Consistency Kills the Doubt and the Fear

One of the most rewarding aspects of being an entrepreneur is having the freedom to create a career you really love, but turning a passion into a success takes more than just enthusiasm.

Today we meet an entrepreneur who shares how she transformed her love for the Irish language into a thriving online business. Embracing the digital world, she has created a unique digital learning platform that teaches the endangered language in an accessible and fun way, building a community of dedicated learners across the world. We hear about the mindset shift needed to scale your business, from pricing insecurities to the difficulties of delegations, and the importance of having a long-term vision.

Our guest has amassed over 200,000 followers online and has big plans to change how the Irish language exists in our society. It’s a pleasure to have the founder of Irish with Mollie, Mollie Guidera.

https://www.irishwithmollie.com/

Transcription

For your convenience, we include an automated AI transcription of this podcast.

Larissa Feeney  00:00

Today, we’re meeting an entrepreneur who is bringing the Irish language back to the masses through online learning and social media.

Mollie Guidera  00:07

It still surprises me to think I’m a businesswoman, I’m the founder of my company, I’m a company owner, I’m still a teacher, but you can be both things.

Speaker 1  00:17

No unicorns, no brands, just hard-working people who built their business from the ground up, sharing their experience so others can learn. Presented by Larissa Feeney from Kinore. This is Real Business Conversations.

Larissa Feeney  00:35

Hello. My name is Larissa Feeney and I am the CEO and founder of Kinore Finance and Business Services. One of the most rewarding aspects of being an entrepreneur is having the freedom to create a career you truly love, but turning a passion into a thriving business takes more than just enthusiasm. It requires strategy, resilience and the right mindset. Today, we’re speaking with someone who has done exactly that, from teaching her first Irish lesson at just seven years old to building a successful online business with over 200,000 followers, our guest has found a way to make her passion for the Irish language both impactful and profitable. We dive into the power of self-development, the role social media has played in her growth. And why following your passion does not mean ignoring strategy. It’s a pleasure to welcome the founder of Irish with Mollie. Mollie Guidera.

Mollie Guidera  01:31

Thank you so much, Larissa, what a pleasure it is. Thank you for such a generous introduction. I’m delighted to be here.

Larissa Feeney  01:37

I’m just delighted to have you, and I have to say, Well, Dia Duit

Mollie Guidera  01:40

maith thú, lovely,

Larissa Feeney  01:44

and I do have to tell you that we have something in common, Molly, what you and I have in common is that the two of us were removed from the giltoch at 13 years of age. Oh, we share the

Mollie Guidera  01:55

pain. What happened to you?

Larissa Feeney  01:57

Well, now I was removed from the get out because I was caught smoking. Okay,

Mollie Guidera  02:03

and I wish I had a reason like that. Larissa, that’s a valid reason to be kicked

Larissa Feeney  02:09

out. Very good smoking. Now, I denied smoking for most of my life, but now my parents are no longer alive, so I can finally admit that, yes, I was holding a cigarette at 13 years of age. They asked me. They asked me to leave the gilts on the train as well, just very similar to you. And the reason why I had to leave was because I was fined, because I was caught smoking. There was a group of us caught, and we were fined, I think it was 10 pound. And because it was the last few days of the gilt act, we didn’t have any money left, so they phoned home, and they asked our parents to pay the 10 pound fine. And my father said, if I’m paying 10 pounds, you’re you’re punishing me. You’re not punishing her. You may send her home. And so I was sent home from the ghetto.

Mollie Guidera  02:53

That is so brilliant. So,

Larissa Feeney  02:55

as I understand it, you were not sent home for smoking, no.

