Professional blog

Unreasonable FUTURE is a unique multi-year initiative bringing together disruptive entrepreneurs to create a more sustainable and equitable future for all. Its founding sponsors are Pearson, Fossil Foundation and Accenture. This Q&A series spotlights a few of the ventures in the program to provide a glimpse into the innovative work that is being nurtured.

Using tech to bridge the socio-economic divide in rural & urban areas

How would you describe your business to your grandmother?​

At Astrome, we focus on connection through technology. Be it connecting farmers to the government, connecting children to teachers in cities, or connecting craftsmen to the worldwide market to sell their products—we develop internet technologies to make those connections possible.

What problem does your business solve for society?​

Astrome bridges the socio-economic divide between rural and urban areas, helping to create more equal opportunities for all. We develop innovative products that can deliver reliable internet services in these rural areas, allowing millions of people to access the information they need for the betterment of their lives.

Where did you source inspiration?​

Our inspiration has always stemmed from using technology to improve the world we live in, particularly within the emerging world. From a personal perspective, both my co-founder and I grew up in small towns in India with many of our relatives living in villages. During this time, we witnessed firsthand the changes that occurred in our own areas due to limited internet access. Even today, we still see a large gap in accessibility of the internet to villages. As technologists, innovation excites us, so we combined this with our passion for solving critical world problems, and Astrome was born.

What’s something you know now that you wish you knew when you started your business?​

Looking back, we wish we knew more about the maturity of the VC funding ecosystem in emerging countries for deep-tech and hardware; we also discovered that the funding available at pre-Series A and Series A stages, as well as the understanding of deep tech start-ups by investors, is much lower than required in many countries.

What’s the best place for people to learn more about your company’s work or to follow your progress?​

The best place for people to learn about our company’s work is on our website; the best place to follow our progress is through our LinkedIn page.

Unreasonable FUTURE is a unique multi-year initiative bringing together disruptive entrepreneurs to create a more sustainable and equitable future for all. Its founding sponsors are Pearson, Fossil Foundation and Accenture. This Q&A series spotlights a few of the ventures in the program to provide a glimpse into the innovative work that is being nurtured.

Empowering rural youth to help farmers increase productivity & income

How would you describe your business to your grandmother?​

At Kuza we are changing the status quo by nurturing and growing youth as Agripreneurs—agricultural entrepreneurs, while democratizing access and creating opportunities for smallholder farmers to learn, connect (with other ecosystem partners) and grow (their Agri business).

We use technology to bring new ideas to remote areas. Agripreneurs visit a cohort of smallholder farmers in rural communities, taking a backpack which holds a Wi-Fi router, portable cloud designed to work without power and internet and a projector. They use this to stream specially created, bite-sized learning videos on best agriculture practices, life and business skills, which farmers can watch using tablet devices that Kuza lends them. The farmers need not be digitally literate.

What problem does your business solve for society?​

Smallholder farmers contribute to 80% of agricultural produce in Africa, yet they don’t have access to extensive resources and are dependent on middlemen. They are the people creating value and taking risk, but earn the least in the supply chain.​

Additionally, about 90% of the 1.8 billion young people worldwide between the ages of 10-24 are living in low and middle-income countries. Most of these youth are unemployed and live-in agrarian societies and rural areas.​

Enter Kuza; we’re revolutionizing the resilience of over 500 million smallholder farmers by handpicking enterprising rural youth and enrolling them in our REDI program (Rural Entrepreneurship Development Incubators) to become Agripreneurs—each supporting 200 farmers to increase their productivity & income.

Where did you source inspiration?​

Late in 1999 there was a hurricane (cyclone) in Orissa, India; over 13 million people lost their livelihoods and over 100,000 lost their lives. We (the future founders of Kuza) developed an idea to support the hurricane victims and put together one of the world’s first crowdfunding campaigns; it was called Cause an Effect. The idea went viral and we raised over $1.5 million in 45 days to support the hurricane victims. A global community of 18 million people from 70+ countries actively participated in the campaign.

We won the Kauffman award for Social Entrepreneurship for this effort and began a new chapter as social entrepreneurs. To date Kuza has impacted over 5 million lives and created 150K new jobs across 9 African countries and South Asia.

