On a mission to transform learning through a purpose-driven business

Success comes to those who keep trying. This is why Marjut Sadeharju, the CEO of Splended, encourages people to embrace moments of disappointment and channel them into productive outlets. Moving from performance zone to the growth zone can be sometimes frustrating but worthwhile if we want to achieve excellence. 

Marjut Sadeharju is the newly appointed CEO of Splended, a learning design company within Fusion, helping companies to change how people learn in agile and engaging ways. The company is Marjut’s way to fulfil her mission to make learning exciting and meaningful again. But who is Marjut besides the role she carries?

“I consider myself as a learning enabler. I have done various things during my career, but everything has been related to learning. Coaching people is what I do. I have been a mentor for students before, working in international and digital environments.”

 

In the interview, Marjut shifts to passionately talk about lifelong learning, and the difficulty companies and leaders encounter when trying to move away from traditional approach where learning equals a course or content. “What do we really see when we are lifelong learners?” she reflects and shares her frustration about the ambiguity around the question. She damns rigid structures and fixed mindsets that hinder change. Marjut embraces the mindset that nothing is permanent. This is why we need to build our learning muscle so that we can be nimble and face disruptions such as global pandemics with calm and confidence.

Marjut has been in the field of learning for over 20 years, working in various roles and has seen all sectors, from international learning programs to university skill development, as well as consulting in the start-up world. Now, she envisions a future where experts and individuals can commercialise their own expertise in what she refers to as the “creator economy.”

“We live in a wonderful professional bubble filled with opportunities. When we support curiosity and open-mindedness, we find new ways to create value. People are already used to this. For example, YouTube is the most popular learning platform in the whole world.”

Marjut emphasises the need to embrace change and adopt an entrepreneurial mindset to create value in the evolving professional landscape. By encouraging open-mindedness and exploring new ways to deliver value, she aims to empower individuals to take ownership of their learning journeys and embrace the uncertainty that comes with growth. She calls for a shift in mindsets: from passive order-taking to creative innovating.

Marjut believes she has now found a fruitful ground to work on her mission. She sees that the field of technology offers tremendous opportunities for personal and professional growth, making it an ideal platform for creating value. She is particularly fascinated by agility and service design, envisioning a shift from traditional teaching methods to those with dialogue and shared learning experiences. The question about learning happening onsite or in digital environments is irrelevant. It is the learning experience brought to life by effective and meaningful learning design that matters.

“Digital learning is a tool, but what people experience is more important. How do we learn to learn? What does a person experience while learning? We have a lot of content, but if there is no direction or mirror from other people, it’s really difficult to sustain learning outcomes.”

 

Marjut’s desire to directly solve clients’ problems drew her to become an entrepreneur. Her experience in B2B sales and marketing, combined with her international business development know-how, has given her a solid foundation to help customers transform their learning. She sees that in her current role she can shift the focus on people.

“We should all have a vision for ourselves. If a person says yes to everything, they will burn out. Or they say no to everything and stop growing.”

On her personal growth journey as an entrepreneur, Marjut believes in the power of persistence and the idea that success comes to those who keep trying. Marjut has learned the value of surrounding herself with a supportive network. She actively seeks guidance from mentors and coaches to navigate through challenges successfully. She has an important piece of advice for entrepreneurs and people dreaming of becoming one.

“It is natural to seek validation from others. But I truly want to encourage entrepreneurs to trust their own abilities because they are real. It is essential to embrace moments of disappointment and channel them into productive outlets. This is growth.”

 

At Splended, Marjut gets to drive her mission every day. She says she proceeds with curiosity, constantly learning along the way. For her, there is something metaphorical in one of her favourite hobbies, water jogging, and her entrepreneurial learning journey.

“In water jogging, you can’t go fast even if you wanted to. You have to slow down completely. You must struggle forward, encounter just the right amount of resistance. And if you do it with someone else, you can use it for reflection. Very therapeutic.”

Explore the full series for more co-founder stories:

1. Finding meaningfulness in entrepreneurship – Jani Kallio
2. Curiosity leads an entrepreneurial path – Mikaela Nyman
3. Courage, smart risk-taking and a club – Vesa Härkönen
4. The story an entrepreneur would tell – Emma Grönlund
5. Building a company is a journey worth experiencing – Jaakko Karhumaa
6. If you can do it for someone else’s account, why not make it your own business – Ilkka-Cristian Niemi
7. On a mission to transform learning through a purpose-driven business – Marjut Sadeharju
8. From corporate world to GenAI pioneer – Daniel Arroyo
9. The converge of art, people and data – Kira Sjöberg