Mollie Guidera  02:58

And I nearly wish I was, I mean, I was sent home with two young guys who had been drinking on the beach, I think, and I was caught saying eight words in English. That’s why I was sent home. And I just found this disgracefully unfair. I argued my case. I complained. I never got a warning. You know, they just kind of said, off, you go back from Galway to Dublin. I cried my eyes out. My parents were livid, you know, they they didn’t like that at all finishing early. And in the end, I think my dad was like, well, that is a bit unfair not getting a warning. So let’s chat to the pre video. The principal and I got a scholarship, or a half scholarship, for the following year, and I went back, became kinnera, kept going back, became pre Kra and they forgot, they sent me home at all. And look at me now. So I’m still very bitter about it, as you can tell, but I do think that immersive and kind of strict way does help a little bit. Yeah,

Larissa Feeney  04:01

it does help. I mean, my, my youngest fella has is now doing his third year, this year in the Gaeltacht, and it absolutely helps. But it did begin a love of the Irish language for you in a in a strange way, it did

Mollie Guidera  04:16

absolutely, I think it opened my eyes to Irish as a living language, you know, dancing, having your first kiss of the guilt, playing, hurling, kimogi, singing songs, getting competitive with other Irish colleges. It’s a very kind of, yeah, transformative experience, I think, to take Irish out of the classroom and kind of have this freedom. You know, I was in an all girls school as well, so it was the chance to, like, meet new people and go to the Kaylee and stuff like that. And I really brought it alive. So I’m very grateful for the opportunity. And I wish more children could attend the Grail school, you know, the Grail tucked and spend their summers learning and loving Irish Absolutely.

Larissa Feeney  04:56

And I had a similar experience, even though I was, you know, removed. I adored it. I absolutely adored it. And it’s just a fabulous experience for a young person. I think, first time away from home, first time experience, all those things that you’ve described absolutely every child you get the opportunity, I think

Mollie Guidera  05:13

definitely, yeah, I mean, it’s not that that kind of created a guild Gore out of me, because I think still, there was this feeling at school, like it is a subject, and in a way, you’re going to the whale tucked because, you know, you need to get an A in the Leaving Cert, or it’s academic, really the drive behind it. So I ended up not really rooting myself into the language, until years later, I was teaching English. I was traveling around the world, and I started teaching one to ones online, and then the platform asked me, could I teach Irish? And I had good Irish from school, but I think that was more of a memory thing, like just being able to, you know, regurgitate and what they wanted to hear. But then when I started teaching, I kind of unraveled the way I had been taught and the way we see it in Ireland. You know, thankfully, I think things are changing drastically, and now people are opening their eyes to the value and the culture that it carries. And you know how devastating it would be to lose the language, but it takes time, I think, and it’s really a mind set and a shift in your focus and your awareness of the sounds of the language and how it’s not complicated, you know, it’s very orthographically shallow, and it’s such a beautiful, poetic, onomatopathic language.

Larissa Feeney  06:36

And I mean, here you talk about it like that, I think, oh, goodness, you know, I’ve missed something all these years, because that’s certainly not the way we were taught it in school. Can I take you back then? Because you said that you were, you were traveling the world, were you teaching English as a foreign language? Is that what you was, okay, very good. And then the platform asked you to teach Irish. And how long ago was that?

Mollie Guidera  06:56

That was about eight years ago, more or less. Okay. And my reaction so it was an international online platform called italki. It’s still going. It’s huge, and they’re great advocates for vulnerable minority languages. Irish is listed as definitely endangered on the UNESCO Atlas of world languages. And when they asked me if I could teach, because their kind of brand is we teach every language in the world. And I thought, Well, I’m not sure they know that not every Irish person is fluent in Irish, and the relationship with Irish is kind of complicated in Ireland, and because of colonization and years of oppression, we don’t use it as our first language. And I kind of thought, I wonder if they’re aware of that, or if they just think, oh, there’s a language. Let’s get a teacher. But once I started teaching, I realized the demand around the world is insatiable. You know, COVID hit, and my schedule was just I could have opened 24 hours a day online my calendar, and they would be full. It was incredible, you know, this thirst, you know, people were kind of also trying to escape their family during COVID and pursuing passion projects and kind of feeling okay. What is a bucket list thing for me? Something I want to do before I die, or a big regret, you know, and people who are interested in genealogy and linguistics, just so many people from all over the world, passionate about our language and very proud, you know, and when you’re in that mind frame, you learn things quickly. You know, when you have a method, motivation and a mindset which really works.

