My dad was about sixty when I was born. He was a World War II Navy veteran with a third grade education, and he ran his own business, selling socks and whatever else he could get out of the trunk of his car in a store parking lot. I worked beside him from childhood through college and through my doctorate. That is where I learned customer service, how to listen to people, and how to earn.
After my bachelor's degree, my first paycheck was smaller than what I made selling beside him. I called him crying. He told me to finish the contract I had signed, then go back to school. So I did. After my master's, he had one more push for me.
"Rolanda, you're used to being broke. Might as well get your doctorate."
I finished my doctorate in 2010. A few days after graduation, we sat on his couch for hours planning a business. He said:
"You have earned a degree. That was easy. Now it's time to make the degree work for you. What do you want to do?"
I had always loved homework, so in 2011 I launched Homework Writers, my first education business, and later Dissertation Gurus. That work taught me what doctoral students actually need, and what most of them were not getting.
Somewhere in those early years, while building my first website, I hit delete and lost everything. I told my dad I was exhausted. He said he was glad it happened.
"Better to learn it early than to learn it late."
That line became the company.
After fifteen years working with doctoral students, I built ABD2DR, dissertation diagnostic software. It shows you where your chapter stands right now, explains why each issue is a concern, and gives a clear suggestion to fix the issue, before your chair ever sees your chapter. Finding an issue early is not a setback.