Communication is the key to success. How can successful people become successful, if they don’t share their talents and abilities with others? Nonetheless, for many years successful female professionals and entrepreneurs have been content to sit in the background and work hard without sharing ALL of their unique thoughts, ideas, and talents. I was once in the same position. Prior to becoming an English instructor, I worked as an Engineer in corporate America for the largest building and military technology manufacturing companies, in their Automation Controls division. In Spite of many accolades from management and winning the respect of my colleagues in the field, when the opportunity arose for a promotion I was told I wasn’t “hungry enough”. Moreover, I could see that after recent downsizing many of my colleges were worried about job security
I had no desire to remain in a cubicle, and I’ve always been an out of the box thinker, so instead of waiting around for management to see my value, I planned a move to Japan with the intention of learning from the best engineers in the industry. In order to obtain a work visa I studied TEFL at the Boston Language Institute and shortly after was offered a job in Japan.
Since the age of 13, I had been a public speaker and was asked to present at special occasions throughout my university career. However, the move to Japan suddenly silenced my voice because although I could hone my skills in the classroom, the rest of my days were met with silence as I did not know enough of the language to communicate my thoughts and feelings. This handicap began to take its toll on me as culture shock and homesickness set in. However, no matter what I felt, I knew that I had come too far to turn back and I studied hard to master the language accent and immerse myself in the culture. Eventually, I became one of five teachers and the only female to be selected to be an in-house instructor at the largest Manufacturing & Trading company in Japan to teach communication and negotiation skills. Furthermore, my life changed dramatically as I was able to travel across Japan and join Japanese language only tours.
Learning from these experiences, I’ve created a 7 step program that has helped people from diverse backgrounds become more confident speakers, communicators, and leaders.
Hajimemashite! Yes, I am Odiva and I am passionate about helping multicultural entrepreneurs who are not yet comfortable with being the center of attention, develop public speaking skills so that they can confidently represent their brand. When you become a confident communicator it opens the doors to more opportunities to grow your business or attract job offers. I will teach you the techniques to become a better presenter and how to effectively connect with your audience. Whether you’re hosting a webinar, podcast or creating ads on social media, I will help you to speak up and stand out. I have a Masters in Education, Technology, and Learning, a background in engineering and 18 years of experience in training non-native English speakers to become strong communicators. I have a number of clients from all over the globe, including the United States, Italy, Israel, Poland, Sweden, Brazil, China, Russia, Dubai, and the UK. I am an American and my experience in living abroad and traveling around the world has taught me how to work with clients from different cultural backgrounds with complete empathy. Some of my clients use these communication skills to apply for job opportunities and some now work for Amazon, Facebook and startups like Duffel, while several have gone on to get promotions and job offers in America.
I strongly believe now is the time for women to no loger be content to stay in the background to seize the opportunity to share their talents globally via online media.