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Episode 98: Standing Out in College Admissions
257 Plays4 years ago
If the target college for your kids is Ivy League, medical or some other elite school, it will take more than perfect grades and high test scores to be noticed in the admissions process. Numbers are comforting, but there’s an artistry to high school course selection, essay writing, who to get recommendations from and interview performance that has helped 90% of Dr. Shirag Shemmassian’s clients get into at least one of their top 3 college choices.
In this episode, we talk to Dr. Shemmassian about the services he offers, what things help an applicant stand out in a sea of high performers, and the importance of mental preparation in achieving education goals. We also talk about the important role of parents in the process, including ways to let go of preconceived notions of what leads to a successful career and how to embrace the reality that every student can create a compelling future in their area of interest.
To learn more about Dr. Shemmassian’s college admissions services, visit his website: https://www.shemmassianconsulting.com/.
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Transcript
Dreaming of an Uncommon Life
00:00:02
Speaker
Everyone dreams about living an uncommon life, but how we define that dream is very different for each of us. And for most, it's a lifelong pursuit.
Introduction to the Uncommon Life Project
00:00:11
Speaker
Welcome to the Uncommon Life Project podcast. We're going to introduce you to people who are living that life or enjoying the journey to get there. We're going to also give you some tools, tricks, and tips for starting or accelerating your own efforts to live an uncommon life.
00:00:27
Speaker
A life worth celebrating and savoring.
Meet the Hosts: Brian Dewhurst and Philip Ramsey
00:00:30
Speaker
Please welcome your hosts, Brian Dewhurst and Philip Ramsey.
00:00:36
Speaker
Hello, and welcome everybody to another episode of the Uncommon Life Project. I'm your host, Phillip Ramsey. And I'm Brian Dewhurst. The one and only Brian Dewhurst. Let's get into it. Beard looks amazing today. I'm feeling good about it. You should. Well, welcome to the show. We're grateful for your time. That's first and foremost. We always want to bring and provide a lot of value. We do have a lot of listeners, and it's so much fun to get their feedback.
00:00:59
Speaker
Positive. Usually it's positive. I've never had anybody be like, you suck at life, which if you have that, I would love to hear it. Again, my name is Philip Ramsey. We have an amazing guest on the show today, as we always do, kind of to go about a little bit different. But I think it's still powerful. So Brian, let's introduce him and let's go
Guest Introduction: Dr. Sherag Shemassian
00:01:18
Speaker
from there.
00:01:18
Speaker
Yes, we have the one and only, the founder of the Shemassian Academic Consulting and one of the world's foremost experts on college admissions. Dr. Sherag Shemassian has spent the past 15 years helping thousands of students and families get into top programs around the United States. Welcome to the show, Dr. Shemassian. Hey, thank you so much for having me.
00:01:44
Speaker
Yeah, it's fun to get you on the show, honestly. Because how did you get to this point where you're like, you know what? I'm going to do. I'm going to start a business helping other people get into college, which is kind of a daunting process. Let's just address it.
From Self-Taught to Consulting Business
00:01:58
Speaker
How did you start like, yeah, I'm going to make a company out of this. I'd love to hear that story. Yeah, you know.
00:02:03
Speaker
I've never met a child like in their elementary school or high school when you ask them, hey, what do you want to be when you grow up? No one ever says, I want to help people get into college. Literally no one has ever told me that. And I don't think anyone ever will. But I'd be happy to be corrected. I was focusing when I was a kid on making it to the NBA before I realized, hey, there are no Armenian guys. I don't think it's going to happen for me.
00:02:28
Speaker
In any case, I think it all happened organically and out of necessity for myself because my parents came here from Lebanon when there was a civil war over there in the 70s. They were able to get out in part because my dad got his master's in southern Illinois, so they moved to St. Louis before moving on to Los Angeles.
