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Shellee Howard on Scholarships, Strategy, and Graduating College Debt-Free · Healthy Happy Wise Wealthy

• [Mary Meyer] Welcome back to Healthy, Happy, Wise, Wealthy. I have with us today Shelly Howard. She is the founder and CEO of College Ready, College Ready Plan is the website. So we're going to talk about all things about getting your kids ready for college, getting them into college, and getting college paid for. So I'm really excited for this topic. Thank you for being here, Shellee. Want to mention we have a podcast sponsor, Mindiii, M-I-N-D-I-I-I, and they are an IT company. So IT, I feel like, is a confusing thing. But all that back-end stuff that keeps data safe, customer info safe, builds great websites that are scalable, all kinds of stuff like that. So diving in. Shellee, what led you to create this? You've been at it for 18 years? Is that about right? [Shellee Howard] Yes, we're going on our 19th application season. The founder's story, I'll give you the brief version, is my oldest son. He was in middle school, came home one day, very excited about his day at school, which was not very common. And he came in the kitchen for a snack, and he says, Mom, I know exactly what I want to do after high school. And I was like, what? What happened at school today? He said, well, that high school lady, she came. She said that we need to pick classes for next year. And she said that it's really important that I know what I want to do. So I just thought I want to be a brain surgeon and go to one of those Ivy things. I was like, what? And I said, you know, I changed my major five times. I only applied to two schools, right? Like, this is huge. And he goes, I know, Mom, but this is what I want to do. And then he starts walking out and he turns around and he says, well, you help me. And that's when life changed because I had my degree already, but it was not in college admissions. And so I had another profession. Actually, I had seven other businesses that I had started. And so this was just something that was a need. It started as a need. And then it became a bigger need when I found out how much Ivy League schools cost. And then it came a bigger need when I realized I had three other children after him to get through it. And so I was feeling like, wow, there's a lot at stake here. And so I went back to school and I got my master's. I went back to school and became an independent certified college consultant. And then I started touring 25 colleges a semester. Then I became a strategic financial sorry, a strategic financial advisor. But I am not a financial advisor. I am truly FAFSA, SAI, and CSS profile. All other things, I send them right back to Mary. I know how to stay in my own lane, but I did have to figure it out because there was a lot of myth. There was a lot of unknown. There was a lot of bad information out there. And the only way I could really figure it out was to do the deep dive myself. And like I mentioned, there was a huge at stake dollar amount. And so that's how College Ready got started is just trying to navigate it on my own. Since then, that young man went to Harvard pre-med, graduated debt free, went on to UC San Diego Medical School, just finished that UCLA orthopedic surgery, 15 years of college education for 100,000 in total. That is a return on investment, considering his first job. [Mary Meyer] Yeah. Yes. Yes. Wow. What a story. Yeah, that's an amazing story. So you mentioned a few things already. So and I'm just to make sure everyone knows what they are. So and I put, you know, had kids go through college. I don't even know what that I can remember all this. So the FAFSA, that's that is the just tell us what those all these things are. They got to know. [Shellee Howard] Absolutely. So the first thing you want to know is your student aid index. We use the acronym SAI, the student aid index. If you want, you can go to collegereadyplan.com backslash resources and you can get it done for free. Otherwise you can pay on other sites. But I have it for my listeners on my podcast and now on your podcast. And so go there and it will be the first time you are able to see how much a college, any college, and they're all unique, things you should be able to pay. And I've never had somebody come back and go, I am so excited. That's all I have to pay. No, it always turns out there is no way I'm paying that. And that's when we go into the FAFSA. The FAFSA is actually a government form. I'm going to try to like simplify it. I always tell AI, tell me like a third grader. So here you go. So the FAFSA, it takes your income and your assets, but not all your income and not all your assets. It only takes some of them. And hopefully you're understanding what I'm saying, because you want to make sure it's taking the right income and the right assets, right? And then it pulls from your taxes. It's called a double look back. So it's the second semester of your child's sophomore year and the first semester of their junior year. That's a double look back. So what happened back in the day is everybody kept saying, I haven't got to my taxes yet. And so the government got really smart and they're like, well, we know that you have to have two years back or you're going to be in big trouble. So they kind of squashed that. Then after you complete the FAFSA, there are