Startup Stories: Featuring Plato Coaching
This week we are excited to be featuring Akracha “Pia” Brink, Founder and Business Director of Plato Coaching, a company providing premier educational support to guide students toward their academic goals.
Pia founded the company in July 2020 with her husband, Jason, who has been an academic coach since 2010. They began consulting in Thailand, where they helped over 100 students in Asia who wanted to get accepted in top tier American universities.
With Plato Coaching, Pia and Jason want to bring their expertise to help students in the North America market to get into first-rate universities around the world.
We met Pia in September 2020 through our partnership with S.U.C.C.E.S.S. BC. As part of our partnership, we co-hosted a S.U.C.C.E.S.S. & Volition Alumni Showcase Pitch & Connect, where Pia earned Top Pitch!
Hello, Pia! Let’s start with where we met. You pitched as an alumni of the S.U.C.C.E.S.S. SET program. Can you tell us more about the program and what it was like to pitch in front of a virtual audience?
As my husband and I immigrated here in the late 2019, we were new to the country and decided to apply for the program at S.U.C.C.E.S.S. specifically tailored for newcomers like us, and it helped us understand how to start a business here in Canada.
I attended the program in early 2020 before the Covid-19 outbreak. We were planning to start the company in Canada right after I completed the program, but because of the pandemic we decided to wait to see how the situation is evolving before taking the plunge.
I got contacted from S.U.C.C.E.S.S. about this opportunity to pitch at the Alumni Showcase Pitch & Connect. I didn’t have a chance to talk much about the company here in Canada up to that point, so I thought this was a really good opportunity to finally pitch Plato Coaching.
I can say it was a really great experience! I wasn’t sure what to expect, it was my first time pitching and I definitely learned a lot, including the importance of being out there.
Even if it was a virtual pitch, I was able to connect with lots of people after the pitch thanks to the chat box function in the virtual pitch. Also, I found the feedback from the panelists invaluable! They gave me really good advice on how to improve my pitch.
We’re glad to hear that it was a valuable experience for you. Aside from earning Top Pitch, what are some recent company highlights or wins that we can share?
Thanks to our expertise, we were happy to see over 100 students accepted into Ivy League universities, achieving their personal and professional dreams.
To grow our business in Canada, we also launched weekly admission tips on LinkedIn, Facebook and our company website, offering advice on how to get accepted into these universities in July 2020. As we started 2021, we began to have a backlog of clients so we stopped the weekly campaign but interested customers are still welcome to reach out to us to talk to us individually.
We are now focusing on working with a handful of clients only so that they receive our full attention and maintain the quality of service that we set on day one.
So, what has been your greatest challenge as an entrepreneur?
Our biggest challenge as we start the business is in finding clients, especially because of the Covid-19 pandemic.
It’s very challenging to adapt to the needs of the customers when everything is always changing and there is no end in sight. Additionally, most of our clients want to attend universities in the United States, which is hampered by the political and public health situation. Getting the word out there that we are in operation has been a struggle. However, new clients are getting to know us through word-of-mouth, which we highly appreciate.
Given all of this, what is one piece of advice you would give to someone just beginning their startup journey?
You want to get as ready as you can before starting a business. However, you will always face problems along the way.
Trust yourself and know that you’ll be able to find a solution to your problem. Don’t wait any longer and bring your vision to the real world!
It’s important also to reach out and find a community, especially now that we don’t have many opportunities for connection with other entrepreneurs.
Great tips! As you may know, we define Volition as ‘the will to do what you want and to get it done’. What is your volition?
Seeing our students successfully get into their dream schools and start on their paths to do things that they love!
It can be very challenging for students to choose their path when they are unsure and they have no one to talk to. We feel passionate about being able to help them through that journey by figuring out their passions and supporting them all the way from a state of confusion to one of satisfaction.
This is such a great answer! So–what is your ask today? How can the Volition community support your vision?
I would love to connect with anyone who can introduce us to ambitious students who want our help to achieve their academic goals or who are struggling with finding their path. We are running at almost our full capacity right now but we still have a place for one or two students who want to open up new opportunities for their academic journey.
As I said before, my husband and I are new immigrants to Canada. We didn’t get a chance to network much prior to the outbreak and we would appreciate being introduced to any business networking opportunities.
Is there anything else that you would like to share before we sign off?
As entrepreneurship can be a very lonely experience, I want to thank Volition for creating a space for entrepreneurs to come together and connect with each other, and also for providing advice and resources for us to continue our journey.
Thank you! We appreciate your support. So, how can people best connect with you?
Website – https://platocoaching.com/
Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/PlatoCoaching/
LinkedIn – https://ca.linkedin.com/company/plato-coaching
Email – a.brink@platocoaching.com