What’s something you know now that you wish you knew when you started your business?​

We wish we had the wisdom and clarity on how to leverage the power of communities to create a sustainable social business model at the time when we started.​

What’s the best place for people to learn more about your company’s work or to follow your progress?​

Please visit our company website or follow us on our social channels: Sriram Bharatam | Bharathi Bharatam​

Unreasonable FUTURE is a unique multi-year initiative bringing together disruptive entrepreneurs to create a more sustainable and equitable future for all. Its founding sponsors are Pearson, Fossil Foundation and Accenture. This Q&A series spotlights a few of the ventures in the program to provide a glimpse into the innovative work that is being nurtured.

Tech-powered collaboration between companies and employees on diversity, equity, and inclusion

How would you describe your business to your grandmother?

Simply put, Kanarys helps people work where they belong by fostering collaboration between companies and employees on diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) in the workplace. The Kanarys technology platform collects both anonymous employee feedback and objective company data to help diagnose, prioritize, and optimize DEI efforts in the workplace.

Kanarys works alongside company partners to give them a deep look at the diversity, equity, and inclusion at their own company—equipping them the information and tools they need to create a more diverse, equitable, and inclusive workplace. Through transparency and accountability, the Kanarys platform provides a feedback mechanism for companies to continuously improve their diversity, equity, and inclusion, ultimately creating a better workplace for all.

Kanarys provides benchmarks for companies based on their industry, making it very clear where they fall behind in terms of diversity, equity, and inclusion and also provides actionable insights for companies on where they can improve.

What problem does your business solve for society?​

My co-founders and I started the company in 2018 because we knew that current DEI initiatives were failing employees, and data, accountability, and transparency can help ensure that employees’ voices are heard. Given our personal and professional experiences as Black women and men in the workplace, we observed a breakdown in communication, even at well meaning companies, and we knew we could build a technology platform that could solve this problem for employees and companies everywhere.

Based on our research, DEI initiatives were lacking the key aspects of data, accountability, and transparency. Kanarys is working to change how DEI is measured and how efforts are being implemented so the kind of hardships we faced in the workplace are stopped, leading our society in creating a better workplace for all. Our platform is built knowing that change starts from within and if business leaders across the U.S. commit to doing the work, we will finally see an inclusive workplace and a more equitable society, where everyone can work where they belong.​

Where did you source inspiration?​

We created the platform based on our own lived experiences in the workplace. I had many of the same experiences and accolades as my colleagues in the legal industry, but I continued to experience many inequities in the workplace that Black women often encounter.

I knew that although my experiences were traumatic, they were not unique, and employees everywhere face similar situations. For example, I have been called the company’s “diverse” partner by a colleague —immediately minimizing me and my experiences to being a token at the company. Additionally, I have been asked if I had gotten into Harvard legitimately.

It was from these experiences throughout my career, along with the experiences of others, that I drew the inspiration for Kanarys. We are really building a bridge between employees and employers where concerns are addressed without the fear of retaliation, which is something that would have greatly benefitted me during my previous career.​

What’s something you know now that you wish you knew when you started your business?​

I have been a leader many times in my life and during my career, but the demands of being a leader in a startup environment are in a league of their own. Add to that the challenges of leading a business during a pandemic and it’s even more challenging.

I have a greater appreciation now than ever before about how important it is to be responsive to my team’s mental health and how, as a leader, it’s up to me to make sure this is prioritized. We are a mission-driven company and I’m so fortunate to have a team full of people so personally devoted to that mission.

But, at the end of the day, it is my job to check in with folks, which ultimately gives the team permission to share concerns and feel comfortable taking full advantage of all the resources we have available. For my team to be at their best, I have had to make sure they are taken care of holistically. I’ve learned that sometimes, you have to go slow to go fast.​

What’s the best place for people to learn more about your company’s work or to follow your progress?​

You can learn more about our company on Kanarys.com or our social media channels at @kanarysinc on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn.

I encourage everyone to log on to our website and anonymously rate and review your workplace today. Additionally, we offer a robust Resource Center at Resources.Kanarys.com with free webinars, toolkits, and guides for both employees and companies on how to create a more diverse and equitable workplace.

Unreasonable FUTURE is a unique multi-year initiative bringing together disruptive entrepreneurs to create a more sustainable and equitable future for all. Its founding sponsors are Pearson, Fossil Foundation and Accenture. This Q&A series spotlights a few of the ventures in the program to provide a glimpse into the innovative work that is being nurtured.

Training youth in conflicted affected areas to join the digital economy

How would you describe your business to your grandmother?

