In March, Shine Award Winner Karen Bonanno was all set to continue running her business of five years, working with educators but when COVID struck, she suddenly found herself with no way to deliver her offerings. She had to pivot online fast, but with that came a lot of surprises for her, especially with a renewed focus on her other passion, working with kids directly rather than behind the scenes.
 

• Where are all my people?

The biggest problem Karen faced was she didn’t have a community, or rather the community she had wasn’t gaining any traction in the area she wanted to be working in. In particular, focusing on her passion for educating kids in a new way. There weren’t enough people around her who believed in the same type of educational change, that’s when she began working with Angie, from the Genius School and things began to change.

 

Not only was Karen finally talking to people who spoke her language, she suddenly had access to a whole group of people who were already working and succeeding in the area. To launch her new path, Karen became more involved in the Genius School, also joining the Crisis Leadership Academy to pivot her business.

 

• Stepping into Her Genius

It was a steep learning curve, but it allowed Karen to support the Genius School in leading their Young Entrepreneur Academy. Her work included delineating the materials from the Adult Entrepreneurs Training into materials appropriate and empowering for the kids. Amazingly the programme saw 60% of students completing the academy with full promotion plans, including branding and customer avatars.

 

Facilitating the teachers, and students alike, Karen saw the most change within the young entrepreneurs, who were lit up from being able to connect with other kids all across the world, building the long-term relationships which would become their professional networks. What warmed her heart the most was seeing the joy in the young entrepreneurs of finding other kids who spoke their language of promotion plans and avatars.

 

• Looking Beyond

The Crisis Leadership Academy and Genius School enabled Karen to broaden her global network and to see the opportunities that lay outside of her geographical location. Following the success of the Young Entrepreneurs Programme, Karen was invited to co-create the curriculum for the Genius School. As an educator at heart, 2020 has brought her back to her initial calling in a way reignited Karen’s own genius. The true learning, that when you speak the same language (entrepreneur/passion/purpose), things move a lot quicker and you can achieve your goals faster.

 

• Problems Faced

No traction in Community
Out of Genius
No like-minded people
 

• Solutions Found

Mentorship by Angie
Involvement with Genius School
Crisis Leadership Academy

 

• Results Produced

Leading the delivery of Young Entrepreneurs Academy
60% of attendees completing Promotion Plans
Invited to co-create Genius School Curriculum

 

• Karen's Contact

Genius U: https://www.geniusu.com/users/198397
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/karenbonanno/
KB Enterprises: https://kb.com.au/