Episode Summary
My guest on today’s podcast is Jenny Whittle. Jenny is the owner of College Planners of South Carolina, an education consulting firm that specializes in helping students and families manage and navigate the college enrollment process.
What’s unique about Jenny, though, is that she started her business at a time when her industry basically didn’t even exist, with only 600 college planners nationwide at the time, compared to today’s 6,000. And everyone told her that nobody would hire a personal consultant so long as guidance counselors existed for free. However, the heart of Jenny’s methodology isn’t just around her experience, but in creating a team of passionate consultants, all of whom may work with a student at any given time depending upon the area of expertise needed. In addition, Jenny shares how designing an availability strategy to meet her student clients where they are, which mostly means evenings and weekends, act as her competitive advantage.
Turning Passion Into Profit
In this episode, we talk in depth about how:
- Being a single mother and coming from a family of entrepreneurs fueled Jenny’s drive to turn her passion into profit by literally cutting all strings to any traditional income.
- It wasn’t until Jenny gave herself permission mentally to spend all of her time betting on herself and building her business that her business began to flourish.
- Jenny’s ability to focus on the value of her time has been the catalyst to guide her in managing a budget and cash flow.
- Outsourcing all of her financial responsibilities, not only to a bookkeeper and a CPA, but also in hiring a financial consultant, helps her strategize how far her business could grow.
- COVID-19 not only increased Jenny’s business, but also created an opportunity for her to work on her business and reevaluate what’s important to her.
- Jenny’s son is her best accountability partner to save money for herself.
- And why sharing her problems with a mastermind group of five other entrepreneurs has been her greatest resource when it comes to making business decisions.
A Mission to Make an Impact
We also talk about Jenny’s vision of the future for her firm, how referrals continue to be her primary source of future clients, and the opportunity Jenny believes is out there to work with schools across the country as a resource instead of a competitive threat. And how an internal sale would be Jenny’s ideal exit plan, either to a family member or key employee.
Be certain to listen to the end, where Jenny shares her desire to impact women to be the future leaders and entrepreneurs in the education consulting industry by turning their passion into profit. And how one day she hopes to hold a leadership position that merges her experience in business and academia. So, with that introduction, I hope you enjoy this episode of The Retiring Entrepreneur Podcast with Jenny Whittle.
Episode Highlights
- [06:34] The opportunity that catapulted Jenny financially and made her think more strategically about her time and money.
- [09:50] How Jenny’s business has evolved to lengthen the consultant-client relationship and allow for repeat business.
- [13:31] The reason Jenny focuses on attitude, not skillset, when hiring new consultants to join her team.
- [16:10] Why Jenny says Covid was a blessing and a curse for her business.
- [18:30] What Jenny sees the future of higher education looking like, and why she believes the current system needs to change.
- [23:36] Why Jenny says becoming an entrepreneur was the best thing that ever happened to her, and her mission to empower other women to become more independent.
- [27:57] Jenny’s advice for anyone who wants to turn their passion into profit.
- [30:20] How Jenny envisions her exit strategy and the future of College Planners of South Carolina.
- [35:25] The two biggest hurdles Jenny says she has had to overcome as a business owner.
- [40:53] The tipping point that prompted Jenny to hire a financial consultant to help her take her business to the next level.
- [44:30] Jenny shares her definition of success.
Enjoy the Episode!
