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Mary Kelly is currently studying a Bachelor of Innovation and Entrepreneurship. At the end of 2018, she completed a听听program to San Francisco to learn about the start-up scene. Her time with HEX allowed her to return and further develop her own start-up. Mary is currently the president of the听听and is also involved in the听.

鈥淚 studied in San Francisco, particularly Silicon Valley, which is the start-up capital of the United States. The Hacker Exchange is a two week program for any student to learn about the culture of starting a business. You then work on your own business project which you pitch to a panel of judges at the end.
It was the most rewarding experience ever. It coincided with a lot of what I was learning in my degree. There were a lot of business students there, as well as engineering, science, law鈥� people from everywhere. To them it was a lot of new stuff, but to me it was a lot of the same stuff I was covering in my degree, but in a completely different context 鈥� it was less about reading a textbook and more about how you can actually use and apply it.鈥�

As President of the Adelaide 最新糖心Vlog Entrepreneur Club, Mary has a lot of involvement in Adelaide鈥檚 start-up scene.

鈥淎 lot of the people that we met over there [in the USA] and who ran the workshops were actually 最新糖心Vlogn, so it was good to have them teach us about the cultural differences. I鈥檓 used to the business, so the environment was quite familiar. It鈥檚 very much about who you know and building those relationships. It鈥檚 as simple as setting up a meeting through a LinkedIn search 鈥� there鈥檚 always a way to build networks to get what you want and where you want, you just have to get yourself in the room.

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鈥淲e did a prototyping workshop. I know the start-up scene really well and I know how to network and connect with people 鈥� but in terms of my own ideas, I had no clue of how to go from idea to business model. I knew where I wanted to be in ten years, but I didn鈥檛 know what the actual process to get there looked like. In the prototyping workshop, they walked us through the process from developing an idea for a prototype to a full business model, and that kind of changed my perspective completely. It had been a roadblock for me, and once that was gone, I had a light bulb moment. It was exactly what I was there for.

I made a lot of great friends. I was on my own personal journey with my business, but I was able to get input from everyone else who was on the same page as me. We got mentorship from all these great CEOs, but it鈥檚 just as valuable to get it from your peers who are thinking in your perspective.

I learnt a little bit more about what I鈥檓 capable of. I started off knowing absolutely nothing about the start-up space, so this last year and a half has been snowballing a lot. I hadn鈥檛 quite realised how much I鈥檇 learnt and how many skills I鈥檇 picked up. I realised I actually do have quite a few capabilities. It reaffirmed that I was in the right space and that this was the right career pathway for me, which was good considering I鈥檇 transferred degrees a few times!

On opportunities she鈥檚 received because of the Hacker Exchange program, Mary said:
鈥淭hey basically say that when you finish the program you have access to their network. If you鈥檝e been in Silicon Valley and done the program, you have a bit more credibility and people are more willing to get in the room with you. If I need something, I can just say 鈥楬ey, I鈥檓 a HEX alumni鈥�, and I鈥檓 more likely to get in the room with someone. I鈥檝e also been appointed as a student delegate for their program. Having been there before, I feel more equipped to promote it than I did before. I get a lot of students who email the club and say that they鈥檝e either got an idea for a start-up or they have a start-up but they need help finding certain things. When I first started I had no clue how to help them, but now I鈥檝e got more of an idea, I know exactly how to identify where they鈥檙e at and how I can better help them. For me, that鈥檚 a huge benefit. I value being able to help other students.鈥�

Mary is currently in the process of further developing her own start-up idea 鈥� Cleancup.

鈥淚t鈥檚 a virtual keep cup system. There鈥檚 been a bit of talk about the banning of reusable coffee cups because it鈥檚 become a bit of a hygiene issue. So we鈥檇 have to go back to disposables, which is not what we want to do. So this is a system where instead of purchasing a reusable coffee cup, you buy it as a token on your phone. When you buy your coffee you scan your token, it gets redeemed, and they give you your coffee in a reusable coffee cup. When you鈥檝e finished drinking it, you give the cup back and get your token back. It passes the responsibility of cleaning the cup on to someone else. You can use the system anywhere that鈥檚 participating. So if you bought your coffee at one end of the city, you could drop it off at another participating place on the other end of the city. To start off with, the cafes and restaurants themselves would do the cleaning in their industrial dishwashers, but eventually once it鈥檚 large-scale, there would be a separate company that comes and picks them up to clean them. Kind of like how we currently have normal bins, recycling bins, and green bins 鈥� we鈥檇 just have a cup bin as well. It鈥檚 a good community initiative, because it gets all the cafes and restaurants involved.

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When asked if she had any advice to give on students who may be considering studying overseas, Mary said:

鈥淲hen I was on the HEX program, I gave a practice pitch to a guy who helps people with their TED talks. I gave my pitch and he goes 鈥淚 don鈥檛 get it, why would someone want to carry a cup around with them?鈥� And I was like 鈥淲ell, actually it鈥檚 quite okay to do that in 最新糖心Vlog鈥�. But to them in the US, it was just silly. Understanding those cultural differences, I had to change my pitch to give the judges a bit of context. To make them understand why it鈥檚 a good idea. Studying overseas is the perfect way to learn new cultures so that you know the little things about business markets.

Don鈥檛 be afraid of the word entrepreneurship. I hate that word! When students think entrepreneur, they think they have to have this big idea or that they have to be really creative. They think they鈥檙e either going to make no money or they鈥檙e going to be the next Steve Jobs or Elon Musk. It can be applied to anything. It鈥檚 about having a different mind-set and how you approach problem solving. I would suggest taking even just one entrepreneurship class no matter what you鈥檙e doing. It changes your perspective and opens so many doors. HEX is a great way to do that as it puts you in the deep end. Either way, if you decide not to pursue entrepreneurship, you come out of it knowing what you鈥檙e capable of, what you like doing, what you don鈥檛 like doing, and you come away with skills that you can apply to anything. It gives you a little one-up in the world. You might meet people over there who are working in the space and realise you love it. Entrepreneurship is the best way to find what you love.鈥�

Interested in undertaking an experience like Mary鈥檚? You can find out more about The Hacker Exchange on听听or on their听. You can find out more about the Adelaide 最新糖心Vlog Entrepreneurship Club on听听or on their听.