Jane Bilham is the founder of Vireo Tuition, an international tuition business that began with one tutor working in a local library and has grown into an oversubscribed global business with a team of over 60 tutors supporting families worldwide.
A former Assistant Vice Principal in an outstanding UK secondary school, Jane worked nationally as a Specialist Leader in Education before the birth of her son in 2013 prompted her to step away from senior leadership in search of a more flexible way of working. Over the last decade, her business has grown and evolved alongside her family life in a way that was never planned but always responsive.
In this episode, Jane shares the honest, organic and often accidental story of how a bit of pocket money tutoring in a local library became a global business, the identity crisis that came with stepping away from a career she loved and the pivotal moment her sister-in-law shone a light on what was possible.
💡 "For a long time I didn't feel like business was something that somebody like me did. Nobody in my family runs a business. But I just want to help people. And I suppose that's what any business owner wants to do." - Jane Bilham
In this conversation, we explore:
✨ How Jane's tutoring began with no plan and no vision board, simply as a way to reclaim a small piece of her identity after becoming a mother and stepping away from a senior leadership role she loved
✨ The stark identity shift from silencing a challenging classroom with the raise of an eyebrow to struggling to get a toddler to put their shoes on, and what that revealed about the real cost of the transition into motherhood
✨ Why the business grew entirely through word of mouth, from one student to £100 a week, without Jane ever consciously framing what she was building as a business
✨ The pivotal family conversation when her sister-in-law pointed out that she was, in fact, running a business, and the sleepless night that followed as Jane began to see what it could become
✨ How a single phone call from a contact in China transformed the business by opening up daytime tutoring hours, solving the problem of evenings and weekends that had never quite fit around her children
✨ The confidence work behind pricing a service-based business, from charging £25 an hour in a local library to understanding that clients are paying for expertise, experience and transformation, not just time
✨ What it took to hire her first tutor and delegate for the first time, and the anxiety of checking her phone through those early sessions to make sure everything was going well
✨ The rapid growth from one or two tutors to a team of over 60 in just twelve months, and what that pace of expansion demanded of Jane both practically and emotionally
✨ The honest reality of bringing her children along for the ride, including the moment she overheard her daughter proudly describe her as a businesswoman to a friend, and the harder moments when the balance has tipped too far towards work
✨ Why Jane founded Vireo Academy to help other tutors and parents access the same daytime flexibility that transformed her own family life, and what it means to her to accelerate that journey for someone else
About the Guest:
Jane Bilham is the founder of Vireo Tuition, an international tuition business supporting families worldwide with a team of over 60 tutors and Vireo Academy, through which she has supported over 1000 British tutors to access daytime international tuition opportunities.
A former Assistant Vice Principal and Specialist Leader in Education, she has represented UK education on international trade missions on behalf of the Department for Business and Trade. Jane is a mum of two who believes ambition and motherhood can be firm friends, given the right environment in which to flourish.
Visit the Vireo Tuition website for more information or can connect with Jane directly on Linkedin.
About The Host:
I’m Victoria Phipps – a Mum of two, analogue family photographer, personal brand photographer, educator, charity co-founder, marketer and now podcaster! 🎙️
I was raised by a nurturing Mother and an entrepreneurial Father and have inherited traits from both, so the tension between ambition and motherhood is one I grapple with on a daily basis!
I’m fascinated to hear the stories of other women on a similar path, who are striving to build thriving businesses whilst being present for their children. It's a tough juggle, but I hope the conversations shared on this podcast help Mums in business feel less alone and inspired to keep going in pursuit of their dreams.
Head to the Mum Means Business Podcast website for full show notes.
I would love to hear your thoughts on the topics discussed in this conversation, so please do let me know on Instagram where I'm @victoriaphippsmbe or @mummeansbusinesspodcast.
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