several schools, about 25% of them, that require a CSS profile. That gets even deeper into your business. It includes the home you live in. It includes all of your investments. Basically, it includes everything. There's no forgetting around it. Now, the FAFSA does not include the home you live in. So please don't put it on your FAFSA. That's the number one mistake families make. I don't know how, but 97% of families complete the FAFSA wrong. And fortunately, that's the first thing that you have an opportunity to show a college. Are you going to tap into one of the buckets of money? And I'm happy to go on, but maybe your listeners don't want to know where the buckets of money are. [Mary Meyer] Oh, I probably not yet. They're probably all independently wealthy. So they got it right on the nose there. Tell us about the buckets of money. We're right here. You got it, yeah. [Shellee Howard] So I just want to make sure everybody's still paying attention. So there's four buckets of money, and this is the reality. Last year, I had 20 students, 20 seniors, earn $11.8 million in scholarships. In 18 years, I've had $80 million students earn, not have to pay back, not loans, not need-based. They've earned it, $80 million in scholarships. So I'm going to now tell you where to go get them. So the first bucket of money is if you make under $200,000 in total household income, that's the need-based bucket. That's going to be, you're going to have the opportunity to receive some need-based scholarships if that university accepts and allows. Not all of them do. Okay, so if you can get into an Ivy League school, it will pay 100% of your tuition, their housing, and everything. It's getting in, that's the tough part, right? So that is what I want families to understand. If you have a student that can get in, you have a great shot at it. Unfortunately, mine did, but I didn't qualify. So I had to go a whole different path with my family. So then the second bucket of money, this is going to be merit money. This is for a student who has a really good GPA, or really good test scores, or a significant passion with purpose project, or extracurriculars that are outstanding, or leadership that is amazing. These are things that the student earns without them ever knowing about your money. So it really doesn't have anything to do with the family's money. It is truly student earned. That's merit-based. Then we go institutional-based. Institutional is the number one way to get a full ride. Number one, so if you're looking for a sports full ride, you're looking down the wrong path. Institutional picking the right university for the right student equals free opportunity. So how you go about getting an institutional scholarship is making sure that your child's GPA, test score, community service, leadership, extracurriculars, letters of recommendation, and essay are brilliant. All of that. Not one piece of it, all of that. And then you pick the right college list for them to apply to. So you have some REACH dream schools, you have some target schools, and you have some safe schools. Now here's the problem. Most people find the hard way. If you leave this up to your teenager, they're going to pick the best football team, the best water polo team, the best band, the best location, the best mascot. I've heard it all. That is not how you get institutional money. You pick the colleges that are the most generous, and then you do financial negotiations and reconsiderations, and that is how you do it. So my son's example, he got a full ride the Presidential Scholarship for Leadership at USC, and Harvard matched it. That is how we were able to navigate that process. So just know they're not advertising it. College is a business, and they want your money. That's the bottom line. The final one is independent. This is the bucket. Right now, there's a scholarship for $10,000 a year if you're a vegan. Just saying, if you're a vegan, that's free money. There's another scholarship for $15,000 if you have one brown eye and one green eye. If you do, that's amazing. They have so many random scholarships. My son won the $25,000 Coca-Cola Leadership Scholarship, and that was every year. So it was $100,000. He got paid for just doing what he loved to do, and that was being in leadership. That's where the money comes from. [Mary Meyer] Wow. There's a lot to that. So I know on your website, you say, let's start the process all the way in middle school. And then every year, there's stuff that parents and students can do to make sure they're in line to get some of these scholarships. So let's start with middle school. What's important at that area of life? [Shellee Howard] So getting in has to come first. Just to be clear, if they don't get in, who cares if they get scholarships? So we're very focused on, how do we help the child? They're a child in middle school. How do we help them figure out who they are, what matters to them, and what have they done about it? Because that's what colleges want to know. Well, think about it. If you have this long runway, 7th grade, 8th grade, 9th grade, 10th grade, 11th grade, 12th grade, your child should know who they are. That's the big idea. We're not focused on, that's not the main driver at that age, is scholarships, but I will say you can start applying to independent scholarships as young as 4th grade. So if you really want to get