Inspiring Conversations with Dominique Burgess of Burbrella

Today we’d like to introduce you to Dominique Burgess.

Hi Dominique, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I became passionate about education specifically urban education during my first year of teaching. I remember staying at work late trying to find resources for my students to connect with. Parents would always ask me for materials and books to take home to help enhance their child’s educational experience, I begin sharing these resources with all families of traditional schooling and homeschooling.

I realized there was a disconnect between educators and homeschoolers during my experience and knew I wanted to bridge that gap and be a resource for both. In 2018, Burbrella Education was created to provide homeschooling and traditional schooling families with educational resources, to enhance the quality of learning in urban education. I created a Facebook group instantly that allowed families and educators to connect and collaborate.

In 2020, we expanded to an LLC to extend the services and resources we provided. Burbrella Learning Academy was founded during the pandemic to provide families with quality, and rigorous homeschooling instruction virtually. I noticed that many families were looking for learning material, learning products, and online classes for their children because of the fears surrounding education at that time.

I was able to use my 12 years of teaching and leadership experience to found a school that collaborated with the families in their time of need.

I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle-free, but so far would you say the journey has been a fairly smooth road?
As an educator, there are many obstacles you are faced with but many are out of your control, however, when founding your own learning academy it is a lot easier to jump over those hurdles. Some of the struggles I faced were 1)running a business as an individual without the support of a team.

I knew very early in my incorporation process I would need a team to help me build and extend the company’s products and services. I decided I was going to reach out to homeschooling moms and offer my products, services, curricula, etc. in exchange for them to work for Burbrella. I was able to get many interested families many of who are still with us today.

2) Another struggle we faced was trying to service families who were interested in signing their children up for our academy but weren’t able to afford tuition. My team and I had to brainstorm ways to support these families and we knew we weren’t going to turn them away.

We started doing fundraisers in the hope of turning the proceeds into scholarships to be able to help families who couldn’t afford tuition.

Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your business?
Bridging the Gaps in an Online Learning Environment.

Live online learning is designed to engage learners, enhance academic skills and make learning fun. Burbrella Learning Academy’s online classes and programs were designed to ensure all homeschooling learners, traditional schooling learners and their families receive quality, rigorous, student interactive learning support from qualified educators.

What set’s us apart from other virtual academies is that our program provides families with learning routines and structures similar to a school setting, but allows the flexibility and differentiated learning approach that homeschooling brings.

In addition to our learning academy, we have our Burbrella troupes program designed to build self-confidence, self-esteem, life skills, and social skills in girls ages 4-13 through workshops, forums, and activities. We pride ourselves in being able to serve families looking to expand their children’s learning experiences through our programs and resources.

The crisis has affected us all in different ways. How has it affected you and any important lessons or epiphanies you can share with us?
One thing I learned from the COVID-19 crisis is that families are in need of educational support and resources.

Many families couldn’t rely on school districts or teachers when the pandemic hit as all educators including myself didn’t have a plan or an idea on what to do at that point.

Another lesson that we learned is that there is a need for more virtual opportunities for homeschoolers and for traditional students who need tutoring or other educational services

Contact Info:

• Email: info@burbrellaeducation.com
• Website: www.burbrella.com
• Instagram: @burbrellallc
• Facebook: burbrellallc
• Twitter: @burbrellallc
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCCHZ4q0kOHYVOSl99kSshWA

Image Credits
Burbrella Learning Academy