We were lucky to catch up with Johanna Ocampo recently and have shared our conversation below.

Johanna, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. What were some of the most unexpected problems you’ve faced in your business and how did you resolve those issues?

Covid was a very unexpected problem. We were mostly teaching in person classes and we had very little online options. We lost more than half of our students and we still needed to pay rent, materials and teachers. We had the opportunity to apply for a city grant and we got it. It was small for 15,000 and it saved us from closing our doors. We were able to pay rent for 6 months. Our community trust and support kept us going. I was always thinking of sales strategies and what to offer to our students online to keep us alive. I shorten the teachers hours and my salary disappear completely. It was an opportunity to think out of the box and open myself and the school to the online world fast and effectively.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

Fasttrack-Languages was created after my students and families from various schools in NYC and NJ encouraged me to open my own classes and offer a summer camp. The students saw themselves accomplishing their learning goals fast and effectively with my teaching method. It was a matter of time for Fasttrack to grow to what it is today. Our goal has always been to help our students grow in communication no matter the target language.

I/We truly appreciate my students trust and seeing them succeed makes me very happy and proud of the them, their instructors and their learning process itself.

What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?

There are not lessons to unlearn in a life journey. We came with nothing to this life and we go with nothing. Everything, we get from the moment we are born is a gain. My backstory is my entire life so far.

Can you talk to us about how your funded your business?

I worked full time teaching and saved some money. Then, I would continue to work from 7am to 4pm and will run to Fasttrack to teach my students from Monday to Friday plus weekends all day.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.fasttrack-languages.com
• Instagram: @fasttracklanguages
• Facebook: @Fast Track Languages
• Linkedin: Johanna Ocampo
• Yelp: Fasttrack-Languages International