At Brilliant Read Media, it is our constant endeavour to identify and share some of the unique and compelling stories from the startup ecosystem. As part of this, we invited Rashmi Jain for an interview with Brilliant Read Media. To say it further, Rashmi is an Entrepreneur and Founder & Director at Younkerr Activity Hub. Let’s learn more about her background, inspiring journey so far and her advice for our growing community!
Excerpts from our exclusive interview with Rashmi:
What inspired you to establish YOUNKERR Activity Hub, and what gap in the education system did you feel compelled to address?
The idea behind YOUNKERR came from a simple but powerful observation: there are many brilliant learners who are academically qualified, but not necessarily prepared for the real world.
Traditional education has its own importance, but I felt there was a missing layer: practical skills, digital confidence, creativity, communication, adaptability, and exposure to global opportunities.
I wanted to build something that went beyond the conventional definition of education. That is how YOUNKERR evolved not merely as a platform offering courses, but as a launchpad for capability and opportunity.
Whether it is introducing a child to AI, helping a professional learn a foreign language, or preparing nursing professionals for international careers, our purpose remains the same: help people become capable, confident, and future-ready.
For me, the real reward isn’t a certificate at the end of a course. It is seeing a learner use what they have learned to create a better possibility for themselves.
YOUNKERR offers more than 100 courses across music, dance, art, fitness, academics, foreign languages, and professional skills. How do you maintain quality while operating across such diverse disciplines?
When you operate across multiple disciplines, the biggest challenge is maintaining consistency without compromising the individuality of each subject.
Our answer has been to focus on people, process, and outcomes.
We work with certified domain experts and industry practitioners who understand their subjects beyond textbooks. Every course is designed around clear learning outcomes and practical application.
We also believe that learning becomes meaningful when learners are seen as individuals rather than numbers in a batch. Small-group learning, mentorship, progress tracking, and regular feedback allow us to understand where a learner is struggling and where they are progressing.
Ultimately, we don’t want someone to finish a YOUNKERR course and simply say, “I completed it.”
We want them to say, “I can actually do this now.”
You have built a community of more than 3,000 learners across 20+ countries. What does that milestone mean to you personally?
The number is certainly encouraging, but what matters more to me is what that number represents.
Behind those 3,000-plus learners are individual stories children discovering new interests, professionals acquiring new capabilities, and candidates preparing themselves for opportunities beyond their home countries.
One of the most fulfilling aspects has been seeing nursing professionals use language training and career support to move closer to international opportunities in Europe. Similarly, watching young learners confidently work on and present AI projects reminds us why practical education matters.
Building a global community also taught us an important lesson: geography doesn’t have to limit learning.
Of course, operating across 20+ countries brings challenges, particularly around time zones, cultural differences, and varying learning preferences. But those challenges have pushed us to become more flexible, technology-driven, and learner-centric.
You often speak about learning as a lifelong journey. Why do you believe age should never become a barrier to education?
Because curiosity doesn’t have an expiry date.
We have somehow created a perception that learning belongs primarily to childhood and youth; that once you have a degree and a job, education is largely over.
I strongly disagree.
A child may learn through games and creativity. A professional may learn because they want to change careers. A senior citizen may learn music, art, technology, or a language simply because they have always wanted to.
All of those are equally meaningful.
At YOUNKERR, we therefore try to design learning experiences around the learner’s stage of life rather than forcing everyone into the same educational model.
Learning should evolve as we evolve.
Artificial intelligence and technology are transforming the world of work. What skills do you believe today’s learners should focus on to remain relevant tomorrow?
I don’t think the future belongs only to people who know technology. I believe it belongs to people who know how to work with technology while remaining deeply human.
AI literacy, coding, digital tools, and data skills will certainly become increasingly important. But alongside these, communication, creativity, critical thinking, emotional intelligence, collaboration, and adaptability will remain extremely valuable.
The biggest mistake would be to prepare learners for today’s jobs when the nature of work itself is changing.
Instead, we should prepare them to learn continuously.
If someone has the confidence and ability to acquire a new skill every time the world changes, they will always have a way forward.
