Rising Star #2: Lisa Vodola

Well, hello, everyone. We are live today, and I have our next rising star, which I am so excited to tell everyone about the rising star that. Hello, everyone. We are. So I want to tell everyone about the next rising star and what she's all about.

Lisa. So Lisa is here to tell us all about her business. Lisa.

And I think it's so interesting because what she did is she really did make a huge transition during these challenging times with COVID 19. So she had to adapt and change her business. And, of course, she took something challenging and made it into an opportunity. And I love what Lisa's doing because she's helping so many people. And I want this to be an inspiration for everyone else out there to look at how this can be turned around and make this an opportunity for you, your business, and your life. So, Lisa, welcome, and thank you so much for being here.

Thanks for having me.

Yes. As my rising star. So please tell us a little bit about yourself and what your business is all about. What's your story? How did you get into what you're into? Where are you from? Let's learn about you.

I'm originally from New Jersey. I went to college in Florida, the University of Tampa. And my undergraduate degree was in communication. I just love Florida so much. I mean, the weather's amazing that I decided to stay and not go back to New Jersey. I started teaching, and then five years into teaching, I went back for my master's degree. And then at some point during, you know, during my teaching, I just felt like I was supposed to be doing something a little bit more, and I wasn't sure exactly what that that was.

And then I also started noticing a big disconnect between what was taught in preschool and expected at the start of kindergarten, because a lot of my kindergarteners were coming in not fully prepared. And that was upsetting because I feel like at such a young age, they're capable of learning so much.

And so not only were they not prepared, they were not feeling confident about themselves. And I thought, well, what could I do? How could I help them? And then I have such a passion for reading. And that led me to do a lot of research on early literacy development and different reading programs. And from there, I started doing a lot of research. I spent a whole year researching another whole year piloting a program that I built and then started Preschool Readers. And at Preschool Readers, we provide in home and now virtual reading instruction to preschoolers ages 3 to 5.

Wow. That is incredible. So tell me, since all of this Covid thing happened, how did you have to change and adapt your business to these crazy times we're in right now.

So when it first happened, like I said.

We were providing in home reading instruction. We went to the homes once a week for 30 minutes and it was just really hands on, really fun games and activities. And so when this all happened, and mind you, we have a lot of clients in New York and New Jersey and in Florida right now. So when this first started happening, especially in New York and New Jersey, everything kind of had to shut down. We could no longer go at home. And parents started reaching out about virtual classes. And I said right away, I said no. I said, we don't do virtual instruction. I have no idea how we would keep three three to five year old engaged online. I had heard that the class zooms weren't going so well. Classroom virtual instruction wasn't going so well. So I actually originally said no. And then after a couple weeks I realized, wow, this is going to last longer than we all kind of thought. And I thought we have to do something. And then it was kind of a fun challenge for me and like a new creative project which I was, I didn't realize I was craving. And, and I thought, how can we actually make this interactive and make it really fun for 3 to 5 year olds? And that was probably like the funnest part, you know, researching different things. And so we tested it and it's been going so well. And because we went virtually, now we're able to reach people all over in states that we weren't even previously serving. So it's been exciting.

Yeah, yeah. So I want to know, how do you get three or five year olds to pay attention and stay focused? I know secret with this, right?

So we do a lot of movement. And that's why originally when parents said let's do virtual, I was like, no way. Because we really want students to love learning. We want it to be fun. So we found ways to make it interactive. So actually during our virtual sessions, the students are actually up and out of the chair for 50, at least 50% of the time. So we'll do things like freeze dance. So the student will get up and dance and then freeze and have to read their word. We found that there's just so many things online. There's these little word spinners that the student feels like, you know, they're blowing like and then it spins around so they feel like they're interacting or they stand up and they spin around with it and then it stops and then a word pops up. So there's all these like interactive things on screen and then they can like do the movements at home, if that makes any sense.

So yeah, they're actually like they, they see you and, and you're directing them and you tell them to get up and dance and have all sorts of different movements.

Right.

And then they also have the worksheets. Now instead of. In the past, the, the reading specialists would bring the worksheets to the child and so now the parents have them and so the children have the worksheets in front of them and they're like bingo with paint daubers. Like the bingo daubers. So they have some hands on worksheets to do too. But we, a lot of it is movement based and it's been really fun to come up with all those creative ways. But also there are some teachers that are just really excelling. When you do virtual sessions, you have to be a lot more animated, like over the top. You know, I think of those kids cartoons that are kind of like just so silly. But that's what really works with this student. So some of the reading specialists are just over the top, extra silly. You know, they get close, they get far away and it really, really, it's working so well. The students are loving it and the parents are loving it. And I'm just so happy because we're now able to reach people that we didn't necessarily have reached people to go in home in those areas yet, you know, because we're still growing. So this has just been a great addition.

