If you’re not giving, you’re not living!
Nikki Bruno is a born teacher, though she was formally educated in science. She tacked on a teaching certificate to her college degree just in case science didn’t work out. Ultimately she decided she didn’t want to work within the politics and egomania of academia. So she became a science teacher in a public school. “Many parts of it were awesome. I got to laugh every day with kids. I got to experience every side of learning. In a way, I went back to school myself. I had holiday breaks and field trips. I got to do experiments! I also had a lot of homework. I mean, a lot. This wasn’t a 9am-5pm, it was an 8am-10pm. It was exhausting. Physically. Mentally. Emotionally. We were given new responsibilities and tasks on a weekly basis it seemed, without even being asked if we could. The break room devolved into a pit of cynicism. We were highly educated individuals who weren’t allowed to use our education. We were puppets of the bureaucracy. And if you tried to resist? Administration bullied you and wouldn’t support you, their reasoning being that you were making their lives harder.”
In retrospect, Nikki has been trying to escape the corporate world her whole life. First, she took up sciences, marine biology specifically, because she thought if she had to work for someone, it might as well be working on the beach. After studying various ways she could use her marine science knowledge to give back to her community she realized there wasn’t much support for that after all. She was frustrated and saddened that there was so much red tape surrounding giving back.
Going Solo
So Nikki went rogue and started her own education company. She took everything she learned about the true needs of students from the fields of psychology and education, as well as everything she experienced from her time teaching, and started her own company. She considers herself a “Student Coach.” Nikki works with students one-on-one and in small groups now, teaching them the skills they need to do well in school, skills that their teachers ‘never had the time’ to properly teach them. She teaches communication skills, study skills that are customized to student learning styles, organization skills, presentation skills, and helps students explore their interests so that they have a career direction to look towards. “I teach them ways to manage their focus and increase their confidence. These are the skills that people need to be successful in the real world and are the skills that keep getting brushed over in schools in favor of test-taking. I’ve made it my mission to follow Mark Twain’s advice and not let these kids schooling interfere with their education!”
Nikki works directly with families and students and uses her expertise to truly make an impact. “I hone in on the skills that students need to strengthen in order to really blossom. Skills like personal organization, planning, goal setting and also skills that increase their confidence. I tie their interests into every activity we do. Imagine being able to tell your teacher what you want to learn and she immediately goes and gets the material (the internet is great)! I also help high school students plan for college and figure out what they want to do with their lives. It’s truly a blessing that I still get to be a teacher now – but I can have a holiday break whenever I want!“
Nikki had a mentor who had set up a similar business who she bounced ideas off of and who helped her with the initial steps since she’d never been in the business world before. “I was constantly researching and gathering materials that I could use in my business, from the internet, from libraries, from conversations with experts. The resources I needed the most though were time and energy, so much of which drained out of me while working for others, and I made sure to make my overall health a priority so that I could keep building my business with a fresh mind each day”.
Escaping the 9 to 5 has let Nikki focus on her other passions as well. In her case, that is competitive sailing. She has been racing since she was in college and can’t get enough. “I love the culture of sailing and racing, how intense and intellectual it is, how much of winning can be at the mercy of nature, how all of that leads to great lifetime friendships. I’ve learned so many lessons about life from the water. It really connects me to the world, spiritually, but also physically! I’ve been able to travel to so many places because of sailboat racing. And I often get last-minute calls from skippers who suddenly need a crew, and I didn’t want to have to keep saying ‘no, sorry, I can’t take off work on such short notice.’ I wanted to set my own schedule so that I can soak up all the travel and amazing life experiences I can, and work hard in between. I don’t want to work and then retire. I want to live the retired life, while I’m still working.”
The path Nikki has taken has been anything but traditional in the education world but she tries not to second guess herself. “I’m just a young human who’s on a lifetime journey of growth, and this business is one part of it”. She just keeps asking questions, getting validation from outside sources and changing direction if things don’t work. “It’s so easy to feel confident, but feeling like you’re good at something has nothing to do with how effective you are. Always get outside perspectives.”
Back on dry land, Nikki is continuing her education to get a certification as an Educational Consultant so she can offer more professional services to her students and their families as they prepare to apply for college. “It’s not huge, but it’s another opportunity for me to expand my knowledge, meet more of my peers in the industry, and hopefully come up with some great ideas that I can turn into a well rounded service for my students!”
website – http://www.nikkibruno.com
facebook – http://www.facebook.com/studentcoachnb
twitter – http://www.twitter.com/studentcoachnb
