Megan Deers shares how The Y Collab NPC is closing the literacy gap one child at a time — built for educators, entrepreneurs, and community builders who believe in the next generation.
GROWTH PILLAR: Leadership & Ops
WHO THIS IS FOR: SMB owners / Solopreneurs / Corporate escapees / Leaders building systems
WHAT THEY'LL GAIN: How to build a mission-driven program that runs like a business. Real strategies for youth literacy, mentorship design, and global collaboration.
Most people underestimate how hard it is to close a literacy gap. Megan Deers didn't.
Megan is the founder of Paradox Rocks! Communications — a coaching and facilitation company helping entrepreneurs align their passion, purpose, and business direction. She also serves as a facilitator and coach with Y.E.A. Global, and is the executive director of The Y Collab NPC — a Cape Town-based non-profit building literacy, life skills, and purpose pathways for young people aged two to eighteen.
In this episode of Knack 4 Business, Megan shares what it took to build a globally connected mentorship network over five years before the academy ever launched independently.
Key topics covered in this episode:
Connect with Megan Deers on LinkedIn and explore her work at Y.E.A. Global.
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Bernie(00:05)
Question for the audience. Are you struggling to help young people find purpose, confidence, and direction in a noisy world?
That's what Megan will be diving into, how cultivating literacy, creativity, self-expression can unlock both youth and entrepreneurs. She'll share how our global network through the Y-CLAB and Paradox Rocks communications helps others turn passion into impact. If you care about developing purpose-driven leaders for the future, connect with Megan and discover how her approach can help you empower the next generation. So.
Let's talk about Megan. Megan Deers is from the Y-Collab NPC, NPC standing for non-for-profit company. She's a dynamic entrepreneur, global literacy advocate, and the visionary behind the Y-Collab and Paradox Rocks Communications. With roots in heavy duty tech sales, marketing, and management, she channels her business acumen into empowering others to discover purpose through their work. As a founder and executive director of the Y-Collab Youth Academy,
Megan leads initiatives that nurture young minds and aspire a lifelong love of learning. Through writing, speaking, and mentorship, she helps entrepreneurs and youth alike explore their passions, build confidence, and create meaningful impact across the world. Megan, absolute pleasure to have you here today. It's great to see the smile. And for those on the audio, you have to take my word for it.
Megan (01:35)
Awesome, thank you guys, thank you Bernie, thank you Wayne for inviting me into your space and I'm looking forward to chatting today.
Bernie(01:44)
Do have a favorite quote or saying, ma'am?
Megan (01:46)
I do! I have two. One that's been coming a very long time with me and the first one being stand for something or you'll fall for anything. That's been a guiding principle in my life for a while and then one of my more recent ones and also one of my hashtags for the paradox rock space is passion changes everything. So those are the two that guide me every day.
Bernie(02:09)
So global literacy and youth empowerment, that's kind of a, it's a great, great objective, great, great thing to focus on. What laid you down that path? What brought you to that door?
Megan (02:22)
Wow, Bernie. So I think it starts very much with having parents who are avid readers, always had us with our noses in books and completely turned us into word nerds. So the love for the language has always been there. The love for reading has always been there. But also for me, reading was a big part of my escape for a not so great childhood at times, you know? So I would be the one.
who grab the book and my music and we'd sit in a corner and just get lost in that. And so for me, I feel that is one way in which I can teach our kids today. You know, this opportunity in reading, there is knowledge in reading, there's escape in reading, there's fun and exploration in reading, there's curiosity in reading. And all of those things combined into that space, pretty much gives them everything they need to move forward in life, if you think about it.
So for me, always being in that space myself, I just thought one of the best ways that I can possibly contribute, I have a love for young children and for youth, and for helping and teaching others, helping them develop. So it was a natural step for me, I think, pretty much going into this space where I'm working with the young children, the young minds.
but also being able to hold on to my love for literacy and reading and being able to transfer that love across to them.
