#FollowAcademicFish
Introducing Mary McIntaggart, founder of Academic Fish. With a background in education support, Mary created Academic Fish, a free and inclusive app that helps students, parents, and teachers understand math terms and definitions in multiple languages. Mary's aim is to make education accessible and empower learners. She envisions expanding the app, incorporating gamification, and entering new markets. Mary's non-negotiables include inclusivity and she actively embraces equity by prioritizing accessibility and supporting disadvantaged students. Academic Fish is a positive and informative platform for all learners.
Mary is one of our SheGenerate2.0 cohort and also a SheGenerate2.0 showcase pitcher. Be sure to register HERE to join us on the 23rd May at 5pm.
To get us started - how would you describe yourself in 6 words or less?
Competent, resilient and open to dialogue.
Describe your business and what prompted you to start it?
My background is in education support both in the UK and internationally to include 4 years in China. I firmly believe education should be accessible for all. This experience naturally led to the app development as it highlighted the issues encountered on a daily basis by students, parents and teachers trying to access the curriculum.
Our aim is for all students to feel part of the educational community in a free, informative and hopefully fun way. Academic Fish is a free, inclusive app for the understanding and translation of maths terms and definitions, in three languages: English, Chinese and Irish.
These are not machine generated translations, e.g. online, which is frustrating incorrect, but by mathematicians ensuring it is curriculum based, learner friendly and correct.
B2C - a learning support to help students and parents.
B2B - the opportunity for businesses to advertise on the app (In China also with the associated social media e.g. Wechat, Xiao-hong-shu/Little Red Book, Baidu and Weibo) attract those students to their courses etc.
We have the potential to extend to other languages and subjects.
This free app supports teachers, students and parents for independent study.
Tell us a little bit more about you?
My story is I was a non-attender yet I am still in school! My background is in education support both in the UK and internationally to include 4 years in China, forming a solid knowledge basis in educational practices.
I have had amazing experiences, from a witch doctor at a funeral in South Africa, to the contact I still have today with many friends and students I have met along the way.
I enjoy an outdoor life: sea swimming, walking my dog, reading and the company of friends and family. This gives me a good personal professional life balance.
Fill us in on your female founder journey.
This has been an emotional journey and really it is only the start. There have been many challenges along the way. Working in China and creating a core team that feel a part of the journey and ensuring they have input into the content delivery and enhancing their skills with outside support. Maintaining a healthy work/personal lifestyle balance - sea swimming helps. All of the team work remotely and generating a team spirit is essential to include the core team members and those employed in a language consultancy basis. My skills lie in knowing learner needs and how to address them inclusively. Grants have helped with the financials but my business skills needed developed to help the team move forward. I asked and I received that help, both locally and nationally.
How has being part of the AwakenHub community helped your business?
Just this week Awakenhub has helped us with understanding how to write our business plans to target a specific user.
Have you an ‘ask’ which we can share with fellow #Awakenhubbers?
We would appreciate some connections for the US and Canadian market as analytics have shown an increase in the user numbers from these locations - both students and parents
As a founder - what are your non-negotiables?
For me a non-negotiable is inclusivity due to my background in education support. We aim to support learning and to empower others, especially females, to get involved in STEM subjects.
Where do you see yourself in 12 months and 5 years time?
In one year we will have bigger userbase and a range of partners advertising on the app ensuring revenue. Within 5 years this will lead to gamification (to develop a sense of community within the users), a voice-activated chatbot (to assist the written search and ensure access for the visually impaired and those with dyspraxia) plus successful entry into the Chinese, US and Canadian market.
What are your top three tips for other women founders?
Be kind to yourself. Speak up and ask if you need something - not everyone can help but someone might (People can be very supportive ). Be aware of all the grants and skills support in your area.
To finish up, how are you embracing equity?
We are Disability Confident Employers and this is reflected in our team. We aim to empower those usually alienated from the educational process and as such the app is free, informative and hopefully fun with the associated graphics. After completing our pilot we adjusted our build to include longer audios, subtitles and fonts to ensure better access for the deaf and visually impaired. We are part of the Speakers for Schools initiative which encourages students to look at their future choices and how to build towards them. It is a positive approach sharing insight in the various roles within a company. We want young people to understand they may have a set path set out for them, and they may not, but there is no specific age when you can decide to aim for what you want in life. I was a non-attender and I didn't make my best choices until I was older, as a single parent, and wanted to have a brighter future both for myself and my three children.
Inclusivity as core to the company ethos and we are looking forward to developing on this to help others. Our aim is for all students to feel part of the educational community in a free, informative and hopefully fun way.
https://www.facebook.com/AcademicFishApp
Business website - https://academicfish.com/
Chinese business website - https://academicfish.cn/
linkedin.com/in/marymcintaggart-academicfish
LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/company/academicfish
Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/academic.fish/
Twitter - https://twitter.com/academicfish
https://vimeo.com/user167759962
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCf2BUnk2vrNTVCq3J_OqtuA
