Kelly Carroll has put into words what a lot of us know is true about online learning.
“To be bluntly truthful, learning online can become—for both students and teachers—tedious and boring,” said Kelly, the founder and CEO of WeYakYak.com, a platform for learning new languages.
But, she continued, regarding her website, “We have the ideas and creativity to integrate an amazing wealth of assets to our site. Our goal is integrating multiple ways to interact, which accelerates the interest and excitement to engage on our platform.”
WeYakYak.com offers individual and group classes, but driving the experience is its social media component. Using WeYakYak’s social media, teachers are able to reach out and find students.
“I want this to be where teachers can communicate, instead of just waiting for students to find them,” Kelly said.
For students, the WeYakYak social media aspect offers a forum where they can be recognized for their accomplishments.
“People like to brag about what they’ve done,” Kelly said.`
Conversation generates momentum for the WeYakYak team, which believes the best way to learn English as a Second Language, Spanish, French, German, Italian and Arabic and more is for someone to speak it directly with teachers.
And this is how WeYakYak transcends e-learning.
“It is our goal to shape perceptions and beliefs, promote social change and create a more inclusive society in the world around us,” Kelly said. “Language is Power.”
Financially speaking, success has found WeYakYak. Partners have already bootstrapped $100,000.
As for the WeYakYak team, Kelly has been an entrepreneur for 35 years, owning nine different pet grooming salons and two mobile grooming vans. After leaving these businesses behind in 2016, she headed to Ecuador and later that year became certified in TEFL—Teach English as a Foreign Language.
In the midst of a three-year stint teaching online, as Kelly grew unhappy with the shortcomings of learning platforms, she was inspired to launch WeYakYak. One aspect of the other platforms that she found especially lacking was the inability of teachers and students to interact beyond lesson programs.
Shortly after the launch of WeYakYak, Kelly’s longtime friend, Bobbie Solle, joined as co-founder and business advisor. Bobbie’s background is in healthcare, where she worked for 45 years as a CT tech and MRI tech. She also owned and managed a 20-acre cherry orchard and vineyard with her late husband, which she continued to operate following his passing. Bobbie made a successful exit from the agriculture industry and joined WeYakYak.
All of this is built upon a strong foundation of friendship, as Kelly and Bobbie have known each other for 23 years.
Regarding WeYakYak’s language teachers, all are native speakers selected on their merits and experience to join the website’s roster of instructors.
Designed to work around a user’s schedule—and designed for those who prefer to work at home—WeYakYak works through live instruction and eventually, videos. The platform does not require any external apps or tools.
“We believe teachers are better than software,” Kelly said. “Software can’t motivate you—but teachers can.”
Kelly, Bobbie and her team are determined to build a fast and large following of users based around WeYakYak’s valuable content related to learning.
“Being a teacher myself and personally interviewing other teachers,” Kelly said, “I realized what is wanted and needed in a platform that offers the best experience in the e-learning space. Teachers lack good tools, lesson resourcing and ideas to keep students engaged for the long term.”
Kelly said research by her team revealed only five social media interactive e-learning language sites available, which gives WeYakYak the opportunity to establish differentiation in the learning space.
This is just one example of how, after a long career as an entrepreneur, Kelly implemented her vision for WeYakYak. Inspiring her along the way was the conviction that her next move was toward the tech sector.
“I have two gifts, my entrepreneurial spirit and a drive to
change lives,” Kelly said. “What better way to empower people with knowledge, language learning and career growth than to offer an amazing e-learning tool.”
Kelly said the WeYakYak core value is trust.
“Trust and making sure that we’re upfront with each other at all times,” she said of herself and Bobbie.
As for future growth, the partners are making development changes to expand their audience of teachers and students; integrating a specific design for Ed-Tech Social Media; and developing an app to expand learning opportunities beyond the computer.
“There are so many other opportunities out there,” Kelly said. “We want to give people reasons to come back to our website.”
Visit weyakyak.com to learn more.