Bernie(03:51)
We're gonna reduce her. That's Wow. Sure, I will be happy to. We are now in a very screen laced society. And there's been an anti reading push, which I think is quite tragic. And I think there's some resource and materials now show it was tell me about cultivating reading in a screen environment.
Megan (04:13)
Thank you, Wayne. Great question. So there's going to always be this push and pull between, you know, on-screen reading, reading hardcover printed books, et cetera. And you know what? A real reader will firstly tell you that there's nothing that feels and smells like a printed book, right? That's one thing that I always push for, and I make sure that our kids have a printed book in hand. I'm not a fan of screens, because you know all of us work online.
three of us, know the story, we work online, so to be able to escape the screen is a great idea. And so one of the things that the Y-coLab is really trying to focus on is getting our kids into more traditional ways of reading, although we realize that we have to keep up with technology on some level. We want to try and discourage them from doing everything on screen. So yes, spend your time on screen if that's what your
entertainment space is, but how about just putting the screen down and then moving on to a copy book for some reading time, right? So for us, it's about recognizing that technology is changing. Our kids need to be upgrading with technology as things move along in the world. But at the same time, there are different approaches to reading. And I think from outside at the WICOLAB, we prefer doing things the traditional way.
so that the tradition, the culture of actually sitting down in a cozy corner with a cup of tea and a wick in your hand becomes something that they think about rather than only on a screen and getting everything they think they need from the screen. So we hopefully will be able to hold them in that space for a while longer.
Bernie(06:02)
When you're talking about reading, are you talking about reading as in like, here's my calculus math book, or are you talking about fantasy novels like sci-fi? Is there a mix of what's going on? Because to read is one thing, if you're doing it for enjoyment, even if you're reading Lord of the Rings, right?
You know, it's a journey. Yet you can also be reading a manual how to repair your car.
Megan (06:30)
Absolutely, Fully agree with you there Bernie. Thank you for throwing that into the mix. And I think that the material, I always say to the parents of my learners, I don't care what they read, as long as they're reading every day, first and foremost, because we need to get them back into the space where they're actually reading daily, bottom line. Our statistics are shocking at the moment in terms of
the number of children on grade four level, for example, who can read with comprehension, right, with understanding. So I think the first point of call is really to get them to read. And I have had students come through my tuition space, which has been running for about three years now, where the mom says to me, know, I'm enrolling my child because all they want to do is listen to music. So guess what? I love music too. let's...
Get some music lyrics together, we can write some music lyrics because through that you can learn to spell, you can learn to learn to build sentences, you can learn to love reading as much as if you were reading Game of Thrones for instance. So I think the big point to make here is that we try to meet each child where they are and so if your interest lies in sci-fi, that's where we'll go for the reading. Bottom line, let's get them reading first and we'll...
We'll smooth the process out as we go ahead.
Bernie(07:50)
What are the schools that you're in that you're in person with this process?
Megan (07:56)
Okay, so at the moment we are not in person at any schools in Cape Town yet. So for the longest period now, I think about three years that we've been operating in that space, we're doing what we do as a tuition space. So group tuition, online tuition, in-person tuition. And everything we do is meant to support the current academic process that our kids are going through, right?
because we are not wanting to, needing to, or well, yes, needing to, we need to change a few things, but we are not there to take over the education system per se. We are there, however, to try and the gaps that we are finding that are occurring because of the certain circumstances or in the education system itself. So for the moment, we are focusing on areas where the learners are really having
specific challenges and going in with that. But by next year we will be entering the schooling system, yes, because we feel that not only do our children, our learners need the support, but the parents need the support. So there will be a parental portal opened where they can access our information, they can access support tips and hints around how they support the children through this developmental process.
that we put them through, both literacy and key life skills, of course. And we are hoping to be able to start actually having a set up classroom space at some of the schools in our local area, which then means that we are literally on calling in this space while they are learning. So that's the end.
Bernie(09:39)
I find that things that are inculcated strongly as a very young youth or as a youth, at first it feels very natural. And then specifically with men, perhaps they push back. Well, I don't need no, I don't need no reading. When what brought you back from the pushback where you were making your own decisions and that was that a real process?
where you sort of resisted what you had been taught as, is this mine? When did you sort of come back to where you were, was there a process?