a jump on it, parents, you definitely want to be looking at the independent scholarships. Wow. I'm going to take a sip of water with you. So 7th grade and 8th grade are helping the student really look at what are their strengths? What are their gifts? What are their talents? What did they advocate for? Who are they? So when they hit the end of 8th grade and college clock starts ticking, they have a jump start. That summer going into high school, they're ready. They're like, let's do it. Where do I get leadership? Where do I do this? Where did they start having the opportunities for all of this getting accepted and getting ROI on the money? So I think that's the important thing that many people kind of skip. They're just like, why would we talk about college that young? I like to reframe it and think you're helping your child adult. Think of it as adulting. Wouldn't you want somebody to help them figure out who they are, their core values, their gifts, their talents, their... Parents, wouldn't you want that when you were a teenager? Would that have made life so much easier? Absolutely. So we're giving it gently and easily by just having conversations and navigating them through this path. So that is how we're helping prepare them. Again, they can also be applying to independent scholarships at the same time, but really the critical piece, if you could pick the perfect time to start would be the day they promote from eighth grade. Why? Because the very first classes they take their freshman year set the tone for the four years of high school. That will be huge for that student because if they pick ceramics and if they pick basket weaving and if they pick art and then they have maybe one or two subject matter, they're going to be really far behind. It's probably going to feel really fun, but not at the end when they're trying to compete for a university. And so helping them navigate what class, when, how many AP, how many IB, how many dual enrollment, how many college classes, in what order, that just gives them peace of mind that they have a plan. It's not just wait and see. [Mary Meyer] Yeah, and that is such a thing now with getting college courses in high school so I can see that. You keep bringing up leadership and is that what you found is a key in getting scholarships and getting into universities? [Shellee Howard] So the part of it. Yes is the answer and the reason why is probably the most important. So think of college like a business because that's truly what it is. So if you own a college, would you want a student who just goes to the beach all summer or would you want a student who has proven that they lead others to be the change they wish they want to see in the world, lead in the classroom in collaboration? Doesn't that equate to graduating and leading in their career and putting the diploma on the wall and everybody's saying, how was your experience at UCLA? And you're like, oh, it was so amazing. I was part of this and that and this and that. You just now sold their business. They didn't have to spend a dime on marketing. And that is why leadership is so important. [Mary Meyer] Okay, so this so college as a business looks for students who are serious and leadership is that kind of thing. So and you and you're saying that sports aren't necessarily as much the ticket. I feel like a lot of parents look at sports as being the ticket. [Shellee Howard] Absolutely. And so I played softball for the USA. My son played soccer for Europe. My daughter was a competitive cheerleader. I ate that. I did the same thing. I really drank the water. I really believe that my kids were amazing and they were going to earn their own way in and I spent my daughter's cheerleading. I think was probably $10,000 a year between lessons and traveling and coaches and all of that. I flew my son to Europe every summer so he could play. I mean if I just put that money into tutoring and really focusing on their education they would have been so much better off. But the point is the reality is 2% of students will get a full ride athletic scholarship compared to the amount I just shared with you. So if you're really doing the math your child has a significantly greater chance of going academically than any athletic. The other thing you want to be thinking about parents is if their sport does not generate income think of like bowling, gymnastics, equestrian. There's no full rights that they're giving because it's not a money generating sport. And remember, college is a business. [Mary Meyer] It's a good thing to keep in mind. So leadership things like what kind of things can kids do in middle school and high school for leadership? [Shellee Howard] So it's really important for them to be them. Not be somebody else. So I can give you good, better and best, right? Good is when a teacher says I need somebody to lead a project. They raise their hand. Great. That is a stepping stone to leadership. Better is when they have a chance to maybe do a peer group or do National Honor Society or CSF or Key Club or a club at school. And then they lead that. And then best is actually creating your own passion with purpose project and leading other students to be the change you wish to see in the world. So if you want to see what I'm talking about parents, you can see what my college ready students are doing. Go to www.empowereducation.world. I started