Today we’d like to introduce you to Sarah Kochan.
Sarah, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
Music, math, education and teaching have all been passions of mine for my entire life. At the age of 7, I started piano lessons and continued lessons until I was 22 and a music major in college. I was classically trained and played in numerous recitals and shows throughout those 15 years. I attended Elmhurst College, received a music scholarship and double majored in music education and music business. After 2 years in the music program, I realized that I didn’t know what I wanted to do for a steady career as a classically trained pianist, so I changed direction and went into teaching Mathematics. From 2006 to 2016 I taught high school math in the Maine Township District and obtained my Master’s Degree in Mathematics in 2010. While teaching full-time, I started tutoring students after school and on the weekends and within one year, I had so many private students that I had to start turning parents away because I didn’t have the time. A friend suggested to hire other tutors to help me and that’s where the idea of starting my own tutoring business began. Instead of just focusing on tutoring math, I opened it up to all ages and all subjects. iAchieve Learning, was founded in July of 2014, and I worked for about six months to lay the foundation for the business. In January of 2015, I started hiring sub-contractors that specialized in their given fields, to help tutor students. As time went on and business grew, I wanted to offer additional services to students and families to better serve them. We now offer music lessons for a wide variety of instruments, test prep for the ACT and SAT, academic coaching for students that struggle with executive functioning skills, college and career counseling and intellectual and educational testing for students. I continued teaching while managing iAchieve Learning but decided in May of 2016 to resign from teaching to pursue my passion to expand the business.
Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
There are many hurdles when starting your own business. I had absolutely no experience running a business and had to do a lot of my own research, reaching out to others and asking a lot of questions. I have had a tremendous support system from my amazing family and friends and couldn’t be more thankful for them. One of the biggest struggles for me was making the decision to leave teaching in order to pursue and further the business. It’s terrifying making that leap! You have to have faith, determination and perseverance in order to make it work. I’ve had many sleepless nights working diligently brainstorming ideas and researching ways to improve my business. I’ve focused on what my customers really want and have worked hard to ensure that they receive the best service. Starting your own business from scratch is a learning process. There are many ideas that I’ve tried that either haven’t worked or needed improvement. As a business owner you can’t see those as failures but rather as learning experiences and ways to improve.
Please tell us about iAchieve Learning.
iAchieve Learning is a tutoring and music company that services about 14 of the northwest suburban cities of the Chicagoland area. We specialize in private one-on-one tutoring for all ages and subjects, test prep for the ACT and SAT, music lessons for a wide variety of instruments, academic coaching, college and career counseling, and intellectual and educational testing. iAchieve Learning has also partnered with the Des Plaines Library and we are offering students a FREE Practice ACT and SAT test that they can take before starting test prep. Following the practice test, students and parents will receive a detailed score report of the student’s score so that they know what their baseline score is in order to prepare more efficiently for the ACT or SAT. We offer 3 affordable test prep packages to families and students will receive a complimentary test prep book to use and also have access to our Online Test Prep Portal. The portal contains over 1500 practice problems with over 100 hours of video solutions, quizzes and full-length practice tests. We are also offering Summer Art classes called Branch Out and Get Creative that will be held at Twisted Tree Yoga Studio in Des Plaines. There will be two courses, one for kids ages 3-6 and another for kids ages 7-10 (One of the pictures included is from the art class!). All of our instructors travel to the students’ homes to give the lessons so parents don’t have to worry about driving anywhere. Our instructors go through a very thorough hiring process that also includes a background check. We help create flexible schedules for families and want to instill in children the love of learning. Our instructors go above and beyond to build student’s confidence levels and to help students of all ages and backgrounds. Our primary goal is to help as many students as we can and provide them with the correct guidance and support that they need. We are proud to service as many cities and families as we do and are looking forward to expanding iAchieve Learning!
Do you look back particularly fondly on any memories from childhood?
Playing the piano was my entire life growing up. I started taking lessons at the age of 7 and never wanted to stop playing. Most kid’s parents have to continuously nag at them to practice but my family members literally had to tell me to stop playing so that they could go to bed! At the age of 15, I vividly remember playing all 3 movements of Beethoven’s Moonlight Sonata for my last piano recital with my first piano teacher. In high school, I was the accompanist for all of the choirs and my parents bought me an 88 key electronic Clavinova for my bedroom that had headphones. I would stay up very late in my bedroom practicing songs for upcoming shows. This same work ethic continued as I became a music major at Elmhurst College. Music has always been a huge part of my life and I’m actually taking the time now as an adult to continue jazz piano lessons because I miss it so much!
Contact Info:
- Website: www.iachievelearning.com
- Phone: 847-682-6116
- Email: sarah@iachievelearning.com
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/iachievelearning/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/iachievelearn
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