Meet Jennifer Smith of The Achieving Academy: Life Skills Training School

Thanks for sharing your story with us Jennifer. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
I am a 38-year-old female. I am a multi-potentialite, a writer, entrepreneur & an idea generator. I am a mother of two teens (Micah & Trinity) and one pre-teen (Harris).

I have three younger brothers. When they were teens and growing up, I had already graduated and left home. However, I was concerned about their ability to transition from home to the real world. They were all different kids with different lifestyle goals. It got me thinking about other teens and how I knew that not everyone’s journey and transition would be the same.

When I was 19 years old, I had a head-on collision with a drunk driver (August made 19 years) and to this very day, I live with ADHD, fibromyalgia and memory loss as a result. However, I have pushed through and earned my Masters. I am a 16-year accounting professional. My background is an asset to the community because teens need to learn the fundamentals of budgeting and making choices before they transition out of high school or college and enter into the real world. I am a walking testimony and proof that you can still pursue your goals despite the obstacles that come your way.

As my own children became teens, I started doing the same thing that I did with my brothers. My oldest son, Micah, became my test subject. I created The Achieving Academy. At the time, I wasn’t exactly sure how I was going to structure it. However, me and my son started having meetings about life and budgeting. He began checking the mail and seeing the various bills. We then started coming up with lists of questions he had and began to survey their teen cousins and friends. What was it that kids wanted to know? As I learned, I began creating forms and examples, handouts and puzzles. I pursued a teen life skills training certification to get more information on additional curriculum.

And from there, the Life Skills Training School was born.

Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
As a start-up, my biggest obstacles have been funding and exposure. Because I am not yet a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization, I am unable to get businesses to donate. That’s the first thing they ask about. I am working towards it, but that also takes funds. So I have to set aside money from my personal life to grow this business.

Because of the lack of funding, it limits location, assistance and food. I found a great space called The Ranch Office. The location is perfect and the space is amazing. And the owner donated the space for the first camp we did. We will be hosting various events throughout the year at this location. We also keep ourselves open to travel to schools, organizations, etc. Being mobile lets the community know that we can come to them. We are willing to host these camps at churches, schools, etc. but the space has to accommodate our structure and have open space so the participants can move around. We also want to get lunch donated each time and have speakers, so finding volunteers and food establishments to donate is a challenge.

Exposure is also an issue because I am new. No one knows who Jennifer Y. Smith is. Well, at least not yet. No one knows (yet) about The Achieving Academy. So marketing is a big deal. And because my personal network is so small, I tried to launch small Facebook campaigns to get the word out. Marketing costs money so I did as much as I could and tried to have my friends and family share our posts as well.

Please tell us about The Achieving Academy & the Life Skills Training School.
The Achieving Academy’s Life Skills Training School is a Life Skills Boot Camp for TEENS! This is for ages 14-19 and approaches learning life skills such as budgeting and decision making through fun and interactive learning.

Currently, The Achieving Academy: Life Skills Training School offers one- day life skills workshop/camp. This interactive and fun session is not your normal camp. In groups, students will go through a mock game of life. The class will participate in activities and demos to learn budgeting and money management. The one-day camps are set up as a thought-provoking game that combines real-life scenarios with open discussion about life skills, choices and consequences encouraging participation and providing insight. We also bring in speakers from various professional backgrounds. Laughter is encouraged!

Teens or young adults get a taste of the important life skill lessons that our 6-week class will cover. (The six-week classes haven’t started yet.)

Parents are welcome to stay and watch, but the sessions runs from 9am to 2pm. Our goal is to reinforce topics such as budgeting, personal safety, financial responsibility, health awareness, handling emergencies and more. The curriculum of The Achieving Academy’s Life Skills program (both the camps) is intended to be taught in a lively, upbeat, interactive manner. Students are expected to be active participants in the learning process through open discussion.

What sets us apart is that we are working to help prepare the teens for the real world. Not everyone goes to high school. Not everyone goes to college… but they all will transition into the real world sooner or later. We not only focus on the transition, but we plan on offering other camps, forums, and events that are geared to teen success. Our goal is to connect with the teens on a different level. We are open and honest and we understand that not all teens will take the same path in life.

In our recent August camp, we had the following amazing speakers that came to talk to our teens.
HPD Officer Sheldon Theragood, Theragood Deeds.
Patrick Francis, LAMP Consultation
Nicki Robinson, Nicki Nickole Coaching & Mentoring

Noah Rattler, Writer, Speaker, & Activist

In the near future (before the end of 2019), The Achieving Academy will be hosting events such as the Parent/Teen Communications Summit and a Youth Awards Banquet.

If you had to go back in time and start over, would you have done anything differently?
I would have saved money. Started the non-profit. Networked with people that could help me with grants and donations. I would have lined up a few camps at schools and churches so that I could host the camps around Houston and get the word out about The Achieving Academy. I would have had enough money saved to get it all started and had a marketing budget to be able to get the word out.