956 Shellee Howard:

Wings of Inspired Business Podcast EP956—Host Melinda Wittstock Interviews Shellee Howard

Melinda Wittstock:

Coming up on Wings of Inspired Business:

Shellee Howard:

When you approach it as a business, return on investment is very high. Last year, I had 29 seniors earn over 10.3 million in scholarships. We take away the emotion of the name of a school, and we spend the first several months together helping them truly be the best version of them, which, as a mom, that’s how we want them to launch. Because when they launch, well, they gain that confidence that they can navigate on their own. And so, we start from the foundation of what is your greatness? What are the gifts you’ve been given and have you tapped into them?

Melinda Wittstock:

If you’re a parent who has navigated—or you are about to navigate—the college application process for your sons and daughters, Shellee Howard gradually fade music here is the miracle worker who has figured out how to master the process. When her son hit middle school, the mom of 4 started to think about how to turn the standard approach to college and career planning on its head. Instead of focusing solely on academic strengths like math and pursuing prestigious, costly schools, Shellee prioritized understanding her son’s unique gifts, talents, and values. She wanted to help him figure out not only what he was good at, but what he truly wanted—and wanted to avoid—while also keeping future financial burdens in mind. Listen on to learn how Shellee is helping parents and teenagers nationwide as the founder of College Ready.

PAUSE no words from 5-8 seconds…with music full

Melinda Wittstock:

Hi, I’m Melinda Wittstock and welcome to Wings of Inspired Business, where we share the inspiring entrepreneurial journeys, (Start to fade music GRADUALLY under my voice – here) epiphanies, and practical advice from successful female founders … so you have everything you need at your fingertips to build the business and life of your dreams. I’m all about paying it forward as a five-time serial entrepreneur, so I started this podcast to catalyze an ecosystem where women entrepreneurs mentor, promote, buy from, and invest in each other. Because together we’re stronger, and we all soar higher when we fly together and lift as we climb.

Melinda Wittstock:

Today we meet an inspiring entrepreneur who is a fierce advocate for debt-free college graduation—and making sure kids get into the right school aligned with their true purpose and passion. Shellee Howard, the Founder and CEO of College Ready and CR Future Now, is a Certified Independent College Strategist and best-selling author. As a mom of 4, Shellee turned her firsthand experience with college admission and scholarship success into a thriving business. Her son graduated debt-free from Harvard, earned his MD from UCSD, and is now an Orthopedic Surgery Resident at UCLA. Her daughter earned her BSN debt-free and became an RN in 2021. Shellee has guided hundreds of students worldwide to top universities, ensuring they graduate debt-free and land jobs they love.

Melinda Wittstock:

Shellee walks us through her holistic approach: starting early in middle school, focusing on self-actualization, embracing community service, finding the right-fit college, and outsmarting the financial aid system. 

Melinda Wittstock:

Shellee will be here in a start music GRADUALLY under my voice moment, and first:

If you’re enjoying this podcast and what you learn from all the inspiring women I interview every week, please go ahead, hit subscribe wherever you get your podcasts, and share it with your friends. We really appreciate ratings and reviews on Apple and Spotify – it helps more entrepreneurs like you find the wisdom, tips, and epiphanies they need to grow their business. It makes a difference. Thank you. 

fade music after 2-3 seconds

Melinda Wittstock:

Now to the confusing world of college admissions and scholarships, how to navigate it, and ensure your kids find the right college aligned with their passion and purpose, grow their confidence, and set themselves up for a debt-free launch into a fulfilling career with life skills that last far beyond graduation. Who doesn’t want that? Shellee Howard has helped thousands of families do just that, while also earning millions in scholarships. She shares all her inside secrets including why community service is a secret superpower for teens, and what every parent needs to know to help their kids make their mark on the world. 

Melinda Wittstock:

Let’s put on our wings with the inspiring Shellee Howard. 

[INTERVIEW]

Melinda Wittstock:

Shellee, welcome to Wings.

Shellee Howard:

So thankful to be here.

Melinda Wittstock:

Okay, so like I’m in awe of you because you’ve had all your kids graduate from college debt free. And I’m just going to repeat that again, debt free, graduating from college, all for them. How? Just like how, how did you manage that? It’s amazing. I think everybody would want to know that.

Shellee Howard:

I wish it was like a one podcast worthy information. I can go high level for you and if you have more questions, I can definitely, you know, go deeper. But it really started 17, almost 18 years ago when my oldest, my firstborn came home from middle school and he said, mom, I know exactly what I want to do after high school. I want to be a brain surgeon, and I want to go to one of those top colleges. Can you help me? And, oh sure, I can help you with that.

Shellee Howard:

And then he starts to walk out of the kitchen and he’s like, no, really, can you help me? And I said, if I can’t, I will figure it out. And so, I have done just that. My firstborn was my reason why all of this came about. I did go to college. I was the first on both sides of my family and I did it all wrong. Right. So many things that we do going forward is from our own experience. So, I didn’t want my children to go through the headache of changing their major five times.