Larissa Feeney  08:39

And so at what point then did you start working for yourself? Actually, around

Mollie Guidera  08:45

then, so I was teaching at language academies, and I taught on the peace boat, which is a un sponsored NGO, which sails around the world fostering conflict resolution and peace studies. And I always felt a bit exploited by schools I’ve never actually taught in a primary school or secondary school in Ireland, contrary to popular belief, but I taught at these language academies, and they’re great fun, and they really built me as a teacher. But at the same time, you’re teaching maybe 15 to 20 people, you know, I taught children, teenagers and adults, and you’re getting paid as if you’re teaching one of them, and or not even they’re paying a high price to have you as their teacher, and you’re kind of too set in. This is your timetable. You teach after work, so you’re teaching till like 11pm at night or seven in the morning. And after a few years of that, I just felt like these skills don’t really match with this salary or this timetable. And teaching in other countries, it might be difficult to come home, and I loved it, but I knew it wasn’t really sustainable, you know? So I went fully online. Firstly, I was teaching English, so I used to actually wake up at 4am in the morning and teach. Conversations online, and, you know, all this crazy timetable too, but at least it offered me great flexibility and more autonomy. And it was a challenge, you know, because I think a lot of teachers tend to, you know, we definitely put it’s a labor of love, and you put your students first, and you work, work, work, and it’s not about money at all, and it’s not about finding a job. You do love your work. Hopefully most teachers do, but

Larissa Feeney  10:28

it is a vocation, though, isn’t it? Money? Definitely. Yeah.

Mollie Guidera  10:30

So, you know, I remember thinking, oh my god, like I was never putting my prices that high. I was teaching one to ones and even raising my prices by one euro or $1 I kind of laugh thinking about it now, but I was really nervous to do that, and kind of insecure like, oh, Will everyone leave? Will all my students just say, Oh, she’s greedy. And you know, that’s really

Larissa Feeney  10:50

normal. We hear that all the time, especially in service businesses, that nervousness and fear around pricing because you’re pricing your time and we don’t value our time, and you’re really worried about, as you say, Will everybody just leave? And I know you’re going to tell me that that’s not what happened at

Mollie Guidera  11:09

all. That’s really valuable to learn. You know, it should be taught at school, more financial literacy, but it’s also something good to learn yourself through trial and error. So after years of teaching one to ones, I felt more and more confident in my Irish. I started studying more myself, traveling around Ireland, doing different courses. My students were just excelling. You know, even after half a year or one year from scratch, they were conversational, and it was all because I was creating my own curriculum just how to love the language and why it’s worth learning. And they were just amazing, you know, full of this passion and pride and energy for the language. And I realized I’d love to reach more people. Free up my time a bit, not be constrained to, you know, I have to be there at this time, on this day. I can do this work anytime, and I realized I was teaching the same stuff again and again, which is great. It strengthened my skills, but I could just record this and actually be freer to answer questions. So it works for everyone. And also with technology, I think it democratizes the language in a great way, and you can really spread so much information, you know, at the click of a button, and people can receive things for free. So it really it’s much more accessible and affordable for people, and it means the whole business becomes scalable. Yes,

Larissa Feeney  12:33

so that’s what you found yourself doing, recording

Speaker 2  12:36

your courses, putting them online so that your customer could access the content when they’re at a time that suited them, and you could be there to answer questions whenever they need you exactly. So it’s kind of a magic formula, because I do find I’m so available for my students that they feel they have a private tutor, but they have way more access than they would have had before. You know if you’re paying once a week or twice a week for a teacher, and I’ve been that student and teacher myself, you’re not going to contact the teacher outside of less than hours, and they’re probably not going to respond to you. But my students can contact me day or night whenever, and I respond within 24 hours. The other thing, I suppose, which is so important is loving what you do, like you mentioned, if you really love it and you’re always so eager to connect with your customer or your student, it’s very palpable, you know, they can feel, Oh, I’m not annoying her by asking her a question, like it’s a welcome interactive connection there definitely, and they almost feel part of a community. And that’s really where I want to ask you about next is your community? So growing as you have grown on social media, predominantly as I understand it. How have you done that? How have you found it? What are the challenges that you’ve encountered along the

