Kira Matthews, creator of Pitch School
Kira Matthews
Each year, entrepreneurial college graduates leave with ideas about what they want to build, but they often do not know how or where to begin. For those interested in entrepreneurship, the first steps can feel especially uncertain. I recently talked with UK-based Kira Matthews, the creator of Pitch School, to learn more about what works.
When I asked Matthews what new graduates should do first if they want to start something of their own, she stated, “Test your idea in a small way as quickly as you can. You need to prove that there is interest in your idea and that someone is willing to pay for it.” She has seen what happens when people move too quickly into building without that proof, explaining, “A huge mistake I see people make is spending thousands on product development and websites when they haven’t yet proven there’s a market for what they’re offering.”
Rather than building alone, Matthews encourages graduates to stay in conversation with the people they hope to reach. She shared, “Social media is also a great way to build a community around your idea. Start creating content. Speak to potential customers. Use their insight to build your product or service and to shape your launches.” For Matthews, her focus is on being responsive, learning to put something out into the world, and paying attention to how people respond to ideas.
This outward-facing approach contrasts with how many students are prepared for work, highlighting a gap between traditional career preparation and current realities. Matthews stated, “The world has changed dramatically in recent years. Now, many employers are expecting candidates to have personal brands on LinkedIn and to demonstrate their abilities before they get the job.” In her view, relying on standard application processes can be limiting: “The traditional approach of searching on job boards and applying reduces you to a 1 in 1000 applicants.”
Matthews suggested a much more assertive approach. She shared with me, “When you take the proactive mindset of creating a personal brand, you create a platform where the people or companies who need your talents can find you through your content. You can position yourself as someone people want to network with. It opens so many doors.”
This same emphasis on connection shapes how Matthews thinks about pitching – or presenting an idea or product to persuade people to support it. For those just starting out, especially those without an established network, she reframed what a strong pitch looks like. She told me, “The best pitches are about solving a problem, and you can’t solve a company’s problems if you don’t know what they’re working on.” Her advice is to begin with curiosity. She added, “Build a personal relationship with the team that you want to work with. Be curious, ask questions about their current goals. Through curiosity, you’ll learn so much about what the team is looking for and how they imagine their challenges to be solved.” From there, according to Matthews, a pitch can become something more tailored and relevant. Specifically, she shared, “Building a strong relationship with someone before you pitch them will develop trust, even if you’re just starting out.”
Matthews is careful not to let lack of experience become an excuse for inaction. She stated, “Don’t let not having professional experience stop you from experimenting. Create a portfolio of work based on what you’d do if you did get hired. Use your creativity and resourcefulness to show people your potential.”
Matthews’ own path into entrepreneurship did not begin in a traditional business setting. She explained, “I was self-employed before I left university. I was studying fashion design and assisting stylists on shoots on the weekend.” She added, “I realized very quickly that one of the worst things you can do is assume that things will always stay the same. Clients’ needs change. Companies close. People move on.”
In the fashion environment, relationships are central. As Matthews told me, “In fashion, no one posts jobs to a job board; nearly everything is done through word-of-mouth connections and who you know.” Her experience in fashion shaped her career as she moved forward. She stated, “I learned that to stay in the game, I had to be proactive about building genuine relationships and stay top of mind, so if an opportunity came up that I was perfect for, I’d be the one they’d offer it to first.”
While much of Matthews’ advice is very practical, she was also candid about the personal challenges that come with building something from the ground up. She told me the “hardest moments came when I realized my mental health was no longer something that I could put off or ignore.” That realization led her to rethink how she approached work. She shared, “I had unhealed parts of myself that became the biggest barriers to my personal and professional growth. I stopped glamourizing working 12-hour days and hustling, and started having deep, hard conversations with my therapist.”
For many college graduates, taking a significant risk can be scary, especially if they lack financial support. Matthews can relate, as she did not have a safety net to fall back on. She stated, “I came from a single-parent household and was the first in my family to graduate from college. Naturally, those things can make someone feel risk-averse.” She noted that “If you get a job while you’re pursuing your business in the early days, that can take the pressure off, too.”
Despite challenges, Matthews pointed to a mindset that sustained her. She told me, “For me, the idea that no one was coming to save me fueled me to take my business seriously.” She added, “Even when I only had 30 followers and a dream, I showed up to my business as if it were an established real thing.”
Matthews is also candid about failure. She shared, “I failed a lot, and quickly. I pivoted many times until I got things right.” Over time, she believes that failure can lead to stability, but it is not easy. She noted, “Financial stability is hard won. You really need to own a part of the market, and you can only do that through many, many failed attempts and learning quickly.”
I also talked with Matthews about the most common barriers to success, and her answer was illuminating. She stated, “Our brains are designed to protect us at all costs, and the brain views rejection and embarrassment as a threat.” She added, “Many people have great ideas, but the inner critic in their brain acts as a bodyguard that prevents them from sharing their ideas with the world.”
As Matthews suggests, the fear of rejection is real and not trivial. Research shows that the brain is highly attuned to social threats. For example, rejection and exclusion can trigger distress responses similar to those involved in physical pain. Part of the challenge, Matthews noted, is that “We’re not taught in school how to navigate negative critical thoughts.”
The common thread in Matthews’ advice is that the biggest barrier is rarely the idea itself. Instead, it is the hesitation to act on it. Learning to move forward anyway may be the most important skill entrepreneurial graduates can build on.