Teaching skills and imparting knowledge are perhaps the greatest gifts and tools we can give to the young, and the young at heart, hungry to learn. Local Baton Rouge entrepreneurs are coming up with creative ways to turn the act of teaching and educating into small businesses with limitless potential.

Jacques Hopkins was an electrical engineer whose desire to be an online entrepreneur led him, five years ago, to walk away from his day job and create a local company that promises to teach even the most tone deaf students how to play the piano in just three weeks. Piano in 21 days is an entirely online tutorial that takes everything you learn in traditional piano lessons and throws it out the window. Jacques’ lessons are unique in that they’re fast, fun and require no classical training. Now, this might seem very remarkable, not in the least because Jacques, by his own admission, took piano lessons as a child growing up in New Orleans for 12 years and can only play two songs! But his small company is doing well and supporting his family. 

Stephanie Crawford is founder and owner of Best in Class Tutoring, a private tutoring service that helps students with whatever their learning needs but particularly specializes in test prep for the ACT and SAT. Stephanie founded the company in 2014, after spending five years in the classroom and another six years at the LSU Academic Center for Student Athletes, where she mentored and tutored student athletes, hired and trained tutors, and ran hundreds of appointments a week. Today Stephanie travels the country giving professional development seminars and teaching ACT and SAT prep classes. 

Photos at Mansurs on the Boulevard by Karry Hosford.