this nonprofit three years ago and my students from all over the world log in one hour a week. They built a school in Uganda that educates 950 children, an orphanage in Oaxaca and a blind school in India. This is all student-led, student-run, students are amazing. So if you're thinking there's no way my child's going to figure out how to do all of that, that's what we do with our, that's what college ready does. So I get it. It's not easy. When I was trying to get my four to do a passion with purpose project, they thought all my ideas were silly. And I didn't know what I was talking about. And every student that has led Empower Education has gotten into their dream school and done it with scholarships. So it's proof of what colleges are really looking for. And that is being a change maker, actually standing up for what you believe. And the nice part is they lean in with what they're passionate. So there's a sports group, there's a sewing group, there's a STEM group, there's a law group. So your student gets to go be with other brilliant students who have the same gifts, talents, and passions and spend time together and what they can create is so amazing. [Mary Meyer] Yeah, that's a very cool thing. So fun to do. And I bet they do just feel a sense of empowerment would be the word I guess I would use. That they actually in and of themselves can create some kind of effect in the world and it's a beautiful feeling and a beautiful thing. [Shellee Howard] And then the nice part is my director at the school in Uganda, he sends videos and photos back of the students utilizing the gifts that the students are sending their way. It is so beautiful to watch these kids in real time tears in their eyes like, I did it. I made a difference. I fed that child. Like, that's pretty awesome. [Mary Meyer] So if you do something like that in the college process when you're applying for everything, how does that fit in? How do they, where in the process does a college ask for this information about your leadership stuff? Is it the essay or some other thing? It's actually all the way through. [Shellee Howard] Everywhere through. Yeah. So on the common app application, they'll ask for 10 activities, honors and awards. On the University of California app, there's 20 places for activities, honors and awards. And when you list an activity on our award, it says how many years did you do it? Why did you do it? What was your role? Did you lead it? What was the impact you made? How many hours a week and how many weeks a year? So it's all the way through. And then the essay, right? The essay is like the grand finale. It talks about the impact that you made and how it changed your life. And if you just go and tutor someone or feed the homeless or check boxes, you can't have that same essay. You won't have that same experience. And that's where students are really missing the opportunity is they're thinking so small. They're thinking, well, so-and-so did that. And I saw so-and-so do that, but that's playing it way too small. How much effort does it take to tell somebody, oh, you need help with math? I'll tutor you. Really, it takes nothing. They're like, heck yeah. Free tutoring? I would love that. Thank you very much. That's the difference. Colleges are not looking for students to do minimal. And I don't think we're looking for adults to do minimal. They won't get promoted at work if that's what they do. [Mary Meyer] Oh, good stuff. So I have been out. I can tell you in this conversation because I've done these things, but I'm a little out of it. It's been a few years. So the common app, could you tell parents what that is if they don't know? [Shellee Howard] Absolutely. So there are several different applications a student will utilize. There's the common app, the coalition app, the University of California app, the California state app, then there's Texas app, Florida app, Georgia app, and then there's private apps. So all of that means once you pick your college list, the next step is what application are they asking you to use? And they will use one of those types of applications. They get to choose, and it just depends on who they partner with. Okay, that makes sense. [Mary Meyer] So I have, okay, I'm going to go two different directions. So let me just pick one. We started out a while ago asking, okay, so what should they do in middle school to kind of, you know, lead the way into getting ready for college and being ready for college starts really the summer before ninth grade is kind of what you said about that. So, okay. So every year of high school, what are some things that they really should be doing? [Shellee Howard] So the first thing is they should have an academic plan. What classes when? In other words, how many AP, IB or dual enrollment? When are they going to take them? Their freshman, sophomore, junior, senior year. Then they have what's called an A through G requirement. If a student wants to apply to a University of California school because there's so many students who apply there, they have their own requirements. Your high school does not need to require the same thing. So you can graduate from a school in New Jersey and want to apply to UCLA and potentially not have the right classes to be able to even apply. So the academic plan is critical. All right. And since most students don't know where they're going to apply till