The Business of College Consulting
The Business of College Consulting
Scaling a College Consulting Business While Raising Quintuplets
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Margaret Baudinet shares her journey from college consultant to CEO of College Solutions, balancing business growth while raising quintuplets and building a thriving consulting practice with specialized services and a team of seven counselors. Margaret shares her journey:
• Purchasing College Solutions from founder Larry Dannenberg in July 2020 during the pandemic
• Transitioning from a small team to a comprehensive organization with leadership roles and specialized services
• Managing the surprise of quintuplets born in 2016 while maintaining her consulting career
• Developing grade-specific packages for underclassmen to provide flexibility and improve cash flow
• Raising prices while effectively communicating value to clients
• Building strong referral networks with financial planners as primary sources
• Using Boomerang email software to manage inbox and improve productivity
• Creating targeted growth strategies focused on specific markets rather than general expansion
• Embracing the concept of work-life "seasons" rather than perfect balance
• Hiring team members who complement your weaknesses and leverage tools like ChatGPT for processes
https://www.collegesolutions.com/
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Welcome to the Business of College Consulting podcast. I'm your host, brooke Daly, founder and CEO of Advantage College Planning and Advantage College Planning. Franchising, building and growing a business is not for the faint of heart. In this podcast, you'll hear incredible stories from successful college consultants about growing a thriving business. They'll share the secrets behind their remarkable growth and the trials and triumphs shaping their path to success. Welcome to the Business of College Consulting Podcast. I'm your host, Brooke Daly, and today I have the pleasure of talking to Margaret Bonnet of College Solutions, owner and CEO. Welcome, margaret.
Speaker 2:Thank you, I'm so happy to be here. I love your podcast and I'm a little nerding out, because I love doing these things and I love being here with you.
Speaker 1:Oh, thank you. Well, likewise, I'm so excited to have you and I know you have a great story and I can't wait to hear more. Let's start out with your origin story. So you didn't start out as a business owner, right?
Speaker 2:No, not a business owner. I actually tell a lot of people I had no interest in owning a business. My degree is in rhetoric, of all things, so this was not something I planned at any point in my college career.
Speaker 1:That's amazing. So you were a college consultant for College Solutions, originally owned by Larry Dannenberg. For those of you in the industry, you may have met Larry back in the day. I was just telling Margaret, before we hit record, that I met Larry at one of my first HECA conferences in either 2009 or 2010. He was also one of the very first College Planner Pro users. So Travis, my husband and I got to know him really well and he had some fabulous recommendations for us as we were first getting started, and we're forever grateful. So tell me what, what does that like? To go from a consultant on a team to owning the team?
Speaker 2:It's a big change and you know change is a constant. I tell my kids that all the time, but it was something I thought I was ready for and then you realize what you don't know and then you kind of have to spend that next, you know, six, 12 months finding people who can fill the gaps and you're knowledge-based. But you know, working for Larry, I was all admissions and sales that you know. He gave me the admit Atlantic market. I live here in Charlottesville, virginia and so he said you know, go figure out what these people want and let's do it.
Speaker 2:And I think one of the things I liked most about working for Larry is that he trusted me and he listened to me and when I said we need to do it this way, he's great, let's try it. So I had been managing the Virginia, north Carolina and the South for him. I worked for him from 2014 to 2020 as a counselor, slash, salesperson, slash, whatever else he asked me to do. And at that point my kids were two or three and he said I'm ready to retire, so either I'm going to sell this sucker or you're going to buy it In very traditional, straightforward. Larry and my kids were young, they were about to turn four and I thought, oh my gosh, I'm not ready for this. But at this point I loved the business so much and I loved the people in the business that it was just one of those things of like, all right, we'll wing it, it'll be fine, It'll be fine.
