Enterprise: Franc.World
What is their raison d’etre? To empower every Australian youth, especially girls, to reach their full potential, regardless of gender, race or postcode.
Briana Cicchelli and Annika Launay are sisters, entrepreneurs and avowed fans of providing a broad education that can lead to a successful career and bold side hustles.
Briana is a qualified journalist and also has an Arts major in archaeology, while Annika has gained an honours degree in Business Management and a degree in Science, majoring in psychology.
Experienced entrepreneurs, the siblings run a national marketing agency and have opened a restaurant and fromagerie. Their latest venture is Franc.World – Australia’s largest multimedia platform for tweens and teens.
“Research shows gender bias and socioeconomic factors both place considerable restraints on a tween’s view of what they can or can’t be.”
Franc.World’s mission is to introduce the world of careers to every Australian tween (those aged 9-to-14), based on the adage that ‘if you can see it, you can be it’. “By showcasing career paths and educational opportunities, we can empower every Australian youth, and especially girls, to reach their full potential, regardless of gender, race or postcode,” Annika avers. “During the ‘tween’ years, most youngsters will take their first step towards a future career path by choosing elective subjects. “However most 9- to 14-year-olds have had little to no exposure to career paths outside of their immediate family and communities.”
Research shows gender bias and socioeconomic factors both place considerable restraints on a tween’s view of what they can or can’t be. Briana and Annika are adamant that exposure to a wide range of careers and a program to help shape conscious consideration of a future career is, therefore, imperative at this formative age. “Additionally, within the Australian workforce, women are underrepresented in key decision-making roles across almost all industries,” Annika bemoans. “While females make up half of our workforce, just 19.4 per cent of CEOs are women, and 22 per cent of boards and governing bodies in Australia still have no female directors. Also, only three per cent of venture capital funding went to start-ups [founded only by women] in 2022. And don’t even get us started on the gender pay gap!”
Franc.World is a multimedia company with a website, social media platforms that have a 25,000-strong database and a book deal – Entrepreneur is due out in March 2024. A TV show called Franc’s Cool Jobs is in the works.
“All are designed to provide education about various career paths in ways that are educational, inspirational and above all fun for this age group,” Briana explains. “Franc’s Cool Jobs is fronted by Francesca – the 12-year-old face of Franc.World. She is bubbly, vivacious and passionate about women’s rights. In each episode, Franc explores a particular industry, from construction to aviation and fashion to mining, and becomes a fully involved assistant for a typical work day, discovering just what it takes to get the job done. Franc steps right into each role, wearing the uniform, undertaking interviews and experiencing a true ‘day in the life’ – even if it means getting down and dirty in the outback, getting up close and personal with a shark, being fabulous at fashion week or flying high in an industrial crane.”
Franc.World offers many of its resources free of charge, so it is currently being funded by the sisters’ marketing and public relations company; however, they are about to commence their first funding round in 2024. “We have some incredible projects coming up, such as our documentary, TV series and a second book, so we have an array of opportunities for aligned sponsors,” Annika enthuses.
On the subject of running businesses as siblings, Briana says “We’re like yin and yang. Annika is detail-focused, great at branding, people and production. She loves a spreadsheet. I’m top-level strategy – I think big and love to create a massive concept.”
This article first appeared in issue 43 of the Inside Small Business quarterly magazine