junior or senior year, you want to know all of this before they set their academic plan. If you think their high school counselor is going to do it, I encourage you to ask your child how many times have you met with your high school counselor? If they say none, don't be shocked. The reality is they have their hands full. I think they're amazing, but they're also dealing with truancy, mental illness, kids that are not completing a C average. So if your student is doing at least a C average, they're considered okay. And you're thinking, no, no, no, no. And I'm like, ah, so really understanding who's going to do that? Are you going to do the research as the parent? Because I promise you, your teenager is not. They're going to do the least resistant path. Right? So who's going to do that? That's going to be important. So that's what that's why college ready was started with that one thing alone, because my son in his freshman year picked the wrong class and it absolutely caused havoc his senior year. He started with Spanish one. valedictorian started with Spanish two. He could have started with Spanish two, but I didn't know to tell him that at the time. Oh, that was it. That was the difference between valedictorian and salutatorian. Again, not a huge, not a huge big deal for a lot of students. But for students who really want that, that was pretty devastating to him. The next thing is testing. So as soon as your student finishes algebra two, they're ready to take a real SAT or ACT. They do not need to take both. So we help students decide which test they should take, when they should take it, where they should take it, and how many times they should take it. Then it's community service. Again, trying to help your student understand colleges are not looking for box checkers. It's very apparent if you're just doing things to check a box. And so help your child figure out who they are. The community service they're doing, what is it telling about your child? I just met with a student prior to coming on here. And I have to tell this story. This is a classic. So I always ask a student, tell me about yourself. And they always look at me like weird. Like, what do you mean? And I'm like, I just want to get to know you. And they still don't tell me. And I'm like, okay, what's your GPA? And they're like, oh, okay, I know what to tell you now. So we were going through it. And they got into their community service. And it was a young man. And he was telling me that he had spent time with little children in homeless shelters. And that he really, you know, that was his claim. That like, that's all he had done. And I asked him, I said, well, tell me what about homeless shelters and working with the children, you know, really meant something to you. And he goes, oh, no, it meant nothing to me. My mom made me do it. She said that I'm going and you're coming with me. And I'm like, oh, I see that essay probably is not going to get written. And so we have to be really mindful of that. And truly, imagine, imagine a world. If every student before they turned 18 did 200 hours of community service, what would our world be like? Just ponder that for a moment. [Mary Meyer] before I be less depression from too much time on social media, for starters, that would be probably, yeah, probably be doing better. In general, there's self-esteem would probably be better. [Shellee Howard] And thinking about, you know, you learn about compassion, you learn about empathy, you learn that not everybody has what everybody else has. And I just believe that when a student is helping another individual, it doesn't matter what age, they feel like they're willing to take a risk because that person will be no worse off if they mess up. But if you ask a teenager to go try a new thing, they are terrified of making a mistake or doing it wrong. And so they won't do it. Somebody's going to capture them on social media doing something wrong or silly or embarrassing. And they're terrified of it. And that is a tragedy. So it's important that they learn these things. Remember, I'm talking about adulting. College is just part of adulting. Then after that, it's extracurriculars. What do they like to do? Is it a sport? Is it an instrument? Is it drama? Is it, you know, shopping? What is it that they really like to do? And then, what have they done to do it? How have they participated? Do they just try it, drop it, try it, drop it, try it, drop it? Or do they try a few things and stick with one? What does that tell you about somebody when you're going to employ them? Tells you a lot about them. So again, we're talking about adulting. And college is just in the in the middle. Then we get into leadership. This can come in different ways. This could be captain of the team. It could be ASB president. It could be first chair in music. It could be president of a club. It could be anything that you're voted into. Leadership is not telling people, you better follow me or else. That is not leadership. Right? So you have to be very careful when you understand what you're doing, because that will not help you if you're strong arming people into making them participate. Then it gets into letters of recommendation, which is, who is your student connected with? Is it their favorite biology teacher? Is it their math teacher? Is it their history or English teacher? Who's going to know