Episode 159: Teaching Homeschoolers with Jean Lee of the Academy of Chaos
Jean Lee is a neuroscientist and homeschooling parent of three who founded the Academy of Chaos, which provides classes for homeschoolers. She’s also the director of the Midwest Homeschool Expo, one of the largest secular homeschool conferences in the United States. Jean’s career is defined by scaling operations, leading diverse teams, and building high-impact partnerships. Today, she brings that expertise to reimagine education, bridging the gap between homeschool, higher education, and the business world.
In our conversation, Jean and I discuss why she homeschooled her children, how she started the Academy of Chaos, and how it led to starting the Midwest Homeschool Expo. She also drops some great advice for budding entrepreneurs working in the field of education.
Topics Discussed:
Homeschooling during the pandemic
The rapid growth of the Academy of Chaos
The responsibility and humility of teaching someone else's child
Resources mentioned:
If you’re enjoying this podcast, please leave a rating and review on Apple Podcasts.
Related episodes and blog posts:
Read the transcript for this episode:
Welcome to Educator Forever, where we empower teachers to innovate education. Join us each week to hear stories of teachers expanding their impacts beyond the classroom and explore ways to reimagine teaching and learning.
Jean Lee is a global executive, neuroscientist, entrepreneur and homeschooling parent of three. She is the founder of the Academy of Chaos and director of the Midwest Homeschool Expo, one of the largest secular homeschool conferences in the United States. Jean's career is defined by scaling operations, leading diverse teams and building high impact partnerships. Today, she brings that expertise to reimagine education, bridging the gap between homeschool, higher education and the business world. Welcome Jean, so nice to have you here.
Jean Lee 0:30
Hi Lily, thanks for having me.
Lily Jones 0:32
I'd love for you to start us off by telling us about your professional journey.
Jean Lee 0:37
Sure. Well, I became a mom, but who am I? Aside from that, right as women, we usually talk about our children and we really talk about ourselves, so I appreciate you asking that I am a neuroscientist by education, a large scale e commerce and global media strategist by trade. And this journey through motherhood homeschooling has now taken me to never dreamed I would be, but I will tell you, it is the most fantastic job I've had so far. I am the founder of the Academy of chaos and the organizer of the Midwest homeschool Expo.
Lily Jones 1:14
Wonderful. And so why did you decide to focus on homeschooling? I assume you homeschooled your own children, or tell us how you got into that.
Jean Lee 1:23
Sure. I am a mom of three. My oldest is 12. I have a seven year old and a four year old, so I'm deep in the throes of all seasons, and I never imagined I'd be a homeschool mom of six years ago, you would have said, Jean, would you be a homeschool mom? I would have said, Nope. That's weird, but I didn't know what I didn't know, and covid happened and brought us home like it did for everyone but my oldest was already struggling. I am a mom of a unique learner and struggling with autism, ADHD anxiety, some of the things that make traditional classrooms really, difficult for kids again, I didn't know what I didn't know. And when my kids came home, I was able to experience learning for her and what it looked like getting through each day. And we slowly, slowly started to figure out things that would work, project based learning, making sure we were getting enough physical activity, making sure that we had enough brain breaks, making sure that she was able to use curricula that moved as quickly as she needed it to. I also have three very advanced learners. They're highly gifted, and all started reading when they were three years old. That puts a totally different spin on learning, but here we are, and that's how we came to homeschooling.
Lily Jones 2:45
So interesting. And I think the pandemic for many of us opened up so many different options. And I know even I was a teacher before having kids and having my kids at home during the pandemic gave me a whole new view on them as learners, of being able to listen into their classes and see what they were struggling with or what they were excited about. So I appreciate hearing how that worked out for you. And so tell us a little bit about the Academy of chaos, which I love. The name, tell us how it came about. What do you offer? What is it?