Shellee Howard:

So, we really started right around middle school, and we started helping my son to figure out what is it that he really wanted and what didn’t he want. Because that ties in with debt. You know, a lot of people think it’s about, you’re good at math, go to MIT and take on a ton of debt. I don’t believe that’s the route. So, we did it differently. We started with my son’s gifts, talents, advocacy and really who he is to figure out what he would want to do for the rest of his life. Long story short, how we did it is his cv. His resume was obviously quite impressive.

Shellee Howard:

He did get into seven colleges. He did go to Harvard four years pre-med for free, went on to UC San Diego Medical School, took on 30,000 total in debt. And he is now a fifth-year orthopedic resident at UCLA. So, he will have all of his tuition complete with his first job. So, he was number one, number two did it totally different. She went to University of Alabama, her dream school, and she got a full ride. So, I’m like, what is wrong with California? So off one goes to Boston.

Shellee Howard:

The other one goes to Alabama. Nice part is they’re both home with wonderful careers. Doctor, nurse. My stepson decided he wanted to go a different path. He didn’t want to leave and so he went to San Francisco State and now he is at Berkeley. But he finished San Francisco State in three years debt free and is now going to be a PA. And then my fourth, we just got back. She graduated with a US European dual degree from AAU in the Czech Republic in international business.

Shellee Howard:

And so, you can see that it’s not one path to get into college and graduate without debt. It is truly a strategy and that is what I help students do every single day.

Melinda Wittstock:

So, starting early is important, but the other part of that is actually for a kid to actually know what they want to do and what they want to study. And, and that’s hard, I think, for a lot of kids. A lot of kids don’t know. So, let’s start at the beginning there of, of how you help them figure that out, that self-actualization part.

Shellee Howard:

Yeah. So, what I figured out having, you know, two boys, two girls of my own, is they are all very unique and to treat them the same was going to harm one or the other. So as a parent, I started to dive in. How can I best support my kids? And I read the book the Five Love Languages and I really got in tune with each of them and how they felt valued, how they felt love, how they felt, the world around them reflected. And so, we started doing some internal work as a family. And what I figured out is nobody’s helping these teenagers figure out who they are. And this is well before the cell phone. I spent time with each of my own children, helping them to get clarity.

Shellee Howard:

You know, what do you like, what don’t you like? Who do you enjoy spending time with? Who do you not? Do you like quiet time? Do you like busy time? And I just started helping them to do some self-reflection. So, I would say, parents, if your child doesn’t know what they want, it just means they don’t know who they are. The second piece to that is every one of my students does a minimum of 200 community service hours. Not because I believe in free labor. That is not it at all. It is truly because when you’re serving another human being, the reflection is not, or that the focus is not on you, it’s on helping. And so, you’re able to step in. Well, if it’s, you know, if I don’t do it, nobody’s going to do it, so I’ll do a better job than nobody.

Shellee Howard:

And they truly figure out, you know, I like people or I don’t like people, or I need to be outside, or I need to be at a desk. And so, community service is such an important piece to allowing teenagers to figure out their gifts, talents, and who they advocate for. And so many people just are like, that’s just not fair that we have to, you know, our teenagers need to decide. I don’t disagree, but that is the way of the world. And so, I encourage families. We have a website called crfuturenow.com where it guides you through how to help your teenager or young adult figure out who they are. Because until they get that, they’re never going to know what is a good-fit career. So, it’s actually starting even a bit earlier.

Shellee Howard:

And then we help them to do internships, we help them to do conversation phone calls, where if they want to be an accountant, call an accountant and ask them what their day is like. So, we’re proactive in helping kids figure it out, and especially entrepreneurs, you know, we’re a rare breed because we want to do it all and. And we can’t be pigeonholed. And so, they have a really hard time picking a major because they really are a jack of all trades. So hopefully that answered your question, Melinda.

Melinda Wittstock:

No, I think that’s really interesting because I think a lot of parents…

Shellee Howard:

Don’t.

Melinda Wittstock:

…Do all of what you described, right?

Melinda Wittstock:

And then all of a sudden, they’re sophomore, they’re junior, they’ve got guidance counselors, they’re trying to figure out kind of what to do. The guidance counselors aren’t necessarily helpful. And then it’s like, oh, my God, I got to make my application. Great. And how do I do that? Now, if you’ve done all that work, you know, community service, and you’ve done the love languages, you’ve done internships, you’ve done all of that, chances are your application is going to be much better for all of that because you have some rich, lived experience. So, no doubt that it actually helps.

Shellee Howard:

With the applications 100%. So, everything we do at College Ready is not just to get into the name of a school, it’s to graduate with a degree that’s going to get you a job without taking you into debt. And that could be any student with a 3.0 or higher or because we’re international. I know that it doesn’t always equate the same, but it’s really getting clarity about what is the impact that this, this young person wants to make. And the hardest part is they’re spending so much time in their cell phone that they’re not learning themselves at all. And now they’re really struggling with self-identity because they don’t feel as good as all of these other influencers. So, this first step could be life changing for teenagers.

Melinda Wittstock:

Well, it’s confidence building, which is critical. And, and I noticed there’s so much in the Gen Z world because of the phones and because of all of this digital living that they’re lacking confidence in a way. They’re lacking in many cases the ability to even advocate for them.