Larissa Feeney  13:53

way? So,

Mollie Guidera  13:54

yes, the community is the teacher. This is a kind of adage that I learned recently, and it’s so true. You know, everyone is growing and learning together. Everyone’s at their own pace. So that’s the beauty of the courses. You don’t miss a lesson, you don’t have to catch up, you don’t have to wait for anyone. You have on demand access, and yet, a huge community of global learners who are there and ready to share their experiences, you know, hold each other accountable. So we have a telegram group, which is a bit like WhatsApp, with people chatting away all day, every day. It started. We were laughing like, oh, there’s a night shift and a day shift, because people are there constantly. I dip in and out during the day and I can answer their questions. We have a thing. They call it my green pen, my fian glass, and it’s like they might write something about their day, or send a joke or a recipe and then say, Oh, the fan gloss led the whole like your green pen, please, and I’ll correct and highlight why we add an I, or why there’s a H there, or whatever. So everyone’s kind of learning from those corrections. Is everybody learning from that as well? Everybody can see the interaction. Can everyone. One can see, so they can contact me privately, but then a lot of people choose to write it in the chat they meet up. There’s a 24/7, Zoom open all the time, so people can meet there, practicing their speaking and listening. And I think it’s so valuable, you know, it’s a dream to have. Like they kind of call themselves, you know, an army of learners, and they’re so kind, so supportive, helpful, funny. There’s even a study that shows people studying Celtic languages are the happiest people in the world. Oh, good man, I think it’s the language that makes you happy. But they’re brilliant because they’re able to answer the questions before I get to them sometimes, because

Larissa Feeney  15:38

that’s what I actually I was thinking as you were talking, I’m sure that they they’re correcting each other as well, which would be fantastic. Yeah, it saves you doing it as well, and

Mollie Guidera  15:47

also realizing it’s all about community and confidence and coaching. You know, you don’t have to be perfect. You don’t you don’t learn overnight. And just having other people showing you it’s great to make mistakes. It shows effort and it shows intention, and that’s really what it’s all about, that brings progress. And

Larissa Feeney  16:08

how do you find your customer? How does your customer find you?

Mollie Guidera  16:12

So social media has been incredible. I set up Irish with Molly on Instagram and Tiktok two and a half years ago, and I think it’s a fantastic way to share bite sized nuggets. So a lot of people are intrigued, you know, they’re learning about language in general, not just Irish or other things I like to share as well about Ireland, you know, about culture. So that’s been really great. And advertising on Facebook, Instagram, and I think that’s it, Facebook and Instagram. Okay,

Larissa Feeney  16:47

so the majority of your customers are on those two channels. Are they Facebook and Instagram? Pretty much? Yeah,

Mollie Guidera  16:53

and then I have a podcast and a newsletter, so when they’re signed up to that, there’s free resources and, you know, useful, usable materials that they feel, wow, I’m getting so much value. And then they might think I want to take it a step further, where they realize, you know, I trust her. I want to pursue learning Irish, and I really feel like this is the best option.

Larissa Feeney  17:16

And do you find that your customer comes to you as you says, maybe listen to your podcast, read your newsletter. What follows you on Instagram or social media for a period of time, and then they sign up for a course. So it takes a little bit of time for them to to, for you to build that trust in them. That’s a