Jean Lee 3:15
Sure. I started by organizing a class for my daughter. There's a program called ja biz town, which is an economics class, and it includes a real world simulation. I wanted her to have the opportunity to do that. So as I do with everything, I called them and said, Hey, if I can bring a few other kids together, is there a way that we can come? And they said, Sure, let us know. We'll merge you with another class. So I just put it out to the village. I put it out on Facebook. I contacted a local library and said, Can I use a room? And they said, Sure. Nobody really knew what to do with me, asking all these questions. But what happened was, within two weeks, 40 kids signed up. So here I was. I was not a traditional classroom teacher by trade, as you and I thought this is either going to be amazing or horrifying, I don't know, because these are middle school kids. How's this going to go? But it was one of the most amazing experiences of my life. I felt so fulfilled in a way that I hadn't in a very long time, and I deeply missed my career. I put that on pause when I became a mother, and this really nurtured a part of me that I was missing. I loved my time and looked forward to seeing those kids and their parents every week. And after 14 weeks off, we went to the real world simulation with Junior Achievement BizTown. And at the end, the parents all said, What are you going to teach next? Our kids loved you. And I said, Well, I have a newborn at home. I had no intention of being a teacher or leading classes, but I said, Well, what are you interested in? I thought, geography. Are you interested in geography? So the next semester, I. Hot geography, and then we hosted a geography bee in the spring at the library, which was fantastic, and it just grew from there. And currently, I have 121 students just this semester across seven classes, and I've taught hundreds and hundreds of kids in subjects like economics, engineering and rapid prototyping, geography, literature, genres, writing genres, robotics. I have a class coming up in a few weeks that's called dessert Lab, which is a science class exploring things like viscosity and thermodynamics. But really it's so cool to be able to create classroom experiences using project based learning in a non traditional way to help these kids have a hands on experience to feel and touch and smell and taste what these things are all about.
Lily Jones 5:57
That sounds so fun. And just planning the lessons and planning the classes, sounds like a great time, too. I'm a big fan of project based learning and hands on learning, and I'm curious a little bit just about your experience coming into teaching in this unconventional way, what did what was easy for you, what was hard for you, like, what was your experience just becoming a teacher?
Jean Lee 6:20
Well, my background being in neuroscience, I think about things from a user experience perspective, so it was really fun for me to use that knowledge and cognition and really think about every detail and how it's going to support the neuro development of these children. What's going to make it easier to have things stick and what was difficult? There wasn't really anything difficult. I mean, it was surprising how many parents it really is a huge responsibility, and it's humbling. I never take for granted the responsibility to be trusted with someone else's child learning. So although I wouldn't say that's difficult, I would say take it very seriously, but it's just a lot of fun.
Lily Jones 7:10
Yeah, it sounds like a lot of fun. And so tell us a little bit about where you see the Academy of chaos growing. Like, what do you what is your grand vision? If you have one.
Jean Lee 7:19
Sure Well, I definitely would like to continue teaching classes. I really enjoy that my youngest is four, and so I've taught middle school so far, and the next year, I will start expanding into those early elementary classes so that I can include her in some things. In 2024 I launched the Midwest homeschool Expo. So that came out of me thinking, okay, how can I help more families? As I was leading classes, exploring higher level education, things like internships, college path, dual enrollment for my own children, more and more parents came to ask me questions because I was willing to talk about it. Something else that I'm really passionate about is school choice. And oftentimes in homeschool circles, we talk about public school like it's a bad place, but in reality, we're all an illness or death away from public school. It's not a bad place, it's a very good place, and it's very necessary, and every teacher that teaches in a traditional classroom does the very best they can, and I do believe they deeply care about our children. However, it's a specific system, and the way it works doesn't work for every kid. That's okay. It's not a bad thing. There are many, many school options, things like online school, traditional home school, micro schools, hybrid programs from public schools. So many options here in Indiana and things like educational scholarship accounts opening in states all over the country makes a wide breadth of options available. And as I spoke about that openly, I found that there was from traditional homeschoolers, a lot of shame being dished out. There was a lot of that's not traditional homeschool, that's not homeschool, that that's not okay. We can't talk about that here. And I thought, Gosh, as moms and women, we're doing the best we can. Every one of us should get a trophy every day, because it's hard. This is the hardest job that exists. We're doing all of the things in survival mode for decades, right? Yeah. And I thought, that's that's just wrong. And one day, I woke up and I said, I'm done with this. This is not okay. This is not how we act as grown women. This is not how we act as friends. We need to be champions of one another. We need to be offering support. We need to be sharing resources and wisdom and lifting each other up. And so I said, You. Know what I'm going to make this space where everyone is welcome, where people of all faith backgrounds fit in, are welcome, can find resources. And so I created a secular event here in Indianapolis, and in 15 weeks, almost 600 people came with just my voice. I thought, Wow, what a need. This isn't a hugely developed market when it comes to secular homeschooling in the Midwest. However, the Midwest homeschool Expo is the only secular event here, so I kept going last year, almost 1000 people came there. 43 unique presenters, not duplications. Individuals willing to come, share their knowledge, share their wisdom, support and lift up others. There are over 100 exhibitors, so it really is a national level conference. We had international exhibitors come from Japan and Sweden. Families traveled from from Florida, from St Louis, from Detroit, from Nashville, from Louisville, all over the region and across the US. Really was an amazing experience. And I'm really looking forward to next year already.
