In late January, I had the pleasure of speaking to Alexis Kingsbury of the Parentpreneur Accelerator Podcast about what led to me creating Inventors & Makers in 2019.
In 2013, I started on a three-year adventure working for an education technology startup in San Francisco. There I got to visit pioneering schools, speak to experts in education and neurology from Berkley and Stanford universities and experience workplaces in companies at the forefront of technology development.
When I returned to the UK, I started looking for activities for my children that were focused specifically on preparing them for these future digital workplaces. I wanted to find activities that helped to equip them with vital 21st century skills like problem solving, creativity and collaboration. When I didn't find anything dedicated to specifically developing these skills, I decided to use my unique experience as a teacher who has worked in education technology in an entrepreneurial environment to set something up myself.
We also chatted about what I learnt about creating a great team culture for the modern workplace form my time working for a startup. We talked about specific examples and the importance of both a culture of fun and workplace practices around appreciation and reflection.
You'll have to listen to see how this relates to the Thriller dance routine...
To hear more, listen to the podcast in full here: https://www.parentpreneur.com/podcast-087-laura-cross-inventors-and-makers/
Inventors & Makers run workshops and classes in West London focused on developing problem solving, creativity and collaboration while children aged 2-12 learn about subjects from science, technology, engineering and design.