Today we’d like to introduce you to Abbie P. Huckleby.
Hi Abbie P., so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work-life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today?
My story really began in 1980 when I arrived at Tuskegee Institute full of dreams and determination. I wanted a college education, but I did not have the financial resources, guidance, or knowledge about scholarships that could have helped me stay in school. Eventually, I had to leave Tuskegee before earning my degree. That experience stayed with me for years.
When I became a mother, I made a promise to myself that my two daughters, Alayna and Laura, would not have the same experience. My husband and I were hardworking, middle-class parents with steady jobs, but we knew we could not simply write checks for two college educations, especially with our daughters attending college at the same time. So, I decided I was going to figure it out.
I became what I jokingly called a scholarship researcher. Before there were all the online resources families have today, I spent countless evenings researching opportunities, printing applications, talking to counselors, attending meetings, visiting libraries, and organizing everything I found in binders. My daughters used to laugh and say, “Mama’s doing her scholarship homework.” And they were right. I was learning everything I could about how scholarships worked and then helping my daughters position themselves for those opportunities.
That work paid off in ways I could never have imagined. Scholarship awards began coming in. Along the way, I discovered opportunities in places I had previously overlooked, including a dependent scholarship program through my employer. Alayna received $16,000 through that program, and Laura later received $12,000.
Ultimately, my daughters were able to graduate from college debt free. What started as one mother’s determination to keep her daughters from experiencing the financial struggle she had faced became something much bigger.
I began helping other families understand scholarships and college funding, and that passion eventually became Parent Project LLC. Today, I work with parents and students through one-on-one scholarship consultations, workshops, community presentations, and speaking engagements. My goal is to give families the knowledge and strategy I wish my family had when I was preparing for college.
My journey also came full circle when I had the opportunity to serve on the Houston Tuskegee University Alumni Board and help raise scholarship funds for students who needed assistance staying in school. I went from being the Tuskegee student who needed financial help to becoming someone helping other students receive it. I also continue that commitment through scholarship work in my hometown community.
Most recently, I became an author. I wrote Faith, Favor & Funding: How One Mother’s Determination Turned Scholarships into Generational Blessings to share the lessons, strategies, faith, successes, and even the disappointments behind our family’s journey.
When I look at where I am today, I realize that Parent Project LLC was born long before I ever gave it a name. It started with a young woman who had to leave college because she did not know where to find the money to stay. It grew through a mother determined to create a different outcome for her daughters. Today, it has become my mission to help other families realize that college funding does not have to begin and end with student loans.
That is why the tagline for Parent Project LLC means so much to me: Where Faith Meets Strategy.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
It has definitely not been a smooth road, but many of the challenges are what ultimately shaped the work I do today.
One of my earliest struggles was having to leave Tuskegee Institute because I did not have the financial resources to continue my education. I was capable and determined, but I did not understand the world of scholarships and financial aid. There was no roadmap handed to me. Years later, that experience became the driving force behind my determination to make sure my daughters had a different story.
When I began searching for scholarships for them, there was no easy formula. I spent countless hours researching opportunities, keeping up with deadlines, completing applications, gathering documents, and encouraging my daughters to keep going. There were scholarship applications that resulted in awards, and there were plenty that did not. I had to learn that rejection was part of the process and that persistence mattered.
Another challenge was simply getting families to understand that scholarships require strategy and preparation. Many people think you wait until senior year of high school, fill out a few applications, and hope for the best. I learned that successful scholarship planning can begin years earlier and that opportunities can come from employers, community organizations, professional associations, colleges, churches, and many other sources.
Starting Parent Project LLC brought a different set of challenges. I had to take something I had done naturally for my own family and turn it into a business that could serve other families. That meant learning entrepreneurship, marketing, technology, social media, and how to communicate the value of what I had learned through years of experience.
Writing and publishing Faith, Favor & Funding was another leap of faith. Sharing your personal story means sharing the parts that did not go according to plan, including disappointment, financial struggles, rejection, and mistakes. But I realized those were some of the most important parts of the story because families need to see the process, not simply the successful outcome.
Through all of those challenges, I have learned to keep moving forward. My own educational journey did not turn out the way I originally planned, but that experience eventually gave me a purpose I could never have imagined at 18 years old.