Shellee Howard:

So many challenges. I mean, with technology comes a lot of great things. I, I, I don’t not, I, I see the value in technology, but I really see the value in the good old days. Going and playing on the street till the lights came on and knowing if you were fast or slow, if you like to braid hair, if you like to paint like you, you learn those things in real time. Now as parents, you have to really carve out those opportunities. And that’s where community service is. So, genius is because they’re helping another person and they think it’s all about them. But what they really don’t realize is how much it gives them confidence and gives them the opportunity to say what they truly love.

Melinda Wittstock:

Yeah, I mean, just developing the muscle of agency because I mean I, I just think of how I grew up and it, you know, parents are like, okay, we’ll see you, see you at dinner. Make your own fun. Figure it out. You know, spend a lot of time exploring. I mean, that’s probably why I had all these little businesses as a kid. You know, because it’s just like finding something to do.

Shellee Howard:

Absolutely. And these entrepreneurs these days are so much more fortunate because they have degrees now in entrepreneurship, so colleges have risen to support them. I remember my first day in accounting 101. My dad thought I should be a business finance major. And I sat there going, what in the world are they trying to explain? I just want to like problem solution. I, I just want to fix things. I don’t want to learn all of that. But you know, these kids now can, can really put it all together where they don’t have to choose.

Shellee Howard:

You know, college or no college, they can have it all. And I love the blend of that.

Melinda Wittstock:

Yeah, 100%. I mean, I think with my kids, it was funny. I had my first. She was six weeks old when my first significant business launched. I did not plan it that way. It just happened that way. So, she was along for the ride of building of them.

Melinda Wittstock:

I mean, you know, like all their lives, my kids have watched me build, you know, with varying degrees of success. You know, five businesses.

Shellee Howard:

Sure.

Melinda Wittstock:

I think what they learned from that, because it’s interesting, on this podcast comes up a lot of women saying, oh, my goodness, how do I juggle being a mom with being an entrepreneur and all of that? And I honestly think being an entrepreneur made me a better mom and being a mom made me a better entrepreneur and. And figuring all that out. But I just had to involve my kids because the only way I could, I could kind of muddle through. Do you know what I mean? But as a result, the one thing that they learned was resilience. Like, oh, God, if my mom can be having this, like, oh, my God, there’s some crisis in the business figured out this way to. I don’t know how she did it, but she made payroll.

Melinda Wittstock:

They just sort of developed this, ‘Oh, yeah, okay. Well, there’s a way to figure it out.’ But I was not nearly as organized as you about figuring out, like, their education. I mean, they really did that on their own. I suppose I did give them advice, you know, it was not as proactive as you. I mean, I think it’s kind of really cool what you do because I think a lot of parents are super busy. They don’t have the time necessarily or the knowledge to actually be able to pull all this off. Right?

Shellee Howard:

Yeah. In my family, they joke with me that I built four little businesses and they all. And I named them all at birth because I did approach motherhood. That college ready is my seventh business. So, I am a true entrepreneur. And I think this is my final. I love it. I don’t know what else I would want to do differently.

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Melinda Wittstock:

And we’re back with Shellee Howard, Founder and CEO of College Ready and CR Future Now, a Certified Independent College Strategist, and a best-selling author.

[INTERVIEW CONTINUES]

Shellee Howard:

I love them all in their time, but really, that’s what I do for students is I help them figure out, you know, what is. What is their greatness. What are they? I market them. Right? I build them, I support them, I guide them, I market them. And that’s why we’ve been successful for the last. We’re going on our 18th application season, and it’s because I don’t force people to do anything.

Shellee Howard:

I lean into, how do I help you be the very best business you can be and be a commodity that colleges are willing to pay a boatload of money for. And when you approach it as a business, return on investment is very high. Last year, I had 29 seniors earn over 10.3 million in scholarships.

Melinda Wittstock:

Wow.

Shellee Howard:

So, there’s a ton of money. Parents don’t listen to all of the drama on social media. Every one of my students got a lot more scholarships than they were even anticipating.

Melinda Wittstock:

That’s amazing. So, break that down for me. Tell me why they were able to get those scholarships.

Shellee Howard:

As I mentioned, we take away the emotion of the name of a school and we spend the first several months together helping them truly be the best version of them, which, as a mom, that’s how we want them to launch. So, it just really sets with who I am and how I raise my kids, because when they launch, well, they gain that confidence that they can navigate on their own. Of course, I’m always here, but the confidence to know they will survive. And so, we start from the foundation of what is your greatness? What are the gifts you’ve been given and. And have you tapped into them? We tap into those great gifts and the things they advocate for this generation, they’re amazing. They advocate for things like deep, deep things. And so, I started an organization called Empower Education World, and it is a nonprofit, 501c3, where my students lead other students to create the change they wish to see in the world. Basically, what I’m doing is I’m setting them up to lead others to create change. What does that do? That teaches them how to. Am I a leader or a follower? Do I like detailed work? Do I want to have random stuff going on all day long? And so, it really puts them in a position to put their big toe in the big water and find out what trajectory do they see and what are the areas they need to be working on. And as they’re doing all of this, they’re helping people and they’re building their resume or CV for universities. So, it’s called a Passion With Purpose project.

