
- Grow: Lean into relationships and focus entirely on your existing customers; they will get the word out.
Also - before you begin, take 2 hours and read "Anything You Want" by Derek Sivers and "Niche Down" by Christopher Lochhead and Heather Clancey.
Where can people find you and your business?
Website: https://organizedbinder.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/organizedbinder
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/organizedbinder/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/organizedbinder
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mitch-weathers-71037115/
If you like what you've read here and have your own story as a solo or small business entrepreneur that you'd like to share, then please answer these interview questions. We'd love to feature your journey on these pages.
Turn your craft into recurring revenue with Subkit. Start your subscription offering in minutes and supercharge it with growth levers. Get early access here.