Q!: Why did you decide to start a coaching business?
- I hold a master’s degree in education and several professional credentials, including board certification as an educational therapist and a Washington State high school principal certificate. Instead of trying to get a job in a large high school with over a thousand students, I wanted to work in a smaller setting and serve fewer students with more thorough services, so my practice focuses serving neurodiverse students and anyone who needs more attention than a large classroom can provide. I also recognize that a traditional school calendar doesn’t work for many students who have chronic health issues and are frequently absent as well as those in very high-end athletic programs or jobs that require them to be out of school for extended periods of time, like a teenage actor or model. My solution was to make a very small school, design a program for each and every student that could be adjusted for their changing needs, and schedule only one student to each teacher so that student would have the undivided attention of their teacher.
The issues that we’re able to overcome are extensive. I’ve helped multiple students:
- Earn a high school diploma, including first generation high school graduates and students in their low 20’s who returned to school after a lapse in attendance, often due to significant personal reasons such as having a child, the death of a parent, or just reevaluating the importance of a diploma after living with roommates and working an entry level job for a few years.
- Make up missing high school credits that allowed the student to graduate on time with their chronological peers. Many students end up short a credit or two during their high school career, often for reasons outside of their control such as a chronic illness, excessive absences, transferring schools multiple times, or just failing a class that they need to take again in a different setting. Being able to complete an individual course helps the student get back on track and join their peers.
- Get a driver’s license. The process includes both the written test and competence behind the wheel. I have assisted with both parts by providing neurodiverse instruction for the written exam that includes all the facts and knowledge necessary without distracting gory videos or other anxiety triggers. The Polytech has a commercial-grade driving simulator to allow students to practice and build confidence driving in a variety of traffic and weather conditions, all from the safety of our office.
- Successfully complete a college course. Especially when the student is still in high school, this can be a powerful piece of evidence that the student belongs in college and can be successful there. With the range of college options available, there really is a fit for everyone. Part of our goal is to break down the unfamiliar processes related to getting enrolled in an appropriate course and ensure the student knows what to expect and what to do throughout the term.
- Discover individual passion, skills, and potential careers that specifically align with their interests and abilities. Through an assessment process that provides data specific to each student, my clients learn about options that are most likely to be a fit, the accompanying salaries and school requirements, and the next step they can take today to move closer towards a career goal.
- Achieve independent living. This is perhaps the least structured of the supports commonly requested, and one of the most important and long-lasting. If a student has a goal to move into their own apartment, in addition to a residence search and realistic financial estimates, the student needs to know skills not often taught in high school such as cooking and budgeting, as well as the organization skills to manage how to pay bills, keep the refrigerator stocked, and manage cleaning. The Polytech has a process to teach skills and also allow students to test their readiness by spending time overnight up to a month in a temporary housing before committing to a lease without knowing they are prepared to fulfill all obligations.
It has been exciting to grow along with my students, and today the majority of my students are in college receiving a mix of coaching, educational therapy, tutoring, and advocacy services. I’ve been able to hire several of my former students as they’ve become professionals, and that is exciting evidence of how much I benefit when my students succeed.
Q2: How does your business differentiate itself from other coaching businesses?
- I differ from other coaches because I specialize in serving young adults with neurodiversity and anxiety, so many of my students have attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), dyslexia, eating disorders, social anxiety, executive function challenges, depression and other mental health disorders, or are on the autism spectrum. Many of my colleagues can accommodate special education students and focus their services on academic services. But my clients might function very well in an academic setting and struggle enormously with other aspects of independent living. For example, a person might manage all class assignments in an advanced course but might get overwhelmed in the college food court trying to decide what to eat in a loud unstructured setting. I help students predict and prepare for unexpected situations so that they do know what to say or where to go if they need to leave a class or conversation quickly. Even attending class can become overwhelming if the person has an anxiety disorder and doesn’t want to speak publicly in front of peers. I help students navigate systems that are unfamiliar to them, negotiate accommodations they need in college and the workplace, and practice until they can become more comfortable with doing something uncomfortable.
