Chauncy Gardner on Authentic College Admissions and Student Success

In this episode of Success Leaves Clues Podcast, host Pedro welcomes Chauncy Gardner, founder of Lighthouse College Counseling, for an insightful conversation about helping students and families navigate the college admissions process with confidence and authenticity.

Chauncy shares her journey from educator and dean of students to independent college counselor and entrepreneur. She discusses the challenges of building a business, transitioning from a traditional career, finding the courage to leave behind safety nets, and creating a coaching practice centered on student success rather than prestige.

The conversation explores the realities of college admissions, the importance of aligning student goals with family expectations, pricing and growth as a business owner, and the powerful transformations that happen when young people discover their strengths and build confidence in their future.

Whether you're an entrepreneur, coach, parent, educator, or student, this episode offers valuable lessons about authenticity, leadership, personal growth, and building a business that truly serves others.




Connect with

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/chauncy-gardner-ab76965/
Website: https://www.lighthouse-college-advisors.com/about

Transcript

Chauncy Gardner 0:00

That's a great question. And this is probably the next big leap I need to take. Most of my business has been built through word of mouth so far. And I I do post on Facebook and Instagram and LinkedIn, but not super regularly. And I haven't n and I am a member of a couple of organizations where I'm listed in their directory. But I've it's been, you know, I've got some third, you know, referral from a referral from a referral. I've gotten that deep yet, but I have not yet taken the step of a big leap. So if you're here, you probably talk to somebody else who talked to somebody else who worked with me and was really happy with their outcome.

Davis Nguyen 0:35

Welcome to Success Leaves Clues, the podcast where we interview business owners on how they built their businesses and the hard lessons they learned along the way. My name is David Swain, and I'm a business coach and a founder of Purple Circle, where we help business owners achieve their first six-figure, seven-figure, and eight-figure year, all without sacrificing their quality of life. Before becoming a business coach and before founding Purple Circle, I started and scaled several seven and eight-figure coaching businesses and have been a consultant at several businesses doing over $100 million each, including some that are publicly listed and doing over a billion dollars each. In every episode of the podcast, you're gonna learn lessons that took our guests years to learn, and you'll be able to learn that in minutes. No matter if you're a new business owner or an established business owner, every episode is gonna give you the clues in order to elevate your business.

Pedro 1:40

Before she found her true calling in independent college counseling. Chauncey's approach challenges the anxiety-driven narrative that only admission to a short list of extremely selective schools can lead to success and happiness in life. Her work helps students gain a stronger sense of self and find their authentic voice while helping parents manage the relentless pressure and false shoulds that society reinforces at every turn during the college application process. Chauncey believes the best college plans are built around each student's true strength, ambitions, and dreams, proving that with the right guidance, the college process can shift from stressful to genuinely exciting. Welcome to the show, Chauncey. Thank you. It's good to be here. Great to have you. And I'd love to for us to rewind a bit, you know, back to the origin story because you could be doing so many things, right? Could be a chef, you could be well, kept doing as a teacher, right? Now, eventually you turn to co coaching slash college application coaching specifically. And I would love to understand a little bit more about that, you know, that shift and why coaching, why doing that in the first place?

Chauncy Gardner 3:04

Yeah, well, I'd love to tell that story. So I was a teacher, as you said, and then a dean of students for many, many years, mostly in one school in the small town where I live, but I worked also for a while in San Francisco and before that in New York. And I had been at the school for so long that I started to get a little itchy. I wanted a new challenge, I wanted to try something new. And college counselor is college counseling is a job that exists inside independent schools also. So I started working with our college counselor first informally and then formally, and then became the director of the department within the school. So I was doing the work, but still working at the school. It's funny, I'm still getting used to, you know, when I got the email from Success Leaves Clues, I was like, well, I'm not really a coach, but the more I've thought about it since you guys first reached out and we started talking, the more I realized that that is, in fact, exactly what I'm doing. So anyway, I left the school after my kids graduated to try something new. I worked as a writer for a CEO membership organization for four years, which had nothing at all to do with my previous career. But in that time, I spent a lot of time with CEOs, many of whom were founders, and started to see a possible way that I could combine my previous experience and expertise with my own business. And so that's what really got me started and made me sort of think that this might be possible as a path for me. So interesting. Okay.

