The musician, investor, and founder is using technology and purpose-driven learning to help students chart their own paths.
INTERVIEW | by Victor Rivero
Nick Gross is a musician, entrepreneur, and founder of Find Your Grind, a student-led learning and self-discovery platform that’s reimagining how young people explore their futures. As the founder and CEO of Gross Labs, his family office and incubation firm launched in 2019, Gross oversees a diverse ecosystem spanning technology, education, music, and sports. Gross Labs’ portfolio includes more than 50 investments—from X Games, 100 Thieves, and Breakaway Music Festival to Beatbox Beverages—and operates The Noise Nest, a state-of-the-art recording and content facility in Los Angeles. Before his ventures in education and investment, Gross toured the world as the drummer for Open Air Stereo and the pop-punk duo girlfriends, sharing stages with artists like Avril Lavigne and Machine Gun Kelly. His experience in entertainment, combined with his passion for youth empowerment, led him to launch Find Your Grind and the Find Your Grind Foundation, which help students discover who they are, where they’re going, and how to build meaningful lives around what drives them.
What does the ESSA Tier 2 recognition mean for Find Your Grind, and how does this impact the schools and districts you partner with?
In education, we know how critical it is for schools to see products backed by proven research. Going through the process of validating Find Your Grind was incredibly rewarding because it confirmed what we’ve always believed—our curriculum truly drives future-ready outcomes. The study showed significant gains in student confidence, career readiness, and engagement, which are top priorities for today’s districts. Achieving ESSA Tier 2 recognition gives schools even greater confidence in our solutions, knowing the impact we promise is backed by real research and results with actual students and districts.
‘Achieving ESSA Tier 2 recognition gives schools even greater confidence in our solutions, knowing the impact we promise is backed by real research and results with actual students and districts.’
You often talk about shifting the focus in education from “What do you want to be?” to “Who do you want to be?” How does this philosophy show up in the Find Your Grind experience for students?
Times have changed. Students today need to understand the why behind their future choices—not just the what. At Find Your Grind, we make that possible from the very beginning of their journey through our lifestyle assessment, which gives students a relevant framework for discovering who they are before deciding what they want to do. In just five minutes, a student might learn they’re an Explorer, Entertainer, or Humanitarian—and suddenly, career pathways feel endless, exciting, and deeply personal. We know careers are no longer fixed, linear trajectories; they shift frequently and fluidly. That’s why it’s more important than ever to give students fresh ways to think about the world and who they want to become, as early as possible.
‘We know careers are no longer fixed, linear trajectories; they shift frequently and fluidly. That’s why it’s more important than ever to give students fresh ways to think about the world and who they want to become, as early as possible.’
Career readiness isn’t always addressed in traditional education. How does Find Your Grind help students connect their strengths and interests to real-world opportunities and future pathways?
At Find Your Grind, we help students build strengths and skills through the core themes of our curriculum—topics like networking and relationships, leadership, and financial literacy. These ‘real-world’ themes are brought to life by hundreds of careers and mentors who show how these skills translate directly into professional success. It’s not just about learning what a career is; it’s about understanding why the skills students develop truly matter in real-world contexts. Beyond the curriculum, our platform constantly personalizes career exploration through quick, bite-sized assessments, like our lifestyle assessment, which opens students up to new possibilities that align with who they are. Our career library is evergreen and always evolving, designed to surface as many opportunities as possible so students aren’t defined by one or two career paths. Instead, they can explore widely, discover confidently, and connect deeply to the why behind their choices.
Find Your Grind is already being used by schools across the country. As you look at this expansion, what are you hearing from educators and students about the impact it has in the classroom?
Now that Find Your Grind has expanded into over 200 districts nationwide, we’re seeing incredible stories of impact. Our ultimate goal is simple: to help create more future-ready students. We measure that by how well students understand themselves, connect to careers that align with who they are, and build a clear plan for their future—all inside our platform.
‘…into over 200 districts nationwide, we’re seeing incredible stories of impact. Our ultimate goal is simple: to help create more future-ready students. We measure that by how well students understand themselves, connect to careers that align with who they are, and build a clear plan for their future—all inside our platform.’
Hearing feedback like, ‘Before Find Your Grind our students didn’t have a clue where to start, and now they’re taking the platform home to explore careers and learn from on-demand mentors in their free time,’ is a powerful testament to the engagement we’re driving. The data backs it up too—our ESSA Tier 2 study showed student confidence and engagement increasing by more than 20%, and teacher-reported SEL growth improving by over 15%. These outcomes reinforce that Find Your Grind is not just a curriculum, but a catalyst for future-ready learning.
You have had a unique journey—from music and entrepreneurship to building an education company. How has your personal path shaped your vision for helping the next generation create lives they love?
If I had one main piece of advice to offer, it’s to stay driven, find focus, and find things that truly bring you joy in life. My personal path has been a lot of just trying things, and seeing which things resonated with me and which things didn’t. Also, there is a huge power in just taking risks and truly not being scared to try things and having no fear of judgement. I think a lot of students get caught in this idea of what they should do, based on what they see on the internet and what seems cool in the moment, but there are thousands of opportunities and hundreds of industries to be involved in. Focusing on what drives you as an individual, things that inspire you, and people you want to surround yourself with are so important.
Technology is rapidly reshaping how students learn and explore their futures. How is Find Your Grind using technology—and even AI—to personalize the learning experience and better prepare students for a workforce that’s evolving every day?
At Find Your Grind, we see technology as a way to meet students where they are and make their learning experience deeply personal. Every student who comes into our platform starts with our lifestyle assessment, which uses data to surface careers, mentors, and content that feel most relevant to who they are—not just what they might want to do. From there, the experience continually adapts: students get recommendations for skills to build, careers to explore, and even bite-sized assessments that help refine their journey over time. For educators, our technology provides real-time insights into student growth across confidence, career readiness, and SEL. The beauty of AI is that it allows us to scale personalization—so a student in Ohio and a student in California can each see unique pathways that reflect their strengths, interests, and evolving world of work. We’re also beginning to roll out AI within Find Your Grind to help students if they feel stuck. Ultimately, our goal is to use technology not as a replacement for human connection, but as an accelerator that empowers students to discover who they are and confidently prepare for their future.
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Victor Rivero is the Editor-in-Chief of EdTech Digest. Write to: victor@edtechdigest.com
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Original Article Published at Edtech Digest
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