Helping students reach their potential

Hi, I’m Joe, the founder of Catalyst Academics and the person leading the Mathematical Methods and Specialist Mathematics content.

Academically, my background is in mathematics, which will shock absolutely no one who has spoken to me for more than twelve seconds. I studied Mathematical and Computer Science, majoring in Applied Mathematics, and I have been working as a private and group tutor since 2018, mainly across maths and physics.

Before that, I was Dux of Xavier College in 2017, achieved an ATAR of 99.95, and received a Merit in Physics, which I completed in Year 11.

So yes, I was that kid.

The very stereotypical, maths-loving, physics-enjoying, “please give me a set of rules and I will happily follow them to their logical conclusion” kind of student.

And honestly, I loved it.

I loved studying. I loved understanding difficult concepts. I loved walking into tests and exams knowing I had put in the work. I loved the feeling of things slowly clicking into place.

That is a huge part of why I became a tutor in the first place.

Since finishing school, most of my professional life has been in education, especially the tutoring space. I have worked as a private tutor, group tutor, content developer, operations coordinator, tutor hiring and training coordinator, and area manager within tutoring and education companies.

So I have seen this field from a few different angles.

I have taught students directly. I have helped train tutors. I have built resources. I have worked behind the scenes in operations. I have seen what students need, what families are looking for, what tutors do well, and where the current support systems often fall short.

That experience is a huge part of what shaped Catalyst.

When I teach, my goal is always to make difficult ideas feel less intimidating. I do not want students sitting there thinking, “I am just not a maths person,” or “I will never understand this,” because most of the time that is not true.

Most of the time, they just need the right explanation, the right examples, and someone who can slow the whole thing down without making them feel stupid for needing help.

That is where I think I do my best work.

I have always tried to teach with more of an older-brother energy than a traditional teacher energy. Still structured, still clear, still academically strong, but more relaxed and human. More like, “Alright, this looks awful, but I promise we can make it make sense.”

One of my favourite parts of tutoring has always been building a proper connection with students.

Yes, I love teaching maths and physics. But I also love hearing about what my students are doing on the weekend, what sport they are playing, what holiday they have coming up, what exam they are stressed about, what university course they are thinking about, or what random life drama has unfolded since last week.

Nothing too wild, obviously. We are still here to do maths, not host a reality TV reunion special.

But that personal connection matters.

Students learn better when they feel comfortable. They ask better questions when they do not feel judged. They are more willing to make mistakes when they trust the person helping them.

That is the kind of energy I want Catalyst to have.

High-quality academic support, but without the cold, robotic, corporate feeling that makes learning feel more painful than it needs to be.

Outside of education, I am a massive nerd, and I say that with full confidence.

I love gaming, board game nights with my friends, going to the cinema, anime, books, fitness, cooking and spending probably too much time thinking about fictional worlds that are not real but still somehow emotionally damaging.

For anime, my top three are Attack on Titan, Code Geass and Death Note, which are all probably very basic answers, but I stand by them completely.

Gaming-wise, my current obsession is Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, especially the soundtrack. I have had “Une vie à t’aimer” on repeat for months, and if the words “For those who come after, right?” mean anything to you, then you already know. We have suffered together.

I am also a big gym and fitness person, I love cooking, and if you are a Brandon Sanderson fan, especially Mistborn or Stormlight Archive, then honestly, we are already friends.

At the end of the day, Catalyst is a combination of a lot of things I care about: education, South Australia, clear teaching, good resources, helping students feel more confident, and building something that can genuinely make a difference.

Also, yes, I would like the business to do well.

I am not going to pretend I have never once thought about early retirement.

But the serious answer is this: I created Catalyst because I know how powerful good academic support can be, and I want more South Australian students to have access to it.

Not just the students who can afford expensive tutoring.

Not just the students in the right school.

Not just the students who already know where to find help.

All of them. That is the goal.

“I’m not going to lie, part of me is absolutely here because building a successful education platform sounds like a pretty good way to get rich and retire by 34. But the real reason is that I love teaching, I love helping students, and I genuinely think South Australian students deserve better academic support than they currently get. So yes, early retirement would be lovely. But helping students actually understand the beauty (yes, beauty) of maths is also pretty satisfying.”

Hi, I’m Han, the Science Academic Lead for Catalyst Academics.

I look after the Biology and Chemistry side of the platform, which means I create the science outlines, videos, worksheets, solutions and learning resources that students use throughout the course.

Academically, my background is very science-heavy, which is exactly as suspicious as it sounds.

I achieved an ATAR of 98.7, completed a Bachelor of Science in Secondary Teaching with a focus on Biology and Chemistry, and I am currently studying a Bachelor of Dental Surgery full-time at the University of Adelaide.

So yes, I do enjoy making life difficult for myself.

I have also spent years working as a tutor, helping students across Biology, Chemistry and general science. Before Catalyst, I worked with Joe at a previous tutoring company, and that is where he first saw me teach.

According to Joe, he could tell pretty quickly that I had the exact kind of energy Catalyst needed: strong subject knowledge, clear explanations, a positive teaching style, and the ability to connect with students without making the lesson feel painfully formal.

