Today we’d like to introduce you to Demetrie Luke.
Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
I was born in the Caribbean and came to Florida with my mom when I was young. I grew up here in Orlando moving around until we finally settled down around Pine Hills. Education was always seen as a path to a better life and so I applied for the IB program at Winter Park High to expand my opportunities. With the encouragement of some amazing educators and a lot of elbow grease I eventually got the opportunity to go to Rice University in Houston, Texas which aligned a lot with my ambitions and my values at the time. It was the opportunity I spent so long working for. After graduating college I went into education myself getting my Master’s of Education while working as an English teacher in Houston. I have always been entrepreneurial and when Covid came around I went back to the Caribbean to reconnect with my roots, but when I ran out of money I decided to come back here to Florida. I started consulting other businesses but then decided to take my experiences and skillset and start a tutoring company with the mission of providing young people with a one-of-a-kind educational experience and push them towards expanding opportunities for themselves much in the same way people pushed me forward. In the past year we have grown rapidly and continue to grow rapidly as word of mouth has spread about our services to which I am eternally grateful to the families we serve for the opportunity to live out my mission.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
It has not been a smooth road. I have had little financial support, and started this company coming off of a teacher salary with very little savings. I have had to work multiple jobs along the way from plumbing to sign spinning to petitioning just to get started and take risks that felt extremely difficult at the time. I’ve built this while living at the minimal standard of living, have had all my web files and business resources deleted or destroyed by disgruntled vendors. I’ve had people not pay, lost family along the way, seen my employees struggle in their own lives and felt powerless to be able to help them. I’ve seen students with shattered self-confidence and deal with things in their own lives that I’ve empathized with that has broken my heart. There has been so much that has happened along the journey so far, but I believe that setbacks are like tension of a sling shot. We are pulled back in life only to build up the strength for us to fly even farther towards our target goals.
We’ve been impressed with Inlighten Tutoring, but for folks who might not be as familiar, what can you share with them about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
Inlighten Tutoring is a tutoring company aimed at unlocking and unblocking student’s potential and opening doors of opportunity for them. We specialize in educational consulting and test prep for older students and are known helping student’s open doors with Florida Bright Futures, SAT/ACT test prep, ASVAB prep and GED prep. I’m proudest of the reputation and relationship we have built with the families we serve and seeing student’s self-confidence radically change throughout the short time that we work with them. When families text us about their score increases or their newfound confidence and relationship with math or the schools they get into it reminds me that that is what we are in this for.
How do you think about happiness?
Seeing students start to believe in themselves and enjoy learning is what really makes me happy. It’s not necessarily about the degrees or titles it is in seeing student’s redefine their relationship with their own mind and understand that they are powerful learners. Seeing students mature right before my eyes brings me a deep sense of joy and fulfillment. I love getting text messages or reading reviews from families about how their student’s become self-studiers or have increased their grades or feel extremely proficient in something that only months ago they felt like they were failing in is a deeply rewarding experience. This brings me joy because I feel like I’ve been that kid at points in my own life. I feel like there were moments when my own back was against the wall, when the challenges I faced were greater than my capacity and in times when I have had people really put their hand out to help me move forward it has filled me with an intense sense of gratitude and a desire to give back.
Contact Info:
- Website: http://inlightentutoring.com/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/people/Inlighten-Tutoring/100095213144716/
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/demetrie-l-45b152b8
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@InlightenTutoring
Image Credits
Spectrum News Andrew Van Tilborgh – Captivate Company
