Meet the Owners of Tutor Doctor South Tampa

Ralph and Jamie Lee

Ralph and Jamie Lee, husband and wife duo met one another halfway around the world! In 2005, Jamie went to Florence, Italy to study for a semester. Ralph had arrived in Florence just weeks before. He was there helping to open up a restaurant. The pair met, fell in love, and the rest (as they say) is history.

After graduating from Indiana University with Honors in Human Development and Family Studies, Jamie joined Teach For America. She taught 1st and 2nd grades in Chicago while getting her Master of Arts in Teaching degree. From there, she taught Pre-Kindergarten and Kindergarten and served as a Corps Member Advisor and Instructional coach for Teach For America’s new corps members. In 2011, Jamie made the move to Ralph’s hometown in Washington, D.C. There, Jamie taught at Sidwell Friends School, Ralph’s alma mater as, as his restaurant business began taking off. He and his former partner had opened 5 concepts together in D.C. before Ralph and Jamie decided to sell their shares to pursue other avenues. Jamie taught at Two Rivers Charter School and Lowell School in Washington, D.C. prior to the family’s move in June 2020.

Ralph’s longtime friends, Nick Friedman and Omar Soliman, the co-founders of Tampa-based College Hunks Hauling Junk and Trash Valet, encouraged Ralph and Jamie to make the move to Tampa. Nick and Omar moved to Tampa from D.C. to grow their own business, and felt it was a great environment and the perfect place to find a better work-life balance. They encouraged Ralph and Jamie to start their own business, and being friends with Tutor Doctor’s president, Frank Milner, they had the inside scoop about what a stellar organization Tutor Doctor is.

Tutor Doctor is comprised of more than 300 franchises across the world, located in 15 countries, offering both in-home and virtual tutoring. The Lees launched their franchise in August of 2020, after moving to Tampa in June of that year.

“We hadn’t heard of the business model or the franchise but when [Friedman & Soliman] told us about it, we thought it sounded like a great opportunity,” Ralph Lee said. “With Jamie’s background and my experience in business management, we thought it would be a good opportunity to go all in and still have some flexibility with our time and where we allocate our resources.”

“Behind every franchise is someone that is putting their savings and professional life on the line to pursue the American dream,” Friedman said. “The only difference is we always say with a franchise, you’re in business for yourself, but not by yourself. You have the network to be successful with branding and marketing, but you’re still an independent, small business owner creating jobs in the local economy.”

We offer tutoring services to students of all ages, grades, subjects, and abilities. We’re currently working with students from preschool to university levels in a number of subject areas.

We have an incredibly diverse group of tutors and we are always looking to grow our team! We have current teachers on our roster who tutor on the weekends or in the evenings and then people who are experts in their fields, like marine biologists and biochemists.

For more information about our private tutoring services, call (813) 532-3961 or contact us online to schedule your free complimentary consultation today!