Spotlight | Alex Hede, Blossom House Co
Alex Hede’s business sees tutoring as a means to increase confidence as well as ability.
Published on 4 March 2020
Photography by Morgan Smith
Alex Hede’s passion for learning is obvious from the moment you meet her. Bubbling over with enthusiasm for the way tutoring can help with confidence and self-belief as well as maths skills, Alex has created something special with Blossom House Co.
We sat down with the business owner to discuss weekend swim sessions, the power of word-of-mouth and café coworking sessions.
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First things first: why Toowoomba?
I grew up on my family’s cotton farm, about 45km west of Goondiwindi. Being the youngest of four kids, I begged my parents to let me go away to boarding school as soon as my siblings all went and they eventually agreed to send me to Toowoomba Prep (now Toowoomba Anglican School) when I was starting Year 5.
After that, I went to high school at St Hilda’s on the Gold Coast, and stayed on the Coast for university.
My first job and the first businesses I started were back home in Goondiwindi, where I stayed for five years, before selling my businesses and backpacking through Asia for six months and living in the Netherlands for a while.
When I decided to come back to Australia, I eventually worked out that Toowoomba was the perfect balance of everything for a country girl like me.
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What is Blossom House Co?
Blossom House Co is a tutoring business for all ages, specialising in providing a learning environment for primary and secondary school students to become more confident in themselves, their school work and their natural abilities.
We help our students to identify their strengths, while supporting them in the areas they want to improve upon.
Blossom House is a very heart-centred, nurturing business and all of our sessions are 100% tailored to each student. Their personality, learning preferences and communication styles are all taken into account in the planning behind each session and every session is a 1-on-1 style of tutoring. We don’t just put our students on a computer program and then leave them to it; we are sitting right next to them and giving them our complete focus for the entire session. I believe that’s a huge part of why our students are getting such an incredible improvement in not only their grades at school, but more importantly, their confidence and self-esteem.
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What have you learned about running a business in Toowoomba?
I’ve found that if you’re truly passionate about the work you’re doing and you’re doing it for the right reasons, that will show, and the community of Toowoomba will give you an overwhelming amount of support.
What does an average day look like for you?
One of the things I cherish most about my life is that my day-to-day routine varies SO much, but here’s an example of what it can look like:
7am: I usually put on a ‘Yoga With Adriene’ YouTube video and start my day off with some yoga and meditation or a walk through Jubilee Park.
8am: I love doing co-working sessions with some of my friends (who are also running their own businesses) in our favourite cafés. It’s a great way to stay motivated, keep each other accountable and start the day off with a good laugh and a nice dose of coffee. Engine Room would have to be my pick of places to work from.
10am - 7pm: I’m currently tutoring a lot of university students, so my sessions can start from 10am onwards and go through until 7pm. In between sessions, I’m usually communicating with teachers, parents and potential clients. I also spend a lot of time planning for my sessions and researching exciting and new teaching techniques.
At the moment, I’m in the middle of working on a new project that will be a part of the Blossom House business, but a slight branch off from tutoring. I’ll look forward to sharing that with everyone in the near future!
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What does your ideal Toowoomba weekend look like?
Saturday mornings always start off with doing laps at Milne Bay Pool with my girlfriends, and then we all go for a long breakfast together at Urban Grounds. I usually go to the farmers markets at Cobb & Co on my way home and get all of our food for the week ahead. There’s something so special about buying direct from the farmers and chatting to them each week.
My husband and I both have quite full days during the week, so we cherish having the rest of our weekend together at home. We love trying out a new recipe and inviting friends over for a dinner party, or just cosying up with a good book. Sunday afternoons are when we like to go for a bush-walk through Jubilee Park, which happens to be just a few houses down from our place.
I’ve also really enjoyed going to women’s circles run by Reiki with Amy-Lee or Dorothy Way. They’re so nourishing for the soul and such a wonderful way to connect with like-minded women.
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Only a Toowoomba local would know…
How spectacular the drive is along Silver Pinch Road, heading towards Flagstone Creek. It’s a nice alternative to just heading down the normal range road when you’re heading east next time.
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FAVOURITE WEEKEND SPOT TO:
PERK UP: The coffee at Sage & Butler is on point, every time! Or a run through Jubilee Park always gets my heart rate up.
RELAX: Take your picnic rug and soak up the sunshine and the beautiful flowers at Queens Park.
EAT: Encores is my go-to “date night” venue with my husband. The food is always incredible. Or the Organic Food Market on Neil Street has an amazing range of products and fresh fruit and veg. Heaven!
INDULGE: An acupuncture session with Serene from Acupuncture and Traditional Chinese Medicine in Rangeville is one of my favourite self-love practices. I always leave feeling as though I’m floating on a cloud.
SHOP: Pick up some bargains at the next Toowoomba Fashion Market.
CATCH UP: The trails off the escarpment near Picnic Point are a great way to get a nice dose of nature while catching up with friends.
BE INSPIRED: By incredible women at a Women’s Circle (run by Reiki with Amy-Lee or Dorothy Way)
