I’m Stephanie Tran, a former international ice figure skater for the United States Figure Skating Association (USFSA) and Skate Canada. After a career-ending injury at the age of 16, I began to suffer from identity crisis and imposter syndrome.
Growing up, I regularly battled internally with bouts of self-doubt and feelings of inadequacy, but also in having the pressure loom over me of meeting my parent’s expectations of me. I went to undergrad at the University of Texas (UT) and, while there, won a public speaking contest and published an academic journal on ‘how entrepreneurs help guide foreign markets to approve products and overcome adversities of cultural differences and language barriers’.
This is when I knew I was well on my way to fulfilling my aspirations as a female entrepreneur. I created my first company composed of 21 tutors in just two years, shortly after earning my master’s degree from John Hopkins University (JHU).
As a former Houston Independent School District Title I Teacher and Teach For America Corps member, I learned how to create a tutoring brand that turned my teaching techniques into a six-figure skill set in six months. A year later, I secured six-figure deals with local schools to help close the achievement gaps among students.
As an Asian-American female company founder, CEO of Tutor Route and 6-Figure Tutor Masterclass, learning how to rebuild and pivot successfully to a different career is something that I have struggled with. From imposter syndrome to feeling lost when my first career path as a champion figure skater imploded, I have faltered on my way to today’s success.
Two things that helped me reach the point I am at today — as a successful business owner, teacher, mentor, and thought leader — are personal branding and pivoting with purpose.
Pivoting with Purpose
Pivoting with purpose has become more necessary as the market is ever-changing with unexpected events such as a pandemic that disrupts businesses’ financial security and forces entrepreneurs to alter and think out of the box. Being an Asian-American entrepreneur in the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic has been exceptionally challenging as many of us experienced racism in addition to the business barriers.
When plans fail or don’t go as expected, your story doesn’t end there. You can choose to restrategize and try again or pivot with purpose and start fresh. Here are the three components on pivoting with purpose:
1. Rebuild your confidence and conduct a self-reflection exercise to brainstorm your next move:
No athlete expects to get a career-ending injury, but it happened to me and I wasn’t ready for it. It was nerve-wracking not knowing what I should do next. It was tough planning my next career move when I was still mourning the loss of my old life. In order to begin pivoting, I had to stop looking at my life from a trapped viewpoint and switched to a wider lens to see my life in a bigger picture. Then, I made a list of careers that aligned with my strengths, passions, lifestyle, priorities, values, and Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs. This exercise helped me gain clarity and pointed me in the right direction.
2. Be willing to take consistent action on your ideas:
Taking action on a consistent basis helps me pivot with purpose by propelling me forward with a problem-solving growth mindset. When I started my business, I had ‘paralysis by analysis’ and became stuck in the planning phase. Staying stagnant with uncertainty cripples your pivoting. While it is important to plan, it is even more important to execute these plans to see what works and what needs adjusting. In the beginning, I was so preoccupied with my worries that I didn’t give myself a chance to try my strategies out and instead just assumed they would all fail. Trust your instincts and be willing to take consistent action by testing out your methods and documenting the results.
3. Keep investing in your expertise and seek mentorship from established experts in your field:
Having had many amazing mentors in my life, I realize what a huge difference it makes to have mentors guide you through the rollercoasters of uncertainty. I am an ‘edupreneur’ and my students, ‘tutorpreneurs,’ establish their own respective tutoring businesses or side hustles as a result of my teachings in the 6-Figure Tutor Masterclass, which is the blueprint for building a minimum viable brand, or MVB, in just 30 days. I have actually mentored 26 students to earn rates stemming from $25 to $200 per hour.. In fact, one of my tutorpreneurs, Amanda Paez, who founded Teach Inspire Transform LLC, developed innovative tools and self-confidence practices on a team of three certified teachers closing scholars’ reading gaps.
Personal Branding for Female Entrepreneurs
Branding is an exciting aspect of business. Designed as a tool for your audience to understand you, it also often leads to getting to know yourself better and understanding your own unique selling points, or USPs. As you better understand yourself, it’s easier to see what new services you can offer, why students come to you, and what next steps would be on-brand for you.
Personal branding is even more critical for female founders and Asian-American CEOs because we can often be misunderstood, not taken as seriously, or expected to people-please.
Branding is, in essence, effectively targeting how the world sees you, your skills, and your work. So whether you want to start your own tutoring business, run a YouTube channel, or bring a great new product to market, it’s easier for people to see you as a success story when they understand your personal brand and what you stand for. Your unique story is your competitive advantage.
Asian-American Entrepreneurs
Asian-Americans are known for entrepreneurship. From owning local shops to founding global companies, the drive for success and cultural trait of appreciating hard work favor Asian-Americans when they start their own ventures.
When I launched the 6-Figure Tutor Masterclass, I was so passionate about what I was doing that I barely slept. Working long workweeks was part of my routine, and I was thriving. I’m not saying that approach is suitable for everyone, but I realized that passion and hard work were part of what would make me a success, and they were also genuine parts of my personal brand.
I never tell my students that making the jump from an educator in a school to owning a tutoring business will be easy — it won’t. But I always tell them it will be worth it — which it is.
Hard work seems to be a recurring trait among Asian-American entrepreneurs. In the US, more than half of female-fronted, minority-owned companies are run by hard-working, intrepid Asian-American women.
Among the difficulties for Asian-American female business owners are finding employees willing to work as hard as they do and accessing loans and capital. For immigrants — especially those with a language barrier and little work history in this country — securing the funding needed to start or grow their business is an ongoing and common complaint.
For this reason, many of us use our personal savings or rely on informal loans from friends or family. I started Tutor Route on a shoestring budget, often wondering if I would break even in the first couple of months.
However, once I got a handle on my confidence and personal branding as an Asian-American business owner, my investment began shooting straight up, and it hasn’t stopped since.
About Stephanie Tran
Stephanie Tran, Edupreneur, Founder, and CEO, mentors educators to become successful Tutorpreneurs with her masterclass by creating, launching, and growing their tutoring businesses. Tutor Route is a team of certified teachers, counselors, consultants, and masterclass instructors serving students, professionals, and entrepreneurs. Tutor Route’s goal is to support lifelong learners every step of their journey. For more information about Tran’s 6-Figure Tutor Masterclass, please visit https://6figtutormasterclass.localtutorroute.com/6-figure-tutor-masterclass or download the Tutor