them the best so they can tell colleges something that they may not know about them and what they're like in the classroom. And then finally, the essay. The essay is such a critical piece because think of like the application as the cake. It has all the ingredients for success. The icing is what seals it all in and makes it sweet. It's all of the great stuff that you're proud of, that you want colleges to know about you so they can say, yes, I want you and I know you're going to be successful. That's what we're doing each and every year at different levels that are age appropriate. [Mary Meyer] Okay, that makes so much sense, right? You know, is there ways, I mean, that you can think of as a mom and end up doing this for kids just all the way through elementary school and stuff to just help them kind of gear them towards the path of just what seems intuitive to them or what they are drawn to. [Shellee Howard] Yeah, I often tell, I've had pregnant women call me and say, hey, how do I plan for college? No joke. They want to jump start on it and I always tell them, well, best thing you can do, read to them every single night. The second best thing you can do is have them read to you every single night and then put your phone inside a book or a magazine and don't have them see you on it 24 seven. These little people want to mimic the big people and if you've got a book in your hand 24 seven and you're reading and you're intellectually curious and you're going to museums and science fairs and oh my goodness, how would that be a terrible thing, right? If we do the simple thing and we just hand them our phone to keep them quiet, that is just going to continue this process of frustration. Get off your phone and get your homework done. So it really starts from a very, very young age and I just want families to know that the love of reading is why they're going to score well on their SAT or ACT and that equals massive scholarship. So if you're going to do this for no other reason than for money, do it for that reason. They can earn a free education their junior year PSAT if they score well. Free has nothing to do with what you make. So parents just know there's so much opportunity out there but the students are going to do whatever you do. They're watching and if you really want to have some fun when they're about middle to high school, ask them to play a game with you and ask them if I gave you a million dollars cash if they're not smiling you're in trouble. Go back I give you a million dollars cash they're now smiling and you have 24 hours to spend it or you have to give it all back to me what would you do with it and then be really, really quiet. I've had students tell me they would buy a yacht and then they buy an airplane they take their friends all over the world and I said no, no, no one million and they're like yeah one million and I'm like oh and then I've had other students say I give it all to charity every penny of it and I'm like your parents take really good care of you at home for you to be able to give away all your money, right? That's interesting too and then I had one student one who said well I'd buy a rental property I'd fix it up on the weekends and then I would sell it and I'd buy two and then I'd buy an apartment building and I said what are your parents doing? He goes oh they flip real estate and I'm like oh so you do listen to what your parents are talking about and so that game alone parents will give you a really good indicator does your child really are they capable of making a decision that could cost you four hundred five hundred thousand dollars because NYU right now a hundred thousand dollars a year USC's right behind that's a lot of money to leave up to somebody who has no idea what they would do with a million dollars so just be mindful if you don't want to talk about it have a mentor have somebody I talk about it all day long with my students I want them to know how much it costs to live next door to their parents I think it's important for them to know how much a college education return on investment is I can't even tell them if AI will be doing their job before they graduate it's a real thing [Mary Meyer] you know the intellectual curiosity I think is is that's a huge thing because there's certain things we can all learn of course and kids can learn that just life skills you can learn money management you can learn entrepreneurship you can learn there's all these different avenues just it's really endless so languages you can learn but I do think what our culture really does and has gotten pretty bad is numbing out TV and video games junk food you know so there's probably a little you know there's too much of that even if your kid your child isn't going to go to college maybe a community college or something else you know intellectual curiosity is not just for kids that are naturally really book intelligent you know so yeah [Shellee Howard] I've coined it fascination with impact that's really what it is we need to find what are they fascinated with it's the same thing as intellectual curiosity but it adds an element of excitement right what are they fascinated with parents remember the days of Legos and you step on them and you're like those darn Legos but they would spend hours with them or maybe it was with you know designing clothes whatever that fascination was get back to that