Meet Megan Miller

We were lucky to catch up with Megan Miller recently and have shared our conversation below.

Megan, so great to have you with us and we want to jump right into a really important question. In recent years, it’s become so clear that we’re living through a time where so many folks are lacking self-confidence and self-esteem. So, we’d love to hear about your journey and how you developed your self-confidence and self-esteem.

I think learning a language as a child really sets up your confidence in that everyone is more likely to give out praise for novelty, so my daily practice of “Guess what I learned!” started early. Of course, into teens and adulthood, I was always questioning myself, my language skills, my teaching skills.

If I’m being honest, the idea of Aprovechar Language Solutions came during my study abroad time in Madrid and meeting new people during my travels – a full decade before I actually started the company. I was always reaching that next step in my career, and didn’t think I was “enough” to start a business: not old enough, not experienced enough. It wasn’t until I actually started that those voices started to lessen – they’re still there with me each day, but now at their loudest, all I hear is a whisper.

Action diminishes anxiety, so my confidence and self-esteem are a direct product of learning, teaching, and staying curious. With curiosity, the intent can never be demeaning or impure; I run into things I don’t know each day and celebrate them. Many times with my students, we’re learning together – which makes me more of a mentora than a maestra.

Thanks for sharing that. So, before we get any further into our conversation, can you tell our readers a bit about yourself and what you’re working on?

Aprovechar Language Solutions was borne to help people in need of a bilingual voice. Here, we believe that everyone deserves to be understood, whether that’s in Spanish or English. Historically, we’ve helped individuals and continue to do so with our biannual Spanish program Deseo, and we’ve also been looking at ways to assist businesses and companies who have multicultural teams.

Language isn’t all verb tenses and grammar; the living, breathing language we use to interpret our thoughts and feelings has its roots in Latin (as well as Ingvaeonic for English), but it’s also the cultures and customs we take part in. It’s how we prepare food and ration shared resources within the community. It’s how we dance: when, where, and with whom. There’s so much more to unpack, and so much that any adult with Internet access can learn. Since we specialize in assisting adult learners, a lot of our materials also have a base in habits and routines. Whether we’re aware of them or not, we all have our morning routines and daily idiosyncrasies, and the work with Aprovechar isn’t to tear any of these down: rather, we’d build upon them and integrate language into a daily routine.

With that, I’m super-proud to mention that our first book will be launched in January 2025, with preorders available now on the website. “Hablar y Trabajar: Spanish-English Basics for Skills Trades Professionals” breaks down Spanish basics, including pronuniciation, scheduling, and materials geared towards anyone in the trades. We’re also available to provide online or in-person classes and workshops to companies needing to bridge their linguistic gaps.

Also coming in 2025 is our very first English for U.S. Citizenship course, helping those who have felt overwhelmed and scared of taking the Citizenship test because of their English skills. We help students of all types feel confident and competent en inglés so that they may join us in becoming U.S. Citizens.

If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?

The biggest difference I’ve seen is the combination of qualitative and quantitative. Any small business owner, solopreneur, side hustler (and trust me, I’ve been all three) knows to pull their metrics and get acquainted with their numbers. Yet we’re all called to create our businesses and serve our clients from the heart. These two sides of us don’t need to be at odds; they’re really two sides of the same coin.

A mind-changing tool I’ve started to use is Toggl to track my time. Being able to see on a daily, weekly, monthly, and annual basis where my time actually goes helps clarify my feelings around being the best Founder and Teacher I can be, and it also helps me set (and stick to) boundaries. Another has been doing weekly money dates, where I list out all my numbers and feelings about those numbers at the same time.

And of course, having and creating a support system is key. I used to roll my eyes at this piece of advice, and here I am, doling it out! But it’s really about taking the time to find the people who help you, and this doesn’t need to look like a traditional support system. This can mean calling on specialists who can help you with a project, or subcontractors or employees to help share the load, or fellow women entrepreneurs who are open to doing coworking or having coffee. For all of this: it’s really time. It’s trusting the process, and knowing that this process of doing, running, and creating a business is ongoing. Things don’t really stop; they simply iterate and evolve.

Tell us what your ideal client would be like?

I love those people who are curious about themselves and the world they live in. Those who want to connect linguistically and culturally, either through a need (to work or volunteer) or a desire (to travel or live abroad).

On the English side, anyone who is a legal permanent resident of the U.S. and wishes to have a study buddy or additional support for the Citizenship test would be a great fit.

And if your business needs a specialized workshop to highlight or launch a new process, complete safety requirements, or enjoy a host of team-building activities, we’ve got you covered.

We support all dialects of Spanish and the American English dialect and have worked with people all over the world.

Contact Info:

Image Credits

Liz Cuadrado

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