Pedro 4:24

It's interesting that you're you thought yourself not necessarily as a coach. And when I read the bio the intro, right, I'm thinking about a guide. I'm thinking about a guide. I'm thinking about someone who faces day-to-day mindset blockers or people that are going through stress. So, well, I see the coach, but let's see it. Well, now I see it.

Chauncy Gardner 4:44

You've helped me see it too. So I'm starting to see it too. And it's actually been a really interesting shift. And interesting. And it's more like a broadening. It's not a shift, it's just kind of broadened a little bit the way that I think about it.

Pedro 4:54

So yeah, it's less on the tactical, it's more about the mindset, right? It's so interesting. Okay. Now I wanna understand one thing, right? Because in the early days, you were college admissionslash coach. You know, I'll call you a coach if that's okay. Yep, yep. And you're you're you're testing waters, I imagine. Like a lot of coaches out there are. They're like saying if this is gonna land, if this is going to happen. But eventually you realize, okay, I'm building a real business around this, you know, this is real, this is something. What was that for you? I mean, was it the first paying client? Was it a feedback you you had from a client? Was it like the first invoice, you know, that you realize, okay, this is happening.

Chauncy Gardner 5:35

I mean, I think the simple answer was when I started thinking about it. I I had worked with a like one or two students while I was while I was working full-time, not really so much at the school because that was what I was doing all the time, but when I was working at the CEO membership organization, and it was a really great experience to work with them outside of their school doing the work that I had done before. And so I started thinking, I wonder if this could be possible. And I guess the moment that I felt like, okay, this is really happening was when I can't remember what spurred me to do it, but I was like, I need a website. And so, and I'm not very techie, you know. So, but I dug in and I didn't, I wasn't still not totally committed to the idea. So I built my own website using, you know, one of the platforms out there, nothing too fancy, but I built it. A friend did some branding for me and it went live and I shared it with a bunch of people. And the feedback I got made me realize that they weren't looking at it as like my little experiment, but as my company that I had just started. And I had started an LLC, but you know, I had done that before just for little side things that I had done. So I was like, wow, this is and they started sending me other companies that were similar to mine and say, Oh, I like the way you do this better than the way these people do this. And I was like, okay, this starts this is this could like be my real business. And then I I, as many people probably do, have been sort of easing myself. I did quit my job over a year ago, a little over a year ago, but I kept a couple of freelance writing things, and I've been, you know, I had a couple of sort of other things that were I considered my safety nets, so I've kind of eased into it. But, you know, I know it's not what you asked me, but my biggest challenge right now is cutting away those other safety nets because I needed more time. I need to get I I'm ready. And I think I probably was ready six months ago. Okay.

Pedro 7:16

Let me let me ask you one thing. I feel the need to dive in a little bit deeper because I see a lot of coaches out there making that leap of faith, right? Which you told me, you quit the job, you went full gas on it. And uh how did that look like? I mean, was it scary? Was it did you felt like, for example, an identity shift? And I expand on that. Like I work in corporate uh several years, I worked in banking several years, yeah. And I always joke about that. Like, I'm in a birthday party, Brittany asked me, Hey, what do you do for a living? And I'm like, you used to say X, Y, and Z, right? I'm like yourself. I'm a teacher, I'm a dean, I'm a blah blah blah. I I'm in corporate, I'm a consultant, and I'm like thinking for a second, what am I doing? Is it coaching? Is it yeah, who am I, right? You know, yeah, how does that feel for you?

Chauncy Gardner 8:02

Yeah, it's funny that you say that because I think that's exactly the test, right? When somebody asks you what you do. And I I was really, I think, fortunate and also maybe kind of a chicken in the in the first four months I stayed on. My company that I had left, I left my full-time job, didn't hadn't hired a new writer yet. So they kept me on for the next four months as a freelance writer. And it was pretty, it was a lot of hours in the beginning. So I had a pretty hefty safety net. So through that summer, I said, oh, you know, I still work for this organization, but I'm, you know, I'm on contract now. And so I'm also doing some college counseling on the side. And it's only been really in the last couple of months that I've dropped everything else except for the college counseling. And I am still doing more writing than honestly I really have time for, and I'm working on that. But that has dropped out of the answer to that question because I've kind of realized I need to, I need myself to hear that I'm fully committed to it. I need other people to hear that I'm fully committed to it. Like this is this has to be what I'm doing, and it is what I'm doing.

