Female Disruptors: Megan Fitzpatrick of The Fitz Solution On The Three Things You Need To Shake Up Your Industry
An Interview With Candice Georgiadis
Life has given me many lemons that I have turned into many different flavors of lemonade. As I have navigated the world of entrepreneurship, some lemons have come in the form of judgment for my decisions. I was raised Catholic, and while I am no longer practicing, I still live by the Mother Theresa quote, “It was never between you and them anyway.” I believe there is a higher purpose and staying true to your own core values is the key. While this quote has carried me though most of my adult life, there is one more that I have lived by since I was a teenager. “The Rose that Grew from the concrete” by Tupac Shakur was what I imagined when things got challenging as a young teen. When I was 16, I tragically lost my mom and I stepped up to raise my younger brother and sister. I would imagine myself as the Rose when things got really tough. Today my brother and sister are successful engineers and the three of us have an unbreakable bond.
As a part of our series about women who are shaking things up in their industry, I had the pleasure of interviewing Megan Fitzpatrick.
The founder of The Fitz Solution and creator of The Ultimate Selfie. Megan Fitzpatrick is the “What’s Next? Educational Guru” empowering tweens, teens and young adults to lead passion driven lives without filters. The Ultimate Selfie is a combination of Megan’s experience in and out of the classroom. #UNFILTERED www.thefitzsolution.com
Thank you so much for doing this with us! Before we dig in, our readers would like to get to know you a bit more. Can you tell us a bit about your “backstory”? What led you to this particular career path?
Growing up in South Florida was an experience where I learned about loyalty and pride for your neighborhood. I am a graduate of Miami Southridge and then attended Saint Mary’s college which was not only 1000 miles away in physical distance but also worlds away in culture. Being able to see education from all different avenues is one of my special powers. I also consider this to be a differentiator in my views of education.
Returning to Miami after graduation I was filled with hope and excitement. Entering my first classroom, I still remember the overwhelming feeling of happiness I experienced from a teacher who showed empathy and compassion for me when my mom tragically passed away when I was just 16 years old. My 10th grade math teacher humanized teaching and showed me the real role that a teacher plays in the lives of their students. This was my commitment: if I could impact one life the same way she impacted mine, I was doing my part. Thank you Ms. Carmenate!
Education and I are partners in crime. Working for many years in the public school system had its challenges and deciding to walk out of the classroom to found my business was also one of the hardest decisions I have ever made; I felt as if I had abandoned my students. Fast forward 13 years, and today I have founded The Fitz Solution and created The Ultimate Selfie. As my business grew, so did my desire to make students better future leaders and more confident citizens. I founded The Fitz Solution with the mission of ‘Empower Tomorrow’s Leaders Today.’
Can you tell our readers what it is about the work you’re doing that’s disruptive?
Initially, when I founded my company, I began offering private tutoring, college preparation, and test preparation services. While providing these services, I began to build relationships with my clients by creating a holistic approach to private education services. After completing my first business plan at Florida International University (FIU), I made a connection between its components and my desire to make better students. You see, developing a SWOT analysis, an exit strategy, and projection goals can all be applied to creating a successful plan for teens. The Ultimate Selfie is the legacy of The Fitz Solution. Combining my years in the classroom, personalized educational consulting, and business planning make this curriculum unique — developing students on academic, social and professional levels.
As the creator of The Ultimate Selfie, I call this ‘facilitating Non-Googleable knowledge’ for my students. When Ms. Carmente humanized teachers for me, I realized how impactful education truly is and how it transcends the classroom. The Fitz Solution is a business committed to making generations better one filter-free selfie at a time. The Ultimate Selfie is curated using the Instructional Design ADDIE model (Analyze, Design, Develop, Implement, and Evaluate) keeping the content learner focused and always relevant to a teen’s needs outside of the classroom. This includes creating a non-judgmental place for teens to explore who they are and define their core values. The Ultimate Selfie allows participants to explore their strengths and aligns them to their passions to confidently answer the question: “What’s Next” after high school? We explore all post-secondary options: college, trade school, gap year, internships, or starting a business. Our current system asks teens, “What college do you want to go to?”. The Ultimate Selfie empowers teens to confidently answer the question “Who are you?” first to be able to define themselves and then take full responsibility for their plan. As a society we are asking teenagers to make adult choices on next steps in their lives while at the same time asking them to raise their hands to use the restroom. The Ultimate Selfie is designed to empower the participants to make these decisions based on who they are versus what they are told they should do. #UNFILTERED
Can you share a story about the funniest mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?
