“It Is Okay To Make Mistakes And Fail, But Fail Fast, And Always Fail Forward.”; Interview with Bryn Lottig, Founder of Kikori
This is part of the EdTech Female Founder (#EFF) interview series brought to you by SuperCharger Ventures.
What inspired you to start your EdTech Founder journey?
Once my cofounder told me about her idea, I couldn’t not be a part of it. Other people start businesses all the time, why NOT me? It started as a passion project hobby. And I really just wanted to see where the idea led. I wouldn’t let myself get caught up in the Big Picture, it was always the next little step. I balanced working on Kikori on nights and weekends until just before the pandemic — I tore my ACL in January of 2020 and had reconstructive surgery in February 2020. I was scheduled to be out of work for 12–16 weeks recovering. And then COVID 19 closed my school and I was out of work indefinitely. The pandemic made switching to Kikori Full Time (during normal work hours) an easy decision!
Describe your company in one sentence.
Kikori is a community-driven mobile app and platform that provides educators with experiential and social emotional leaning tools and activities aligned with internationally recognized standards.
What should an aspiring EdTech founder know before initiating their startup journey?
There are no short cuts, don’t waste time looking for them. It is okay to make mistakes and fail, but fail fast, and always fail forward.
What has been the most difficult moment as a founder and how did you overcome it?
My favorite thing to do is play. Which statistically speaking is surprisingly unlikely. My dad died when I was 2 and my little brother was only six weeks old. My mom struggled with addiction her whole life and that didn’t stop after my dad died. My entire Childhood, she was in and out of rehab. I was the textbook ‘oldest child from a substance abuse family,” an academic overachiever and involved in every extra curricular. It was my way to escape and exert even a little bit of control over my life. I got my private pilot certificate before finishing high school and enrolled in college Fall 2001 as an engineering major with an Aviation minor. However September of my freshman year was 9/11. Which changed everything, the bottom fell out of the entire aviation industry, and I felt more lost than ever.
Not knowing what else to do, I signed up for an Outward Bound course that showed me the power of experiential learning and changed the trajectory of my life. I became an outdoor adventure, experiential educator because the skills I gained from participating in adventure based education is what saved my life. In 2009, my mom overdosed and I was the one who found her. Orphaned at 26, I walked myself down the aisle at my wedding in 2010. My husband and children were never able to meet my mom (or my dad). But because of my history, I have a unique ability to connect with youth and using Adventure as a medium I can teach the Social Emotional skills they need. Despite the odds, I have created a life that I love and found a rewarding career.
What can the EdTech industry do to improve the gender gap?
Showcase and highlight other EdTech folks that are not white-cis-males ;)
Can you tell us about a role model of yours?
My Auntie Vi, who was my neighbor growing up, helped raise my brother and me. She is 95 and has lost her parents, her husband and three children and yet she is the most optimistic and compassionate person I know. Despite all the hardships she has lived through she is the epitome of perseverance. She lives independently with a large German Shepard, named Molly.
Can you tell us an example of when you had to pivot?
We launched our Beta on March 2nd of 2020 fully believing that teachers would return to their classrooms after Spring Break and provide us with feedback. One week later, the pandemic turned out to be our biggest challenge and also our biggest opportunity.
Rather than completing our proof of concept and beginning to charge for the app, we pivoted, began creating virtual, physical distancing and outdoors activities and got the app into 1,500 teacher’s hands. We also switched platforms from React Native to Flutter so we could more easily build the webapp that teachers needed. While this set us back time-wise, we know that it was the right choice for Kikori to be successful going forward.
What will you consider as success in 5 years from now?
Having a Platform/Mobile App that can provide accessible, engaging, impactful content to its members AND provide healthy, supportive, secure employment for its staff.
Looking back, what advice would you have liked to have received before starting your company?
Don’t be so hard on yourself. Even the most successful businesses were only ideas at their beginning.
Anything else You’d like to share?
Some fun facts about me that most people don’t know:
I have a blue belt in Brazillin JiuJtsu and have trained with Royce Gracie
I paddle on a competitive women’s dragonboat team, we qualified for the World Club Crew Championships to be held in Aix les Bains, France 2020 but it was canceled due to COVID
I am a certified pilot
I’ve never broken a bone
I don’t like Cumin or The Beatles and I am acutely aware of how socially crippling it is to admit that to others
I can name all 50 states in under 3 minutes
I know all the words to Tom Petty’s Album ‘Full Moon Fever’
To know more about Kikori or Bryn, visit their company site:
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