Shellee Howard:

And I highly recommend going to that website if it’s something that you feel like this would Benefit your students, sign up. There’s no cost to it. It’s my community service. So, I believe it is a very critical piece and would love if it was in every high school period.

Melinda Wittstock:

Oh my gosh. Well, that’s just so important. I think of all the problems in our society right now and unfortunately this next generation is left with many challenges, many challenges to go figure out. I mean not least of which things like climate or just the income inequality then and that did the knock-on effects of that or like how this generation is going to be able to afford to even you know, buy, buy things, buy houses, you know, the, the typical sort of American dream. Right. Seems unreachable for, increasingly unreachable for people. And then on top of all of that, you have how much AI, you know, depending on where you sit on that scale, how much that is actually going to completely transform society. Is it going to take away a lot of jobs that, you know, the typical entry level jobs that people took for granted? Right.

Melinda Wittstock:

What, what do all of these things mean? So, it’s, it’s not like there’s not a lot of things that need changing. So, so developing kids that have the confidence to go take those things on I think is pretty critical. So, thank you for doing that.

Shellee Howard:

It’s, it’s really such a, you know, it’s, it’s my gift. It truly is. I, I knew at a very young age that I did not. I mean I have four kids, so I had four babies, but I’m not a baby person and I’m not an elderly person. So, me and teenagers, I don’t know, we just, we just connect. And I love them. They’re honest, they’re genuine, they’ll tell you how it is. And I respect all of that.

Shellee Howard:

I speak teenager. I have wonderful relationships with all four of my children who are now young adults. And I would just encourage parents to know like when I’m talking to two teenagers and they are concerned about AI but not to the level of their parents, I can show them if the career that they are thinking of going into will be taken over by, by AI in four years, I have a tool that projects. And so, if a student is looking into going to digital marketing or graphic design or some of the first ones on the chopping block, I want them to know before they go down that path. It’s kind of like back in the day, the psychology major. There’s no job for a psychology major now. Now there are jobs where AI is going to be able to do it, but I was talking to my, my son in law yesterday who’s a firefighter and he’s like, I think I’m pretty secure. I think that it will be a long time before somebody allows a robot to put an IV in them.

Shellee Howard:

I thought that’s an interesting perspective. But if we help teenagers get clarity before they invest four years in a degree, it’s critical. And now colleges have AI checkers that review their applications and essays. So, if kids think that they’re outsmarting and writing their essay in AI, they are going to be super sad when they get all rejects.

Melinda Wittstock:

Yeah, exactly. Well, you know, AI, you know, there’s some increasing studies that show that it sort of saps your brain activity and you’re creative, you’re just like ChatGPT-ing all over the place.

Shellee Howard:

Sure.

Melinda Wittstock:

Actually, doing any critical thinking, you know.

Shellee Howard:

Which is the challenge. And it’s helping them not take the easy way. I don’t know parents, if you can remember Cliff Notes or Spark Notes.

Melinda Wittstock:

Oh yeah, right.

Shellee Howard:

Yeah, exactly right. That was super controversial. Like you’re not learning, you’re cheating. And, it’s taken it to that next level. It’s like we had a phone attached to a wall. Now they have a phone that walks around with them. It’s just you either lean in, or you run and hide.

Shellee Howard:

And I’ve taught my students that they need to lean in.  It’s got to be a balance of humanity. And how will they, how will they be a part of that? I think that’s what they need to.

Melinda Wittstock:

I can see just from everything you’ve said so far how you’re actually helping students stand out in college applications. And I, I think college applications are this vexing thing because everyone’s trying to figure out, okay, what do they want? And so, they’re sort of squeezing themselves into thinking what the college want rather than just being themselves. How do you balance that? Like knowing what the college wants you to, to have and be and do versus who you actually are. That whole matchmaking process.

Shellee Howard:

So, the beauty is there is a university that is a perfect match for every child. And instead of changing the child to be what the college wants, I encourage the, the, the teenager to be the very best version of them and then match to a college that values them, looking for the academic fit, the social fit and the financial fit. Now if a student is just dead set on I only want to go to this school, I can show them exactly what it Takes. And if they’re willing to mold and work to get there, I’m happy to guide them all the way through. So, it’s more about thinking college is just a four-year growing period. It’s not the end result. So, if you’re changing to fit a school, what are you going to do four years when you graduate, are you going to change back to yourself or what? You know, what is the plan?

Melinda Wittstock:

Yeah, because that’s the unfortunate thing where people do fit themselves into something they think they should be and then they wake up and maybe the wake up comes in the, in their 30s, 40s, 50s. And I was like, wait a minute, I, I don’t like my life, you know?

Shellee Howard:

Right. And that’s what’s happened years past is everybody was pushing to go to college for, for really teenagers that had no clue what they wanted to do now or in the future. So, they just picked any major that interested them and that did not equate to a career. So, everybody was angry. They went into college debt because they picked a major that didn’t have a fit to their career. Well, it all started from the very beginning of applying to a college that you didn’t even know was a good fit. So, we reverse engineer it like any good business would and we look at, okay, what is the real problem and the real solution and then we build a roadmap and a timeline to help the student get to where they want to go. So back in the day that’s not what was happening and that’s where the big disconnect happened and why so many of our generation is in massive debt not doing what they thought they would be doing.