Speaker 1:So, Margaret, for those listeners who don't know about your family, can you share when you say they, when you refer to your own kiddos? Explain that a little bit.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I get a lot of confused looks when I say, oh Mike, the big kids are eight and they're like kids plural and they're like kids plural. And yeah, in 2015, early 2016, we got the surprise of a lifetime that I was pregnant with quintuplets and that is five. For those of you who are thinking triplets is three and quads is four, yep, quints is five and we never imagined that we would have this large of a family. I don't come from a large family personally, but it was one of those things of we're supposed to do this, like we're given this challenge, and my husband is just like super dad he is dad of the year every day in my life and we moved to Arizona. We worked with a specialist, literally closed our house and put the dog in the car and drove to Arizona and worked with the kind of national leader in multiple births. His name is John Elliott and he has a practice in Phoenix and so we moved out there and we're like we're just going to be here until the babies are born. And I was swimming every day and I was taking care of my body and Larry gave me unlimited time off. He was like just go figure this out and have all these babies and then come back and it was incredible. And the kids are eight, about to be nine, in December.
Speaker 2:But the story I love to tell about how meaningful this work is after the kids were born they were born at 32 weeks, they were born in December, so it's RSV season for all moms who are thinking it's winter and I have to get these five premature babies home from Arizona to Virginia. And you know, the kids were not very sick when they were born, thank the Lord. And so a lot of these flights that you can book, private flights, are for really sick people, understandably so, and I couldn't find a way to get us home and I didn't want to fly five preemies commercial in RSV season, and so I was blogging at that point. I love to blog, I love to write, and my students were reading my blog because they were missing me and I was missing them and I was saying like I don't know how I'm going to get the kids home, etc. Etc.
Speaker 2:And one of my students is a member of a family that could afford a private jet and so she called her dad and was like you need to get a jet for Margaret, send it for her. And he called me on the phone and said, margaret, this is the stork calling, I'm sending my plane for you for tomorrow. Me on the phone and said, margaret, this is the stork calling, I'm sending my plane for you for tomorrow. Go stand on the tarmac with your five car seats. And he never lets me tell who he is. He has always been my angel. But those are the connections you build in this kind of college support network. These are the families that get my Christmas cards and that I adore, like my own family. But it wouldn't have been possible if I didn't have the job that I did.
Speaker 1:Oh my goodness, I have complete goosebumps.
Speaker 2:Not going to cry. That is amazing. It is amazing and I still keep up with their family. I worked with all three of their kids. I'm sure you have those families where you know all the family. You know the kids and the dog. I have one family. I was at their house doing an in-person meeting and one of the girls got their first promposal, which I had never heard of at the time. But I got to see that, like you see these windows into the real family that you work with and I love that about our work so cool.
Speaker 1:So cool, okay. So that's a big trend Like there. So there's a lot happening here A transition from having, and now you have more children too, right yeah?
Speaker 2:Major surprise, major surprise. We were not planning on doing more children, but Lily was born in October of 2023. So she'll be two in a few months and you know, to watch her, my husband stays home full time and to watch her love him is such a beautiful thing and of course, she loves me and but I am, I am the alternate, like dad is the focus and the love and and she just adores him, the way that all people deserve to be loved. But oh my, my gosh, it's a beautiful thing.
Speaker 1:That's so sweet, and kudos to you for being brave enough to admit that.
Speaker 2:But number one Taking some time. I don't necessarily like it, but it's brilliant, exactly.
Speaker 1:So let's talk about the transition to ownership. Yeah, oh, and remind it was in 2020.
Speaker 2:2020. Yeah, I bought the business in July 1st of 2020. Wow, oh, wow, yeah, we were in the thick of it. We were, we were, and I had never been a business owner. I'd only been on the sales side. So, accounting and bookkeeping and cashflow forecasting and all these words that were being thrown at me I was literally looking them up as accountants were saying these things to me. I was literally looking them up as accountants were saying these things to me. But because of COVID, so much of our business became virtual that it was easier for me as a working mom to go in the basement and do what I needed to do on Zoom but then be able to close up shop and still be home for dinner. So in some ways, it was a blessing that I was able to work remotely, but there was such a learning curve on the business planning side that I was able to work remotely, but there was such a learning curve on the business planning side that I really had to hire more counselors so that I could focus on learning the business.
Speaker 1:That makes sense. So can you paint a picture of what the business looked like, like the roles that were on the team when you bought it? And then what does College Solutions look like today?