00:02:52
Speaker
To us, they always preached education. So my brother and me, you know, they're like, they gave us what I call the immigrant menu, you know, be a doctor, a dentist, a lawyer, engineer, whatever. And we just sort of internalized that, like that was a normal thing that you do. And so we went through school, but then when it was time to go to college, you know, you turn to mom and dad for support, they're like, what? Oh, you wanted us to help you? No, no, no, we just have this goal for you. We tell you, you know, the old T-Rex arms. Yeah.
00:03:22
Speaker
We never promised you the treasure map just that there's something out there and you should go find it. And so I had to learn on my own. I went to a school where we didn't have very much in the way of college counseling, certainly not outside of the LA area, the immediate area. And so I was self-taught in that
Growth of Shemassian Academic Consulting
00:03:41
Speaker
process. And when I was having my own success with undergrad admissions and grad admissions and getting all these scholarships,
00:03:48
Speaker
It was like people coming out of the woodwork and saying, oh, you know, I've sort of had these dreams too, but I didn't know where to look. It was almost like people who were closeted about this, right? And as I was assisting people, they were having a ton of success themselves and referring others. And over time, it just kind of blossomed that way. Again, it never was the kind of thing where
00:04:09
Speaker
there was a vision of, you know, I want it to be like this or that it would be a business period, uh, let alone, you know, serving the number of students that we have. So again, you know, I think with a lot of entrepreneurial pursuits, it's about scratching your own itch and solving problems for yourself or problems that you see. And, uh, over time it's just, you know, been a blessing to meet all the families that, that I have and to serve folks that we have.
00:04:35
Speaker
So the side hustle kind of became the main hustle. I mean, there was no hustle in the beginning even, right? It wasn't side or main. It was just a labor of love, first for myself and then for other people. And yeah, and then it went from side to full. Cause you really do think about like the college admission, you really just have to do it once, hopefully, right? Yeah. And everyone's kind of dreading it. And then once it's there, you fight through it and you get through it, hopefully.
00:05:03
Speaker
But what you do is kind of give them experience. Obviously, like you've done this with many families. So you can start kind of guiding and directing their path so it can make it a enjoyable experience, not just one that's like everyone's daunting. Maybe it's just me daunting it because I was.
00:05:20
Speaker
Not the smartest student, but, uh, so tell us a little bit about exactly how you help your
Navigating College Admissions Stress
00:05:25
Speaker
families. Yeah. The process. Yep. Sure. And you know, there are different tiers to this whole thing. You know, when you bring up, um, fill up about how it's daunting, it's really the case where if you're looking to go to a college, you know, to get a bachelor's degree and move on.
00:05:43
Speaker
It's probably a little bit less daunting because we're blessed to live in a country where there are thousands of institutions of higher education and chances are you can get in somewhere. It's very different in medical school which is an area we specialize in where it's a question of if you will get in anywhere.
00:06:03
Speaker
That's a whole different proposition. Great point. There's a subset of students, though, when it comes to college admissions who have specific goals. If you're talking about, I want to go to college and get a college education, it's stressful, but it's not ultra stressful. It becomes ultra stressful when you say, I want to go to a top 40 school, a top 20 school, a top 10 school. Because now you're dealing with places that have sub 5% acceptance rates oftentimes.
00:06:30
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And even though we sort of intellectually understand that it's a very difficult prospect, emotionally, it's something that we've seen ourselves doing or institutions we've seen ourselves attending since we were kids. Or if we're parents, we've envisioned that for our children, right? So if there's a school that has a 4% acceptance rate, you say, wow, that's really low.
00:06:52
Speaker
but then you're still shocked if it didn't work out, which is kind of weird in the other area of life. Like for instance, if you're a sports fan, you know, your team has a 3% chance of winning. You don't say, God, I can't believe we lost that one. Right. Right. I didn't go. Yep. But in college admissions,
00:07:13
Speaker
When you don't get into MIT and you always thought you would go to MIT, you're still pretty surprised. Right. So it's a very weird domain of life where we have this expectation. We've seen ourselves doing these things. We understand intellectually how hard it is.
