Passion for math, teaching and building community were the driving forces behind Lasha Lalana’s creation of her dream job. After teaching in the DeKalb County School System and in the Tucker Cluster for 17 years and tutoring on the side, Lalana realized there was a need for dedicated full-time math tutoring. So, in 2019 she combined those three loves and created The Math Depot, a math tutoring business located in the heart of downtown Tucker.
“This is my community… I love serving in the Tucker community,” Lalana said.
Lalana was familiar with the Tucker community from her time teaching at Smoke Rise Elementary School and The Math Depot owner was excited to open her business in a city she knew and loved. Lalana opened her business and knew it was the right decision for her.
Every business faces challenges in the first few years. The Math Depot opened just before the COVID-19 pandemic, creating an even larger hardship for the fledgling business.
“Unfortunately, like not even a full year of me doing that full-time, was when COVID happened,” Lalana said. “So I ended up having to close for a few months.”
Lalana was not willing to let The Math Depot go. She desperately wanted to serve the Tucker community along with continuing her passion for tutoring math.
“The Math Depot has been my baby so the baby was on life support, but I said there is no way I cannot open.”
The Math Depot reopened, and Lalana started tutoring and even offered virtual tutoring. The former Dekalb County teacher eventually got into the full swing of things and her company grew. She has gained more students to tutor and provides summer camps for the Tucker community. Lalana said one of the main things with tutoring is building up kids’ confidence. She said that when kids are more confident they tend to perform better on their assignments and tests. Bolstering their confidence causes her students to have success stories.
Lalana shared about a time a high school student came to her for a tutoring session.
“Mom said she was struggling; she does not get it. She came to me for one session took the test and made an 80 on the test.”
Helping and watching students overcome struggles is the major reward for Lalana and the reason she works so hard to make learning fun. Lalana enjoys being creative in her approach to teaching. She has a “Count the Candy” t-shirt that displays the first 100 numbers of the numerical Pi. Lalana said one of her favorite t-shirts is the “Math is not Scary” shirt because it sparks conversations due to the bad reputation Math has with the general public. The t-shirts are for sale on Main Street and have been a great way to market and promote her growing business.
“The one thing I love is just being creative,” Lalana said. “That is a big thing why I do my business because of the creative part that I have with it. So many things that I have not been able to do in school, I can do with my business.”
Lalana is heavily involved in the Tucker community. Many people know who she is because she has taught students in Tucker. Many former students who are walking by drop in and say hi when she is at The Math Depot. She is also involved in Tucker Walks, Toast Masters and is a member of the Tucker Business Association. Lalana feels like she is living the dream while serving her community along with indulging in her passions. The Math Depot is located at 2336 Main St, Tucker, GA 30084.
