How did you become an entrepreneur? Can you tell us a bit about yourself?
My name is Lisa Collum. I am 36 years old and a mom of 4 kids (three busy boys ages 13, 11, 7 and my precious baby girl age 2), a loving wife of 14 years, and a proud owner of two educational companies. After several years of teaching in the classroom, serving as a writing coach and specialist, I started developing my own writing curriculum to assist students, especially struggling writers. In 2011, I founded Top Score Writing, Inc., and worked with a handful of schools locally providing daily lessons that teachers could use to make writing simple and fun for students. Since then, I have expanded my business and have worked with over 1,000 schools nationwide providing professional development for superintendents, administrators, and teachers on successful writing strategies and effective curriculum implementation. In the midst of my writing curriculum journey, I purchased Coastal Middle and High School. This school is not your ordinary traditional school. It offers lots of flexibility, various curriculum choices, community service projects, frequent breaks, and lots of small groups and one-on-one teaching. Between running two businesses and raising four kids, life is busy!
So was getting involved with ‘Top Score Writing’ a natural step for you and what was the sole idea behind it?
As a first-year 4th grade teacher at one of the lowest-performing schools in the district, I was assigned as the lead teacher in charge of teaching writing. I quickly found out that there were no resources available that focused solely on writing. This led me to the path of having to create my own writing curriculum. I worked tirelessly with the students using the lessons that I pieced together from my ideas, and I was able to dramatically increase the percentage of students passing the state writing test from 38% to 95%. I continued to revise my lessons and troubleshoot what worked and what didn’t work with my students, and for the next two years, I was able to achieve a pass rate of 100% on the state writing test. The following summer I spent almost every single day creating writing lesson plans based on the experiences I had in the classroom. The next school year I accepted a position as an instructional specialist working with various schools in my district. I was able to share my writing lessons and creative ideas with 75+ teachers in the most struggling schools. All of the schools I worked with had significant increases in their writing scores. After the birth of my third child, I left the district and took an online teaching position. This is when everyone started calling me and asking about my lessons and how they could go about buying them. So I googled how to start a business in Florida and that’s how I started Top Score Writing, Inc. eight years ago! I now work with thousands of schools across the nation and am able to share my way of teaching writing with teachers in every state!
A few years after starting Top Score Writing, I found out about a small private school in my area that serviced students in middle and high school that struggled in school, have dropped out, or just needed something different. I knew I wanted to own this school to be able to provide students with an alternative educational setting that best suits them. I purchased the school in 2015 and opened the doors in 2016. It is a very small private school with 10–15 students. I do not agree with the “one size fits all” approach to learning and I feel that some kids are different and need an alternate way of learning…exactly what I provide at my school.
Go in detail and tell us about how your brand works.
Top Score Writing provides teachers with the tools and resources they need to successfully teach writing in the classroom. With the curriculum, teachers have day-to-day lessons they can follow and creative activities that engage the students in the writing process. With our simple, comprehensive, and effective approach to writing, teachers are provided with everything they need to help their students become better writers. The Top Score Writing program includes curriculum for grades 2nd-12th, professional development for teachers and administrators, scoring of papers with descriptive feedback, tutoring, and ongoing teacher support and updates through email and social media.
What is your giveaway idea through this interview?
A free writing starter kit (downloadable PDF) that includes lessons and activities for a 2nd-12th grade. Please visit TSWstarterkit.com to download your free writing starter kit.
Explain the challenges you went through while you were working on brand creation. What are the challenges you go through on an everyday basis?
One of the biggest challenges for me was that I knew nothing about running a business. No one in my family has ever run a business and I went to school to become a teacher, so I am literally learning something new about business every single day. I had to figure out everything about a business from taxes to payroll and had to make some difficult decisions on things I didn’t know much about. On top of that, because I am really not a business person, I had to spend the last 8 years proving myself to everyone that I can run not one, but two businesses. I did everything by myself at first. I made my own copies of my lessons, put together binders in my living room, and shipped everything out to schools by myself. I don’t think people thought I was serious in the beginning or thought I could ever achieve this monumental task of being a successful business owner. My daily challenge is balancing it all. I have four kids and run two businesses and there does not seem to be enough time in the day to get everything done. It is crazy all day, every day. If one business is pulling me in one direction, the other business seems to always be pushing me in a different direction… which is on top of taking care of my four very active children. Because of this craziness, I am constantly making lists, figuring out my priorities, and trying to get everything done each day.