Wow. How many children like are interacting at.

A time when you're doing, is it one on one? Which is what I think makes it so successful because a lot of parents are like, you know, my child didn't do well with their class in Zoom. And I'm like, well, there's a big difference. It's just the one child and the one teacher and, and we're really big on praise. They actually have, we have like a virtual sticker chart so they get to pick stickers. A lot of movement, a lot of praising. And so it's just them and the teacher and it's just, they just love it. It's been so fun.

Do you have like a reward system with all of this too?

With the students?

Yeah, yeah.

So they just earn stickers. I mean, they don't actually ever keep them. It's like a virtual sticker board so they get to earn their stickers. But we just are really big on prai. So a lot of good job. And we do like, you know, High fives like this and pats on the back and happy dances and all those little things. Kids love those. Yeah.

Well, you know, it kind of reminds me when my kids were little, I used to have that sticker where on the refrigerator we would have this, this paper and they'd have their names and every time they did something good like make their bed or something, they got a sticker. But when it. But when they got 10 stars, because it was those little gold stars, when they got 10 stars, they got to go to Toys R Us and pick out a toy.

We don't do that. But it seems like the stickers themselves. The stickers. And honestly they just want to be told that they're doing a good job.

I mean, yeah.

Love that praise. And it makes them feel good and it makes them want to try harder and work harder. So that's the biggest thing. And then the other thing that they love is when it's just you and the teacher, it's really student led. So they can tell us what they want to do. Do they want to do the worksheet? Do they want to do a movement? So they have their options. And I think that's a big reason why it's so successful. We know what we're teaching them, but they can decide what activity to do.

You know what I think is so interesting? You know, I was a psychology major in college and, and one thing that I learned in child psychology that's so amazing, they say that the entire personality is formed by the age of three based on their environment. I mean, consider what a big deal that is and what impression you're making for future generations by what you're doing. This is powerful stuff you're forming or help form the future generations. And you actually have the age group that their whole, you know, personality could be formed with. So what do you think about that?

Yeah, no, it's great. I mean.

We do get. A lot of our students end up in a gifted reading group and they do really well in reading and that's wonderful. But my, like, my biggest thing behind the scenes is they feel really good about themselves because, I mean, for some reason that's just so important. I feel like if they feel good about learning, they're going to continue to learn and they're going to continue to try their hardest.

Yeah. And.

The confidence and the way they feel about themselves to me is the best part. But yes, they end up in gifted reading groups and reading above level. I mean, that's a whole great thing too. But I want them to be Lifelong learners. I love to learn. I'm reading, I'm listening to podcasts, I'm watching YouTube videos. And I want them to grow up to just love that, too.

So you're imprinting on them the value of learning and how much fun it is. Because I think what I'm hearing from you, not only are you praising them and giving them confidence, which everyone needs, especially at that age, because it really does set the tone for the rest of their life, but you're making it fun, and that makes them want to learn their whole life.

Right. And we even say, like, we only work with them once a week for 30 minutes. So I know some people will argue they shouldn't be reading at the age but once a week, 30 minutes. And it's all games, so it's no torture at all. But we actually, a lot of the students, some parents will say, okay, you're signed up for too many activities. You're doing soccer, karate. And they'll say, we have to keep reading. You know, they don't want to get. Or we'll have parents, like, cry if the child's sick or the teacher's sick and they can't work with them because they really love reading that much. But we actually don't say we're coming over to reading. We don't say we're coming over to do reading. We say, are you ready to play some games with me? So we'll walk in or we'll sign online and that's what we'll say. Are you ready to play some games? We don't really say that we're. I mean, they know they're reading, but we make it really play based. Yeah.

Do you help the parents in terms of helping them understand how to encourage and have the child want to read more or things like that, or is it just with the children?

We do talk to the parents about different things.

So many of our clients.

Are worried because a lot of them are actually in private schools. So they've got preschool interviews and kindergarten interviews. So we talk to them to make them feel a little bit better about that, and we give them some advice about, you know, how to talk to them. Sometimes if a parent doesn't know the process, like the reading process, they'll just assume they should know how to read this word or be at this level already. But it's a process, so we do explain that to them. And then not to be. So.

Not to push too much. You know, my parents were never big on, like, pushing me and I actually love school. I love Learning. But I think because they didn't put that pressure on me is why I love it. And I think when you put too much pressure on them, even at a young age, it makes it something that they start to dread. So we try to. We try to talk to them about that, too. That. I mean, even though we're providing a service to get them to a higher level, it's also important to just to be calm about it, you know?

