In this episode of Highway to Higher ED, Ken talks to Niki Kelman the founder and director of New England education consultants.

She’s serves as director of admissions and has been instrumental in serving four different Universities in the North East. Niki holds an MS in Higher Education Administration, a proud member of the independent educational consultants association and has been a director of admission in a private high school. In this episode Ken and Niki discuss how Niki got into education consulting, ways to help families find the fit when looking at colleges, the reorientation of the college admissions criteria, ways students can improve their college applications, challenges students face, the importance of using professional college counselors, as well as sharing some of her success stories and advice to parents of students applying for college.

In this episode of Highway to Higher ED, Alex talks to Sawyer Earwood, an education professional who has worked in both college

admission offices and small startups. His admissions experience has taken him across the U.S.A. and Asia. Sawyer is currently a member of College Consultants of Colorado, a Professional Member of IECA, and a Certified Educational Consultant (CEP). Within IECA, Sawyer serves on both the DEI and Global. Within this episodes Alex and Sawyer discuss Sawyers background, how he got into college counseling, his experiences with what he calls launch operation, his role within the IECA, his process with clients, virtual tutoring, and trends he has noticed that students and parents should be aware of.

In this episode of Highway to Higher ED, Alex talks to Robert Khoury CEO of Agile Rainmakers, a high-impact business development consulting and advisory firm based in Chicago’s Gold Coast, and co-author of the book How to Intern. Alex and Robert discuss

numerous subjects, centered around internships, including; what drew Robert to offer internships, the best parts and challenges, recruiting interns, what interns can do to make the most of their internships, some ways to transition into the professional world, how the

pandemic changed internships and advice for young people looking into internships and the professional world.

In this episode of Highway to Higher ED, Alex talks to Yvonne Espinoza CEP, an Austin-based college counsellor who works with students in Austin and across the country, assisting each of her clients to be as competitive as possible to be accepted to college. Within this episode Yvonne talks about her background and how she got into college consulting, her

relationship with students, her favorite part of college consulting, the preparation process for 9th and 10th-graders, the challenges facing younger high school students when planning for the college application process and how the

pandemic impacted college applications.

In this episode of Highway to Higher ED, Alex talks to Ken Hincker, a teacher, coach, dorm parent and advisor in high school education for over twenty years. Ken taught at three institutions in the south, including Savannah Country Day School, before migrating to The Taft School in 2011, serving as its English Chair for five years and acting as soccer coach, dorm head, and advisor. He has since transitioned to executive function coaching and tutoring in the Fairfield area, serving as the Executive Director to Alliance Tutoring. Within this episode Ken discusses his background and how he got into teaching, his shift to tutoring, executive function coaching, the types of clients he serves, success stories and the current challenges he faces.

In this episode of Highway to Higher Ed, Alex talks to Casie Fariello, co-founder of Other

Parents Like Me (OPLM). OPLM is a virtual membership platform led by parents for

parents of teens and young adults struggling with mental health issues and/or

substances. They have daily support groups, live weekly speaker talks and monthly

experts panels, as well as thousand of resources, providing a safe and anonymous space

for parents and caregivers. Casie talks about her background and how she got into parent

support groups, as well as; how the OPLM works, the different groups linked through

OPLM, how members can contribute, success stories, challenges facing a child with

alternative psych or learning profiles, the impact of the pandemic, trends parents should

be aware of and much more.

In this episode of Highway to Higher Ed, Alex is joined by Deborah

Shames of Personal Best College Coaching, which she founded in 2003. She now

heads a team of six counsellors who work to help families navigate the complex

world of first year and transfer college admissions. Within this episode

Deborah and Alex talk about Deborah’s background, her companies philosophy,

when she starts working with student, the college application process for both

first time and transferring students, success stories, reason for student

dropouts, the impact of the pandemic on admissions and gives advice for parents

of transferring students.

In this episode of Highway to Higher Ed, Alex talks to Adrienne Frumberg, the founder

of Lighthouse Guidance, who specializes in helping to identify a students

passions and guiding them on a path to achieving them, whether it is getting

accepted to the college of their dreams or preparing for a rewarding career.

Adrienne talks about her background, dealing with the challenges of some of her

clients, the uniqueness of Lighthouse Guidance, her work at the Dorm and

Academics West, as well as how the pandemic has impacted both the work she does

as well as the students, giving advise to parents of students who have been

impacted by the pandemic.

In this episode of Highway to Higher Ed, Alex is joined by Lloyd Nimetz, founder of Spike Lab. Spike Lab is a program that coaches high school students through the process of identifying, launching and growing an entrepreneurial venture. Within this episode Lloyd talks about his background, Spike Labs mission and its unique approach, why he think entrepreneurial development is important, a success story of one of his students, how the pandemic has impacted student innovation, trends he has seen his students follow and gives advice to parent of students who would benefit using Spike Lab.

In this episode of Highway to higher Ed, Alex talks to Laurie Kopp Weingarten of One Stop College Counselling, who specialize in applications to the top 25 schools, which she has done for over a decade. Laurie Kopp talks about

how she got into college consulting, what makes her consultancy unique, the process her students go through, the ideal time to begin planning applications. She also discusses the impact of test blind and test optional trends, how high

schools should approach course selection, the ideal parent involvement and shares stories on previous success and transitional struggles her students have experienced when going to college.