Welcome to The Founder Files! In this week’s episode, we chat with Ilse Dippenaar, the Founder and CEO of Up.Ed. Up.Ed is an Edtech company that was founded to help high-school children engage in deep learning. Besides their easy-to-use platform, their pedagogy is their differentiator because it uses a baseline assessment to measure where the learner is rather than starting them in a generic curriculum. Secondly, the platform is able to detect where in one's learning journey there was a mistake, misunderstanding or gap in knowledge so that it can specifically help you learn what you don't know rather than practising what you do know. Ilse saw an opportunity to pivot during COVID by providing the platform to B2B training providers so that they can upload their content to an existing interface and ensure that their training is based on rigorous and effective learning methodologies. This was the start of Up.Ed Immerse. They also found an opportunity to move into another adjacent market in providing standardised Occupational Health and Safety training through various SETA's via their own platform and pedagogy. Ilse provides an inspiring story of personal transformation and growth as a person and as a leader. She started off as a school teacher at some of the most privileged schools in the country before realising the need to create access for students who are excluded from quality education due to circumstances of birth. She is vulnerable and courageous as she shares the emotional journey of being an entrepreneur and how stepping into her power and creating clear boundaries around her gave her the confidence to begin authentically leading in a male-dominated arena.Thanks for listening to this week’s episode and we hope you enjoyed it! ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------This podcast is sponsored by Metavolve. We help make business growth easier through strategy and people development. We take the chaos out of scaling businesses by turning entrepreneurial intuition into aligned and committed leadership teams with clear strategic direction. We optimise strategy execution by helping people adapt to the inevitable change that strategy creates. Practically speaking, we do this through the optimisation of organisational structures and HR practices.Working with us to define or execute your strategy means you get access to experienced experts in business strategy and organisational psychology. You get the benefit of a blend of people-centric and commercial perspectives that can understand your context from every angle. And you get the benefit of not being dependent on us for the long term because we share our knowledge and tools with your people to improve their ability to solve future problems. To get in touch with one of our experts, head over to our website. If you would like to get in touch with our host, Cameron Coutts, you can connect with him on LinkedIn.This episode is brought to you by Metavolve. Metavolve is a team of focused experts who want scaling entrepreneurs like you to succeed 👉 contact our team Do you have a scaling business and valuable insights about your industry? Be our next guest!