Speaker 2:Yeah. So it's interesting Larry always believed in a small team for a variety of very smart reasons, but he also had an MBA. He was very well-versed in the business. So when I was working for him, he was a counselor and the owner. I was a counselor and a salesperson and we had an admin person who kind of did all the backside CPP magic and that was it, and I did essays for him. I did everything else and it was very simple, but with me now wearing the business owner hat, I couldn't review essays, I couldn't do counseling meetings until 9pm like I used to, and so I really had to take a step back and think okay, what can I do? That I enjoy, but what do I need to do for the business? And the business grew quickly, which I was very thankful for.
Speaker 2:But with growth comes so much more responsibility and the need for structure, which Larry and I didn't have, that we just we did what we loved and we made money and it was fine.
Speaker 2:But by hiring more counselors and then building out the admin team.
Speaker 2:We needed standard operating procedures, we needed a sales strategy, we needed target markets so many things that I had just never done before, and I'm so grateful that the folks that came to work with me were patient with me and understood she's doing her best, but there are some things she doesn't really know how to do this, and several of the two VPs on my staff. Right now we have a COO who supports me and then two VPs one VP of development and one VP of counseling who supports the counseling staff and they are such patient, kind individuals but also know when to tell me like, hey, these are great ideas, but we need you to like come back to real life, because I am the visionary, I love to think big. I love to think how we can serve our parents and students better, that they live in the day-to-day. He's doing sales meetings. She's meeting with our counselors, so now we have a leadership team and then we have seven total counselors on the staff One law school counselor and then six undergrad counselors.
Speaker 1:Very cool, and did you just add test prep and tutoring?
Speaker 2:Did For the longest time I have been referring test prep out, which has worked fine, but I think those of us who are familiar with the industry know that the quality can vary from really, really good to maybe something that leaves something desired. And I found a tutor that I just think is the jam. He's honest and enthusiastic and loves students the way I do. So I said to him I'm like I think we could do this together and it would be really fun and we could help each other. And he is such an open, honest guy that it's been great. And so now we do SAT and ACT and LSAT tutoring.
Speaker 1:Awesome. Oh, that's so cool. Can we talk? One thing that you and I had talked about in our last conversation, I think, is pricing, and I'll be totally transparent and say we raised our prices 25% today and it's been a great thing for us. Knock on wood, we haven't had any pushback, even with siblings, and that's a huge jump.
Speaker 2:That's a huge jump for the siblings. That's always hard in our business.
Speaker 1:And we do give a 10% sibling discount, so that softens it a little bit, but when you're talking about a complete plan at 25%, it's a lot. I would love to know your perspective on not obviously the specifics of what you charge, but being confident in your pricing and maybe a little bit about how price equates value. I would just love to hear your philosophy on pricing.
Speaker 2:Oh my gosh, I feel like we could talk for days on this. We too, raised our prices last year about 20%, and it was critical because we are a larger practice with higher overhead now. But it's hard, I think. When you have a relationship with these families and they have come to trust you, having to share a new pricing structure can sometimes feel icky I think that's the best way I know how to describe it, and so I've really been coaching our counselors on how to translate what we do to value, not just about scholarships, which are a really big part of our process, but also about the number of meetings that we offer and then the in-between meeting support that we offer. That's really important for counselors to understand.
Speaker 2:The business side of it, I think, is something I've learned a lot from, because when I worked for Larry, he only did one package. It was comprehensive, as much as you needed. Come as you are, we'll get you into college, which I love, the simplicity of it. But from a business management side of it, it's a little messy and a lot of the counselors want more structure because they don't want to have to feel like they are beholden to families to work 50, 60, 70 hours. So we've really changed it to more of a deliverable strategy. So when families come to us we'll say you know, how many colleges do you think you want help with? Do you want you know 20 colleges? Do you want 10 colleges? And I think focusing on the outcome helps parents, because parents don't really know what they need to know until they're knee deep in the process. But I think asking them like how many schools do you think you want your child to apply to? Is at least something they know the answer to or something close to the answer. So that's been helpful in learning from parents what they think they need.