Mollie Guidera  17:33

good question. I think it depends on the person. I think a lot of people, because there’s a 30 day money back guarantee, and, you know, sometimes there’s a bit of urgency selling, which goes on, which I had felt slightly uncomfortable with in the beginning, because I thought, you know, you don’t want to pressurize anyone. But at the same time, there’s a 30 day money back guarantee so they can change their mind, but if they’re kind of aware, okay, there’s a massive sale, like, there’s 50% off now for St Patrick’s Day, it makes them make a decision, and I know they’re gonna love it. You know, people are raving about the courses, so I’m very confident that it’s a very good product. And I think people sometimes need a bit of a nudge to go. Yeah, I do want to speak and enjoy and understand my ancestral language or my native language. So a lot of these things I’ve learned along the way have really helped in terms of nurturing the student body, and even people who had never heard about Irish before, they find themselves signing up. Another thing I do is free workshops. So I think they’re brilliant in terms of, you know, offering something, spreading the language, and creating new sales. And people just they enjoy the one hour free workshop, and they say, Yep, I’m committing to this, and they get a discount. You’re also very good though on social media. You’re very natural on social media. I know, for those, those people that are listening today to this, they will be asking, you know, did that come naturally to you? Because it’s one of the more challenging elements, I think, of running a small business today that you expected, and you really should be showing up on social media. Did that come naturally to you? Are you naturally quite extroverted? Or did you have to work at that? Thank you for that lovely compliment. I think it was difficult. Definitely. It was a challenge in the beginning. And I remember the first week of you know, with my ring light, putting my face on social media, also something I didn’t feel very confident about, and talking with people who know a lot more about marketing than me, they were saying, this is really what works. You know, it’s not about, you know, sexualizing yourself or showing off or, you know, here’s my daily routine, and come with me to get my coffee, etc. It’s like a friendly, familiar face, a knowledgeable person. Sharing free stuff and generating that connection with their audience. If you see a person and you’re learning from them online, and you like their energy, you end up feeling like they’re your friend and you know them. And it’s weird, but it’s psychological. You know, I do feel very close to a lot of my followers, even though we’ve never met, and they feel close to me. They see my face all the time. And that consistency, I think, is really important. But in terms of making videos like my early videos were very straightforward. I don’t think they were that captivating. They didn’t get very many likes or shares, but I think the practice and the consistency made them better and better, and it helped me to find my voice and my style. So I was just teaching like, okay, one to 10 in Irish a hay and a dough a three. And it was pretty simple. And then maybe after 20 or 50 videos, and they were daily, maybe even two a day, I realized, okay, I want to make stuff that’s actually very fascinating for me. I started researching more, going into deep dives about etymology. And I think that’s when it really took off, you know, talking about things like the pulmonic ingressive, like the way Irish people go, yeah, when they’re agreeing with each other, and how that comes from Viking countries. And it emigrated to Newfoundland, for example. These are the things that go viral, you know. And another thing, actually, I have a photo of her here. You know, that piece of advice people say, if you’re public speaking, imagine you’re speaking to one person who you love dearly, and they’re just smiling and filling you with praise. So I imagined my grandmother, who really inspired me. She was a Gallego, and I dedicate my courses to her, that she was just like she always wanted to see me on TV. It was her dream, you know. And if I was ever like, mentioned in the school magazine or whatever, like, she would print it off and frame it and things like that. So it felt a bit weird in the beginning to know I’m giving a workshop to like 2000 people, but I can’t hear them or see them, so that makes it easier. So it’s funny how, even with 200 and something followers, or 200,000 it’s easier than rocking up to Ballina Arts Festival and talking to 20 people in a

Larissa Feeney  22:18

room. You know? I get that. No, I get that, yeah, no, absolutely. You can pretend that it’s just you there, you know. And where, where are your customers based? They’re not all based in Ireland, obviously, or no, not at all. So I’d say there are about

Mollie Guidera  22:38

30% of them in Ireland, and another 30% probably in North America, so US and Canada, and then the rest are UK, maybe 10% in the UK, Australia, New Zealand, and then all over the world, like it would amaze you, like South Africa, Singapore, Japan, you Know, Russia, everywhere. It blows my mind. I mean, maybe they’re Irish people living there, but a lot of the time they’re married to an Irish person, or they’re just fascinated with the culture and the music, the literature of Ireland, and they’ve never even visited Ireland, and they’re just really keen to learn.

Larissa Feeney  23:16

So the language is part of it, but it’s just for them. It’s it’s the wider than this, just the language.

Mollie Guidera  23:21

Yeah, I think they, you know, people outside of Ireland who aren’t traumatized by the Irish education system, they connect that much quicker than a lot of Irish people. They realize very quickly language is culture. They are Fitch, Fauci, lechela. You know, they’re interwoven together. And to really understand the humor, the crack, the connection, the literature, the dance, the Gaelic Games, all of these things. And the history of Ireland, the language makes a lot of sense, you know, to invest in that learning journey. And in Ireland, people can say things like, Oh, the only language I care about is the one on my paycheck. And I realize, okay, you think it’s a means of communication, but it is our culture. And even sometimes, if I’m invited on a radio show, I remember some radio show asking me, but is it too late, Molly? Is it too late now, you know, like the language is dying, isn’t it? And I was like, What a shame. You know, I know they’re they’re feeding what their listeners, some of their listeners, want to hear, but it is a lack of pride, and it is a colonized mindset, in my view.

