5 questions for Melissa Maribel

Melissa: In my first year of college, I went from an aspiring dentist to a failing chemistry student. Every science class I'd take was a constant struggle that led to me questioning whether or not I could make it as a chemistry major.

When I reached out to my academic counselors and professors on how I can improve my grade, I was told to change my major. In other words, they told me to give up. As easy as it might've been to just quit, I asked myself, "Did you really give this your all?" Deep down inside, the answer was no, I hadn't.

So I enrolled in chemistry for the second time, with the intention of giving it my all, knowing that if I failed again then I'd change my major.

I needed to prove to myself that I was capable of doing hard things. This mindset shift worked. I studied constantly, joined study groups, went to office hours, hired a tutor and most importantly I figured out how it is I learn. It all paid off because chemistry was finally making sense. At one point, I was leading the study group and explaining the concepts to others, which gave me the confidence to become a private tutor for several years.

Melissa Maribel: Before making my first video I thought about the audience I was trying to impact. Who were they? What did they already watch on YouTube? What are their wants and needs?

The audience I make videos for aren't scientists, they are students trying to pass their classes and get to their desired careers. They are who I was in college. They have doubts, and wish to find someone to guide them through chemistry. I'm so thankful that I can be that guide for them now.

Keeping this in mind, I make sure my videos are engaging, encouraging, and straight to the point. Because let's be honest, studying chemistry can be really intimidating! With each video, I aim to make chemistry more enjoyable and approachable.

Melissa: It's incredible to think that I went from tutoring students every day at my local coffee shop to making YouTube videos in my bedroom to now having a dedicated home studio and a team. I am proud of hitting these milestones in my business. Being able to hire a team and have this be my full time job is amazing but it definitely comes with its challenges. One of my latest challenges was making the tough decision to layoff a teammate due to financial hardships.

After struggling financially for several months I decided to try something new: creating my own Organic Chemistry course. I launched a new course platform appropriately named Chemmunity, because you can't learn Chemistry without a community helping you every step of the way.

I'm thrilled to see students signing up and watching the instructional videos, asking their questions in the accompanying study group and seeing results!

This new revenue source has been growing slowly but it has been a great supplement to my current product line of e-books and flashcards sold on my website, melissamaribel.com.

Becoming an entrepreneur and talking to other entrepreneurs has taught me that it's difficult to know if the decisions you make are going to be the right ones. We're all just trying to figure it out through trial and error.