Welcome to Hot Topics! Gabrielle Crichlow talks with fellow tutor entrepreneur Ray Steffen about how he became a tutor, why he became a tutor, and his thoughts on the tutoring industry.

Ray and Gabrielle discuss the challenges of tutoring and the changes in the curriculum over the years. Ray shares his experience of falling into tutoring and how he grew his business. They also talk about the difficulties students face in learning math, including the need for instant gratification and the lack of patience. This episode emphasizes the importance of tutoring and the role it plays in helping students succeed in school. Ray's approach to tutoring is focused on building relationships with students and helping them develop the skills they need to succeed academically and beyond. The conversation highlights the importance of personalized, one-on-one tutoring and the challenges of adapting to changing circumstances in education. Ray discusses his experience as a tutor during the pandemic, noting that there was a significant drop in demand for his services during the height of the pandemic. However, as schools began to reopen and return to pre-pandemic expectations, his business skyrocketed. This episode aims to normalize tutoring and provide resources for students who may be struggling with homework or falling behind in their studies.

Who is Ray Steffen?
From Ray: "I was actually never good at math … I didn’t get it. I didn’t enjoy it. I could get by though. I could occasionally sneak an answer from the person next to me but I was never an 'A' student. I didn’t know how to study and I just wasted my time trying. My identity shift didn’t occur until college when professors really didn’t care how bad you were struggling. You either rose to the occasion or dropped the course. I needed help. There was no more 'extra time' or 'retakes' or people patting your back or holding your hand. I was lost… but there was this gnarly looking kid that sat next to me. He answered every question in class with ease and clarity. Who was this dude? So I built up enough nerve and I asked him for some help one day. He said “sure, meet me in the tutoring center”. I thought… “We had a tutoring center?” And I thought “wait, you’re a rough looking dude. You work at the tutoring center? Like, people pay you?” So I looked into it… yup we had a tutoring center and yup he was one of the paid tutors on campus. Ooookkkk… so we started working together but something was weird… I understood what he was saying… It made sense… I knew everything he was saying, why he was saying it and where it was coming from and where it would lead to next. I didn’t know what was wrong with me. Wait… why do I 'get it?' On a few of his smoke breaks during our tutoring sessions I sat there crunching out problems with precision that previously looked like gibberish to me. What happened? Was it in my brain all this time? Where did this 'understanding' come from? One day in a help session… I overheard another person struggling and the tutor helping her was also having a hard time explaining. I went over and helped them out. They were both amazed, my own tutor was amazed… I was amazed. Like, what just happened? What did I just do? I was hired that day. I became one of the highest paid tutors in the center that year myself, in one of the hardest classes - college statistics. Every student had to take it as a general credit but nobody in the tutoring center could help… but me. To handle the work load, my individual sessions turned into groups of 4 in the library study rooms where there was a whiteboard and a table, for sometimes 5 hours in a row before basketball. I haven’t looked back since."

You can find Ray Steffen:
On the web: https://express.adobe.com/page...
On Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/theri...
On YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@rsteffen43

Promo - The first session is always free!

Watch this episode on YouTube: https://youtube.com/live/L74OD...
**********************************************
Follow A Step Ahead Tutoring Services:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/astep...
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/aste...
Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/ASATS2...
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@astepaheadtutoringservices
Tik Tok: https://www.tiktok.com/@asats2013
Eventbrite: https://astepaheadtutoringserv...

Visit our website: https://www.astepaheadtutoring...

Sign up for our tutoring email list: https://squareup.com/outreach/...

Check out our entire "Hot Topics!" podcast: https://www.astepaheadtutoring...

Support us:
Cash App: https://cash.app/$ASATS2013
PayPal: https://paypal.me/ASATS2013
Venmo: https://venmo.com/u/ASATS2013
Zelle: success@astepaheadtutoringservices.com

Original date of episode: February 12, 2023