Timothy Olaniyi
Director of Curriculum, Learning & Instructional Design
Parents and students consistently describe Timothy Olaniyi as the mentor who makes complex strategy feel human, practical, and deeply personal—the coach who can take abstract theory and translate it into everyday decisions that unlock a student’s sense of purpose. His calm, down-to-earth presence lowers the emotional temperature around high-stakes academic choices, helping families move from anxiety and overthinking to clarity, direction, and actionable next steps.
As Co-Founder and Director of Curriculum, Learning & Instructional Design at Lionheart Coaching Academy, Timothy has pioneered innovative curriculum alongside his wife and co-founder, Nicole, for all of Lionheart’s flagship programs—including the Merit Money Method, the Black Founder’s Formula, and early high school positioning pathways. Together, they have built a suite of programs that don’t just prepare students for selective admissions and competitive merit aid; they help students understand who they are, what they’re building toward, and how to sequence their efforts so that every year of high school compounds.
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In his Director role, Timothy architects the full learning experience—from student- and parent-facing modules to financial aid education, AI-enabled tools, and coach playbooks—so that Lionheart’s results don’t depend on any single coach or consultant. He specializes in turning big-picture strategy into clear, sequenced curriculum: structured lessons, reflective prompts, and coaching frameworks that guide students to connect rigor with relevance, ambition with alignment, and achievement with emotional health. His mandate is simple but demanding: create a curriculum that can stand on its own—so every student receives the same level of strategic clarity, regardless of which coach they work with.
Timothy’s perspective is shaped by his upbringing in a family whose Yoruba heritage is rooted in leadership and the arts—most notably through his father, world-renowned artist and UNESCO Artist for Peace Prince Twins Seven-Seven, whose work elevated Yoruba culture on a global stage. At the same time, his own journey as a high-achieving student without insider access to the U.S. education system exposed the cost of navigating college admissions without strategy, sequencing, or mentor guidance. That tension—rich legacy, but limited educational positioning—now informs how he designs curriculum: not as content for content’s sake, but as a sequenced roadmap that turns potential into direction for students who are often “early” but feel behind.
His coaching and curriculum philosophy is non-shaming and non-performative. Timothy doesn’t pressure students to “do more”; he helps them do what actually matters. He often reframes what families think is the problem—showing that the real issue is rarely effort, but sequencing and coherence. Drawing on years of direct consulting with Black professionals and second-generation immigrant families, he aligns course rigor, extracurricular focus, testing timelines, and leadership development into a narrative that admissions offices and scholarship committees can clearly recognize—without sacrificing a student’s wellbeing or identity.
Beyond Lionheart, Timothy serves as President, Co-Founder, and CEO of Selah Seminary, where he designs formation-based curriculum for emerging Christian leaders—integrating spiritual, emotional, and intellectual growth into sustainable leadership pathways. This work in holistic, cohort-based formation sharpens how he builds Lionheart’s programs: each module is crafted to move students and families from anxiety to orientation, from scattered effort to ordered, purpose-driven action.
Across all his roles, Timothy is a translator—of potential into strategy, of pressure into purpose, and of complex systems into clear next steps. As Lionheart scales, his leadership ensures that the company’s promise to families remains intact: academically ambitious students don’t just get into great schools—they do it with emotional grounding, cultural integrity, and a sense of calling that can carry them far beyond admissions season.