Hidden Gems: Meet Thia Lutich of Lutich Learning

Today we’d like to introduce you to Thia Lutich.

Hi Thia, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstories with our readers.
I was granted a gift from God with the ability to connect with kids and their parents. My journey started 12 years ago as an elementary classroom teacher. I taught in classrooms of every level k-4. Each provided me an incredible opportunity to hone my gift and learn the nuances of each age group of children I was with. I didn’t know it then, but changing grade levels gave me understanding, flexibility, empathy, awareness, and a deep love for early education and the depth of its importance. Within this time period, I became a mother myself, which naturally elevated my understanding of the importance of my role and what my family was going through. Becoming a mother also increased my passion for what our children need and the reality of what our schools can provide. I poured my soul into my students and created a curriculum within my small 4 walls that increased their self-awareness and peer relationships. We had fun and we were family. Parents often told me they have never seen their children so happy and that they were mad when they had to miss school. Although my hands were tied with the system of our education, I did my part with those precious children in my classroom.

Then Covid hit. As it rocked all of our lives, it changed mine. Due to my cancer background, my doctor was against my return to the classroom. With some creativity, I became the virtual teacher for my entire lower school. Meaning, I was now in charge of every virtual learner in kindergarten through 4th grade. With hard work, creativity, and a lot of prayers, I figured it out. The experience of my career teaching every grade level elevated my expertise and now saved my job. Yes, I taught 5 years olds-11-year-olds every single day, alone, and it worked! A couple of weeks in, I changed the program so that each child ended their day in the community with me. Some weeks I had FIFTY children on my screen. The magic happened when there was laughter, dancing, singing, conversation, and kids listening to each other. It brings tears to my eyes still thinking back at this time. As I did all this alone in my little bedroom, it all made it worth it when I received personal emails from parents, some I had never met or seen before, telling me “the happiest time of my child’s day is when they are on with Lutich.”

Those emails are what inspired me to leave the classroom. It was one thought that kept showing up in my head…”I wonder if I can do this for families on my own.” I pushed that thought down deep, ignoring it, thinking I was crazy to think such a big thought. But I did leave the classroom. I put my notice in that I will not be signing my contract for the next school year. My plan was to spend more time with my family and work at a tutoring company. The turning point, the reason I am where I am today, is due to one phone call I received. My leave notice shocked the community and one particular parent reached out to me. When I told her my plan she exploded. “You are not an f-ing tutor! You are SO much more!” She spoke life into that thought I was afraid to listen to.

Today, I am the CEO of Lutich Learning. I get the privilege to honor all those years of hard work and give all my expertise to each family I work with. I am so grateful.

Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way? Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
HA! Such a funny question. NO! As I have grown and developed my business I have become keenly aware of the importance of the health of my mind. Looking back, I should have known because it was my mind that created the idea of my business. And just as easily our minds create incredible and positive ideas, it can also offer the opportunity to tear your great ideas down. Understanding the brain has helped me manage this struggle.

It is now just a part of what I do, constantly keeping my thoughts in check and understanding the reason I am doing this work in the first place. A current struggle is visible. I think about those times I need something but I don’t know where to find it. Like those times you want to buy a perfect gift and you don’t know where to go to get it. I have this perfect gift to offer the perfect family who needs it but I don’t know where to find them. Ha. Then I let that thought go as well. I trust it will all happen the way it is supposed to.

Appreciate you sharing that. What should we know about Lutich Learning?
I do two things. I work with kids one on one, and I work with parents (mostly moms) in my community group. It is so hard being a kid in our world today, I make it not so hard. And because there are so many moving parts with our kids, I help the parents too. I am known as the child-whisperer. I understand kids’ language and I translate it back to parents so they have a new perspective and deeper connection with their child. While each family is unique, there are a few things most of my families have in common. They are struggling to engage their child with their homework, feeling insecure about their parenting abilities, and exhausted from trying to get to the bottom of what the issue is either at home or school concerns.

I work intimately with each family to create a tailored plan according to their needs. I am proud of the level of care and detailed attention I give to the families and children I work with. Whether it be working on growing confidence, organization, study skills, friend issues, or specific academic gaps, they all get individualized attention and the best of me.

My specialty is creating trust with the kids I work with. I teach them I have to earn their trust and that I just don’t get it because I am an adult. We take our time and I establish a space they can count on. Once that happens, we move mountains and have fun. Kids have gone from hating reading to loving it, throwing fights with mom to doing the dishes. What sets me apart it I value who children are as individuals and genuinely love watching them soar.

Is there a quality that you most attribute to your success?
I am heart-centered and aware. I guess that’s two but I can’t have success without either of these. My heart anchors me in what I do. My awareness keeps me in tune with what is needed if I feel something is off or needs tweaking.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.thialutich.com
• Instagram: @thialutich1
• Facebook: thialutich