We did it.
Yesterday evening, ten children walked onto a stage in front of their parents and delivered something I genuinely could not have scripted.
When I think back to where some of them started, hesitant, quiet, not quite sure what they had to say, and then watching them stand up yesterday with such confidence, such personality, such courage, I am still smiling this morning.
Every single one of them surprised me. More than once. And I hope you felt as proud watching them as I did standing in that room with them.
It has been an absolute privilege.
One small favour
As this is our very first term, your feedback means everything to me. I have put together a very short anonymous form, it takes under two minutes, and your honest thoughts will help me make next term even better.
If you would also like to leave a short testimonial that I could share on our website or social media, I would be incredibly grateful. It can be completely anonymous, a first name, or no name, entirely up to you. You can include it in the form, or if you'd prefer, send it directly to me:
📱 WhatsApp: 07414 962803 📧 [email protected]
🌟 Summer Term
If you have not yet booked your child's space for the summer term, you can do so here.👉 Book here
What to expect next term:
The summer term builds directly on everything the children have already learned, but with completely new challenges. From day one, we will begin preparing for the end-of-term showcase alongside our regular sessions. This time, instead of choosing their own topic, the children will be given a selection of deeper themes to explore and present on. Think: what would you do if you were Prime Minister for a day? How does this issue affect you and the people around you? Big questions. Real thinking. Delivered with the confidence they have spent this term building.
The first term was about finding their voice. The summer term is about using it on something that matters.
Introducing Young Founders House
Something personal, if you will bear with me for a moment.
I did not grow up knowing how money worked. Nobody sat me down and explained what a mortgage was, or why some people build wealth, and others do not, or how a business actually makes money. I learned all of that in my thirties. Sometimes through success. Mostly through getting it wrong.
And the older I get, the more I wonder how different things might have looked if someone had just shown me earlier.
I spent 17 years in corporate finance. I now run three businesses. And the one thing I keep coming back to, as a professional, as an entrepreneur, and honestly most of all as a mother, is that we are not giving our children the tools they actually need for the world they are actually going to live in.
Not because schools are failing. They are not. My daughter loves school, and I am grateful for every part of it. But public speaking, leadership, how to price something, how to create value, how to save and invest, how to back yourself, these things are not on the curriculum. And they matter. They matter enormously.
So I started teaching my own daughters. Quietly, at home, around the kitchen table. And somewhere along the way, it became something bigger.
Young Founders House is that something bigger.
Every Thursday at The Patch in Twickenham, children learn the things I wish someone had taught me at their age. Not in a classroom way. In a real, hands-on, let 's-actually-try-it way. How businesses work. How to spot an opportunity. How to make something and sell it. How to handle money with confidence. How to think for themselves.
And once a month, they put it all into practice.
The Young Founders Market. Our first one is Sunday, 7th June 2026, and every first Sunday of the month from there.
The children bring what they have made, a product, a service, a snack stall, a game, a craft, and they sell it. To real people. For real money. With real feedback that no classroom exercise can replicate. They learn what works. They learn what does not. They learn that trying something and failing at it a little is not the end; it is actually the beginning.
I am also building the market into something for the whole community. Face painting, a Dragon's Den corner, games, and causes the children care about, a different theme every month. A place where Twickenham comes together, and the kids are at the centre of it.
I genuinely believe this matters. Not as a business. As a thing worth doing.
If you think your child would love it, find out more at 👉 www.configuracademy.com or just reply to this email. I am always happy to have a conversation. Only for this group, members of Rise to Lead can join for £45 per month. 👉Join here.
A Little Thank You for Passing the Word On
If you recommend a family and their child joins any of our classes, I will take £15 off your next term's fee for every child that joins using your name. There is no deadline and no expiry; referrals accumulate quietly across every term and every class we ever run.
When you reach 7 referred children who have each completed at least one full term, your child's following term is completely on me. No conditions, no small print. You get there in your own time, and the reward will be waiting.
Siblings joining any of our classes receive a £30 discount on their term fee automatically.
If you have any questions about either of these, please do reply to this email or drop me a text. I am always happy to chat.
A special thank you
A huge thank you to Pip Organic for so generously sponsoring our end of term snacks for the children and families. It made the evening feel that little bit more special and we really appreciated their support.
Thank you, as always, for your trust and support throughout this term.
Warm regards,
Orgesa
Founder, Rise to Lead
Configur Academy
Wesbite: www.risetolead.uk
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