Today we’d like to introduce you to Shivani Sodawala.
Hi Shivani, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I was born and raised in India, and I moved to the United States when I was 22 years old to pursue a Master’s in Aerospace Engineering. This was the time when I came across an online tutoring website, and I started tutoring for two reasons, to make some extra money and because I loved teaching. I had always been explaining and helping my peers in school, so it was pretty cool when I actually started to get paid for it, haha. I kept working for that website even after I graduated and started a full-time job. When the Coronavirus pandemic hit and most of the education system moved online, I came across a lot of articles that described how the educational gap between the haves and the have-nots has increased because not everyone could afford some form of private tutoring. That is when I decided to start My Tutor-To-Go, an online platform to make private tutoring affordable and accessible for all. It was a new forte for me in terms of starting a small online business, but I had some familiarity with the tutoring industry. I received a lot of help/advice from friends and tons of support from my family to actually make it happen.
My Tutor-To-Go is 1.5 years old today, so still an infant, but we are extremely proud to have helped all these students who used our service to get closer to their goals at an affordable rate. With the set of caring and passionate tutors, we have on-board today, we have been helping students from preK to the college level. We still have a long, long way ahead of us but the success stories and the appreciation messages from the students motivate us to keep reaching for our mission.
Alright, 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?
I think it has been as smooth as it could be when you are trying something new. Having the right people around you and being open to listening are some of the key factors to succeed. I initially struggled with accepting and moving forward when my Plan-A failed. I did not always get my first choice, but I learned to settle with the second or even the third choice. There is always more than one way of doing things and starting a new small business means you have to make a lot of decisions on the fly. It took me 6 months between registering the company and starting to hire our first tutors. To be cliche, it was like a roller coaster ride, the kind where you want a lawyer and an accountant by your side. I had a great group of professional women who guided me along the way. Once I had that, I had to learn to stop micro-managing, something I am still working on.
Appreciate you sharing that. What should we know about My Tutor-To-Go?
My Tutor-To-Go is an online, one-on-one learning platform. We connect students who are looking for that little extra and personalized push to excel, with passionate and professional tutors. On top of quality tutoring, state of art Whiteboard system, and easy-to-use scheduling software, our prices set us apart. The mission of My Tutor-To-Go is to make quality online learning affordable and accessible for everyone. Private tutoring is for students who are struggling for someone to give them some extra attention and teach them at their pace how to solve a quadratic equation, for example. A service as essential as this should not cost a fortune!! We are extremely proud that we are part of making this difference. Our tutors understand the responsibility they are signing up for and care about the student’s progress and success. We offer online private tutoring for PreK, K-12, and college students, all at $20/hour. If you prefer one of our packages, it is even cheaper than $20/hour. Our tutors specialize in early ELA, all K 12 subjects, College Math, Physics, Chemistry, Biology, English writing, and Test Prep including GED, SAT, ACT, and GRE.
We all have a different way of looking at and defining success. How do you define success?
For me, success is doing your best and being passionate about it. For our brand, success is rooted in customer satisfaction. A student is the tutor’s principal customer, but the tutors are also the company’s customers. I strive to give my 100% to all. I learn along the way and get better. It is success if I can help a tutor with their growth and a student with discovering their potential. So success for me is not accomplishing that one goal or purpose, it is about that thousand small goals and purposes you achieve along the way.
Pricing:
- $20/hour for online, private, customized lesson
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.mytutortogo.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mytutortogousa/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/mytutortogousa
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCtds-dkjHQJWdAeSav-TjkA
Image Credits
Ashleigh Caison
