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Tech Topics In This Article: Georgia startups, educational platforms
Georgia-based EdTech platform Perspectiv was born out of founder Meagan Skerchock’s own frustrations with answering one deceptively simple question: What’s your dream job?
A film set dresser for well over a decade, Skerchock moved over twenty times since college as she crisscrossed the country for different film projects. She worked in film hubs like Los Angeles, New Orleans, Baton Rouge, New Mexico, and Atlanta, working on box office hits like The Avengers, Suicide Squad, and Jurassic World.
But the industry is tough, even on a good day…as it is not uncommon for crewmembers to work twelve to sixteen hours a day for weeks on end. When she thought about what she wanted to do long term, film production just wasn’t it.
By 2020, she wanted out. But figuring out her next step was harder than she expected. She had once been interested in engineering, but after speaking with a professional in the field, she realized a desk job wouldn’t suit her. Maybe she should go back to school. But for what, exactly?
What she really wanted was the chance to talk to people in different careers to understand what their day-to-day lives were actually like before making a commitment. And that’s when she had the idea: What if there were a way to give people a firsthand look at careers before they invested time and money into a path that might not be the right fit?
That idea became Perspectiv, a platform designed to introduce students to diverse career options and provide real insights into different professions—before they commit to the “college conveyor belt,” trade school, or expensive training programs.
Inside Perspectiv
Perspectiv, which Skerchock has been focusing on full-time since April 2023, isn’t just about introducing students to careers. It’s about helping them make informed, meaningful choices about their futures. The video and curriculum platform exposes students to a diverse range of professions, giving them a chance to explore potential career paths long before they need to make major educational or financial commitments.
The platform currently has over 80 professions on the site. Beyond professions that students might be familiar with, like doctors and dentists, Perspectiv includes interviews with unique and niche careers like Fighter Pilots, FBI Agent/Hostage Negotiators, Equine Therapists, Window Tinters, Ice Farmers, Beekeepers, Nuclear Engineers, Heavy Haulers, Metal Sculptors, Set Dressers, and Plumbers.
Skerchock started by talking to parents at homeschool expos, gathering feedback, and refining her vision. Those conversations led her to developing a partnership with the Charter System Foundation, an organization that supports 48 charter districts across Georgia.
Perspectiv is already being implemented in schools, where teachers use its curriculum to introduce students to 32 new professions each year. Skerchock said her goal is to have Perspectiv inside 100 schools by the end of the year.
The platform primarily targets elementary and middle school students, when kids are in “broad career exploration” mode, Skerchock told Hypepotamus.
On top of watching videos, students follow a structured curriculum to help them reflect on their interests, strengths, and values.
A Tech-Focused Future
Bootstrapped to date, Perspectiv is considering raising outside funding later this year or next year. She is also looking at what it would look like to make Perspectiv a more tech-focused platform.
“I want to make shopping for a career as easy as shopping for shoes (maybe that’s the female founder in me!). Instead of filtering by size, color, heel height, or style, imagine filtering for things like: STEM career, West Coast, outdoor environment, team setting, minimum $60K starting salary, and so on. Our entire curriculum, worksheets, and additional resources would also be integrated and far more robust,” she added.
Skerchock is also looking to start prototyping a new concept around 360-degree films that introduce students, through a VR headset, to what it would actually feel like to be one-the-ground in a specific job. These live-action videos would put students into the shoes of different professions without being “cheesy, animated” content, Skerchock added.
To make that tech leap, Skerchock is hoping to bring on a Chief Technology Officer and technical co-founder sometime this year.
“Nothing would make me happier than finding someone who shares my passion for helping kids discover their purpose through meaningful work—and graduate high school with confidence and a career plan they’re excited about! I truly believe a technical co-founder could help take Perspectiv to the next level,” she added via email to Hypepotamus. “Right now, I feel like a single parent doing my best for my child, but this “business baby” could definitely benefit from having a Dad, haha. So, I’m hoping lightning will strike, and this person will appear in 2025 (ideally before pursuing investors).”