Which is very kind of him to say.

Suspiciously kind, actually.

But in all seriousness, teaching is something I genuinely love. I like helping students understand topics that originally feel overwhelming. I like taking a process, diagram, theory or question and breaking it down until it actually feels manageable.

Science can be a lot.

There are strange words, tiny details, processes inside processes, chemical reactions, diagrams, rules, exceptions to the rules, and then probably another diagram just to keep everyone humble.

My goal is to make all of that feel less intimidating.

I want students to be able to look at Biology or Chemistry and think, “Okay, this is a lot, but I can actually do this.”

That is a big part of why I enjoy content development as well.

Tutoring one student or one group at a time is really rewarding, but Catalyst gives us the chance to reach far more students across South Australia. Instead of explaining one concept once, we can build a resource that hundreds or thousands of students can come back to whenever they need it.

That is really exciting.

Also, yes, like Joe and Ashlee, I would love for Catalyst to become wildly successful so we can all make money and retire early.

But until then, I am very happy making Biology and Chemistry resources that actually help students.

Outside of Catalyst, I love baking, finding new vocal stims to annoy everyone around me, and describing basically everything as “cute”.

My newest personality is Michael Jackson, which has been very normal and not at all concerning for the people around me.

I also love Celine Dion completely unironically. No shame. Full commitment.

My current life goals include completing the City to Bay to fulfil what I can only describe as the standard adult crisis philosophy, somehow gaslighting the “E” on my Myers-Briggs personality test into becoming an “I”, winning some kind of karaoke contest, and learning how to do a backflip.

A very normal and achievable list.

At the end of the day, I want students to feel supported, capable and less stressed when they study science. Biology and Chemistry can feel intense, but with the right explanations, the right practice and the right support, students can absolutely build confidence.

And hopefully, we can make the process a little bit cute along the way.

“Science can feel overwhelming at first, but once you break it down properly, it becomes so much more manageable. My goal is to make Biology and Chemistry feel clearer, less scary, and ideally a little bit cute.”

Hi, I’m Ashlee, the Business Operations and Marketing Manager for Catalyst Academics.

Basically, I’m the person helping make sure Catalyst does not just exist as a great idea sitting in Joe’s brain, which, respectfully, is a terrifying place for anything to live unsupervised.

My role covers the business, operations, marketing and communication side of Catalyst. That includes things like social media, client communication, outreach, business development, partnerships, general organisation, brand direction and making sure the whole thing feels polished, approachable and actually usable for students, parents and schools.

While Joe and Han focus heavily on the academic content, my job is to help bring the platform to life from the outside. I help shape how Catalyst communicates, how it connects with people, how families understand what we offer, and how the business continues to grow.

Professionally, my background has been a bit of everything, in the best way possible.

Over the years, I have worked across HR, payroll, marketing, social media, customer service, client communications, administration and business support. I have worked in orthopaedics, wineries, restaurants, retail, optics, medical and laboratory environments, and even overseas on a party yacht in Croatia.

I was also once a Happiness Manager in London, which sounds fake, but was somehow a real job title. Joe still does not know what that means, and honestly, fair enough.

I have also explored study across a few different areas, including physiotherapy, architecture, business management, HR, medical science and laboratory science. That mix has given me a pretty broad understanding of people, systems, communication and how different workplaces operate.

Academically, I did well at school, achieving a 92.25 ATAR and performing strongly in subjects like General Mathematics and Biology. So while I am not leading the maths or science content side of Catalyst, I definitely understand the pressure of senior school and how much students need the right support around them.

A big part of what I bring to Catalyst is people.

I have always been someone who enjoys connecting with others, whether that is through work, travel, friendships, customer service or just a random conversation that somehow turns into a full life story. I like making people feel comfortable, heard and looked after, which is really important for the kind of platform Catalyst is trying to be.

We do not want Catalyst to feel cold or corporate. We want it to feel approachable, supportive and human.

That is where I come in.

Joe and I have been close friends since Year 10, so we go way back. We have a very brother-sister kind of dynamic, which usually means a lot of honesty, a lot of banter, and a lot of me helping turn his giant chaotic ideas into something that actual human beings can understand.

That dynamic is a big part of Catalyst as well.

The platform is serious about education, but we do not want it to feel stiff. We want students and parents to feel like the people behind it are real, approachable and genuinely invested in helping South Australian students succeed.

Outside of work, I love travelling, meeting new people, going out with friends, and saying yes to plans that may or may not have been properly thought through.

I have been known to book random trips with very little notice, travel on my own, make friends wherever I go, and somehow figure it out along the way. I love the social side of life, whether that is holidays, events, parties, dinners, new places or just spending time with good people.

My long-term goal is pretty simple: help build something successful, create a life with freedom and flexibility, travel as much as possible, and work on something that actually feels exciting.

Catalyst gives me the chance to do all of that while being part of a platform that can genuinely help students and families.

And honestly, that is a pretty good deal.

“I’m here to help make Catalyst feel organised, approachable and actually enjoyable to interact with. Also, if building a successful education platform lets me travel more and work from wherever I want, I will absolutely not be complaining.”