Pedro 9:01

So isn't it funny? Like, I'm listening to you, you mentioned twice one term, which is safety net. It's almost like you feel the need to be pushed out of your comfort zone so you can actually hit all gas, right? Which is all kind of coaching, right? Yeah. You need to get people out of their comfort zone so they can apply for schools and start believing, right?

Chauncy Gardner 9:21

You're right. That's a really good point. That's exactly the right point. And you know, there were there are like, you know, pretty mundane and and and and hard reasons why the safety net mattered. Like I still when I left, I still had two kids in college. I still have one in college. Like, I couldn't afford to go for a couple years with almost no income after, you know, not that I was ever making a ton of money, but I couldn't afford much of a drop. So it felt like it was important for that reason, too.

Pedro 9:45

So okay. Interesting. Now back to the business side. And yeah, I want to understand one thing. In the early days, right, we're testing water, seeing how that looks like, trying to help everyone. Eventually, we get to our niche, right? The people you tend to attract, the people you actually can really feel good about helping. So who are they? Who do you serve right now? And if there was part of it, it was kind of an evolution to it. Like at the start, I was trying this, and now it became this.

Chauncy Gardner 10:12

Yeah, you know. Well, the easy answer is at the start, it was yes to anybody who wanted who was looking for help. You know, college counseling is an interesting sector of the coaching world and even of the education world, especially when it's private and happening outside the school, because the primary client is the child who generally finds me when they're in their second to last year of high school. And sometimes they show up as late as the last year of high school, um, and they're trying to figure out their path forward. But the but the reality is that the the client is also the parents. And in a great and fortunate situation, the the two are really aligned and it's one conversation between the whole family. You know, the way that we do it college in America is it's stupidly expensive. And so it really is important the family's position matters a lot. But at the same time, it can get when the cr when the parents want one thing and the students want another thing, and the parents maybe want it for reasons of prestige, and the students maybe think they want that too. You know, it can get there can be some complicated tangles up and and misalignments there. So so I would say that now I've gotten to the point where this the people that I am not really the optimal coach for are the families who come up and I only hear from the parents, and it's about what the parents want. And we don't in the first two or three conversations, the parents are present and we're not talking, I'm not hearing the kid's voice, and they're not talking about what the kid wants. And then the little bits that I learn about what the child has chosen to do with their time doesn't seem aligned, then I think this is gonna be a tough one because this is one where they're they're they're really far away from the place that I try to help people find, which is a really deep self-understanding on the students' part, and then also on the parent side of like not just how great of a place could they possibly get in, but like what's the right place for them? Where will they thrive? Where will they be happy enough to do really well? Where will they find the opportunities that match their skills and hopes and dreams? So misalignment on that front and people who are just seeking prestige. There are lots of coaches out there who who trade on that. You know, that's what they they promise. You know, my percentage of kids who've gotten into Ivy League schools is this high. Like they might not be the ones for me. And I have plenty of kids who go to Ivy League schools. That's not the issue. It's just it's that, you know, seeking prestige more than authentic match.

Pedro 12:36

Oh, careful there. You're in coaching territory with those words. It's almost like alignment, authenticity, what's right for them. It's not just a recipe. Okay. Careful there.

Chauncy Gardner 12:49

Authenticity, authenticity is the word that I lean into in all my early conversations. So yeah.

Pedro 12:56

Okay. Interesting. So let's make let's create a differentiation, as I if I if I can, if I understood that correct. We're talking about a paying customer, parents, right? And we're talking about the coachy, which is the student, right? So those two navigate and uh chance Chauncey has to align somewhat to an extent uh common ground so we can you know move forward. Now, I'd love for us to do kind of a uh a game of pretend here. So let's pretend I am one of those parents, right? Okay. I have my kid, and I'm looking to this type of service as you offer. So, first of all, how would I be able to find you, like marketing-wise?

Chauncy Gardner 13:38

Well, that's a great question, and this is probably the next big leap I need to take. Most of my business has been built through word of mouth so far. And I I do post on Facebook and Instagram and LinkedIn, but not super regularly. And I haven't and I am a member of a couple of organizations where I'm listed in their directory, but I've it's been, you know, I've got some third, you know, referral from a referral from a referral. I've gotten that deep yet, but I have not yet taken the step of a big leap. So if you're here, you probably talk to somebody else who talked to somebody else who worked with me and was really happy with their outcome. Okay. For now. For now. And I know that's one of the suit the near-term things that needs to evolve, but right.