No, I get it. Well, as a little advantage here, because I think what Lisa's doing is so valuable and wonderful. And also, you know, the fact that you turn this into a whole different type of business because of the COVID Do you think it's kind of a blessing in disguise, though?

Yes. I know I feel awful saying that because of everything that's going on, but it has been. It's forced me to look into a whole different area, a whole different business model, you know, and it has been great. And like, we. Prior to Covid, we had a wait list of families that reached out. I didn't have reading specialists in their city or in their state yet. And I'm like, you know, trying to quickly grow, but I couldn't reach them. And so when Covid hit, I called them all those people on that list, and I said, hey, we can serve you now. But it would be virtually. And they're like, yes, you know, so it's helped so much in that way. And I really think it forced me to move into something that I knew that I should probably get into, but I wasn't ready yet. But that's probably why it works. Sometimes you just have to force yourself to do it.

Yeah, you do. But then, you know, whenever we change, things get easier. And then usually once we adapt, we think, thank God that happened, or I couldn't be where I am right now. I often tell my students that that's getting to astrology. I always tell them that's a Pluto transit because Pluto always forces us into these horrendous change, and we think it's the worst thing in the world that's happening. And then we look back two years later and go, thank God that happened, or I wouldn't be where I am or doing what I'm doing. So, you know, I call that a blessing in disguise.

It's been great. Yeah. And I could have just sat back and thought, no, we'll just resume sessions, you know, when we can go back in home. But I actually like the. I like the challenge of how can we make this as fun online as we do in person. And that was really. It was really hard work. I was working a lot when this happened, but it was fun. I was just in a flow, working many hours, you know, I love it.

Okay, well, Lisa, do you want me to look at your chart for a minute to see what's going to be happening for you before you tell everybody? We can take some questions too, in a little bit, but I thought it might be fun if I just brought up. I asked Lisa for her birth data.

I thought I'd just give her a little bit of insight into her chart from what I'm seeing, because, you know, this is an astrology channel. So let me just pull this up. I'm looking at your chart and I'm. I'm seeing that you have a Leo Ascendant. Is that what you remember? Yes. So we're doing, of course, the sidereal chart, Vedic astrology. And what I love about your chart is that you have the Venus Rahu conjunction in Gemini, which Gemini loves to learn. It's so curious and creative. And Venus Rahu makes you artists, and it makes you beautiful, but makes you very artistic and creative. And that Venus Rahu aspects your fifth house of children and teaching. But when I go to the real point in your chart, that's what you're all about. That is your third house. Your third house is all about learning, teaching, education, travel. And you have Jupiter and Mars there with Pluto, my goodness, you are very ambitious. You're driven. That's the Mars in the third house. But with Jupiter, there's this love of curiosity, of learning, traveling. And I also wanted to give you a little prediction about that. Now, these two planets, Jupiter, Mars, they're in Libra. So there is, there's going to be some continued rise coming up for, for you. And what I just want to give you a little brief prediction here because I noticed that you have Saturn at 23 degrees of Virgo. And I tell everyone that anyone has a planet around 22, 21 to 23 degrees of Capricorn, Taurus or Virgo, then that means that Rahu and Jupiter are going to aspect that planet, which Jupiter and Rahu together always mean expansion and gains. And so when this starts happening, this is going to be around the end of February, early March. You're going to have an amazing growth your business, and it's going to be very financially productive. So keep doing what you're doing because it's all about to transition in a big way financially for you.

Around the end of next February and March of 2020, 1. So I just wanted to give you a little heads up of where you're going, that you're going in the right direction. This is all going to unfold for you. So. So before we take any questions, is there anything else you wanted to say about your business or let people know about? But I also want you to tell them how they can get in touch with you and get your services, because I'm sure a lot of people out there want to know about how they can get connected with you.

Right. Well, I also wanted to say too, because I know that you are curious about what advice I would give during this time for other businesses. I would definitely say, listen to your clients or your customers. Like I said mine right off the bat said, can we do virtual sessions? And I said no, because I didn't know how we would do it. So listen to them. If they're asking for something, it's good because they want it. The other thing I want to say is if you can't get into working with your clients or customers right away, think about how you can maybe network or continue to grow. So during those first two weeks when we weren't virtual, I reached out to some websites and said, hey, can I write for you about what parents can do with their kids now that they're home? And so that was a way to reach more people and to get my name out there when I wasn't really. When we weren't working at the time for those two weeks. So you can always try to think about, maybe you can't see your clients or customers right away, but what else can you do?

