SparkPath Annual Letter 2025

Annual Letter
JP Michel
•
January 07, 2026

Hi everyone,

Last year, I embarked on a journey to answer a big question: how do we go from impacting 100,000 students, to impacting 1,000,000 people?

This question led to 4 major initiatives in 2025. Here they are below, including why each might be relevant to you.

#1 - Challenge Mindset Certification

In November, we graduated our first cohort from the Challenge mindset certification. Over the course of 4 synchronous sessions and assignments, our 21 participants explored the following: 

  • Real needs: What are students' actual needs when it comes to careers, and why aren’t these needs being met by traditional approaches

  • See the work: Why the Challenge mindset helps people “see the work” so they understand what work actually is. Once they do, this ability to see the work changes how they explore careers, majors, internships, networking opportunities, job search strategies, etc. 

  • Shift: How being a scientist and a coach changes how career professionals prepare, engage, and follow-up with students (and what difference this makes for students!)

I was thrilled to see the certification program make a lasting impact on coaches, including Anne Grieves who shared her experience in this LinkedIn post:

Curious about how the Challenge Mindset Certification can help your team reach its goals? Sign up to join the waitlist for next cohort in May! 

 

#2 - NCDA Closing Keynote: What is Work? 

On June 30th, 2015 I walked into the NCDA conference for the first time, as a complete stranger to the field of career development with a lot to learn.

In 2025, I had the honour of being the closing keynote speaker. 

What happened during that decade? At first, I felt like a foreigner in a strange land, like I was somewhere I didn’t belong. But from the moment I arrived, I was welcomed, mentored and guided by an army of kind and generous souls who helped me discover what this field had to offer. 

They encouraged me, nurtured my ideas and gave me a platform to present, build and think critically. Thank you NCDA, and special thank you to all my friends, guides and mentors who helped me accomplish this dream.

You can check out the full keynote here: https://youtu.be/hz3eqSRC-Dc

#3 - Changing Mindsets Through YouTube Videos

So many YouTube creators are creating inspirational, mindset-shifting long form content. Amongst a sea of noise and waste, these videos contain truth, wisdom and applicable advice.

If they can do it, why can’t we?

In 2025, we created over a dozen YouTube videos, each between 8-10 minutes, exploring career myths, mindset shifts or a practical strategy that students can use immediately. We dipped our toe into the process and learned more about what it takes to make engaging content. 

Check out two of our favorite videos here:

Our goal for next year is to create 40 videos! Here we go!!

Think these videos could make a difference for your students? Join our YouTube experiment by subscribing here.

 

 #4 - Introducing a New Tool: The Path Explorer

We've been listening to educators about what works after the students choose their top Challenge Cards and they're ready to take the next step. 

This is why we built something called the Path Explorer. This tool shows students the companies working on the challenges that students care about, the jobs that are there, and the learning opportunities that align with the challenges that they care about.

Check it out in the video below:

What we're hearing from educators who have used the new tool:

"Amazing addition!!! This is exactly the type of extra support that students need."

"Definitely a way to help students research career paths."

"This tool is wonderful and I can't wait to fully utilize it with our students!"

"Something like this is lacking and needed. Keep going."

Want to learn how you can get access to the Path Explorer? Send us an email (hello@mysparkpath.com) with subject line "PATH EXPLORER" for more details.

 

Challenge Cards in Action

Events

This year, I also had the privilege of meeting some amazing new professionals at the following events: 


Team

I’d like to highlight three important collaborations that have helped SparkPath serve you better:

  • Jodie Boyer, SparkPath’s Support Specialist - If you purchased the physical or digital Challenge Cards, you’ve likely experienced Jodie’s speedy and friendly service. Jodie has answered hundreds of questions about our tools, and she is ready to answer hundreds more!

  • Ally Gaeckle, Project Manager - Operational mastermind driving our product creation and overall team capabilities. Ally has been heavily involved in the creation of our set of tools coming out in 2026.

  • Nicola Edwards, Career-Advisor-In-Residence - Nicola acts as sounding board and provides ongoing feedback for our new solutions, our latest writing, and the authoring of our philosophy to support students. 

 

2025 in Numbers

  • 2,000+ copies of The World Needs You sold
  • 130,000+ individuals using the digital Challenge Cards
  • 52,245 physical decks of cards sold and counting!

 

What’s on the Horizon for 2026

So how do we go from impacting 100,000 students, to impacting 1,000,000 people?

The answer is clear: together.

In 2026, we will continue to improve our tools and resources to help you do your best work. In return, I know I can count on you to share your obstacles, feedback and requests so that together we can continue to grow and learn about what people really need to create lives of creation and meaning. 

Thank you for all the wonderful work that you do. It's a pleasure and a privilege to collaborate with you on this important mission.

Thank you to Farnam Street and Khan Academy for the inspiration to write this post.

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