We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Jessica Shelley a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Jessica, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Can you talk to us about a risk you’ve taken – walk us through the story?

One of the biggest risks I have taken was deciding to leave the classroom (and the comfort of a teaching contract) to venture out into “Startup Land”. I remember very vividly when my job offer was initially sent over and my brain was flooded with questions about what terminology meant (shares, compensation, etc.) What does all this mean? A teaching contract is very straightforward and not really negotiable, whereas venturing into the private sector everything seems much more fluid.

After the initial shock wore off of just trying to understand my job offer, I was teeming with excitement about the opportunity to try something (and do something) new.

This risk of leaving what was comfortable as a classroom teacher, is what launched me into the position I am in now as an educational technology co-founder and CEO. Guiding innovation in education from outside the classroom is something I never would’ve imagined being a possibility, now taking that initial risk has paid out dividends.

Jessica, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

A little background, is that I am a former public school teacher and mom of 5. In 2020 just before the pandemic hit I started to look into private sector opportunities and have now become and the co-founder of an edtech company and CEO. This past year, I was recently named to Forbes 30 Under 30 for Education for the work I have been doing with the company. Generally speaking, I am a lifelong learner dedicated to making an impact for children and their families through supporting educational advancement and align pretty much every facet of my life to learning and supporting families.

I have known I have wanted to be a teacher since 8th grade. Pursued that in college with my undergraduate. Taught for 4 years in a variety of roles at the school and district level, and now lead an edtech venture, Dailies. Dailies is an online learning platform designed to provide children with personalized learning experiences and transparent communication and progress updates with both families AND teachers.

The main problem we help solve at Dailies is the issue around “cookie cutter” learning or the assumption of traditional education models where all students will learn the same things with very similar pacing. We create custom lessons, do individual progress tracking, and incorporate families and teachers so no learning time or progress is lost in translation. As a parent we know each of our kids is different, but in traditional classroom settings when we magnify that by 25 or 30 children in the classroom with all different home lives, it’s not fair to say that all students will be on page 23 of the workbook or keeping up at the same pace as each other- this is really what we aim to combat through providing small group high-impact interactions with students during the school day and/or from home.

Most proud of our impact so far! We have helped over 15,000 families reconnect with their kids learning and make significant strides in academic and learning progress and confidence.

How did you build your audience on social media?

My main audience is on LinkedIn, however I think the advice rings true on each social media channel. Show up as YOU authentically. If you are a business owner, you should be talking about your business everywhere. Being genuine makes you relatable and people want to follow people and engage with people they relate to. Speak truth from your experiences and share reputable sources for trends in your niche. You want to be trusted as a leader, but also being humble about the difficulties of running or owning a business. Biggest takeways: Be authentic and consistent.

What’s been the best source of new clients for you?

Social media hands down. Whether it be through organic or paid social efforts, these generations are turning to other users more so then ever before. With information quickly accessible through search bars on social networks, it’s easy to get reviews on products or services in a way that seems “less monitored” than if content is directly coming from the company. Doing the research to determine what fits your brand best and also creating an engaging personality behind the brand is helpful- we are in the process of doing this now (it’s never too late to start!)

Contact Info:

• Website: https://dailiespods.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dailiespods/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/dailiespods/
• Linkedin: https://linkedin.com/in/jessica-shelley
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCjx8cAKf0zooQo5V9XZSeiQ