Speaker 2:But we've also broken down our underclassmen packages because every kind of financial strategist that looks at my book says wait a minute, you're taking on a ninth grader and agreeing to serve them for four years. Like, how is this working from an accounting standpoint? So we've broken it out into an eighth grade package, a ninth grade package and a 10th grade package. So families who are just coming to us early which I love, the babies, they're my favorite they can just try us out right Of, like we just want to try for ninth grade and see if this actually is helpful. We want help picking our classes. We want help talking about summer, but then we want to see if this feels right. Cool, let's do that.
Speaker 2:So then it becomes almost like a subscription model where they can roll into the next academic year and receive a loyalty discount for sticking with us. But they can also try different counselors on my staff, of like, okay, we want to work with the guy who does music in ninth grade because we're building our, our oboe, you know symposium. But then we want to try, like the super select admissions guy who can give us some advice on how to get into Northwestern or whatever it is. So that's been fun to allow families more flexibility but also a lower price tag, because I think when a ninth grade family comes to you and says I want to work with you and you hand them this comprehensive package, that's expensive, it's hard, you know, and it's hard for them and it's hard for us. So this has really freed the staff just to focus on what the family needs right now and if they want to stay with us, they can, but they're not locked into something that may not be a good fit for them.
Speaker 1:I love it and the financial benefit is real from an accounting. Oh, it's real. Yes, it's real, awesome. You know, one of the things I'll just share when we upped our prices that others may find helpful is the way that we framed it to families and still do is that, due to the complexity of the admission process and the needs of our students, we're reducing our caseload so that each consultant is not working with as many and therefore we have to raise prices. So there's the benefit in like, you're going to get possibly more time and attention from your consultant because they won't have as large of a caseload we work with and I'm sure your team does too. Like we work with a large caseload and due to a transition with one of my team members in May, I realized, oh, the liability is huge for the number of students we have per consultant. I want to make sure we build in some capacity so that, if we do have someone leave or something happens, that we have some spots to divvy up students and to get those students taken care of.
Speaker 2:So, yes, and we work in a very At a high burnout kind of role, right, and I'm so protective of the counselors probably more protective than I am of myself but I never want them to feel like my caseload is so big that I can't enjoy the work, because it is the humanity piece of this work that I think keeps us all in the business, and that's something I'm always keeping an eye on, because somebody gets pregnant or somebody has a change in their spouse's job. Life happens and you want to build in that flexibility for sure.
Speaker 1:Yes, do you have any advice for newer consultants just coming online with their business with pricing?
Speaker 2:I think I always use ChatGPT as what I call a thought partner, and so I will put in the things that I do or that my staff does for a family and ask it for feedback. I don't let it set my prices, but I really lean into this idea that ChatGPT can be a thought partner and offer strategic advice, then share it with those that you trust and ask for their feedback. But that's been kind of a game changer for me. Put in your P&L and let it give you suggestions. It's been a fun way to kind of brainstorm on my end.
Speaker 1:Very cool, great suggestion. That's awesome. Okay, what has been your Since you became owner? What's been your biggest business challenge? There's so many.
Speaker 2:I think caseload, but also the liability on the books, because I'm always mindful of if a family signs up with us. I want them to have the best experience, I want them to feel seen and I want them to feel like we have given them the resources to really thrive in the process. We can't control the outcome that's kind of the yucky part of what we do. But I think making sure that I can build out a structure so that the counselors feel a quality of life but that the family, the clients, also feel like they are getting a quality service has been really tricky and I'm hopeful that these underclassmen packages will start to make a difference because there are only so many hours in a day and I want the staff and the clients to feel supported. But trying to figure out how those packages make sense in the practice but also for the people has been hard.
Speaker 1:It is tough. I can appreciate that. How about marketing? What would you say is and again, thinking about newer consultants maybe who are just coming online, but then also experienced consultants who are growing a business and a team Do you have any tips around marketing, Like what has worked?
