Interested in starting your own entrepreneurial journey but unsure what to expect? Then read up on our interview with Marissa Cooper, Founder of Cooper Literacy Solutions, located in San Diego, CA, USA.
What's your business, and who are your customers?
My business is called Cooper Literacy Solutions. I am an educational therapist specializing in dyslexia remediation. My sessions are tailored to each child’s individual needs and based on continuous assessment and progress monitoring. It is my priority to provide engaging instruction and materials while building strong relationships with each of my students.
My customers, or students, are children in elementary school that struggle to access the way reading instruction is presented in public schools. Oftentimes, my students have been failed by the public school system, and I work with them to remediate their language-based learning disabilities.
Tell us about yourself
From the time I was a teenager, I knew that I wanted to be in education. I went straight from high school to college, then directly from my undergraduate studies to graduate school. The same day that I presented my Master's thesis, I interviewed for my first teaching job. I worked in public schools as a general education teacher and as a special education teacher. Doing this work, particularly special education, opened my eyes to the struggles students with dyslexia face in our schools. Generally, schools are not equipped to meet the needs of children with dyslexia due to a lack of training and resources, not to mention political pushback.
In my role as a special education teacher, I realized that I was not able to give my students what they needed within the four walls of a classroom. In the fall of 2021, I made the decision that I would leave the classroom at the end of the school year to start a private practice wherein I would specialize in working with children with dyslexia and other language-based learning disabilities.
Each day, I am motivated by the children. Literacy rates in our country are dismal, and I want to do all that I can to ensure more children are learning to read. I am incredibly passionate about the work that I do, and I will talk to anyone who will listen about the importance of literacy and literacy instruction that is based on science.
What's your biggest accomplishment as a business owner?
As of right now, my biggest accomplishment is being a business owner in the first place! Last year, right around this time, I wasn't sure that I could make the leap out of the classroom and into owning a private practice. I'm not even sure I had conceptualized that I would be the owner of a private practice. For the entire school year, I was working full time and squeezing the development of this business (marketing, specific training, networking, etc.) into every free moment I had. It took a lot to get where I am today, and honestly, I'm just happy to be here.
What's one of the hardest things that come with being a business owner?
One of the hardest things that comes with being a business owner is that it all boils down to YOU. Oftentimes, in our work, there are responsibilities that fall to colleagues. However, when you are a business owner, everything comes down to you. However, this is also one of the most motivating things about owning a business - all the hours you put in are for you, not someone you are working for.
What are the top tips you'd give to anyone looking to start, run and grow a business today?
- Plan ahead. I was able to find success in the first month of my business because I had been laying the foundation for the entire year prior.
- Make connections! Put yourself out there and talk about your business. Connect with others in the field. You never know who you might end up talking to - maybe a new client or maybe a new professional colleague.
- Believe in yourself! This sounds cheesy, but you have to believe in what you are doing. Believe that you are worth the money your clients or customers are paying you and remember that there is a reason you started.
Where can people find you and your business?
Website: https://www.cooperliteracy.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/cooperliteracy/
If you like what you've read here and have your own story as a solo or small business entrepreneur that you'd like to share, then please answer these interview questions. We'd love to feature your journey on these pages.
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