IAM953- Teacher Helps Pre-law Students Achieve Top LSAT Scores

Steve Schwartz is a full-time author, teacher, and founder of LSAT Unplugged, an online standardized test preparation company helping pre-law students achieve top LSAT scores.

Steve increased his LSAT score from 152 to 175 on the LSAT (99th percentile) and has taught the LSAT since 2005.
He hosts the LSAT Unplugged YouTube channel and LSAT Unplugged podcast, with an audience of over 100,000 on LSAT and law school admissions. He's helped thousands of students get into the law schools of their dreams, win large scholarships, and become successful attorneys.

• CEO Hack: Getting support to get things done
• CEO Nugget: Get things off your plate right from the beginning
• CEO Defined: Looking at business operations as a system that moves tasks from one stage to the next

Website: https://lsatblog.blogspot.com/

Social links: https://linktr.ee/lsatunplugged

Full Interview:

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Transcription

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[00:00:19.00] – Intro

Are you ready to hear business stories and learn effective ways to build relationships, generate sales, and level up your business from awesome CEOs, entrepreneurs, and founders without listening to a long, long, long interview? If so, you've come to the right place. Gresh values your time and is ready to share with you the valuable info you're in search of. This is the I AM CEO podcast.

[00:00:48.50] – Gresham Harkless

Hello. Hello. Hello. This is Gresh from the I AM CEO podcast, and I have a very special guest on the show today. I have Steven Steve Shorts of LSAT Unplugged. Steve, it's awesome to have you on the show.

[00:00:57.89] – Steve Schwartz

Thanks so much for having me on, Gresh.

[00:01:00.00] – Gresham Harkless

No problem. Super excited to have you on. And before we jump in, I want to read a little bit more about Steve so you can hear about all the awesome things that he's doing. Steve is a full-time author, teacher, and founder of LSAT Unplugged, an online standardized test preparation company helping pre-law students achieve top LSAT scores. Steve increased his LSAT score from 52 to seventy-five on the LSAT, the ninety-ninth percentile, and has taught the LSAT since two thousand five. He hosts the LSAT Unplugged YouTube channel and LSAT Unplugged podcast with an audience of over one hundred thousand on LSAT and law school admissions. He's helped thousands of students get into the law schools of their dreams, win large scholarships, and become successful attorneys. Steve, are you ready to speak to the I AM CEO community?

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[00:01:10.09] – Steve Schwartz

I'm ready. Let's do it.

[00:01:15.59] – Gresham Harkless

Let's do it then. So to kinda kick everything off, I wanted to rewind the clock a little bit here, a little bit more on how you guys started and what led you to kinda do all the awesome work you're doing now.

[00:01:51.09] – Steve Schwartz

Yeah. Sure. Thanks. So, I mean, I was I was in college. I wasn't sure what I wanted to do. I felt maybe I'd go to law school. Took the LSAT. After a very, very long struggle with the LSAT, I ended up succeeding in it, getting that one seventy-five. And so I started teaching it. And I've found I've loved the LSAT. I loved teaching. And when it came time to submit my law school application, I was like, you know what? I'm not sure I wanna go to law school, but I know that I love what I'm doing now. Why don't I just keep doing it? And I have never looked back since.

[00:02:19.59] – Gresham Harkless

Nice. I love that. And as someone who has taken LSAT and got kicked in the butt by it, I know it's not an easy thing, but it's love that I love that you found your love by, in a kind of a different unique way on the process of where you thought you were gonna go. You found something maybe in between or on the way to it sounds like it's even bigger and better.

[00:02:37.19] – Steve Schwartz

Yeah. I mean, I wasn't expecting this. It seems kind of accidental. It was accidental even though it's on the road as you say. But I love what I do, and I found so many interesting things about the business side of it as well and the content side of it as well that I'm just having fun with it, honestly,

[00:02:53.09] – Gresham Harkless

Yeah. Absolutely. And I think, as someone who has taken the LSAT in the past, a lot of times, I almost consider I've heard law school is even the language, but the LSAT itself is a language as well. So I love that you've been able to translate that to help these future attorneys and people be able to do great things and showcase themselves to these top law schools.