Megan (10:10)
So definitely a process, Wayne. Definitely a process. Thank you for that question. Great question. Yes, there generally is some pushback. And especially if our kids are sitting on their screen for 10 hours a day and suddenly we take it away for two hours, definitely going to be pushback. However, the transition and the process that we try and implement there needs to be engaging. It needs to be fun. And that's.
One of the core focus areas we have is actually just not taking you from one school environment into the next school environment, right? We're trying to actually incite the curiosity and create the enjoyment and excitement that goes around learning in general. So everything that we do, all our programs are built around that. And the process I feel is a natural one. The pushback is natural. And...
we have to tap the right buttons with them. Each individual, we're going to have to tap different buttons to see what's going to pull you in, what's going to draw you into the program. And that's what we do and what we mean when we say that we try and meet each child exactly where we find it, where they are right then and there.
Bernie(11:23)
You have, you say children, which then means, you know, it can be arranged everything from, hey, here's a newborn, which I don't think you're teaching to read just yet. Mind you, that'd be pretty cool if you could. To maybe someone who's at age 18, 19. Is that kind of the spectrum of ages you're dealing with that you're helping become more literate?
Megan (11:44)
Absolutely, Bernie. Our target ages are between preschool age, so your average two to three year old going on until the end of high school, which for us is about 18. And so we work with groups within that vast age group. work with set groups ⁓ as their learning and academics develop.
Bernie(12:08)
So in that process then, because obviously a really young child, a toddler, has different needs. How do you match, say, when someone is in the rural part of South Africa or rural part of inside Africa, such a small continent, said no one ever. How do you match things up so that,
This is something they should know. This is something they should know for like day-to-day operating activities. Like, so they're aware of how things work. You know, it could be, you know, as you're older, how to manage a motor or how to manage a pump. You know, just, you know, basics. It happens here in Canada too. You know, at least I enjoyed it. It's called shop class for us.
to where you are now talking about, let's say math and higher learning because the person has an aptitude for that. Or maybe they want to be a songwriter and they just need to know how to bring the music together so that it breathes and lives. How do you figure that stuff out? How do you deliver the product, the end product?
Megan (13:12)
Ah, I love that you asked that question, Bernie. So you may remember, Bernie, you and I have been chatting and meeting up for a coffee every now and again for the last, what, three or four years, I think. So the process really began about five years ago when I started my communications company. And for a long time, the Y-Colab Youth Academy space fell under the same umbrella. And at the end of 2024, we registered them.
independently. So the Academy became a non-profit independent organization with basically the start of what we have been really pulling together over five years. And one of the things, for example, ⁓ I'll share with you that I've been doing over five years for this space, knowing that we're going to step into this space, is building the kind of collaborations that I've been building over five years. for example,
networking with Canada, know, and finding people, yeah, finding people that are equally passionate, that believe in the same path, that also work with kids perhaps and the education space, and actually building collaborative partnerships with people like that so that I can literally call on Bernie in Canada and say I need a mentor for someone who
is interested in X, Y and Z because this is what you do, And so I would like to introduce this young child to you and to be able to then walk a little path with them so they can experience this space that you've created for yourself that they may be interested in or have shown an aptitude for and try and match them up to their passions in that way firstly because I do believe that's really important in this
bigger frame of everything we do, but then also be able to get access to people like the Bernies of the world who are prepared to mentor young kids, not even necessarily formally, but just occasionally meeting up and sharing a little bit of wisdom, that kind of thing. So that we've been building for five years in the background. And so what we have now is the space we've created for all of these kids to flock into.
And we slowly but surely coming off the ground that's been a good few months of trying to pull everything together and get the engine started. But what we're looking at now is this space we've created where we can welcome the kids in, offer their parents, their carers, and eventually the educators the same kind of support and the same kind of access to what we deliver to the children so that our kids get the same kind of support, but at the same time.
we have this network of global people just available to us where we can say, this child would love to enter the music industry. Could I introduce them to them? And can we spend some time with you? Just figuring out how your world works, right? So that's the kind of mentorship that we've been working towards for five years. And I think it really gives us an edge in terms of being able to cater to
all the different Google personalities that come into our space.