Pedro 14:21

Now let's keep on the game. Okay. We're still Britannia, I'm that person. Yep. Let's say I was referred to work with you, or even found your website somehow. Yeah. Right. And I was like, you mentioned that. I'm like, okay, that seems cool. And I reach out, let's speed up the sales process. Or we can dive in a little bit. Uh I'm curious about one part. And uh let's say there is alignment of sorts, you see you can help me. I see you can help us, right? Me and my kid. So how does it look like to work with you and the potential outcomes I can expect, you know?

Chauncy Gardner 14:55

Yeah, that's great. Well, first we'll have a conversation probably with the parents. Um, just you and I. So we'll talk through what you all are looking for as a family because while the students are my primary clients, I do understand the extent to which this whole undertaking really is a family project and and a lot of realities of the family situation determine the outcome and the possible outcomes. So, you know, the p I don't ever aim to shut the parents out. They're always part of the conversation. So we'll start there. I will explain how I work, which is once we decide to work together, most of my meetings will be one-on-one with the student. I meet students in person if they live near me, I meet them virtually if they don't. I will share my very complete and thorough notes afterwards with the student and the parents every time so nobody feels out of the loop. And then periodically, usually like at the end of a semester-ish, it'll be a time for a family meeting, and I'll reach out and like say, let's all get together, make sure we're really still aligned, and give everybody the opportunity to ask their questions and you know, make sure we're all on the same page. Uh, but most of my work will be with the student. And then we will decide these days, all of my clients actually are have purchase are purchasing packages. I do have the option for like one off hourly, but I I'm making I'm trying to honor the space for the for the package clients. So they will buy a pack of sessions that includes all the research that goes into it, all the notes that come out of it. I work with students. Part of this process is writing essays, so that's included in all of that. Essay coaching as well. And then, you know, I often advise families to start with a smaller package because not every student needs the same level of support. And parents are notoriously unreliable when it comes to sharing how much support they think their student will need. Oh no, she's very independent. She can do it really. She just needs a little bit of guidance and then she can get it all done. Doesn't often turn out to be true or the opposite. So, you know, we can always add a second package after that. So I don't want anyone to feel ever like they have overpurchased and they're trapped in this situation that they're not going to need. And that's worked out really well so far. People feel like they're in control and they feel like they're getting what they need. So, what I will do is I will send you my pricing sheets after our conversation. You'll talk to your student. We talk a little bit about cadence, like how often does it make sense to be meeting right now? You know, are you a junior in the second half of your junior year? Are you at the beginning of your junior year? Are you in the summer leading up to your senior year? It's different depending on where you are. And then we'll get started. We'll set the first date. I like to make them regular. I'd love to meet at the same time every week. And of course we can modify if we have to, but build this into your routine is the best recipe for success.

Pedro 17:32

Okay. We're still in that same scenario. I'm still that parent.

Chauncy Gardner 17:36

Yeah.

Pedro 17:37

First question I have for you, which I'm I'm very curious about that. I have two boys, right? One is three, the other is seven. Actually, one is four, the other is seven. It just had his birthday party. Uh now, yeah. Now let me ask you this. Let's say my kid is giving you a hard time. Let's say his no-showing, let's say you're it's lacking motivation. I am all in. I'm the parent. How do you navigate that?

Chauncy Gardner 18:05

I reach out and I'll say, I'd love to touch base with you on the phone is fine, or we can schedule a meeting. Do you have a few minutes? This has come up before. This is not the first time. I mean, the kids are are usually less difficult than the parents. That's parentheses outside of our scenario. But occasionally they're a little reticent or they're disorganized or they don't show up. And I say, Look, I know we planned for this pet pace and to get this amount of work done in this amount of time, and I know we're shooting for this. But, you know, I'm noticing in my conversations with your son that he seems very ambitious, but he's not hearing me when I'm saying your grades are really strong, but you don't have much else to your story. Like there's you're you're not using your time productively outside of school. And he keeps saying, we know, we've talked five times now about getting and joining this club at school or getting involved in this committee. And it seems to not be happening. And time is passing. And, you know, I just I want to, without discouraging him, I want to impress upon him that urgency. So I thought I would just touch base with you and see what you're seeing at home because this is going to end up being a real weak spot in his application if we don't create something that we can discuss meaningfully sometime pretty soon. And so tell me what you're seeing. What do you see on your side and what's your take on this? And I want to make sure that you hear number one, that this could become a problem. And number two, help help me with any insights. You know, kids often I don't see everything, you know. It the the relationship that I build with them is the value of the work that I do. But at the same time, they either try to bring their best self to all of our meetings, or you know, they procrastinate and and they and there's just they're shy or they're introverted, and there's a lot that I don't see. So so just checking in on that front and finding out what you're seeing at home that I'm not seeing can be really helpful.

