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The world of entrepreneurship offers vast opportunities and ideas. It gives many a chance to succeed differently, and founders get to build something from the ground up. However, with the creation of a business comes the prioritization of profits, and there considerable controversy surrounding the balance between social responsibility and financial gain.

company, , is the perfect representation of that balance.

Hearding is making a statement for social responsibility in entrepreneurship. For years, she and her husband were longtime educators, and while they loved their careers, they sought flexibility and autonomy. Naturally, they both left teaching to fulfill this, while keeping their passions intact. Karma Tutors has done just that.��

While the company operates as a for-profit, its purpose reaches far beyond financial gain. From the beginning, Hearding built Karma Tutors on the belief that quality education shouldn’t be an exclusive privilege. Each tutoring session not only supports students directly but also contributes to funding the Karma Tutors Impact Fund, a nonprofit branch that provides free tutoring to families of limited financial means. In doing so, Hearding redefines what it means to be an entrepreneur, proving that business success and social impact can thrive hand in hand.

Tutoring Across all Zip Codes

At its core, both branches of Karma Tutors provide high-quality tutoring services to those in rural southwest. They recruit PhD students to be tutors, oftentimes from �Ͼ�Ʒ��. These tutors not only understand their subjects at an advanced level but also can teach complex material clearly and effectively. They also have local teachers and educators, giving an opportunity to supplement their income while doing meaningful work.

When Karma Tutors was founded in 2020, Hearding and her husband saw great success. While the Coronavirus pandemic destroyed many jobs and businesses, it shifted the learning paradigm in a way that worked for their young business. Remote learning familiarized others with online tutoring, and the academic upheaval of the time prompted families to search for new and personalized learning models for their children.

Hearding even mentioned how the switch to online “normalized” this type of business. Suddenly, this distance barrier disappeared, and not only were they able to help more students in rural Colorado, but all over the world, including places like Switzerland and Abu Dhabi. They were also able to use tools more effectively online, enabling them to annotate essays in real-time or demonstrate math problems visually.��

Karma Tutors didn’t grow through specific marketing campaigns, but through the effectiveness of Word of Mouth. As Hearding puts it, people will always gravitate towards good business.

“It (Karma Tutors) been steadily growing because if you deliver an exceptional product, people will find you.”

She credits the success to building a “lifestyle business,” a business built around quality of life and purpose, rather than strictly focusing on expansion. It this idea that represents who Hearding is: someone who always looking to improve others’ situations.

With this mindset, she took it and built something even more impactful. It wasn’t something entirely new, but rather an opportunity to give back through a non-profit branch.

Two Branches, One Purpose

The Karma Tutors Impact Fund (KTIF) is the non-profit sister company of Karma Tutors, which funds it. KTIF operates under the same purpose, but those who don’t normally have the luxury of tutoring now do.

“The question becomes, who are you doing this for? Who are you giving that edge to? And if it's only to the people who can afford a luxury service such as tutoring, then we felt that we would be driving a gap.”

And they worked hard to close that gap. At its heart, KTIF exists to make high-quality tutoring accessible to all students, regardless of background or income level, and this model flourishes. But beyond that, they’re also about valuing educators, understanding that the teaching market is perhaps underappreciated.��

As KTIF rapidly expanded, Hearding no longer had the capabilities to manage both entities. It was a difficult decision, but she recognized she needed a full-time executive director. This move not only represents her selflessness but also her commitment to sustainable growth and leadership succession. There no doubt it was a large sacrifice, but both organizations could now grow exponentially.

“Now, I can really focus on the business and give it what it needs, and the nonprofit is thriving because it has someone full attention.”

KTIF is the soul of her entrepreneurial mission. She understands that business and a social mission don’t have to be separate; in fact, they��should��co-exist.

“If you’re going to go out and change the world through entrepreneurship, get your hands dirty with this world and build something that helps it. Whatever you’re passionate about, pick one thing and find a way to integrate it.”

Redefining Entrepreneurship

Clearly, Hearding believes the heart of entrepreneurship lies within purpose. Karma Tutors and the KTIF challenge the norm that doing good financially and socially are separate entities. Her work shows how businesses can thrive while serving communities that have long been overlooked, and that approach has inspired both her team and her students.��

“It never been more urgent for the next generation of leaders to be nurtured academically, mentally, and emotionally.”��

Her story demonstrates that the only ingredient you need to create impact is the willingness to act on what you believe in. She taken her teaching background and turned it into a lasting force for equity in education, one tutoring session at a time.

Karma Tutors continues to grow, fueled not by marketing campaigns or flashy promises, but by genuine trust and community belief in what they stand for. Her authenticity has allowed her to scale a business built on compassion, proving that success doesn’t have to come at the expense of conscience.

As Hearding puts it best, entrepreneurship isn’t just about creating something new; it about creating something that matters.