The Challenge

Based in Antrim, Northern Ireland, assistive technology company TextHelp creates digital tools that are used in classrooms and workplaces around the world.

Martin McKay is the CEO and Co-Founder of Texthelp. As a natural advocate of personal development, Martin was drawn to the Programme as a way to develop himself as a leader and acquire new skills to help scale his business.

The Outcome

Martin notes the dramatic impact the Programme has had on him personally and professionally. At a personal level, the breathing practises he’s learned have transformed his morning routines. “I start each day with breathwork and meditation. On the whole, I find I’m taking care of myself better. The Programme has taught me that you lead others better by leading yourself first.’

He also notices the changes ScaleX has made to TextHelp’s operations. “In the business, we’ve had key objectives and results (OKRs) for a few years now. If you look at our OKRs this year, you can see 4 or 5 of them are taken directly from the ScaleX Accelerator Programme. We’ve also introduced a growth mindset to the company, which I picked up on the Programme. If you look at our business plan now, it’s got ScaleX all over it!”

Martin also considers the value of the connections he made through the Programme. He now has a network of people that he can reach out to and say, ‘Hey, I was thinking about this aspect of my work. You’ve got much more experience on this than I do; what did you do? Is there anything you can introduce me to?’.

“When you’re in a room of CEOs, MDs and business leaders, you all tend to be a bit competitive and push each other forward. When you’re publicly committing to making changes in your business and then coming back in two weeks to talk about implementing them, you find that you actually make the changes. Being surrounded by these people pushes you to be better.” – Martin McKay.