[00:03:13.40] – Steve Schwartz

Yeah. Thanks. I mean, it's good to let you have experience with it because you know how difficult it is. I mean, we could talk about flying about the LSAT more if you want to, but I feel like, the journey elements and the business elements of it are also equally interesting too.

[00:03:26.09] – Gresham Harkless

Yeah. Absolutely. So I wanted to drill down a little bit deeper because I know you're helping out, you know, so many people in different ways. So could you take us through how you serve your clients, and what that process looks like in those business parts of it as well?

[00:03:36.09] – Steve Schwartz

Yeah. Sure. Sure. So I mean, for a long time I was doing the one-on-one I was meeting one-on-one with students. I was tutoring them or teaching them. Over time, I found there were other ways to support students as well that helped me scale the business further and scale the number of people I could serve further as well. And so one step of that process was creating ebooks. I have written a lot of blog articles in the past. I've pre-created a ton of written material. And I found that that was not able to support students as much as I would have liked because it was an individual bite-sized piece. I wanted to create something more comprehensive and give people a plan of attack for their studying.

So I created all kinds of different resources like guides, cheat sheets, checklists, written explanations, and study plans. That allowed me to create a much more comprehensive set of support materials than simply the random odd blog post here, and blog post there. So that was one element, and that also helped me monetize at the same time. I also started teaching live classes that let me serve a number a greater number of students at once and provide the support at a lower price point as well.

So another win-win there. One more interesting thing I've done lately though is I was already doing this pre-COVID, but I scaled it up during COVID, was offering live online classes, not just on-demand videos, but live meetings over Zoom, connecting with a bunch of students simultaneously, and that also allows for easier recording as well. So that has a longer-term function too. So that's where I'm focusing mostly now.

[00:05:04.60] – Gresham Harkless

Yeah. That makes so much sense. And, correct me if I'm wrong, but it sounds like you have different ways. Because I  always feel like we, you know, learn individually in our unique ways. And sometimes having different types of content in different ways, allows people to get, what they're looking for, which is knowledge and information, but be able to get in an ebook or a course or the live classes or so many different ways to podcast, and all the awesome things you're doing as well too to be able to get that information and that knowledge.

[00:05:29.80] – Steve Schwartz

There are so many different mediums available now. Whenever I find a new one, whether it's something like TikTok LinkedIn, or Clubhouse, I'm thinking, how can I use this to share free outside information with a larger audience and provide more people with that kind of support? So yeah, you're right. Some people like books and they have books for them. If they like the live classes and the community there, that's fantastic. If they can't make the live classes or prefer to study solo, the videos can be great for them too.

[00:05:55.10] – Gresham Harkless

Yeah. Absolutely. It's so important to be where people are understand what exactly they're looking for and translate that message over to them. And so what would you consider to be, what I call your secret sauce, the thing you feel kinda sets you apart and makes you unique? Is it that ability to be able to translate in different ways on different platforms, or do you feel like it's something else that contributes to your secret sauce?

[00:06:15.89] – Steve Schwartz

I would say I mean, definitely being open to trying new things in the legal field, which is kind of can feel kind of static or stagnant sometimes. I feel like I am always looking for the next opportunity to support people and the latest things and experiment with them. You know, some things may not work out at the end of the day, but it's worth trying. I found that, like, me talking about the LSAT on TikTok may not always be the most exciting thing.

Some people want that there, but I found that engaging with the TikTok community through stitches, all the different tools that TikTok allows, like stitching with videos or creating duets or comment responses tend to get more traction there and be a little bit lighter than covering a logic game in a one minute video, which may not be the right medium right now content for the medium. So I experiment and try things out. But also I'm looking to create community and foster connections between students rather than simply lecturing the supposed perfect answers. Those are two things I strive to do.

[00:07:14.30] – Gresham Harkless

Yeah. That that makes so much sense, and I think that I say so often, and you might have been alluding to this and talking about this as well too. We forget about that human aspect, that community feels in the business. So getting the opportunity to build and foster those connections and those relationships, and, of course, being able to understand, okay, this is well, being able to, experiment and being able to see, okay, this doesn't translate as well in this way, but let me do it in an alternative way, it creates and builds to that fostering of community and relationships.