Today, when I help a parent discover an opportunity they did not know existed or help a student realize that graduating with less debt is possible, those earlier struggles make sense in a completely different way.
My road has not been smooth, but it has certainly been purposeful.
As you know, we’re big fans of Parent Project LLC. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about the brand?
Parent Project LLC is a scholarship preparation and consulting company I founded to help families approach college funding with knowledge, organization, preparation, and a clear strategy.
What makes Parent Project different is that it was born from lived experience. I did not enter this field because I studied scholarship consulting in a classroom. I became passionate about it because I once had to leave Tuskegee Institute when I did not have the financial resources or guidance to remain in school. Years later, when I became a mother, I was determined that my daughters would have a different experience. I researched scholarships, learned the process, organized opportunities, helped with applications, and developed strategies that ultimately helped my daughters graduate from college debt free.
Today, I take those lessons and help other families develop their own scholarship strategies. Through Parent Project LLC, I offer one-on-one scholarship consultations, scholarship preparation and guidance, parent and student workshops, community presentations, and speaking engagements. I help families understand where to look for scholarships, how to prepare before deadlines arrive, how to organize the process, and how students can tell their authentic stories through strong applications and essays.
One thing I especially want families to understand is that scholarships are not reserved for valedictorians or students with perfect GPAs. Students have different stories, talents, experiences, interests, community involvement, and goals. Part of my work is helping them recognize what makes them a strong candidate and teaching them how to communicate that effectively.
I am also passionate about changing the idea that scholarship searching begins during senior year. I encourage families to start preparing early, but I also remind them that it is not too late if they did not. Scholarships are available for high school students, current college students, and graduate students.
Another important part of Parent Project LLC is my book, Faith, Favor & Funding: How One Mother’s Determination Turned Scholarships into Generational Blessings. The book allows me to take what I learned beyond a consultation or workshop and place it directly into the hands of families. It combines my personal story with the preparation, persistence, faith, and practical lessons that shaped our family’s scholarship journey.
What I am most proud of about the Parent Project brand is that it is personal. I know what it feels like to be the student who did not have enough information or resources. I know what it feels like to be the parent sitting at the kitchen table wondering how you are going to pay for college. And I know what it feels like to watch your children accomplish something you once feared might be financially out of reach.
I want readers to know that Parent Project LLC is about more than finding scholarship applications. It is about helping families become informed, prepared, confident, and intentional about funding education.
Our tagline says it best: Where Faith Meets Strategy.
How do you think about luck?
I have learned that what people often call “luck” is usually a combination of preparation, timing, relationships, faith, and the willingness to act when an opportunity presents itself.
I have certainly experienced moments of good fortune. I have met the right people at the right time, received unexpected opportunities, and watched doors open that I could not have planned for. Even this opportunity to share my story with Voyage Houston feels like one of those moments.
But some of the greatest turning points in my life came from what might have looked like bad luck at the time. Having to leave Tuskegee Institute because I could not afford to continue was painful. I could have allowed that experience to remain a disappointment. Instead, it became part of the motivation behind how I approached my daughters’ education and, eventually, the foundation for Parent Project LLC.
That experience taught me something important. You cannot always control what happens to you, but you can decide what you do with it.
I also believe strongly in faith and favor. My book is titled Faith, Favor & Funding for a reason. Faith has carried me through uncertainty. Favor has brought people and opportunities into my life that I could never have orchestrated on my own. But I have also learned that when an opportunity comes, you have to be prepared to do the work.
So, has luck played a role? Absolutely. But I would probably call it favor. And when favor meets preparation, determination, and strategy, remarkable things can happen.
Pricing:
- Scholarship Consultation, 60 minutes: $125
- Signed paperback copy of Faith, Favor & Funding: $22
- Signed hardcover copy of Faith, Favor & Funding: $35
- Speaking engagements and scholarship workshops: Pricing varies based on the event, audience, location, and requested services.
- Organizations, schools, churches, nonprofits, and community groups may contact Parent Project LLC for customized workshops and group presentations.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.parentprojectllc.com
- Instagram: https://instagram.com/parentprojectscholarships
- Facebook: https://facebook.com/ParentProject
- LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/abbie-huckleby
