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

Luzmaria, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. We’d love to have you retell us the story behind how you came up with the idea for your business, I think our audience would really enjoy hearing the backstory.

My idea came from longing for freedom, growth, and a love of teaching.

When I used to teach college, I realized I loved helping my students during my office hours, but I wanted to be independent, I was tired of following a syllabus, and grading exhausted me. I loved when students came with specific problems, and I could help them and hear all of their “aha moments” I also realized I was fulfilled by listening, understanding their thought process, holding space for them, and walking them out of their tangles. I was thrilled by teaching a full classroom, but I realized that showing up to the stage of the classroom so often was exhausting to me and that private space, where I could hear the shyest student and get the most confused one, was incredibly fulfilling. I also loved to chat with them and hear about their adventures and what was going through their minds. I knew I could do that. I also wanted to dream of a future of growth and expansion, and unknowns and the path of academia seemed predictable.
I thought: how can I do this without reinventing the wheel? I’m also a practical person. So I decided I was going to teach Spanish privately. I already had ten years of experience and good feedback from my students and mentors and lots of well tested mterials; it wasn’t an easy decision, but knowing that I was good at teaching Spanish helped me have the confidence to charge for my work and move forwards.

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

I’m Luzmaría, a Spanish teacher based in Austin, Texas. I hold a BA in Literature from Universidad de Los Andes and an MA in Hispanic Literature from Yale University.

A little bit about me: I was born and raised in Cali, Colombia, and studied Literature at Universidad de Los Andes in Bogotá; I then moved to the US and did my Master’s Degree in Hispanic Literature at Yale. I began teaching when I was young. I have taught Spanish and Hispanic culture and literature at Universidad de Los Andes, Yale, and Loyola University Maryland. I spent two years in Doha, Qatar teaching Spanish to a group of Qatari women. I’ve been teaching privately since 2018, and this is my main work.

I love to teach and help my students enjoy the journey of learning. I like to understand my student’s goals so my classes have a clear sense of purpose. This vision ignites students’ curiosity, creativity, and drive to work hard with confidence. I am organized and believe in a holistic approach to teaching. Therefore, I provide students with a clear yet flexible structure.

Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?

I’m an only child living far from my aging parents. In October 2022, my father was diagnosed with advanced cancer. I traveled home to Cali, Colombia, without really knowing what was coming ahead, I stayed with my parents and left my husband and cat in Austin. Early after his diagnosis, I had to cancel class after class because I had to be there, helping out, processing hard news, holding my father’s hand, and holding space for my mother. I had to email all my students, letting them know that I wouldn’t be able to teach in person for a while, and I offered their money back because some of them really wanted to take in-person classes.

My father is getting chemotherapy, and for every round of chemo, he needs to be hospitalized for five days at least. During his first chemo, my mother got sick, too, so she couldn’t be at the hospital so I was the only one with him. Given the circumstances, my father was doing okay, and the nurses were keeping an eye on him. I needed to make a fast decision: I decided I wouldn’t cancel more classes, so I taught all my classes from a little patio next to my father’s room at the hospital. I had to deal with technical issues on the fly, but the classes went well, and I could be there with my father, too. The funny thing was I had a class in the evening, and that patio didn’t have enough light, so I had to improvise lightning with the lights of my phone and my father’s phone pointing directly to my eyeballs. The class went fine, which I can’t believe. I looked like those Rembrandt paintings in chiaroscuro.

I’ve adapted to my new reality, and my students have stayed with me. My husband and cat flew here. I’m incredibly grateful.
I realized my business is myself. I realized that what I work with is my heart, my mind, and my full attention and presence. I work with the so-called “soft skills,” but darn… I don’t know why they’re called like that. I need to be well to serve, and as they say, “you can’t give from an empty glass”, so I need to take care of myself. It’s fascinating because I get back a lot of love, and my business and work have become a haven; I’m anchored and focused even when things are hard. So my classes are good for my spirit; I know I’m serving others. I’m getting appreciation and respect from my students and the work itself. I’m so grateful I’m a business owner right now, and I’m so glad I get to do this when things aren’t easy in my life. I’m also incredibly grateful for my brilliant and kind colleague and friend, María Ruiz-Rosique, who works creating material for me, and my husband, who helps me out with financial decisions (he’s an economist) and who helped (and helps) me figure things out when my mind wasn’t at peace.

Where do you think you get most of your clients from?

My husband played a big role here. He designed my website luzmariarenjifo.com I also invested in getting my pictures taken by a professional photographer (Camilo Giraldo, from my hometown, Cali, Colombia). I think having a nicely made website makes a big difference. My husband also put my business on Google maps and then I asked established students give me google reviews on Google Maps. After getting several reviews, I noticed how I started to get more and more calls. I’m so thankful for their reviews.

Contact Info:

• Website: luzmariarenjifo.com
• Instagram: luzmarenjifolopez
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/luzmaria-renjifo-41a7897/
• Youtube: @profeluzma9614
• Other: My youtube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@profeluzma9614

Image Credits
Studio photos by professional photographer, Camilo Giraldo (Graldphoto) https://www.instagram.com/graldphoto/ Photography & Videography Fujifilm & Leica📍 Cali-Colombia Contact: [email protected] whtspp: (+57)3006735144 work only