00:07:31
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But emotionally, we don't quite get it until we go through it. And so our job really is to assist families with every aspect of that process.
Comprehensive Admissions Services
00:07:41
Speaker
So whether it's making decisions around course selection or extracurricular activities, how to build that narrative, how to build that extracurricular profile, which will impress admissions committees down the line, assisting them with summer planning,
00:07:56
Speaker
you know, whom to get recommendation letters from, how to develop college essays, interview coaching for schools that require it. So really end to end in that way. That's really cool. Now I'm going to ask this and I'm kind of mad I'm asking it. So please just forgive me.
00:08:11
Speaker
I've watched the Netflix documentary, the admission scandal, the college admission scandal. This is not what you're talking about. I know you're not talking about that, but it's very interesting that how quickly that business took off and he was doing it fraudulently. So a little bit of background about that is he
00:08:30
Speaker
Basically, he would say he would get your kid into an IV school or some prestigious school. And what he would do is basically pay somebody off on the board that can bring them in. It was scandalous. This is not what you're saying. But how powerful it is to actually help somebody get into a school and do it the right way is powerful. What is your percent of success rate when you're dealing with your families? I would love to
Achieving a 90% Success Rate
00:08:56
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hear that.
00:08:56
Speaker
Yeah, and thank you for making that distinction, you know, because it was funny around the time of the scandal, people would call me and say, you're not part of that, are you? I'm like, you know, and sometimes people would ask me, like, do you think others are doing it? I'm like, maybe I don't know, you know, like, it's easy to see when something is so high stakes.
00:09:18
Speaker
And it's something that people want so bad it's not doesn't take that much imagination to see how things can go right and you know with that specific situation you know the way i understand it with mister singers organization you know there were things going on like
00:09:33
Speaker
paying people to take standardized tests on the student's behalf right so that's obviously uh fraudulent and and things like you know taking photos of a student participating in a certain sport and being a top recruit when they in fact were not and you know getting into top colleges in that way so there were there were pretty concerning things um this is not that you know there's no
00:09:58
Speaker
There's nothing like that going on with us, of course. But to answer your question about our student success rate, over 90% of our students get into one or more of their top three choices. And we've been doing this for a number of years at this point.
00:10:14
Speaker
And so our students have really high expectations. So our average student is a major high achiever. They have a 4.0 GPA or close to it. They've done very well on their SAT or ACT, which is, of course, a whole different discussion as most schools go test optional. And on top of that, they've done well on APs and stuff like that. And so our job is essentially to take
00:10:35
Speaker
You know, students who are already exceptional or have shown exceptional promise and assisting them with portraying their background in a way that jumps off the page with college admissions committees. Because I have to tell you, Brian and Philip, that there are a ton of students out there who do exceptionally well academically.
00:10:54
Speaker
Yeah. But by grades alone, they're not very distinguishable. So if you think about it, you know, y'all are in Iowa. I live in San Diego and think about all the different metropolitan centers in the United States and think about every metropolitan center has several good high schools. And in that high school, there's, you know, there are a certain number of people who are in the top 5% of their class and all that kind of stuff. And now they're all thrown into the same pool.
00:11:20
Speaker
and they're competing with each other. And so you might be the top kid in your school in Seattle, but now you're going up against all the top kids in all the top schools, not only in Seattle, but everywhere else. And you have to stand out. And certainly internationally too, right?
