Shivani Gopal launches Australian first digital mentor-marketplace.

Shivani Gopal pivots existing professional network and education membership, The Remarkable Woman, to a new digital platform, built for ambitious women.

Media Release.

• Shivani Gopal transitions existing 25k database of female professionals to new tech ecosystem and ‘mentor marketplace’: ELLADEX

• Major market research into the mentor space by Gopal identified significant failures’ to both mentors and mentees, which the new platform seeks to fix

• Market research into the sector showed that 91% of women generally not satisfied with the support they receive personally and professionally 

• The rebrand will see famous female leaders as ambassadors, including Tracey Spicer AM, Jana Pitman and Catherine Fox AM, as mentors and content creators 

• The new platform will see new, native data-matching technology and machine learning to enhance existing education, networking and mentoring opportunities 

Australia, 31st October 2022: Women’s learning, leadership and mentoring platform, The Remarkable Woman, founded by Shivani Gopal in 2016, has announced a major upgrade to become Australia’s first digital mentor-marketplace and super-app, ELLADEX. 

The new digital ecosystem has been created to better meet the needs of professional women today, and comes as the next instalment of Shivani Gopal’s ongoing quest to close the gender gap in the personal, professional and financial spheres. 

The revolutionised ‘mentor marketplace’ will see many of the successful elements of the former The Remarkable Woman network upgraded to incorporate in-house, native-built technology and machine learning, which provides enhanced education, networking and mentoring opportunities via the practice of daily habits that are necessary for ambitious women today.

Shivani Gopal, founder and CEO said: “We have made incredible progress with The Remarkable Woman and our Executive Circle mentoring and coaching programs, but there is still not enough support for professional women. I wanted more for our members and our mentors, and sought consultation from ex-Microsoft engineers on how best to go about it. Technology is now crucial to female career and life development, and to continue the progress we have made.”

Qualitative and quantitative research conducted in-house, and in partnership with Lewers, Melbourne showed that 92% of women want access to mentoring, 91% of women want to improve their personal skills, 73% of women want to network and to belong to a meaningful community and 93% of women want to work on their careers. 

The new digital mentor marketplace, ELLADEX, will host a number of tech developments over the coming months including the ELLADEX ‘Super-app’ which launches on the 9th November, supporting womens’ development across learning, personal and professional development, 24/7 on their hand-held device. 

Shivani Gopal added: “Technology is a huge part of our lives, and crucial to female development. I personally require access to four to five apps each morning to get the information I require - it’s exhausting. With ELLADEX we have been able to build positive technology that not only supports our careers, but will satisfy womens’ thirst for learning and wellbeing - all in one place.”

Shivani Gopal started The Remarkable Woman network six years ago after being dismissed as ‘too young and too pretty’ for serious mentorship in the financial space. Since then, her business has grown to a female-led network of over 25,000 professional women, and her expertise has seen her as a spokesperson on some of Australia’s leading media news sites and forums. 

Shivani found that the 1:1 mentoring-style was crucial to her own development, and to combatting the many hurdles faced by women in the workplace today, including imposter syndrome, lack of confidence, frustration and gender discrimination. Shivani still finds the time to individually and group mentor women across different industries today, claiming the process to be ‘one of the most rewarding and energising parts’ of her day to day. 

Ms Gopal added: “There are some things you can’t learn in mainstream education models, that you can get from having a habit of daily micro learning and 1:1 mentoring. Education can teach you what is required to get you where you want to be, but once you’re there - then what? It is where we see most of our members hitting a career rut, but it doesn’t have to be that way.  

“While mentoring is highly successful in combating these issues, the existing mentor models are antiquated. Our research flagged issues like tech frustration, admin, clunky processes, and lack of remuneration in the current mentoring space. This research also forced us to ask, ‘why are we asking women to do more free labour?’ - and rightfully so.” 

With ELLADEX, mentors can request remuneration, or continue to give back, by donating to a great cause with charities voted for by our members. 

ELLADEX ambassadors

ELLADEX’s launch will see Tracey Spicer AM (author, journalist, broadcaster), Jana Pittman (Olympian, author, doctor) and Catherine Fox AM (author, journalist, advocate) play an active role as mentors, content creators and advocates for the new marketplace’s ‘landmark’ contribution to the elevation of professional women. 

Tracey Spicer, ELLADEX ambassador, said: “I had the great privilege of meeting Shivani at an International Women's day function and I was immediately impressed. I love what she's doing around trying to narrow the wealth gap, and when she shared the idea of ELLADEX with me , I jumped on board immediately.

I'm proud to be an ambassador for ELLADEX because I'm a lifelong feminist.There is huge power in collective action. To have that in an organised way through ELLADEX is priceless.

I've never been part of a community like ELLADEX before. By sharing our ideas and concepts about how to break through that ‘glass ceiling’, we will all move forward.

This new technology will allow us to guide and teach so many more people than you can pull into a classroom. We can support women on a global scale.”

Tracey Spicer brings with her 35 years of experience working both on and off camera as a mentor, on stage and at conferences. She is a firm believer in breaking down the barriers of fear, nerves and confidence that often hold women back from success. 

The ELLADEX super-app

The accompanying super-app features over 10,000 minutes of learning videos across three pillars of personal growth, professional development and financial wellness. It will give both users and mentors a bespoke, end-to-end experience that utilises the latest in personalisation technology to data match their individual needs with the learning and mentorship they receive. 

Users can expect personalised learning playlists, daily habit learning prompts, live-streamed events and as the app evolves to the users preferences, meditations, affirmations, journaling, talks and on-the-go and educational based on their individual goals and ambitions. 

Shivani Gopal added: “We have identified and harnessed the pivotal role that technology plays in helping women to make life-long, valuable positive habits, connections, and community. We have brought it to life with ELLADEX and the ELLADEX app. 

“The Remarkable Woman to ELLADEX is not just a story of business growth and development, but one of a transition of that growth into tech and innovation, a business milestone which can help us to expand our efforts to support professional women on a global scale.”

“We are no longer simply helping women to become more successful, they’re doing this themselves, we’re just making the process seamless, connected and impactful with really smart, positive technology.”

- ENDS -

About ELLADEX: ELLADEX is Australia’s first ‘digital rolodex’ for womens personal, professional and financial growth, a one-stop-shop for women with ambition. The tech-based mentor marketplace plays host to both mentors and mentees to provide crucial micro daily learning, networking and mentoring opportunities that are necessary to all professional women today. By utilising the latest machine learning and data matching technology, women who require support for professional, personal and financial progression can find mentors, daily learning and personal services tailored to them, to elevate the skills required to achieve those goals. 

ELLADEX and the ELLADEX super-app launched in October 2022, and is a rebrand of Shivani Gopal’s inaugural venture: The Remarkable Woman and the platform’s existing mentorship program, The Executive Circle. ELLADEX provides inclusion, development and equity solutions to their 25,000 strong database of professional women, to help close the gender gap. 

About Shivani Gopal: Shivani Gopal has over 15 years of experience in the financial, professional and gender equality space. After being denied personal mentoring in her twenties, she set about her mission to diminish gender discrimination in the workplace, with a laser focus on the common barriers to success often witnessed by women. 

Shivani has spent the last six years perfecting successful mentoring programs for women in business via The Remarkable Woman, and in October 2022 pivoted her database of 25,000 women seeking support to a new digital mentor marketplace, ELLADEX and the ELLADEX super-app, which combines the latest in data-matching and machine learning technology to create tailored education programs for women at all professional levels.