I recently sat with Connie Nadler of Madison Wisconsin’s LearningRx to speak about work, life, productivity, marketing, and for a general exchange of thoughts and ideas. One of the great positives associated with writing this series has been the opportunity to meet interestingly successful people to talk about principles of entrepreneurship, leadership, and success. Connie’s story and her work provided no exception.

AN: So what is it that you do?
CN: I am a personal brain trainer. As the director of Madison’s local LearningRx, a company that helps people of all ages learn better, I provide individualized one-on-one training to improve cognitive skills such as auditory and visual processing, memory, attention and reasoning.

AN: When, how, and why did you start LearningRx?
CN: I opened LearningRx in November 2006.   The company was started by others in Appleton, Wisconsin 23 years ago. There are now 55 centers throughout the country. Twenty certified trainers work with me to teach the programs at LearningRx. The 12-week program, ThinkRx, focuses on weak or underdeveloped cognitive skills. ThinkRx helps cleints develop skills required to learn effectively. We aren’t tutors, we don’t work with students on their homework assignments, but rather we assess existing cognitive abilities and determine a custom training program to improve skills, which helps students succeed in school.

AN: What is your goal and mission? What drives you?
CN: A student’s success and academic performance affects the whole family. We partner with parents to reduce the struggles and help the entire family. My personal education philosophy is that we can make a difference one child at a time.

AN: Thanks for sharing your story with me.

Any Queercents readers who want to share about their weekend entrepreneurial experiences? Any hobbyists turned capitalists? Regardless of your motivations, I am interested in the different strategies career-minded folks use to earn extra spending cash on the side. Also, I am interested in hearing about stories of weekend hobbies or strong personal beliefs turned to full-time enterprises.