Jerret Johnson, founder of I’M LIT Learning and an alum of TechTown’s Start Studio programs, is preparing for the soft launch of her app on March 1, 2025.
Jerret Johnson, founder of I’M LIT Learning, won the Coaches’ Choice Award during the Start Studio MVP Summer 2023 Demo Day in August 2023. Photograph by J. Lindsey Photography
Tech founder Jerret Johnson wants all students to succeed — simple as that. She’s passionate about providing them with the resources needed to thrive in their education and not fall behind. The Ecorse native remembers her own experiences of feeling disengaged and unmotivated as a student in the classroom, and she doesn’t want today’s kids to feel the same.
That is why she created I’M LIT Learning, an online marketplace where educators teaching grades kindergarten through fourth grade can upload and sell their original lesson plans. I’M LIT Learning offers print materials that specifically use elements of hip-hop to teach and engage students. (Think along the lines of popular creators like Gracie’s Corner or Learning with Ms. Houston.)
“We are inserting the culture into the lesson plan so kids can see themselves in the curriculum,” Johnson says.
Johnson presents her minimum viable product for I’M LIT Learning at the Start Studio MVP Summer 2023 Demo Day in August 2023. Photograph by J. Lindsey Photography
“I have a sense of urgency”
As a cohort member of TechTown’s Start Studio programs, Johnson was able to refine her ideas for I’M LIT Learning and bring them to life. During Start Studio Discovery, the most entry-level program for founders to validate their ideas, Johnson performed more than 100 customer discovery interviews with teachers and learned some shocking information: many students are one to three grade levels behind in reading and math.
“I was hearing the same story over and over,” Johnson says, adding that she spoke with teachers in the Ecorse and Detroit school districts as well as with teachers out of state in Illinois and Nevada. “When I used to do my report backs, I was in tears. They are all behind, and the teachers are depressed. They are seeing therapists.”
When Johnson was accepted into the Start Studio MVP program, she created a demonstration-ready, no-code app with the support of a TechTown developer and entrepreneur-in-residence. Johnson also won the Coaches’ Choice Award during the Start Studio MVP Summer 2023 Demo Day.
“It was very rewarding, being around like-minded people that are doing the same things I was doing. You can get your [tech] idea out your head and into the App Store, and you have a way to test it,” Johnson says of her time in Start Studio. She is still in contact with her mentors and fellow tech founders she met in her cohorts. “I have a sense of urgency. This is not just a business that I’m doing; it’s a social connection. It’s a community connection that I feel responsible for.”
Johnson moments after hearing she won the $500 Coaches’ Choice Award during the Start Studio MVP Summer 2023 Demo Day in August 2023. Photograph by J. Lindsey Photography
Ready to serve
Starting March 1, learning materials will be available for teachers to buy on the I’M LIT Learning app, and the business is actively looking for more teachers — or “LIT ED sellers,” as they’re referred to — to sell their curriculum.
Teachers can fill out an interest form with information on what grade levels they’re interested in providing materials for and the price range for their lesson plans. Those accepted will then do an onboarding call with Johnson and receive instructions for uploading their curriculum to the platform.
Johnson says early users who sell their learning materials through I’M LIT Learning within the first six months of the soft launch will receive 25% of sales.
“I’m excited to build a community of teachers and educators,” she says. “We can’t lose sight of the students, but we have to build up the teachers and give them what they need in order to have a successful classroom.”
Bringing the message to more people
As Johnson continues to build I’M LIT Learning, she wants to raise more awareness on the challenges students and educators face. She was so moved by the customer discovery interview process through Start Studio Discovery that she wants to make those interviews a standard practice for I’M LIT Learning’s research and onboarding processes and keep its marketplace sellers informed of what educators are experiencing. Johnson has also partnered with StoryCorps and wants to eventually start a podcast sharing her conversations with teachers.
Johnson also hopes to expand I’M LIT Learning to support parents and create mini classrooms within the app for students to receive one-on-one support from teachers.
For anyone else who has a tech idea in mind, Johnson is quick to recommend TechTown. “I always say, if you have a tech idea, the first stop should be TechTown because you’ll be able to get that idea out of your head and into the market,” she says. “TechTown is really a lifesaver, and they help you to manifest your ideas quickly.”
I’m LIT Learning will have its soft launch on March 1, 2025. Visit I’M LIT Learning’s website to learn more about the platform. Do you have your own tech idea that you want to validate? Check out TechTown’s Start Studio programming.
