Hillary YiP, at 15 years old, is the youngest CEO in the world

Hilary Yip is the youngest CEO in the world, she is only 15 years old and has revolutionized the way children learn languages and debate topics of their interest thanks to the educational application MinorMynas.

"Children use the app to discuss a variety of topics, from coding to bullying to autism, today they talk about the pandemic and how to protect themselves," explains Hilary before a massive audience at the Global Women's Forum Dubai 2020.

Her story is inspiring, that is why at her young age, she shares scenarios with great CEOs around the world to talk about the advances that the global industry has achieved from the hand of women.

The young businesswoman from Honk Kong told how the idea that motivated her to create an application based on personal growth and tolerance emerged. Her difficult experience of not knowing how to speak Mandarin allowed her to put herself in the shoes of thousands of children around the world who need to learn a new language forced by various situations or simply by personal motivations.

“My journey began almost five years ago at the age of 10 when I ran into a child entrepreneurship contest and was intrigued. We had to create an idea with which we could change the world. "

“My Chinese was terrible. I did an exchange in Taiwan and I realized how much it had improved,” she told the South China Morning Post. But that difficulty was the motivation to channel her project with the help of a developer with whom she created Minor Mynas.

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"If you don't believe in your own idea you won't get anyone else to believe in it even if you try your best" says the little CEO.

With her structured ideas and the help of her mother, the girl presented her project in 2015, with an instant reception: she was the winner of the 'Emerging Entrepreneur Awards' with her MinorMynas app.

The development of the application allows children to move in a safe environment for them, where they can chat, connect with everyone in video calls, learn and debate. "I was hoping the app would focus on languages, but I was surprised to see kids connect from all over the world, make friends, and even engage in conversations that went far beyond language learning."

By connecting children from over 60 countries with her educational app, she hopes to expand the knowledge of the topics they are passionate about. and create more understanding between cultures.

"Children are using the app to learn things, from coding to discussing topics like bullying and autism," she added.

Yip said she believed her product could solve the screen time problem and allow them to learn and teach at the same time. She added that many children were using the app to learn things beyond study plans and delve deeper into topics that they were personally passionate about.

"Human connection has been a crucial part of the app, and adults have sometimes underestimated the power of giving kids a platform."

Yip gave an example of children who have connected through the app to talk about the recent coronavirus outbreak . "The children discussed everything from how to stay safe and why they had to stay home to how their parents were dealing with the crisis."

The young CEO explains how the diversity of users in the application will help increase the understanding of different points of view, cultures and ideas. “When dealing with problems, having a wide variety of opinions can help. Understanding the points of view of others and reaching productive conclusions can heal divisions ”, she explains with a soft and sweet voice and a good understanding of English.

Going forward, Yip plans to work with other online providers to provide more formal in-app learning to increase awareness.

"In our second version, which is in its final stages, we plan to launch parent communities since the exchange between an international group of parents does not exist today," she said.