Bernie(16:33)
So I have never been to Africa. So I can only gasp what I've read or seen. There's a very diverse group of communities in Africa from hyper rural to cities, to industrial, to, know, tell me how you deliver services that fit where you're going when there's so many models that work and act differently.
Megan (16:57)
Right, thank you Wayne for that. And yes, you're correct, very diverse demographics happening here. Many, many different languages. We've got 12 official languages. And so there are always challenges and barriers in place. However, what we have decided to do is literally start on our doorstep with the local roll out. So I myself am an English and Afrikaans speaker. So that's where I've started over the last few years.
We are slowly now building a space or a team where we've got people of different language skills stepping into our space as well, right? To be able to assist with various demographics in terms of language. And then also what we've put in place now is investing in the kind of equipment and the kind of community platform for the Y-Colon, where we do not necessarily need to be accessing WiFi.
with our devices. We also have one app for which I will be the South African ambassador once we get out of the program. It's a literacy app. And once it's downloaded onto your phone or device, you do not need internet access. The only time you might need it is if you're one of the teachers or one of the tutors and you want to connect to the mainframe to upload learning information and updates, et cetera, as they progress through the app.
So it's basically built for Africa. And I'm very happy to say that we found ourselves a fantastic African focused education community that is currently being built customized for us and tested for us. Something I've been also involved with for about three or four years. And we've invested in that platform because we feel this is the space where our kids will really have the focus to thrive.
and be able to access all these different levels of what we want to bring to them. So it's a multi-pronged approach. Certainly, we are adding as we go along and as we explore different areas, we'll get to have to pivot and add a little more to the number of tendrils we have. But I think that's part of the fun of building this space.
Bernie(19:12)
When you're building out this program or how this program is running, how do you measure the success of the, know, hi, here's some information, whether it's to be read, it's an engagement component. How do you measure the success that not so much did the person learn it, but, you know, it has to be adjusted to suit sometimes because not everybody
quite learns the same way. You know, some people are hands on some visual learners, some are auditory and so forth. And, and if you run into a gifted person, what then like, you know, and not that it's a bad thing, right. But if they're gifted, right, then you know, you need to accelerate more. The there's more of voracious appetite, right? They'll just consume more. How do you how do you
I had to get a sense of the ebb and flow of what's going on.
Megan (20:07)
So first secret is always just to be on the ground as much as you can. So just really being in the thick of things. Second thing we do is we absolutely insist that the parents are involved, parents or parents, guardians in certain cases, but that their caregiving, key caregivers are involved because we feel that that support is really necessary for the child's development and for them to feel supported.
when they are not in our presence per se, but perhaps at home doing their daily reading, et cetera. So that's the second thing we do, we make sure that the adults are involved and also feeding us feedback, right? So we start with every learner that comes into our program for literacy, we will do a baseline assessment with them and we will put out a report offering a plan around their development to their parent or guardian.
Megan (20:50)
example.
Megan (21:01)
and we use the current academic results, so the scoring on the school reports to actually check if there's been any improvement on that level from term to term. Some things obviously like literacy, it's not something you can learn within two weeks or improving two weeks and then you know I'm literate now off we go doesn't work that way. However, one of the biggest areas that we notice
that kind of impact, especially in the literacy space, the confidence of the child. So suddenly the parent will go from sending us messages to say, yes, Wayne has read his 20 minutes today and tomorrow we'll get the same message. Well done, Wayne. And three weeks later we will hear from mom that, Wayne has actually pulled his chair closer to my favorite sitting room chair and gone.
Today we're reading two chapters together, instead of just 20 minutes as regulated. We're doing two chapters today because this book is getting interesting. One of the things I also like to do is to combine communication skills and verbal communication skills with the literacy, academic literacy.
ask them questions, I give them homework that makes them stand in front of a family member or a friend and speak about things and read to them. And those are the little places that we can see the difference and the impact and the change happening in the child, their personality, their confidence, their willingness to be in this space. So those little markers absolutely help and of course they keep us inspired too.
