Today we’d like to introduce you to Jake Adams.
Jake, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
If I had to say where I caught my big break in life, I’d point to the opportunity my mother gave me when she decided to pull me out of public school and chose to homeschool me in the 5th grade. The course of accelerated learning my mom charted for me back then has opened the door to myriad opportunities in my life. While I was homeschooled, I wasn’t just learning things at twice the speed of my peers; I learned how to learn and find joy in the challenge of figuring things out on my own. In just three short years of homeschooling, I learned over six years of grade-level curriculum. The positive effects of this head start in my education have lasted a lifetime, allowing me to develop a passion for teaching and find the time to start two tutoring companies.
To make a long story short, I began my career as a tutor as a sophomore in college, back in 2007, while studying international business at Pepperdine University. In college, I was always working. At one point, I even found myself working five part-time jobs to make ends meet, but the only job that never felt like work was tutoring. As a tutor, I loved sharing what I knew, making complex concepts understandable, and seeing students begin to realize their potential and then work harder to reach it.
I had the time to work as much as I did because I arrived at Pepperdine with enough college credits to finish my degree in two years, but I decided to take the full four years. Again, I have my parents to thank for the head start they gave me. They supported me in my education by encouraging me to begin taking college courses at UC, Riverside, every summer after eighth grade.
It wasn’t until 2009 that I let a few of my tutoring clients know that I wanted to pick more tutoring jobs and consider tutoring full-time. All my customers referred me to their friends with kids, and from that point on, my phone has never stopped ringing with requests for tutoring! Once I was completely booked, I began setting my smartest friends up with tutoring jobs. However, that didn’t last long. I ran out of friends to refer people to, so I decided to start PCH Tutors so that I could properly interview, proficiency test, and support the tutors I was sending people.
I’ve owned PCH Tutors for over a decade now, and it’s been a joy to see it grow and fulfill its educational mission. We started with 4-5 tutors on the team, and now we have well over 50 tutors working to meet the tutoring needs of clients in Malibu, Santa Monica, the Westside, and beach cities along the PCH. In 2018, I started an online tutoring company called Simplifi EDU so that we could work to meet the needs of students all over the U.S. It’s my hope that we can work to inspire a spirit of lifelong learning in every student we teach through both of these companies and that in the future we’ll grow to have an even greater impact on the community.
Has it been a smooth road?
As is the case with any business, we’ve faced challenges along the way. Most of the challenges we face are related to the logistical challenge of operating an in-home tutoring service in LA, where travel and traffic are limiting factors when you are trying to coordinate the schedules of over 150 students and more than 50 tutors. There have also been challenges in dealing with natural disasters such as fires, mudslides, and flooding that affect our ability to service clients in our beach cities such as Malibu, Topanga, and Pacific Palisades. We developed our online tutoring solutions through PCH Tutors and Simplifi EDU to meet the logistical challenges of providing greater access to our team of tutors back in 2018, and we’re especially glad to have been ahead of the curve with the need for distance education.
More recently, the COVID-19 health crisis has prompted us to move all of our tutoring online. While this whole situation has been a challenge for everyone involved, we’re feeling fortunate to have been prepared to make this move. Otherwise, we might not be in business today.
So, as you know, we’re impressed with PCH Tutors and Simplifi EDU – tell our readers more, for example what you’re most proud of and what sets you apart from others.
We specialize in providing private academic tutoring and standardized test prep services.
As a company, we’re most proud of the positive impact we’re having on our students’ futures and their relationships to learning and school. Honestly, the most rewarding aspect of the work we do comes down to helping students have fun with problem-solving and building their confidence in their ability to handle anything that comes their way in the classroom.
Every day our clients trust us to do an exceptional job tutoring their students in algebra, pre-calc, calculus, statistics, physics, biology, chemistry, AP & IB courses, English, history, foreign language, and standardized tests such as the ISEE, CHSPE, GED, SAT, and ACT. And every day, we’re thankful that we can spend our time sharing the excitement we have about these subjects and hopefully inspire a whole new generation of students to pursue doing whatever it is they love to do.
Although I own the business, I still tutor every day. I specialize in ACT & SAT prep and repeatedly help students achieve scores within the top 1% of test-takers. I also train each of our SAT and ACT prep tutors myself and work alongside our test prep tutors to develop individualized prep programs for their students.
We’re most well known for helping our clients find the right match for their students. Having the right tutor for a particular student makes all the difference! All of our tutors are incredible individuals in one way or another, but we don’t just pair any tutor with any student. We try to make sure that the tutor we assign can cater to a student’s learning style, relate to them on a personal level, and support their goals.
Let’s touch on your thoughts about our city – what do you like the most and least?
I love Santa Monica! One of my favorite aspects of the city is that I get to experience the feel of both a beach atmosphere and a metropolitan city living here. I’m also a huge fan of how bikeable Santa Monica is. I can get anywhere I want to be around the town in under 15 minutes on my bike. I like the restaurant scene here as well.
The only complaint I have is the same complaint everyone living in Los Angeles has: traffic. When I’m stuck in traffic, I try to make the most of the situation and listen to audiobooks while driving.
Pricing:
- K-8th Grade Tutoring: $60/hr
- 9th-10th grade Tutoring: $70/hr
- 11th-12th grade & APs: $80/hr
- College Tutoring: $90/hr
- Standardized Test Prep (SAT & ACT): $120/hr
Contact Info:
- Website: www.pchtutors.com
- Phone: 310.807.4966
- Email: info@pchtutors.com
- Instagram: www.instagram.com/pchtutors
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pchtutors
- Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/pch-tutors-malibu-3
- Other: https://g.page/pchtutors?gm
Suggest a story: VoyageLA is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you or someone you know deserves recognition please let us know here.