Melinda Wittstock:

Right. One of the biggest mistakes, I guess parents do is put pressure. A lot of parents of my kids friends were like, you’ve got to study computer science. And meanwhile, so these kids break their backs to go into computer science and now there’s all these AI, no code tools, right?

Melinda Wittstock:

And they’re graduating and there aren’t any entry level jobs, and the kids were sort of forced by their parents into some trap and the parents obviously meant well. Right. But the kids don’t even necessarily like computer science. And now they’re, no, you know, they’re, they’re far fewer jobs in that now for like entry level. So, what is your best advice for parents to avoid doing that kind of shoehorn thing? Even if it’s meant well, it’s not necessarily good for anybody.

Shellee Howard:

Well, just as if you have multiple children, you can see that they’re all uniquely different. And so, as a mom, I can speak to really looking at each of them uniquely. That’s number one. Number two is just because you like it and think it’s a good idea doesn’t mean so. And I don’t mean that harshly. I mean, I’ve walked in those shoes before, and I wholeheartedly thought I knew what was best. And then what it comes down to is give them resources, give them opportunities to explore. You know, instead of a student, I have parents all the time.

Shellee Howard:

I’ll get on a call and I’ll say, so what are you thinking of majoring in? And they all look at each other and the mom goes, well, he was really good at Legos, Legos when he was 4. I think engineering is probably going to be the best fit. And I’m like, what? Like, did I miss something? So, you know, or mom or dad or aunt or uncle, is, was a doctor and they saw, wow, that lifestyle looks pretty amazing. They have Lots of opportunity financially and. But what they don’t take into account is not every young person wants to go to school for another 12 years. So it’s, it’s really giving your child, your teenage the resources like I’m talking about, helping them to figure out their gifts, their talents, their advocacy, their core values. All of those are tools I use to see what a student is showing a great fit for. Then I show them, here are all the careers that match with what you just shared.

Shellee Howard:

Now, out of those careers, you told me that money wasn’t important. Now, is money not important because you’ve, you don’t know how much it costs to live on your own. And they’re like, yep. And so, once I start to explain how much it costs to live on their own, they’re like, well, wait a minute, money is important. And yes, I would like to buy a new car every year. And, and all of the sudden they’re starting to think about life as economics. We shield our children as parents from the harsh ups and downs. You know, we buy the new car, then we don’t know how we’re going to put tires on it.

Shellee Howard:

We shield them from all of that when we should be leaning into it and saying, how much do you think four new tires on that car is going to cost? But we’re so busy living life, we don’t take the time to pause and help them do logical thinking. Because when I ask a student, if I gave you a million dollars cash, you had 24 hours to spend it, or you had to give it all back to me, what would you do? They don’t know.

Melinda Wittstock:

They don’t know. I mean, a lot of, if you ask adults that question, they wouldn’t really know either necessarily.

Shellee Howard:

You know, yes, I’ve had a few, you know, I had one exactly what.

Melinda Wittstock:

I’d do with it, right?

Shellee Howard:

I had one young man I’ll never forget, he said, well, first I’d buy several fixer upper homes and then I would flip them and then I’d buy an apartment complex. And I said, what do your parents do for a living? He goes, oh, I work for them part time in that industry. And I’m thinking, what a brilliant proof of my concept that they get it, right? They absolutely get it, but they have to be presented with opportunity, right?

Melinda Wittstock:

I can’t see why any parent wouldn’t do this, apart from like, you know, maybe cost like so, so tell me a little bit about that.

Melinda Wittstock:

What does it cost to work with you and how does that whole process work?

Shellee Howard:

Absolutely. Because every student is unique. We put together a custom plan. So, depending on what they’ve done, where they’re at and where they hope to go and how much handholding they need. But I can give you generalities. We start at $275 US, and we go up to $12,000 all inclusive. So, it really is about the, the trajectory. Right.

Shellee Howard:

A student who wants to go and be a welder is not going to need the same cv. That is somebody who’s going to go be an engineer at an Ivy. So, our program isn’t one again of putting a student in a box. It’s creating what is the best thing for the student and then letting the parent know, here are the options. So, I will say if a parent is curious, they can go. I’ll give to your listeners if they go to collegereadyplan.info info they can set up 30 minutes with myself and I can explain once I know the young adult, what would be the best next step for them. Because I don’t some, I have two best-selling books. Sometimes I give a family a book and I give them a big hug and I’m like, you’re good.

Shellee Howard:

And other times I’m like, oh, we’ve got a lot of work to do. It’s completely entrepreneurs way custom unique strategy. But after doing it 17 years, 77% of my clients are referrals. We just know how to launch kids into success without them taking on debt. So that’s really, if that’s important to your listener, that’s in full alignment with where we’re at.

Melinda Wittstock:

Yeah, well there’s, there’s definitely a return on the investment in, in working with you, particularly if you’re helping them navigate also the scholarships and the financial aid to actually make college affordable for them. So, what are some of the hacks and, and knowledge there in terms of how to, how to navigate all that?

