Founder@ Interview
Interview with Anne Morris
“Simply if you believe in your idea and continually seek to learn and improve, you will eventually take others with you. Your idea may well be ahead of its time – as mine was – so if it doesn’t immediately take off, use that time to refine it and build a team that share your vision so that when the time comes, you’re ready. .” – Anne Morris
Today we feature Anne Morris, the founder at Yipiyap . We hear their story in their own words, their successes, their challenges and their insights.
Let’s start by getting to know you. Can you please tell us a little bit about you and what you do?
I’m Anne Morris, a former maths teacher and founder of Yipiyap Peer Tutors, based in Manchester, UK.
A great introduction and start to this interview. Can you please tell us, how did you start, from what age, and what made you decide to change direction and start?
I knew as a teacher that children often benefit hugely from a relatively small amount of individual attention and that lack of confidence is often the basis for underachievement.
A more flexible approach can sometimes work and sixth-formers looking for a gap year activity can provide brilliant support to teachers, with enthusiasm and a relatability to help the younger learners. With this in mind, and through my existing educational contacts,
I took the leap and started recruiting sixth-formers to be part of the journey. We’ve been going eight years now and have placed hundreds of peer tutors with schools all over the UK, with proven results.
Thank you for that insight. So can you tell us…What does your business do and where is your company based?
We’re based in Altrincham just outside Manchester but operate all over the UK.
The organisation harnesses the talent of high-achieving school leavers and following a thorough interview process, places them with secondary or primary schools for their gap year, providing peer tutoring in English,
Maths or Science – with proven results. Since COVID hit, they have been invaluable in creating and managing online sessions in order for pupils to keep up with their learning.
What’s the story behind your success? What led to your aha moment? how did you get to where you are now?
I was working with a 14-year-old who didn’t know the difference between odd and even numbers – they had missed that in their younger lessons and never had the confidence to ask.
I realised such a gap in learning can be hidden in large groups but one-to-one and smaller group learning means a more trusting relationship where gaps in learning can get sorted and nobody feels embarrassed to admit things.
Thank you for sharing that. What’s been your life’s biggest lesson so far?
I realised early on how important it is to listen to your team. If anyone comes to you with a grievance, let them speak freely in order to get things off their chest and really listen, with the aim to understand rather than to be understood.
Then I have always found it incredibly powerful to start my response with a reassurance that we will not continue with something that is not working because that wouldn’t serve anyone well – before going on to acknowledge the points raised and discuss possible options.
That reassurance at the start really does quickly settle the ongoing discussion into a more collaborative, positive position to resolve things.
That everybody respects someone who takes responsibility. No matter what goes wrong. If you make it clear that the buck stops with you and you’ll work hard to put things right then, even if you’re not able to resolve things perfectly, people will know that you’re someone with integrity – and that carries far more weight than whatever the issue was.
If you were to go back in time, what piece of advice would you give to your younger self?
I would tell myself not to spend so long on emails! If an email is taking more than 10 minutes it’s pretty much always better to pick up the phone.
We’re nearly halfway through our interview so it’s a great time to ask how does your business run. What three tools make your business run better?
The first is our upside-down approach to management – we trust our Yipiyaps to make decisions on the ground and support them rather than dictate what they have to do.
The second is the fact that at our monthly management meeting every member of the team has to come with a new idea for some aspect of the business.
And then it has to be the people – it’s vital that we have the right people both as Yipiyap tutors and in the Core team. Everyone upholding the ethos is hugely important at Yipiyap.
What do you know now that you wished you had known before?
That everybody respects someone who takes responsibility. No matter what goes wrong. If you make it clear that the buck stops with you and you’ll work hard to put things right then, even if you’re not able to resolve things perfectly, people will know that you’re someone with integrity – and that carries far more weight than whatever the issue was.
What has been your greatest or proudest achievement or moment?
There have been so many! But if I had to choose one it would be how the whole team pulled together to take our work from an entirely face-to-face offer to online when the schools closed in the March 2020 lockdown.
We had around 70 Yipiyap tutors who had all been in school one week and needed to be online the next and that provision was set up and running in 48 hours with technology, safeguarding etc all of the excellent standards we demand.
It was a moment that showed all that we’re so proud of – commitment to our purpose, adaptability, great communication, good humour, and teamwork.
What future life goals do you want to achieve and why?
I’d like to grow the business to be able to offer a service with national and international coverage to help schools and learners whenever and wherever they need us.
To finish our inspire questions…”We believe that sharing inspiring words can inspire others.” If there was one positive thing you would say to someone to inspire and empower them what would it be and why?
Simply if you believe in your idea and continually seek to learn and improve, you will eventually take others with you. Your idea may well be ahead of its time – as mine was – so if it doesn’t immediately take off, use that time to refine it and build a team that shares your vision so that when the time comes, you’re ready.
“Thank you it has been great learning more about your founder story and Yipiyap “
To learn more about Yipiyap Visit https://yipiyap.co.uk
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