00:11:37
Speaker
Exactly. And those numbers have gone up across our in schools too. So just to help people understand what the difficulty is here, that's the level of competition we're dealing with. And so I tell families all the time, yes, grades and test scores are important, but don't over focus on that at the expense of everything else because look,
00:12:00
Speaker
At the end of the day, a lot of families find comfort in numbers. When you get a 1550 on the SAT and you're given a percentile, you know where you stand. When you get a 3.9 or a 4.0, you know where you stand. But when I tell you, all right, rank this essay on a percentile or assign a percentile to it, now it's like, or take this resume and tell me,
00:12:29
Speaker
you know what percentile you would assign to this resume people get confused so then they go they find comfort in numbers they take solace in knowing well at least I know how I'm doing in my coursework so that's where I'm gonna spend my time in and this is where people I think get in trouble because then they get to the point of college applications and they've done all this amazing academic work
00:12:50
Speaker
I'm except it's the indistinguishable from everyone else i call them randomly well rounded students they've done a little bit of this a little bit of that had this leadership position did this other thing but there was no cohesion across these different experiences and sorry job is to build out from the ground up and also to make sure that they're communicating it through their essays in a really compelling way.
00:13:12
Speaker
Philip and I were just talking about we were updating our marketing and stuff and, you know, the bio. It's just like the worst thing. And we made a company policy of like, you're not allowed to write your own bio anymore because it's one of the hardest things to do. So I couldn't even imagine. I mean, that's essentially what you're saying. Like, you know, you want to be one of the top five percent of people in the country to get into these institutions and to write that and portray that.
00:13:38
Speaker
individually or maybe just even as a family unit where you're pretty blinded too. You know, the success and the metrics that are important, it is super helpful to have that outside third party to say like, hey, but wait, have you thought about this, this, this and that? Absolutely.
00:13:55
Speaker
It's really awkward to talk about ourselves. For some people, I'm just kidding. For most of us, I guess. But also, it's kind of a bummer for these students because
00:14:10
Speaker
Okay. A, we might not like talking about ourselves or B, not know how to do it. And C, not know how to do it in a very compelling way for the purposes of college admissions. And, you know, for some of these kids, it's the most important set of essays they've ever had to write in their lives. And they're being asked to do it for the first time.
00:14:31
Speaker
you know, during that high stakes process. So it's like, this is for all the marbles. Oh wait, I have no experience doing it. Good luck. And it's very scary. I wanted to go, how many people do you have in your business?
00:14:44
Speaker
So I don't answer, you know, questions about organization size like that, but I mean, we, we serve a limited number of students every year. Please let me know your question behind the question. I'd be glad to talk about it. Well, here's what, how do you do pricing? This is what I was going to like in something service oriented. I would love to know like, well, what do you put a price to of like getting into the college that you want, right?
00:15:08
Speaker
Sure.
Pricing Structures and Plans
00:15:09
Speaker
Yeah. So for that, we have plans, you know, for students who are applying to a certain number of schools, and that's how we assist them. So the most popular plans we offer are for the application. So let's say a student comes to us between junior and senior year, right? And they want help with a certain number of college applications.
00:15:30
Speaker
We have three plans. They're called the premium, the premium plus and the IV plan. And based on the number of schools you want our assistance with, 10 versus 15 versus 20, we help students on a comprehensive basis, meaning there's unlimited advising and essay brainstorming and unlimited number of edits for all essays for that number of schools. So if you take the base plan, it's called our premium plan where we'll help you on a comprehensive basis with
00:15:59
Speaker
everything you need for 10 schools applications, that one's $14,999. And then up from there. So the 15 school plan, which is the most popular historically, that one is $17,999. And then that way, you know, parents don't have to wonder, you know, will you help with every, the answer is yeah, that covers everything one would need for comprehensive support with that. It also includes support with waitlist letter preparation. Schools have, you know, had,
00:16:28
Speaker
bigger and bigger weightless. Also, appeal letter preparation, which is a thing if a student gets rejected from their single top choice, they can appeal. I hope that answers your question. Yeah, kind of. But how did you get the pricing? Like, oh, I'm just going to throw this out there. Like, $14.99 sounds good. Like, there had to have been a reason. And the reason why I asked this is we have a lot of people on our show
00:16:48
Speaker
that are thinking about starting a business. Hey, you had a great idea. But how do you do a pricing? And to me, if you don't get the pricing right, it's going to be an uphill battle for you. And that's the reason why I'm like, but how do you do the pricing? Yeah, happy to talk about that. So every single person I've spoken with who has started a business has told me, and I'll confirm this for myself too,
00:17:14
Speaker
You know what the prices are today or we're not what they were different than yeah, you know, that's almost always the case and and there's an art and a science. I mean, what do most of us do? You know, we look at, you know, other competitors and we see what they're trying. That's one way to do it. Other people will.
