Back in 2018, I was consulting for mid-sized businesses across Australia and kept seeing the same problem. Smart business owners and their teams were making costly decisions because they didn't truly understand their financial data. Not because the information wasn't there — but because nobody had taught them how to read it properly.

The breaking point came when a client in Brisbane nearly closed a profitable division because their standard reporting made it look like a loss center. Thirty minutes of proper analysis revealed it was actually their most efficient operation. That's when we realized traditional financial education was failing people.

So we started experimenting with a different approach. Instead of teaching formulas first, we begin with real scenarios. Instead of theoretical models, we use actual business data. Instead of memorizing ratios, students learn to ask the right questions.

The results surprised even us. Our first cohort in 2019 saw participants applying concepts immediately in their roles. By 2023, we had alumni leading financial planning initiatives at companies from Cairns to Perth. But more importantly, they were confident in their analysis — not just competent.