Choose your own adventure (and the parallel in a young person choosing education and a small business decision during earlier stages) | Chandler Educational Consulting (Christina Chandler)

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Welcome to part 2 of my interview with Christina, an American expat now based in Australia. She started Chandler Educational Consulting to help students and their families make informed decisions about coming to Australia for their university years.

When I was younger, part of my decision to attend an Art school was about finding my LGBTQ+ community (oh my gosh, before the acronyms became well-known). I think LGBT+ students can really appreciate how important it is to work with an ally.

I love that Christina is raising awareness of Australia as a desirable option and helping students and counsellors outside of Australia see Australia beyond rankings and stereotypes. For young LGBTQ+ people, she focuses on personal agency, student-led decision-making, and finding environments that are right for the particular person.

Listen on Spotify:

or watch on YouTube:

Not to pop too far from the topic of forging your own path thru business, here’s this episode’s top 3 for small businesses:

• Echoing the LGBTQ+ and allies entrepreneurs, Christina shares that building a business (or a life abroad) means “jumping in with both feet”. If you wait until all the stars align or when the path is fully clear, you may need to wait for a very long time. (It’s not about jumping in blind, but making informed decisions, making connections, and building based on feedback).
• The way Christina’s work supports students in carving out affirming, inclusive, and adventurous educational journeys. If you’re a smaller operation, there’s truly a business case and a moral case to be affirming and inclusive with your clients.
• We can also learn that being client-centric, e.g., Christina centres her work on student-led decision-making, is helpful because it pushes small business owners to consider more than one set of options and avoid the cookie cutter. For instance, Christina helps students who may have faced challenges or disruptions —academic or personal— investigate different options based on their needs, like finding environments that align with individual identities.

We may not all know younger people of LGBT+ communities and their families, but it’s possible that someone you know may be beneficial to well-informed people like Christina. Meanwhile, pls keep forging your own paths proudly.

Find Christina:

chandlereducationalconsulting.com
linkedin.com/in/christinachandler/
instagram.com/chandlereducationalconsulting
www.facebook.com/christina.chandler.161/