Ex-teacher makes motivation fun (hktdc.com)


	Teacher turned entrepreneur Caroline Allams is motivating children around the world with her fun Pedagogs range

Caroline Allams lived in Hong Kong briefly as a child. Her father was stationed here when in the air force; and her grandfather also performed military service in the territory. But her family lineage pulled no strings for the British-born nouveau entrepreneur and Hong Kong resident of eight years, who recently gave up a 10-year teaching career to pursue the launch of a colourful and well-intentioned product range that was conceived in 2004.

The director of The Pedagogs, who was a primary school teacher and head of art at esteemed Kellet School in Hong Kong, had a Eureka moment after tendering her resignation there. "Initially, feeling like a change from teaching, I had a few different new job ideas but when I gave my notice, teachers suddenly started asking for me to do a few signs, that I used to hand draw, for the library and other areas.

"For years, to motivate and encourage students, I'd make signs on bits of paper with positive comments and drawings and stick them on a kid when they'd done well at something – not in a competitive way but for themselves.

"I realised that though there are stickers with smiley faces and other designs, there was nothing for schools or parents to use in very specific motivational ways – and so the idea was born."

Idea born

The marriage of Ms Allams' artistic ability and a decade of tuning into child psychology sparked brainstorming with her husband, Paul, and a good friend over the form that her fun yet educational products would take. When The Pedagogs (meaning "children" in ancient Greek) were born, Ms Allams funded production of the collection of characters such as Ruby the pirate and Miles the racing driver, while her friend became a silent partner.

"I know it sounds corny but our growth was really organic," she said. "We worked from our homes at first doing direct mail-outs to hundreds of schools around the world, using our own office furniture, computers and so on.

"When things grew, we moved into an office in Central. This is an older office building so rent is affordable and everything we could need is close by: stationers, printers, a post office, and computer or other office services can get to us fast and easily.

"Setting up was easy here. The expat community is very ‘villagey'; I got recommendations for accountants, IT guys, electricians and any other help I needed."

Cost efficiencies

Ms Allams said that compared to the cost of printing in the UK, where 98 per cent of her customer base is located, Hong Kong printers, postal services and other business costs are far lower. "And the efficiency of Hong Kong printers is fantastic," she enthused. "If I leave a message, they get back to me within a couple of hours – in the UK, I may have to wait for a few days. The work ethic is very much that ‘time is money' here."

The Pedagogs range includes stickers, hats and wristbands, along with other products designed to be used in the classroom and at home. Designed unashamedly in packs marked "Boys Only!" or "Girls Only!", family packs include themes such as Excellent Eaters or Do It Myself, promoting good habits and independence respectively.

A revamped, interactive Pedagogs website is being launched in three phases this year, which Ms Allams is co-designing with one of her two full-time staff. "Back of house technical work is being done by a very good web company here," she said. Then, Ms Allams will return her attention back to educational areas not yet broached, broadening the family/ home range and considering multi-language editions.