00:17:32
Speaker
you know think about okay like what's my happy price you know like what should i what should i do it out where i can be happy with their sustain a business or what have you but most of us if we're being honest like when we're starting out we don't know how to price things and usually you know i'll call it ninety nine percent because i'm sure there's someone out there who you know didn't do this but we under charge.
00:17:53
Speaker
And in the beginning, when I think about the level of support that we've been providing, sort of unlimited brainstorming, unlimited editing, all that kind of stuff, A, it's a lot of time. So if you break it down into like an hour, people say, well, how many hours? I mean, it's a lot. I've never counted because it's unlimited, but it's a lot of hours. And so when you think about that, your dollars per hour becomes a big factor. But then over time,
00:18:21
Speaker
I would say back in the day, you know, the plan now that's 14,999 was probably around 4,999 times now, not only because, not because necessarily the time has changed, but also I've, and experience, but also the value, right? So when you think about,
00:18:41
Speaker
what, you know, top schools mean to be, whether it's going to a top college or to a medical school or whatever the case might be, I think more so than hours and dollars and all that kind of stuff. What's the value and what's the demand? So if these schools are so hard to get into, but we can help increase your odds of getting in several fold
00:19:05
Speaker
There is a lot of value in that. There's even more value than what we're charging. And so based on that, I believe it's incredibly fair and justified. Another thing to think about is demand. As you do more work and serve students and they have tremendous success, they tell other people as we've written more resources for students to get into top schools and more people have come to us for support because they've heard about our work.
00:19:34
Speaker
then there is greater demand and I want to serve as many people as I can, but we have a pretty sizable waitlist now only because we could grow and do things just for volume, but that's not ever how I want to approach my work. I want to make sure that we're supporting a sustainable number of students and giving them high quality
00:19:55
Speaker
And to do that, we have to charge the investments that we do. And so that's the way I think about it. And I understand that it's not going to be accessible for everyone. And we have certain partial need-based aid programs for families who qualify and things like that. But at its core, I really think about value. I really think about demand. I really think about how hard we work in helping our students and families achieve the results they want. So I think it's...
00:20:24
Speaker
Our investments reflect those things. Yeah, totally.
Pursuing Genuine Interests in College Applications
00:20:27
Speaker
You deal with a lot of high caliber people, you know, really just listening to you and kind of like you're talking about the families that are focused solely on the quantifiable metrics or the, you know, the numbers, so to speak. What is the common thread that you see or that you're advocating to your clients like that?
00:20:50
Speaker
that authenticity of the student bringing that out. Like what is the thing these students should be focusing on outside of maybe the grades and the test scores? What do you see as that kind of like competitive advantage? So that's the thing. There's nothing specific that a student needs to do. So let me give you an example.
00:21:12
Speaker
Sometimes parents will, you know, have a student who is interested in science, right? And so they love, maybe they love engineering and you know, they'll, those, what you should do is a little bit more clear there, right? Maybe it's having certain, you know, key internships at prestigious institutions or starting your own project or maybe even starting your own business where you're, we're building something and selling something, whatever the case might be.
00:21:40
Speaker
And so for those students, you know, parents have a pretty clear sense of like, OK, this is a pretty serious thing. You know, science, we've seen the path of, you know, where science can take someone down the entrepreneurial route or make a big impact in their community, all this kind of stuff.