Pedro 19:49

So, again, on a side note, careful, best version of themselves. That's coaching talk. Okay. Take it easy, Chancy.

Chauncy Gardner 19:56

I told you my mind is open to this now.

Pedro 19:59

No, this the second question, the follow-up. I'm gonna reverse roles, okay? Yeah. And something caught my attention when you were talking in the origin store and all that who you serve. So let's say I'm that classic parent, I'm actually a lawyer, so very successful. Want my kid in an Ivy League, but the kid is telling you, man, I don't see myself doing X, Y, and Z that my dad wants me to do, and he's the paying customer. How do you navigate that one?

Chauncy Gardner 20:28

Yeah. So that's can I do a parentheses in here?

Pedro 20:32

Yes.

Chauncy Gardner 20:32

As a differentiator between the way I approach this business and the way some other people do, I know of organizations and groups of coaches and companies that exist, and in the training that they have with their coaches, they present a scenario like that. And if the if the person answers, well, then I try to sort of get the parents to understand a little bit that the kid is in a different place, then they say, Nope, wrong answer. The parent is the client. You always do what the parent says. And so that's not me. So, first of all, if we're deep in and it's too deep, I I will never drop a kid when we're really invested in this process because it's too important and I just won't do that to them. But so I say, all right, let's think about this. We need to think about the ways that you can talk to your parents about this and the ways that I can be helpful in the way that you talk to your parents about this. So let's, for starters, let's not suggest that we strike this from the list, right? Let's show on your side an opening this to consider a variety of possibilities. And then, you know, all we're doing is asking them to do the same. Say, okay, I'll keep Columbia on the list, no problem. But at the same time, can we add a few other things that might suit me a little bit better? And then my, you know, and I'll so I'll talk to the kid about how what they can do and how they might approach the conversation and the way they might formulate their conversation with their own parents. And I'll say, you know, what I can do on my side is just tell them what I see, which is true, which is that, you know, you seem to be really like based on all the things that you've done all through high school and the things that you have done the best in and where you've performed. At the highest level are not the things that align with this path. So I think that makes you less of a strong candidate for this really, really, really, you know, competitive Ivy League program. So I think we need to make sure we have a variety of options on the list. You know, the hard part is, I don't know if you're aware of this, Pedro, but we have this thing here called early decision at a lot of universities, which if you apply early decision to a university, you sign basically a contract. It's not a legal contract, but and say, I understand that if I'm telling you you're my first choice, if you accept me, I will come. I will drop all my other applications and I will come. And for many universities, they really like to accept those kids because they like to accept kids who are going to come. And so the the real trick is will be convincing the parents to forego the early decision. So I think starting the conversation early is really important. And I think, you know, not saying, I think we should strike this from the list, but saying, like, let's consider some other options. And then just talking about my past experience and saying, you know, what I have seen over the years is that students who have maybe met the criteria on this level and this level, but they're the the life that they've lived doesn't seem to match with what they will be telling this university they want to do because they don't want to do it, then I think it's a really a long shot. And I actually think that's true. That's not a strategy. And so in the worst case scenario, I would say, okay, let's do it. Let's apply early decision with pretty strong confidence that that child's not going to get in anyway, because they have not built the resume. They haven't become the person that they're putting forward in their application. And like I said, authenticity is this is my big thing that I always say to kids is authenticity is your best strategy. And they can read right through it if you're presenting a version of yourself that's not you. So nice. Okay.

Pedro 23:45

Well, yeah, first of all, I'm in Brazil, right? Uh audience already established that and knows that. And it's very wild when I'm talking with you because this is uh an industry that simply does not exist here. Yeah. I thought also it was very interesting that they kind of I'm thinking about the correct analogy of drop it, drop everything else and come home to me, which is basically an agreement they want to push, which is like I'm thinking about past girlfriends, right? Like you cannot talk to anyone unless me, and I'm accepting that. Sounds like a threat, right? But weird agreement. I'm just trying to wrap my head around it. Totally fit.

