 entrepreneurship Tuesday right here on Y in the morning at Y254 channel is where you can find us across all our social media handles at Michelle Ashira is where you can reach out to me. So in this particular session you know how we do that interview. So we are looking at eligibility criteria, criteria to study in our broad so if you are back at home and you are interested to just go abroad and pursue your studies, how far you study this is an opportunity for you so make sure you stick around for this conversation and you'll know how you'll go about it. In studio I am joined by Joy Atienu and she is the CEO of Epic. Thank you very much for creating time to be with us. Thank you Michelle, how are you? I'm doing good, I'm doing good, I'm doing good. So starting us off, yeah? For someone who is watching this conversation and you are mentioning an opportunity to study abroad, what is Epic? What is Epic all about? Epic is the Educational Path International Consultants and we take care of international education and sports science. So we support students and you know, I mean students doesn't necessarily mean only the high school leavers, we also support professionals who would like to pursue their master's degree and their postgraduate and their PhD degrees. Then we take them through the entire application processes and then finally pre-departure and into the university. So we've got a number of universities that we are Epic has partnered with, contract bases and those universities we fully represent them in Kenya and then entire Africa and we also support their educational projects, events, conferences and sports as well. We also take care of scholarship opportunities where we have a few universities who are willing to, you know, give a certain percentage of scholarships to students. All right, prior to this conversation that you have here right now when you were introducing me to Epic, I felt like it was way easier if I reached out to an educational agent than just going through the whole application on my own. What initiated at the birth of Epic? Well, first I like to give back and one of the ways I would give back is to provide a service that is a basic need, hence education and then hence Epic. So having also ready resources, ready market to support me through this course, I decided to start Epic and here I am trying to, you know, make it happen in Africa, all matters international education. Okay, so how long have you guys been running and? Officially since May 2020. Okay. So we are about how many months now? Quick number, quick check. Quick check. Yeah, but just a few months running and so far so good. I'm happy with the progress really. I'm impressed and my team is working so very hard to make sure that we get to the point where it's all about Epic. Go Epic. Absolutely. So for someone who is also watching us and wondering how do they go about it and how does the application process look like, how long does it take? Oh, what you do firstly is we really market ourselves on social media. We are very big on putting the word out there on social media. So the brand team would, you know, put flyers and offers and application calls to social media. And then we also work very closely with international high schools and their counselors. So once you get to understand what we are all about, that means we also pass on to the website. We would request you to write us an email with what your interests are, what you want to pursue. Then now we identify a university for you abroad as per your qualifications and also as per your interests. So you want to take a master's in journalism. I would, you know, definitely highly recommend the university for the creative arts in the UK. They are our partners. We show you what they offer, the, you know, the courses on offer. Some of them call them majors and also the prerequisites. So then you decide that, OK, fine. I'm OK with the UCA. We call it the university for creative arts. Then now we set the process. We apply on your behalf. All right. We just ask you for your papers. That's your transcripts, your passport. And then we apply on your behalf and now you'll receive an offer letter from that university. Now, once you receive an offer letter, that automatically means you've been accepted to join that university. And then they'll request you to make the tuition fee directly to them. Epic does not take any fee from any student and no charge. We don't charge. We don't charge any fee. So you pay directly to the university. And then after the payment, you receive the second, you know, the confirmations and then we start off the visa process, depending again on where you're going to. There's a UK visa process. There's a European visa process. There's an American visa process after that. Then we set you to to get into the plane and fly. All right. Jo, you'll agree with me, apart from this being you giving back. So there's also a business aspect of it when you look at it in a different angle. And my question would be, what gap did you see in the market space that you felt like Epic is going to fill that gap? Well, the uniqueness that Epic executes. So firstly, like I mentioned, we work with closely with international schools and their counselors. Why do we do that? Because we want to capture. We want to actually capture their interests. You know, it's not always about international education, but then there's sports, nurturing talent. I don't hear people speak so much about nurturing talent, but then Epic comes in and brings, you know, universities from I mean, the global universities to support this talent. So we hold sports tournaments. We haven't had any yet, but we are looking to have one next year, a big sports tournament for international schools in Nairobi. We also try as much as possible to, you know, put the students close to us. We keep following up on them once they even when they go abroad to study, we still want to know how is, you know, how are they adapting to that regional country that they've gone to study in. OK. And some of my wonder, why should I consider to study abroad and also considering the challenges that you're going through in the world with the global pandemic? Yeah, worldwide. No, it's tough for sure. Yes, it's tough now to even convince a student to study abroad because they do not know from what you've seen on news. They're not sure if