Lily Jones 11:17
That's so cool. And so how did you get the word out about it. How do people find out about it?
Jean Lee 11:22
You know, that was really interesting to think about, because this year I make the name tags. I think it's really important that we all get to identify others. It's a big part of growing community and finding friendships. I ask a lot of women there, hey, do you have mom friends? And a lot of them say no. And you know what I tell them? Well, don't ever say that again, because you know me now, and I'm your friend. And when I say that, I do genuinely mean it. So as I was making the name badges, it was really also so amazing. I looked at name after name after name and thought, Oh, I remember where I met that mom at you know, it's mostly moms in homeschool circles. I remember where I met that mom at or I remember she stopped me at the store because I had on my T shirt, or we met at the park, or we were at the class together doing pottery. And really a lot of it is one by one by one. And often moms will bring a friend because things are much more fun to do together. The village of collaborators is huge. The exhibitors are amazing, and they also, you know, invite their communities, but it's very much a grassroots effort. I'm not a big company, not a church, I'm not a membership organization. I am literally just me, one mom who said I'm going to make a difference, and I really believe it is because 1000s of families have come now.
Lily Jones 12:50
Yeah, I think that's so inspiring for all of our listeners out there who might want to build something of their own. It feels overwhelming, but I think it's a great reminder that you often maybe even know your first customers, or, you know, the first people who are going to join your organization or your event already, just from your own life and being you. And so I like that idea of kind of collecting these people and these contacts in this really authentic way, and then bringing them together. It doesn't have to feel so overwhelming when it's like step by step by step.
Jean Lee 13:21
You know, something else that's been really special that has come out of this journey. When I first started, I'm a firm believer in mentorship, so I reached out to all of the other conference organizers, secular, not secular, some that weren't even homeschool conferences across the US, and only a couple called me back, which was kind of a bummer, but I will tell you the ones that did, I am an absolute champion of and fully support in their business any way I can. And they have been champions of me. And one of the things that we've done now two years in a row is after all of our conferences are done, a little zoom call just to catch up and cheer one another on and SWAT stories. But I feel when we support each other as women, it's hard, right? We're oftentimes taking a pause in our careers, leaving and re entering the workforce, reinventing ourselves to work around our family life and, you know, keep keep the train on the rails, right? It's not easy. And when we make that space for each other, when we support each other in our endeavors. And there have been other women who wanted to create a conference, and I helped them, and I said, this is the way we can do it. This is what you need to think about. These are the challenges I encountered when we think in terms of abundance, that there is enough for all of us, we all win. We're all more successful because there is and that's been really cool to see demonstrated, to see it happening,
Lily Jones 14:58
And it's such good modeling for kids too. I think seeing grown ups really learning from each other and working together to come up with solutions to problems or to share what we've learned, it's all the things we ask kids to do. But I think as grown ups, sometimes we forget to do it ourselves.
Jean Lee 15:14
It's true. I have three little girls who are watching, and every step of the way I try to model how I want them to be as adults. And it's funny. This is a this is really funny story. My oldest asked me the first year, she said, Mom, did anybody tell you no? Now it's also easy to think that these things just go off with a hitch, right? It's, it's an amazing experience when you are in a place filled with so many other homeschoolers and amazing exhibitors and presenters that are so wise, and the vibe is just exciting and fun and great. And behind that was 1000s of hours of work that were volunteered to make it happen. And she said, didn't anybody tell you no? And I said, Honey, I called over 1600 people, and guess what? The first year, 63 said yes. So that's a lot of nos, but that's okay, because how you have to see it is as a maybe it just wasn't the first year that they would believe in me, that they would trust in what I was doing and I was new and unknown. And guess what? The second year, it grew, and the third year, people are already calling. So it does take time, it does take patience. It does take perseverance. And a lot of those no's turned into maybes, and are now Yes. So I also just want to encourage other women who are starting a business of any kind, when you get a no, it doesn't mean you race them off your list. Means you're just not ready yet.
