With school starting up again, it is the perfect time to introduce our latest Meet A Mom, Jayme Geeslin. She is a Peachtree City local, a Mom, and the owner of Step 1 College Counseling, LLC. As Juniors return to Highschool now as Seniors, it is an excellent time to get ahead of the game by thinking about planning for college enrollment. The college admissions process can be a hectic experience for families. Step 1 College Counseling, LLC provides the tools and support to enable students to take hold of this process and confidently walk onto their chosen college campus and into their future. As you will read below, helping students transition from Highschool to College has always been a passion of Jayme Geeslin going back as far as her own College career.
Quick Q & A
Where are you from? Roanoke, VA. I moved to Atlanta ten years ago when I took a job in the admissions department at Georgia Tech.
How many kids do you have? Two boys. My oldest Ben is four and Sam is two. They are precious and funny and never slow down.
What do you love about Peachtree City? The golf cart paths and access to everything, the community, and the amazing network of moms.
What’s your favorite restaurant and/or place to shop in Peachtree City? The patio at Palmers
Tell us about your career? I combined these answers below.
How did you decide on this Business? I was an orientation leader as a sophomore and junior in college and I absolutely fell in love with working with students and their parents as they transitioned from high school to college. After I graduated from Virginia Tech (Go Hokies), I worked in the University’s admissions office and I decided this was my path. I completed my graduate studies at Virginia Tech in Higher Education Administration and started job searching. After the twists and turns of the job-hunting process, I landed my dream job at Georgia Tech as an Assistant Director of Admission. This meant I had to tell my parents I was moving seven hours south. I was so excited though and I learned so much during the four years I was in this role. I then switched sides of the “admissions desk” and took another amazing opportunity as the Director of College Counseling at Whitefield Academy in Smyrna. I worked one on one with high school juniors and seniors and their families, walking through the entire admissions process with them until they graduated and moved onto their college campus.
When my husband and I were expecting our first child, we made the move to Peachtree City and I quickly decided I was not going to enjoy the hour-long commute to Smyrna from Peachtree City with a newborn in tow. I decided to leave my job and stay home with my son. I wanted to stay engaged with the undergraduate admissions field but how would I do that with a newborn and in a new city where I knew no one? That is where Step 1 College Counseling came to life. I wanted to continue working and helping families and still have flexibility with my son. We started a website, had a friend help us with a logo and reached out to a few families we had met at church. I started small and worked with a few families the first year and have continued to grow and work with new families each year.
What is the best thing about your job? Walking alongside families through this particular season is very rewarding. I love seeing the students grow in the process and see their potential along the way. I love helping students explore their interests in different majors, the type of schools they are interested in and then helping them narrow their list and actually apply to these schools. I love being a voice in the student’s life that is encouraging and assuring them that everything will work out in the end.
Advice for Mom’s or a Mom hack you would like to share? Don’t worry about tomorrow. Let each day stand on its own. I am a planner by nature so I would be thinking and planning for things in the coming weeks and months instead of just being still and loving the season my babies were in. There is no need for that and still something I consciously work on as a mom. I really try my hardest to be present and enjoy the season my boys are in.
The moments when my phone is tucked away and I am on the floor with them in our playroom are the times I treasure the most.
To schedule a FREE 15 minute consultation, visit www.step1collegecounseling.com and mention The Peachtree City Moms.