Chauncy Gardner 24:22

It's really weird, but how have we gotten here? I don't know. I mean, yeah, it it's it's it's a it's outrageous. And actually, there are some lawsuits on going on right now about early decision and is it really equitable? And of course the answer is not at all, because especially if you're a student who needs financial aid or some kind of scholarship, you know, you can't afford to play that game. So it's really only available to the families who don't have a lot of financial need. So no, it's not fair at all. But that's where we are. We have to exist within the system. So that's the game you play.

Pedro 24:54

It's all fair, all it makes sense. Now, let me ask you this because you brought something uh that was I thought it was interesting. You mentioned hourly fee, you mentioned programs and packages, right? Yeah, and one thing I see every coach, yeah, regardless of industry, his his work or niche, is like a a topic that I feel a lot of them s wrestle, which is pricing, right? Yeah, but not uh the uh no no hard numbers here. It's more about the mindset behind it because you're you're trading your time for dollars, right? And in the early days, sometimes we're we working with lower fees, we're trying to to make it happen. So, how do you think about it today, pricing? And weren't there any lessons along the way that shaped how you landed where you are now?

Chauncy Gardner 25:41

Yeah. Well, I'm fortunate in the sense that the industry that I'm in actually is, unlike in Brazil, a pretty big s industry, and it's mostly made up of people like me, like independent contractors or small groups. There are no there there nobody has emerged yet as like the giant of college counseling. I'm sure it's coming. I'm sure PE is paying attention because there are some groups that exist now that are somewhat large that are, you know, pretty large, more than a handful of people. But we have a lot of industry groups, and I'm a member of several of them. And there's one in particular that does a survey every year of all of the independent counselors who are part of the organization, and a big part of it is on pricing. And so I was a the it just so happened that I joined the organization in the right before I started my business, and that was right when the pricing survey came out. So I was able to see like what kind of variety there was out there, what the average prices were, how many people only worked hourly, how many people only worked packages, how many people split it. And then I tried to think about where I am, both geographically and also in my career, and talked, I do know some other people who are doing what I'm doing, talk to them a little bit about it. I I'm comfortable where I've landed. I think I probably could start with the baseline could be higher, and then I could have people who buy a bigger package. And if they don't use five or six of the sessions and we finish and they get in, they'll be so happy they won't be upset. I could do that. I haven't done that yet because people really seem to react positively to this whole notion that I want to create a process that fits you and your child specifically. So that's I I'm I'm my priced higher than I felt comfortable, and I think I could have gone higher to start. And I could change, you know. I I raised my prices the first, you know, uh when we turned to 2026. So I'll keep doing that. And but that's I mean, I I do feel a bit there, like I feel less confident in that part of the business than I do in the coaching part of the business. Okay.

Pedro 27:35

Interesting. Now let's shift gears for a second. Love to talk about future, right? You just mentioned 26. So, where are you taking all this, right? Looking ahead, Chauncey, where do you see the business going? Are you thinking about scaling, hiring, or is there a next step you're excited about?

Chauncy Gardner 27:51

Yeah. So honestly, my first next step is, like I said, to disentangle myself from the extra things that I'm doing, which I'm working on and I'm making progress, and I have a timeline for that. I have created one new product, which is essay classes for students that are not necessarily my clients, and I'm running those through the summer. And so far, not pretty good. Yeah, I mean, I could they could be, it seems like a pretty good first year, it's looking like it hasn't started yet, and I'm still getting signups. So that could is something that could become a revenue driver. And I'm very close. I I've been thinking a lot about bringing on somebody, you know, as a contractor to help me, and I'm trying to figure out my approach to that. And it's a funny business because everybody almost everybody's independent. So we're all in the same boat, but we're also kind of all competing against each other. So I find that people are really happy to talk about certain aspects of it, but then other aspects they're they get pretty cagey pretty quickly. Um and especially since, you know, virtual is pretty ubiquitous now. So it doesn't matter where people are, we're still competing against each other, especially if we know some of the same people. So I'm kind of trying to figure out what that looks like. I would love to bring somebody in to, you know, as a a contractor to help me work with kids to allow me to bring on a couple extra kids a year, you know, to start and then learn a little bit more about I've been thinking a lot about like what is it that has to be the same between the way that I work with kids and the way that people who are working through Lighthouse work with kids. And it's such a personality-driven business that I think it's okay and there's room for for, you know, I'm the really soft one and and she's the really hardline one. It's okay for a little bit of that, but there have to be some non-negotiables. So I've been working on articulating those. And I think I'm gonna practice approaching a couple of friends who might be willing to take on one or two because they're still working in a school or at a university and see how that goes and take it from there.

