Today we’d like to introduce you to Melissa Allen.
Melissa, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
Ever since I was a child I knew I wanted to be an archaeologist. Growing up with Hollywood movies such as Raiders of the Lost Ark, The Mummy, and Tomb Raider made it the coolest job imaginable. I had such a love for archaeology that it’s probably not surprising that I met and fell in love with a man who was also going to school to be an archaeologist. We got married in college and in 2017 I was pregnant with my second child when Archofacts Archaeology for Kids officially began. I had been discussing my business plan and even investing in a business name since 2013 but had never actually started the business. When it came time to have my daughter I knew that if I went to work I would need to pay someone to watch her. That meant in an expensive city like San Diego, it would basically work out to me working so that someone could watch my newborn…so I could work! This was the moment where rubber hit the road and my husband said “You’ve been talking about this dream as long as I have known you, if you’re going to do it, do it.” Now of course it wasn’t as simple as just doing it but it was the point where we came together to discuss what sacrifices needed to be made in order for me to start a small business with young children. Since we were both still in college and my husband had barely begun his archaeological career we knew that the pressure was on to get things up and running successfully as quickly as possible as we wouldn’t be able to sustain our finances for very long. This meant that I had one year to gain some momentum, and that my husband needed to work doubles to bring in the most he could for our family.
So I went with my newborn to the county office to get my business license and all accompanying paperwork, filed all the things, and went to UPS to start making flyers for after school program, camps, and ‘about us’ brochures to be passed out to anyone that would take them! Archofacts Archaeology for Kids simply stated, is a kids program designed to teach students about Archaeology & history through fun hands-on crafts and activities. I could fulfill both the desire to be with my children as much as possible and my desire to pursue archaeology.
It’s crazy to look back and remember sitting in our small kitchen making calls to any school office that I could reach. Or looking up exactly what an “EIN Number” is. Or walking with my stroller up to every library and school office to drop off information packets (if they’d let me). My first “successful” after school program had one student enrolled so that one student, and I, and my newborn would meet each week and make fun projects together. This meant that after supplies and fees to the school I made maybe $5 by the end of it. My first camp was filled with family members and friend’s kiddos as I was just starting out and needed photos and videos of what I would even do at camp if I had been able to fill it with students. This of course meant more supplies, museum fees, etc. In half a year there was no profit.
The business was on track to be a small business failure when opportunity came. As I was advertising for summer camps, Leslie Kitchen, the director of a homeschool center reached out to me about offering classes to homeschool kids which was such an interesting thing to me as I had no idea what homeschooling really was. I went to this introductory meeting where the director discussed vendor opportunities for small businesses like mine to offer their services and somehow I walked out of that meeting with a job offer and with a strong desire to pull my son out of his 1st grade class and start homeschooling. The homeschool center made it possible to bring my expertise to kids looking for an alternative education. Students could choose between Spanish, piano, cooking, woodworking, marine biology, engineering classes and so much more. Parents could pick and choose which classes they would like their kiddos to take based on their interests or their school requirements. It sounded like a dream to be able to offer classes about the best career of them all-archaeology!
The next thing I knew, I was offering an archaeology class to not one, but two students! This was a major victory for me at the time, yet still far off from you know… actually making money. Somehow by that one year mark two students turned to seven, then seven to twenty. Archofacts Archaeology for Kids was officially making money! Not only did my business grow, but the homeschool center I taught at started to grow as well. Homeschool Enrichment Centers (HEC) grew more and more popular over the years especially after the covid lockdowns. Parents who wanted an alternative education found a home at HEC and were introduced to fun classes like mine. This is where I learned the value of business partners and cross promotion. Not only that, but the majority of businesses that offer their classes at HEC were moms, so I found that as I continued to grow my business, and my little family, those moms and business colleagues became my village.
Time and time again I was taken aback by how was blessed I was to have been introduced to the homeschool community. When it came time to give birth to my last two kiddos, I was able to bring them on campus and teach while wearing them. Parents would walk by and check on my classes to see if I needed help with my newborns and take them out and walk them, play with them, and even put them down to nap for me. It’s always a sentimental time to look back on. What kind of a job can do that? Women, mothers, and colleagues helping me to wear all the hats has been such a fulfilling experience.
