Today we’d like to introduce you to Ursula Horton.
Hi Ursula, we’re thrilled to have a chance to learn your story today. So, before we get into specifics, maybe you can briefly walk us through how you got to where you are today?
I’m Ursula Horton. A Helping Hand Learning Academy began in 2013 with just one student and a simple need. But really, the seed was planted long before that. Back at Bennett College, majoring in English Literature, I dreamed of creating a learning center for students who needed extra help.
I entered teaching by chance in 2001 through the lateral entry program as a high school teacher. After a few years, I stepped away for personal reasons, then returned to education as office support in an elementary school. A coworker invited me to try tutoring, and I immediately fell in love with working with students one-on-one. I earned my certification, began teaching at Peeler Open in 2010, and it became clear I had a calling for helping students grow.
I always tutored my own students for free, but soon parents from other grades started asking for help. I charged a small fee, and word of mouth grew that one child into fifteen. By 2017, I rented a small facility and ran my brick-and-mortar academy until COVID hit in 2020. During those years I also taught English to students in China through ESL platforms and loved engaging with kids from other cultures.
When everything moved online, I shifted my AHHLA students to Zoom and discovered it worked beautifully. I moved to the Guilford eLearning Virtual Academy for a year and learned a whole world of new tech tools that made teaching more interactive and fun.
But after 2021, frustration with the system wore me down. I even tried teaching in New Jersey for a short stint, but it wasn’t the fresh start I hoped for. Coming back home, I felt lost and stuck, convinced teaching in public schools was the only way I could survive financially. I returned to the classroom, but my joy was gone. The lack of creative freedom, the scripted curriculum, and the endless non-teaching responsibilities drained me. I realized that it wasn’t teaching I hated; it was teaching without freedom, purpose, or voice.
I wanted to trust the gifts God gave me, but I didn’t have a blueprint or a mentor. Just bills to pay and a desire for something different. So I took a small leap of faith and accepted a school-based tutoring role. When budget cuts eliminated most of those positions the next year, I took a bigger leap and refused to return to the “safe” route of classroom teaching. That was 2023.
I’m not in a place where I never need extra income, but every month gets better. I reopened my heart to entrepreneurship. I revived my blog, Keep It Moving by Ursula, where I share pieces of my journey. I self-published a series of gratitude journals on Amazon based on the affirmations that carried me through hard seasons. I expanded AHHLA to include SAT and ACT prep, created a Word Problem Board Game that I’ve sold at vendor fairs, and began helping others turn their book ideas into manuscripts. This school year, I launched my own reading comprehension classes on Outschool, teaching students locally and across the globe through novel studies I designed myself.
I’m determined to keep moving forward and keep doing the work that brings me joy and helps others grow. Teaching is who I am. A Helping Hand is what I offer. And I’m grateful for every person God allows me to touch along the way.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
As you could probably tell from my “brief” story, lol, the road hasn’t always been smooth. Most of my struggles were internal. My biggest hurdle was figuring out what I was going to do with my life and how I was going to make a living. I spent years wrestling with the idea of being a teacher. My mother was a teacher, and I always felt like I was supposed to be different. I grew up being taught to value stability and certainty, so for a long time I thought something was wrong with me because the things I wanted weren’t the usual, predictable, “safe” choices. I didn’t have anyone to model a different path for me, so I constantly felt torn between the security I was raised to seek and the pull toward using my own mind, intuition, and creativity.
Fear played a huge part in that struggle. I was afraid of making mistakes, afraid of choosing wrong, afraid that I didn’t know what I was doing. Yet I teach my students the exact opposite: you can’t grow if you’re scared to get something wrong. Mistakes are where learning happens. I tell them all the time, “That’s what I’m here for,” and I’ve had to learn to take my own advice.
Fear once protected us from real danger, but today it often keeps us from stepping fully into our purpose. It’s a tool others can use to hold us back, but more often it’s a tool we use against ourselves without realizing it. I had to get comfortable stepping out of my comfort zone, even when everything in me wanted to cling to what felt familiar. That willingness to move forward while scared, instead of waiting to be fearless, became crucial. Every leap I’ve taken, even the shaky ones, has pushed me closer to the work I’m meant to do.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your business?
I always had this quiet sense that A Helping Hand Learning Academy would reach beyond my city, maybe even internationally, though I used to think that was too bold to admit. But it unfolded on its own. In the reading comprehension class I launched after Labor Day, I taught a French student from Canada, a girl from Thailand, and a boy from the Midwest, all in different time zones. So AHHLA is already international, lol, and I’m excited to see where it goes in the next five or ten years.
At its core, AHHLA specializes in personalized academic support for students in grades 2 through 12. I focus on reading, writing, and math tutoring, SAT and ACT prep, and the novel-study based comprehension classes I design and teach on Outschool. What I’m known for is my intuitive, relationship-centered teaching style. Families often tell me I have a way of making children feel capable, encouraged, and excited about learning. One parent wrote, “She is one of the very best teachers we have ever had… my son was disappointed when the class finished. And to be honest, so was I.” Another said, “Her responses to the homework are inspiring.”
What sets AHHLA apart is the level of customization. I create my own curriculum, anchor charts, activities, and even educational games. I also help other people bring their book ideas to life and have published my own gratitude journals on Amazon. Everything I offer connects back to one mission: helping learners think deeply, trust themselves, and grow with confidence.
What I want readers to know is that AHHLA isn’t just tutoring. It’s a place where students learn to believe in themselves, stay curious, and keep moving forward. And as long as there are learners who need a helping hand, I’ll be right here offering one.
Can you talk to us about how you think about risk?
I definitely believe there are moments in life when you have to take risks, but I don’t really call it risk-taking. I call it faith. To me, almost anything you do can be risky because nothing in this life is guaranteed. James 2:17 says, “Faith without works is dead being alone,” so at some point you have to move, even if you don’t see the whole path yet.
What really matters is the foundation your faith is built on. If your decisions stem from greed, selfishness, or a lack of empathy, then yes, that’s risky in the worst way. But if your choices are rooted in love, gratitude, integrity, and a genuine desire to help people, the risk feels different. It becomes aligned, purposeful, and grounded. Your motives determine the direction of the leap.
I’ve taken what some people would call major risks, like leaving the classroom when it was my only stable income or stepping out on my own without a blueprint or mentor. But for me, those moments were acts of faith. I believed God had put something in me that needed room to grow. And I also believe His grace is sufficient even when I misstep, so I don’t have to be paralyzed by fear.
So whether someone sees me as a risk-taker or not, my perspective is simple: move with intention, stay rooted in love, and trust that God will meet you where you step.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.ahhlacademy.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/Kimbyursula
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AHHLAcademy
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ursula-cobbs-horton-15495054/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@AHHLAcademy
- Other: https://www.keepitmovingbyursula.com/
