Hi, my name is… Jennifer Yenerich
My company & title is… Once Upon a Time Reading Tutoring. I am a Certified Orton-Gillingham Instructor and Dyslexia Interventionist. I was a teacher in the public schools for 16 years. My experience as a classroom teacher and reading interventionist showed me that students who may have dyslexia, or some other language-based learning disability, sometimes need more than what the public school can offer. I took it upon myself to become trained in Orton-Gillingham so I could provide the diagnostic, structured, explicit, and multi-sensory instruction children need to become confident readers. I support students of all ages who need support in reading, spelling, writing, and handwriting.
A typical day in my life includes… My day starts out waking up with my kids, packing lunches, and getting everyone dropped off at the right school on time. Then, most days I head to my workout class. After that, I come home and work on lesson plans or other tutoring tasks. My time with tutoring students varies daily but usually begins around 2 p.m. and ends around 7 p.m.
My favorite thing about living/working in the NW Valley is… the community of friends and family my husband and I have developed throughout the past 18 years we have been living here. We also love how close we are to our home church, CCV, because between sports and church, we are there almost every day of the week.
My favorite movie I could never get tired of watching and why… I don’t know if I have a favorite movie, but I never get tired of watching Friends. It still makes me laugh.
My family… I have been married to my husband, Jay, for 18 years. We have three children: Bradley, who is 14, Matthew, who is 12, and Emma Grace, who is 11.
The business lesson I learned the hard way is… I’m so new to this, I don’t know if I’ve learned any lessons the hard way…yet! Although, getting your name out there is hard!
One thing I cannot live without is… sleep.
When I was younger, I wanted to be… a teacher. I pretty much always knew I was going to be a teacher. Although, for a few weeks in college I thought I wanted to be a forensic anthropologist, only because my anthropology professor (famous for the Body Farm), was so amazing. I’m glad I stuck with teaching.
The song I would sing at Karaoke night is… Sweet Home Alabama. I went to the University of Tennessee for college and this song was a big deal there, although we tweaked the words a bit.
The one person who motivates me is… my husband, Jay. He is such an encourager and, without his support, I probably wouldn’t have taken the leap to start my own reading tutoring business.
The last thing that made me laugh out loud was… probably something said during our family dinners. The conversations are usually fairly entertaining.
The perfect day would be… at a resort with Jay, sleeping in, sitting by the pool reading a book, having an early dinner and then watching a movie in bed.
My first job was… when I was 15, working at Chick-fil-A in the Flagstaff Mall. It was the best first job. I learned the meaning of hard work, but I also had a lot of fun!
My life…is busy, but blessed. Between three kids, three different schools, and three different sports we are always on the go. My husband and I are a good team, so we work to make it happen.
The best gift I’ve ever received was… my children. I really do feel like my kids were a gift from God.
My dream vacation would be to… an island or mountain far, far away with a little bit of adventure and a lot of rest!
My words of wisdom to aspiring business owners… You have to be passionate about what you are doing. Never in a million years did I think I would start a business, but I love kids and I love supporting their reading development, so it made sense.
Here’s how to reach us:
Our website is:
www.onceuponatutor.com
Our phone number is:
602-740-0848
Our email address is:
[email protected]