[00:07:44.19] – Steve Schwartz

No. I'm all about the iteration. I'm all about trying out new things, and a lot of them fail. And luckily, most people never hear about the ones that fail. And that's that that could also I mean, for I wanna make sure people are aware of that. I've tried so many things that did not work out, and I drop them. But the things that do work out, I keep them and expand them more. I also iterate and see, if can I tweak it a little bit. Because, like, I wanted to be on tape. Like, I wanted to connect with the younger generation, but I've gotta do it on their terms and find what works best. But I create a lot of videos anyway, so I just basically put some aside and put the best ones onto TikTok for that platform. LinkedIn is something else altogether.

[00:08:19.10] – Gresham Harkless

Yeah. That makes so much sense. And I love how you said, you know, you dropped them because I think so many times we don't iterate. We continue to drive home the nail, I guess you can say, of what we want to see work rather than being more like water and adjusting and changing and saying, okay. This will work. So let me use this someplace else, and maybe this was perfect for whatever platform we're trying to use.

[00:08:38.39] – Steve Schwartz

Oh, yeah. For sure. No. I think that you can't just try it once only because a lot of things may fail the first time the second time or the third time. And also may just be that your execution of that idea needs to change a little bit. Not that it's automatically an idea that's not gonna work. And then a lot of things get easier with time as well. Like, I would try out a new class format and the first couple of times it might feel awkward. I might not be the best at executing the idea, But if I do it ten times, I can get enough experience with it that work.

And I have my group coaching mastermind calls, and I've now done about forty of them. My first ten were very different in style, and I probably wasn't as good at facilitating those calls. But overdoing them for, like, a year and a half at this point, I've gotten a lot better at them and tried a lot of other different types of experiences within that same container. So the mastermind group coaching looks different now than it did back then. But even if I felt awkward about it the first couple of times, didn't mean I shouldn't keep doing it.

[00:09:37.60] – Gresham Harkless

Yeah. Absolutely. And that's like one of the underlying secrets of success is it's not so much that you wake up and you know how to do everything. It's the desire to continually try to experiment, to see what works, and as you said so well, let go of those things and then kinda double down on the things that are working, and that's how you reach your way to success.

[00:09:55.79] – Steve Schwartz

Yeah. Absolutely.

[00:09:57.20] – Gresham Harkless

Awesome. Awesome. Awesome. So I wanted to, switch gears a little bit, and I want to ask you for what I call a CEO hack. So this could be like an app, a book, or a habit that you have, but what's something that makes you more effective and efficient?

[00:10:09.39] – Steve Schwartz

I would say the biggest thing that makes me more effective and efficient now is just getting support. Just getting support, not trying to do it all myself. For a very, very long time, I was trying to do everything myself and I would work like a dog. I would do like twelve plus hour days every day and I would achieve a lot, but I didn't realize how much more I could achieve if I got support on executing so many of these things.

[00:10:35.50] – Gresham Harkless

Would you consider that to be what I call your your CEO nuggets? So this is kind of a word of wisdom or a piece of advice. Is it the importance of being able to kinda understand your zone of genius and bring those team members on, or would you consider something else that you would tell your younger self?

[00:10:48.39] – Steve Schwartz

I mean, that's the biggest thing I wish I had told my younger self. And I mean, I've been doing this since two thousand-five, full time since two thousand eight, and we're now speaking twenty-twenty-one. I mean, I wish I had done this from the beginning. Honestly, there were so many things I was doing myself that if I had taken those things off my plate, I could have achieved far beyond where I am now if I had done it back then. And even now, I'm still thinking, okay, what are the obligations I could take off my plate?

But the nugget would be to remove some of that thing and remove as much from my plate as possible except for my one unique zone of genius. Ideally, really to bring me to the point where the business could largely run without me. That's a goal. Not that I don't wanna do the LSAT, I love the LSAT. But everything that's not teaching the LSAT should ideally be off of my plate. So emails off my plate, schedule, choosing what gets scheduled because somebody else could make that decision for me. Removing the decisions as well would be like like a next-level kind of hire.