Shellee Howard:

So first and foremost, the FAFSA, where you can get the open opportunity for scholarships, it looks at, it’s called a double year. Look back. So, it would be your sophomore, second semester, junior, first semester. So that’s what the FAFSA will look at as they determine your student aid index, which means how much colleges think you should be able to pay for college. Now keep in mind, Melinda, there is not one parent who’s ever gotten their essay and go, oh yeah, I’m happy to give colleges that money. I don’t need it. So, what we do is we start working with families, like I mentioned, as young as middle school to get their financial house in order. I am not a financial advisor, nor do I.

Shellee Howard:

I sell any financial products, I give hacks, I let families know these assets are on the FAFSA. These assets are not on the FAFSA. Right. And I prepare them to receive the big scholarships. But the really most important thing your listener could understand is picking the right list of colleges is the number one way to graduate without debt. Because you can do financial reconsiderations, financial negotiations. College is a business. I hope your listener can now understand that.

Shellee Howard:

It truly is an entrepreneur’s playground because we’re helping you pay the very least for college. While helping your child be the very best version of themself. That’s really. Our mission is to help a million students graduate without debt.

Melinda Wittstock:

Incredible. And so, so there’s, I mean, there’s so much in here and there’s, there’s a lot of, there are a lot of advisors out there that I’ve heard talking about this in a very different way from you. Right. Like you’ll recall, I guess, all the scandal.

Shellee Howard:

Yeah, I, I remember it.

Melinda Wittstock:

Right. And so, so for someone navigating this, I think it could be confusing for parents, like say they are looking, but it’s easy to get the wrong advice.

Shellee Howard:

Sure. Yes. One in three families now hire an independent college consultant. In the U.S. it’s a little different in other countries. In Asia, it’s almost every student at this point. And so, it gives them a massive advantage if you pick the right one. So, parents, as you’re trying to navigate, how do I even know? Really think about what is important to your family.

Shellee Howard:

Is it the academic fit? Are you just looking to just bombard your child with everything they could possibly do to get them into a good academic school? Because that’s a different kind of consultant. Then there’s the ones who are looking for the social fit. Where is my child going to find the, their, their people to, to excel in school and their alumni after school? Right. There’s another bucket. And then finally there’s the financial bucket. If you don’t want to or can’t pay full price for college, then you need to be looking at that sooner than later. Most people prioritize the academic, just getting them in and then they can’t pay for it. I had a heartbreaking call yesterday.

Shellee Howard:

A child got a, an offer to be on the softball team for Princeton, but they can’t afford Princeton and there’s no money for softball there. So, it broke my heart. The child works so hard to get on the team and her parents had no clue how to prepare for it financially, and so they had to tell her no. And it’s just from lack of planning and lack of understanding.

Melinda Wittstock:

That’s very sad. I, I imagine that happens a lot. I mean, there’s all these stories out there about how hard it is even to get into UC schools. Right. So, you’re a California resident. You’ve done all the things you apply to all the UCs. You don’t get in any of them. Like, like how heartbreaking is that?

Shellee Howard:

You know, it’s so real. And I think part of it is most California students apply to at least half, if not all UC schools. So now you’ve muddied the water so deeply that that’s part of the problem. If we were like Europe and you could only apply to five universities, we wouldn’t be in that situation in California. But that’s not the case. The other challenges are California state schools are so overcrowded you can’t get out in four years. Well, nobody wants to go to college for five years to get a four-year degree. So now were struggling there.

Shellee Howard:

And to live in California is expensive. In one of the, the places most people would love to spend four years. I had a student two days ago who said, I want to go to UC Santa Barbara. And I’m like, outstanding. Why? And she goes, have you seen the view from the dorm? And the honesty made me laugh. Her parents were mortified. And it’s all about lack of knowledge. These kids do not understand one, what it takes to get in.

Shellee Howard:

Two parents think UCs are cheaper than any other option, which is not the case. And three parents are just hoping they’re not planning.

Melinda Wittstock:

Right, right, exactly. Okay, so what about the Ivy Leagues? There are so many people who, who, who just have their eye on like Ivy League. And there’s obviously advantages to going to Ivy League, but there’s also some disadvantages too. It depends on who you are and why you want to go there. So, let’s just talk about the pros and cons of like just being dead set on Ivy League.

Shellee Howard:

So, I really think first you need to ask yourself, is this dead set on Ivy League driven by the parent are driven by the student? Yeah, because that will make a massive difference on the success of that student getting in. And it’s self-check. Right? I, I did a big self-check when my son was applying to college. He did not have an Ivy League on his application on his list of schools. And he, he really didn’t have reach. He was very humble. And I said, no, no, no, no, no. We, we dream bigger than that in this house and you will apply to one.

Shellee Howard:

And it wasn’t because I wanted to be able to say my son went to Harvard. It really was about, I wanted him to shoot, dream bigger and really give himself the opportunity to, to say I did that, I did that. And what came out of it obviously was he got accepted. The funniest part is he thought his friends were playing a joke on him and he had me call Harvard to see if it was real. So, Harvard is a perfect example of, it can be a great fit for some students and not so much for another. My two own children showed me when I took them. When my son decided he wanted to go to Harvard, I was a little heartbroken because he was leaving California and he got a full ride to USC, and but at the same time, I’m like, it’s his life, right? Who am I, who am I to say that he can go here or not? And he went for free, so I really had no say. And my daughter went to visit him, and the first thing she said is, please don’t make me go there.