get back to that that's what's missing for this generation [Mary Meyer] yeah for sure and there and I do think kids I burst three and adopted four so I can tell you that you know from that experience of course it's just just my personal experience but they're all different in their path they needed to take in into adulthood which was based on some of it was early I adopted teenagers from another country so let's say early childhood education you know what they what they came with so far so we went with what are you just naturally good at and and that's that should kind of be that the pathway that you follow so you know for one it was really just a trade learn a trade and that can be a good money maker and another one was just good with people you know and good with cleaning and so there's a cleaning business right so you can pair anything with entrepreneurship another was the arts and another was like you really are engineer driven so we're going to need to get those grades high you know what I mean just in order to fulfill what you're trying to fulfill with architecture and every single one was very different in what they were looking to do so there is there is as and some of that is the classes they do some of it's what they're drawn to I'm a child I kept trying to like here's a ball son kick it no interest ever so it's like you're going to figure it out you know he's not going to be your soccer player so you know you know just there's it doesn't matter there's so much in the world that's very very interesting to do so but I can see the value of you know not being saddled with all this debt leaving college I mean that actually affects your entire life if you can get a great college education and your master's your doctorate or whatever you're going for without debt what an amazing thing that is [Shellee Howard] it's so important yeah I told all my kids I said listen you have choices you get to make are you going to school for the location are you going on a four-year vacation or are you going to get in and out with a degree and a network that will support you for the rest of your life that's what we're talking here you know I have students now who meet with me and I say what do you want to do and they're like I want to be an influencer or I am an influencer like that's so cool tell me about it well I have this many you know follows and likes well how much did you make oh yeah well there are a lot of followers how much are you making and I never discourage them it's really a great entrepreneur spirit but I want to help them understand where's the business plan behind the business model right if you want to be an entrepreneur create a business plan monetize it that's what we're talking about it's not change the person it's help the person understand here are all of the opportunities for you and now you get to choose which path you want to go down that's a very different story from them just not knowing [Mary Meyer] yeah that's a very different story for sure so you have on your on your website college ready plan you have a couple books on there also so you have a couple books for people tell me about those [Shellee Howard] oh this is a fun story but I'll give you the condensed version so I want my son to stay in California and take the full ride at USC I'm not lying I know that's probably sad for some families but I was thinking he's going to be an hour from home this is brilliant it's free I love it and then Harvard sent this beautiful package and he thought somebody was playing with him he really thought his friends set him up so he had me call and see if it was real and it was real and they flew us out to Cambridge and then they wowed him and they sold him how amazing they were and he walked into the dining hall and he's like whoa it's Hogwarts and he was like this is so cool mom can I come here and I said if you can get it for free and that's where we started to talk about the financial negotiation and the return on investment and that's how we were able to navigate it so here's where the book comes in when we navigated that and I flew him out to Harvard and we were unpacking in his room there were several parents who were really really sad and crying and I was just happy like nobody's business I was like this is so amazing he's at Harvard like this is crazy we never planned on this and so he looked at me and he's like mom it's okay if you're sad I go I'd be sad if you were at home on my couch doing drugs I'm not sad I go I'm really not I'm gonna miss you but let's get real you'll be home right and he says mom I promise I will come back to California I promise I will get at least A's and B's and I promise I will graduate without debt and he said but if I do will you write a book to help others do it [Mary Meyer] oh my gosh wow [Shellee Howard] and that's how I wrote my first book so when he was crossing the stage at Harvard he comes running up to me and he hands me his diploma and he goes mom where's the book and I'm like oh he remembered we hadn't talked about in four years I thought oh he'll forget and he didn't let me forget so I took three months off I poured my heart and soul into how to send your student to college without losing your mind to your money it was a number one best seller in 24 hours and it was a true bet from a mother and son since then I've written a second book college admissions plan