Lily Jones 16:52
Great reminder. And I think just the volume of people that you have to talk to, too is good for people to hear, because getting to 62 or whatever the number you said right, from 1600 or however much it was right, which is amazing and fantastic. And so I always tell the education entrepreneurs that I work with that it is a numbers game, and that we can measure the effort we put in. You know, we can set those goals right, that I'm going to talk to 1500 people, or I'm going to talk to 2000 people, and then from there, you know, you'll not only get better at your pitch, right, the more you do it, but you also increase the pool and the numbers. So I love just hearing those real world numbers too, because so much people just give up after their first 10 people. And that, you know, I don't think anyone gets someone from their first 10 people.
Jean Lee 17:39
No, that'd be a no. It's funny. I also get asked to speak at a lot of entrepreneurship conferences and women's summits and and there are a lot of questions about the organization of it. How do you accomplish the work? And one of the questions that people always ask is, do you pay for someone to do your marketing? And I tell them, girl, you can't afford that. No, you have to be fully committed when you are just launching an entity to doing all of the work yourself. Very, very rarely does anyone not bootstrap out of the gate. I'm sure there's a few people that just have buckets full of money, but it's rare, and you are learning it's hard. Let me tell you this, the first year I started Squarespace site because that seemed like the best and easiest resource, but I spent, I think, I sat four days straight trying to figure out how to sell the tickets on that website myself. And the funny thing was, it wasn't for lack of trying to outsource, I called about 10 different places, trying to get someone to teach me, to help me set it up and and there just weren't any resources available to do it on Squarespace. Well, I'll tell you now, Gal, I'm a Squarespace expert. There's anybody listening that needs help, just reach out to me. I'll tell you how to do it. But because I cut my teeth on that, because I sat there and just figured it out, I've got it now, and I'm not afraid to run in anything on my site. I know I can figure it out. So it's a true confidence builder, even though it feels impossible. In the moment, I was sweating, thinking, I gotta get this working. But that's the reality of running a business, there will always be something that you don't know how to do. And the first step is trying to find a mentor, of course, find an expert that you can ask questions to. But the next step is just sitting down and digging through it. There's a lot of money in running a business.
Lily Jones 19:38
And I think that's a great reminder of the beginning of running a business. Yeah, I mean, I remember doing all the things, and then now that I have a team and, you know, people doing marketing and all the things that I used to do, it's actually great that I had that experience, because I know I I'm a better leader because of it, because I can say, like, Oh, I've been on the Squarespace site too. Like, I think I can help you work. Work through it. And so I think it's overwhelming sometimes, you know, when you first start out, because it's like, well, you could do all these things, but you will, you know, if you continue to grow, get to a place where you can bring on other people and really focus on the things that you do super well. And so I think that also just like seeing it as a long game, you know, where it doesn't always have to be like that, but at the beginning, you're right, you know, you do have to do all the things, and you have to do all the things to figure it out. And then I feel like there was like an in between stage for me where I was like, All right, I'm going to take on another Curriculum project so I can pay for a Facebook ads person. And it was like me very intentionally funding this part of my business through work that I could do really well, you know? And so I think there are ways to get some help with the things that are harder for us, but it is important to kind of just dive in.
Jean Lee 20:55
Yeah, absolutely. One of the things that I also speak to is successful people do not prioritize sleep, and what that means is it's not that you're never going to get to sleep again, but it means there will be hard and long stretches where you are not sleeping, where it might be two or three hours a night, because you Have to get the deadlines met. It's not a situation where someone else is going to pick up the bits. For you, when you have investment coming into your business, for me that would be exhibitors and purchased media that I have a responsibility to deliver on. For you, it would be meeting deadlines for deliverables that you can't not meet because other people are counting on you, and it's your reputation at stake. And so making sure that you're not only managing timelines, but just knowing there are going to be times you got to be 150% all in. And there will also be times where I can take off a day when I want to and go to the park with my kids, or take a vacation on my own schedule, and I greatly appreciate having that lifestyle
Lily Jones 22:06
I do too. I mean, I think the flexibility and also the agency that comes with it. I mean, I think that there's something about like starting a business is incredibly hard, as you said, you know, incredibly hard, but also incredibly fulfilling, you know, because you do put in all this hard work, if it's something you really care about, and it is full of so many puzzles to solve. And so I think seeing both the hard parts and the parts that make it all feel worth it is really important. And I think being an adult, struggling and learning something new, actually, is something to be commended. You know, so often people just get so comfortable, and it's like, oh, you know, I go to my job, and even me with teaching years ago, right? It's like, All right, well, I can kind of do this in my sleep, and it gets a little boring. And so I think trying something new, even when it is incredibly hard, when we feel like we have a mission or a purpose with it, it makes it really so fulfilling.
