As a woman entrepreneur, I love connecting with and supporting other women entrepreneurs. The more we share our stories and the challenges we have overcome on our journey, the more we can help other women along their journey.

Today, I’m talking with Kim Jensen. Kim is a business-savvy woman who is no stranger to taking an idea and translating it into a profit-making venture. She successfully runs a creative consultancy focused on design and branding and devotes time to her side enterprise, a variety of food and art projects.

In 2018, Kim launched Casa Montessori as a way to align her passions with her family responsibilities. She created a learning hub for parents, teachers off for summer, and kids to gather into small pods to cultivate a summer full of skill-building, activism, world exploration, and interconnectedness.

Today, Kim is growing her mission-driven business into a robust curriculum resource and destination experience for homeschoolers and all families seeking online experiences for their children complete with a personal touch.

I am pleased to be interviewing Kim about her journey as an entrepreneur.

Tammy: Kim, can you tell us a little bit about Casa Montessori and your role in the company?

Kim: Casa Montessori offers Montessori-inspired workshops in the summer and throughout the year from my home studio in the DC/Baltimore area. We are swiftly moving our projects online to our website to serve our families forced into homeschooling due to the school closures.

Kim: Casa Montessori offers Montessori-inspired workshops in the summer and throughout the year from my home studio in the DC/Baltimore area. We are swiftly moving our projects online to our website to serve our families forced into homeschooling due to the school closures.

Tammy: Why is Casa Montessori an excellent resource for parents, teachers, and homeschoolers?

Kim: I provide my students with the learning experiences that have disappeared from our modern educational system. I teach the art of living through traditional ways from some of my favorite cultures. Having lived in Greece and Korea for school and work, I draw much from those two countries in my curriculum. After sessions, our students are engaged in conversations spanning economics, personal savings, community activism, fermentation, environmental preservation, mindfulness, and how to sew. Perhaps our students will run towards a career in these things, or maybe they will create spaces in their life to live very well. At our summer school, a motto emerged organically, it goes like this, “Your lunch is probably way better than your parents today.” And it always was. But don’t fret parents, stock your kitchen right, and your seven-year-old will make homemade Spanikopita for your Sunday brunch while you read that book you’ve wanted to enjoy.

Tammy: Describe a typical Casa Montessori experience.

Kim: Thankfully, there is no typical class at Casa. The program is child-led in the Montessori pedagogy, and so, I prepare the studio with all the elements and “trays” needed to explore the skills I’ve presented in the workshop. Some students will bumble around, and others will devote hours and days to a single project, creating an intricate piece of art at the end. Our daily schedule includes a three-hour work period, a cooking class, working together on the family meal, time out in nature or the garden, and ends with a tea ceremony and gratitude circle. The day is peaceful and relaxed, students feel grounded and centered in the simple, good things. Parents are raving about “how their kids are.”

Tammy: Tell us a little bit about your journey—why Casa Montessori, and why now?

Kim: It’s needed now more than ever, and I see that parents are feeling the pressure to fill in the gaps in their children’s educational experience. After graduating from Art Center College of Design, I got a call to teach and help launch their kids weekend program because I was already very involved in kids and art outreach in Los Angeles. That program has always inspired my balanced studio life, two parts design, one part giving back in the form of teaching art to awesome kids. Now that I am a mother, it is especially important to create an excellent life for my kids, and the best part is sharing it. Put the devices up on a high shelf and forget about them for a bit… sew a dress, daydream in a tree, swim, act out a play, these activities have positive and lasting effects. These are the types of summer days I experienced in California as a child, and in them, my sense of curiosity and creativity was born!

Tammy: What advice do you have for women entrepreneurs who may have circumstances similar to yours?

Kim: Do what you love, and don’t stop. Explore the options within your vision and be flexible. Responding to the process is equal to directing it.

Tammy: What are the three most important lessons you have learned about business?

Kim: Team up with a strong network of support, be intensely organized, balance big picture thinking with a strong sense of presence and minding the details. A close fourth would be to take Mondays off, but that’s just me.

To learn more, visit Casa Montessori

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