514: From Tutoring Classmates in High School to $1M College Prep CEO w/ Janae Young

Description

In this episode, I sat down with Janae Young, founder and CEO of Young College Prep, who started her first business at just 15 years old, tutoring classmates out of her school library in Wilmington, North Carolina. By the time she graduated high school, she had a team of eight tutors. By the time she graduated from Stanford, she had hit $300K in annual revenue. And by 2025, she crossed her first million.But Janae's path was anything but linear. COVID wiped out the SAT/ACT prep market practically overnight, and her company went into negative profit. She was a freshman in college, going through a breakup, studying computer science remotely and somehow she held on. What she shares in this episode about staying stubborn in the quiet moments, investing $25K in herself as a 19-year-old college student, and pivoting her business model to serve parents instead of students is the kind of transparency you don't often hear.Janae also opens up about navigating the college admissions landscape in a post-affirmative action era, why she believes the college application process is a metaphor for life, and how she's helping students of color tell their stories powerfully. If you're an entrepreneur in a side hustle chapter or a parent thinking about your kid's future this one is for you.Main TakeawaysInvest in yourself before you feel ready: Janae wired $25K to a mastermind as a 19-year-old college student with almost nothing left in her account and that bet changed everything.Know who actually holds the decision and the wallet: When Janae shifted her focus from students to parents, her revenue took off.Real urgency comes from the problem, not just the deadline: Make your client deeply aware of what inaction is costing them for Janae's audience, that's potentially $100K+ in lost merit scholarships.Selling is just teaching: When you see yourself as an educator first, the "sleazy" feeling disappears and you become a genuine guide.Highlights Include(0:38) Janae started her tutoring business at 15 because she was too young to work at