Your Name: Jamellia Blythe
Business Name: High Flyer Tutoring Service, a service that offers at home tutoring
Type of Business:Education
Business Location: Kingston, Jamaica
Twitter www.twitter.com/Highflyerja
Facebook www.facebook.com/Highflyerja
Reason for starting
As a first time mother, I wanted the opportunity to be flexible. Having a full-time job in the Secondary Education School System, did not afford me that opportunity. I saw the need for supplementary education and an opportunity for the myriad of unemployed teachers to have a meaningful career as a Professional Tutor.
How do you define success?
Success is using your abilities and gifts to add value to peoples lives. It is not necessarily financial wealth. Having a wealth of knowledge and using that to guide and act as a catalyst in the lives of individuals- that to me is success.
Biggest Success
Home-schooling in Jamaica is unorganized and there was no support group. We have started the first Home-schooling support group in Jamaica. It is an area that is not given much attention, therefore, parents who home-school have to source resources and tutors if they need additional assistance. As a group we share teaching resources, strategies and discuss any major concerns regarding Homeschooling in Jamaica. High Flyer supplies tutors and guidance to Homeschooling parents.
What is your top challenge and how have you addressed it?
High Flyer Tutoring Service provides in-home tutoring. We hire trained teachers and we have excellent results. Despite proven academic success, the Ministry of Education in Jamaica will not give us a stamp of approval, because of our business model. As, a result we will have to adjust our business model to include in-house tutoring (the students can come to our center for tutoring).
Who is your most important role model?
I cannot choose one as I take different things from both. First is my mother (who is deceased). Even though she was a registered nurse, she was multi-talented and always had a business running on the side. From a young age she would encourage my entrepreneurial skills and assist me with whatever venture I wanted to pursue. Now as a business owner, I take what I have learned from her to assist me as an educational entrepreneur. The other is my mentor Dr. Dennis Minott. He is a Jamaican scientist and educator, who has a passion for children and young people. He is one of the leading educators in the Caribbean Region. He has sent many Jamaicans to Ivy League Universities on full or part scholarships, through his program Association of Quietly Excellent Scholars and Thinkers (AQUEST).