EP #150 How To Plan College Early And Pay Less

College planning doesn’t fall apart because families don’t care, it falls apart because they start too late and chase the same obvious scholarships everyone else sees. I’m joined by Dr. Christie Wilson of Invest N Others to talk about what changes when you treat college admissions, college funding, and career exploration as a long game you can actually win.

We get into the real work behind scholarships and why “middle school” is not an exaggeration when it comes to building options. Dr. Wilson shares her own path to earning a full scholarship to Hampton University in electrical engineering, then explains how that experience turned into a mission to help other families find money, strengthen student profiles, and build practical skills that matter in school and at work. We also talk about professional development services like executive coaching, leadership development, conflict resolution, and effective communication training, because college and career success are connected.

You’ll hear what it looks like to start with a free 30-minute consultation, how a tailored plan helps students stand out, and why exposure matters so much, from hands-on STEM activities to simple college visits during everyday travel. Dr. Wilson also shares her newest tool, the free AI-powered Hidden Gem Scholarship Finder app, built to surface local and niche scholarships for high school, college, grad school, certifications, vocational school, and even career changers.

If you know a parent who’s stressed about tuition or a student who needs a clearer path, share this conversation with them, then subscribe and leave a review so more families can find it. What’s the earliest age you think college planning should start?

Christie Wilson

Invest N Others LLC

investnothers.com

info@investnothers.com

+1 571-310-1764

Transcript

Welcome To FXBG Neighbors

Speaker 0:01

This is the Fredericksburg Neighbors Podcast, the place where local businesses and neighbors come together. Here's your host, Dori Stewart.

What Invest N Others Does

Speaker 1 0:13

Welcome back to another episode of the FXBG Neighbors Podcast, where we share the stories of our favorite local brands. I have a special guest joining me today. We've got Dr. Christie Wilson, and she is with Invest N Others. Dr. Christie Wilson, welcome to the podcast. Thank you very much, Dori, and I'm super happy to be here today. Well, I'm excited to learn more about you and about your business. So let's start there. Share with us what is Invest N Others?

Speaker 2 0:46

Absolutely. So Invest N Others is a consulting firm that I established back in 2018 that really focuses on investing in others so that they can maximize their potential and envision a brighter future. We try to focus on educational, career, and professional development with our company. We tackle areas such as career, career exploration, college admissions, and college funding. I focus a lot on helping individuals, whether they're in high school, postgraduate school, or professionals, find scholarships for different endeavors, educational endeavors they may have, and so much more. We also offer executive coaching, leadership development, uh training, conflict resolution, effective communications training, and more, really to try to help individuals to really showcase and fine-tune a lot of those skills that they need to really be competitive in today's climate.

The Scholarship Story That Started It

Speaker 1 1:52

Amazing. I'm really impressed at the um breadth of services that you offer. You do a lot to help a lot of people. I absolutely love what you're doing, but I want to learn how how did you get into this? Tell me the backstory. I want to learn how you started this business.

Speaker 2 2:12

I'll try to make it brief. So years ago, when I was in high school, I'm the youngest of three daughters, and I have a set of older twin sisters. And so when it my hit my senior year of high school, my sisters were both in college. And I went home, I did all these college tours, and I told my parents I wanted to go to Hampton University and I wanted to major in engineering. And my mother's like, wait a minute, Hampton's a private school, it's quite expensive. It'll be three of you in college at the same time. You need to find either a more affordable school or find scholarships. So I went on this journey to find scholarships, and I was blessed and fortunate enough to get a full scholarship to attend Hampton University, majoring in electrical engineering. And when that happened, and there's a long story behind it, but to keep it brief, when that happened, I told myself that if ever given the opportunity to pay it forward, I would do the same for others. So fast forward years later, I uh started helping family members with their college pursuits and finding funding for college, and it kind of spun off from there to helping young adults to understand some of the professional etiquette and interpersonal skills needed to be successful in a work environment. And it really spun off into a lot of just me sharing personal strategies and insights. And then I had my sons. They were young, and I would be out at the boys and girls club with them as they're practicing football, talking to parents. And then talking to parents, I realized parents still need a lot of information on how to get their kids into college or find a career post-high school and how to fund these endeavors. And so I started sharing resources with them. Then I came home one day and I told my sons, by then we I was, I think they were in middle school to high school. And I said, Boys, I want to write a book, but I don't want to write just about anything fictional. I want to write about something that's gonna be impactful and helpful. And my oldest son said, Mom, you're always helping people with their career and college planning pursuits. Why don't you write about that? And the light bulb came on, and that's when I wrote my books, College Planning Strategies. I wish someone had told me. And after I wrote that book, I had families all across the country saying, Well, Dr. Christie, we got into college, but how are we gonna pay for it? Which is equally important. And so I wrote the second book, College Funding Strategies. I Wish Someone Had Told Me. And so that I wish someone had told me tagline has kind of followed all of my products and services since then, because I try to share um impactful things that are practical, that individuals and families and organizations can take away and apply directly. But one of the key things my son said to me was, Mom, don't just tell us what to do, show us how. So most of my products and services, not only did I write the books that you can probably see in the background, but they each have an accompany workbook. So I share strategies and I also show individuals how to go about doing those things so that they can be more marketable and they can differentiate themselves from others who may be applying to the same colleges or for the same financial resources. So that's really kind of the impetus for how I got into the area. And I talk about it with such passion because the things that I want to share are the things that most people aren't quite talking about the same way.

How Consulting And Workshops Work

Speaker 1 5:43

Interesting. I love that. And I love that uh it was your son that kind of gave you a little bit of a nudge. What a great story. I love that so much because you not only have your own experience with yourself going through it, but then with your children as well. So you really have a lot of experience. So I would love to learn if someone is listening and they want to work with you, walk me through the process. If someone, you know, is inspired by this interview and they want to work with you, how do they begin and what does that process look like?