Pedro 29:38

I immediately thought of that network, right? As you were a dean. And I immediately thought, like my my wife, I can see well, this industry doesn't exist here, but I can see she doing something like that, like on a part-time basis, just testing water. I think it's totally doable. Also, on a side note, which is a fun one, good cop, bad cop? Is that what I hear? Right?

Chauncy Gardner 30:00

Yeah, yeah.

Pedro 30:01

That's interesting in the application industry and all that. Now, yeah. Uh whenever we're aiming towards the next chapter, there's always something we're refining, right? New projects and all that. So, what are you currently trying to improve or tighten up in your business right now?

Chauncy Gardner 30:16

Um trying to I did create a business plan for myself. I kind of forced myself to do that because that I needed that discipline because that's not my background at all. But since I created it and I rolled it out and it seems like it's quote unquote working, you know, I've replaced my salary. So I didn't have the drop.

Pedro 30:34

Nice.

Chauncy Gardner 30:34

I I I need to I but I need to tighten it up. I need to, I I created it and then I kind of moved forward. I haven't been it hasn't been my constant partner. So I think on the business side, I'm actually meeting with somebody next week who I'm just gonna hire, I think, as like a, you know, to do the books basically and just sort of I want to learn from this person a little bit more because this is my area. In spite of the fact that I worked for four years for a business organization, I didn't learn a ton about finance. I learned a lot about entrepreneurship and a lot about, you know, the spirit that it takes and the big moves and the ups and downs and no man's land, but you know, but the nitty-gritty, I need some help with that. And then as soon as I feel confident that I am ready to think about how it might look when I grow, then I need to step forward in marketing. And I haven't done that on purpose yet because if I got 10, if 10 families called me tomorrow, I can't I can't do that. I don't have space for that. So I want to make sure that by the time I'm ready, or that by the time I make that happen, that I'm ready, that I can, you know, you don't want the chaos to take over, right?

Pedro 31:36

You you're avoiding chaos, which happens a lot in the industry. Yeah.

Chauncy Gardner 31:39

Yeah.

Pedro 31:40

Let's go into a little bit of a sci-fi thing here, science fiction. Let's pretend we do have a time machine in front of us, okay? You can step in. I know it's pretty fresh for you, but yeah, like we're talking about lighthouse. Well, uh an ear, right? Weapon shop. Um, but let's say you can go back to one particular moment that is like the happiest moment you had since you started a business, okay? That really filled up your cup. What would that be?

Chauncy Gardner 32:08

That's it really easy, actually. And that's it's a cyclical business, so it's the same answer pretty much every year, but there are two moments. There's the the moment like between the beginning of December and like the third week in December when the first wave of responses come in from the universities. And so these kids that I've been working with for a year, some of them a year and a half, and that would be more of the year and a half kids in the future, when they have traveled all this distance and really come to understand who they are and thought about what matters to them and and really thought honestly about the kinds of environments in which they can thrive. And so they make a decision. I always encourage them to shoot for the moon. You know, I will never say, like, well, you might not get in, so don't apply there. And and when it's a match and when it works out and they get an acceptance, they call me right away and they're crying and they're so happy, and their parents are so happy. And so that's a really impressive. I mean, that that moment to me is is really great. And, you know, sometimes it has doesn't happen until the spring. Sometimes they get a maybe or they get a no, and then they have to go to another one. But the fact is that I've really never had a situation where by the end of the whole process, somebody wasn't didn't have a plan that they were really happy about, even if it wasn't what they thought it they wanted in the beginning. And so seeing that we just had, you know, the last couple of weeks were all the high school graduations in America. You know, there's a big range of dates, but from late May through last week, they were all finishing. And so I send everybody who worked with me this book about that I really love that's called Designing Your Life, that's about, you know, making decisions about the kind of life you want to lead. And I got to send them cards and and I've heard from all of them, and they're it's just it's such a poignant moment in a young person's life when they're about to start this new chapter. And you know, the way it looks in our country, on top of everything else, they're almost always moving out of their parents' house for the first time. So it's and you know, so those moments are like the parents are happy and that's important and that's great, but it's the kids really, and they just are believing in themselves and they feel really confident and they feel ready, you know.

