Five Minutes With...
Holly Bazley,
founder of Hybrid Games.
Hybrid Games delivers exciting board games workshops that support students' understanding and involvement in science and maths.
As an individual who has dyslexia and dyscalculia, I struggled a lot to understand the core concepts of science, and maths, because of the ways I was taught in school. I found that when I played board games at home, I learned a lot of the content I needed to get through to pass both primary and secondary school. My goal was to provide schools with entertaining, interactive board and card game workshops I’ve created to help students understand core science and maths concepts. Now, my games workshops encourage children to believe in their own abilities and become involved in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths) outside of the classroom. I'm especially committed to assisting students with learning disabilities, so they don't have to struggle as much as I did.
It’s all about confidence and not worrying about what people think. Even if you know you are not as established as other businesses, if you approach people, online or in person, with the reason you are passionate about your business, people will listen to you. I've discovered that sending out invitations to all kinds of people I'd like to chat to on LinkedIn has helped me develop my network. Before, I was too concerned about what people would say if a stranger sent them an invitation to connect. The more people I contact, the easier it is for me to gain confidence in myself and what my company offers.
Stop saying, “I’ll try to do this”, “I think I can do that” and just go for it. Often when I have difficult tasks, I don’t use assertive language, giving me room to put off those tasks and stop myself from moving forward. The more I set myself deadlines, write down to-do lists and say, “I will do this”, “I can do that”, the more likely I am to finish those tasks.
I’m learning not to take rejection personally. It’s fine to feel rejection for a day or two, but eventually you need to pick yourself up and try again and know it’s nothing about you as a person. Failures are important to learn from, and I’m realising it's often about numbers. The more individuals and organisations you connect with, apply to, contact and phone, the more opportunities you'll get. You will never be able to progress if you let one missed chance stop you from going forward.
I want to be able to reach as many schools as possible across the country and deliver several games workshops at once, by growing a team of passionate science game communicators. I also want to offer more games, as I currently offer two, and I’d love to work with individuals in education who have a topic they’d like to gamify. I’d like to offer seminars to educational institutions on how to start a business whose core values are centred on helping people, as I believe we frequently focus on the branding/financial aspect of business rather than the human side.
Want to tell us about your business?
Mail william@reachology.co.uk.
“It’s all about confidence and not worrying about what people think.”
Uk Office
111 Piccadilly, Ducie Street, Manchester, M1 2HY
Hours: Mon-Thur, 9:00AM-5:30PM. Fri, 9:00AM-5:00PM
Phone: 0161 638 0841
Email: contact@reachology.co.uk