Our goal at Re:Coded Labs is to democratize access to quality learning and ensure that youth from underserved communities are prepared for the rapidly changing workforce of today and tomorrow. We do this by offering transformative learning experiences to talented youth and educators, in a range of technical and non-technical skills, with the goal of facilitating high value employment in the digital economy.​

We offer three core products / services under one umbrella:​

Immersive Career Driven Learning Programs

Each of our immersive programs has one goal: to help launch a new tech career for talented youth being left at the margins of the global digital economy. Throughout the programs, students apply theory to real-world problems, learn software development or design skills, and receive instruction and support from industry leaders while maximizing their personal growth. Our students then receive dedicated career support to help them land their first job in the tech sector.​

Educator Innovation Programs

Our intent with these programs is to achieve systemic change in outdated learning models and education systems. We do this by empowering educators to reimagine learning for the future of work using our own pedagogical and metacognition framework.​

Education Products

We develop a range of educational products that enable learners to learn faster and more effectively.​

What problem does your business solve for society?

We’re in the midst of a digital revolution and traditional education systems and outdated learning models are failing to prepare youth for the future of work. Nowhere is this more evident than in countries that are already affected by conflict, violence, poverty and disaster.

Meanwhile, COVID-19 has caused massive economic disruption, exacerbating the effects of this technical transformation. While the net impact of this pandemic is uncertain, youth who were already at the margins of the global digital economy risk being further left behind and entering a dangerous cyclical relationship between economic disenfranchisement and instability, unless we ensure they have the skills, resources and networks to thrive. We exist to reconcile this global digital inequality divide by providing youth with in-demand skills and networks in order to create opportunity and good jobs for entire communities.

Where did you source inspiration?

The inspiration behind what we do comes from witnessing the problem firsthand. In June 2014, I first traveled to Iraq to implement a peace-building initiative for Syrian refugees who had been displaced by the civil war. Upon seeing the lack of access to meaningful education & employment opportunities for youth, I set about researching initiatives that could bridge the education and employment divide in the wake of conflict.

Two years later after securing seed funding, I teamed up with my co-founder Marcello to create an organization with a startup mindset and a mission to empower youth by teaching high-end technical skills for the digital economy. My background is in human rights law whilst Marcello’s is education in emergencies.

What’s something you know now that you wish you knew when you started your business?

Everything and yet nothing! Starting and growing this organization has been one of the steepest learning curves of my life. I came from a legal background without an MBA or any experience running a business. Yet, every failure has been an opportunity to learn and grow. From designing our first programs to managing complex operations in conflict zones to hiring — it’s been a fun challenge. I’m not sure any business book or course can prepare you for what is to come on the journey of social entrepreneurship.

What’s the best place for people to learn more about your company’s work or to follow your progress?

Subscribe to our newsletter here or follow us on social media @recodedofficial.

Picture this: Joanna is a busy executive and single mom who works as a senior Project Manager at a large technology firm. Due to COVID-19, she’s been working from home since March, and her company just announced they’re extending work from home orders through at least July 2021.

Although her travel schedule came to an abrupt halt once the pandemic began hit, her 10+ hour days are filled with back-to-back virtual planning meetings, client presentations, and conference calls. In addition to managing her job remotely, Joanna must also oversee her three teenage children who are now engaged in virtual at-home learning, likely through the end of the school year.

Joanna’s daughter is in 8th grade, and is a severely dyslexic learner with an auditory processing disorder. She has online classes from 8:00 a.m. until 3:15 p.m. with 15- minute breaks between in each class. Joanna’s freshman and senior sons are also virtually enrolled in the public school system. Although the boys’ online schedules are less rigorous than their sister’s, they’re simultaneously navigating the expectations of high school learning and the college search process, with varying demands on workload, applications, and standardized testing.

At any given point in the day, at least one of the kids has a question — a math equation here, a grammar exercise there, how to read a passage, what a particular chemistry assignment means, or how to start an essay for English. Their teachers say they’ll answer emails or provide study halls, but many times they aren’t available at the time of need. And even if Joanna can help with the content, she can’t interrupt her full docket of video calls and meetings.

On top of everything else, the house is wreck. Joanna’s mother had typically lent a hand with cooking, cleaning, and helping the kids, but she can longer come to the house due to a weakened immune system. Exasperated & tired, Joanna’s work, her family, and her children’s education are suffering.

