Raising Debt-Free College Grads: Entrepreneur Shellee Howard on College Prep and Empowering Kids for Self-Discovery
Release Date: 11/18/2025
Wings of Inspired Business
Annie Yatch is a serial entrepreneur and a transformational executive coach who works with founders, CEOs, and high-performing leaders who have mastered strategy and execution but still feel capped, exhausted, or disconnected. Building on her unique background as a counterterrorism analyst, Annie developed the ability to identify invisible threats before they cause visible damage—a skill she now applies to leadership, helping executives uncover subconscious patterns, nervous system overload, and relational instability that silently impact decision-making, authority, and revenue growth. After...
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Tallulah Le Merle, a global thought leader in AI, leads AI investment strategy for Fifth Era & Blockchain Coinvestors, the asset management company focused on exponential technologies with a portfolio spanning 1,500+ startups (including 80+ unicorns like Chainalysis, Coinbase, Kraken, Opensea and Tether). On a mission to ensure business leaders drive AI innovation that is deeply human, conscious, and connected, Tallulah “Case for Hope in the Age of AI” keynote in San Francisco and the UK Parliament in London will soon debut as a book. A fractional COO with experience leading...
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Amanda Tress is the founder and CEO of FASTer Way to Fat Loss, one of the fastest-growing digital fitness and nutrition companies in the U.S. Founded in 2016, FASTer Way delivers a science-backed, sustainable approach combining intermittent fasting, whole-food nutrition, carb cycling, and strategic workouts. Under Amanda’s leadership, the brand has grown into a multimillion-dollar company with thousands of certified coaches and over 564,000 clients worldwide. 🔑Key Takeaways🔑 💡🤖 Human + Tech = Real Results: How Amanda’s unique “digital franchise” model gives certified...
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Clare Baukham is a Global Wealth Architect, alternative investment curator, and creator of The Billionaire Woman platform. An award-winning financial advisor, she expanded into media as the executive producer of multiple TV series centered on wealth, power, and business. Clare has built her empire around one core truth: wealth is identity, structure, and seduction. Raised in a household where even fruit in winter felt luxurious, she did not inherit wealth; she engineered it through clarity, devotion, and radical self-belief. Today, she guides visionary women and men into a new era of...
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Teju Owoye is a serial entrepreneur, author, and wellness innovator. She began her entrepreneurial journey by founding The Sulte Group, a growth marketing agency serving celebrity clients like Def Leppard and Ice Cube and top B2B SaaS companies alike. After facing her own health challenges, she launched Clean Rebellion, a clean beauty brand voted the Best Multi-Use Body Wash by Byrdie two years in a row. Today, she leads WellZest, a platform that connects individuals to holistic health providers and wellness experiences worldwide. Teju is also the author of The Audacity Journal, a guided...
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Madeleine Lambert is a co-founder of Originality.ai, a platform that provides a toolset to help content marketers, writers and publishers navigate the world of generative AI so they can publish with integrity. The company, which launched one week before ChatGPT, also specializes in AI detection technology, with solutions that help defend copyright, detect plagiarism, and beyond. Madeleine was also the co-founder of the marketing company Content Refined which was sold in 2022. 🔑Key Takeaways🔑 📝✨Transparency & Integrity Matter More Than Ever: With the boom in AI-generated content,...
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Dr. Shannon Decker is the Founder and CEO of VBC One, a consulting firm that partners with physician groups, health plans and vendors to optimize value-based care performance. With over 25 years of experience, including 17 in risk adjustment, quality and Medicare, she brings deep expertise in healthcare strategy, analytics, and operations. A published author and national speaker, Dr. Decker currently serves as a RISE fellow and on the faculty at Capella University. 🔑Key Takeaways🔑 💪❤️Proactive, Value-Based Healthcare: Learn about the shift in healthcare from a reactive "sickness"...
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Victoria Vaughan, an award-winning business leader and communication strategist, is the founder of B612, a New York–based PR agency serving high-growth technology companies. B612 clients are featured in top tier outlets such as NYT, WSJ, TechCrunch, Wired and have raised over $100m in funding in 2025. With over a decade in tech communications, Victoria previously served as CEO of the top-tier Web3 media company Cointelegraph, directly managing media strategy and operations. She was named a Best Business Owner by NYX awards’25. 🔑Key Takeaways🔑 🤖 💖 AI for PR: Learn how AI can...
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Elizabeth Gore is the co-founder and president of Hello Alice, a technology company that provides access to capital, connections, and education to over 1.5 million entrepreneurs. In turn, Hello Alice’s business health engine for banks and enterprise business services helps corporations increase engagement and transactions with small businesses. Hello Alice remains steadfast in its mission to ensure that every small business owner has the resources to thrive and live their dream. Elizabeth is the host of the Yahoo Finance show “The Big Idea,” and is the small business columnist for Inc...
info_outlineShellee Howard is the Founder and CEO of College Ready and CR Future Now, a Certified Independent College Strategist, and a best-selling author. A member of HECA and SOFA, she helps students gain admission to their best-fit colleges—often debt-free. As a mother of four, Shellee has firsthand experience with college success. Her son graduated debt-free from Harvard, earned his MD from UCSD, and is now an Orthopedic Surgery Resident at UCLA. Her daughter earned her BSN debt-free and became an RN in 2021. A sought-after speaker and consultant, Shellee has guided hundreds of students worldwide to top universities, ensuring they graduate debt-free and land jobs they love. Shellee also hosts the podcast, Parents: Is Your Teen College Ready?
🔑Key Takeaways🔑
🌱🤔 Start Early, Self-Discovery Comes First: Why college prep should start in middle school, with parents guiding their kids to reflect on their interests, strengths, and values. Learn how to help your kids figure out who they are before choosing what to study with a mix of community service, internships, and real-world conversations with professionals.
💸 🎯 A Strategic (Not Emotional) Path to College: Why it’s not about chasing school prestige or following the crowd. The best path involves empowering students to build standout resumes, match with colleges that value their unique qualities, and—most importantly—graduate without crushing student loans.
🎓💡 Scholarships (and How to Win Them): One of Shellee’s most compelling stats: her seniors earned over $10 million in scholarships last year alone. Her secret? Treat the process like building a business—from early planning, crafting applications, and strategically picking colleges that want to reward your child’s excellence.
👩💼 🛠️ For Young Entrepreneurs and Non-Traditional Paths: Not every student is destined for the Ivy League—or even a traditional four-year college. Learn how to explore all options, including trade schools and entrepreneurial ventures. There is no “one size fits all” path to success.
✨🤖 How AI Is Impacting College Decisions: How to best prepare your teen for an AI world, why teaching nimbleness, flexibility and resilience is key.
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More about Shellee at College Ready Plan