It’s been said that teaching is a calling. And for Jay Veal, that holds true.
After beginning a career in IT with Microsoft and Baylor Healthcare, he began getting emails about becoming an educator in his inbox. While he ignored them at first, eventually he thought it may be a sign, and signed up to begin certification training.
After working his way up in Dallas and Desoto ISDs as a math instructor, he began to notice that some children, particularly children of color, were getting left behind. Teaching is more than just about disseminating information. As psychologist Abraham Maslow noted, only after a person’s basic needs are met can you begin to address other things like knowledge. Veal saw a gap in tutoring and outside-of-the-classroom support for those students. It’s Not Complicated (INC) Tutoring was launched.
"We have literally found the solution to education."
“Something just told me I had to be in this space… and I went about my way,” Veal said. “[Students of color] weren’t getting what they needed from teachers and tutors that look like them outside the classroom for support.”
While still working as an educator in 2013, Veal began knocking on doors in Cedar Hill to get INC off the ground. While the company focuses on students of color, all students are welcome at INC.
Veal said that while students of color make up the majority of public schools around the country, around 80 percent of staff are white. This creates an environment in which students lack role models that look like them or have advisors and counselors that may not understand their background and needs, he said.
“When you look at the grand scheme of things, we see lack of resources… the achievement gap is widening,” Veal said. “For students of color... they don’t always have a leg up when it comes to having the best resources. When they’re in the classroom and they don’t see people that look like them it can be defeating on a socioeconomic level.”
Veal said INC uses a holistic approach that covers every subject from first grade to graduate school. The Frisco-based company, which began with Veal working alone, has grown more than 60 employees. He also said that more than 90 percent of the staff are millennials, which helps them to relate better to the students they are working with.
Each student develops a different tutoring plan before beginning. Once entering the program, students are given both academic and extracurricular support, giving them the best opportunity to get into college. Students are also able to receive additional support in between tutoring sessions. Veal calls the approach holistic, because it focuses on bringing together all the players in a student’s life: teachers, parents, counselors, and tutors to make sure that all are working towards the same goal for the student.
The innovative approach has garnered Veal some recognition, including a United Nations Global Leadership Award for Quality education and being named a 2019 Camelback Ventures semifinalist.
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“I think we can start a movement to get ed and tutoring where it needs to be because its flawed,” Veal said. “The impact we want to make is that every student gets an equitable education.”
INC currently operates in DFW, Chicago, Washington, D.C. and Austin. However, it is planning on expanding to the Atlanta and Charlotte areas in the coming year. Veal said he would eventually like to see INC’s method of tutoring and education implemented in every major metropolitan area in the U.S., and eventually across the globe. The company has been growing nearly every year and has already made about $160,000 in revenue this year.
With an upcoming funding round planned, Veal said the company is working on developing a mobile app to compliment the services INC provides, allowing users to connect with tutors at any time, from anywhere.
“We have literally found the solution to education. If we can get this app developed and we can place it in different schools… then the game is going to change,” Veal said. “The endgame for me is to build a legacy around how students are engaged with through their academics, change the narrative for students of color on how they’re being supported and the way they are being supported.”