Some employers are doing it right

While the scenario above is just an example, corporations understand that this type of situation is becoming all-too familiar. Employees worldwide are newly burdened with pressures of working remotely while juggling distance-learning dependents at home. As such, companies are swiftly rethinking what employee benefits look like and aggressively investing in their workforces.

Corporations spend $164B annually on employee training & education, which can include tutoring services. With the pandemic still creating upheaval for the foreseeable future, that number is likely to rise as employees’ struggles become clearer.

Mental health offerings by employers are already seeing significant increases in recent years — from 34% in 2014 to 75% in 2018. With nearly half of Americans saying their mental health has suffered due to the COVID-19 crisis, this spending trend on well-being services is expected to continue to help workers deal with stress and anxiety.¹

Some larger companies have adopted new programs that offer heavily subsidized school day supervision for students on a part-time basis to help parents deal with the financial and mental stress created by juggling work and their children’s virtual classes. But even in the midst of the pandemic, some of the numbers around employee benefits are alarming. One report by The Society for Human Resource Management showed that only 4% of the member companies it surveyed offered subsidized child-care centers or programs. About 40% didn’t even offer a pretax dependent-care flexible spending account.²

Still, there are bright spots. Minnesota-based food company Hormel recently announced that they’d pay tuition costs to two-year colleges for its employees’ dependent children beginning in the 2021-22 academic year.³ Other companies are providing access through their Employee Assistance Programs to education support services like tutoring, mental health activities to help employees stay physically and mentally healthy at home, and support in the form of free financial planning and credit monitoring.⁴

Give employees academic help

To support corporate employee dependents & family members during the COVID-19 pandemic and beyond, Pearson offers Smarthinking. With 24/7 online tutoring and writing support available on-demand, Smarthinking can help employees and their families with normal coursework, reskilling, and upskilling, from middle school through college, graduate, professional, and certificate level. This relieves the extreme pressures on parents working remotely by assisting their at-home students with writing and other school work — in real time and asynchronously.

For more than 20 years, we’ve successfully served millions of students through our university partnerships and direct to learner models. And now, when your workers and their families need assistance, we can help you offer the best academic and skills-improving support available.

Sources

¹Erica Sliverman, “Increased spending and COVID-19 impact 2020 benefits landscape,” BenefitsPRO.com, August 17, 2020.
²Jena McGregor, “Big firms offer stressed parents new perks such as subsidized tutoring,” washingtonpost.com, August 20, 2020.
³Madeline St. Amour, “Free Tuition for Children of Employees at Hormel Foods,” Inside Higher Ed, September 1, 2020.
⁴Alan Kohll, “How One Company Is Taking Care Of Employees During COVID-19,” Forbes.com, Apr 6, 2020.

“Hey, sorry. I was on mute.” It should be our new national t-shirt.

If you’ve said this recently, you’re in the club. You’re among the millions who have been working at home in the wake of the pandemic.

According to the Physicians Foundation, nearly half of all doctors are using telemedicine appointments. Nearly every teacher in the US this year made the switch to online learning. What do they have in common? The ability to connect emotionally with patients or students is proving to be a struggle.

“New Connections Academy teachers often learn that what makes them a great virtual teacher is their communication skills,” says Mickey Revenaugh, co-founder of Pearson’s Connections Academy, a full-time online school program for grades K-12.

Trying to be human through the lens of webcam may be the next big skills gap, as working from home continues for the foreseeable future. Over 7,000 people in seven countries agree – in Pearson’s Global Learner Survey, 77% of people said that teleworking during the COVID-19 pandemic has taught me that working remotely requires different skills than working in an office. What are those skills? 89% say that people will need to develop more digital skills, such as virtual collaboration, virtual communication, analyzing data or managing remote team.

Two researchers from Pearson explain.

“Communication and collaboration are two soft skills that become even more important when working virtually,” says Elizabeth Moore, Director, Learning Research & Design. Although these skills have always been important for employees when in the office, they are even more crucial when answering the challenges posed by working solo in front of a computer screen.

“Communication is important but different in a virtual environment,” says Jessica Yarbro, PhD, Senior Research Scientist. “Formal communication has to be more important. You can’t just pop over and have an informal chat.”

But you can teach and learn digital communications. Mickey says that “Connections teachers are specially trained to excel in online teaching, especially how to engage students in an online classroom and use a full spectrum of communications. They understand how and when to reach out to students and their families.”

