Listen Now

In this episode, I'm talking with Annemarie Fowler, the founder of Speak Confident English. She shares her journey in building her own confidence as an online business owner. We discuss how she had to shift her mindset to get comfortable showing her face when she started working online. Then we get into the benefits of saying no and staying small. Annemarie describes the value of taking time off as a business owner and what she does to unplug. She also invites us to ask what success looks like to us and how we measure it.   Speak Confident English website

My guest for this episode is Vanessa, from Speak English with Vanessa. Listen as we share our ideas about how to keep a healthy balance between motherhood and business. Vanessa explains how she prepared her business for the transition to motherhood and the changes she had to make. She also talks about the importance of seeking support. She gives tips on how to shift your mindset to combat any feelings of guilt that arise. This includes knowing when to say no to extra work and taking time for yourself to recharge. Speak English with Vanessa website

In the second part of this interview with Olly Richards, we continue talking about the relationship we have with money as business owners and the anxiety that can result. He shares insights from his journey to separate his feelings of self-worth from the expectations of others and describes the benefits of non-attachment. He concludes by sharing how we can do our best work when we're in alignment with ourselves, our business, and our students to create the kind of energy which leads to great things.   Olly Richard's website: StoryLearning

In this episode, I'm speaking with Olly Richards, the founder of StoryLearning. In this first half of our interview, we discuss the importance of stories and the stress of growing a business. Olly describes the role of storytelling in language learning and how he built his methodology around it. He also shares what makes it so effective as a marketing tool for small businesses. Learn about the mindset shifts Olly made to scale his business, how he managed his anxieties throughout the process, and his thoughts on being successful yet small.   Olly Richard's website: StoryLearning

Welcome to season 5 of OnlineBound! I'm very inspired to share this new season with you because my guests are all online educators, and mostly language teachers. In this episode, I talk about my belief that expanding your mindset is the most important strategy for a successful launch and share stories about how I've transformed my mindset. Join me to gain some insights into how you can transform your thoughts and emotions to get better results for your next launch. It's a bit scary, but that's a necessary part of growth! Check the episode notes for more links and information: https://www.elenamutonono.com/2023/03/30/successful-launch/

OnlineBound is a podcast for online language teachers and coaches who are tired of cramming more client hours into their day and look for ways to grow their business in a smart, lean and sustainable way. In this podcast we explore the topics of authenticity, sustainability, values, efficiency, resilience and creativity when running an online teaching business in an oversaturated language teaching market. Listen to the trailer to learn more about the mission of this podcast.

In this episode I share my thoughts on how to remove the word "should" from your thoughts and reframe it with something more empowering.  You'll hear me talk about: How it's easy to give up when we compare ourselves to others. How a previous podcast guest, Marija Dobrovolska, felt pressured by gurus to grow and lost the heart of her business.  How we can use our experience as language teachers to help us reframe our thoughts about our business and our progress. How a mindset shift can get your brain to work for you instead of against you. At the end of this episode I’ll share with you a poem I wrote called “Empowered." 

For full description, links and the transcript go to www.elenamutonono.com/podcast In this episode I share my thoughts on the idea of time, how we treat it and how it treats us. You'll hear me talk about: The notion of “time will heal all evils” or make all things better. The nature of time, how we can use it to our advantage and disadvantage. The concept of taking time to make a decision. The stories we tell ourselves about our relationship with time. At the end of this episode I’ll share with you a poem I wrote called “A victim of time."   

It's easy to convince ourselves that we're not quite ready to try something new, and that we need to do something familiar first. In reality, this is just a stalling technique that prevents us from moving forward. The yes, but first thought loop can lead to endless excuses. Listen in to hear my suggestions on how to avoid this trap.

Check the episode page for notes and links: https://www.elenamutonono.com/2023/01/12/shift-your-thoughts/ In this first episode of Between the Seasons, I'm reflecting on the all-or-nothing mindset that many of us struggle with and how it affects our businesses.  Listen to find out how adjusting your perspective can help you break the cycle, find acceptance, and move forward. I'll give suggestions to help you reframe your thoughts and allow the work you're doing to be enough. Want to learn more about teaching languages the smart way? Sign up to receive my free Smart Teacher's Kit: www.elenamutonono.com/the-smart-kit Connect with me on Instagram: @elenamutonono 

Check the episode page for notes and links: https://www.elenamutonono.com/2022/12/22/shut-down-business/ In this episode I'm speaking with Marija Dobrovolska, the founder of Deutsch mit Marija, who shares her experiences as she decided to shut down her business which was affected by the war between Russia and Ukraine.  Listen in on how Marija navigated and is still navigating this challenge, how it shifted her mindset about what she really wants for her business, how she wants and doesn't want it to grow and how she was able to take ownership and make a hard decision in the midst of the pressure to remain positive and tough. Check out Marija's Youtube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@DeutschmitMarija Want to learn more about teaching languages the smart way? Sign up to receive my free Smart Teacher's Kit: www.elenamutonono.com/the-smart-kit Connect with me on Instagram: @elenamutonono 

In this podcast I'm speaking with Benny Lewis, aka the Irish Polyglot and the founder of Fluent in 3 Months. Benny opens up about his mental health struggles, the journey to recovery and the lessons he's learned along the way -- about himself, his values and his business. Check the episode notes for more links and information about Benny: https://www.elenamutonono.com/2022/12/08/benny-lewis-mental-health/ Find Benny Lewis on Instagram: @irishpolyglot  Check out his website: https://www.fluentin3months.com/ Follow Elena Mutonono on Instagram: @elenamutonono Check out her website: https://www.elenamutonono.com/  