Yeah.

Yes. You have to ask people what they need, what they want. That's number one. I do that when I do my readings. Before I ever start an astrological reading, I always ask, what do you need out of this reading? How can I help you? So that's exactly number one. I get that. Yeah. Love that. Okay, so anything else about that you want us to know about you?

I don't think so. I mean, yes, I absolutely love traveling, so. You got that right.

I think the way that we learn the most about people in the world is through traveling because it opens your mind to looking at things from a different perspective. It's like when I travel, I love to immerse myself in their culture. You know, I'll eat their foods, I'll do whatever they do there. Just because it's a whole growth and learning experience. And it's fun. Fun to learn and see things through the different eyes and different countries where People come from. It's just amazing. So I think learning is the most important thing in the world in terms of our growth spiritually, emotionally, physically. We've got to always be opening to change and learning and, you know, adapting to all the changes and things that are happening. So I think that that's really, really important to know. And. Yeah, so. Oh, you said that you write a newsletter.

Me?

Yeah. Don't you send out a newsletter? Tell me about your newsletter, what's in it, and how can people sign up for it?

Yeah, so they can sign up at our website. Preschool readers.

I'll put all your information down below so people will be able to connect with you, your website or your email, and how to sign up for this newslet. What's in the newsletter?

So we put, you know, I send out tips and tricks to work on how to work with your children at home. You know, now that it's summer, I send some really fun outside activities, like outside with chalk and water games. We send specials. We do a lot of free events. We'll do story time in the park, which I hope to expand to new cities, but we'll do story time in the park. And so we do a lot of different free events. And I send tips. So that's what the newsletter is about. Yeah.

And how often do you send it out?

I actually do a weekly newsletter.

Yeah, that's. That's intense.

Yeah, they're not very long, but, you know.

Yeah, that's good because I do these enormously long newsletters once a month with all the predictions and the aspects and. And it takes a long time to write all that out. So mine's not. But I think that's short and sweet. I like that idea. Maybe I'll start doing that.

I like the newsletters, and I've. In my opinion, between other than word of mouth, the newsletter is the second way that we get the most clients. I think it's just like a constant reminder about us.

Yeah. Because when you remind people of things, then they're going to remember you. And I just think your service is phenomenal. That's why I wanted you to come on.

It's so fun. We love it. It's just so much fun.

Okay, so let me see if I see any questions over here we can take. Hold on a minute. Let me look over here.

And see what questions are coming up. All right. And of course, everybody's asking about everything about politics, which this is not what this is about.

Oh, my goodness. And look at. Everybody from around the world is greeting us how nice is that?

Now.

Let'S see here. Let me go back up to the top. We have got people from everywhere tuning in with us. And.

Let'S see.

Okay, now of course they want to know what rising you have, which you're rising. Let's see. And Leo is in Purva Falguni. That's actually I noticed that your rising signs almost exactly on my moon sign. So yeah, so we got that connection. I know.

Okay, so people are tuning in late. Who is she? This is my rising star, Lisa. And she has got amazing school for three to five year olds. Learning, teaching them how to read, inspire and give kids confidence at the most crucial time of their life to, you know, when they really do form their whole perspective on the world and how they're going to react later. You know, that really does come from that age time. So I think you've got a really powerful thing going because this really does affect children. And may I say this again, the future generations of the world, that's what you're really setting the tone for and.

Help with that.

All of our reading specialists have at least their graduate degrees. So, you know, they're highly, you know, qualified. But also I'm really big on personality. I want a happy kind. I mean, that is huge. So all the reading specialists are absolutely amazing.

It is. So does anybody have any questions or telling you. Whoops, my camera keeps falling down. Sorry about that. Anybody have any questions for Lisa about her work or what her business is about or how to get a hold of her and all of these interesting things that see if we have anything. You know, everyone's, everyone's interested. I don't think they have any questions.

Let's see.

So for those of you that don't know, I did the first rising star on my son Austin because he took his business, which was a food truck, converted it into about four different locations or five, and they were all at university, universities. And of course with the COVID shut down, how was he going to adapt to this? And he found a way to take all of his products and package them and deliver them to the door. What he has is acai bowls, smoothies, and now they come in packages delivered to your door. You just add almond milk or coconut milk and you've got this delicious, healthy breakfast or dessert any time of the day. So I thought that was really cool the way he transitioned his business because he had to instead of, he made this challenging time period into a positive. And that's exactly what Lisa did. And I want these rising stars to Be an inspiration to everyone that you've got to transition, you got to change and, and always look at these as opportunities for growth because that's exactly what difficult times make us force us to change and be more growth producing. So I think it's a great opportunity. Lisa, you've taken this to the next level. I love it.

