We had the good fortune of connecting with Jennifer Lemaitre 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 coaching business was wanting to see more teachers experience getting paid well for their expertise. In 2018, I found myself suddenly unemployed after 8 years as a classroom teacher. My response was to start tutoring to make ends meet. Honestly, it was a no brainer for me because it simply required me to use the skills I already have! Once I fine tuned my business structure and began promoting on social media, I grew my tutoring business to making consistent 4 figure months part time and having such a high demand that I had to start a waitlist.

After seeing the consistent success of my tutoring business, I knew I wanted to see other teachers thriving outside of the classroom. Too many educators feel like they have to choose between their passion for teaching OR making a decent income. However, with tutoring, you can have both.

Alright, so for those in our community who might not be familiar with your business, can you tell us more?
Sure! I currently support educators in building profitable and reputable tutoring businesses. To date, I’ve trained over 100 tutors and have enjoyed every minute of it! Making the transition from online tutor to tutor business coach happened organically. Although I tend to be introverted, I chose to start promoting my tutoring business on Instagram in 2019. As I showed up consistently, I began getting messages from other educators who were interested in how I was successfully running my business and I loved chatting with them! I think the thing that resonated with a lot of teachers is the fact that I taught full time AND ran my tutoring business simultaneously for three years. I always tell teachers, “You don’t have to choose. You can impact kids in the classroom and still have a great tutoring business on the side.”

As a business mentor, it’s been amazing watching educators regain their passion for teaching, match their teacher paycheck with their tutoring income and step into the mindset of an entrepreneur. This past year was difficult for many educators and contributed to a huge teacher exodus. For the educators who made the difficult decision to leave the classroom, tutoring allows them to continue making an impact on their own terms.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
Ooh! I love good food and I’m Ghanaian, so I would definitely recommend Nema’s Kitchen for West African cuisine. For BBQ, it’d be a toss up between Tom, Dick and Hank and Fox Brothers BBQ. You can’t go wrong with either. As far as some place to enjoy a nice walk, I’d recommend Piedmont Park or the Beltline Trail.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
My success is definitely attributed to amazing friends, family and coaches who didn’t allow me to play small. There were times when I felt like giving up and wasn’t sure if my business was actually going to be successful. Having the right people around me truly helped me to push past my limitations and dream BIG!

Website: www.jenniferlemaitre.com

Instagram: @thejenniferlemaitre

Image Credits
Lloyd Mack Darika Harris Armani Marie

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