Rising Stars: Meet Patricia Saylor

Today we’d like to introduce you to Patricia Saylor.

Hi Patricia, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself. 
A surprise brain tumor diagnosis was the catalyst for my retirement from public education, but rather than being an ending, the unwelcome medical event marked the beginning of a new chapter in my career. 

Following a craniotomy in November 2019, I recovered right into a worldwide pandemic. So, I took advantage of the NC Retirement System benefits I had earned over 30 years and used my passion for teaching to create a tapestry of my own educational ventures. 

Before my diagnosis, in addition to my career working in public education in North Carolina, I raised two Deaf children adopted as preschoolers, as well as a home-grown son, a stepson, and a few others who lived with us for a short time or a long time along the way. 

My side hustle was offering educational assessments and tutoring services at Solterra Way Cottage School. 

And through a 7-year self-guided learning journey, I developed a deep understanding of investing in the stock market and trading stock options. 

These diverse experiences, along with the newfound freedom of working independently as a private educator, spurred a series of interrelated projects that have become my encore career. 

Financial Education, Investing and Option Trading 

Academic Support for Young Students 

Mentoring Other Families with Deaf Children 

Writing and Publishing Content for Learning 

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?
My greatest challenge is marketing and self-promotion. I’m not one for flashy TikTok videos or hard-sell tactics. In a financial industry rife with scams, I’ve prioritized authenticity over scaling up quickly. Finding a balance between growing my business and maintaining genuine connections with my clients has been my challenge. I’m dedicated to delivering valuable financial content without sacrificing integrity or resorting to methods that might compromise the trust I’ve built. 

I also struggle to create a consistent brand. I know my offerings might seem scattered, but they are actually closely related. Whether I’m creating a downloadable spreadsheet with instructions for tracking your options trades, teaching American Sign Language to the family of a little Russian Deaf child, writing a social skills book about how to apologize, creating step-by-step instructions about how to open a brokerage account and place a trade, or teaching a preschool neighbor how to swim, I’m always doing the same job. 

Everything is tied together by my commitment to figuring out what my students know and can do, seeing what they are ready to learn next, and supporting them on their journey. 

Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
Financial Education, Investing and Option Trading 

I created Saylor Financial Fundamentals to teach adults how to invest in the stock market and trade stock options. 

I recorded my investing classes and uploaded them to Udemy, published The Novice Investor’s Guide to Stocks, Funds, and Options, and set up gigs on Fiverr offering 1:1 investing coaching via Zoom. 

Having started out as an educator, my approach to teaching investing and options trading is not typical of most financial consultants. 

Recently, a client recounted her previous experience with a different coach, highlighting the frustration of feeling talked down to. ‘He was knowledgeable, but I understood only half of what he explained,’ she shared. “And he did not make it easy to ask questions.” Another student confided that he had 10 option trading books on his shelf, but mine was the first one he could understand. 

My 1:1 coaching students are often surprised that I take a personalized approach and assess their prior knowledge to decide where we will start and that I check in with them as we work to ensure that I’m communicating clearly. 

Academic Support 

I have provided academic support to private students at Solterra Way Cottage School for many years, but during the pandemic school closures, I really scaled things up. 

I opened a tiny Montessori pandemic pod school in my home, and for a couple of years, I had students coming to school with me several mornings each week. 

Even as the need for the pod school waned, I have continued to offer educational assessments and provide tutoring and academic enrichment services in reading, writing, handwriting, vocabulary, math, and grammar. 

I created online courses for younger students about how to apologize, write a thank you note, invest in the stock market, and started teaching on Outschool. 

I believe in collaboration with parents and classroom teachers. Other adults often tell me that the written observations and notes I provide about our shared student help them be supportive between lessons. 

Mentoring Other Families with Deaf Children 

On a slightly more personal note, one of my biggest passions is addressing language and social deprivation of Deaf and hard-of-hearing children. So, I have always supported other parents, helping them understand the importance of fostering relationships with The Deaf Community and mentoring them as they get started learning American Sign Language. 

