Today we’d like to introduce you to MICAH BELLIEU.
Hi MICAH, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
I always wanted to get fluent in Spanish, so I decided to take a job teaching English in Mexico. I took a teaching training course, and then stayed for 1.5 years there. When I got back, I spoke Spanish well, and I also learned about language acquisition. I felt the way we learn languages formally, isn’t very effective, especially for people moving to new countries for work. So I started working as an English coach for top executives at Samsung. They had many Koreans executives coming to the USA and they needed to effectively communicate with their coworkers at a higher level than they currently had. They also needed help with the different accents they were hearing, slang, phrasal verbs, colloquialisms, and humor. They would be staying for 5 or more years, so they needed to feel at home as well.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
IT has been a slow road, which was okay with me. Each time a new challenge presented itself, I had time to figure out how to handle it. When I couldn’t work any more hours per week, I started hiring. When we got a call from a company in California, we learned how to hire in other states. When we got calls from out of the country, we learned how to do that. I would say some struggles were trying to find a steady sales pipeline. How do you stay in business when you’re not sure how to get more sales? Eventually we found our way into a steady stream, but during that time, we spent a lot of money for no reason, and also had high paid sales people. We had to make those mistakes to learn which was best.
As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
We create customized language classes for corporations. For example, a company that makes furniture globally might call us and say, “Those who work in our warehouse are from all over the world. How can we make sure that they all speak a basic level of English for safety, quality and giving feedback or HR matters?” Then we would hold a Content Meeting and learn what types of common conversations they are having throughout the workweek. After that, we would create an engaging, conversation and role-play focused course, at the level of English they need for a specific group of employees. That’s one of our newest products. Of course, one on one courses for executives are the most requested – high talent employees often get moved around the world, and we move with them. What I mean is, we have a coach in each country they move to, so they can learn that new language of where they are living. Not only them, but their spouse, children, etc. So most of our work is about making sure that high level employees get the communication coaching they need for the language they have to live in.
What are your plans for the future?
Yes, we are planning on opening a European office in 2026. My family will move! So it’s like I am one of our clients! We are excited, but it’s also a huge change. You always wonder how it is going to turn out and how it will affect the company, the family, the employees, everything really. But we’re excited to get more European clients (and not have to wake up at strange hours for meetings in Asia and Europe).
Pricing:
- 50 Hour Course Online Starts at $3400
- 100 Hour Course Online Starts at $6200
- Group Classes for 12 weeks start at $5999
- Courses in Person start at $7200
Contact Info:
- Website: https://fluencycorp.com/
