Local tutor combines math skills with knowledge of the mind
By Eryka Forquer
Playa Vista resident Ryan Gaynor is looking to integrate his tutoring business with his knowledge of the mind to further assist students with school and exam preparation.
Gaynor, who graduated from Loyola Marymount University with a degree in business management and a minor in dance, founded RGTUTORS nearly 13 years ago when his zest for learning math and helping children led him to pursue tutoring.
“I’ve always loved kids and I always loved math,” Gaynor says. “I loved teaching it, explaining it and doing fun tricks with it. So, when I graduated college, I was pursuing acting. I was like why don’t I try to start a tutoring business as well and see if I can make some money at it, but also help people.”
Since starting RGTUTORS, Gaynor has expanded the business to include a team of other tutors who offer guidance in areas including english, history, math, science and SAT and ACT preparation. Gaynor says his tutoring business has established a returning customer base and his current clients range from five or six years old to 18 years old.
“The goal is to really help as many people as possible,” he says.
Gaynor and the additional tutors provide one-on-one tutoring sessions with students.
In addition to offering tutoring services, Gaynor also implemented a business model at RGTUTORS that emphasizes the relationship between the tutors and students.
“For the last 13 years, I’ve always checked in with my students,” he says. “In addition to teaching and all this stuff, I always kind of checked in with my students and asked, ‘How are you feeling? What’s going on?’”
Gaynor says that checking in on a student can unearth their fears and anxieties of school subjects. In many scenarios, students experience negative self-talk which hinders their understanding and performance in school subjects. To help students overcome any negativity and fears, Gaynor says he makes a point “to stay there and listen” and validate their feelings.
“I tell them that whatever is going on in your life, it’s a reminder that you can get past this,” Gaynor says. “So, you can say to yourself, I’m not doing well with this right now, but I will be, instead of saying I suck at this, this is over and I’ll never be good.”
To further help his students, Gaynor is also learning the intricacies of the human mind and how it works from his father, Kerry Gaynor, a master hypnotist who helps people break their addictions and overcome their fears and anxieties.
“All humans have two parts of themselves: the subconscious and the conscious mind,” Gaynor says.
The conscious mind involves all the things that people are aware of and think about.
Alternatively Gaynor said the subconscious is where the addictions and fears reside and as such is the seed of power. As a hypnotist my father, Kerry Gaynor, can get his suggestions into the subconscious to help initiate change.
Ryan Gaynor, the founder of RGTUTORS, looks to use his math skills and knowledge of the mind help students. (Courtesy photo)
According to Gaynor hypnosis is a relaxed state that people drift in and out of naturally. Since the subconscious mind “runs the show,” Gaynor says his dad uses this state of mind to teach people how to overcome their fears and anxieties.
“My dad brings people into that state with a series of talking, counting and closing your eyes,” he says. “There’s no waving of a large watch back and forth like you see in the movies.”
Once people get into that relaxed state of mind, Gaynor says his dad then proceeds to teach people how to beat their addictions and fears through a “transformational process.”
“A lot of people think addiction is a lifelong thing that is one day at a time to get over,” Gaynor says. “He doesn’t teach that at all. He teaches that you can transform and be done with it.”
Gaynor says that many people have a preconceived misconception of what hypnosis is.
“A lot of people unfortunately misunderstand what hypnosis is, and they think it’s like a type of mind control,” he says. “Again, the only thing that the hypnotist can do is help you with whatever problem you have.”
Gaynor is learning the “Kerry Gaynor method” from his dad while also looking to attend school to become a certified hypnotist. Through schooling, Gaynor will further learn about addiction, fear and the human mind.
Once Gaynor becomes a certified hypnotist, he plans on integrating his skills into his tutoring business.
“As I talk about test taking strategies, test prep, anxiety and different stuff with my students, I’ll be able to talk to them on an even higher level of understanding of how the mind works and how you can overcome the anxiety and stuff like that,” he says. “My father works with people with anxiety every week where they can’t do certain things.”
As Gaynor continues to learn from his dad and gain hypnosis skills, he is focusing on creating free instructional math videos for students to learn from. “Math With RG” videos will feature a digital board where Gaynor will write the math problems with a side-by-side explanation of the math.
“Math With RG” will be featured on YouTube, TikTok and Instagram. The TikTok lessons will feature a shorter form of the math videos and cover the different anxieties that people face in education.
Gaynor hopes that his videos reach students around the world to help teach them math, which he calls a “universal language.”
“There’s millions of kids out there that need help every day and they either don’t have anyone around to help them, or their family cannot afford to pay anything to get them help,” he says. “So, it would really be amazing for me to be able to help more kids and put all my experience out there.”
RGTUTORS
Instagram: @rgtutors_
Facebook: rgtutors_
YouTube: Math With RG
TikTok: @mathwithrg
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