By Ali Munday
Diane Jones has never tired of learning, and her love of education and a quest to help others in the learning process has propelled her into her new Glens Falls enterprise.
The founder and sole proprietor of Adirondack Professional Tutoring, established in late 2013, provides one-to-one and small group student-centered teaching to learners in Warren, Washington, and northern Saratoga counties. Jones helps learners reach their potential, by providing them with the tools they need to be confident readers, writers and thinkers.
A state-certified literacy specialist and library media specialist, Jones finds her second career of teaching, “incredibly rewarding and stimulating. I taught in two school districts over the course of nine years as a library media specialist and I earned an additional masters degree in literacy in 2009. I wanted to teach reading and writing on a one-on-one basis. And now, I’ve taken the plunge.”
No financial backing was needed to get her new enterprise off of the ground, she said.
“Tutoring businesses generally have a low overhead unless you’re renting office space,” Jones said. “I’ve purchased up-to-date diagnostic tools and other materials, mostly office supplies. I purchased the domain name and pay for web hosting. My husband is my webmaster and a wonderful and talented friend helped with the business logo.”
The sessions are held in an office at 94 Bay St., Glens Falls, and Jones offers afternoon and some weekend classes.
The biggest challenge, according to Jones, was taking the “leap of faith” to get started.
“I’ve spent my career working in the public sector, so I’m learning how to be a small business owner as I go,” she said. “Before I started, I worked with Kate Baker of the Small Business Development Center (SBDC) at UAlbany to write a business plan. Researchers at the SBDC did a market analysis and we worked through the process of planning how I wanted things to go. It helped to take some of the uncertainty out of things.”
The most gratifying aspect of owning her own business, she said, is “working with learners and parents … The interactions, observing the learning process, and finding the best way to serve my clients is the only focus.”
Jones said she juggles business with her numerous other passions with relative ease. She plays fiddle in a Celtic band called Grafton Street Trio, has just completed a CD with them, and plays regularly at open sessions at the Parting Glass in Saratoga Springs. She recently joined the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society’s Team in Training and is preparing to run in the Lake Placid Half Marathon in June.
When she’s not teaching, playing fiddle or training for half-marathons, she loves to cook, bake, and read.
“I’m still a fledgling business,” she said. “I am a member of the Adirondack Regional Chamber of Commerce, and I’ve only received enthusiastic feedback from fellow business owners. I’m trying to be patient while word spreads about my services. I’m so new, I really just want to grow and continue to learn.”
For more information, visit www.adktutoring.com. Sessions are by appointment only, so parents or potential students should contact Jones at 796-7862, or e-mail Diane@adktutoring.com.