Jean Lee 23:05
Yes, one of the other things I love about being in my own space owning my own business now is the opportunity to help others. So when I choose and I see opportunities to support others in their business, whether it's helping small businesses grow through the expo and me being able to say, You know what, you author of a new book, I see that you're really trying to make a difference. I'm going to give you a table for free. Or you small business educator who's starting up STEM classes, I would love to spend an hour with you and mentor you on how to streamline your business opportunity or support your marketing or just help you grow. I love that I can share my wisdom freely like that, and it's my choice to do so. Again, abundance is everywhere, and it's amazing that I have the opportunity to spend my time giving, whereas when I was working in large corporations, I was fully committed to the hours that needed to be put towards that.
Lily Jones 24:10
You can kind of curate the situation. So, you know, I do this by giving scholarships to some of our programs, you know, for people who feel like they're really the best fit, right? So, similar to giving a table to somebody who you want to be there, and you can curate this whole energy and situation that you want to create in a really cool way. And I think starting a business too. I mean, it's like it is creative, right? Like we have a vision, and we're bringing in all these different parts and kind of painting this picture of this vision in real time. And so I think it's just really interesting here you reflect on all the little pieces of things that felt good to bring in, and I appreciate the abundance mindset as well.
Jean Lee 24:51
It's the number of amazing women that I've met, really stellar, best in class educational. Opportunities. You know, small businesses, just being able to meet and talk with those people is really, really cool, really fulfilling to know that we're making a difference in children's lives, really doing something that changes the world. It's crazy. It's crazy when I think about the impact that we have.
Lily Jones 25:25
Absolutely and so thinking about maybe our listeners out there who might want to start their own business. So do you have any I know you've already given a ton of great advice, but do you have any other advice you would give them?
Jean Lee 25:37
So I would say my biggest piece of advice is when you're beginning, when it becomes a dream, when you're just having your first ideas, I always say, if it's not written down, it's not real. So start writing things down. You don't have to have your fully fleshed out business plan the first day that will come and it's necessary. Have a good budget. Make sure you have a financial plan, make sure you have a marketing strategy, but these are all going to come from your initial ideas. So start writing things down. Don't keep it in your head, or you'll never make it real. But once you start putting it on paper, you can brainstorm with others. Then you can bring those ideas to the table, and you can keep them with you and say, Hey, what do you think about this? Don't keep it a secret. Tell everyone. Get input from everyone, and talk about your business. Talk about your dream. Make it real.
Lily Jones 26:31
Great advice. Absolutely agree. I mean, I think so often, even if me starting educator forever, you know, 15 years ago, or however long it was at this point, it was an idea in my head for probably a couple years that I didn't tell anyone about. But once I started talking about it, then it became real, because then when I ran into the person I talked to about it, they asked me, how's it going? And I was like, oh gosh, all right, I have to be doing this. And so I think it's such great advice, you know, to put in the action to make something real and that it doesn't have to be fully formed. Often it's co created with the people that we want to serve. Right? You started doing classes and learned from students like what they were interested in, and then it grew to more classes. And sometimes we can't know the plan until we're in it and really adjusting and reacting to it.
Jean Lee 27:21
You know, I think something else that's really important about sharing it with others is that will help build your own personal board of directors. So having these people who are your champions, mentors, inputs, brainstorming group that's going to keep you on track. It's not only going to push you along, it's not only going to fill your mind with ideas and stretch upon what you already know, but it's going to encourage you. Because there are going to be a lot of times where you go, Oh, I don't know why I'm doing this, or if I can keep doing this, they're going to continue being champions of you. So the more you talk about it, the more you build up this community around you of support that you will definitely need
Lily Jones 28:05
Great advice, absolutely so Jean has been so nice talking to you. Can you tell people where they can connect with you? Sure
Jean Lee 28:12
My website is the Academy of chaos.com we will have the next Midwest homeschool Expo in June of 2026 here in Indianapolis, I host classes. I also host parent mentorship workshops across the metro indie region and sometimes across the state of Indiana. And I just look forward to connecting with more families, more parents, more kids.
Lily Jones 28:34
Wonderful.Thank you so much.
Jean Lee 28:36
Thanks, Lily.
Transcribed by https://otter.ai