With the vision of fostering, encouraging, and motivating students to think independently, Julianna Yau founded Ampla Education, a premium education service provider based in Hong Kong, with tutors experienced in local and overseas education systems.
Julianna mentions, “Working with children inside the workplace has helped me develop into a more patient, compassionate, and understanding person.” She further adds that, as an educator, the ability to listen is just as important as the ability to convey. Outside of the workplace, Julianna is a creative and energetic person, devoting much of her free time to sports and music.
Julianna Yau recently spoke with Success Pitchers about her vision for amplifying the education system and how she is helping students achieve their academic goals through Ampla Education.
Describe your background and what you did before you founded Ampla Education.
Having spent my childhood in Canada, adolescence in Hong Kong, and attended boarding school and university in the UK, followed by a teaching course in the US, my unique position helps me to understand student needs. Global exposure allows me to incorporate different teaching methods across the world, offering the perfect blend of knowledge, flexibility, and interaction.
Tell us the inception story of Ampla Education.
Before founding Ampla, I frequently encountered Hong Kong students with great academic potential but who lacked the opportunity to fully appreciate their skills due to inadequate teaching or attending educational centres with overcrowded classrooms. Hence, I established Ampla Education in 2016 to help children aged 6-18 achieve their academic goals by delivering niche mentorship programmes and high-quality teaching that caters to the individual needs of each child. In addition to our core business, I also lead my team to make quality education widely accessible. By implementing and executing developmental projects, such as free university application workshops for under-resourced students and girls’ literacy programmes, Ampla has successfully helped over 1800 students, from early childhood up to young adults, realize their dreams.
What has been your biggest lesson since becoming an entrepreneur?
Learn from children. They are not afraid of falling, nor are they afraid to try new things, and their imagination is limitless. All these qualities are very important for an entrepreneur.
How do you motivate people to go the extra mile?
I express my gratitude and encouragement openly. People are more motivated when praised.
What gets you up in the morning? What motivates you?
I believe in the work I do—improve children’s education and make a difference in their lives.
Kindly describe how you will specifically know what success looks like for you.
To me, success means having complete freedom to do what I enjoy.
What sort of characteristics in employees contribute to success?
Dedication, reliability, and teamwork are crucial characteristics.
What is the best way to build a great team?
Have clearly defined goals; respect team members as individuals; have diversified skillsets and ensure effective communication.
What does performance culture mean to you?
Encourage a positive culture and help our team grow.
What is some of the advice you give to aspiring women leaders who sees disability as a career barrier?
The key is to be yourself and believe in yourself. Build up your confidence and don’t let other people define your worth.
What are your future plans to sustain Ampla Education?
I plan to ensure scientific literacy within our curriculum and make free technology available to students. Through providing online teaching materials in the past few years, we supported girls’ literacy classes and mentored girls in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). We strive to reduce gender inequality and encourage girls to follow their dreams. The literacy classes drive sustainable change by helping girls stay in school and supporting them to develop critical skills so that they can advocate for themselves, raise educated children and lead meaningful lives. The significance of our mentorship resulted in over 50% of STEM degree offers being received by our female mentees, compared to a worldwide average of 25% of female STEM graduates.
