Case Study: The YOU Power Project
Jessica Flynn, Founder (centre) and a group of the mentors featured in The YOU Power Project’s youth programs.
Background
The YOU Power Project was launched in 2021 inspired by founder, Jessica Flynn’s, belief that today’s students deserve to be truly inspired, empowered, and equipped to succeed in life. As a former teacher, Jessica knew first hand that our schools can’t keep up with the changing demands and expectations of our ever evolving workforce.
The YOU Power Project takes a holistic approach to future-readiness, building confidence, resiliency, and transferable skills so youth can find success anywhere.
After a phenomenal beta test of a virtual youth program concept, and angel investor backing at the end of 2021, The YOU Power Project iterated their flagship program, Foundations for the Future (ages 10-18), and introduced EntreprenYOU, a crash-course for life after graduation, for recent post secondary students.
Their self-lead curriculum includes over 20 hours of professionally produced video content, and 200+ pages of workbook material. The YOU Power Project’s programs have hosted over 150 students since 2021, and they are excited to be partnering with several nonprofit organizations to bring their programming to more students across the country.
Joining the Launch Program
The YOU Power Project joined the GB Accelerator because Jessica was ready to scale and knew that she needed to widen her network of mentors in order to do that. There were a few main challenges to be addressed to make that scale possible.
One challenge was that since the YOU Power Project’s inception, Jessica had been “throwing spaghetti at the wall” and after three years, the throwing spaghetti was starting to feel more like shiny object syndrome. Jessica needed to narrow in and focus the business and their messaging on the markets that would help to achieve the scale she knew the company was ready for.
Part of the above challenge was also that Jessica’s value proposition lacked clarity. Running the business as a solopreneur for 2.5 years meant that Jessica was too close to the product to realize that her messaging wasn’t connecting with her market. In order to scale, The YOU Power Project needed to create a marketing plan based on a value proposition that connected with the ideal markets for scale.
Another challenge was a lack of a clear understanding of the financial model of the business. This was a critical tool to inform decisions about which channels to focus on, confirming pricing, and more.
As part of the GB Accelerator’s Launch Program, The YOU Power Project was matched with a mentor, Erin Maechler, and a lead coach, Alex Schwertner.
Alex Schwertner supported Jessica in building a financial model that could validate her pricing model, identify which offerings were most profitable, and highlight scale milestones like hiring.
Erin Maechler, who specializes in crafting effective customer journeys, played a pivotal role in helping Jessica clarify her value proposition and narrow in on the target market best positioned to drive revenue for the company.
I am no longer throwing spaghetti. Our day-to-day decisions are now rooted in clarity and confidence.
— Jessica Flynn
The Accelerator program also connected the YOU Power Project to an additional mentor, Kristina Smith. Kristina has supported Jessica in creating a focus group and will be creating a targeted Ad spend based on the results. This will double down on the segments Erin helped Jessica to narrow in on.
Results and Achievements
The Launch Program ran for two months. At the end of the program, Jessica confirmed the following remarkable results for The YOU Power Project:
Created a plug-and-play financial model for strategic decision-making.
Streamlined sales cycle for B2C target market.
Updated messaging to focus on what students learn in the program.
Addressed shiny object syndrome and gained focus on clear vision.
Running a focus group to inform website copy, ad creation, and learn to customer acquisition cost of the clarified target market.
Things needed to drastically change. This experience breathed new life back into the original vision.
— Jessica Flynn
Conclusion
The YOU Power Project’s journey with the GB Accelerator's Launch Program is a testament to the transformative impact of strategic mentorship. Through mentor support, the company successfully narrowed its focus, optimized its strategy for future scale, and achieved a renewed sense of purpose and direction for its Founder.
This case study highlights the importance of mentorship in fostering innovation and helping startups evolve into scalable businesses.
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