00:21:55
Speaker
Where it gets very tricky for families is if their student doesn't have an interest that's seen as traditionally impressive. Usually the arts fall in that category. So if a student might love cooking and be excellent at cooking, their parents will oftentimes talk about that as quote unquote just a hobby.
00:22:19
Speaker
So, okay, yeah, I know they're good at cooking. Yeah, but it's just a hobby. But like, okay, like what's the serious thing we're going to do? And so that's when I think students and parents can be at odds with one another. And now students are being forced to join this club and this thing where, where their interests aren't really, but I believe that every single student can develop a compelling profile in whatever their area of primary interest is.
00:22:46
Speaker
I don't care if it's engineering, I don't care if it's cooking, I don't care if it's photography, I don't care if it's coding video games or whatever the case might be. Because let's say, for instance, that there's a student who loves to cook. And I would understand, well, what about it do you like? And they can give me all sorts of answers. So they might give me the answer of, well, I just want to create the perfect dish. That's a different answer than I just love the way food brings people together.
00:23:17
Speaker
Because the student who answers the former, well, all right, well, let's develop the type of profile where you are developing an incredible culinary background and showcasing that. And who knows, maybe you eventually help other people cook better and all this kind of stuff. Maybe you develop a cookbook for a teen or whatever. There are so many paths we can go down. Let's say if your goal is to bring people together, OK, who do you feel like needs to be brought together?
00:23:45
Speaker
Well, maybe there are certain families where the parents like, you know, work a lot and they're not really having joint meals together. And so you want to help, you know, I don't know, families cook simple meals or that kind of thing or, you know, assist with teens working with their parents on cooking and bringing that joy.
00:24:03
Speaker
or maybe it's certain people who can't really afford a good meal. So you develop a program in your local community where you provide really beautiful, really healthy meals for families and then grow a network of that in your region, in your state, in the country and so on. So whatever your interest is can take you down different paths, even within the same domain and be very impressive. Yeah. And then also, go ahead. Well, yeah, I think like why I kind of was going in that vein is, you know, we obviously, you know, our kind of, you know, thing is, is
00:24:33
Speaker
We feel everybody has something that is uncommon about them, you know, and that tapping into that passion. And, you know, as my, my, my oldest is now freshman in high school, you know, we're recording this and it's, we're starting to have those conversations about high school. And, uh, you know, she's actually very,
00:24:52
Speaker
I'd say narrowed and where she, you know, wants to, I would say apply and the professions, you know, there's a spectrum of professions within her interest. So we're having those conversations. And so I'm just kind of curious, maybe just as like, you know, a parent about to go through this, but but also professionally of just like, how do we as a country or how as a business or as a collective,
00:25:15
Speaker
you know, help the next generation tap into, you know, what is making them uncommon. And I kind of hear you saying it, you know, your way. I think we're saying kind of the same thing. And so what have you seen, I guess, from, you know, parents or successful students, you know, where they're tapping into that uncommon or that passion at any younger age? Sure.
00:25:36
Speaker
A few things. I think that we as, you know, I'm a parent of a three and a half year old and a second on the way. So not quite in high school. Yeah. Thank you. Not quite in high school yet. But I think it's important for us as parents to shed what we think can lead to a successful career. Right. I think that when, you know, some of us were growing up, like when I was growing up, you know, we didn't have the jobs that existed today or that exist today, I should say.
00:26:06
Speaker
And so we have to be mindful of that and not think, oh, like, you know, when we were growing up or what our parents did, these were the jobs that were available. Well, that's changing all of the time and the way that, you know, marketing has changed with the rise of the internet and social media and also the way, you know, technology has allowed things to scale and how essentially anyone can access information about anything that interests them at any time and from anyone.
00:26:33
Speaker
That's a whole different thing. And this is just 2022. Right. And so by the time your daughter goes through high school and college and, you know, all this kind of stuff. But we also act like as parents, like we knew what we were doing back then. It's funny to me because when I was 14, you know, I thought I was going to do certain things. I don't do any of those things now.
