Her Career Unplugged: Real career stories behind the titles

Approach It Like a Business, Not a Trophy: Shellee Howard on Debt-Free College and Building College Ready

What if your career-defining business started with a kid walking into the kitchen for an after-school snack? In this episode of Her Career Unplugged, Joanne and Vimala sit down with Shellee Howard, founder and CEO of College Ready and the 2026 Global Educational Consultant of the Year. A school counselor once asked her son why he'd ever want to be a doctor. Shellee took it from there, and he ended up at Harvard on a full ride. Shellee shares how a stranger at graduation became her first client, why College Ready is the seventh business she's started (her first was at age 12), and how a bet with her son turned into a book that became a bestseller within 24 hours. She talks about trying 33 marketing techniques before landing on podcasting, why she doesn't see gender as the thing holding women back, and what families need to know about AI and college essays now that colleges are checking. Her bottom line: college is a business, so approach it like one, and the money is out there, but you've got to go get it.