The norms of how we operate and engage with people at work are gone and being reset by emails, phone calls, texts and video meetings. But something gets lost in these technology-mediated communications. You just can’t read people’s social cues.

Here is what our experts suggest to build more empathy and keep your soft skills sharp while working at home:

1. Make an effort to keep your camera on

“The decision to have your camera on in meetings isn’t something to take lightly. It helps you pick up on someone’s facial expressions and also allows you to show with your own expressions that you are actively listening,” says Moore.

2. Be more direct, not less

Researchers say that while it may feel awkward, you may need to be more direct to get people to engage virtually. The researchers recommend you do more check-ins for what people are thinking and feeling. And use active listening skills – reflecting and summarizing not only what people are saying but their social cues too. Verbal cues like “let me play back what I think I hear you saying” or “I think I hear you saying” are ways to show empathy and make you sure you really understand what others are saying.

3. Practice active collaboration

“Collaboration is about building on each other’s ideas,” says Moore. “So think out loud, virtually, to let your teammates know what you’re thinking and what you mean, so that they can help.”

4. Address conflicts quickly and verbally

But of course, personal conflicts will happen. And if you can’t ask somebody to talk one-to-one over coffee to address an issue, what do you do?

“I think it is even more important to make a space to talk person-to-person, especially if there are conflicts in a virtual environment,” says Yarbro. She says take conversations off email and do a video call.

Some people will find themselves back in the office later in the year, but remote work isn’t going away entirely. There is no escape from needing develop your digital skills in this new world of work.

“This change has been really hard. But, we’re learning,” says Moore. “We will come out of this with a new and more flexible digital working skillset. There’ll be a more of an expectation that you’ll be polished and skilled in doing anything virtually.”

I’ve been working remotely for almost six years, so I have some sense of what it generally takes to be successful working from home. But then the social distancing orders went into place in March. Now, I’ve gone from focusing on work, alone, in my home office, to sharing my workspace with my wife (who has started working from home too), while we provide around-the-clock primary care for our two young children. Working from home has become less about working and more about home.

Recent surveys from Pearson indicate that others are experiencing challenges as well. In March, 81% of Americans agreed that remote work is just as good as office work, but that number is down 16 percentage points in the April survey. Satisfaction levels have also gone down as the pandemic stretches on: in March 93% reported being satisfied with their work from home experience, but that dropped to 82% reporting satisfaction in April.

In my state the shelter-in-place restrictions aren’t likely to be lifted any time soon. Since I’m a researcher, I’ve turned to the body of evidence for motivation and self-management for advice on how to get through this.

Here are five tips for how to stay motivated when working remotely based on that research and my own experiences.

1. Update your mindset

Many of us are trying to juggle two full-time jobs at the same time: caring for and being a teacher to our children while also doing the job that pays the bills. But you can not physically do both at the same time. Repeat that to yourself if you need to (I know I have!).

As such, I’ve had to reset my expectations so I’m not setting myself up for failure. My recommendation is that you try to be realistic in order to keep from getting demoralized. These are difficult times and you can not be as productive as before.

2. Set realistic goals

Now that you’ve updated your mindset, write down what is most important for you at home and for work. This will help you not only prioritize your work when time is limited, but also enable you to be satisfied that you’re still focusing on what matters. Then celebrate the small wins to help you stay motivated.

For example, I’ve become less worried about how much time my kids are spending with the tablet, and been explicit to myself that my goal is for my children to be healthy, safe, and as happy as they can be right now. And, I’ve talked with my boss to prioritize projects and push out some deadlines.

3. Create a new routine

Working from home gives you more flexibility than ever before. However, this freedom can be a double-edged sword. Work can bleed into family time and vice versa.

To counteract this, I’ve established some habits to help me transition from “morning with the kids” to “working day.” In particular, I’ll go and get changed, make myself a cup of coffee, bring it to my desk, and start on whatever task I told myself I’d pick up first thing the next day. In addition, my wife and I split up days so we can each make sure to carve out enough time to get our jobs done.

I recommend keeping to a healthy routine, blocking off working hours (as much as you can), and maintaining a dedicated “work zone” in your home, even if it is temporary, to stay focused.

4. Help yourself stay on track

To make the most of the time you have, it can help to get specific about how you will deal with obstacles in your way. Spend some time thinking about things that might make it difficult to stick to your goals, and then come up with some concrete plans for how you will deal with those (e.g., “If I see a notification news story about COVID-19 that I want to read, instead I will turn off notifications for the next hour and go back to working.”)