YOUNKERR has moved beyond traditional learning into coding, foreign languages, career counselling, and international career pathways. What led to this evolution?
We realized that learning a skill is only the first step.
Imagine someone learns German because they want to pursue an international career. A certificate alone doesn’t necessarily take them to that destination. They may also need interview preparation, professional communication, career guidance, and an understanding of the overall pathway.
That is why we started looking at education more holistically.
We don’t want to simply answer the question, “What should I learn?”
We also want to help learners answer, “Where can this skill take me?”
That shift from course completion to career and life outcomes is an important part of YOUNKERR’s evolution.
Personalization has become one of the biggest trends in education. What does personalized learning mean to YOUNKERR?
Personalization, to us, isn’t simply changing the timetable or giving someone additional worksheets.
It begins with understanding the person.
Every learner has a different starting point, learning speed, objective, confidence level, and set of circumstances. A young child exploring AI and a healthcare professional preparing for an international language interview cannot possibly learn in exactly the same way.
We therefore try to understand the learner first and then shape the learning experience around their needs.
Technology can enable personalization, but I believe human mentorship makes it meaningful.
YOUNKERR also creates opportunities for women through flexible online teaching and entrepreneurial roles. Why is this area particularly important to you?
There is an enormous amount of talent that remains underutilised simply because traditional work structures don’t work for everyone.
Women, in particular, often have to navigate professional aspirations alongside family responsibilities. Flexible digital work can change that equation.
A woman who has expertise in music, languages, academics, fitness, art, or another field shouldn’t necessarily have to choose between her personal responsibilities and professional identity.
Digital platforms can give her the ability to teach, earn, build credibility, and potentially become an entrepreneur all with greater flexibility.
For me, empowerment means creating access to opportunity and independence, not simply talking about it.
You also work with corporates through employee engagement and creative wellness activities. What can organizations learn from these experiences?
Organizations sometimes underestimate the power of simply allowing people to be human at work.
Employees spend a significant portion of their lives in the workplace. Constant targets, meetings, deadlines, and performance expectations can create fatigue over time.
Creative experiences such as music, art, laughter yoga, mindfulness, and stress-relief activities provide people with an opportunity to pause and reconnect.
Interestingly, these activities can also break down organizational barriers.
When colleagues laugh together, create something together, or participate in an activity outside their usual roles, they interact differently. Hierarchies become less important and human connection becomes stronger.
A healthy workplace isn’t built only through policies and processes. It is also built through relationships.
As the Founder and Director of YOUNKERR Activity Hub, what is your larger vision for the organization?
My vision is to make YOUNKERR a global bridge between learning, capability, and opportunity.
I don’t want education to remain something people pursue only at a particular age, in a particular institution, or for a particular certificate.
I envision an ecosystem where a child can discover a passion, a professional can reskill, a parent can explore a new career, a senior citizen can pursue a lifelong interest, and an aspiring international candidate can find a structured pathway toward a global opportunity.
The ultimate goal is to democratize access to practical, meaningful learning.
If we can help people believe that they are never too young, too old, too late, or too far away to learn something new and create a better future, then we will have achieved something far more meaningful than building a large education platform.
We will have helped build a culture of lifelong possibility.
Finally, if you could give today’s learners one piece of advice, what would it be?
Don’t allow a degree, a mark sheet, your age, or your current circumstances to define the limits of your potential.
The world is changing too quickly for learning to stop after graduation.
Stay curious. Learn practical skills. Embrace technology. Communicate. Experiment. Fail. Learn again. And never become so comfortable with what you know that you stop discovering what you could become.
At YOUNKERR, we believe education should not simply prepare you to pass an examination.
It should prepare you to navigate life.
And perhaps the most important lesson of all is this:
At BrilliantRead, we don’t just share startup stories; we bring you journeys that challenge perspectives, spark ideas, and fuel ambition. Every story we feature is carefully chosen to add real value, inspire action, and ignite possibility within our growing community of entrepreneurs and dreamers.
If you have a powerful story, one that can inspire, educate, or create impact we want to hear from you.