Shellee Howard:

And I laughed because it was not a good fit for her at all. She did not want to study and fight for every A. It was not part of what she saw college as. And so, it really comes down to, why does a family think it’s a good fit? Because for my son, Harvard was the best fit, hands down. He since has been UC San Diego Medical and UCLA, Ortho, and so he’s done public and private. And he, hands down, will tell you it was worth every ounce of energy to get in, to get out, and to be part of an alum that he’ll never have to be looking for a job.

Melinda Wittstock:

Right? Yeah. I mean, a lot of it, too, I guess, it’s just the prestige of saying that you were there, but it’s not necessarily the right fit for the kid, you know? Or, like, what, you know, what is the reason? Like, if you want to be a lawyer and there’s a particular firm, and that firm only hires from Harvard. Okay. You know what I mean? And there’s an actual reason, and the kid is particularly, you know. Right.

Melinda Wittstock:

Like, I get that, but what does it actually really mean for job prospects? Like, I’ve hired hundreds of people over the years, and I haven’t particularly cared which college they graduated from. 

Shellee Howard:

And that’s a true entrepreneur’s mindset. We look at what they bring, not the paper they hold. I’ve hired many as well, Melinda. And I’m with you. I, I, I can’t say I only hire Ivy, but you have to be thinking for doctors, lawyers, CPAs, engineers, that does matter greatly.

Melinda Wittstock:

Yeah.

Shellee Howard:

An entrepreneur. Nobody’s ever asked me how many degrees I hold. That’s just a me thing. Right. I want to caution parents. It’s not one way again. It’s not one mold fits all.

Shellee Howard:

It’s what does your Child, my son would have been bored to tears at other schools. He got one B at Harvard, you know what I mean? So, it was the right fit. And he wants to be a doctor, so it allowed him to go on to medical school. So, for somebody who wants to be a schoolteacher. No, no, again, no judgment. They don’t need a Harvard degree if they want to teach kindergarten.

Melinda Wittstock:

Yeah, exactly. Yeah. No, so, so, so true. And there’s a lot of debate now too, about whether kids should even go to college. Like in the, in the, in the, like, we don’t have enough, we don’t have enough people in the trades. Not everybody. Right, right. There’s, there’s a lack of technical kind of education.

Melinda Wittstock:

One thing that we’re always going to, we’re going to need in this kind of AI world are people who are good at trades, people who can build houses, people who can do the plumbing and the electricity and the this and, or, or just even in the energy sector or in a whole series of things. And so how do you advise kids who are really more destined really for the trades? Like, maybe college isn’t even the right thing for them.

Shellee Howard:

And that’s why we start with self-realization. I have a nephew, and we were just thankfully graduated high school. He, he wasn’t a book kid yet. Incredible young man. I mean, man, he can sell Snowdo and Eskimo. Such a great personality. But we knew early on that high school was it. So, we started to really look at what is he good at.

Shellee Howard:

And he, from as long as I could remember, he has loved race cars. And so, we started looking at, well, what do race cars need? And they need welders. And so, so he actually is a race car welder, as that is his full profession. He makes great money and he’s working on cars; he’s building that he loves that he then gets to go and support the driver to race. So again, it’s, it’s the same starting block, if you will, that I start with all of my students because I want to make sure that whatever they choose to do, it aligns with who.

Melinda Wittstock:

They are, 100%. And, and the other thing you mentioned, there is, there’s good money in that. There are people who graduate with all this debt from college into jobs where there’s not necessarily a lot of money. And, and then there’s all these people who didn’t go to college who actually, like, are making like, really good money. Even Canada’s immigration policy right now. They’re like, yeah, if you’re an American and you’re an engineer. Yeah, come on in. If you’re an American and you’re like a welder, a plumber, like you’ve got a skill like that’s actually like a, a big thing on the immigration point system for getting into Canada.

Shellee Howard:

Interesting.

Melinda Wittstock:

There’s a lot of investment in that because it’s needed. There’s a housing shortage, there’s a this and that. Right. So, they’re very, very deliberate about it to actually encourage kids in that way that are, are, you know, that’s the right fit for them. So, before we wrap up, I, I just want to pick up on something you said. This is your seventh business, you say yes. Okay, so what were some of the others? I mean, so you’re obviously like a lifelong serial entrepreneur type. So, what are some of the other things? What are the other businesses you’ve built?

Shellee Howard:

My first one was at 12 and, and so parents like I was screaming entrepreneurship at 12. I wanted stuff and my parents were not, they could have, but they didn’t believe in just handing it to me. They believed in having me work for it. And so that’s what started it. Both of my parents are entrepreneurs. That’s the other important thing. As you talked about your kids watching you, I watch my parents turn, you know, old furniture into beautiful antiques before my eyes and then they sold them. I started out, my mom was a hairdresser and so I started making these clips that were beautiful with ribbons and beads, and they just couldn’t sell off the shelves.

