Outlier On Air | Founders, Disruptors, & Mavens
181: Sinead Mac Manus - Providing an Alternative Education System

"Where you start in life doesn't mean it's where you will end up." Sinead Mac Manus

About: Sinead Mac Manus- Founder and CEO of Fluency

Overview: Sinead is a talented and motivated entrepreneur striving to make a difference in the world through her company, Fluency. She shares the importance of starting a company not just to make money, but to help build brighter future. Throughout this interview, Sinead tells us more about what Fluency does and how it works.

maxresdefault

Highlights:

About Sinead: Sinead is originally from Ireland and has her degree in Geography and History of Arts and a Masters in Town Planning. She worked for 5 years in town planning, but did not enjoy it at all. She left that part of her work life, and decided to start teaching in the creative arts. After attending the School for Social Entrepreneurs, Sinead founded her digital wellbeing company 8fold in 2010 and launched the Digital Academy, training low income women with digital skills, in 2011. This is where Sinead met her co-founder of Fluency, Ian.

What is Fluency: Their vision is to be a global social business that gives access to life-changing work opportunities to people in need. They provide an alternative education system for students focused on vocational skills and just-in-time learning. They believe that people learn best by doing real work and they seek to link learning with real world experiences and opportunities. They especially help young women who do not have work opportunities in the UK and countries all around the world. Anyone who has access to a computer, phone, or internet will be able to have access to Fluency and can be helped to obtain the work they need.

How it Works: Fluency's goal is to provide students with skills to help them standout from the crowd and have something to demonstrate when they apply for other positions. Their courses are only 4 weeks long. Some of the courses offered are in: SEO, content marketing, and social media marketing. Right now, their courses are free, anyone around the world can sign up for free and learn amazing skills that will help them obtain great jobs. Fluency is still unsure if they will ever monetize these courses because they want to provide as much access to knowledge as they can.

Revenue: Fluency generates revenue from the employers that hire their students. 

Biggest Challenges: Supply and demand. 

Success Rate: Fluency has about 20-30 people through a program each month, and have a high success rate in helping these students find actual jobs.

Advice for Entrepreneurs: "It's easy to get caught up in the tech start-up world, but think about how you can use your amazing skills to really make a difference in the world, rather than thinking about how you can just make a quick buck." says Sinead. "If you do that, you will have a greater return in your life. Making a difference and having purpose is the future of the work world."

Subscribe to the Outlier Newsletter: Click Here

Connect With Sinead:

Website |@sineadmacmanus | Google+  | About.me

If you enjoy Outlier On Air, please Subscribe & Review on iTunes or Stitcher

Sponsors:

sourceBOLD

NEED A DEVELOPER?

Direct download: Sinead.mp3
Category:Business -- posted at: 11:53pm MDT

1