Mistakes are the fun part; a mentor told me this a long time ago. I did not fully understand how facing “failure” in the face like this could be the fun part. Entrepreneurship is a journey filled with these fail forward moments, each one getting us one step closer to the answers to the problem we are trying to solve. Now mistakes come in all different shapes and sizes. When I first started teaching I was filled with so much hope to change the way students learn and think about math. I know, I know… a way bigger mission than I even understood. Fast forward a few years and I left the classroom to pursue my dream of building The Fitz Solution. Starting out as a new business owner, a fun part of the business is naming your company. One of my first ventures was an on-demand tutoring app that would use geolocation and iOS to connect learners to tutors. As my business partner and I discussed names, we ended up using Whiz on our first iteration. After a few months of development we added the tagline, Become a Whiz in one Flick. #WhizFlick. In a meeting to review our business plans one of the potential investors asked “Where we’re going to Whiz” and the whole room laughed a little because he accidentally said, “So where are we going to take a wiz?” We had never made the connection of Whiz also having the same sound as taking a wiz. Let’s just say, our hashtag of Whizflick was also quickly changed. While the naming of the program was fun, the lesson here is to test amongst others to ensure we do not have a double entendre that aligns to bodily functions.
We all need a little help along the journey. Who have been some of your mentors? Can you share a story about how they made an impact?
Gratitude is a key component for me as a person and a core value of my company. My story has unfolded in a way that has chapters of tragedy and triumph. I lost my mother at 16. She was my best friend and my number one reason for making the decisions I have made in my life. Her way of connecting with people, even strangers, is how I run my current client relationships. Clients are family.
In her loss, she gifted me with her best friend, Barbara Blanck who I fondly call Aunt BJ (Barbara Jane). My mom and her were soul sisters that met in college. Throughout my childhood, she was the fun aunt who would get us ice cream before dinner and at the same time, lend an understanding ear. As I have grown into adulthood, she has become a confidant for me. She has guided me with love and acceptance through my failures and my victories. My sister and brother, Sarah and Thomas, have been two of my biggest inspirations. My sister’s ability to see through negative situations and objectively react is an inspiration. My brother has been able to see me for all the gifts I bring to the world and reminds me of this regularly. His calm and caring nature is exactly what I need during tough times of running a business. To each of you, Thank YOU!
In today’s parlance, being disruptive is usually a positive adjective. But is disrupting always good? When do we say the converse, that a system or structure has ‘withstood the test of time’? Can you articulate to our readers when disrupting an industry is positive, and when disrupting an industry is ‘not so positive’? Can you share some examples of what you mean?
Disruptive in the world of entrepreneurship is common to me. As entrepreneurs, we often are creating new ways of working, of thinking — perhaps something that hasn’t been done before or thought of. In the other half of my world– education — disruptor is more of a foreign concept to some — a new found pathway. However, the pandemic sped up the need for more disruptors in education. This time showed the world how much change is needed in education. As I have built my company, when I am in a room filled with other entrepreneurs and say “College is not for everyone,” they agree and understand the importance of educating on different paths. However, it is not always met with so much understanding in the education spaces. I am building a company that is committed to disrupting education as we know it today; this type of disruption being positive as it encourages new ways of thinking and innovation. The way I define disruption is about creating innovation for many industries — including education. While innovation can create many solutions to industry challenges, in my experience in education, some of the solutions previously created have lost touch with the end user, the student.
Can you share 3 of the best words of advice you’ve gotten along your journey? Please give a story or example for each.
Let’s start this one as cliche as possible, “Keep Going.” Life as a disruptor and an entrepreneur can test one’s ability to keep going. Things come up everyday and being able to go back to my why has been my number one way to keep moving forward. When I first started The Fitz Solution, I created an MVP for an on-demand tutoring app with a fellow business school student. At our first pitch, I was asked “What makes your business different?” my response, “Me.” Today I realize my naivety in my answer. At the same time, I know my why is what kept me going. I knew then and I now know, creating a business with the mission to “Empower Tomorrow’s Leaders Today” is how I was able to take all those NOs and create The Ultimate Selfie.
Fast forward years into building The Fitz Solution, I joined a business mastermind under the leadership of Michelle Villalobos. Part of this journey was understanding the advice of “Put Your Oxygen Mask On First.” If you have ever been on an airplane, you have heard a version of this advice. On an airplane the value of this is overlooked. As a business owner, pouring from an empty cup is a disservice to you and your clients. In working with teenagers, having an overflowing cup is the only way I can provide the support needed to make The Ultimate Selfie effective. In my time with Michelle, putting myself first allowed me to heal and learn from my past. Each of these lessons are part of the driving force behind the magic of The Ultimate Selfie.
