Kids hate math. You’ve probably heard that before. Except, it’s not exactly true. One survey commissioned by Texas Instruments found that kids were twice as likely to say they like math than hate it. Now, Texas Instruments sells calculators. Make of that what you will.

That same survey found that about 70% of kids said they would like math more if they better understood how it applied to their future. 

I’m a simple country journalist. I use numbers all the time: probabilities, data analysis, reading white papers on science and the economy. You can’t convince me that math doesn’t mean something, especially when coding is one the nation’s most in-demand jobs. 

Ashley Carter loves math. More specifically, she loves to teach it. Ashley got a degree in finance but has made a career in tutoring with her company Minds Matter Tutoring. Math is the number one subject kids ask for help with, Ashley says. But she can help with any K through 12 discipline. 

Ashley is the only tutor in Lafayette certified by the National Tutoring Association and one of only three in the state. She brings a compassion for parenting to the structure of her business model. Ashley is a mom of two, including one child with dyslexia. 

Ashley grew up near New Orleans and lives in Lafayette. She launched Minds Matter in 2019.

So you don’t think you’ll need math when you get older? Try telling that to a business exec reading budgets and P and L’s. More to the point, you never really stop learning if you want to find success in business. And there are folks out there who can help you do that. 

Dr. Phyllis Donatto spent years as an educator and now runs FTH Dimension, a workplace coaching consultancy.  FTH Dimension’s trainings revolve around what Phyllis calls the three C’s: Connect, Communicate, Collaborate. She offers group trainings that include personality assessments, workplace observation and one on one coaching. And her clients range from individual entrepreneurs to corporations. 

Phyllis grew up in Eudora, Arkansas, and became the first college graduate in her family. She earned a doctorate in education from UL Monroe and now lives in Lafayette. Besides being an executive coach, Phyllis is also the author of the popular children's book, Mom There's a Rooster In The House.

Out to Lunch Acadiana was recorded live over lunch at Tsunami Sushi in downtown Lafayette. You can find photos from this show by Astor Morgan at itsacadiana.com