Michaela is an entrepreneur, initially from Scotland, who began her edX learner journey within the midst of launching her personal startup, Sleepify. The MicroMasters program she took taught key data about enterprise and operations sides of the change from fossil to renewable, biobased assets, in service of a extra sustainable round ‘cradle-to-cradle’ financial system. She was in a position to apply her studying in real-time, as Sleepify, which goals to revolutionize the mattress trade via their round financial system mattress renting resolution, got here to life.
What edX course did you’re taking and what had been your targets in taking it?
I enrolled within the MicroMasters program in Enterprise and Operations for a Round Bio-Economic system from Wageningen College within the course titled Enterprise Technique and Operations in a Biobased Economic system. My targets for taking this course had been to realize the certificates within the MicroMasters program; to increase my data within the round financial system and dive deeper into the ‘biobased’ facet of this matter; and to use my learnings and new data to my very own round financial system startup challenge.
How was your expertise studying on-line?
I actually loved the flexibleness of the course. I might study at my very own tempo and the movies from lecturers had been enjoyable and informative. The truth that I might additionally attain out to Wageningen at any time for assist or to ask questions was additionally sensible. You actually really feel like a valued scholar and never simply an ‘on-line learner.’ On that be aware, I wish to give a giant shoutout to Adrienne from the Wageningen advertising group who went out of her approach to assist me.
How has your studying impacted your profession, life, or neighborhood?
My studying has had a really constructive impression on my profession, life and neighborhood: I began my very own round financial system startup referred to as Sleepify in Vienna, Austria alongside my co-founder Verena while finding out the MicroMasters program. This enabled me to use instruments and theories I learnt as I constructed my startup, Sleepify, which is an award-winning ClimateTech firm which goals to revolutionize the mattress trade via their round financial system mattress renting resolution for accommodations and lodging suppliers.
Not solely that, but it surely has impacted our area people and our lives: now we have turn into startup founders full-time and are creating an answer that impacts native companies and allows them to make use of our round financial system resolution to turn into extra sustainable and cut back their CO2 impression. In consequence, we gained the Round Economic system class globally within the ClimateLaunchPad competitors 2021 and I used to be awarded as an MIT Innovator Underneath 35 for 2022.
How do you intend to make use of your studying sooner or later? What’s subsequent for you?
I take advantage of my learnings fairly often, particularly because it’s extraordinarily related to my round financial system startup. What’s subsequent for me and for us at Sleepify? Our imaginative and prescient is to get up in a world the place waste is not an issue. We wish to show that round financial system options may be scalable and sustainable. On this regard, our subsequent steps are to safe our first prospects, check our resolution after which launch in the marketplace. Watch this house for extra information quickly!
What recommendation would you give new edX learners?
Keep curious and open! If a course appears difficult to you, then I personally assume that is the very best course to decide on and persist with. Solely via challenges do you develop. That is precisely what I did: I didn’t have the technical or organic know-how and generally I felt like I’d fail, however I pushed via and it paid off.
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