“I am going to take some PTO on Friday.” As the boss, this is not something I tell myself often. Yes, in the above advice I do put my oxygen mask on first, however, in keeping with the first piece of advice, I also “Keep Going.” Building something that changes lives allows me to follow one of the best pieces of advice, which is not to listen to advice but rather seek wisdom. All of the above can be considered wisdom because it’s proven by experience. You see, anyone can give advice, however it takes a true leader to give wisdom. As I continue to seek wisdom on this journey I keep in mind a great quote: “Listen to understand versus Listen to Respond.”
We are sure you aren’t done. How are you going to shake things up next?
As an educational advocate, I am committed to providing our younger generations with vetted resources on how to best move forward after high school; part of providing these resources is to stay up to date on the most current iterations in technologies and opportunities available for the next generations. These changes include training opportunities and the newest Web3 ecosystems. This whole new world includes a new way of learning, communicating, and interacting with each other. Recently, I have joined an international initiative called Web3Equity to learn more about how NFTs, Cryptocurrency and the Metaverse are changing the world. Web3Equity was created to provide resources to create gender and minority equity in WEB3 while also gaining equity. These all present different avenues for teens and adults alike to pursue when answering “What’s Next?” Becoming a member of Web3Equity is my first introduction to this whole world and I am working on creating partnerships in this space to be able to mentor teens interested in Web3. This iteration of my company is new to all companies and we are still exploring how to create beneficial and effective uses of these technologies. We look forward to seeing how — with a little guidance — the next generations can grow and contribute to this ecosystem.
In your opinion, what are the biggest challenges faced by ‘women disruptors’ that aren’t typically faced by their male counterparts?
Not sure if I can say this here or not, but hey why not? Don’t be a bitch, be a boss. In the past, there have been many occasions where I was the only female in the meeting or room. This is becoming less and less the case for me because I seek to be in rooms filled with powerful, inspiring, successful women in business. As I have curated my list of networking opportunities to include more women-aligned initiatives, in the past this was not always the case. Being a boss for a woman can be perceived as being a bitch for a woman. As a woman in business, I have also been treated slightly differently than my male counterparts. I recall one meeting in particular where one of the men at the table used a profane word and turned to me to apologize, “Oh my apologies, I forgot there was a woman at the table.” At the time I thought nothing of it however, I now know today that the conversation was filtered just because I was at the table. Similarly, another driving force for expanding my network to be more equitable was the ever annoying “Oh, you are smart too” comments after I have explained my business and mission. As a ‘woman disruptor’ I am committed to creating and advocating for rooms where #SMARTBOSSES are celebrated and empowered.
Do you have a book/podcast/talk that’s had a deep impact on your thinking? Can you share a story with us?
My signature program starts with the Strengthsfinder, an assessment which identifies the students top five strengths. When I first took this assessment, my top strength was positivity. My entire life I have always had an innate ability to see a positive side of any situation. This assessment solidified this for me as a strength and the book Strengths Finder 2.0 by Tom Rath from Gallup allowed me to see that not everyone sees the world in this way. My world took on new meaning and I was able to empathize deeper with those that did not see the world in this way. Positive thinking came full circle for me when I was introduced to the book, Flourish by Martin Seligman. This book talks about the science of positive psychology ending with a researched back definition of a flourishing individual which is someone who has positive emotions, is engaged, and their life has meaning and purpose. They also need to exhibit three of the following traits: self-esteem, optimism, resilience, vitality, self-determination and positive relationships. The book also provides tools to increase one’s positivity in life and the practical nature of folding in positive psychology into our day to day lives.
You are a person of great influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. :-)
Create a life that is filled with purpose and significance. My life’s purpose is to inspire our younger generations to confidently define who they are so they can take next steps with great self-awareness and self-worth.
Could you imagine a world where 15, 16, and 17 years olds:
Knew who they were?
Knew that life would throw things at them that would require them to pivot?
And that they had the skills to be able to know that it will work out?
This is the goal of The Ultimate Selfie.
Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?
Life has given me many lemons that I have turned into many different flavors of lemonade. As I have navigated the world of entrepreneurship, some lemons have come in the form of judgment for my decisions. I was raised Catholic, and while I am no longer practicing, I still live by the Mother Theresa quote, “It was never between you and them anyway.” I believe there is a higher purpose and staying true to your own core values is the key. While this quote has carried me though most of my adult life, there is one more that I have lived by since I was a teenager. “The Rose that Grew from the concrete” by Tupac Shakur was what I imagined when things got challenging as a young teen. When I was 16, I tragically lost my mom and I stepped up to raise my younger brother and sister. I would imagine myself as the Rose when things got really tough. Today my brother and sister are successful engineers and the three of us have an unbreakable bond.
How can our readers follow you online?
We would love to connect to everyone on our social media channel @thefitzsolution
Personally you can connect with me on linked in www.linkedin.com/in/theultimateselfie/
This was very inspiring. Thank you so much for joining us!