00:26:53
Speaker
But we expect our 14 year olds to know and we're upset with them if they don't have clarity sometimes I'm not saying you I'm saying no I needed to hear that because I was one of those people that 14 who did know what they wanted to do actually doing it so I think sometimes I don't you know I don't get upset with my kids but I think I come maybe with a little additional.
00:27:13
Speaker
you know, layer emphasis of like, you know, more so just wanting to invest in them. But what you one of the things you you touched on there, kind of let me do another question with social media now.
Managing Social Media Presence
00:27:26
Speaker
I mean, do you guys have like a triage program? Like if you've got they look great on paper, but you're a hot mess. You're a hot frickin mess. Take a mess. Like what what is that like now in in in this landscape?
00:27:40
Speaker
Yeah, I mean, this is the kind of thing that we'll discuss with our students. I encourage our students to keep all their settings private and to not invite people to check stuff out or to be a follower or whatever it's called on different platforms, unless they know who the person is, but still to be mindful of what you're posting and what you're putting out there, because I think you can actually leverage it really well.
00:28:04
Speaker
Or you can or you cannot and you know I'm throwing social media around because that's such a sort of common thing to dunk on these days But you know you can still use personal websites and linkedins and all this kind of stuff essentially there are there are ways to Explore things and to you know develop a community however, so you know if a student is really interested in
00:28:25
Speaker
you know, one field or another, they can leverage all sorts of technologies. And what I'm saying is that there's more reach we can all have. Like, I don't know that my, you know, that my organization could have been what it is today, you know, pre-internet, because we've put out a lot of resources online for what it takes to get into grade schools and stuff like that. And it's kind of crazy to think when I was in high school,
00:28:49
Speaker
There was probably not even 10% of the information out there freely available about college admissions or medical school admissions. I remember hearing in like our Model UN club. I remember where I was sitting in high school when someone literally wrote on the whiteboard, like we had a, I don't know, a consultant from outside for Model UN, someone who had coached it a bit before.
00:29:09
Speaker
who came and wrote on the board, use Google. So Google is this thing where, and I was like, it's so silly right now because everyone knows what that is. But I remember in like 11th grade not knowing what Google was. And then I went home that day, I was like, whoa, you can find a lot of stuff here. And so it's just like, and we don't know by the time that our kids are in high school, in college and beyond what will be available.
00:29:33
Speaker
I guess my point to parents is saying to maintain an open mind and understand that we're living in a world where there are a lot more opportunity, a lot more ways to achieve success. And so it's more so a question of where to hone in our children's interests rather than wondering if there's anything out there for them.
00:29:55
Speaker
Because there certainly is. We almost have like, we're spoiled for choice. So if your student is showing an interest in something, promote that because at least they have some clarity and focus in the world of infinite options and to not, you know, bring our bias into it of, well, this is serious and this other thing is just the hot. Right. I played football. You're going to play football. Exactly.
00:30:16
Speaker
Yeah, I took my kid to soccer practice. He literally didn't care. He was, you know, he was just lying down on the grass and making, you know, what I call grass angels, but, you know, nothing to show in the grass, but he just wasn't interested. It was weird because as a parent, I'm like, but I always thought he'd be like an athlete and all, but he kind of doesn't care. And maybe that'll change. But, you know, we have to, we have to shed what we thought they would be. How long have you been married? I've been married now six years. Nice. How long have you had the business?
00:30:47
Speaker
That's a great question. So I've been doing this work nearly 20 years. The business with the name that we have today and all that kind of stuff, it's been eight years. Awesome. Here's my question. So how instrumental has your wife been in this or your spouse been in this pursuit of this company?
00:31:08
Speaker
She's been incredible throughout all of this. There's been a lot of sacrifice, certainly, throughout our relationship about time I would spend working on our website or certain resources or processes that we've been developing when she wished I had come to bed earlier.
