Meet Stephanie Nerissa White of Stephanie’s Advanced Mentoring

Today we’d like to introduce you to Stephanie Nerissa White.

Stephanie, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
My husband and I worked for the city government. When you are in an appointed position, you serve at the will and pleasure of whoever is in office; my husband and I were both appointed.

When there was a changing of the guards, I lost my appointed position because the person who took office did not see a need for my department across the city. My husband also lost his job. I look at most situations as the average person might, but I always try to find the silver lining.

Having received our termination letters (at Christmas time – but no one cares about timing or family seemingly) with a two year old son, I thought, “Well, I don’t have to wear suits everyday. I can wear yoga pants and take my baby places!”

Realistically, I knew I would return to work. But, I was looking forward to spending time with my son. So, I invested that time in teaching my son how to read. Because he and I were always together, I didn’t realize how outstanding it was to others that a 2 year old could read.

Because of the many inquiries regarding how did I get him to read at an early age, I thought, “I could turn this into a business.” And, that is how I began Stephanie’s Advanced Mentoring.

Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way? Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
When I began I did not have as many challenges as most would regarding overhead, start-up costs, etc.

With tutoring children (starting with pre-k 2 and going to third grade), I had the option of meeting at a library or doing in-home tutoring. I was a bit concerned about how to let people know I was tutoring and what kind of response I would get. But, posting videos of my son reading seemingly was just the publicity I needed. All of my open spots filled within two weeks.

The only challenge I had was when I had a parent who said I was not actually tutoring her child and discontinued paying for the services I actually rendered. I think it hurt my feelings more than anything else because even if someone were slow to pay or had late payments, I was not going to penalize the child and his/her learning.

Despite having video footage on my phone from various days and the person who owned the site having cameras, the parent did not complete the payment. As a first-time business owner, I never thought about anything like that happening. Since I have not had anyone make such an accusation.

Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your business?
I offer private reading tutoring for children 2 years old to third grade. I also partner with some great local educational facilities to work with more students and parents.

My mission is to make a difference in lives through education. People have become too desensitized toward education, allowing mediocrity to be a substitute for excellence. I want to help children and parents to see how much farther we can go when we strive for true excellence in our approach to education and the investment it really is in our children’s future occupations. I go beyond the boundaries of the classroom.

Unlike some tutoring services, I treat each student as a unique individual. I know that every​ child has different learning styles; a classroom setting may not always afford a child to be taught to his learning modality. That is why I sit down with the scholar and the scholar’s parent to develop a program that fits the student’s specific needs and learning abilities. My process is unique, focusing on the child’s areas of improvement and approach to learning.

I, too, have expanded with the women’s organization – Women’s Sync, a branch of Stephanie’s Advanced Mentoring that works with women ages 17-40 in advancing the professional and personal relationships that will foster stronger bonds among women to build the community.

What was your favorite childhood memory?
My favorite childhood memory actually deals with my love for reading. My mom would take me to the book store on Fridays (I think – if I recall correctly), and I would pick out books. It was the biggest deal for me! But, I read so quickly that I’d finish the books she bought me by Saturday.

I would stay up past my bedtime with a flashlight under the covers reading books. I just couldn’t leave a story unfinished. I began chapter books at a very early age (just as my son has), so I would purposely select books that had at least 200 pages or more.

While I desperately wanted more books, it would tickle me how my mom would seem flustered by how quickly I read the books, but she didn’t want to discourage me by talking about how much the books cost or the fact that I’d read them so quickly. So she decided to get me a library card, thinking I would have access to all the books I wanted. I was so angry!

Why would I want to read a book and then have to give it back with my new “credit card?” She bought things with her credit card and didn’t have to return them. I thought credit cards were such a rip-off!

Contact Info:

• Email: Stephanie@StephanieNerissa.com
• Website: StephanieNerissa.com
• Instagram: @StephanieNerissa1908

Image Credits
Stephanie Nerissa, White Angela Myers, and Takeisha Woodson (Circle of Life Photography)