28/02/2026
On February 28, 2023, our journey officially began. HLG STEAMist Education was born from Harine’s simple but powerful idea: every child deserves to experience the joy of STEAM. She also envisioned a workspace where early childhood educators feel proud, comfortable, and supported.
This vision blended perfectly with Harriet’s philosophy that children need a consistent, safe, and happy environment rooted in the Circle of Security and Maslow’s hierarchy of needs.
That first year, it was just the two of us. Harine balanced building this dream while working full time as a medical biochemist. Together, we launched our very first programs, PLAYfocus and LEARNfocus.
By mid 2024, our team grew! We welcomed two more educators to expand PLAYfocus, alongside two primary teachers who are brewing exciting new ideas behind the scenes that we cannot wait to share with the world.
Following our second birthday, we launched INNOVATEclub in July 2025, which has quickly become one of our main programs. We were fortunate to deliver it in both Brisbane and Rockhampton for our very first term. It sounds wild, but Harine drove seven and a half hours each way for ten weeks straight to deliver the Rockhampton program. The addictive smiles of the kids made every single mile worth it!
Since that second birthday, our operations have also taken on a more formal structure. We welcomed incredible professionals whose values perfectly align with our vision, bringing on an operations manager, a compliance manager, a communication coordinator, and more. Today, our team consists of ten incredibly valuable people, including Harine and Harriet!
We want to take a special moment to express our deepest gratitude to all the educators and staff who have been part of our journey, both past and present. We truly appreciate every ounce of effort you have put into this dream. Without your dedication and hard work, we simply would not have been able to grow into the company we are today.
We are still evolving and constantly looking for ways to improve. Right now, we are developing companion manuals for Auslan interpreters to better support deaf students, along with scientific guides to give Early Childhood Teachers a deeper understanding.
We are only just getting started, and our potential is limitless. This year, we are taking an even bigger leap by launching an INNOVATEclub kit program for regional Queensland.
Our ultimate goal is enormous, and it will take time, but we truly believe that by taking it one step at a time, we will achieve our mission:
"Every child deserves to have fun with STEAM no matter where they are, who they are."
Until then, we will not stop growing and developing our programs to inspire early childhood education, and eventually, all students. The best is truly yet to come!