Speaker 2:best. You know, I think so much of our business is referral-based, which I always consider the highest form of a compliment. If somebody refers College Solutions to one of their friends, I thank them. I write thank you notes because I was raised in the Deep South. I write thank you notes because I was raised in the deep South and we write thank you notes. So I think referral-based marketing is valuable.
Speaker 2:I think one of the things I did early in my career was I joined BNI, business Networking International, where one person from each field is represented in a small group, basically, and there's weekly meetings to discuss how to create referrals for each person in the group. I learned a lot about how to talk to prospects or even how to talk to B2B referrals and I think finding something like that it doesn't have to be B&I necessarily, but that worked really well for me to learn about other folks in my community that were small business owners, because that's really where the magic lies of finding peers in this industry and in others that you can ask hey, how are you doing this? Or this is really hard. What do I do? And that's one of the beauties of what you do and I do, brooke, so I like that idea for newer folks in the industry.
Speaker 1:Yes, exactly that community connection, I agree, and actually we've had. It's funny, we've joined a couple of different chambers and we have one in particular. That's not the biggest chamber of commerce in our area, but that's been really helpful with just even meeting people in like human resources or at different corporations to host us for lunch and learns or whatever it might be. So I recommend the chamber as well, just as a way to get to know other business owners in your community, and then you never know where those connections might lead.
Speaker 2:So, yeah, when I'm meeting with new IECs or folks that are considering it, I always tell them that financial planners should be on speed dial. Those folks send the best referrals. These are families that are thinking about how to manage their money and how to spend it in a smart way. I probably spent the first two years working for Larry taking a different financial planner to lunch once a month and I would just research financial planners and how they did business and what their products were, and we'd go to lunch and we'd talk about how they do their business and how do I do my business. And it has become this really cool referral network and we do lunch and learns for them. We do all kinds of fun stuff. But that's another place that I think, if you're new to the industry, financial planners where it's at.
Speaker 1:I love it. That's a great suggestion, actually it's funny. I had when I first started doing presentations in my community. I would have financial planners who would come to the presentations. Yeah, totally, and I met a lot of financial planners that way who I'm still connected with, and that was a long time ago. Yeah, okay, with the size of your family and the size of your business, this question is probably selfish just as much as it is beneficial for the audience. But talk to me about your productivity organization. Clearly you have to be uber organized in order to manage both. So what is your like? What's the secret, margaret?
Speaker 2:I wish there was a secret. I have to be really careful, because my mom is a very productive person and I grew up with someone who really knew how to squeeze the most productivity out of one day. But I think as a result I started to think that I was only valuable if I was productive, and this idea that I would go on a vacation and not do anything all day started to become further and further away from what I considered part of me, and so I've really had to be intentional with telling myself productivity does not equal value and not everything is urgent. I tell myself that all the time, because I can really get stuck in the whirlwind of emails and people who need to hear from me and all the things, and I just kind of have to take a minute because productivity does not equal value. And I've learned that I can only stick with my email a couple hours in the morning and then I have to step away from it and focus on my project-based stuff or I call it the humans, the human side of my stuff and then come back to it before I leave the office and then I'm done. No more work after dinner, None of that. I have to turn it off, otherwise I burn out.
Speaker 2:I've been in this industry now almost 15 years and I've come very close multiple times to being like you know what. I'm just going to be a greeter at the grocery store and call it a day. So I can't, I can't do it, and I think the best trick that I've learned is a software called Boomerang. I don't know if you guys use this, but basically you can tell it, you send an email and then you can tell it. You send an email and then you can tell it when to send it back to you.
Speaker 2:So this morning I sent an email to a financial planner saying hey, I know you want to do a lunch and learn. Here's this date, tell me what you think. And then at the bottom I check a box that says Okay, bring this back to me to the top of my inbox on Friday, so if I haven't heard from this person, I can check back in with them, and then it takes it out of your inbox. So it's not just sitting there, which is like a very productive feeling, but then Friday morning it'll pop up and I'll be like, oh gosh, I haven't talked to Steven. Let me see if I can give him a call, so Boomerang has been really helpful for me.