Planning these “if → then” kinds of rules ahead of time has been found to be really effective for helping people stick to their goals.

5. Stay connected

Working from home can often feel isolating and motivation can easily wane, so efforts to feel like part of a community at work can help. Turn your camera on during meetings. And, make an effort to recreate that watercooler talk via chat or by scheduling catch ups with your colleagues. Everyone who I’ve talked with has been in a similar challenging situation and it has made me feel better that I’m not alone.

I also really look forward to virtual calls with family and friends. Knowing that I have a happy hour with my favorite people coming up has made getting through the day a little less painful.

In the same surveys I mentioned earlier, in April, 65% of Americans say they intend to continue to work remotely after the pandemic subsides. If you do continue to work from home, I can tell you it will get easier when life returns to normal!

A Famous Face

If you’ve ever watched the DIY Network on television, Kayleen McCabe’s is a face you may recognize.

She is the host and star of “Rescue Renovation,” a show that helps homeowners who are in over their heads. Renovation projects turn from disastrous “befores” into jaw-dropping “afters.”

When Kayleen is not in front of the camera, she’s traveling the country telling students the story of how her long-time construction hobby turned into a successful career.

Growing up different

“As a little girl, I was always building stuff with my hands,” Kayleen says.

“My dad was a welder by trade, so I learned a lot of what I know from him.”

“We did repairs around the house, built fences, and worked on cars together.”

“I didn’t realize how unique that was until high school,” Kayleen says.

Kayleen says most of her classmates had no idea what they wanted to do after graduation.

Kayleen was different.

“I knew, even then, that I wanted to work in the construction trades,” she says.

Trusting her instincts

Although knew she wanted a career in construction, Kayleen didn’t enroll in trade school after high school.

“I made good grades,” she says, “and I felt pressure to do what the other ‘good students’ did: go to college.”

One year and two schools (Red Rocks Community College and Colorado State University) later, Kayleen called her parents with some news that ultimately wasn’t a surprise to them: college wasn’t for her.

“I could’ve saved a lot of tuition money by following that instinct earlier,” Kayleen says.

“I am so grateful that when I eventually did, my parents were supportive.”

The first foray into television

Shortly after graduating from high school, Kayleen says, her cousin called her with a proposition.

“She was a producer on the TV show ‘Trading Spaces.’”

“She knew I liked working with my hands, and she said she could help me get a production assistant job.”

From her very first day on the set, Kayleen says she was hooked.

“I would bounce of out of bed at 5 am, vibrating with excitement about whatever we got to build next.”

“It was the first time I fell in love.”

The mentor of all mentors

On the set of “Trading Spaces,” Kayleen met a master craftsman named Frank.

“He was this grumpy-looking older guy with a big bushy mustache that was permanently stained from tobacco,” Kayleen says.

“But he taught me more than I could ever explain.”

“I could ask him anything, and he encouraged me to learn, to try, and most importantly, to fail,” Kayleen says.

“Being in an environment where I felt so safe to do that was the best gift I ever received.”

“Learning the way that I did—on the job—was more of an education than I could ever have gotten from going to college.”

“Rescue Renovation”

“Rescue Renovation” is currently in its fifth season on TV.

Kayleen says she is immensely grateful for her continued success—especially in a field that is traditionally dominated by men.

“When the show first started, I was one of the only female hosts on our channel—or any other one.”

“It’s different now, and I cannot wait for that to keep changing.”

When she travels for her show, Kayleen says, she is often able to help drive that change.

“I like to leverage a plane ticket as much as possible.”

“I’ll find out what schools are close to the airport and call them up. I say, ‘Hi, I’m a woman in the trades, can I come talk to your kids about career opportunities in my field?’”

“To the best of my ability,” Kayleen says, “I will continue to leverage what fame I’ve garnered to help recruit more and more young women into the construction trades.”

Connecting with audiences on smaller screens, too

In her spare time, Kayleen produces short, instructional videos for her followers and fans. She hosts them on her personal web page.

Topics range from cabinet building, to clamps and fasteners, to drill skills.

“I want to get them into the hands of middle and high school teachers so they can show their kids what working in the trades is really like.”

“Growing up, my teachers had nothing like that. In terms of recruitment, I think it could be game-changing.”