Shellee Howard:

I don’t know if my mom was bribing people or what, but I couldn’t keep up with distribution. So that was my first one. And then when I was in first year of college, I became an, a real estate appraiser. So, I thought, man, they make good money. I want to do that. And so, so let’s go. And so, I got the, the education to do so and I realized that is at you have to use well back then you had to use a, a map. And I am not map-savvy and now I could do it as a GPS person.

Shellee Howard:

But man, that Thomas Guide and I, we had some serious fights. So that was, that took me through college and so that took help pay for college. And then from there, straight out of college, I asked my dad, I said, listen, I want to be an entrepreneur. And he said, I want you to go and work for a Fortune 500 company for three years and I will support whatever you decide. I said, why you didn’t? He said, because go learn on their dime. Go learn about human resources. Go learn about marketing and finance. And.

Shellee Howard:

And I did. I went to work for Proctor and gamble and sold CoverGirl makeup. And that three years turned into eight and a half years because then I wanted to be fully vested in my stocks. And then I’m like, that’s it, I’m done. And so, I just quit. I had no other plan. True entrepreneur. And I sent out a Christmas card, and everybody asked who the photographer was.

Shellee Howard:

So, I became a six-figure photographer.

Melinda Wittstock:

Wow.

Shellee Howard:

And went back to school, did all my training. I have ideas and then I get the training. So, I don’t get the training. Then, then do it. And I did that. Oh, it was such an amazing career. And then the iPhone came out and then everybody thinks they’re a photographer. I was a personal trainer, I was a nutritionist and then college ready.

Shellee Howard:

So, my, my story is, is one that my, my children love to giggle about because once a doctor and a nurse, they did not want any of that entrepreneur stuff. But I encourage families. If you have one of those, tell them to prove it. You want to be in business; you want to start your own? Prove it. Not when you’re 30 now, because it’s huge.

Melinda Wittstock:

A hundred percent. That’s so funny. I mean, you know, listening to you talk, I remember, I don’t know whether, I don’t know what, what made me do this, but I was almost six years old and I used to do everything with my black lab and I used to compete in figure skating. You started at 4 years old. And my mom was an Olympic, Olympic figure skater. And she was a coach, And I just remember going out one day and going door to door demanding prepayment for my show. 

Melinda Wittstock:

It had music, And I had like costumes, and I had this whole thing, but like, I literally wouldn’t leave until I got my payment. But like what was interesting is just the assumption that people would come. Not only that they would pay, but they would actually show up. You know, so sometimes that, sometimes that entrepreneurial thing is just in you. Right?

Shellee Howard:

For sure. Yes.

Melinda Wittstock:

But, but so one last question before we wrap up. I mean, the way our society is changing, I mean, I happen to believe, and I just want to test my assumption with you, is do kids really have to become. I mean, even if they’re not entrepreneurs per se, they’re not going to launch businesses or that kind of thing, do they need to just have entrepreneurial skills and more of an entrepreneurial mindset?

Shellee Howard:

I would say it’s more logical thought process than entrepreneurial skills. It, it’s, it’s understanding what a dollar’s worth, it’s understanding economics, it’s understanding what their place in the world is and how do they step into that? Because I will tell you, trying to get an engineer to think like an entrepreneur might as well just teams with them. You might as well like, yeah, it’s not gonna happen. So, I’m careful to say that I, I just, I honor how we all are unique thinkers. And if you have somebody who wants to start a business, absolutely get them doing all of the marketing, the finance, the accounting, all of that. But if you have an engineer who wants to go and decide, you know, a structure, they need to just stay in their own lane and let hire other people to do the other stuff.

Melinda Wittstock:

Right, right. Okay. Well, this is, this is amazing. Shellee, thank you so much, not only for this interview, it’s really eye opening and really of service to, I think, of all the mompreneurs who listen to this show, but just than you also for what you’re doing. It’s very enlightened and, and extremely helpful.

Shellee Howard:

Oh, it’s been my pleasure. And again, parents, it’s hard. You need a village. It’s no longer letting a child at 17 navigate this on their own. They need you or someone else. That’s what I would encourage you all to do. And don’t wait until it is stressful. Do it when they’re young and you have time.

Shellee Howard:

If you’re already a senior, then it’s going to be stressful, but still get help, right?

Melinda Wittstock:

Exactly. Yeah. Like it’s, it’s sort of never too late, you know? This is amazing. So, what’s the best way for people to find you and work with you, Shellee?

Shellee Howard:

So, you can either go to that link for you for that I gave to you earlier, college ready plan.info or you can go to my website, college ready plan.com. sign up for the newsletter and let me just give you a ton of free resources like I’m doing right now. So those are the two best ways I do have two best sellers on Amazon. And so, if you look up Shellee Howard, my name is S H E L L E E, both of my books will come up and they’re the foundation to doing this process well.

Melinda Wittstock:

Amazing. We’ll all have all of that in the show. Notes, thank you so much for putting on your wings and flying with us today.

Shellee Howard:

It’s been my pleasure. Thank you all, and I wish you the best.

[INTERVIEW ENDS]

Melinda Wittstock:

Shellee Howard is the Founder and CEO of College Ready and CR Future Now, a Certified Independent College Strategist, and a best-selling author.

Melinda Wittstock:

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Melinda Wittstock:

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