In 2022, I was privileged to have another Deaf child enter my life and home. He’s become an honorary grandson as I support him and his family, new to the United States, to learn English and American Sign Language. 

He has recently started attending a school with some other Deaf children who sign, and I look forward to volunteer opportunities in his new classroom. 

Self-Publishing 

In the spring of 2023, on the same day that I published The Novice Investor’s Guide to Stocks, Funds, and Options, 9-year-old Solterra Way Cottage School student, Nanami Nagao, shared that she had always wanted to learn to write and publish a book. 

Nanami’s dream set in motion a months-long collaboration to develop Oops, Sorry! And Thanks. 

Five stories by Nanami and twenty watercolor illustrations by her friend and classmate, Yuma Ishizaka, create a reassuring narrative. The resulting book teaches that even the strongest friendships encounter bumps along the way, and it’s usually possible to repair relationships by nurturing the bonds that matter. 

I wrote five helpful how-to sections based on years of experience teaching Montessori “Grace and Courtesy” lessons. They offer practical guidance for sincerely saying, “I’m sorry” and “Thank you.” 

It’s the most wholesome book I’ve ever read! (My wife tells me I shouldn’t say, “It’s so sweet it will make your teeth hurt.”) It also has five really good stories and easy-to-follow instructions for making a sincere apology or saying thank you. It’s written on an elementary school level, but I know some adults who would benefit from reading it. 

I added discussion questions that make it a useful guide for teachers and guidance counselors for writing and social skills lessons. 

Creating this book involved writing, revising, editing, proofreading, interior and cover formatting, budgeting, and even profit sharing and using a spreadsheet for profit/loss calculations! Everyone has learned a lot. 

If they sell 275 books, Nanami and Yuma know the profit/loss numbers will turn black, and they’ll enjoy some royalties. These young makers are hoping for a few more positive reviews to boost their sales. 

What sort of changes are you expecting over the next 5-10 years?
I believe there is always a market for quality teaching. The content might change, but the teaching skills don’t. 

As far as investing, I see a large number of young people trading stock options without fully understanding the risks they are assuming or the relationship between the underlying shares and the contracts they are entering. After they gamble for a while, they experience a big loss, then come to me. I show them the “less dopamine more consistent returns” way to incorporate options into their investing portfolio. 

There will always be unscrupulous financial advisors taking advantage of optimistic traders. And I’ll be there for them when they are tired of the roller coaster. 

Children also always need to learn to read, and an experienced teacher who knows how to observe their process and offer the right support to build their skills is unlikely to be replaced by AI. 

And speaking of AI, the advent of AI writing has changed the way schools assess written work. Teachers are beginning to require certain assignments to be completed in class with paper and pencil, so after years of decreasing demand, suddenly handwriting instruction has come back into demand! That training I did in the early 2000s with Jan Olsen (Handwriting Without Tears) is serving me again. This is an example of a trend reversing. 

With AI illustrations and writing increasing, books like the one created by Yuma and Nanami are becoming increasingly rare. I don’t know how AI will affect Nanami’s dream of being a writer or impact Yuma’s art, but I do know that authenticity has real value, and work like theirs is getting increasing recognition, even as it gets replaced in some settings. 

I can’t predict the trends, but I will monitor and respond to them. 

Pricing:

• Novice Investor’s Guide to Stocks, Funds, and Options, $9.99
• Oops, Sorry! And Thanks; $3.99 (ebook)-$20.99 (hardback)
• Individual Coaching via Zoom: $65/hour
• In-person tutoring: $85/hour
• Online Courses for Kids to Adults- prices vary

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.saylorfinancialfundamentals.com/ and https://www.solterrawaycottageschool.com/
• Other: https://www.amazon.com/Novice-Investors-Guide-Stocks-Options-ebook/dp/B0CMD5SMFH/
  https://www.amazon.com/Oops-Sorry-Thanks-Social-Friendships-ebook/dp/B0CPMZSYXH/

Image Credits
Nathan Clendenin