Today we’d like to introduce you to Ms. Lisa Williams.
Hi Ms. Lisa, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today?
I’m Lisa Williams, but most people in the community call me Ms. Lisa. Growing up poor in South Central Los Angeles meant constantly moving and starting over. I was a non-military kid who went to 10 different schools in 12 years. It was difficult.
Through it all, I often replayed memories of watching my older brother at our kitchen table night after night struggling to read with our mom cycling through frustration and determination trying to help him. That’s what shaped my path. I remember thinking even then, at maybe seven or eight years old, that I wanted to help kids who needed the most support.
My mom said education was the key to overcoming poverty, and I believed her. Despite bouncing from school to school, I beat the odds—graduating from high school, attending college, and earning my bachelor’s degree in Speech-Language Pathology with the goal of working with neurodivergent children.
After college, I detoured into the corporate world for years, working at Kansas City companies while my heart longed for teaching. When I became a stay-at-home mom and started homeschooling our two children, everything shifted.
Homeschooling was my lane. I was in my teaching bag, as the young folks say. Teaching our son to read though? That humbled me completely. I watched him guess at words, struggle with spelling, and grow frustrated—just like my brother had decades earlier. But traditional methods weren’t working. I spent countless hours researching, creating games with movement, basically teaching myself. Without formal intervention training, I had to figure out how to help him thrive.
Over 14 years of homeschooling our children, that experience with our son opened my eyes. When I branched out to teach other children through homeschool cooperatives for 7 years, I kept encountering kids with the same struggles. Many had barriers to writing because of their reading. So, in 2020, I took the leap and started tutoring independently. Two years later, Spark Literacy Tutor was officially launched, and I knew I’d found my calling. Because I wanted to give these children everything I possibly could, I completed the formal IMSE Orton-Gillingham program in 2024 to become a trained dyslexia tutor.
Today, I work with amazing K-3rd grade scholars nationwide, guiding them from guessing words with frustration to smoothly reading diverse books with confidence. That little girl who wanted to help kids who needed special support? She finally found her way home. It just took a few decades and my own children to show me the path.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
To say it’s been a bumpy road would be an understatement. Learning to run a business while being the tutor, marketer, bookkeeper, and everything else? It’s been overwhelming at times. I had the passion for tutoring children but zero experience with marketing, operations, or business systems. I mean, I couldn’t even afford a professional web designer, but my daughter stepped in and did a fantastic job! I invested heavily in social media marketing courses and business coaching programs, trying to figure it all out.
Then, I experienced drastic social media growth. Let me tell you, going viral on Instagram taught me a hard lesson – millions of views mean nothing without systems in place. Parents were interested, but I had no streamlined onboarding process, no automated scheduling, no clear service agreements. I was drowning in manual tasks and watching opportunities slip away because I couldn’t respond fast enough. Eventually, I found answers and solutions to streamline my process.
The isolation surprised me too. I tried everything to connect with other tutors – joining Facebook groups, starting online coworking spaces, attending networking events. Most tutors seemed content working in their own bubbles. The one bright spot? A general coworking group I started 2.5 years ago that still meets weekly, even if it’s not tutor-specific. Plus, I’ve gained close friendships with other Black women business owners – a cherished bonus from the training programs.
My saving grace has been my family. They’ve worked vendor events with me, brainstormed marketing ideas, handled photography and video editing – they’re basically my unpaid creative department. Their support kept me going when I wanted to quit. Plus, they keep me grounded, challenging me when needed and reminding me that I am creative – an affirmation I’ve learned to embrace. Oh, and we laugh. A lot. Quite honestly, I couldn’t run my business without them.
Three years in, I’m still learning, still building those systems I desperately needed from day one. But here’s what really keeps me going: every time a mom texts me that her child asked to read at bedtime, or when a struggling seven-year-old finally cracks the code and realizes they CAN read, I remember why the bumpy road is worth it. These families need someone who understands their journey because I’ve lived it. And witnessing these little scholars thriving inspires me to forge ahead.
Great, so let’s talk business. Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
At Spark Literacy Tutor, I help children form a new outlook on reading. That it’s not simply stressful homework and uttering monotone words written on pages. My little scholars include seven-year-olds who often fought reading practice. Now, they laugh during our online sessions as they use rhythmic beats to tap out syllables with pencils on the table. Their moms often listen from nearby kitchens, eyes swelling with tears because they haven’t seen their children smile about reading in years.
This is what happens in my virtual classroom.
I work with kindergarten through third-grade children whose brains are wired differently for reading. While these kids are often labeled as “behind” or “struggling,” I see brilliant minds that simply need a different path to literacy. Using the Orton-Gillingham instructional approach – the gold standard for dyslexia intervention – I create personalized reading experiences that meet each child exactly where they are. Not all of the children I serve are dyslexic, yet my program accelerates learning for all of them.
My sessions don’t look like general tutoring. We’re building words with magnetic tiles, using multiple senses to connect spelling patterns to reading, and turning reading rules into silly songs that stick. And when they say “it’s too hard,” I show them how their brain is capable of learning to read with the right support. I use their interests in construction vehicles to decode complex words, or their love of Legos to understand sentence structure.
While other tutors focus on homework help, I use gaming methods to focus on building unshakeable crucial reading skills. Because here’s what I know after years of homeschooling my own children and training specifically in dyslexia intervention: when children discover they can read using methods that honor their thinking style, everything changes. The child who wouldn’t pick up a book suddenly reads cereal boxes at breakfast. The one who cried over spelling tests starts writing elaborate stories without flinching at multisyllabic words. Parents discover that I’m not just teaching their child to read. I’m healing reading trauma, one small victory at a time.
Before we let you go, we’ve got to ask if you have any advice for those who are just starting out?
Find your people before you need them. I cannot stress this enough – connect with mentor programs like SCORE or organizations that support new business owners from marginalized communities like the Kansas City G.I.F.T. These connections will save you thousands of dollars and countless sleepless nights. A good mentor will help you articulate your brand voice and identify your target audience before you waste time shouting into the void.
Here’s what I wish I had embraced early on: Done is better than perfect. I spent so much time trying to make everything “just right” that I missed opportunities to help families who needed exactly what I was offering. That mom with the crying second-grader doesn’t care if your website is perfect – she needs to know you can help her child. Get your message out there, even if it feels messy.
For tutors specifically? Know that you’re not just teaching reading – you’re changing a family’s entire trajectory. When you understand that weight, you’ll make better business decisions. Set up systems early, even basic ones. Create boundaries around your work hours from day one, because these families will need you, but you can’t pour from an empty cup.
Most importantly, extend grace to yourself. You’ll likely mess up. You’ll underprice your services, overcommit your time, and probably cry after a tough session. That’s normal. The mistakes you’ll make? They’re research for the business you’re meant to build. Take walks, play games, read books for fun – whatever fills you back up. Building a business while holding space for aspiring learners and worried parents requires you to protect your own spark too.
Pricing:
- Individual tutoring program: $96+ per week
- Small-group tutoring program, 3-4 students: $68+ per week
- Parent educator mentorship: $157
- Parent Reading Detection Guide: $57
Contact Info:
- Website: https://sparkliteracytutor.com
- Instagram: https://instagram.com/sparkliteracytutor
- Facebook: https://facebook.com/MsLisa.SparkLiteracyTutor
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sparkliteracytutor/
- Other: https://dot.cards/sparkliteracytutor