Speaker 1:Amazing, I have to say, that you have such a calming presence. You were in my office was it the week before the November 1st deadlines last fall? Yeah, you were cool as a cucumber. We're just chatting and then I find out how many students you're working with and I'm like what are you doing here right now? How is this even possible? I think you are superhuman in that way to be able to be so calm and cool and I just I love that perspective. Thank you, yeah, and you're right, like our work, like we are not emergency room surgeons, right? Yeah, there is a difference between what's urgent and what can wait. So, and I'm sure that with your list of things to do, you have to prioritize.
Speaker 2:Yeah, you do, and I think some days you get it right and some days you stink. Yesterday it was great. I took the day off. We played outside, we were jumping on the trampoline as a family Nailed it. Yes, last Sunday I worked all day and I was cranky and I didn't eat right. So, like, some days it's great and some days you just stink.
Speaker 1:Awful. Yeah, I completely get that. You're right. But I was talking to another consultant about work-life balance and how that's really a fallacy. Like it's either you're focused on work or you're focused on your family and this perception that you can have this beautiful, balanced life just does not exist. It's like you either feel like you're in one or the other, and I always and I tell my kids this we have seasons, right, there are seasons where I can spend more time with them, and then there are seasons where I have to focus on my work more and they get they're old enough now that they understand it's like, oh, this is her season. They know mom's busy and I think it's good for them to just like to be able to understand and learn. And then, when they have a three week break, sometimes I get to spend two full weeks with them and not really work a whole lot. So there are pros and cons, but, yeah, this perception that we have to strike this balance, that's all perfect and beautiful, is just Not a thing. Not a thing.
Speaker 2:Not a thing. No, I do block off 5.30 to 7 every afternoon. Well, maybe four afternoons a week I will block off 5.30 to 7. So I'm there for finishing homework dinner and then I might do another seven o'clock client call, but at that point my husband does bedtime because he's a rock star. But they know she's going to be there for dinner. We do high-low Buffalo in my family, so the best part of your day, the worst part of your day, and then something silly in your day, she's going to be there for high-low Buffalo. And at least they know this is when we're going to have time to connect with mom and I know I'll have time to connect with them.
Speaker 1:I love that. Thank you for sharing Boomerang. First of all, like I will be looking that up as soon as we're finished with our recording. That sounds amazing because I'm always like I'm an inbox zero kind of person, like I always try and get to zero. It rarely happens, rarely ever. Maybe if I'm going on vacation I will intentionally get it there, but no, it never happened. So I will be looking that up. So, thinking about someone, a consultant, who wants to grow You've grown a team pretty significantly over the last five years. What is one piece of advice you would have for consultants as they're establishing their systems and how they do things in order to facilitate that growth?
Speaker 2:I tell students this when we're writing essays but specific is terrific. And when you were growing a market I encourage newer consultants to pick a market. Don't just say I'm going to grow by 20% in the next 12 months. It's like wait. But where do you want to grow? Is there a city that you want to grow in? Is there a package that you want to grow? Is there a certain demographic? Do you want more musicians? Do you want whatever it is?
Speaker 2:For me, I wanted the South. I love the South. Those are my people. I speak football, and so I said to myself I think I want to start with Charlotte. I love those folks and I'm a UVA gal, uva alumni. We stick together and a lot of them live in Charlotte. So I thought, okay, I've got this referral network, I've got the culture that I want, and I think these folks are at a price point where they would think that I was a good value. So, as someone who's thinking about growth, I would encourage them don't just think about global growth, but think about specific markets or specific packages. Then build out your marketing strategy from there. Are there large public schools where students could benefit from your work, or are there private schools that they aren't getting great admissions results and they want somebody as an extra strategist. But there's just so much that you need to know about what you want before really going after it.
Speaker 1:That's awesome, very helpful. I love that idea, too, of like specific is terrific Knowing what it is that you want to grow and how you want to grow. I love the strategy of that. That's awesome. That's the fun part.
Speaker 2:Or even if I have a counselor, that's like I want more students. I'm like cool, tell me who you want. Do you want high flyers, do you want kids with learning differences? And then I'll take that and build that into my growth strategy so they get more students that they really love working with. Everybody wins Cool.