Speaker 2 6:19

Sure. Um, so if someone was interested, whether it was with needing help trying to get admitted into college or finding scholarships, or they just want to work on their own individual professional development, for example, they could give me a call or send me an email or visit my website, the contact us page, and they would be able to set up a consultation. I'll do a 30-minute free consultation just to kind of fact-find, understand their goals, career goals, educational goals, professional goals. And then we would uh lay out a strategic plan that would help them to be able to fine-tune whatever that area of focus is for them. Um, I have also worked with individuals or groups to do workshops. Sometimes I'll have organizations will reach out and say, hey, we would love for our group of teens or professionals to get more guidance through a workshop or a webinar. So I'll offer those services as well. But one of the key things I want to do is tailor, they tailor the services and the products that are needed based on what the individual or organization has a need for. So it would start with kind of a client assessment to understand what they want to focus on, and then we'll build a plan that will um suit their needs.

When To Start College Planning

Speaker 1 7:40

Amazing. When should people, when should parents start thinking about this? Like when is a good time to contact you?

Speaker 2 7:49

Right away. Um, one of the things that I share, um I speak a lot um with uh school administrators. I've worked with our Stafford County public uh school superintendent on different initiatives in the past and so many others. But one of the key things I'll share is one of the misnomers is that, oh, I can just wait until my junior or senior year of high school. Yes, you can, but you're leaving some critical opportunities on the table to start early. So one of the things I would share with families is start as early as middle school. I mean, even as early as elementary, with at least saving funding, um, setting aside money, um, considering a 529 plan. But certainly by middle school, what I notice is my sons, they took high school classes in the eighth grade. So as soon as your um your youth, your children, family members start to accumulate or build their high school GPA, that's always a great starting point to understand and to get them involved with career exploration. And because I'm a STEM professional, I always want to shout out the future of STEM professions. But one of the things that I see is that we lose youth interested in STEM as early as middle school. So if there's any opportunities to keep them engaged with math, science, technology, engineering, all those things in middle school, getting them more involved with more interesting and hands-on activities, highly recommend it. But certainly starting early, getting them to start exploring and getting opportunities around different types of careers because exposure matters. Um, it's hard to make a decision about your future if you haven't been exposed to many things. So start early, build your initial career and college plan, talk about it with your uh parents, talk about it with your uh your children, and in that way you can build a portfolio and start to get them those experience and exposure early on. Start looking at colleges. One of the things I did, Dory, with my sons when they were probably as early as six years old. Whenever we would travel, I don't care if it was to grandma's house or to, you know, three hours away or across the country, we would always find a local college to visit. So their college touring didn't start as a junior, it started organically as a part based on where we already would find ourselves. Because the more you can introduce them to different environments, the more they can see themselves in those environments. So by the time they hit high school, they're narrowing it down. They're being more deliberate and focused about those things.

Speaker 1 10:39

I love that so much. That is such great advice. And you're right, uh, when they can start to visualize themselves as a college student, it doesn't feel like this overwhelming thing. They already have it, you know. I'm going to college and they've already thinking about careers. And yeah, I mean, getting them introduced to whether it's STEM or other careers, even as early as preschool, you know, is is so important. So such um so many golden nuggets in in that. Thank you for sharing that with us.

unknown 11:15

Absolutely.

Speaker 1 11:17

So if the listeners want to uh learn from you, if they want to connect with you, um, you mentioned uh your website. Give us all your contact information so parents know how to contact you.

Speaker 2 11:29

Absolutely. Certainly visit my um Invest N Others website. It's www.invest the letter N others with an s dot com. Investnothers.com. Also, feel free to subscribe to my YouTube channel, Invest N Others. Um, and the N is just the letter N, Invest the letter N Others on my YouTube channel. And I can be reached by email at invest N others with an s18 at gmail.com. And I'm very approachable um in my books. Also, you can feel free to purchase my books. You can get those on my website, the resources I've talked about. And I'll tell you a funny story. I had a young lady who uh found my email address because it is in both of my books, because I want families to reach out if they have questions. And she was a high school senior, and when she called, it rings to my Google number, and I answered. And she said, Oh my gosh, I can't believe you answered. But that's what this work is about. It's about connecting with individuals, it's about reaching families, it's about helping individuals just like you and I, who are everyday parents, mothers, professionals, working citizens who are trying to maximize all of our resources, get connected with others who have great resources. And so I want to make sure that I'm available to do so.

Speaker 1 12:57

Amazing, amazing. What a gift you are to parents. Thank you so much for joining me on the podcast today and sharing Invest N Others with us. I will put all of that information in the show notes so parents can easily find you. And thank you so much for joining me.

AI App For Hidden Scholarships

Speaker 2 13:13

Thank you. And can I shout out one more thing before we absolutely? So I'm most proud of a new app that I have just launched. It's called Hidden Gem Scholarship Finder. And I would be remiss if I did not mention that. It is an AI-powered app to help individuals, whether you are in high school, college, graduate school, switching careers, gaining a certification, going to a vocational school. It will help you. You put in your profile information, and it will help you to find local niche scholarships that ordinarily you would not be able to find easily. So you can get it on the Google uh Play Store or the App Store, and it's 100% free. Hidden Gem Scholarship Finder.

Speaker 1 14:01

Amazing. Thank you so much for sharing with that with us. What a great resource. You are just such a um such great resource for parents. I really appreciate you joining me today.

Speaker 2 14:14

Thank you so much for the invitation and best of luck. Thank you.

Speaker 14:20

Thank you for listening to the Fredericksburg Neighbors Podcast. To nominate your favorite local businesses to be featured on the show, go to FXRBG NeighborsPodcast.com.