Larissa Feeney  24:28

And it’s, it’s well, it’s trauma from a childhood spent in classrooms and the way we were taught as well, for me anyway, which brings me to my next question, how would you change the way children are taught Irish today. If you were given the power to do that, what would you do?

Mollie Guidera  24:47

So I would definitely include a lot more immersion in the classroom. I didn’t go to a well school, but my teachers were quite positive about the language. My mom was a primary school teacher, so she would speak couple of fuck a couple. Words here and there. So I think from the get go, using Irish, you know, to give directions, to chat away, you know, to really fill the air with Irish, to get rid of exemptions and exams. The more I think about it, you know, why are you saying to someone you don’t deserve to learn our language because you can’t get an A or A, B or A, C and an exam, and to make it more relevant, meaningful and joyful, so to connect it with culture, to learn about mythology, you know, all these incredible stories we have that are so helpful and valuable, to learn about the ecosystem in Ireland and, you know, the countryside and the development of our country. And I think, yeah, you know, learning, Irish dancing, through Irish learning, um Pel Gala, you know, Irish Football, things like that. And just kind of making it more of a living daily language and not a subject, you know, not introducing, of course, you can introduce grammar, and I do, and I love grammar, but you can actually make it really fun, make a song about it, you know, if you’re using it, then you don’t need to learn it for an exam. So

Larissa Feeney  26:10

would you remove it completely from, let’s say, the Leaving Cert curriculum, for example, as one of those three subjects say that the students have to do today,

Mollie Guidera  26:21

I think I would lean towards doing that, but only because the syllabus or curriculum that I would create would be so powerful that we there would be no need for an exam. Basically, it would be like everyone’s conversational, and why are you tested on your conversation? You know? Then again, we do have English classes, of course, and we have literature and poetry, and that would be really interesting, too.

Larissa Feeney  26:48

Yeah, yeah. It’s a different approach, though, isn’t it? And what you’re talking about is fostering love of the language, which is probably not, not done in the classroom, certainly not in a formal setting that we’ve that we’ve experienced. Now, whenever you talk about Irish, I can see from your face and your language that that you love the language. And I suppose why we’re here today is talking about the combination of passion and business. So it’s great to love the language, but obviously you have to create a bit, or you have created a business out of it and generate a profit from it. So I suppose, on that subject, did you always want to own your own business? Are there entrepreneurs in your family? No,

Mollie Guidera  27:31

my family are not business oriented. I never thought about becoming an entrepreneur, although it makes a lot of sense now. I think we’re sometimes affected by our environment, of course. And you know, my school was quite academic, but it was like they were saying you’re not a success unless you go into law or medicine. And I think Ireland in general has this really kind of stringent approach to what success is. And like I mentioned, my mom was a teacher. I didn’t think I would go into teaching either. I always wanted to be a writer, and now I’m writing my first book. But I I think over time, it just made sense, because of what I love to do and how, actually, when I was teaching English, I did it all for, you know, time to travel. And I think that’s maybe what entrepreneurs are doing. They’re trying to create time in their lives and also enjoy their work. So they don’t really call it work. But I don’t think I really had any female role models who were close to me in my life. You know, thankfully, I had strong women who were creative and caring and in different jobs and industries, but not really business women. And it’s been a really interesting journey. And I think marrying my love of the language and what I do with the business aspect has been interesting. And I think I reconcile those ideas. You know, people can think that business is dirty or making money is wrong, and I don’t think it is. I think, of course, it all depends on, you know, your resourcefulness, and how you structure your business, and what you invest in. And I love giving back to the Irish community as well. And, you know, thinking of ways that I can support different initiatives. Different initiatives and projects, and also the fact that I’m doing it to spread the language and people. I get so many incredible pieces of feedback, people who say, it’s been such a transformative journey. So I think I’m very lucky, and I’m very, you know, it’s a very fulfilling job to have. So I’m glad, yeah, to see this other side of business that can be, you know, very societally important and contributing.