I went through a lot in my journey with everything from people turning against me, stealing my curriculum, copying materials, and putting their name on it to people questioning my expertise and the way I teach writing to students. But in the last 3–4 years, things have definitely started to turn around. I feel like I have finally proven myself. The first four years of starting Top Score Writing I was always second-guessing myself. Constantly! I was nervous about meeting with schools and trying to sell my products. I never even wanted to charge a lot because I was still unsure and not confident. But after a few years, the proof was there. The schools and teachers were giving great feedback and the scores from state tests were showing tremendous improvement.
Even with my school, I doubted myself. Here I am this 30 something year old who has never even been an assistant principal. How was I supposed to run a school? And a school with a tough group of kids on top of that? I started with two kids and now we are almost at capacity. Education and teaching are in my blood. I’ve known since I was five that I wanted to be a teacher and that is exactly what I get to do in both of my businesses.
This past year has been the year I can say I am 100% confident. I’ve been able to prove myself to everyone, I have years of success under my belt and I finally feel like I am able to take things to the next level and do more!
WHAT CLIENTS SAY about Lisa :
As principal of a Title I school, I can say this is the best program we have in our building. It is so simple and easy for teachers to follow. They have everything they need for daily lessons and all of the resources are included in the teacher kits. My teachers have the tools they need to feel confident in their teaching. Our ELA scores continue to soar because of this program. Highly effective!
Annemarie Dilbert
Principal — Crosspointe Elementary
I loved using the Top Score last year! I think my students grew by leaps and bounds. Your beginning of the year training was excellent as well!
My favorite part has been your email communication. You are very helpful throughout the entire school year, and provide great updates to teachers.
Jessica Lynn Harden — Teacher
I am a 4th-grade teacher at A.D. Henderson, and I have been using Top Score Writing for the past 2 years. This is an awesome program. It guides the students through each step in the writing process. It takes the stress out of the test because the students are successful throughout the process. Thank you, Lisa!!!!
Cheryl Rayman Akers — Teacher
How do you manage your finances through the services you offer. Any fundings etc received?
Both businesses were self-funded and did not receive any outside funding. I recently hired accountants to manage my finances for Top Score Writing and Coastal Middle and High School. They keep track of my monthly bookkeeping and yearly taxes. As of January 2019, my school received its 501(c)(3) status from the IRS and we are now in the process of working with grant writers to secure outside funding and donations.
Tell us your future vision about the brand. How far do you want to take it? What is your dream about taking it to the next level?
In 2019, you can expect to see Top Score Writing in numerous states across the nation. I am working on marketing strategies right now to help spread the word about the company and the curriculum. Our digital program is expanding from 3rd-5th grade to 2nd-12th grade. I am also working on new products for teachers to help make teaching easier for them. I am working on a few more “secret” projects that will be released later this year (follow my social media for the revealing). As for the school, my plan for 2019 is to help as many kids as possible earn their high school diploma.
I am also currently working on building my personal brand. I want to share with other women, especially moms, that we can do it all. My goal is to write a book to share my entire story, give tips, and show everyone how I was able to do it all. Plan on seeing me speaking around the country and sharing my story with women everywhere.
What message would you like to give to anybody who has a plan of creating something of their own and making a living through it?
My first piece of advice is to have a plan. I never just quit a job and went out on a limb and started a business. When I knew I wanted to start selling my writing curriculum, I would teach during the day and then I would go to the local copy store, make copies and come home to create binders of the lessons at night. Then I would ship them off the next day. I did not officially quit my teaching job until 3 years into the business when I knew I had enough money in the business to pay myself a salary. If you have an idea, start small and work on it on the side until it builds up. It’s going to be double work and very time consuming, but it will be worth it.
For those people that already have a business and want to reach their goals, the first step is to decide on those goals. Be realistic. Start with small goals, and again…have a plan. Don’t get discouraged if things don’t work out perfectly at first. That’s part of the learning experience and journey. Be patient, stay determined, and pray about everything. My faith is the only thing that kept me going and guided me along the way.