Three years ago, my director came to me and said she was opening more campuses and asked if I’d like to offer services there. I had once again no idea what I was doing. I hired my first team member, Veronica, a homeschool mom and experienced teacher to open my classes in a new location. I didn’t have a clue what it would be like to lead a team of instructors or to expand business beyond myself. Each semester was a learning experience in so many ways. Luckily, I was able to rope friends into expanding their businesses too, like Mary who teaches Science and Spanish, and Lyzze who teaches English. We started to open classes at all new HEC campuses in San Diego, then north in the Inland Empire counties. It’s absolutely insane looking back now. Seven years after my one student in my first after school program, I have almost 400 students enrolled in archaeology, history, & geography classes across 5 different Homeschool Enrichment Centers and growing. I now have a team of instructors who teach for me at various locations and are the most amazing ladies to work with! Shout out to Miss Veronica, Miss Ariana, and Miss Macie! I could write so much more about my own children’s wonderful experience in the homeschool community or about the fabulous families I have been blessed with the opportunity to teach. Or the amount of times my heart would overflow when kiddos would tell me they wanted to grow up to be an archaeologist. So many parts of this story seem to come full circle. I can hire moms in a way that helps them support their families without having to sacrifice time with their kids just like I wanted when I first opened Archofacts. I can simultaneously teach students about fascinating archaeological sites, artifacts, our own human history, and bring it all to life through memorable projects and experiences. Hopefully, all of this will inspire them to become the next generation of archaeologists. Looking back, I am overwhelmed with gratitude.
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?
It was definitely not a smooth road. Each new business decision came with its own set of unforeseeable issues. One of the biggest struggles in recent memory would be the amount of work it would take to digitize all of my lesson plans to make it easily accessible to my instructors no matter where they lived. I knew that I wanted to expand my business, I knew that would require writing lesson plans, I had no idea what I was really getting myself into by volume. I had signed up to teach classes at two new locations that required me sending supplies, writing lessons, doing admin/payroll, while also simultaneously marketing the business and…teaching my own classes! Holy moly. That first year of writing lessons I wrote 485 lesson plans in 32 weeks. I would come home from work and write. I would wake up on the weekends and write. I would stay up late and wake up early to write. I have now learned how to grow slower and more thoughtfully. I think that when you hustle to open a business you take every opportunity given to you. I have learned over the years that constantly saying yes can have horrible consequences. We made it through, but lessons have definitely been learned.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your business?
Archofacts Archaeology for Kids is an Archaeological education program offering classes, camps, workshops, and field trips to kids grades Tk-12th. We teach kiddos that archaeology rocks by bringing artifacts and sites to life through hands-on activities and projects. We are known for making history fun and finding creative ways to discuss all aspects of our history. I am most proud of the fact that students leave our classes ‘digging’ what we have taught. I can’t tell you how many times I hear “I wish I could have learned history like this when I was a child” or “I used to think history was so boring growing up”. We put an end to all of that. History is most certainly not boring and archaeology is a great way to introduce kids to our past. Archaeologist’s study humans by the things, or artifacts, they leave behind. They do this through excavations, lab work, and working with physical materials in open settings. Kids love hearing that I dig in the dirt for my job-if you make schoolwork fun and exciting, like archaeology, they can grasp any subject and most importantly, retain the lesson information.
Archofacts Archaeology for Kids offers Summer camps at Balboa Park and various museums. Readers can check out more at our website www.archofacts.com. Readers can sponsor camp kids by reaching out to us at archofacts@gmail.com.
We are also partnered with Homeschool Enrichment Centers for those families who homeschool. We accept charter funds and various forms of payment. You can check out our year long class offerings at our www.archofacts.com website as well.
What has been the most important lesson you’ve learned along your journey?
This one is hard because there have been so many. The most important lesson I have learned is to surround yourself with people who will be there for you while you learn and grow. Often when lessons are learned it is due to some kind of mistake. I greatly value my village who is always willing to help me when that happens.
Pricing:
- Week long Summer Camps are $260
- Day camps are $55
- Semester long classes in San Diego at HEC are $250
- Semester long classes in Riverside/Redlands at HEC are $250
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.archofacts.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/archofacts/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/archofacts
