Exploring Your Potential eLearning Program: Elevate Our Students’ Work and Life Readiness with Jennifer Kushell (Episode #133)

Dr. Lynn Hellerstein of Vision Beyond Sight speaks with Jennifer Kushell, global thought leader on youth employment and entrepreneurship, and founder and CEO of Exploring Your Potential (EYP), an edtech company helping schools teach work and life readiness to students, to talk about lifechanging and personalized workforce education for high school and college students through the EYP elearning program. We know that 50% of college students and 75% of high school students graduate feeling unprepared to make career decisions. That’s not a failure of effort—it’s a signal that the system isn’t designed to meet each student where they are. Most schools simply don’t have the time or tools to help students explore their individual interests, strengths, or goals in a meaningful way. But we’re helping educators lean in—creating space for students to reflect, get curious about their future, and begin to shape it with purpose. When students feel seen and supported in that process, they show up differently—with more motivation, clarity, and confidence. That’s the shift we’re working toward. Shouldn’t every student have that chance?

Jennifer also talks about her diagnosis with attention deficit disorder (ADD) and how learning differences can be considered as a strength and even an inspiration for young people to relate and connect with her. She recognizes the epidemic of isolated youth high anxiety and depression, and the need to develop grit. She aims for a global effort to make sure that our youth’s support networks have the right information to make the best decisions in ensuring they feel seen and heard so as to ignite the passion of creating a better world for their generation and beyond.

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• How Jennifer started early with entrepreneurship, speaking to students and writing books
• Opening up space for young people like her struggling with not being seen and heard
• Having confidence born from empathy and an intuitive sense that certain things were not right
• Creating models and concepts that facilitate young people to learn about themselves and the world
• Formulating your own opportunities and coming up with the biggest vision and executing as fast as you can
• How Jennifer’s learning is different, not wrong or bad, but as a strength
• Getting diagnosed with ADD
• Helping kids in business schools understand the world of work
• Exploring Your Potential: a life-changing online learning program for high-school and college students with scalable intimacy and a personalized experience
• EYP’s modules
• Learning from industry speakers and mentors
• Innovation for training in how to navigate the world, build a career, understand the world of work, be an entrepreneur and leader, and be a good human
• Jennifer’s passion for the underserved population to have access and even out the equity gap
• The need for mentors and advisors to recognize something in us
• Massive epidemic of isolated kids with high anxiety and depression and the need to develop grit
• 50% of college students and 75% of high school students graduate feeling unprepared to make career decisions
• Turning the EYP program into a workforce readiness certification for kids
• “Doing the minimum to get by,” “passenger” kids and “discretionary effort” in adults
• Plans for foreign policy and working with the United Nations to make sure young people all over the world are seen
• How to contact Jennifer Kushell

About Jennifer Kushell:

Jennifer Kushell has been on a lifelong mission to impact the futures of young people globally. As creator of Exploring Your Potential (EYP), Jen aims to dramatically improve how we prepare the next generation for the world of work… empowering them to build happy, successful lives. EYP is a life-changing online course adopted by schools that inspires young adults to craft career and educational pathways totally customized to them. http://exploringyourpotential.com.

Author of the New York Times Bestseller Secrets of the Young & Successful: How to Get Everything You Want Without Waiting a Lifetime, Jen has been called the “Career Doctor” by Cosmopolitan and a “guru” by US News and World Report.

Jen has spoken at numerous conferences on youth employment for AACSB, IACBE, and EQUAA global business deans in the US and Latin America, NACE (National Association of Colleges and Employers), Harvard’s Spring Career Conference, Deloitte’s Women’s Leadership Conference and the Global Entrepreneurship Congress.

After starting a series of small businesses from age 13 on, at 19 she launched the Young Entrepreneurs Network – one of the first online communities on CompuServ, connecting emerging entrepreneurs from 75 countries. Throughout her 20s, Jen was instrumental in spearheading the youth entrepreneurship movement in America, garnering 300 million media impressions, exposing the new trend. In her 30s, she launched YSN.com (Your Success Now) as the first professional social network for young people, engaging 25,000 members from 160 countries. In her early 40s, she and her partner, David Stine, produced the first 100 country contest – The Subway Global Challenge, then The NextGen in Franchising Campaign, connecting young people from 50 countries with big aspirations for growing their own chains to the biggest brand builders in the franchise industry. From there, in partnership with Bloomberg, EYP was born!

Connect with Jennifer Kushell anmd Exploring Your Potential:

Website | Facebook | Linked In | Instagram

Email: jennifer@exploringyourpotential.com

“We built an online course called Exploring Your Potential. We packaged it for college students. The first time we showed up at the Global Business Dean’s Conference, a hundred schools wanted it. I think the deans really recognized that this was a missed opportunity. Now, we’ve grown it and we run from high school to college to vocational ed with really challenged kids and the program just keeps growing up and growing. Young people, they build their confidence, clarity, focus and direction. It’s almost like a magic pill. It’s amazing. You give them a little bit of space and attention. Obviously there’s a lot more to the educational experience but that simple concept and people come to life.” – Jennisher Kushell

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