they're going to be safe. And, you know, we've got I've got one one friend who is in security and he tries to make me understand that it's just, you know, a temporary situation, but we are going to overcome it. But again, why study abroad? Oh, please, international education, go global. The exposure. Exposure. Yeah, I mean, for myself, having to travel so many countries in this world for professional purposes, sometimes Malaysia, I tend to understand that traveling opens your mind. It gives you the opportunity to be open-minded and then, you know, express yourself confidently, you know, think critically. So, yeah. All right. When you look at it, we have talked about how exciting it is to just move to, you know, a different country and the culture, expression, everything else. Are there pre-orientation departure session? Do you have with your students just to tell them what exactly to find on the other side? Absolutely, we definitely. And that's now is where the, you know, associate directors from those universities come together with with Epic and we pre-orient the students. We let them know that this is what you expect in the USA or Australia or the UK. This is the kind of reception you're going to have. This is the people who are going to take care of you in case you have any problems. You have the emergency numbers. I mean, I'm always 24, 7, I'm very more myself. My PA thinks I'm insane because I'm always super responsive. But it's because, you know, the time difference again. So you always have to be a part with whoever is where at what time. Yeah, so we take them through that pre-orientation. Are you into this full time? Am I doing this full time? Yes. Yes, I am. That's my full time job. What's the business plan looking like and the way forward? Considering like we just started this year. So what way forward what's the business plan looking like? Way forward. Well, we are currently trying to register Epic in Mauritius. And then we move to Rwanda and then we go to South Africa. And finally, I think we'll have another branch office in Arizona because I definitely work with so many US institutions. And I think having a physical presence there is is important. That's a way forward. That's one of the ways forward. But again, also starting 2021, hopefully the first quarter will be able to run our student recruitment to us across Africa. That means city to city about three days in each city, just trying to sell the universities to students in different countries. And that we also partner with the university. So they travel all the way to Africa for just that. And it's also fun, you know, city to city tour. Who wouldn't want to be part of that? So are there virtual classes that young guys can, you know, get involved in or apply and just be part of different experience from a global scale? That is absolutely. Currently, we are having so many online or you call them virtual classes. You also have in so many virtual conferences, virtual fairs. Everything that would be would have been done physically is now completely turning into an online platform. So definitely we have the online classes. But I think students are not really receptive about the online classes. But don't worry, we will take care of you as soon. We are going to be back on on on the air to fly and go and study. Do you feel like studying abroad gives you a better chance when it comes to job opportunities? Well, as a pick, we are trying to build very strong magnets with the corporations, especially in conjunction with our partner universities. So we work very hard to ensure that our partner universities are partnering with corporations so that students are having a high ratio of employability immediately after graduation. But that's entirely up to how the student works very hard and ensures that they get the good grades to be able to be recruited in some corporations abroad. But again, that's one of the questions we get from students. What is the value here? Are we, you know, after school, then what? So we try to make them understand that here are the corporations we are partnering with. And if you're taking IT, definitely there's IT for you. If you're taking engineering, there's engineering for you. And so on. OK, speaking about value, what is your niche in the market space when it comes to, you know, being an educational agent? Because we have a couple of them in Kenya. So what is your what is different about Epic? Like I mentioned earlier, we are trying to be as unique as possible and ensure that each student understands each of our services stepwise to the end and also introducing programs like sports science, where you don't hear so much about sports science. Do you? So now now here we are because brought in the aspect of sports science and we are going to make sure that as soon as travel allows, we definitely are going to run sports activities that are also going to benefit academia. What have you had students before in terms of just them asking for this opportunity to study abroad and have you how many of you like, you know, take into abroad and just take up their classes? Oh, well, we've got over 600 students who approach us for our services and also trying to figure out their ways out there. So currently, you know, as COVID happened, not so much was going on in terms of sending students abroad, but we've got tons of applications. We've got students who have applied, they've received their offer letter. So we're just waiting for travel to kick in and there we go. When you look at it in a different perspective, some of me say that it could be expensive. Is there an opportunity whereby like a council, a DPC council from the other side could just work with the student to just ensure that an opportunity that comes up to work within their budget? Yeah, and there goes the scholarship opportunities as well. But if you're not up to a scholarship and you just want to have a campus or university that is not very expensive, we identify that for you. We go through our options and we also send you the fee structure and then you will decide as per your budget what you can go for. But international education, for sure, is very expensive. But it's all worth it, definitely all worth it. What are a couple of financial lessons that you've learned along the way while studying Epic to the idea? So I'm not very good with spending. So I'm trying as