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Name: PopExpert
One-Liner Pitch: PopExpert connects you with experts over face-to-face video sessions.
Why It's Taking Off: The service makes it easy to discover, hire and meet with expert mentors that can help you get better at life, work and play.
Have you ever wanted to get life, love, and work advice, but didn't know where to turn? PopExpert is trying to become the place you'd look to for those very issues. It enables users to connect via real-time video sessions in the pursuit of knowledge sharing and learning.
"In our modern lives, we often find ourselves so rushed trying to keep it all together," Ingrid Sanders, founder and CEO of PopExpert, told Mashable. "We forget how to create meaningful connections, lose touch with our hobbies and passions, and neglect our health."
See also: 9 Dependable Destinations for Online Tutoring
Sanders says PopExpert focuses on topics that help its users get better at life, work and play, including topics such as meditation, nutrition, relationships, productivity, career development, music, language and style. "We believe that there are a lot of great solutions out there for IQ-oriented topics where self-directed learning can be effective," she says. "But when it comes to things that support your EQ, having a person to work with on a one-to-one basis is very important."
I, for example, have a passion for winemaking, but as a graduate student, I have very limited time to continue learning about how I should be progressing. I turned to popexpert, though, to connect with wine connoisseur Debbie Gioquindo to speak about my longtime goal to become a winemaker. Gioquindo, who owns a wine brand and is known as the "Hudson Valley Wine Goddess," set me on the right path, pointing out a few options that could get me closer to learning how to make wine even while I'm pursuing my MBA.
The video chat was a departure from most digital experiences with new acquaintances as we had both carved out time to speak face-to-face about a very specific topic of which I was interested. The platform, too, enabled me to write and save notes during the video chat.

PopExpert is home to a wide range of experts: Those interested in mediation, turn no further than Kenneth Folk, recently featured in Wired in an article about the growing popularity of meditation in Silicon Valley. For the moms and dads out there, there's parenting expert Latham Thomas, who delivered Alicia Keys' baby. Or if you're looking to eat better, check out nutrition expert Mikaela Rubin, who was a personal chef to actor Owen Wilson.
Users can expert to pay somewhere between $30 and $250+ per hour for expert advice. The average session rate, according to Sanders, is $75.
For teachers, PopExpert is a platform that makes educating a plug-and-play experience. "Most people go into the business of teaching or coaching with a genuine desire to spend as much of their time as possible helping people, and then they face the rude awakening that it takes a lot of manual work to build a one-to-one teaching business," Sanders says. "We help to make this easier for them by integrating the key tools that they use including scheduling, payments and video technology, freeing up more of their time to do the things they love."
The site, which has raised $2.2 million in funding, currently features 1,500 experts and will soon offer a suite of new tools designed specifically to encourage social discovery and referral.
Image: iStockphoto, deanm1974