We had the good fortune of connecting with Veronika Mark and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Veronika, what was your thought process behind starting your own business?
I always wanted to work for myself, even as a little kid. When I was in elementary school, I remember telling my parents that one day I will have my own business. I didn’t know what kind of business, of course. I just knew that one day it will happen. I started my YouTube channel at the end of 2020 because I realized that teaching English online would be a lot more interesting as I would be able to connect to more people and help thousands of students from all over the world. In June of 2022, I created my company called Speakful which provides educational cohort-based courses to English learners. My goal here was to help people find new international friends online without leaving their homes as traveling can be expensive and unaffordable to many people.

What should our readers know about your business?
I’m extremely proud of the fact that despite being a non-native English speaker, I have managed to create a YouTube channel that currently has over 350,000 subscribers. Growing on social media isn’t always easy. You have to understand current trends, find them in time, and make good quality content that encourages people to follow you and participate in your courses. One of the challenges I often struggle with is imposter syndrome. I sometimes feel like I can’t teach English online because I’m a non-native speaker and that one day everyone will unsubscribe from my YouTube channels and stop enjoying my content on Instagram. What helps me deal with these thoughts is therapy and journaling and understanding that I do bring value to people because of the all positive feedback my audience is giving me. On social media, people have to deal with hate a lot, and focusing on these positive comments can make my day a lot more enjoyable.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
I’m vegan, so for me, the most fun and interesting places are vegan cafes and restaurants. I’m lucky to have extremely supportive and loving friends who are always ready to try new things and eat vegan food with me. I currently live in Phoenix, Arizona, so here I would definitely take them to Nami which is a vegan bakery offering delicious brunches. We would also go to Vegan House because I love Thai food and they offer many types of meat alternatives.

I would also take my friends on a two-day trip to Sedona to go on picturesque hikes and visit some local places there. Of course, we would travel further north to see the Grand Canyon and the Antelope Canyon where my friends will be able to take amazing photos for their Instagrams 🙂

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
I wouldn’t be where I am right now without linguamarina (on YouTube). She inspired me to learn English and then create my own YouTube channel to share my life with other people and motivate them to study languages and travel the world.

Website: https://speakful.club

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/veronikamarkk/

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/c/VeronikaMark

Other: https://www.instagram.com/speakful.club/ https://www.youtube.com/c/VeronikaMarkVlogs

Nominate Someone: ShoutoutArizona is built on recommendations and shoutouts from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you or someone you know deserves recognition please let us know here.