much as possible to to keep the expenditures low and so that we balance the revenue that Epic brings in. But so far, I'm trying my level best. That's one of my weaknesses. But I'm getting there. We will get to a point where the finance team will allow me to stay away from that and and they take care of it as per their skills. I didn't study finance. All right. How many employees how many employees do you have and how have you guys been keeping afloat during terms of COVID? Well, I am outsourcing a lot. So each of my department is outsourced. I do not yet look into having permanent employees right away from the legal team to the marketing team to finance to, you know, it's it's just outsourced companies that can work for me. What is the intention behind that? Well, they've, you know, first of all, they are well, well established. You know, when you're starting a business, you have to ensure that you get it right from the beginning. So at this point, we've not gotten to the point where we understand, you know, as a as a recruiter, we understand what we need to actually identify in a marketer as good as what an established marketing team would have done it. So again, to save on time, you know, and then this is COVID period. But definitely in 2021, I look into having permanent employees to to I have some of them for sure, but then increase the number and then have them just to work for Epic. I love giving opportunities. So definitely, guys, look out for 2021. Oh, a couple of achievement stories that you have for us. Oh, well, this is a huge achievement. You know, sometimes I sit down and I'm signing the contracts. Huge, huge, huge contracts with with this partner universities. The latest, which made me extremely happy is a Canterbury Christchurch University in the UK. They just appointed me as their education ambassador in Africa. Congratulations. Thank you. I can't wait for the party. I will be invited. You will be invited for sure, Michelle. And, of course, having to, you know, represent universities in Africa, it's a it's a huge role. At the same time, it's very sensitive. It comes with its own challenges. But I can make it together with my team. We are going to make the universities extremely happy in Africa. You mentioned something very important and I wouldn't want us to miss and that's that your links, your links in, you know, the international universities. How do you get connected to them? How do you get an opportunity to network to even get an opportunity whereby you actually get the opportunity of just being an educational agent out there? Well, so firstly, the networks I've developed before in my, you know, previous career and also being able to write proposals. I draft proposals and I send them out to universities that have hard are going to do well in Africa. And then you wait for the response. But again, some of the universities have been able to find them through referrals. You know, the partner universities are already in place. Refund me to their colleagues. And it makes me happy because when you're referred, it really means you're trying to make sure that things are in place. Just winding up, what are a couple of challenges that you're facing? Time difference. Time difference is a mess. My sleep patterns are a bit not very normal, but I do my six hours. They say eight hours, but I do six hours a day and I set my day at three a.m. Why? Because first of all, I'm very productive in the morning. And secondly, I am able to, you know, be at par with, for example, U.S. institutions. At that time, they're just trying to wind up their day. And then I would stay up all the way to 10 p.m. Because at 10 p.m. for them, it's in the morning. And then you look at Japan. You look at Australia. You look at Korea. I mean, the time difference is all over the place. So I have to make sure that I take care of all that between 3 a.m. and 10 p.m. But I look at stuff very positively. I, of course, I experience challenges like sometimes I get overwhelmed. The work is not very easy. Being a CEO of an international organization definitely is not one of the roles that you can easily navigate. But with positivity, discipline, being strategic, being systematic, and also being a very good planner, you definitely overcome them. And then you keep smiling. I'm a witness to that. You can smile there, yeah? Oh, I smile like this. So if joy is not busy, I'll not be able to take the empire. Oh, huge social life. What does she do? I have a great social life. I respect my social life. I don't work on weekends. So weekends are for me and my friends. Glasses of wine here and there. We also enjoy going out. Nowadays, the clubs are open. So I can do it an hour or two. Live Buns, Nyama Choma, Hiking. And you have a lovely body physique. Does that have to do with the fact? I do exercise every day. Yeah, I skip rope. I lift weights. Faithfully. Oh, faithfully. Yes, except for when I visit my mother. Because when I'm there, I'm a baby. She takes care of me. I still sleep with my mom. I think we should never lose the girl side of us, no matter how old. Oh, yes. Oh, yes. And no matter how busy you can get, I get busy. Oh, Monday to Friday. Oh, my God. I get crazy busy. But weekends give me a call. Enjoy your show. Yeah. Beautiful spot. Okay, guys. Reach out to you if they want to give this conversation going. Well, I would leave our email info at epicl.org. Info at epicl.org. And we will be able to respond to you. No social media accounts? We have at edu path int. It's educational path international. But we've shortened it to at edu path int. Okay. On Facebook. On Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, and Twitter. Okay. Yeah. We are noisemakers there. Good to know because all guys are so very active on social media. So thank you very much, Joy, for creating time to be with us. Taking us through on how we can actually get an opportunity to study abroad. And please, just not study. Travel. Travel the world. That's true. Yeah, travel the world as much as you can. Thank you very much. And have the opportunity to get on that plane and take off. Very true. Yeah. All right. Thank you very much, Joy. So guys, back at you. Make sure you don't tap that down. Remember, you can follow us across all our social media handle. That is at Y254Channel. Add me so that Shirazou can find me across all my social. We'll be right back.