Sheila Akbar’s Secret to Helping Students Build Meaningful Lives (and it has nothing to do with Harvard)

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In today’s episode, we chat with Sheila Akbar, whose resume reflects a person who has achieved ultimate success, within the definition of the word that many parents of school-age kids would covet. I mean, she’s got two degrees from Harvard and a double PhD. Her career spans Wall Street, the halls of academia, and finally entrepreneurship where’s she’s found her true passion: helping students and families navigate the college prep experience. Her personal story is a lot more nuanced, and involved a lot more growing pains than it might appear, including being raised by immigrant parents who ONLY wanted that piece of paper from Harvard and then ONLY for her to become a doctor. Sheila talks about shedding those parental expectations to find and then have the courage to listen to, her inner voice, that’s guided her to what SHE defines as success: being energized by and satisfied with what she does every day.

Brought to you by Tutor Corps and Pacific Preparatory.

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About our guest:

Sheila is President & CEO of Signet Education, a full service education consulting company offering holistic support to teens and their families as they navigate high school and the college admissions process. Sheila's career spans financial services, academia, and entrepreneurship. She brings her significant business and academic experience to bear on her role at Signet, which includes speaking to clients to craft tailored solutions for their needs, managing the administrative team, and providing educational thought leadership for the company. Sheila holds a bachelor’s degree and master’s degree from Harvard University and two doctoral degrees from Indiana University.

Sheila's bright and uplifting perspective on college prep is changing the face of what it means to parent through the high-school-to-college years. With a deep belief in the successful partnership of parents and teens, her influence is affecting student after student and family after family to reach beyond their dreams to new levels of success. She and her team at Signet Education have seen more than 10K students' lives changed through meaningful academic mentorship.

Find her at:

Website: signeteducation.com
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sheilaakbar/

Resources mentioned in the episode:

• Never Enough: When Achievement Culture Becomes Toxic-and What We Can Do About It, Jennifer Breheny Wallace

• The Price You Pay for College: An Entirely New Road Map for the Biggest Financial Decision Your Family Will Ever Make, Ron Lieber