Speaker 1:I love that so smart, and then your teammates are happy and we like that Right.
Speaker 2:We like happy teammates and then they stay, which makes the clients happy.
Speaker 1:Right. How about standard operating procedures? You mentioned that. Yeah, tell me about your journey in creating those. Any tips or tricks?
Speaker 2:for us. I was not a person who speaks in SOPs, I am just like we'll figure it out, no big deal. And I think some of that is based on how I worked with Larry. It's like just go down to Charlotte and meet some people and sign up some clients, whatever. I think as we've grown, this has been a weak point for me. There are people who now depend on me my staff that are like Okay, margaret, but if I sign up a client, do I do a DocuSign or are we doing a PandaDoc? And then how did they pay? And is there a process for payment? The word process and I we're enemies. It's just not sexy for me. I can't get excited.
Speaker 2:And so I finally wrapped my brain around. I am just going to hire somebody who's really good at this, because I'm bad at it, and Maddie on my team. Maddie worked at Colorado College in admissions. She went to Pitzer Cool, cool brain. I love this gal. She loves process. This is what gets her engine revved up, which I'm like great. So here's my business. Will you just start at the base level and help me? And it's been so fun for her because she's having a real impact on the business, and for me it's like oh, I thought it makes sense, but I never would have thought to do it. So if you're not in a position to hire someone, which most people aren't and I totally get that, I think using what you're good at already, but then recognizing your weaknesses and girl ChatGPT writes so many of my SOPs that you wouldn't even know it so lean into AI when you can If you feel comfortable. Some people don't, but I've learned to recognize my own weaknesses and use help.
Speaker 1:I love it. Do you have any recommendations for where people should start? Like thinking about I'm solo, but one day I might want to grow. Where do you start?
Speaker 2:Oh gosh, it's a great question. For me, so much of this is about people and, I think, growing your network, going to conferences and talking to people like you and like me who have grown and love to talk about this stuff. We nerd out on this stuff all the time. I think growing your network, but also growing your observing this industry is so important because it is changing all the time and as you're growing, you want to make sure that you are relevant in the industry. So, reading the HECA newsletters or going to conferences or just asking folks like us like hey, can I hop on a Zoom with you and just ask you questions? Yeah, I'd love to. So I think, mindfulness of the industry, but also growing your network, because you really can't do this without other people offering insight and feedback and maybe wanting to come work for you.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I love it. Thank you, margaret. Anything else you want to share with new or experienced IECs that have been really transformative for you from a business perspective? Anything else that you maybe have read that you would recommend to people. Anything else?
Speaker 2:that you maybe have read that you would recommend to people. Yeah, oh gosh, I mean, I know a lot of us read the same books and we love them. I will say I have really gotten a lot out of the college visits. I just go by myself. I think they're really fun, but sticking around and talking to an admissions person is so useful and most of them are happy to talk to you.
Speaker 2:Some maybe not so much, but most of them are interested in talking to you and learning about the different programs, because the expertise we are considered experts to our clients and being able to demonstrate that expertise of hey, here's this 401 program with architecture and a master's degree, or this honors college is really different, or this block plan could be really cool for your child that demonstration of expertise really sets you apart when you do lunch and learns, or even when you're just at your kid's basketball game talking with another mom, that all counts. So I think just really digging into the ability to build your expertise and, hopefully, enjoying it I always tack it on to like a vacation, like when my kids and I go on vacation like, oh, let's stop at Bowdoin or let's stop it. So it drives them crazy, but I think it's fun.
Speaker 1:Yes, well, and then there's the benefit of writing it off. I mean, if you go, that's right, come on Business expense right, right, that's awesome, margaret, this has been so fun. Thank you for taking the time to share and I would love to have you on again. There are so many things that we could talk about.
Speaker 2:All day long girl Anytime.
Speaker 1:Thank you for listening to this episode of the Business of College Consulting. I hope you enjoyed this episode as much as I did. If you did enjoy it, please leave a review on Apple Podcasts or Spotify or share it with a friend in the college consulting industry. I'll see you next week on our new episode and in the meantime, take care.