Something to strive for

Kayleen says she is constantly thinking about the future—for herself and for construction trades overall.

“I want to double the number of students I talk to every year … until that becomes impossible.”

Already this year, Kayleen has made incredible progress towards her goal. She has trips planned to Indiana, Ontario, Nebraska, Arizona, Kentucky, Nevada, Abu Dhabi, and Mississippi—all in the next few months.

“Someday, I hope I am able to travel full-time, speaking to students and giving them scholarships to study the trades.”

“I want to be the Bill Gates of power tools,” Kayleen says.

“And my passport has a lot of room in it.”

There are many reasons right now for why you may be looking to upskill – social lives are currently limited, you may unfortunately be out of work, or you just might be looking for ways to spend isolation productively. To help you be better positioned to excel in or re-enter the workforce, here are some tips on where to begin, and how to succeed as a student again, this time learning in an online world.

1. Consider your goals

You may already know what knowledge or skills you’re after, but if not, spend some time thinking about your goals. For instance, is there something that could help you improve your performance in your current role?

Or perhaps you have your eye on a new position or a career change. To get an idea of the skills you need, read through job descriptions for roles similar to the one you want. How well do the job descriptions fit you? What would you like to be able to add to your resume in order to better align with the qualifications?

2. Ask others for advice

This could be a great opportunity to discuss your professional development with your manager to see what would take your work to the next level in your current role or a desired role. You could also ask current and former co-workers.

LinkedIn is also a powerful resource for seeking information and advice in this area. For instance, you could see if anyone in your network works in a similar field or role to the one you’re interested in. If so, what credentials have they earned? What skills do they describe in their profiles? If you know them personally or through a mutual connection, see if they would be willing to answer any questions you might have.

Once you have a good idea of your learning goals, consider the following when choosing your next steps.

3. Find a learning option that aligns with your goals

Most well-designed learning experiences will come out and state their intended learning objectives – essentially the knowledge and skills you’re meant to get out of the experience. You certainly don’t want to waste your time, so make sure the experience is aimed at moving you toward your learning goals.

Next, consider the scope of the learning. Is it completely or mostly focused on what you hope to learn at the appropriate depth of detail, or is it so broad that it will only touch upon topics you’d prefer more detail on?

Finally, think about the time commitment for the learning to ensure it would be realistic for you to complete the learning on the expected timeline.

4. Decide whether you need a credential

For many learning goals, it may be important to be able to share or demonstrate that you’ve completed the learning or are proficient at a skill. For example:

• Earning a professional certification to advance in your current job
• Pursuing a new position that requires you to hold a certain degree
• Working toward a badge or certificate to include on your resume to demonstrate that you have skills in a certain area

In these cases, it often makes more sense to pursue a more formal option like a training course, degree program, or studying for a standardized assessment that would provide you with a diploma, badge, certification, etc.

However, a credential may be less important to you. It could be instead that you simply want to acquire skills and knowledge to help you do your current job better, or that you’re pursuing a topic that’s of personal interest to you. In this case, the more formal learning options mentioned above could certainly work for you, but you also might consider whether you can meet your needs with online videos, books, webinars, or other similar (potentially free!) resources.

5. Look into free and discounted options

Many organizations provide free learning resources on a variety of topics to their employees to encourage professional development, so it is worth looking into what your organization already has, and whether it meets your learning needs.

Some organizations allow employees to expense all or a portion of learning costs (e.g. college tuition or enrollment in a single course). In some cases, organizations also partner with a university to provide relevant learning and training opportunities at a discounted rate.

You may also find that there are perfectly appropriate resources for your learning goals for free. Video sites like YouTube provide detailed tutorials on how to do just about anything. Webinars on a wide variety of topics are often available at the cost of simply providing your email address to a learning provider’s mailing list (which you can later opt out of). Even some more formal online courses are available for free from sites like FutureLearn, Harvard Online, and Coursera (until May 31) and many are currently available at a discount in response to COVID-19 on sites like Udemy and Udacity.

Not all learning goals will have free or discounted equivalents, but a little extra investigation could help you save money while meeting your learning goals.

6. Use strategies to stay motivated

Finally, once you’ve decided on a learning experience, it’s important to set yourself up for success with good habits and make efforts to keep yourself motivated. If you’re new to being an online student, you can find out more about that with these 5 tips to keep motivated when learning online and how to excel in online classes.