Meet Julie Albanese | Psychologist and Learning Scientist

We had the good fortune of connecting with Julie Albanese and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Julie, what’s one piece of conventional advice that you disagree with?
“Stick to what you are good at.” I have found this statement to be very limiting and, for me personally, to lead to a path of unhealthy choices. If I had stuck to what I was good at in Junior High, I would have never pursued my athletic abilities and trained to accomplish a sprint tiatholon. In college, I would have never graduated my with my Bachelors in Psychology and later achieved my Doctorate. If I stuck to what I was good at, I would have never left the safety net of my corporate job and taken the risk to open Fit Learning Inland Empire in the pursuit of changing educational practices in my community.

Contradictory to the aforementioned adage, a close friend told me “You can always change your mind.” This was and is something that I hold close to my heart. It helps me to live a value driven life and make active decisions toward making healthy choices. Choices that not only affect me as an human being, woman, wife, and mother, but also choices that will make a positive impact in my community. I am no longer driven by the idea that “You must be the best at what you are good at” and look to achieve status in my field and amongst my peers. Rather, once I dropped that rock, I became propelled to engage altruistically to the best of my ability.

I share these few experiences as I am not terminally unique. I am one person who has made active decisions to move toward my values. Today, as I choose to ignore that conventional advice, I choose to live a fulfilling life rather than a life defined by someone else telling me to “stick to what I am good at.”

Alright, so for those in our community who might not be familiar with your business, can you tell us more?
The Fit Learning Mission is to transform the learning abilities of all children who walk through our doors such that they achieve greatness in their communities and beyond. We are a highly specialized program that provides unparalleled services to every kind of student. We approach every learner as a unique case and develop a custom curriculum to meet their specific needs. By using the principles and science of learning, we are able to help each student improve one grade level in the desired subject area. With this, we see great gains in socio-emotional functioning and confidence.

I want to say what makes Fit Learning so different is that we make learning fun. This seems very cookie-cutter, but daily, I receive parent reports that their child cannot wait to come back, that they are having fun, and that they feel smart.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
I live in Claremont, a small city in Los Angeles County; the last city heading east before San Bernardino! We are known as the city of Trees and Ph.D.s! If you are ever this way, I urge any visitor to come to see our Village tucked amongst five different colleges. While here, you can grab a coffee and pastry from Creme before doing some home shopping at The Grove. Or if you want to see The beauty of our city from a higher angle, you could go for a hike on the Claremont Loop that gives you a beautiful view of our city. For lunch you could visit Espiua’s for a taco salad and a drink. On a summer evening, you will be welcomed by one of four or five live bands on any corner before you could treat yourself to tapas and sangria at Viva Madrid or choose for fresh fare at Uno Tres Otto.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
I would like to recognize all the women in my life that have supported me through the hardest transitions in my life; particularly the career transition that I got to choose to make. I would like to pay special recognition to Dr. Kimberly Berens for being the catalyst to many of us and putting into words the need for educational change in her book “Blind Spots.”

Website: www.fitlearners.com

Instagram: @fitlearning_inlandempire_oc

Linkedin: www.linkedin.com/in/dralbanese

Facebook: @fitlearnersie