My guest this week is the true wild card of the Private Practice Secrets Podcast, Jacinta McMahon. Jacinta McMahon is the founder and director or Learning Fundamentals, a centre for children with a variety of learning difficulties. What makes Jacinta a wild card? Her background is primary teaching, rather than allied health!
Jacinta started as a primary school teacher in the catholic education system before going back to complete her post-graduate studies in learning disabilities. She then continued to work for catholic and independent schools in a coordinator capacity where she became increasingly frustrated by the lack of funding provided for children with difficulties. Thus, Learning Fundamentals was born in her home study and is now a thriving learning centre with a wait list of clients in Sandringham!
Jacinta and I also get to talking about:
- She talks us through that first moment moving from paid employment to working from home, for herself
- Why she would like for her and people like her to be referred to as Educational Consultants rather than tutors
- Her thought process around moving the office from home and her motivation behind this decision
- Her motivations to go into business for herself, aside from the support of her dad who was a true source of inspiration
- How long it took between making the decision to open the centre for the doors to open
- Why she thinks that she could have done more planning around business aspect of opening the centre
- What her biggest challenges were going into a new premises / business
- Why outsourcing has saved her time and frustration
- She walks us through her centre and her amazing team
- The investment in relationships that her team has and how this makes Learning Fundamentals special
- How she has such and incredible team without advertising for new staff
- Growth, her goals and managing these
- Her thoughts around setting up another centre to get rid of her waiting list
- Where she gets her energy from
- Building her business and team to a point where she can have Friday off and how to do it
- Updating the policies and procedures manual and why it is a constant work in progress
- Her plans for service expansion off the back of the budget release and what is in store for education
- What her business has taught her
- Her vision for the future and her thoughtful question for me!
