Episode 151 - From Classroom to Company: How Lisa Shaw Turned Language Love Into A Business

Some Topics Discussed Include:

Are you an educator hoping to pursue entrepreneurship? Listen in to learn how an educator-turned-entrepreneur reimagined her career to serve families, schools, and communities with language and literacy. Guest, Lisa Shaw, author, educator, and founder of My Other Tongue joined us on this episode. Lisa helps children and adults learn Spanish and Portuguese in ways that are practical, fun, and rooted in community. She also co-authored a children’s series with her son, Liam’s Faith Adventures, blending social-emotional learning with faith.

Become an Unpolished MBA Guest: https://unpolishedmba.com

Some of the topics discussed include:

• The “mother tongue” idea: Learn a second language before age 8 and it can function like a mother tongue. What that means for accent, ear training, and home routines.
• Home language strategy: How to support bilingual homes when only one parent speaks the language. Why community, events, and real conversations matter more than vocab lists.
• What actually makes you fluent: Routines and patterns you use daily. Learn essential structures first (I need, I have, I go, Do you have… Can you…?) and layer vocabulary on top.
• Business reality: The hardest part is aligning expectations. Fluency is built outside class, so families need goals, accountability, and small weekly habits. Struggle is part of learning.
• Message to women rebuilding: Package your gifts, find your tribe, ask for support, and be courageous enough to share your dreams in the right rooms.

Connect with Lisa Shaw

Register for classes - http://myothertongue-21291015.hs-sites.com/fall-spanish-class-registration-0   

Tutoring - https://www.myothertongue.com/childrens-courses/p/k-5-tutoring

Business website: http://www.myothertongue.com

Programs and offers:

• Kids, teen, and adult Spanish with thematic, real-life tasks
• Travel Spanish intensives before summer trips
• Immersion partnerships in Mexico with host families
• Corporate/adult practical Spanish for everyday interactions
• Literacy services leveraging science-of-reading practices in English and Spanish
• Georgia Milestones, decoded: Levels (Beginning, Developing, Proficient, Distinguished), why 3rd and 5th grade are promotion years, and how parents can interpret Lexile scores and act fast.
• Children’s book series: Liam’s Faith Adventures on Amazon

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lisacovingtonshaw/

Blog: https://lisareneashaw.blogspot.com/

Follow Monique Mills

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/moniquemills/

Bio Website: https://moniquemills.biz/

TPM Focus - Strategy Firm for Startups and SMBs: https://tpmfocus.com/

Become an Unpolished MBA Guest: https://unpolishedmba.com