It's just been. Yeah, like I said, it's been fun.

Yeah. Let's see. Here's. We actually have some questions over here. Can you teach.

Let me see, let me pull this over.

I don't think that's a good question. Sounds incredible. How do we sign up? That's what we're going to have to talk about. Tell them how they sign up and I'll put all the links. How does that process look?

So you can sign up@preschool readers.com. we have a contact form there. Or you could just email us@inforeeschoolreaders.com but the email is on the website and the process is you fill that out, we get in touch with you to schedule an initial assessment. Because I should say that not all three to five year olds are ready to read. So we do have to administer assessment just to make sure. And that doesn't mean that they won't obviously that they're not going to eventually read, but we just have to look at some things to make sure they're ready because we want it to be successful for them. So. Yep. So if you just go to the website and fill out the contact form and then we schedule the assessment from there.

So is this only in the United States or do you ever.

I mean, I would love to be everywhere because it's virtually. Because it's virtual. We can be everywhere at this point.

Yeah. Yeah. Somebody was asking about Norway, so that's why I'm asking. Yeah. So you're, you, you can do this everywhere. I bet different languages is even something to think about. Right?

Yeah. I mean, and even our clients here in the U.S. so many of our students, even though they're only 3 to 5, speak at least a lot of them know two or three languages because of where their parents are from.

So incredible. Yeah, I didn't even think about that. That that's like this can be international and you know, a part of learning different languages. I mean, this is like those. And you know as well as I do that's when we really are able to learn language. Right. Yeah. Because, you know, at my age it's kind of too late or at least, you know, that's an excuse. But it is really hard to learn languages later, you know, kind of fixed in our way. So that's. That. That's a thought. Teaching language and all of that. So we would love to be everywhere. Yeah, so I think you're gonna be everywhere because, you know, with your chart, you've got that Jupiter, Jupiter, Mars conjunction in the third house. Third house is not only learning, teaching, but traveling. And I tell people, when you have Mars in the third or the ninth house, you will travel the world. I've seen that because I've seen that more in airline pilots charts. That's how much. That's how much travel can be involved with that combination.

Well, before, I was on an airplane at least once a month, so. Yeah, that makes sense.

Well, see, that's definitely a part of that. So I get that your business is going to be expanding and it's going to be international. So you get ready now. Is there more than. How many teachers do you have work with you? You can't be doing it all, can you?

No, I actually don't work at all with students. Personally, at this point, I've completely stepped away. And I can work remotely, which is amazing for me because, like you said, I like to travel. So there's about 13 of us right now, and they're all over different areas.

Okay. I love all that.

So let's just tell any last things you want to say before we close.

Lisa, just stay positive. And there are ways that you can pivot. You just really have to sit and think what works for your clients or your customers or your business. And like I said before, if you can't necessarily work with them right now, what can you do behind the scenes or even to better yourself? I'm actually in the process. I'm finishing up an application to go back to school to get a doctorate in education. You know, so even what can you do for yourself? And of course, that will help me with the business down the road. So there's just so much you can do. There's just so much you can do.

I just, you know, I know. So I think that's so important that you said, listen to your clients. What do they need? And that's, you know, everything to get going with the direction you need to take your businesses. So I hope everyone out there has learned a little bit about their own business and given ideas.

I didn't hear you because it froze. I'm sorry.

Sorry. I was just like. I hope others have learned how to, you know, giving them ideas and inspiration on how they can change and adapt to the changing times with their businesses or wanting to start a new business. I mean, this is a very creative time. People have different needs now, always remote. Remember, it's like the mother of invention creates the need. What is going on? What do people need right now? And then once you start, always ask your clients what what do you need? What do you need to get out of this? How can I help you? You know, when you just really think how can I help you? Or how can I help others? That's always going to open the door to great and wonderful opportunities. And there are so many opportunities coming about right here. If we sit, listen still our mind and open our minds, we will find that there is a incredible opportunities to help other people right now in a time of need. So last closing anything? Ok. I just want to make sure you got to say everything you wanted to say. Lisa, thank you so much.

I'm so grateful. Thank you so much.

Yes. I wanted to promote you and let the world know your services.

Yes. Thank you.

Okay, well everyone have a wonderful rest of the day or evening, wherever you are in the world. And thank you for joining in on us. We'll have another rising star next week. I'll keep you posted. So thank you everyone. Namaste.

Bye. Thank you.

Bye. Bye.