What is your favorite travel memory?
There are too many to pick just one! Some of my favorites are driving the Ha Giang Motorbike Loop in the north of Vietnam, driving all of Vietnam (from North to South) on my motorbike solo, climbing the highest via Ferrata in the world on Mt. Kinabalu in Borneo, scuba diving with manta rays, camping in the world's 4th largest cave, ziplining through the Laotian jungle and sleeping in the tallest treehouses in the world. I could go on forever!
How have you changed/grown since working for your current company?
Working with TEFL Heaven has allowed me to expand my leadership and management skills. It's also an incredible opportunity to meet with people every day from all over the world. When meeting with these people, I am able to share my experiences with them and they share their story with me. I'm then able to advise and encourage them on a journey that could very well change their lives. It's great to be a part of and the connections made with fellow candidates are pretty special.
What is the best story you've heard from a return student?
I met with a candidate who really wanted to seek a life of fulfillment but they had never done anything like this before. She was quite shy and very nervous about the entire experience, she felt unsure that this was something she could actually do. After many discussions, she decided to go for it and enrolled in a program in Thailand. She went to Thailand and her life changed. She grew super confident and was one of the best teachers at her school. She fell in love with not only the teaching and the country but also a fellow teacher! They are now married and have been living in Thailand ever since.
If you could go on any program that your company offers, which one would you choose and why?
That's tough, we have so many incredible destinations! I think I would go to Costa Rica. I've been wanting to visit this country for a while and I'd love to experience the gorgeous beaches, surf lifestyle and diverse wildlife there. This program also has options for fully online positions and I can choose what type of location I am placed which means I could choose to be on the beach!
What makes your company unique? When were you especially proud of your team?
Everyone on the team has gone abroad and experienced what it's like to travel the world and teach English abroad. We can understand and relate to how the candidates might be feeling because we've been there before. All of us have gone abroad through TEFL Heaven programs as well, so we can offer insight into the programs themselves. I am proud of my team every day because we are always prioritizing the candidates first - we don't care about making sales, what we care about is creating a community and changing lives.
What do you believe to be the biggest factor in being a successful company?
The most important factor is the experience you're providing for your candidates. Moving abroad to a foreign country (and for many it's their first time) can be an extremely unnerving experience. We want our candidates to feel 100% supported throughout the process so that they can go outside of their comfort zone in a way that fills them with confidence. Our success depends entirely on the amount of support that our candidates feel.