Mrs. Bumgardner is currently owner/operator of Strategies Unlimited, Inc a company who offers staff development to school systems across the United States. Kathy has taught in all grades from Kindergarten to eighth grade as well as is certified in grades Kindergarten through twelfth grade. To help tap into her creative side, Kathy sings, plays a little guitar and entertains with a band called Images.
1. Please tell me a little bit about how you got started with Strategies Unlimited, LLC.
I was Curriculum Director for a school system in North Carolina which, when I took the position, was in the bottom 5% of schools in regards to state test scores. In the course of five years, the school went from being one of the lowest performing districts in the state to the district with the second highest scores in the state. It was not my plan to start my own company; it was something that just happened. One day I stepped out of the office and when I came back in, my secretary said some men with suits on were in my office waiting on me. I had no idea who they were; I just thought they were some type of curriculum salespeople. It was when I walked in and introduced myself, that I found out they were from Guilford County Schools. They were wondering if I could come in and see what they could do as a district to improve test scores. That is how it all started. The accomplishment of helping to move the district from a low position to a high position got larger districts attention. I gained credibility. This credibility led to the creation of Strategies Unlimited, Inc.
2. Tell me about Strategies Unlimited, Inc. For ex.: How many employees do you have? Is all of your material of your design or do you simply tweak some of the information that you learn? How many hours do you average working each week? Gross annual revenue?
Well, other than myself, I have one official employee, my husband. I also subcontract with a couple of people to create materials and my daughter who presents sometimes with me. Though these are who I consider my employees, there are others who are critical to my success. For example, I have an organizer who helps organize the back of my vehicle. I do all of my work out of the back of my SUV. I have to have things organized so I can pull what I need when I need it. I have to cart around projectors, laptops, and back up machines. I have to have things to make manipulatives with as well as the manipulatives themselves. One key thing that makes my life easier is surrounding myself with people that help compensate for my shortcomings.
As far as the material goes, I create some of the material myself and some of the material, I modify from others. I just create material for the need at hand.
I work all of the time literally. I get no time off because there is only one of me and a lot of work to be done. When I get home from working with a school system, I still have to constantly look online on the department of public instruction website, etc. to look for things that will be changing and try to figure out how I am going to work with the changes. It is a never ending job but I love it.
How much money do I make? Well let’s just say that I have more money than I have ever dreamed of having.
3. I notice when I GOOGLE your name, you are everywhere! How did you manage to “brand” yourself in such a short amount of time?
By being willing to help others and being willing to share things without the agenda of selling stuff. If you put your items out there for free, people think, wow, she is willing to let us use her stuff for free. Why would I do this? Well, oftentimes, even though the stuff is free, they need someone to show them how to effectively use the materials. Since the school systems like my manipulatives, they will often hire me to come in and show teachers how to use the materials. This coupled with word of mouth and a good reputation was what created my brand.
4. I know you just got back from New York City where you had a meeting with McGraw Hill Publishing. How did you manage to get their attention?
Well, if you get your name out there and become a respected authority, this will happen on its own. You have to have credibility and name recognition. You have to be willing to do whatever it takes to get your name out there. You also have to put your strategies out there. If you do these things, the publishing companies will come knocking on your door.
5. What strategies do you use when you first come into a school district to analyze what can be changed to increase test scores?
The first day I go into a new school, I tell the administrator not to tell me about any particular teacher. Instead, I look at all of the data but not at specific teacher’s data. I then go into the classrooms and do some quick observations and take pictures of best practices. I put all of these good things in a power point and give it to the principal for him to show the teachers. This starts my interaction with the school on a positive note and lets the teachers know I am not there to throw the baby out with the bath water but instead I am there to tweak the small things. I use best practices of the schools teachers to show other teachers at the school what they can do to make test scores and the climate of their classroom better. I make things fit a particular client. There is no one size fits all solution for every school district. Every solution is tailor made. I typically make a problem/solution table to present to teachers and administrators to show them the problems I see and the solutions that are proposed. This format makes it easy to see what areas need improvement and also show them that there are solutions to their problems.
6. Knowing that I am planning to create manipulatives related to mathematics and best practices and would later like to present staff development to school districts, what obstacles do you see that I will need to overcome and what advice do you have for me?
Get your name out there! You can do this by applying to be a presenter at the Closing the Gap conference or the NC Reading Conference. Also, offer any materials that you make for free. If they are valuable to a school system, they will hire you to teach their teachers how to use them. That is how you get your name out there. That is also the only way to be successful in this business. Also you have to come up with catchy titles or names for your materials. You have to know what school districts are referring to when they call you. In your staff development, you have to give attendees something to walk away with. This keeps the audience engaged and excited about your product. Then, you give them examples of how to use the products they just made. They need to know you have common experiences. Keep it real. They can spot a fake a mile away. Also, make sure you use bullets or numbered steps to facilitate the teachers learning how to use your products. Oftentimes teachers won’t really want to go to staff development. If you make it easy and fun, they will be happy to be there and want to attend more staff development instructed by you.
7. Where do you see Strategies Unlimited, Inc. in five years?
I’m hoping I will be doing more stuff from home and less of me having to go out on site. I am hoping my daughter will come in and take over. I just really want to publish textbooks and other educational accessories.
Footnote: This interview was very important to me because I would also like to do staff development one day. The interview proved to be very beneficial. A lot of questions I had as far as how to get started etc. were answered. The interview inspired me to apply for an instructional facilitator position within Montgomery County. I found out last week that I got the job!!!!