That's a great question.
Bernie(22:49)
Megan, one thing that we ask a lot of our guests, delivery model. There's grants, there's subscribers, there's other agencies. Tell me how the delivery model, what resources you use to get the service in the streets.
Megan (23:04)
So Wayne, first and foremost, we've been operating online for about three years now. That was pretty straightforward that we just use some marketing and online, very focused online marketing to get that kit off the ground. We did a few school based programs and introductions from about two years ago. So we've actually gone into schools, introduced what we do.
Megan (23:06)
most because
you
Megan (23:31)
managed to speak to some parents who had challenges with their children in the learning space. And at this point in time, what we are doing, we are literally creating little pods, I would say, of information sessions where caregivers, day to day after caregivers, et cetera, parents and the students themselves, the learners themselves can tap into a space.
where we are available to actually walk them through some of the challenges. So we are targeting multiple organizations on a grassroot level who have an audience already, right? An audience of children within our target group. And if they have a gap in the presentation to the kids of what they can offer, we step in and we offer that to fill that gap for them. And so...
We are not only collaborating towards improving our reach, but the actual reach of the organization that we're supporting in that way. So we're using a very multi-level approach on most of what we do right now so that we can actually just 100 % find our niche. As I say, we're under a year old at the moment as an independent organization, so we are very much testing our model at this stage.
Bernie(24:53)
Are there any plans to go into the workplace where people over the age of 18, and not that they're not literate, but to improve what they understand. There's always from an adult education point, I know for myself, and actually it's like, having watched a tradesman do work around the house, geez, I know I can do that. It would just look like a horrible mess if I did it.
Hence why I hired a person out in the first place. But sometimes it's ⁓ understanding how things work and then to either do it or just it just provides a little bit of change in the in your knowledge base. Are you looking to go towards that in that market also include that as a long range plan?
Megan (25:43)
Very well, in my for-profit business, the communications business, the facilitation for entrepreneurs is one thing that I've been doing for at least three or four years now as well. So yes, I myself personally do work in that space and I still do. Some of my team members, my volunteering team members do from the Youth Academy also are facilitators in the real-time jobs.
We have the skill available and I think that is the skill that's helping us build the Y-co-lab space so well because we have, most of us I think have started in the online adult facilitation and training space. And now we've really focused in for the youth space and for the younger minds we focused in on literacy and key life skills to get them moving and
What I'm hoping to build, this is where the longer term plan comes in, what I'm planning to build, is to get this little funnel where our young kids, our two, three year olds from preschool, are coming into the system, learning to read with us, learning to have fun with us, with after school activities, holiday programs, et cetera. Then to get them past that point where they are now set with their literacy and reading they're comfortable academically.
And we still supporting and mentoring them because now we're looking ahead from the teen space to the point where they are starting to decide on which subjects they have to take at school and thinking ahead for vocation and university and all of those things. So literally what we're building is that model that can be able to swing once the child hits that certain level and go, right, let's change our perspective now and look forward.
to the rise of university, college, whatever it is you choose to do, and then to be able to swing it in that direction and hopefully keep them in our funnel. So from the Y-Colab space into the Paradox Rocks space, which is my communications company and the place that I do all my coaching, mentorship, facilitation with different organizations. And we do that globally as well. And the ideal would be to keep them in that loop until they
start mentoring in our space as well and become facilitators in the space and just really draw them in because they've now got inside information and experience as well as the external that they can bring to and help enhance the space for the kids. So that's the long-term plan.
Bernie(28:19)
Megan, various operators of various models, one of the things that I find people get confused by is nonprofits aren't charities and charities aren't really nonprofits. What have you learned in being a nonprofit that surprised you? What did you just couldn't you keep others out of? And what's your take on a nonprofit organization?
