Meet Keedar Whittle: The Rockstar of Education

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

Hi Keedar, what do you attribute your success to?
The most important factor behind success is finding a gap and genuinely filling it. Being owner of Educators Now, we take a genuine interest in education and providing QUALITY educators to our partnering schools. No matter what your business is, subscribe to the notion of filling a gap. It also makes scaling or analyzing your business easier. Are you filling a gap daily, monthly, annually?

What should our readers know about your business?
Educators Now staffs QUALITY educators at childcare facilities, grade schools and after school programs on a permanent or temporary basis. We operate under our core values like Going Above and Beyond, QUALITY and Excellence are just a few. Staffing is hard enough and even harder for those that also have to run a school. We are here to partner with our schools to alleviate all staffing needs. There have been many learning curves as an entrepreneur. One of the biggest lessons that I learned was when it’s time to scale, work “on” the business and not “in” the business as much as possible. Well that hard part about that is hiring the right talent to help carry out the vision. The next lesson was “fire fast, hire slow”! Taking your time to properly vet talent that can buy into your company’s culture has a higher return than operating out of desperation.

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.
Monday- Barcelona for 1/2 bottle off wine and we have to get the seafood Payaya Tuesday- We can soak up a quick walk on the Beltline and hit up a outdoor patio for drinks and lunch. Tuesday evening we can go to Poor Calvins to enjoy some of the best food in the city. Atlanta is always open at night and I know we would end up somewhere. Wednesday- Soak up last night’s fun with breakfast at Breakfast at Barneys on Decatur street. Do a little local shopping and hit up Bon Ton Atlanta on Myrtle St. Thursday- uh ooo the weekend is here and The James Room on the Beltline is the choice of the evening but spending the day standing in Slutty Vegan’s line is an Atl experience. Might as well visit the O4W location and soak in the rich history of Auburn Ave. and Edgewood. Friday- Atlanta Breakfast Club for breakfast for the win! Shopping at Phipps and in the evening, what’s Atlanta without Hookah. Although there are several, Lily’s seem to always be a great time. Stay in the area because there are plenty of places to go after Lily’s but Apartment 4B is always a good look on a Friday! Saturday- Outdoor patio action at 9 Mile for brunch or anywhere on the Beltline will do. Saturday is built for day drinking and awesome dinners. Sunday- Let the church say Amen!! Now let’s day party the day away! Shhhh don’t tell anyone but Loca Luna on Amsterdam never disappoint for brunch After brunch, day party time!! Day parties in Atlanta are like no other city. I feel bad for putting limited places on this itinerary because there are so many places to go and support. This is why people move to Atlanta daily…they come for a weekend and don’t leave!! So many places to explore…so many neighborhoods to get lost in…so many well managed black businesses to support!

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
I want to thank MY MOMMA for actually giving me the idea to start Educators Now and Tutors On Demand. My wife and I were relocating from Los Angeles to Atlanta and I knew working for someone was not going to be the best output decision for my time. Being in entertainment for the last 15 years, picking up and working for someone would have been starting from the ground up. Since I was starting at the bottom, I might as well have started at the bottom of my own company. My mother, retired educator in Atlanta Public School System, gave me the idea of finding substitute teachers for childcare facilities. Given my background in education before entertainment, she knew I understood the value of QUALITY educators and the importance of operating in excellence and with urgency. We have since gone from serving 12 schools to over 70 schools in Metro-Atlanta in less than 5 years. THANK YOU MOMMA aka Dr. Whittle aka Grand Diva!

Website: keedarwhittle.com

Instagram: @Keedar

Linkedin: KeedarWhittle

Twitter: @Keedar

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/keedar.whittle/

Yelp: Educators Now LLC