Interested in starting your own entrepreneurial journey in training and education but unsure what to expect? Then read up on our interview with Rebecca Green, Founder of Bilinguable, located in San Francisco, CA, USA.

What's your business, and who are your customers?

I serve parents and caregivers raising bilingual children through books, webinars, and courses. As a multilingual speech therapist, I've seen how parents can struggle to raise their children to be bilingual, and I want to help take that struggle away.

Tell us about yourself

I feel I was born an entrepreneur. From a young age, I was always forming new start-ups :). I used to hold "shows" outdoors on our swing set that included a treat, usually Rice Crispies or No Bake cookies, as well as a performance on the monkey bars. I'd charge the neighbor kid's pocket change to watch. From there, I kept creating different businesses- selling roses from my parent's garden (sorry, Mom and Dad!), and I loved thinking about what I could do next. I had no hesitation about charging people money or trying out something I hadn't done before. I studied literature in Spanish and Portuguese and lived abroad for many years, but at some point in adulthood, I felt I needed to put on my big girl boots and get a real job. So, I became a speech therapist. But frankly, being a speech therapist doesn't play into a lot of my strengths, and as an introvert, I feel like sometimes I'm carrying an 800 lbs gorilla on my back when I go out to see clients. I knew that I still wanted to help people- specifically parents and caregivers- because what I had learned working with small children was that often times we adults make communication with little harder than it has to be. That's why I started to create courses around bilingualism. I'm fluent in Spanish and Portuguese and felt I could use these gifts to help others as well, so I've created a course in Spanish. I don't have one in Portuguese- yet. In fact, I may move on to do something different with my Portuguese background. We'll see what happens next!

What's your biggest accomplishment as a business owner?

Writing my book, I Can Be Bilingual, which will soon be for sale on my website. It took a lot of time to overcome the self-doubt and imposter syndrome I felt, but once I finally finished it, I felt I had created something that could really help parents. I wrote it not only to give parents practical advice but to help them to feel inspired and supported on their bilingual journeys. I wanted them to know they weren't alone.

What's one of the hardest things that come with being a business owner?

Honestly, it's hard when you don't see the money come in right away. You question what you've done and why you've done it, and it can be easy to blame yourself, the world, and even the people who cheered you on. It makes you feel like you should throw in the towel and just go back to a 9-5 job as an employee. Not that there's anything wrong with the 9-5, but when you feel like you're meant to create something, you're meant to do something different, then this feeling gnaws at you all day. It doesn't leave you alone, which makes you all the more miserable being an employee.

What are the top tips you'd give to anyone looking to start, run and grow a business today?

  1. Don't get too hung up that what you start on has to be your "thing" forever. Try new things, put new offers out into the world, and look at everything as an experiment.
  2. Think about what you love to do, what you're good at, and how you can combine those two things to do a business. Again, it takes experimenting and testing, but these experiments will be your guide to what works well for you.
  3. It is okay to say NO to work that is stressful for you. The work you think you "should" do but that doesn't align with your personality or talents. Of course, most of us have bills and don't like being chased by bill collectors necessarily, but if you can find work that will pay those bills while building your business, do that instead. You don't have to do work that stresses you out so much. This is advice I have to give myself every darn day.

Where can people find you and your business?

Website: https://www.bilinguable.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bilinguable/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rebecca-g-01780a16b/

If you like what you've read here and have your own story as a solo or small business entrepreneur that you'd like to share, then please answer these interview questions. We'd love to feature your journey on these pages.

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