When it comes to careers, there’s so many more options out there than there used to be even 5 years ago. Speaking to clients and candidates day in and out, we hear so many different stories of how people have got to where they are, the route they took and the different paths that people follow. The days of getting a university degree, joining a graduate scheme and staying with one company for 10-15 years are long gone. With rising university fees and increasing opportunity we’re seeing many companies starting to offer apprenticeships to enable talented young people to follow an alternative path to reach the career they want.

At the forefront of this major shift across education and employment is today’s 40 Minute Mentor – the amazing Sophie Adelman, Co-Founder and president of WhiteHat.

While Sophie has a very successful academic background herself, she saw her acceptance into Cambridge as a lucky break and in some ways an unfair advantage over all the equally talented people who for whatever reason didn’t get the same opportunity.

As Sophie explains in today’s episode, this helped her shape her mission in life to create access to opportunities for everyone, no matter the background, social status or upbringing.

That’s where the idea for WhiteHat came from. Sophie and her co-founder Euan launched WhiteHat – a tech start-up building an outstanding alternative to the traditional university route – to level the playing field and open opportunities to work with great companies to more people, rather than a small selected pool of talent from well-known universities.

Sophie’s passion for creating equal opportunities, changing the way the university system works and topics, such as social mobility is truly inspiring. In today’s conversation, we dig deeper into a whole host of topics, including:

The problems Sophie sees with the university sector and how her own experience has shaped her vision to change it.

Why she founded WhiteHat and her experience of starting and growing her mission-driven business from just herself and Euan to a team of 140 people.

And her experience of raising $16m Series A funding in 2019 and her advice for others looking to emulate her success.

If you’re interested in working for a mission-driven start-up like WhiteHat, or you're a leader looking at diversifying your talent pool, or you're considering whether to go to university - you’re going to love this conversation.

We'd love to hear your thoughts on this episode, so please do get in touch at james@jbmc.co.uk

If you want to find out more about Sophie, check out his LinkedIn profile - https://www.linkedin.com/in/sophie-adelman1/

If you want to find out more about WhiteHat, you can have a look at their website - https://whitehat.org.uk/

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Introduction

C dans l’air du 10 novembre 2025

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