Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Tonya Cummings. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Tonya , thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. What was it like going from idea to execution? Can you share some of the backstory and some of the major steps or milestones?

The idea of starting an academy and travel consultant business resulted from a place of need. I approach solutions from a different lens and mindset. After teaching at one of the local private schools in Mexico as an English Teacher, I soon discovered it needed improvement. As a foreigner, I couldn’t alter their curriculum. Therefore, I decided to create my own American English Academy. Coming August 20, 2024 “Tonya Duff Cummings American English Academy” will begin in Mexico and Online. The academy is not to compete with local schools, but to enhance and collaborate with English Teachers. First, I had to create and customize an ESL curriculum. It took me seven-months to write and format the curriculum. Lastly, over the past two-months I’ve promoted and shared flyers in Spanish about the upcoming class.

Starting “Simple Living Abroad” is designed for people who desire to leave the United States and live permanently in Mexico or another country. This is my fourth attempt at launching a travel consulting business. My first, second, third attempt at offering this service just didn’t seem to resonate. So, I went back to the drawing board to get more clarity and listen intuitively on the missing pieces. In one-month I had finally figured out the missing pieces. The missing pieces were about me honestly sharing my personal journey of deciding to leave the United States. First, I had to streamline the service into two components. The first component is the Monthly Membership on Patreon, where members get to see raw footage of my journey. The membership will explain the ups and downs of my journey. The second component is the 1-Day Private Consultation for “serious” people that desire to leave the United States permanently to Mexico or a country of their choice. My sister and I will provide information on how to begin their living abroad journey.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

I am an International Baker, International American English Maestra, and International Travel Consultant living a simple lifestyle in Mexico. At 53-years old I am finally living a true authentic lifestyle. I do what totally pleases me and tap into my intuitive super powers. Living abroad for two-years has allowed me to discover my true hidden talents and gifts. Now, with these gifts, I have created three businesses within two-years. I really enjoy baking, teaching, and helping people to discover their simple lifestyle by living abroad. The most exciting thing about what I do is the freedom and unrestricting. I get to create different recipes with the pound cakes and let the people of Mexico experience my grandmother’s recipe. I get to creatively design an entire American English Academy and watch it unfold in real-time on August 20, 2024 in Mexico and Online. Now, I’ve created Simple Living Abroad, where I help people to permanently leave the United States to a more fulfilled and balanced lifestyle in Mexico or another country of their choice.

As an International Baker, I bake traditional poundcakes with a twist of soul, such as Traditional Vanilla, Nutella Sensation, and Baileys Cream Party. I bake and sell these slices at local events around Mexico. I enjoy seeing my customer’s face light up when they taste the cakes. These events allow me to share my love, tradition, and family history with the people here.
As an International American English Maestra, this is a new teaching role that I just discovered. I recreated my experiences as a homeschool educator and 15-years of teaching experience from the United States into teaching ESL. Starting August 20, 2024, I will be launching the “Tonya Duff Cummings American English Academy” in Mexico and Online. This academy will be for children and adults that want to learn American English as a second language. The purpose of the academy is to offer support to local schools, community, and Ingles Maestras.
As an International Travel Consultant, my sister and I help people live a simple lifestyle abroad. “Simple Living Abroad” is a travel lifestyle coaching service and membership to help those that desire to leave the United States or another country. There are two services offered: 1-Day Private Consultation and Membership. The Membership allows customers to see raw, honest footage of my family’s journey. You will see the ups and downs of our journey from the United States to Mexico. The 1-Day Private Consultation is a personal call from my sister and I about making sure you are ready for this new lifestyle.

I am most proud of myself for taking chances and not caring about what others think. Since living abroad, it has allowed me to reincarnate into my true authentic self. The people here in Mexico get to experience the “real” Tonya. In return my customers get to receive my best products and services.

We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.

My first cake event was at a local university in Mexico. The Café Supervisor at the University allowed me to sell twenty-four slices of my traditional pound cake to the students. It was the first and last time. It wasn’t about the taste, the problem was the size of the slices. I had been used to selling whole pound cakes in the United States and didn’t quite understand how to divide it into equal portions to sell here. This was my first lesson in learning how to sell desserts in Mexico. So, I went back to the kitchen and designed a template. Now, when I sell at events each traditional pound cake renders twenty equal slices. The lesson is to accept feedback, make the necessary changes and move on to the next event with this new lesson.

We’d love to hear about how you keep in touch with clients.

I am so glad that I live in a country that doesn’t rely on social media, email listings and other technologies. Mexico operates on simple marketing strategies and builds lasting relationships with their customers. I use my WhatsApp to keep in touch with my customers, event coordinators, and students. I simply send updates or flyers letting them know what I am doing and genuinely invite them to the events. When I encounter new customers I take pictures with them and tell them about myself. This is how I foster brand loyalty in business.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://tdcamericanenglishacademy.mystrikingly.com/
• Youtube: @Simplelivingabroad
• Other: Simple Living Abroad Website: https://tonyacummings.mystrikingly.com/

Image Credits

Tonya Cummings