Coding The Way With Shay

Coding The Way With Shay Gillepsie

Owner/Creator and tech professional Shay Gillespie and I met a few years ago while I was traveling in St. Louis. For some reason, her radiant personality stuck with me, and we have been social media friends ever since! Through the years, I’ve been able to watch her grow her business Color Coded Kids, and I’m so excited to share more about how this fantastic program began!

What inspired you to create Color Coded Kids?

We were looking for my then 10-year-old son, a coding or robotics class in our area, and after several attempts, we were unsuccessful. With my background in technology, I decided instead of complaining about it; I would find a solution. My goal was to put together one of the best computer programming courses in St. Louis. After consulting with a mentor of mine, I was off! Starting with a survey of friends in my area and posting a questionnaire on Facebook, I began to gain interest from other parents in my neighborhood. In a matter of 5 days, I obtained an LLC, built a website, and brought on two computer developers to teach the course!

How many children have enrolled in Color Coded Kids?

We’ve taught more than 600 students across the country how to code. We are currently in NYC, Atlanta, Charlotte, St. Louis, Florissant, MO, Dallas, Houston, and DC.

What is your vision for this program in the next five years?

My vision is to partner with school districts in under-resourced areas in major cities to be their computer programming arm. I want to be in at least 20 locations by 2025.

I’m big on quotes and motivation. Do you have a favorite that you like?

“You don’t have to be great to serve, but you do have to serve to be great” Almost everything I do is about finding ways to make the world better for generations to come. It can be minor, or it can be major…just as long as you are making someone else smile, you’ve done your job!

What would you say was the turning point in your career?

The minute I started taking risks! My first financial advisor gave me some advice that I’ve stuck with for the past 12 years. The lesson was if you can sleep at night with your investment decisions, then you’ve made the right choices. She also said, invest in things you buy and use every day. If you buy a lot of Nike clothing (which I do), why not buy stock in the company. I gained some quick successes in the stock market and became riskier and riskier in my investments. I say that to say, that conversation helped me get more and more comfortable with the idea of taking risks in my career. And that’s when my career climbed in a way I never thought possible.

Who are some mentors who have helped you along the way?

I’ve had so many mentors along the way. I am an asker! I love learning from those who I admire or who’ve had successes in their respective fields. One of my mentors, Pam, is a successful entrepreneur out of California. She keeps me grounded and helps me figure out my next move or what things to think about on my career journey. She has been a God sent in scaling my business.

What advice would you give to other entrepreneurs?

1. Make sure you are solving a problem.

2. Make sure you are passionate and love what you’re doing. You are going to hustle, hustle, hustle, and sometimes with no pay. So make sure it’s something you enjoy doing!

3. Research! Be an expert in your industry; understand where your industry is going and how it will affect your business for years to come. 4. HAVE FUNI recently lost a dear friend, and what I learned from her is that even with her diagnosis, she had fun! I had no idea our conversation was our last conversation because she was always so positive so energetic. Life is too short to live it bored!

For More Information about this program Visit www.colorcodedkids.com or call Shay at 314.282.5344. Find Color Coded Kids online on(Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, and LinkedIn)