simplified because it has gotten so complex and so expensive that I wanted to give another gift and it became a best seller in 24 hours so both of those are on sale for your listeners at four dollars each and so please know that's a great place to start it's a book written for busy working busy busy parents to help navigate the process and you know Starbucks probably is more than that so right place to start [Mary Meyer] oh what a gift wow what a story I'm actually crying a little bit it's so meaningful [Shellee Howard] it was pretty crazy he remembered [Mary Meyer] yeah [Shellee Howard] and I think the saddest part is I really didn't enjoy writing at all so the thought of doing it a second time it was real it took me seven years like I was traumatized after the first book it was hard taking everything that you know and have done and giving it to the world it was really hard it was kind of like you want to protect it and you want to you want to make sure that you know it's used for the good and so I had a really hard time letting go of that but I knew how many people I could help and so that is the reason why it was challenging and so meaningful I think probably the most meaningful after that is we started a second bet and I said when you graduate medical school and you will will you go back to Africa because I took him to Africa his junior year in high school I said will you go back to Africa and give back to all of those people that changed your life and he did [Mary Meyer] oh that's so cool [Shellee Howard] so it kind of came back full circle when he graduated from UCLA orthopedics I think it was four days later he headed out to Ethiopia for two weeks and did hip and knee surgery for all of these little people that would never have had that opportunity so your kids do pay attention [Mary Meyer] that's so profound yeah well what a beautiful story thanks so if people are are like okay I want to work with you please help me with this for my child what do they do [Shellee Howard] so there's a few ways for your listeners and that or if somebody passes it on and you listen the first one is go to college ready plan dot info you'll get 30 minutes with me so I can help your family navigate are you on track to get in are you on track to do it without going into debt so college ready plan dot info gets you that opportunity if you're more I just want some free resources go to college ready plan dot com slash resources and I give you I think it's seven or eight things for free where it's just like here's a great start and then of course excuse me my two best-selling books on Amazon but really if you just do one of them college ready plan dot info and I give you a score card so you walk away knowing we can do this without going into debt and we can do it together it's such a great way to start this process or even finish this process [Mary Meyer] yeah that's that's amazing amazing things how many how big is your team how many people are you guys working with [Shellee Howard] yes we only take 20 students per grade so we we are a boutique company and we do not take every student if your student rolls their eyes crosses their arms says they're not interested in going to college that's not our favorite person to work with if you have a student who's like I don't have perfect grades or I do have perfect grades but I really want to go to college or if I have a family that's like we really need your help that's who we want to work with so it's really important that it's we're not about mass producing we're really about impact and inspiration again our goal is starting a career without debt that is my mission and that's what college ready has been all about since day one so it's important that you you know that your child has all of this opportunity that's why I do the podcast but also they can listen to my podcast parents is your team college ready and I give away a lot more resources so lots of ways I can help [Mary Meyer] yeah so you have your own podcast there's a link for that on your website too I think yes okay so that's some really really good stuff Shelly thank you for sharing so much wisdom with us what else do you want to share with everyone where we wrap up [Shellee Howard] two very important things that we didn't talk about the first one is it most people don't apply for scholarships because they think they make too much money remember the four buckets of money that's only one bucket you still have three more buckets if you don't apply to scholarships you won't get any that's just kind of how it is they don't just kind of come flying at you so very important the second thing is if you don't have a plan it's like creating a plan for retirement when you're 75 it's going to hurt it's going to be painful you don't want to use your retirement to pay for your child's because they're going to be taking care of you for the rest of their life then and that cycle is going to be really hard to get out of so have a plan know you can do it parents you've got this my kids can do it your kids can do it [Mary Meyer] yeah that's beautiful thank you well thank you Shellee, I so appreciate you coming on and what great wisdom is such a huge topic and on parenting and getting your kids ready for adulthood and getting to college debt-free and the college you want so all right you have a wonderful evening thank you [Shellee Howard] thank you