Larissa Feeney  29:51

What surprised you, or what has surprised you about running a business? Molly,

Mollie Guidera  29:57

I think a lot of things, it’s. Still surprises and impresses me, you know, to think I’m a business woman, like I’m the founder of my company, I’m a company owner, I’m a director of the company. It’s like I’m still a teacher, you know, but you can be both things and also, what I’ve felt grateful for is, you know, the support of good accountants, obviously good teams around me, and it was very stressful in the beginning, like I can tend to be very detail oriented, and I want things to be just right. And, you know, I can imagine, I’m not easy to work with sometimes, and I’m pedantic, and I think it does get easier. You know, it’s a bit like, you know, when you’re running your first retreat or festival, the first year is mayhem, and there’s all these things that go wrong, and then it just gets easier, or anything, being in the classroom, teaching a class for the first time, versus teaching it the following year or 20 times later. So it’s been really great, but I’m not sure, like, what surprised me? I think they’re all good surprises. It sounds like, it sounds like you’ve had a smooth journey, you know, relatively smooth journey. Or you certainly tell, you know, the way you’re telling it, um, it hasn’t been too challenging for you. Are you supported by many of the team? Do you have anybody employed in the company? So I have an two assistants at the moment. One is working with me on my advanced course, so that’s been absolutely incredible help. Another one is working with me on my first retreat in April that’s coming up, so that’s been brilliant. And also working through different dialects, you know, to kind of enhance the course in different ways. I was working with another brilliant assistant who was helping me with my podcast and newsletters. And I think it’s hard sometimes to let go of that control when you’re kind of doing everything yourself and trying to keep all the plates spinning. I have a good marketing team, great accountants. So I think, you know, being able to rely on people and trust people is very important. I think it’s very difficult. You know, teaching one to ones for the last few years and going out on my own, working for myself, I realized I haven’t actually worked with people, despite working with loads of students and considering my job and my personality, very people focused, it’s a very different thing working with people, you know, and delegating or

Larissa Feeney  32:30

so, let’s touch on delegating. Actually. Do you find it difficult? Definitely,

Mollie Guidera  32:35

I think, you know, with what I do, I love the personal approach. So I kind of, I don’t want someone else to be pretending to be me writing back to emails or messages on social media. And that’s a big chunk of time every day. You know, in the course comments, people write their struggles or their questions, their doubts, and I respond to those. And I think with the business element, you know, giving someone access to everything and like, logging in to My Courses and issuing refunds or doing pricing and things like that. I think it is a struggle to to delegate and to kind of trust someone else to do it as well as you can do it. Yeah, yeah. I heard a great saying. Actually, last week, I was at an event last week for International Women’s Day, and the lady on stage says 80% done by somebody else is 100% freaking awesome, not done by me. So the point being that somebody else might only do it 80% to your to your standard, but you’ve done nothing to get that 80% other than delegate it. And that’s that’s all good. And I thought that was great, because everybody has that same challenge. I think that delegating tasks Never mind delegating responsibilities, because that’s another, a completely different arena altogether. But delegating tasks can be hard if you know you can do it better yourself, definitely. And I think that’s something I should let go a bit or work on. And also I think it’s, you know, doing more research, finding better people, and, you know, reaching for the stars, like just saying, I want the best of the best to work with me on this. And that, you know, even if it seems outrageous, like, just get in touch with whoever you admire and respect and say, I have so much more to learn, you know, I don’t want to be thinking, Oh, I could have done that better. I want to be amazed at the work other people do and work with them. And, yeah, and

Larissa Feeney  34:32

do you have on that? You know, looking to the strategic view, I think is, what is, what you’ve just touched on there, you know, looking at the business from a strategic perspective, taking time to work on the business, not in the business. Do you carve out time in your week or month for that? Do you even, I’m sure you’re incredibly busy, do you get the time to work on your business at all?