[00:11:47.79] – Gresham Harkless

I know you touched on this a little bit, so I want to ask you my absolute favorite question, which is the definition of what it means to be a CEO. And we're hoping to have different quote-unquote CEOs on the show. So, Steve, what does being a CEO mean to you?

[00:11:58.70] – Steve Schwartz

I think being a CEO to me, it's a lot of what I've been talking about. Honestly, I would say it's about looking at the business operations as a system that doesn't require me to handle each part. It's about recognizing that there can be every task to define the different tasks and then have systems in place to move the tasks from one stage to the next and look at the business as being able to run without me. I focus on holding the vision, but the actual action items don't have to involve me making all of those little decisions.

[00:12:34.60] – Gresham Harkless

Yeah. That's extremely powerful. I often say so many times that when you start something, you have to have, an amount of ego to say, hey. You know, I can create something bigger and better and make a dent in the universe and impact the world. But at the same, side of the coin or the different side of the coin, you have to be able to step back from your ego and say, hey. I don't want to do all the things. I shouldn't do all of the things. Even if I know how to, That doesn't mean I should be doing that, and that's kinda like that balance of being a CEO and balancing what to do and what not to do and how you create something that grows and makes a bigger impact.

[00:13:06.79] – Steve Schwartz

Oh, for sure. Absolutely. I mean, that resonates with the I mean, I've started a business for a while, so I recognize the ego in taking the action to to think I could do it.

[00:13:18.89] – Gresham Harkless

Exactly.

[00:13:19.60] – Steve Schwartz

But then on the flip side, it's like, okay, well, you know what? This does need to be me doing it, and it can be fine. And maybe it can be only eighty percent accurate, or somebody else could be doing things better than I can do them myself. And then I started digging, well, a lot of these things can be done without me and go perfectly fine. So they're like, well, what do they need me for? I mean, it's a lot of it is like teaching the LSAT specifically, but I've also hired instructors as well. And so once I realized I could hire instructors who would do a great job. It's more about holding the vision and focusing on the areas that I wanna focus on.

[00:13:59.10] – Gresham Harkless

Yeah. That's extremely powerful. I love that phrase, holding the vision, because that's the thing that's kinda holding the business together, and all the people are working and rowing in that way towards that vision and that goal. So, Steve, truly appreciate that definition, and I appreciate your time even more. What I wanted to do is just pass you the mic, so to speak, just to see if there's anything additional you can let our readers and listeners know, and, of course, how best they can get a hold of you and find out about all the awesome things that you're working on.

[00:14:22.70] – Steve Schwartz

Thanks so much. I mean, I enjoyed this conversation, Gresh. I guess that the biggest thing I would leave folks is don't be afraid to get help from others because your vision is almost certainly big enough that you won't be able to execute it to its fullest potential alone. If your vision is truly that large and world-changing, you're gonna want support to achieve it. No one is equally masterful at everything.

So focus on your unique zone of genius and get support in the other areas that can help to propel you forward. And, I always love chatting about this stuff. Folks always feel free to reach out to me personally. I'm on all the social platforms. Folks can DM me. My contact information is out there. My website and I encourage folks to reach out. And, of course, if you're looking for help with the outside-of-the-law school mission process, feel free to reach out as well, and I can help you.

[00:15:08.60] – Gresham Harkless

Nice. Nice. Nice. I truly appreciate that, Steve. We will have the links and information in the show notes as well too to make it even easier for people to get a hold of you. But I love everything you're doing and all the words of wisdom you gave to us today, and I hope you have a phenomenal rest of the day.

[00:15:21.50] – Outro

Thank you for listening to the I AM CEO Podcast powered by Blue 16 Media. Tune in next time and visit us at iamceo.co I AM CEO is not just a phrase, it's a community. Be sure to follow us on social media and subscribe to our podcast on iTunes Google Play and everywhere you listen to podcasts, SUBSCRIBE, and leave us a five-star rating grab CEO gear at www.ceogear.co. This has been the I AM CEO Podcast with Gresham Harkless. Thank you for listening.

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