Elena Mutonono

01/01/2026

Happy New 2026! A few days ago, I attempted to doodle my year in 1 picture, and this is what came out of it. More in tomorrow's newsletter for online language teachers: www.elenamutonono.com/teacher if you're not signed up.

And this song has been playing on repeat in my car.

11/29/2025

If teaching more sustainably is your goal for 2026, put an emoji below, and I'll send you the info! 🙏🧡

P.S. this isn't for you if your ream is to teach kids online.

11/27/2025

A couple of you shared with me today that seeing how much my kids have grown reminded you how long you've been following me.

So, I wanted to share this. Maybe it will help some of my newer followers.

I started my online teaching business when I first came to the US 15 years ago. I had to do something, and with my paperwork pending, I couldn't find a *real job.*

Then the kids came along, and the 1:1 lessons were no longer viable, but course creation just didn't work. So, I began to teach English through recordings.

Nobody knew what it was back in 2012, and the voice chat apps weren't even that popular, and anyhow, my phone was so old it wouldn't have worked.

Somehow, I felt that if only I could get my students to record themselves so I could give them feedback, it would work. Well, it didn't in 2012, so I dropped that idea and went back to 1:1.

4 years later (in 2016), I had a better phone, two little kids, and absolutely no time for 1:1 classes. That's when I experimented again, and it worked.

Later, I started coaching other teachers how to work sustainably, and even now, almost 10 years later, teachers still tell me that it's something new and therefore impossible.

It does take time, and if someone had told me back in 2012 that it would take 5-6 years to get to something fully sustainable, I would have quit.

But now, looking back, I'm thankful to have stuck with it long enough to see it through. I'm also thankful to hundreds of teachers who trusted me to help them shift to teaching sustainably so they can rekindle their passion for languages and not burn out.

I'm reminded of the quote I read in Edith Eger's book "The Gift," when her supervisor encouraged her to get into a PhD program. She said, "By the time I get a PhD, I'll be 40!" To which the supervisor replied, "You'll be 40 anyway."

You may look at the road ahead of you and think, "By the time I get to this goal, my kids will be in high school/college, and I'll be 59/60/80..." But if you don't take that risk, you may never know what you can create.

So take that risk. Try something new in your teaching. Invest that money in something that will help you grow. You'll thank yourself later. 💖

02/25/2025

One of my ebooks, on building a financially sustainable online language teaching business, is free on Kindle through the end of this week. If you're interested, check it out on Amazon (below is the direct link to the US Amazon Kindle store) and please share with friends

Foreword. Introduction. Conclusion. ***

11/15/2024

On a scale of 1 to 10, how patient are you when it comes to getting results?

For the first years of teaching online, I was probably at 3. I'd say things like...

"I tried posting for 2 months, but nothing worked."

"How long before I get any clients?"

"I sent an email with an offer, but nobody signed up, and it's been 10 hours already!"

I used to get so impatient, and then, before any strategy had time to grow roots, I'd change it.

"Well, this didn't work, I gotta look for something else."

Another offer. Another product. Another niche....

We all take a risk when we try something new. It may work. Or it may not.

But you have better chances of getting results if you practice patience and perseverance. If you support yourself through the times of uncertainty. If you create conditions favorable for blossoming.

How are you practicing patience and still keep doing the work?

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10/23/2024

😰 I open my feed today, and here it is. Again.

Another online teacher writing about burnout.

About having to cut their load.

About choosing fewer hours (and a pay cut, as a consequence), just to keep their sanity and not to lose their passion for teaching completely.

Many of us are familiar with burnout. Many of us know that salt baths and vacations provide only temporary relief.

Until we change this exhausting model of online language teaching where we trade time for money, with insane materials overdelivering to make every pay rise worthwhile, we will not deal with the root of burnout.

About 10 years ago, I felt like enough was enough. What followed were years of experimenting with a variety of online teaching formats that will

a) help me get rid of burnout
b) create more space in my schedule
c) allow me to retain and exponentially increase my income.

What made the task challenging is my limitations at the time: I didn't have much money to invest in expensive course platforms, my online audience was non-existent, and I had very limited time to create.

That's how I landed on teaching through voice chats and google Docs, which within a few months helped me create more time while keeping the income at the same level.

Over the years, I've taught hundreds of teachers how to teach asynchronously. Once you understand the concept, you will be able to teach larger groups and deliver exceptional services. And you will forget about burnouts (I can not remember the last time I had mine).

If you want to learn how teaching through voice chat works from the inside, my Speaking Program for Language teachers has 3 more spots! We start next week.

If you're done with burnout, click the product details below, and I'll send you the link to get one of the last 3 spots! 🔥🔥🔥

10/10/2024

1:1 classes stages: honeymoon >> constricted >> trapped.

I had an idea for this doodle a few hours before my live class "Teach through voice chats" on Tuesday.

Thanks to one of the teachers' creativity, we came up with the names for each stage of teaching languages in 1:1 format.

Stage 1: Honeymoon. Life is great. You're so lucky you get to teach in your PJs. You meet people all over the world. You like learning about different cultures.

Stage 2: Constricted. You discover that teaching 1:1 doesn't feel like freedom. That 5-7 hours a day arr still draining even if you're wearing your PJs. You realize that you can't afford to get sick or take a real vacation.