Mollie Guidera  34:53

Um, I do actually, casually. I suppose my husband is. Is really good at analyzing businesses, and we have great conversations about, yeah, making things more optimized, and future planning and thinking about what I really want to do. And it doesn’t have to be what it looks like it’s going to be, you know, we don’t have to take it that seriously. But it’s also like, there’s so much potential there for what it could be. So just brainstorming and things like that have been really great. I think at the moment, I’m so busy with writing the book, creating the advanced course, and planning the retreat, that I’m just like, you know, racing towards the finish line and then the latter half of this year, I think would be good to kind of go back, re edit parts of the courses, think about next steps, because when I think of my overall mission, it really is to envisage and experience Ireland as a bilingual country where Irish is spoken proudly and with pleasure by citizens, and the shame is, you know, reduced and we’re working through that bewilderment to bilingualism. So what does that take? You know, in my lifetime, it must be a total overhaul of the curriculum in schools, changes happening in the way it’s taught, the way it’s perceived, the way it’s, you know, the exposure of Irish in Ireland and around the world, and making it more part of that fun Irish brand, like Ireland has one of the best brands in the world, you know, friendly people, generous, kind, funny storytelling people, and then, like, you know, Irish butter, the Irish Pub, the GAA, they’re all very positive, and the Irish language deserves that as Well.

Larissa Feeney  36:40

Yeah, absolutely. And you’re doing a great job, and I’m sure you’ll continue to do that. What would your advice be for a business owner or a business or a person just starting in business, you know, especially in the area of social media, because you do that so well, and I know a lot of business owners really struggle with it.

Mollie Guidera  36:58

Thank you so much. I think the main thing would be, go for it, like absolutely go for it. Work hard, do it as well as you can. Don’t worry about you know, I felt sad to let go of my one to one students, and I felt guilty, and I felt I can do it all, and then at some stage, I had to just let them go and say, I need to preserve my time for creating something more sustainable. And even if it’s a bit uncomfortable or awkward being online, it does work consistency, you know, kills the doubt and the fear, and it creates a really strong kind of business. And talking with other people who have set up their own businesses, you know, I feel like I can relate to them a lot more. And they say a similar thing. It’s about having a bit of fearlessness and a bit of craziness, like just believing, not just believing, creating the pathway that it will work, and doing everything in your power to make it work.

Larissa Feeney  38:01

And I think pressing posts and not thinking about it too much, just, you know, just hitting go, because sometimes it’s their own self limiting belief, isn’t it, that holds us back,

Mollie Guidera  38:14

definitely. And I think in terms of social media, there are so many things you can learn. You know, there are simple strategies that you might not be aware of, but the internet is full of tools and resources and support, and even if you want to reach out to me or anyone else that you admire who’s doing something that’s garnering a lot of attention online, you can study that or ask them outright, like, what are they actually doing there? You don’t start a video with Hey, or I’m just popping on here. They’re just time wasters. And you learn that over time you need to the first three seconds are integral to the reel, you know, and a reel is better than a post and a reel is better than a story. These kind of things you learn over time, but very valuable to growing your business on social media. Yeah,

Larissa Feeney  38:59

it is consistency. And if you show up every day, you learn that as you, as you, as you’ve already said, Talk to me about last question. Talk to me about networking. How do you feel about networking? Do you network?

Mollie Guidera  39:13

Yeah, you know, I’m not one for going to events. Much to network, although I do love that kind of thing. But I have found I’ve met so many interesting people in the kind of Irish language, fresh, dynamic approach to Irish culture, music, etc, online, like, through social media. And then I started my own podcast last year, last January, and I felt, you know, kind of a conscious pull towards certain individuals who I see doing things in a cool way, and then I interview them, and these conversations are a bit like networking. I feel like I have friends in these people. You know, we stay in touch after the conversation, and I send them my courses, and they update me on their events. Maybe they are, you know, psychologists or comedians or historians or whoever they are, and maybe that’s the modern way to network. You know, of course, there’s still lunches and conferences and things which are brilliant, but it’s great also to be flexible online and to be able to have these conversations and get to know people. And it can be very mindful as well. You know, there are no distractions. You’re not at a drinks thing with hundreds of people. You’re just one to one, and you can reflect beforehand as well. What do I want to ask this person and what do I want to learn from them?

Larissa Feeney  40:32

It can be very intentional, I think, which and but, I mean, the most important element, of course, is the important recognizing the importance of talking to other people, learning from other people, learning from organizations and their journey. So and I’ve learned a lot from you today, Mollie. So, so thank you very much, and thank you very much for your time. I really appreciate it. Mollie Guidera, founder of Irish with Molly. Thank you. Go raibh míle maith agat,

Speaker 1  40:58

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