EDUCATING THROUGH PLAY

Inspired by the STEAM education movements and learning through play initiatives across the globe, Sheena Moh and Teo Jin Hui co-founded Atom & the Dot in 2017 with the mission of making learning fun and engaging. Their path to their shared business wasn’t so clear-cut, having branched off into separate careers prior to it. Sheena took on a consultant job after finishing her economics studies but later moved onto working in a bank before shifting again to a tel co, where she developed its financial service products and became the product owner of its self-service a pp. After along decade of hard work, she decides to take a sabbatical, learning to develop an app through a coding class while doing so. As for Jin Hui, she decided to for go her engineering studies in favour of graphic design, after realising she spent more time “doodling than listening in class .” She then worked as a designer and later a marketer with a local water bottle brand.

Atom & the Dot, named after the most basic building block in science and the most basic element in art, offers activity boxes that combine story telling in comic form to explain scientific theories with art and games to make the activities more engaging. Since the pandemic affected the schooling of many children, it has also been lending a helping hand through the Learning Box Project after being approached by Teach for Malaysia in 2020 to help develop custom activity boxes for rural communities. Together with Teach for Malaysia and Yayasan Hartalega, the Learning Boxes were delivered to 500 students over 6 months. Atom & the Dot has also since worked with SC Johnson and UBS. By the end of Quarter 1 2022, it will have sent out a total of 7,500 boxes to students in need.

What made you decide to develop this subscription box business? Sheena:

Jin Hui and I had been talking about starting a business for some time. Before we landed on Atom & the Dot, we tested other ventures which we killed pretty quickly. We decided that we wanted to address a need in the education sector. But being self-funded and new to the industry, we needed to enter the market in a lower cost way. An online subscription box model seemed like a less capital-intensive way to do so. It was our way of testing the market’s appetite for fun, hands-on activities like ours.

Jin Hui:

I have known Sheena for decades. She was my first friend when I relocated from Kuantan to Selangor at 11 years old. After secondary school, we went into different fields and worked in different industries. But we constantly got together and brainstormed ideas for business ventures. In one of our discussions, I recalled Sheena asking me if I could make a difference in one issue, what would it be? And we both real is ed that education was something we liked to address.

How were you as a student? Were you interested and excellent in mathematics and science as well? Sheena:

I looked like your stereo typical straight-A student. But I studied last minute and probably relied on memorising more than I’d care to admit. So I might’ve done well, but I didn’t fully appreciate what I was learning. It’s really apparent now when I’m developing new activities for Atom & the Dot. I’ll have moments where I go, “Ohhh.. so that’s what it meant” as I finally pieced together some bit of theory I studied in high school. So now when I design our activities, I tr y to ensure that the concepts are immediately relatable by highlighting real world applications that are obvious to them.

Jin Hui:

I was a typical straight-A student. I didn’t find studying difficult. I think Ia ma mix of visual and audi tory learners. I can process and remember information via hearing it from the teacher as well as reading it from the books. I enjoyed mathematics. I recalled feeling pleased with myself whenever I managed to solve mathematics equations. I loved seeing the lines and lines of my workings. I was luck y to have many good science teachers and they helped to build and keep my interest in science during my schooling years.

During the celebration of the recent 7th International Day of Women and Girls in Science, the United Nations stated that science still needs more women in it. What do you think can be done to encourage more women to build a career in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM)?

Sheena: To begin with, I wonder if women are aware of the exciting career opportunities in STEM. We sometimes don’t realise how science is all around us. If women realise how they can create products they need with a STEM education, it becomes inf initely more relatable and exciting. The saying ‘melentur buluh biarlah dari rebungnya’ comes to mind. Parents and teachers should start to pique their interest and develop their science skills from a young age, without attaching a gender stereoty pe; things like fostering their curiousity, obser vation, testing and problem solving.

Jin Hui: Back in the olden days, we often heard parents tr ying to steer their daughters away from choosing careers that were male-dominated for fear that it would be a “tough life” for them. I believe and hope earnestly that today’s parents are more open-minded and supportive of their daughter’s choice of career. I think schools can also incorporate more hands-on activities and project-based work into the syllabus. Using real-world examples and working on addressing real-life issues during schooling years allow students to experience f irst-hand how a science principle is used to solve problems that are relevant to them.

I think the STEM industr y needs a rebranding exercise. Some women might hesitate to join the STEM industr y which is predominantly a male-dominated sector. If companies can create a more inclusive environment, equal opportunity for career advancement with good pay and then communicate these points to the young g irls, I believe it will encourage more young g irls to build a career in science.

Part of the problem is women are still under-represented in STEM, any thoughts on what are the proactive steps that can be taken to overcome this?

Sheena: I would like to preface this by highlighting that I am one of those women who chosen otto pursue a STEM career. If I reflect on my personal reason for not pursuing it – I thought it would be boring. Both my parents were electrical engineers and they didn’t paint a particularly interesting picture of what they did.

Most Asian parents stereo typically discourage girls from pursuing careers in STEM fields. Conscious ly or subconsciously, their biases steer our choices. In t his regard, showing more successful women in various STEM careers may inf luence them. Ultimately, parents want their k ids t o have good lives and job security. Perhaps seeing other women do well in spaces where they were not seen traditionally, may encourage t hem t o push t heir daughters in the same direction.

J in Hui: I think we need to encourage more women who are working in the STEM industry now to come fort hand share their experiences with young girls. School can be a good platform for this. When the girls meet women who have done it and learn about their journey, then they will feel that this is achievable and that they can do it too. Nowadays we have a lot of movies featuring women superhero. I think it would be nice if there are more movies featuring women in science or more cartoons featuring girl scientists saving the world.

What’s your advice to girls who are interested in pursuing a future career in STEM or starting a business like you did?

Sheena: Study hard to build a strong foundation, choose something you’re interested in and then just go for it! Share your ideas and ask your questions. Don’t waste time worr ying about sounding silly. Being interested in the f ield and your scope of work is key. It is the dif ference between just doing a job and excelling in your f ield of work. For those who’d like to start their own business, I think it’s a good idea to work for someone f irst. Perhaps another startup in a relevant industr y. Study the principles of Agile methodolog y to understand the art of achieving more by doing less. You want to avoid building a white elephant. Focus on building the minimum viable product required to test the market before throwing in more resources.

Jin Hui: Have faith in yourself. Talk to people who are in the industr y and share your concerns and your goals. Sometimes you just need an assuring voice to take that leap of faith and keep you going. Some people may not see eye to eye with you and that’s okay. Respect their opinion and move on. Find a good partner and be transparent with each other. Starting a business and sustaining it requires a great amount of hard work and perseverance. I often thought to myself that without Sheena, I would have g iven up ver y easily. Hav ing someone who goes through the same journey as you, someone who understands a nd ex per iences t he sa me cha l lenges, rea l ly helps to keep you going.