I also recognize that many of my students think differently and interpret social cues and classroom expectations differently from how a neurotypical student might respond. Behaving differently isn’t an issue in most situations and is often a welcomed strength. At the same time, providing coaching can help avoid misunderstandings when a professor or work supervisor doesn’t use straightforward language. The strategy of “trying harder” does not work when a person is truly giving their all and is still being misunderstood, or has an invisible disability that is impacting their ability to communicate. In addition to coaching a client for a specific situation, I can also teach self-advocacy skills so that they are able to explain what they need and why in a way that protects their privacy, but still helps to ensure that the environment and expectations are appropriate to use strengths fully.
Q3: What are the most common problems faced by women starting or running their own business and how can these problems be overcome?
- It is hard to act with confidence when starting something new, especially in business where there are so many inconsistent factors that may feel out of my control but still have high impact on my business. Thus, it becomes very important to sort out what I do and do not have control over and to choose to focus on those things where I might have the most impact. I have always been a person to look for evidence, so I can combat a tendency to second-guess myself and feelings that I might not be doing everything possible by looking for the evidence of what is being done, the impact it’s having, and making adjustments based on the best information I have at the time. My rule of thumb is that I can be hard on myself if I’m ignoring vital information, but if I’m actively reviewing data generated by my systems and feedback from employees, clients, and the industry, then I’ve done the best I can. Every action taken today can create marked change in the future, so being mindful of this and acting intentionally helps combat overwhelming feelings that would only serve to distract from what is the most important priority in that moment.
Perhaps because of the loneliness that comes with starting your own business and assuming complete control for its growth, I am highly committed to ensuring that my students don’t have to take their initial steps towards college alone. For young adults, this is often the largest personal undertaking on their plates and the structure and expectations vary widely from high school, so it can feel very new and overwhelming. My partners and I walk young adults through some of these uncomfortable tasks of registering for classes, requesting accommodations to mitigate symptoms of a disability when necessary, and adjusting to living outside of their parents’ home. Even interpreting a syllabus and setting up system to manage assignments, especially if also working, are also key. We want our students to have a backup plan if they begin to feel overwhelmed in class or if they fall behind on assignments so that they can recover from the uncomfortable feeling before getting into a position where they stop attending class or attempting the work.
Q4: What are the key elements of a successful business?
- A successful business has many components, with these four standing out in my experience as essential:
- The team – A committed team who understands and shares the company mission and is motivated by it can exponentially increase not only the success of the business and the positive outcomes for clients, but also the quality of the work experience. I’ve been fortunate to attract smart, talented teachers and every time, their creativity and experience exceeds my ideas. I consistently learn from my staff and know I didn’t get here alone.
- Clear mission – Regardless of the size of the organization, it is always the responsibility of the owner or CEO to be responsible for the mission and to develop culture around that. We are the cheerleader even when revenue is down or the client is difficult, with the responsibility to understand the big picture and drive the rest of the team towards a larger end goal. We’re also responsible to communicate the mission through our actions, policies, marketing, and language so that customers experience what we intend for them.
- Reliable data – As fun as it is to live in the world of the mission and to imagine all I might accomplish, it is equally important to look honestly at client feedback, employee satisfaction, and trends in revenue and expenses to seek ways to improve. If I don’t have good systems for gathering that information accurately, then I handicap my ability to lead.
- Gratitude – The ability to recognize where you are in a particular moment and what you have accomplished and find the beauty in that is an intense motivator. We all need a sense of purpose and the energy to keep doing what we’re doing. Gratitude provides a never-ending source of both.
Q5: How should women business owners face the fear of failure?
- Failure is a teacher. Even though it can be unpleasant, the things that haven’t gone as expected are often the things that I tend to remember the most and to do my best not to repeat. Nothing forces you to try more things outside of your comfort zone and therefore, less likely to work exactly as planned the first time, than owning your own business where your job description, quite literally, becomes “anything that needs to be done.”