In this episode I'm speaking with Marlene McNally, a life coach and a mentor who shares how teaching is different from coaching and what coaching involves when we help our clients succeed. Marlene uses her own experience as a language learner, why it was hard for her to master certain skills despite working really hard and what she wishes now she would have known then about the way our mindset keeps us from achieving our goals. Listen to learn how to coach your clients when they feel stuck or hit a wall on their language learning journey, what questions to ask and what concepts to introduce to them so they take more responsibility for their progress and put all the tips you shared with them into practice. As always, I found a lot of her points easy to transfer to my business. Learn more about Marlene here: https://marlenemcnally.com/ Access the notes on this page: https://www.elenamutonono.com/2022/11/17/coaching-teaching-difference/  Get more than just podcast updates, sign up for my newsletter here: www.elenamutonono.com/teacher 

In this episode I'm speaking with Gayle Macdonald, a transformational sobriety coach at Sober Bliss, about changing her niche. I first met Gayle in one of my programs, back when she was an online English teacher exploring different ways of teaching languages online. In the course of the program, Gayle began to look for her niche -- something that would transform her personally and prompt others to long for a similar transformation. This is when her journey into sobriety began, and this is how she gradually moved away from teaching English.   In this interview Gayle opens up about tracking her journey into sobriety, the reactions she received and the inspiration she gave to others. She shares what the transition from teaching to coaching looked like and how she was able to take the lessons she learned from running an online teaching business and apply them in a new niche. If you're new to teaching languages online in a smart way, download my Smart Teacher's Kit -- it's free. Gayle Macdonald's website Sober Bliss. Check out her podcast. Her youtube channel. To support this podcast, please rate and review. You can buy me a coffee. My online courses will help you teach smarter.

My guest today is Ben Fox, the founder of Shepherd.Com -- a website that helps you find what to read next. Ben talks about the concept behind his project, how it started and how it is different from other similar websites. He shares tips on how to pitch your project to other people in such a way that they cannot say no. He gives a few key marketing strategies for self-published authors, how to improve their book and make it successful. As with many guests on OnlineBound, I ask Ben how he strikes balance between work and life, clears his mind after working long hours and how he prevents burnout. I hope you find this conversation useful. See the podcast page to learn more about the guest and to access the notes. Learn how to transition from teaching 1:1 to smarter and more sutainable formats. Download my free Smart Kit. Check out my online courses for language teachers and business owners.

In this episode I speak with Eric Turnnessen, the founder of a software company Membermouse, a musician, a coach and a teacher, among many things. Eric shares his unconventional advice about running a business that relies more on intuition and your vision rather than blueprints and failproof methods.  We talk about patience and consistency, assessing your strengths, engaging with your customers to figure out how you can improve what's working and change what's not. Eric shares why "negative" emotions should not be perceived as a "sign to stop," rather to persevere. We talk about distractions and how to discern what takes us off our course. Learn more about Eric on his website and check out the podcast episode for extra links and notes. Are you looking for different formats to teach languages online (other than 1:1)? Check out my free Smart Teacher's Kit to get ideas. My online courses (such as how to increase your prices, etc) are available here. Thank you for your support!

In this podcast I'm speaking with Lucy Simkins, the owner of the English with Lucy Youtube Channel, about the danger we face when we show up online -- our urge to please everyone and make sure everyone likes us. Lucy talks about her own mental health challenges as some people criticized and attacked her work online, as well as the tools she is now using to accept that she would not be "everyone's cup of tea," and that's OK. She also shares the lessons she's learned in the years of running her own business, and how she's currently using the wisdom of an online community of fellow entrepreneurs to generate new ideas and try out new strategies. Learn different ways to teach languages online: get my free Smart Teacher's Kit.  Check out my books and online courses for language teachers. 

Welcome to season 4 of OnlineBound! In this episode I reflect on the last 5 years of running an online community for language teachers. The experience of growing together as a community of online business owners and teachers has been transformative for me. As someone who is used to doing things alone, I continuously see the power of being in a community, supported and nudged by people who really “get it.” Learn more about the Smart Teacher's Library. Ready to start working smarter? Download my free Smart Teacher's Kit and learn about new ways and formats to teach languages online.

All podcast notes are here: www.elenamutonono.com/podcast Check for more information and extra links. In this interview I'm speaking with Sasha Maslov, a Ukrainian-American portrait photographer and storyteller based in New York City. His work has been exhibited in various photo galleries and art spaces around Europe and the United States. Sasha is a regular contributor to a number of magazines and leading publications in New York and around the globe, and is actively pursuing work on his documentary projects. Sasha and I talk about creativity, perfectionism, competition, finding your voice, visual storytelling, and mental health at the times of crisis. Most notable quotes, "If it's your work, you tend to be more critical of it." "When we have doubts, we look for answers in other people's work." Check out Sasha's books "Ukrainian Railroad Ladies" and "Veterans: Faces of World War II."

All podcast notes are found here: www.elenamutonono.com/podcast In this episode I'm speaking with Lindsay Williams about changing her mindset from a local language teacher to an online teacher to an online entrepreneur. Listen in to learn the story of Lindsay's first course launch and her initial struggles with marketing. We discuss why online language teachers find marketing most challenging, how teachers' altruistic nature, coupled with highly commoditized industry of language teaching, prevents them from making their businesses sustainable. Lindsay shares her insights on finding the balance between sharing our work for free vs. charging money for it. And don't miss her helpful tips on how to go through global and personal changes when you work online.   If you want to learn more about teaching languages online without endless 1:1 classes, check out my free Smart Teacher's Kit.