Pedro 34:08

You know so that's really awesome. I really love that. Like my my my dad, who was a dean of a university here in Brazil, too. I skipped that, but uh he always told me that he never remembered the average, he always remembered the top and the and the lower, the bottom. Yeah. But the the people who really stayed with him were the transformational ones that actually proved him wrong sometimes, right? Yeah. When he was like, okay, this get not happening. And then he actually makes it and makes the effort during the entire journey and he proves you wrong. And he was like, Oh, I love those. Do you have any of those that you're like looking at at the start, you're like, I'm not sure about if it's gonna make it, and he ends up making it?

Chauncy Gardner 34:49

Yes.

Pedro 34:50

Oh, those are great.

Chauncy Gardner 34:51

Totally. But I have even more, I would say, even more common is the kids who come in and they don't believe that they can make it. And the good news is that making it means a lot of different things, right? You know, and they come in and they don't have a lot of confidence. And by the time they finish the journey, there's a college in this country for everybody that wants to go and can manage it, you know, even if they don't have great finances, like there are a lot of options. And if they've traveled the distance to understand themselves and understand why this place that is attainable for them makes sense for them and they've become excited about it, it's really more like they surprise themselves more than they surprise me, honestly. Okay, I love that. So rather than I would say rather for me, it's less about the the kids that are average or less memorable, it's more like there are some days where we're slogging through these essays and they feel like they're not moving forward and they thought they really wanted something and they're realizing that's not true. So they're you know, it's a long and can be tedious process, but at the end I forget we both forget all of those days.

Pedro 35:50

So which is really great. Really great. Yeah, I can I can see it. Now, if someone uh listening wants to connect with your follow your work, Chancy, and we're gonna have the links in the description. But what's the best way for people to find you and connect with you?

Chauncy Gardner 36:04

My website is got my email all over it. I'd love to get an email. There's a form that you can submit, but you don't need to submit the form. You can just send me an email through there and I I'll get back to you that day.

Pedro 36:14

So you know, there were a few moments from this chat today that I feel the the necessity to highlight. Okay. Let's start with uh the origin story, Chauncey. Like you're telling me you were not you were not still committed when we're talking about the shift, right? You were in the middle of the leap, you're not still committed to the idea, and across the entire episode, you're showing how human you are at the end of the day. I know this sounds a little bit baffling if you're thinking about oh, yeah, but she's a human being. Yeah, but there's a lot of people out there, they're there to try to hide their true way of doing things, or just being new. So kudos to you. I really like watching you, okay? Thanks. Uh, and the way you talk, and I can sense it. Like you're true to yourself. Also, when we were talking about and you're like, yeah, but what's the right place for them? Not just a great place, you know, not just a column or whatever. It's just what's the right fit. So I love that because that it means you're you're looking for alignment, you know. What's right for that person? It's not a cookie cutter. You need to understand what they do, where they want to go. So there's that. So I would say one of the last but not least is when we were talking about managing the drama, right? The the father, the parents, the kids. And yeah, the way you framed it, it's almost like a game plan, a team effort, and siding with the right thing, not the transactional thing, like oh yeah, uh, if they're the pain customer, I should side with them. Not really. Your way of doing things shows integrity, right? So it's about what's the right call here and who am I serving before I serve X, Y, and Zenny to serve myself because uh you do have an understanding of what's what's right and what's wrong because you can see the both spectrums, right? You're looking at the kid, you're looking at the parent. So could I see that?

Chauncy Gardner 38:01

And they both matter. They both matter, but exactly.

Pedro 38:04

And you can navigate those. Now, yeah, this is just my long-winded way of saying that I appreciate what you do. I and I appreciate you being here and sharing so openly today. Okay, it was great having you.

Chauncy Gardner 38:15

Yeah, it's been really fun talking to you. Thank you very much.

Davis Nguyen 38:18

That's it for this episode. This episode, as well as this podcast, was brought to you by Purple Circle, where we help business owners elevate their business to six, seven, and eight figure years all without burning out. If you're looking to grow your business as well as get the time freedom that you are looking for, visit us at join purplecircle.com and see what we can do to help you.