My Journey Running Two Small Businesses: ESL Teaching and an Online Store

I was a little kid, maybe 8–9 years old, when I started to dream about opening my own shop of handmade things and managing different groups, teaching them. It was in the early 2000s.

Years later, my dream came true.

I remember collecting yarn, buying it whenever I got money from my parents for food at school. I didn’t spend all the money — I saved it. I also got yarn from my grandma.

Whenever I found out that some kids were attending handmade clubs (separate places outside of school where kids go to learn crafts and other skills), I would go to them and ask them to teach me everything they learned.

I didn’t attend those clubs myself because I was taking math and English classes to prepare for university, so I didn’t have time for handmade classes.

Those kids taught me everything they knew, and I improvised and created many other things on my own.

Then came university. I didn’t have time to make things, but the dream in me never slept. It burned like a fire, reminding me that I had to open my shop someday.

As time went by, the internet became more popular, and I decided to open an online shop instead of a physical one.

My university journey was quite long: bachelor’s, master’s, and finally a PhD.

During my master’s, I already knew about online ESL jobs, and I thought it would be a good fit for me. So right after finishing my master’s, I got a TEFL certificate and started looking for jobs in online ESL companies.

During my PhD, I worked for various companies.

In the last year of my PhD, I finally created a store on Shopify so I could start working on my shop right after my thesis defense.

Finally, my dream of having a shop came true.

But I also wanted to teach. Over time, I learned how to get my own students, and last year I left online ESL companies and started working as an independent teacher, managing my teaching journey completely on my own.

As I look back, I see how much I struggled, grew, and became stronger.

I didn’t give up when I couldn’t find students. I didn’t give up when my dream of having a handmade shop felt very far away during my university years.

I waited more than 20 years, since I was a child, and I achieved everything I dreamed about.

In my upcoming articles, I will share more details and practical tips about both of my small businesses: my online shop and my independent teaching journey.

If you are also working toward something that feels far away, keep going. It takes time, but it is possible.

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