Selkirk professor Nichola Lytle is passionate about bringing student creativity to life. She is an outstanding instructor who manages her own companies, teaches, parents and brings students into creative projects where she can. In fact, Lytle has brought on numerous students onto her new venture project, giving them real-world digital art and entrepreneurship experiences.
A New Enterprise – ThingsMyKidsDo.com
A Selkirk College professor is the new CEO of a BC start-up company known as ThingsMyKidsDo.com. This application is there to connect parents with community activities via aggregation and customization techniques.
“I am a pretty busy parent and I’m constantly missing out on activities for the kids,” says the mom of eight and ten-year-old sons. “There are so many amazing activities going on in our community, but I’ve always found it hard to keep track of them. I wished that somebody could just notify me of what’s happening. Knowing that they were missing out, my sons suggested I build an app for it, so I did.”
Professor Lyte continues to build the enterprise alongside post-secondary students from many institutions in BC. Further, the excitement and traction for ThingsMyKidsDo.com is evidently growing, the start-up website was recently in the New Ventures BC competition that awards tech start-ups with support and funding.
Lytle and her team have simplified access to activities for kids. Parents share their kid’s interests, vendors share their activities/events, playlists are created, calendars are put in place and the fun never stops.
“There is a strong component of building community,” she says. “When you build a stronger connection between families, activities and the local organizations that provide them, everyone wins.”
From Risks to Rewards – Accept Challenges!
Professor Lytle actually got her Bachelor of Fine Arts from Queens University, with a focus on painting and illustration. Following this, she set out west to Nelson, where she could explore the vibrant community surrounded by nature.
Upon arriving in Nelson, she realized she’d need to take on some new skills. This was in order to keep up with changing work dynamics. So she got into graphic design, an emerging field at the time. In fact, she taught herself all she knows regarding graphic design, rather remarkable.
“You need to walk into a visual problem believing that you will find the answer,” Lytle says of her academic-based approach to taking on challenges. “It takes creativity and experimentation to get to the final result, but fundamentally the process relies on practicing courage. To get results, you have to keep stepping out of your comfort zone.”
In fact, even before her latest venture, Lytle started Pink Dog Designs and over the past 20 years, her graphic design and illustration skills have helped more than 500 businesses and organizations. These fun and brilliant designs can be seen in places like hospitals, murals, logos, websites and more places!
Professor Paving the Way for New Learners
Lytle now wears many hats, as a company owner, teacher, and parent. Mentoring new students in the digital arts program at Selkirk however has proven to be rewarding and inspiring for both her and her students. She strives to bring real-world examples into classes and labs each and every semester.
“I’m driven by my own curiosity and a passion for learning,” says the 47-year-old. “There is so much to learn by taking new risks and trying something new. You don’t know what is around that next corner until you take the next step. This is something that I talk a lot about with my students. When you broaden the scope of experience, it becomes like second nature to try something new and learn new skills. It’s part of all industries today, constant learning and adapting.”
Lytle’s confidence in the next generation really shines through in the ways students have been able to contribute to her venture. Students from BCIT, UBC and Selkirk are currently assisting her in backend development, market research and strategic marketing for ThinkgMyKidsDo.com
ThingsMyKidsDo.com made it to the third round of the New Ventures BC competition that started with 280 submitted proposals. Though her final pitch amongst 25 start-ups did not get her through to the final round, she was stoked that her team made it that far.
A Great Professor for Future and Current Students
For students with a passion for digital arts and/or entrepreneurship, look no further than superstar professor Nichola Lytle! She strives to encourage students to take risks, explore entrepreneurship and work on relevant, real-world projects. If you have a passion for digital arts and business, head to Selkirk to get advice and knowledge from one of the best in the field!
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