At about the 15-year mark of my first school, I started getting a large amount of attention and media coverage of our students’ success. I received lots of random emails and people coming up to me after a public presentation to say that they had had the same idea, or if they were going to start a school it would be doing exactly what I’m doing or serving the very students I’m serving. While intended to be a compliment, the one thing all of them had in common that was different from me was that they never did anything about their idea. Ideas that stay in your head are always grandiose and without flaw, but they also don’t accomplish anything and can’t help an actual person. You need to break ideas down into actionable steps to make it possible to operate tomorrow, and this includes both exciting steps like hiring staff and the more mundane, at least to me, like setting up banking accounts and a billing system. You must be willing to try something you never have before, and be willing to accept when the feedback isn’t what you’d hoped. The real test of your idea happens when you open your doors and let the public decide whether or not it needs your service, and at what price point they are willing to try something new. Running a business is a constant cycle of thinking you have something figured out and then backtracking to fix whatever you learned from your last client so that it runs more smoothly for the next. But you never get to learn these lessons or be a part of the accomplishments until you pick a starting point and decide to go for it. While this process sounds messy, it achieves tangible results for real people. I encourage my clients to take risks, so it is only natural that I, myself, should lead by example and have the courage to take my own risks.
~Business Game Changer Special Promotion~
Q6: What three pieces of advice would you give to a woman planning to start her own business?
- My three pieces of advice:
1) Go for it! There is no greater reward than seeing something that started as just an idea become its own entity. Whether you rent space and suddenly have created a physical environment for others to benefit from or build a product that didn’t previously exist, there is an indescribable sense of accomplishment to know that you have put something of value into the world. In my case, I’m serving a sector of students who often need more than a traditional school can provide, but because many have invisible disabilities, others may assume that they aren’t interested or capable of achieving at a high level. Nothing could be further from the truth! And my job can become more complicated to convince the student of that and find the right supports to allow them to demonstrate what they are learning. Every job will have long days and frustrating moments, but to hear a parent or student say, “I couldn’t have done this without you” is the most energizing feeling in the world, and a confirmation that the little idea that grew into a business is filling a niche.
2) Celebrate the wins! I am a glass-half-full kind of person so maybe I oversimplify it, but I still think it is important to find and recognize accomplishments. It doesn’t matter if it’s a client achievement, a new contract closed, a savings put into place, or just getting through the week, these are all things worth celebrating.
3) And my final advice, try something new every week. Entrepreneurs aren’t spurred to start a new business because they are accepting everything as it is but rather because they see a gap in services or hear a complaint and can think of a way to do it better. By always seeking a new experience, it helps to keep me grounded in today, not the past, and to remain open for a new opportunity wherever and whenever it might present itself. Trying new foods, reading new books, visiting new places, downloading a new app – I’ve found that all of these practices reinforce my acceptance that I don’t know everything and I need to be open to new ideas and information.
School website: https://thepolytech.com/
Private practice website: https://humaeducation.com/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ruthwilson
Bio:
Ruth Wilson is a board-certified educational therapist and a certified high school principal who has spent the past 25 years helping neurodiverse students achieve success. She is one of the founders of The Polytech, a private high school in Seattle that continues working with students through age 26 to support the transition to college, career, and adulthood. Her work extends beyond academic support as she conducts career assessments to help students identify strengths and interests, provides structure for personal tasks such as searching for a job or finding a residence to live independently, and instruction, even simulator practice, for getting a driver’s license. Prior to The Polytech, she founded Brightmont Academy, a one-on-one private school that she helped to scale and replicate over 19 years – it currently operates 15 campuses located in seven states. Through her schools and private practice, Ruth has helped over 5,000 students meet their goals and has signed hundreds of diplomas. She specializes in serving those with anxiety, autism, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), and executive function challenges.
