The COVID-19 pandemic reshaped our education system and how students will learn in the future. One Zoom call at a time, teachers were forced to reinvent everything they knew about traditional education in order to accommodate a virtual learning environment for their students.
Now more than ever, our teachers need support. Without the proper resources from their respective districts or schools, teachers all across the world shared in their struggle to impact their classrooms while staying resilient themselves. Realizing there was a lack of support for teachers, Bmyvillage was created by Founder and CEO, Belinda Medellin. We got the chance to chat with Belinda about how her organization has helped the lives of so many teachers.
A Little About You:
GW: introduce yourself and your business.
BM: My name is Belinda “Billie” Medellin and I am the founder & CEO of Bmyvillage.
GW: What is your business’s mission?
BM: Our mission is to give teachers the support they need to grow and be empowered in their profession. We do this by providing 1:1 virtual coaching for motivated teachers by successful teachers.
GW: How did you decide to start your business?
BM: I was a teacher for 13 years and was given the honor of being named the Texas 2020 Secondary Teacher of the Year for Region 20 for creating the first high school UX Design Pathway globally. When I left teaching to promote UX in more schools, I began to meet teachers all over the world. I quickly realized that they were just like me..they needed more support than what their district/school could or would provide them. Only a teacher in the classroom really knows what it is like to be a 21st-century teacher…especially during COVID.
GW: What key factors have led to your success?
BM: Being able to utilize the network I created as a teacher to promote Bmyvillage has been extremely useful. Also, with teachers having huge hearts, finding successful teachers to serve as coaches, such as the Massachusetts, Alabama, and Illinois Bilingual Teachers of the Year, has been a plus. Finally, the support of the tech community in San Antonio has given us great momentum. We were 1 of 6 start-ups selected for the Geekdom Pre-Accelerator, which is the only one of its kind in the city.
GW: What advice would you give businesses that employ contractors?
BM: Integrity is key is in how you treat everyone including your contractors. Be open, honest, and always fair to them!
GW: What will your business look like in a post-COVID-19 world?
BM: The idea came from the fact that “education” realized it was behind when COVID hit… in more ways than just technology. The motivated teachers worked together to support each other, and the teachers that refused to accept reality were the ones that held students back. They are weeding themselves out. Post-COVID-19, the new teaching world will emerge from the teachers with vision which will help us connect teachers all over the world and grow exponentially.
Your Thoughts on Us:
GW: What problem(s) were you trying to solve with our product?
BM: User experience was the main problem we were trying to solve with Gig Wage since I was a champion for teaching it. In my search for the best way to pay my independent contractors, I wanted the whole experience for them and myself to be easy, desirable, memorable, and useful.
GW: How does our product service stand out from other options?
BM: Customer service! From my initial inquiry to my contractors receiving payment, I have felt that we matter as human beings to Gig Wage and are not just a paycheck.
GW: What made you happiest about working with our company? What is your biggest success story? Any other information you would like to share?
As a female, minority, veteran-owned business, I wanted to work with a company that aligns with at least one of those identifiers. When I read about the founder, Craig J. Lewis, and saw what he has achieved as a minority, I knew I wanted to utilize Gig Wage. Then when I spoke with Scott Johnson and Cathy Wilson, I felt valued as a person and as a company.
For now, the biggest success story that we have is that we have hired 30 coaches, all awarded and recognized, in the U.S in just a couple of months. We hope to have 300 by November of 2021.
Gig Wage is proud to highlight Bmyvillage and assist them so that they can spend less time paying contractors and more time living out their mission of giving teachers around the world the resources and support they need to thrive. If you are looking to receive additional support from a coach or want to learn more, you can visit their website here or check them out on social media (Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, and TikTok).
