Today we’d like to introduce you to Zipporah Jackson.
Zipporah, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
As a product of the Acres Homes area and Aldine Independent School District, I have always felt an obligation to give back to my community and help uplift the youth. I was blessed to receive a full ride scholarship to Texas A&M after graduating top of my class from Eisenhower High School. Although academics always came easy to me, college was no easy feat. I changed my major three times before finally settling on a major in English and minor in Sociology. Although I went through a lot personally and academically such as being sexually assaulted, academic probation for having a 2.2 GPA and dealing with racial issues at a PWI, by the grace of God I was able to graduate in four years with a GPA of a 3.1.
After graduation, I returned to my hometown and began a career as a teacher. In my first year, I helped grow my students by over 75% on the STAAR test and was ranked #6 out of all middle school English teachers for overall academic growth. I loved molding the minds of my students daily and was blessed to touch so many lives. It wasn’t into one day during college week when I was having a discussion with my students about majors and one posed a question that I always ask them. “Ms. Jackson, you said we can be anything we want to be, but what you want to be since you ain’t graduate with a teaching degree?” I was speechless. For the first time in my life, I was speechless because I hadn’t thought about it like that. Don’t get me wrong, I loved teaching but I despised the education system and how it did not benefit all students. I also only went into teaching because of my mother who is an educator not because I was passionate. It was then I knew I had to pursue my dreams of becoming a lawyer. I also wanted to continue to give back to my community through spreading the knowledge I acquired and my gift of growing students academically so I started my organization Helping Hands Tutoring Services October 26, 2018. Helping Hands specializes with providing affordable and quality tutoring services in Math and English from ages 1-18 as well as College, STAAR and SAT/ACT Prep. With initiatives like the Holiday Helping Hand, I am able to sponsor a few deserving minority students with free academic tutoring and resources.
Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
“There is nothing greater or equal to a woman determined to rise” is a quote I stand by daily in life. The road I have traveled has not been easy. There have been boulders and obstacles along the way with twist and turns that sometimes have led to a dead end or two. Social media paints entrepreneurship as this exciting and financially freeing experience when in all actuality it is not as pretty or easy as the picture you have in mind. Coming from a salary job to stepping out on faith and relying on savings, TRS and a tight budget can become taxing. No matter how professional I am or amazing the services I offer may be, there is always a chance that clients will cancel, pay late or try not to pay at all or want to receive services but can’t afford them. It has been times I didn’t receive the grants I applied for or funds that people promised to donate. I have driven in traffic a few times for over an hour and a half to get to an appointment and the client is no longer responding to calls or text.
As a woman, we always have to work ten times harder to be respected and taken seriously. Sometimes, it can get discouraging because you feel like your voice is not heard or it doesn’t matter but it does. Never allow yourself to be invisible in a room, meeting or collaboration with other companies. I had to learn to be unapologetically me at all times if it meant getting what I needed to help the under-serviced minority students in my area. Also, your vision is not everyone else’s. People are going to look at you crazy and tell you what you can or can not do. However, only you can see what God has in store for you which is why he gave the vision to you not them. Use the doubt as a way to fuel your fire for success.
Alright – so let’s talk business. Tell us about Helping Hands Tutoring Services – what should we know?
Helping Hands Tutoring Services specializes in providing customized tutoring sessions in both English Language Arts and Math from ages 1-18. All tutoring sessions are tailored for the individual child to ensure they are being taught in the learning style and environment that suits them. Unlike most tutoring companies, my math tutors and I incorporate games such as Monopoly, Football, Baseball, Basketball, Twister, etc to help the students understand the TEKS they struggle with and concepts they are missing. When the students are actively engaged in their learning, retention of the information and comprehension of the subject skyrockets.
I also am a Life Skills Coach for children with disabilities who are trying to enter the workforce or college. I assist them with building and completing their resume, filling out college and job applications, going over professionalism in the workplace as well as social skills needed to be successful and interview etiquette for both jobs and colleges.
This summer, I will be starting a new venture with the Garden City Boys & Girls Club as a contracted SAT/ACT Prep coordinator. The students will be learning through a hybrid simulated course that will include both online and in person SAT/ACT training.
Lastly, I am the Coach and Head Choreographer for the Houston Academy LOD Step Team. This is my first full year with the step team and the girls are so talented. Our step team competed as the youngest group out of twelve other teams and won third place overall.
There is not one position or responsibility that I have that is greater or more important than another. I am proud of the entire brand I built because everything I do comes from my heart. Each child that I work with is like my baby and I love them all the same. They have taught me patience and love like no one else has. My clients and team talk about how they need me but in actuality, I need them just as much.
Do you feel like there was something about the experiences you had growing up that played an outsized role in setting you up for success later in life?
I was blessed to grow up with an active two parent household that instilled into me the love of God and the importance of education. My parents also made it their duty to make sure we were able to see the world outside of Acres Homes and know there was more than where we came from. However, I went to school in Acres Homes so I have seen the effects that poverty can have on children in school. Some of my friends had to grow up way before they turned 18 because of the home environment that forced them to take care of siblings, find work before the age of 15 and staying home to help their struggling mother instead of going off to school. These same students would be screamed at and talked down about by educators who did not even know that the student hadn’t eaten in two days or was without lights for three weeks. I was in AP classes with a student who was facing deportation their senior year in high school. As a child, I couldn’t do much so I would offer an open ear and prayer for my classmates who needed it.
Although it was not clear what direction I would go after graduation, I knew I had an obligation to go back to my community and help the youth gain the knowledge necessary to make it out and be successful. So, my experiences growing up directly correlates with every aspect of my career/entrepreneurship. After graduating from law school, my goal is to eventually open up an academic enrichment center that the youth in my community can go to get help with homework, STAAR prep, college admission process, and even personal counseling.
Pricing:
- All Academic Services are $25
- Gas fees will be applied for travel over a 3-mile radius
Contact Info:
- Phone: 832-543-3716
- Email: zdjackson2017@gmail.com
- Instagram: HelpingHandsTutoringServices
- Facebook: Helping Hands Tutoring Services
Image Credit:
Willisha Rainie
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