Megan (28:40)
Love it, right? So definitely, definitely lots of learning curves going on. think my learning curve is like vertical at the moment with just getting the nonprofit off the ground and the compliance and the governance and all of that, you once, well, I certainly thought that I'd been running businesses for a few years. so nonprofit is like just the next step. Let's move it. Let's get going. But there's so much more to learn in that space. One thing I'm very glad for.
It took me about a year to decide whether or not I was actually going to create a non-profit or not for this youth academy space. And I was really, really torn between the two options here. And eventually I opted for the non-profit for the reason that I convinced myself, like I did with my other business, to do a few impossible things. And that's something I'm known for. you might not know this about me. Bernie might have seen this a few times in the past, but...
I often get asked, Megan, can we just do one thing in the way that we actually wrote it down in the business plan? So can we just follow the model? Can we just concentrate on one thing at a time, perhaps? And it's like, no, no, no, my brain doesn't work that way. And the nice thing, I think, about being a visionary for your own space, building your own business, is the fact that we sometimes forget that we can create the rules.
right? That govern what's happening there. And so I absolutely take the license with that and I ⁓ run with that fully. But the one thing that I came into this space once I decided about the non-profit is that we will not be a charity. We will not be a charity. We will be creating our own income streams. We will be creating our own events for fundraising purposes. Yes, we will be a
applying for grants, we will be looking for funding with corporates etc. However, that's not the only thing that we're to do. So I came into this knowing that this was going to be run like a business and yes all those profits that will come into the business will just be churned and you know used to further forward the non-profit space but I think the important thing that I'd like to share with people in that space that I've learned is that
I think the times are long gone where we can just sit there and be the charity, asking every passing stranger for a buck, right? We've got to do something about it. And I think we've got to be doing 90 % of it ourselves, quite honestly.
Bernie(31:14)
So what keeps you going? What's your motivation? I mean, there are to be days that are, you're riding, you're riding the top of the wave and there are other days it's like, ⁓ my gosh, you know, what was I thinking? Right? What puts the fire in the belly of the dragon for you?
Megan (31:30)
Bernie, definitely I am passion-fueled. Once I get my teeth into something, it's really difficult to get me to let go or to stop. I'm one of those kinds of people, so definitely determination and passion. And I think resilience goes along with that. However, the switch that you're able to witness in a child.
when you've gotten them over that threshold that they didn't think they could step over. It's magical. It's magical. And it doesn't only happen with children, right? If I have an entrepreneur coming to my space and they're struggling to align their business, their passions, their purpose, or they don't know what it is, but they'd like to explore it and they don't know where to start, I walk their journey with them. And the best thing to be able to witness is just that light going on and the eyes lighting up and going.
something's starting to connect. And I think that's what keeps driving me is that over the last five years in both businesses, I've just seen so many people's lights go on, you know, for projects that I've been involved with, not necessarily our own, but I coach in other spaces as well. And I am really motivated by the fact that you can physically see the changes happening, the inspiration.
kicking in and that certainly drives me.
Bernie(32:55)
I'm guessing there's a big overview where this organization is doing very well and I'm excited and proud. And then you meet a person who's taken what you've given and eaten it all and more. And it's very specific. It's not the organization, it's the person. Can you tell me about a transformation story that really moved you?
Megan (33:17)
Wayne, one of my favorites certainly. About two years ago I had a final year school learner coming to my space as a private student and as we typically have in Africa, our kids grow up with multiple languages right and she particularly was from the eastern Cape ⁓ of South Africa and she had grown up with
grandmother. So she was speaking Isitkoza which is another South African language. She was speaking that from birth right and she got to move in with an aunt who also lived in the eastern Cape somewhere about three or four years later and they spoke a different African language so that was language number two for her and then at the age of five
end of the first year, she was sent to Cape Town where her parents were working. She was sent to her parents and put in an English medium school, no previous experience with English and typically Afrikaans in most schools, Afrikaans is our second language of medium in schools and this girl came to me in her final year of school and I can
only imagine the struggle she's had every single year for 12 years. Going through the schooling system with two languages that she'd never heard of until she stepped over that threshold, right? She just kept going, she didn't fail a single year, kept going and of course our final year matric is a big thing because that's your your access to university, all of those kinds of things and further studies.
