Passionate entrepreneur Uresha Sahadev has made huge strides in her educational business venture at Grosvenor Montessori School in Bryanston and looks forward to growing in leaps and bounds thanks to the assistance of venture capitalist Vusi Thembekwayo.
Sahadev was recently selected as one of the top 40 entrepreneurs to undergo the MyGrowthFund business mentorship and funding programme which was launched to find and nurture high-growth entrepreneurs through funding, incubation and enterprise development.
Thembekwayo said, “We found Uresha Sahadev to be creative and innovative in her approach to education, a very important sector of the economy. Her combination of Montessori and the Cambridge education systems has proved overly successful with a huge push to expand her school to include high school.”
Sahadev developed an interest in education 11 years ago when her daughter Kiyanah was born. “I fell in love with the philosophy of Montessori because I believe it brings more than just education but an awareness of life from a young age. I studied the system and loved what I saw it do for children.
“They don’t need to learn in a rote manner, but are exposed to a variety of subject matters to develop into confident, independent children who understand life.”
She noticed how her daughter thrived in Montessori but regressed at a traditional private school and therefore became convinced of the Montessori philosophy.
Photo: Sarah Koning
With the help of Ovations Group, she left the corporate world and opened her own Montessori school in Grosvenor Road, Bryanston and watched it grow through recommendations of parents.
While she started with a 100 percent Montessori programme, she has now created a fused model, combining aspects of Cambridge, CAPS and STEM models with Montessori.
“One night I sat on my bed with all the passion and vision for the school and I knew I needed finances so I googled ‘how to fund a school’ and came across the MyGrowthFund. I saw they were offering funding, mentorship, and an 18-month journey and applied.”
At the same time she learned she had made the MyGrowth top 40 programme, her daughter’s entrepreneurship journey began as she was identified to supply playdough to Botswana.
She attributes much of her success to Kiyanah, who motivated her to start the school.
“I feel so blessed to be part of this programme where I am forced to get out of my comfort zone and take my business to unknown heights. It is my passion for the cause of education that drives my business.”
Grosvenor Montessori currently caters for children from one years old and Grade 1 level and she hopes to expand to Grade 12 in the near future with the assistance of the MyGrowthFund.
Photo: Sarah Koning
She is also venturing into a youth upliftment programme called The Phoenix with three other like-minded women. The Phoenix will create an ecosystem to school unschooled youth and create self-sustaining communities.