00:31:30
Speaker
Amen to that. That still happens to this day and so that's been a huge thing. She's also, but I think that the biggest thing, the biggest influence that my wife has had on me in this context is just
00:31:47
Speaker
I think developing a sense of peace with things. As an entrepreneur, you worry a lot about getting things right and serving people the right way. Or are there things that we can improve? Or is there this student we want to work with, but they decided to go somewhere else? All this kind of stuff. And just maintaining perspective of it's going to be OK. It's fine. She has an incredible presence about her where
00:32:17
Speaker
she kind of, she has a, I think her, you know, disposition is like, it's fine. That's just like sort of the way she goes about life. Like no matter what, like it's fine. Um, and so that's something that has rubbed off on me more and more over the years because I, you know, I would describe myself much more as Taipei and you know, achievement oriented and all this kind of stuff. Um, and she's more like, I just want to,
00:32:41
Speaker
Like live peacefully calling. We've interviewed a lot of people and a lot of businesses and I love asking that question because without a supportive spouse, just throw it in the bag. Like it is a good decision and it is something that like they're kind of behind the curtain in a way for us to do what we love to do. But the sacrifices that
00:33:04
Speaker
like our loved ones do to have us do what we love to do and pour out and serve other people is significant and one that we should absolutely talk more about. And so if you're listening to this and you have an amazing idea to go serve people, it's not that it's a bad idea, but your spouse needs to be your barometer. Is this a good idea? This is a bad idea because both of you are going to have to do some sacrificing. So I love that you talked about that. That's good. Cool. Yeah, absolutely. And with, you know, children,
00:33:29
Speaker
at you know there is a that's been magnified you know more than ever because you know now when you're not it's not just you're not spending time with your spouse you're also not spending time with your kid when you're working and also there are child care responsibilities it's not like when you're not together you know she's getting a manicure right um she's she's taking care of our son and and that means so much
00:33:51
Speaker
I think it's gonna be interesting culturally, you know, with COVID.
COVID's Impact on Work-Life Dynamics
00:33:55
Speaker
And, you know, I was actually talking about this with my wife the other day, you know, working from home as much as we all have in all of our different professions, you know, it's really impacted every, you know, nook and cranny, I think of the economy over the last two years. And I think seeing kids seeing their parents in that way,
00:34:13
Speaker
at home, it's going to be interesting to see kind of the ripple effects of that, I think, you know, five, 10, 15 years down the road. And I think it'll be actually a positive thing as well. And so anyways, I was just kind of thinking about that. So how do our listeners hear more about you go to your website and and do that deal?
Resources and Contact Information
00:34:33
Speaker
Yeah, I mean, folks can visit Shemasianconsulting.com. If they want to get in touch, you know, there is always going to be a contact link in the top right corner of every page and they can reach out that way. But also, if people want to have a resource on something super specific, they can always type my last name, which I'm sure you'll include in the show notes and whatever that subject is. Like, for instance, if it's like
00:34:58
Speaker
Shemasian, how to get into Princeton. You can search for that. If it's Shemasian, when should I take the MCAT? If you're interested in medical school, you'll find that too. So, you know, I encourage people to find our resources in that way. And if they want to get in touch, it's very easy to do so. You know, they can email us at contact at Shemasianconsulting.com or fill out any form. I'll see that. And I would love to assist.
00:35:21
Speaker
Awesome.
Final Thoughts on Living Uncommonly
00:35:22
Speaker
Well, you've been listening to the Uncommon Life Project. Thank you so much for being on the show. And if this resonated with you, please go find out more information. And until next time, go be uncommon and impact somebody. Thanks, everybody. Goodbye. That's all for this episode of the Uncommon Life Project, brought to you by Uncommon Wealth Partners. Be sure to visit uncommonwealth.com to learn more about our services.
00:35:44
Speaker
Don't miss an episode as we introduce you to inspiring people who are actively pursuing an uncommon life.