by Débora Santos
Hello
Welcome to my website :)
I created and tested the following concepts as alternative solutions to enable live experience in English to non-fluent speakers of English as second language (ESL).
All of them resulted in opportunities to learn new skills and build self-awareness. Check it out!
Why
It started as an independent project, self-funded and guided by feedback from family, friends and peers when needed. The idea was to build something from scratch.
While I was pushing myself out of my comfort zone, I was also navigating personal challenges and mental health issues that affected how I approached the work.
In the end none of the projects gained traction, but they helped me develop greater self-awareness. Today, I know that I not only enjoy but also work better as part of a team.
Key concepts
This website is named after the student program Discovery Projects at Yale School of Management. My discovery projects were not meant to replicate it. But now having Yale's program as a hindsight reference, I recognize some of their most common learnings in my own experience as well, and others.
Methods and Theories Used:
- Concept Testing
- Nudges
- Habits
- 4P's Framework
- Design Thinking
- Innovation through Customer Empathy
- In-Depth Behavioral Interviews
Product fundamentals
While Inglês Sustentável and Bilingual Office were easier to start alone, Personal Gringo was scalable through corporate partnerships.
Desirability
The corporate volunteering model received spontaneous contact from a potential key partner. The event model arranged venue for its first events after a referral. The tutoring model received suggestions to serve kids, not adults.
Feasibility
The event and tutoring models required direct promotion to attract and engage people. The corporate volunteering model required few strategic partnerships. It was not possible to test end-to-end operations.
Viability
The benefit to corporate employees would be perceived abroad, so it could be charged in strong currency. The event and tutoring models could be charged per customer, per service, depending on differentiation levels.
Discovery stories
Personal Gringo
I went to an innovation conference and joined an institutional presentation delivered by a senior leader from a Brazilian multinational company, one I had never heard of before. They were market leaders, had over 30k employees worldwide and built a strong culture of innovation, efficiency and humility. His presentation was about their experience building a global business. By the end of his talk I asked a question, one of the last among several others. Then I waited to meet him. We walked out of the conference room together and, while he refilled his water bottle in the hallway, I explained my project and asked for a contact in his company to discuss it. He said I could email him so he would check it, and then he left. So I wrote to him one month later. And he replied yes ten months later, copying someone in his team to move things forward with me. I was not expecting his answer anymore and hesitated for a week until answering back that we could schedule a call. Then nobody replied and I didn’t follow up.
Inglês Sustentável
After referral from a former fellow volunteer in a social project, I went to meet her daughter who was managing a coffee shop with a cool, friendly atmosphere. She introduced me to the coffee shop owner and I quickly got his approval to start. I would run English-speaking meetups on Sunday afternoons, once a month. Great opportunity to promote my work, I thought. But nobody showed up to the opening event so I engaged with the employees instead, which was really nice. Then there was another day when nobody showed up to my meetup again, and there was a book club meeting happening at the same time. They were a large group so the coffee shop manager kindly offered to invite them to stay longer and join me. I agreed but I felt so insecure that I could barely look them in the eyes. It turned out nobody showed up nor stayed longer. Later that same day, the coffee shop manager first shared with me that the owners had recently informed her they were permanently closing the coffee shop in a few weeks.
Bilingual Office
My landlord kindly offered to help me get my first customers. He said, “how about kids? Do you teach kids? There are so many private schools in this neighborhood. I could ask my daughter to help you, she is a teacher at one of these schools. It would be so easy to get new customers, maybe even arrange group classes. You should try teaching kids.” But I was not so sure about it and I decided to reach out to my aunt, who is a retired public school teacher. She said, “that’s a great idea, you’re going to love teaching kids. They are so inspiring and expect so little from you. They will help you rebuilt trust. Seriously, you’re wasting time. Don’t hesitate, just go for it.” My cousin, who is her daughter and aunt of two, said “and you can talk to kids as you would talk to adults, looking at eyes, at the same level. That’s how it works today”. For a moment I felt convinced but I was actually not so sure. So I asked my mother to ask her friends if they knew an English teacher for kids because my landlord’s grandson needed to resume his classes. It was actually hard to find a private teacher for kids but we got a contact and I passed it over to the kid’s mom.
In a nutshell:
I have good ideas and skills, but delivering high-quality work is challenging. Great things are done in teams and I'd like to have a new opportunity to work together.