And her parents thought this is the year to get her into some extra support spaces and she came into my space. And the first thing that I identified is just the fact that everything else that she's struggling with is as a result of the fact that she's not literate enough in the English language to cope with her schooling. So what did we do? We just went on this intensive drive together reading every day. And we read using her school textbooks.
her school poetry books. We read nothing else except her school textbooks. And through that, we taught her the sentence structures, you know, what a verb is, what a noun is, how they get used, why they get used. Reading all of those things just gave her the background to the language that she actually needed to learn better. And she passed her matric first time around and
Megan (35:52)
to comprehend.
Megan (36:00)
She's working, she's actually studying and working in an IT space today. So she's still studying part-time at the moment, but she's managed to find a self-employment. She is studying further, which she didn't expect to be able to do. And for me, that was just complete goosebumps, complete goosebumps because the tenacity of this young lady was just something to behold.
Bernie(36:26)
So now the magic wand moment. What would you hope for Y Collab in three to five years if the universe unfolds like you would like?
Megan (36:34)
The plan is, Wayne, that we find ourselves to a point where we are building a brick and mortar space for our kids. And we are busy talking to someone about that at the moment, but obviously we've got a lot of building to do, a lot of prep to do in that space. But the ultimate idea is not only to create a learning academy that supports the academics, but ⁓ a safe space, very importantly, safe space.
where they have recreation, where they have mentorship, where they have support through the development process. And so that is the long-term vision for the space. But then also that we further our collaborations with our overseas counterparts that we're working with at the moment and create exchange programs with similar organizations overseas where our children actually have access to
a plane ride, which most of them will never experience under current circumstances, being able to experience a different country, being able to just experience those things. that's the long term vision. We're all about holistic development in our space. And so people might think, two weeks in a different country is not going to teach them much. However, the horizons are expanding, the curiosity is being tickled.
and all of those good things are happening, doesn't matter how short the trip is. So that's the route that we'd hope to see things panning out to be.
Bernie(38:08)
Megan, if someone wants to reach out and find you and get to know Megan, get to know the programs. here's another question wrapped into that question. Are you looking for people to affiliate and branch with to help propagate the Y collab space?
Megan (38:24)
sure Bernie, that's a resounding yes please, we are always on the lookout for collaborations and you know what even if it isn't a clear collaboration in your mind right now, let's have a conversation. I love networking, I love having coffee with people, I love just meeting people and knowing that at any point in five years time I can reach out to Wayne and go you mentioned this to me five years ago when we chatted and
I need to pick up that conversation, right? The fact that we are able to do that just means that we're expanding all the time. So we are very open to collaboration right now. even more, we will be collaborating because we just know that it's the better way to go rather than trying to reinvent the wheel all the time, trying to just carry all the weight ourselves, et cetera. But yes, please reach out to me. We can be...
For the moment our websites are being built. Everything's happening in the background at the moment. Now that we are forward with our rollout on the ground, you can reach me either at Meg, that's M-E-G at y-cola, c-o-l-l-a-b dot com at the Youth Academy space, or you can reach me at Meg at paradox rocks dot com. If you are an entrepreneur looking for mentorship,
Megan (39:30)
of moving.
Megan (39:52)
guidance or perhaps some consultative support, please reach out. I'm also on LinkedIn. can find, typically I'm the only Megan Deers So it's M-E-G-A-N-D for Delta, double E or S. And that's where you can find me on LinkedIn. Please do reach out.
Bernie(40:08)
Megan Deers, thank you so much for being here today and sharing what you're doing this incredible work. Wayne Pratt, thank you for being the co-host, but more importantly, you the Knack 4 Business listeners. If this has kind of sparked interest in you and you want to feel the need to help make the kids the next generation, not just more literate, but more.
giving them the opportunity to enrich their minds and creativity, reach out to Megan. She's got a program, she's up and running, and she's looking for people to partner and affiliate with.