Podcast Summary

College Bound Mentor: "Your Hidden Genius" with Betsy Wills & Alex Ellison

Date: January 15, 2026
Host(s): Lisa Bleich, Abby Power, Stefanie Forman
Guests: Betsy Wills (co-founder of YouScience), Alex Ellison (educational consultant and author)

Episode Overview

This episode dives deep into the science of innate talent discovery and utilizing personal aptitudes as a compass for educational and career decisions. Hosts Lisa, Abby, and Stefanie interview Betsy Wills and Alex Ellison, co-authors of Your Hidden Genius: The Science-Backed Strategy to Uncovering and Harnessing Your Innate Talents. The conversation focuses on how tools like YouScience empower students (and adults) to understand and harness their strengths, break down limiting self-perceptions, and become more intentional in academic, professional, and even family choices.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Origins & Purpose of YouScience

• Betsy’s Motivation: Betsy's experience with a costly aptitude test catalyzed her mission to democratize access to such assessments (04:04).
  • Quote: “It was a game changer for me. I started noodling over the fact that why doesn't everybody have this information?”
    – Betsy Wills [04:23]
• Alex’s Adoption: Alex sought scientifically valid, objective assessment tools for her students and found YouScience uniquely comprehensive and indispensable (05:08).

2. The 'Core Four' Aptitudes

• Definition: Spatial ability, inductive reasoning, sequential reasoning, and idea rate are the most crucial for deriving satisfaction and success (06:46).
  • Quote: “These are not new. They’ve been researched since the 1940s...”
    – Betsy Wills [06:46]
• Descriptions:
  • Spatial Ability: Visualizing objects in three dimensions.
  • Inductive Reasoning: Drawing conclusions from ambiguous information, often under time pressure.
  • Sequential Reasoning: Creating order and logic, either mentally or using tools.
  • Idea Rate (Idea Generation): Speed and volume at which one generates ideas, with both high ‘brainstormers’ and concentrated ‘focusers’ described as equally valuable—but contrasting.
• Team Applications: Emphasized benefits of diversity in aptitudes within teams and even relationships (09:45–11:28).

3. Book’s Impact in Counseling & Building Vocabulary

• Developed to help counselors and clients communicate about aptitudes with better language and relatable anecdotes (11:54).
  • Quote: “We really put a ton of time into just...making sure there was a big swath of the population so every reader could see themselves in at least one story.”
    – Alex Ellison [12:59]

4. Practical Examples & Patterns in Aptitudes

• Case: Trip Planning as an Example for Inductive Reasoning:
  Betsy's snap decisions vs. her husband's meticulous checking illuminate how differences in reasoning styles manifest daily (13:34–15:23).
• Case: Math Aptitudes & Gender Bias:
  Both guests shared stories about students, especially young women, not seeing their analytical or math strengths until an assessment revealed them.
  • Quote: “Women tend to express interest in traditional roles, but they actually have more aptitude for...computer science jobs than men.”
    – Betsy Wills [17:05]
  • Quote: “My favorite thing was to then give them YouScience...and just kind of see what their faces did and see the change...”
    – Alex Ellison [18:08]
• Emphasized applied math (stats, data analysis) is distinct from theoretical math—many “non-math people” may thrive in real-world analytic roles.

5. Interpreting Results & Navigating Career Choices

• Encouraged counselors and students to look for patterns, not gospel, in career matches. New jobs may not yet be represented in databases (22:48).
  • Quote: “Take those career suggestions as a pattern not necessarily as a specific because there are so many new jobs coming on board.”
    – Betsy Wills [22:48]
• Revisit assessments at transitions; context changes, aptitudes do not (25:18–27:31).
  • “You see something and interpret something different at different stages of your life.”
    – Alex Ellison [25:18]

6. Using Aptitude Data Across Ages & Roles

• Aptitude strengths are stable after puberty so assessments are useful from high school through adulthood (38:09).
• Useful for more than career planning: team-building, family empathy, crafting personal statements, re-entering or pivoting careers (29:05, 39:46).
  • “I wish parents would take it with their kids...it’s all about empathy, and it’s all about love.”
    – Betsy Wills [39:46]

7. Myth-Busting: One Path, One Purpose?

• Debunked the notion that there’s ever just one ‘perfect’ career (42:20).
  • “That you’re going to have one career... it’s strange how tightly we hang on to it.”
    – Betsy Wills [42:20]
  • “I give an introductory…intake…everyone says one [career], and I think it’s a fascinating example of that disconnect...”
    – Alex Ellison [42:43]
• Work satisfaction is multi-faceted: aptitudes can be fulfilled through hobbies or volunteering, not solely at work (44:29–46:10).

8. Practical Advice for Counselors, Students, and Families

• Use aptitude data for optionality, not to close doors prematurely, given college’s cost and life’s unpredictability (29:56).
• Encourage students (and adults) to shadow, talk to, or experience jobs before making decisions (48:31).
• Leverage stories, shared language, and collaborative reflection—like having others select adjectives describing you—for self-insight and application essays (41:51).
• Build expectation that career paths will evolve, and nurture aptitudes across multiple life domains.

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Accessibility:
  “We really democratized it...I wanted something scientifically grounded to help students take a more objective look at themselves.”
  – Alex Ellison [05:08]

• On Female Students & Math:
  “Their math department...just were convinced that it was...you have to really be serious about math...but I never, never had a boy counseled out of calculus. Not once.”
  – Abby [19:35]

• On Applied vs Theoretical Math:
  “I think what we need to parse for people is the difference between applied math… and that's the exact economy we're entering now.”
  – Betsy Wills [16:33]

• On Combining Aptitudes with Experience:
  “You can’t just do YouScience and then make your whole life plan based on that… you go seek mentorship and then you go get experiences.”
  – Alex Ellison [31:15]

• On Career Myths:
  “Our expectations of our relationship with a career…we emphasize so much in the book that it’s about building a fulfilling life using your full complement of aptitudes—in and out of work.”
  – Betsy Wills [44:29]

• On Applying Results to Real Life:
  “I would require every high school junior to do...months of shadowing. Students and clients are craving a glimpse...I wish that was part of the curriculum.”
  – Alex Ellison [48:31]

Timestamps for Key Segments

• Origins of YouScience & Backgrounds ............ [02:40–06:46]
• Core Four Aptitudes Explained .................... [06:46–09:45]
• Team/Relationship Applications .................. [09:45–11:28]
• Communicating Aptitude Results/Book Impact ..... [11:54–12:59]
• Real-life Examples: Betsy’s Trip, Math Biases ... [13:34–19:35]
• Interpreting Career Matches & Revisiting Results [22:48–27:31]
• How Aptitudes Change by Age/Audience ............ [25:18–27:31, 38:09–40:17]
• Practical Family Use & Empathy .................. [39:46–41:51]
• Career Path Myths, Fulfillment Beyond Work ...... [42:20–46:10]
• Shadowing & Real-world Exploration Advocacy ..... [48:31]

Takeaways & Recommendations

• Aptitude assessments like YouScience empower students and adults to see beyond self-imposed or cultural limitations, opening doors to new fields and roles.
• Focus is less on “the one true path” and more on using innate strengths across a lifetime—in different jobs, hobbies, volunteer work, or even family relations.
• Key advice: Use aptitude data as an ongoing reference, revisit regularly at transitions, and get families or teams involved for deeper empathy and understanding.
• Encouragement to counselors: Use these tools early (ninth grade+) to inform educational and extracurricular choices, while recognizing and discussing the fluidity of career paths in a rapidly changing world.