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

Hi Jennifer, we’d love to hear more about how you thought about starting your own business?
My thought process behind starting my own business began during covid. I realized the amount of students that were in need of science remediation. I love virtual teaching and tutoring, so it was natural for me to focus on serving students virtually in the science field.

What should our readers know about your business?
In 2009, I was employed at a small private school. Half of the students were part time but families were requesting help in science. Science and math are those two areas that families seem to commonly reach out for help during homeschooling. At the time I was teaching technology and science, so I decided to use my experience to create classes online using Google Workspace (Google Classroom). Sadly, the school closed ten years later for funding reasons but I was lucky to keep my students and gain families after the school closed. The challenge is to meet the needs of different types of learners, but virtual learning provides the flexibility to tailor experiences for students online.

During covid, I had more time than expected online so I decided to join the Outschool platform. On Outschool I could create flexible self paced courses easily and store them in one place. I ended up creating 143 science courses that ranged from 4 week to 17 week courses. I decided to leave my full time job teaching at a Title 1 school to teach virtually from home. The decision was hard, but I was thankful to leave the stress of teaching in a brick and mortar school during covid. By 2023, I had over 500 students enrolled and several charter schools registered for fall classes set to begin in August 2023 on the Outschool platform. But on August 16, I received a notice from Outschool I was removed from the platform. At first I thought it was a mistake from one of their bot programs, because I was set to begin fall semester in 4 days. I reached out to the company, but no response. Panic set in, because I had basically put “all my eggs in the basket” with that teaching platform. When I tried to login, my login no longer worked. The first day of fall semester came and went, and without a teacher to teach my classes, families unenrolled. I was crushed, and began to quickly regret storing my classes on one platform. Parents began to reach out and thankfully found me on social media. These families still believed in my science program, and most were repeat customers. So I had to make a decision-wait to regain access to my classes or step out on my own and created my own company. I decided to step out and created SCIENCE WITH MRS COLLINS LLC. I created my own website, advertised on social media, and in fall festival catalogs. I slowly began to build up my clientale again. The previous platform never provided access to my classes, or any customer support to regain access. After searching online, I found this is a common occurance that I was unaware of. I am thankful for the families that followed me through the transition and recommendations online. I believe the experience was my most challenging moment, and has taught me the importance of safeguarding your own product. I now provide my own classes instead of losing a percentage to another company, so in the end the financial gain is beneficial longterm. Currently I provide individual virtual science classes to students and charter schools all over the US. When asked what do I want the world to know about me and my brand, I would say that I do not give up. I have a goal to help students be successful in science and I hope to continue helping students for years to come.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
If I had a friend visiting from out of town I would take them to North GA. We have so many different options of things to do and great food to try. What I love the most about North GA is the abundance of quirky restaurants. My current favorite is Oinkers BBQ in Clayton, GA. I have sampled a lot of BBQ in my life, as a lifelong resident of GA but I have to say that Oinkers is hands-down the best with food and customer service. I would then take my friend hiking to one of the many waterfalls in GA. My family and I love to hike in the area, especially waterfall hunting in Rabun and White County. A unique shop to visit would be Wander North GA, they have a large variety of outdoor gear for any outdoor hiking enthusiast.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
My shoutout will go to my mom. She worked in the school system as an elementary teacher for over 30 years. She laid the groundwork I needed to become a successful teacher.

Website: www.sciencewithcollins@gmail.com

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

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/sciencewithmrscollins

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@sciencewithmrscollins/

Other: https://www.tiktok.com/@sciencewithmrscollins

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