We had the good fortune of connecting with Tia Elbert and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Tia, we’d love to hear more about how you thought about starting your own business?
Rate My College Coaches was built and thought of from my own personal experience. I was a student-athlete – played basketball at Marquette University and Indiana University. Going through the whole recruiting process twice and being able to compete at two different schools, definitely gave me a holistic view into how college sports worked.

Originally, as a player I was very frustrated with the whole process, as I didn’t think the recruiting process was very indicative of my actual experience. If I am being honest, my idea started from a place of frustration. Though, over time, as I grew and matured, it wasn’t about just being mad that things weren’t as they were presented. It was more than that.

I was a first generation, collegiate student-athlete. Going through the recruiting process, I didn’t particularly have someone that helped walk me through the process, told me which questions to ask, and what things to look for. I learned everything along the way. Who knows.. If I had access to a resource like Rate My College Coaches, it could have helped me make a more informed decision, especially from an athletic perspective.

At this point, I realized, it wasn’t just about me. It was about the hundreds of other kids that didn’t or won’t have those resources to lean on. If they could have just one extra piece of information about the environment they are potentially going to compete for, that could be enough.

Alright, so for those in our community who might not be familiar with your business, can you tell us more?
Rate My College Coaches will be the biggest database of athlete generated reviews of head coaches in the NCAA, NAIA, and the NJCAA!

The database offers reviews of collegiate head coaches at every playing level. These reviews are written anonymously by student-athletes, whether current or former, who give insight into their experience under a particular head coach. The reviews or ‘Scouting Report’ gives student-athletes the opportunity to rate their head coach on 6 different areas : IQ, Ethical, Communication, Staff, Player/Individual Development, and Academics. They score these using a 5-star system and then also have the ability to go into further detail as to why they gave their particular ratings.

It wasn’t easy getting the site to where it is now. I have had the vision for a very long time, but to see it come together in final form was very humbling. It was really built from the ground up, with myself giving the vision and a couple of very talented developers bringing my idea to life. Along with this, I funded 100% of the project myself, which taught me a lot about running a business, especially from a capital standpoint.

The biggest lesson that the whole process taught me though, was to have more patience. Sometimes, you have this idea in your head, and you believe that it’s easily done. That’s not always the case. My developers really helped bring me to reality and set my expectations. At times, I felt the process was moving slow, but it was worth it in the end.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
My shoutout definitely goes to my mother. Considering that my college experience was the very foundation of Rate My College Coaches, she was the one person that was there along the way. When I was down, frustrated, discouraged, she was the one to help lift my head back up.

Mentally, my playing experiencing was very taxing and without my mom, I would not have made it all the way through. I earned my degree, debt-free and I am very proud of that.

Website: www.ratemycollegecoaches.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/_unfnshed/

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/ratemycollegecoaches

Twitter: https://twitter.com/_Unfnshed

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCBC3VDX58i6ebes1ihS_cgA

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