Stage 3: Trapped. 1:1s no longer feel like freedom. You try to find other solutions like courses or online schools, only to discover that you have zero time margin to work on your business. You have to keep the 1:1s to pay the bills.

As I was doodling this, I couldn't shake off the similarities these images have with toxic relationships. How disempowered teachers become at stage 3. How much they lose agency and give in to fear. How they wait for a miraculous intervention that doesn't come soon enough without us taking the first step.

But where do you find strength and courage for that? It's all but depleted.

It's hard to be our own spokesman when the world seems so small with few options. But there are options for you. They're doable and they're within reach.

Teaching through voice chats and google docs is your first step out of the trap. Many more to follow.

DM me if you want more information on teaching through voice chats.

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09/20/2024

"I have so many ideas, I don't know where to start."

In the last two days, I've heard this statement several times, from different teachers.

I used to have the same dilemma, and because I knew very little at the time about how our brain works, I thought this was just a reflection of my creativity.

And partly it was. But because I actually wasn't *doing* anything with those creative ideas, the problem wasn't my unrestrained creativity.

The problem was

A. My fear of committing to anything.
B. My desire to control the outcome (I'll commit if I know 100% that it's going to work).
C. My magical thinking that believed only 1 idea was money-worthy, so I just had to try harder and find it.

But our brain doesn't give us this information, and instead it offers us convenient stories that make us look good and innocent, and help us stay exactly where we are -- all because change is uncomfortable to our primitive brain, and when it perceives the risk, it creates a story to keep us safe.

To move past this many-ideas stuckness, choose 1 thing, commit to it, and find support for when things don't work (because at some point they won't).

If you're in the land of overthinking and would like my coaching support, leave a 🦋 in the comments, and I'll send you a link to a bonus session with me.

09/06/2024

You are the secret of your own success.

We tend to spend hours, days, weeks, months, and even years trying out other people's success recipes.

They know better, so why not follow what worked for them?

All the while, we ignore the key components of our own success, already inside us.

It's hard to bring to light something that's been hidden or pushed into the shadow as "too much."

Pulling it out, owning it, and growing that tiny seed of potential is what blossoms your business in the end.

If you're ready to listen to yourself and write your own story and need some courage along the way, I'd love to come alongside you.

In the comments,👇 put 3 emoticons that symbolize courage, and I'll send you the link to book your diagnostic call. 🔥❤️✨️

Send a request before September 10 for a special bonus 🥂

08/06/2024

It's common for online language teachers to say, "I want to work more sustainably." What does it mean, exactly?

After years of teaching languages on different platforms to many students around the world, the novelty of it wears off, and you're left with a full schedule that drains you and makes it hard to take time off.

You may have tried creating big online courses or getting fancy certificates to ensure that people will buy at higher price points. But it turns out that old habits of piling too many hours and not being able to offer anything else are too difficult to break.

But what if, instead of making some crazy overnight changes, you'd begin taking tiny steps to working sustainably?

Sustainable online teaching means your "work is stable, fulfilling, and allows you to be productive while maintaining your health and well-being." (Thanks, Googke!)

When you work sustainably, you feel valued and engaged, and you have the energy to create and make an impact.

For me and many other online language teachers, all this started with switching to using voice chats for teaching languages. It didn't cost a thing, didn't require crazy marketing or advertising (not in the beginning), nor much investment in the video/course creating software.

I'll share how you can do it in my live class next week. Click the link in the bio to sign up.

🔥🔥 This event is sponsored by the - a community for online language teachers who want to build a sustainable business. The community will open for enrollment on Tuesday, too, and I know some of you will be there!

I can't wait 🎉❤️

07/29/2024

A sustainable business 🌳 means you find a way to refill your watering can without running back to the river.

Most language teachers struggle with making their work sustainable. They're watering "their tree" from a watering can and have to constantly "run to the river" to get more water.

That's why it's common for an online language teacher to overwork, not take vacations or even weekends off, and constantly wonder if "the water" you brought today will be enough to keep your tree flourishing.

Since all the attention is on the tree and the watering, the person doing the work neglects their own needs, and a burnout follows. This story is all too familiar.

So why not do something about it? An automated watering system might be a solution, but to do that, you need to:

1. Get some training on how it works.
2. Invest in the new tool(s).
3. See your efforts fail a few times.
4. Believe that all this work is worth it.
5. Overcome the fear of uncertainty.

There are many ways to make your business more sustainable, but the fear of anything new keeps us breaking our back hauling that watering can from the river.

For online language teachers, one strategy of sustainable work is teaching through voice chats. I'm doing a live class on this subject, and it's free. Click the link in my bio to sign up, and I can't wait to see you there!

07/02/2024

At some point this year I sent 2 newsletters on the same day.

That day my son had broken the window in the living room playing soccer.

We were getting ready to leave for a spring break the next day.

I was figuring out the broken glass situation, getting everyone packed, and setting up a couple newsletters, among other things.

So I made a mistake and scheduled 2 newsletters to go out on the same day.

The 2 emails on the same day really upset one person. They sent a mad email and unsubscribed.

The same 2 emails inspired someone else. They sent an email and asked me to keep sending them.

We are humans and we make mistakes. This will repel some people and attract others.

We can choose to make everyone comfortable and happy. The problem is, those who are comfortable resist the change. If we want to impact one group of people, it will p**s some other people off.

I guess it's the price I want to pay. You?