【YOMU-SAPLI】★Every chance is a potential break-through!！(Mentor's speech in English)

Dear Readers,

　Someone once said, make the most of your chances, every chance is a potential break-through, and we should always try, exceed people's expectations. So I gave my speech in English last week. Here is the transcript:


*･゜ﾟ･*:.｡..｡.:*･゜

　Hi! I’m Hitomi Horiguchi and a mentor because this name tag says so. But I’ve been watching the “Doing English” channel since 2014 in Autumn. I’m an entrepreneur so I’m interested in his way of making videos, fashion, the background and composition of the movies rather than just how to learn English. One day I saw some Japanese books on his bookshelf and I realized he lives in Japan and I wondered if I might bump-into him.


　In August of 2016, my childhood friend asked me to go to a summer festival a Bon-dance at the city where I was born and raised. Actually my mother asked me first but I said “I’m not going because it’s just a Bon-dance, but since my friend asked me too, I decided to go. However it was raining so I went to my mother’s house for my niece’s birthday party.

　After the dinner, hey presto! It stoped raining and we could go to the Bon-dance after all. I enjoyed taking videos and photos of my nieces and talking with my sister and childhood friend. And then, I said to my nieces “ Let’s go get some shaved ice.” And guess what?! I saw a man I knew.

　Oh my God! “Are you Julian?”, I said. I coudn’t help talking to him because I had hoped to meet him. “Could you take a photo with me?” I asked him excitedly. My sister took many photos like a photographer so Julian said,”Can you send that to me and what’s your name by the way?” Those questions made me calm down a little. I knew this was a good chance to make friends with him. So I wrote about my business and some articles in English. When I finished writing, it was 4 am. I emailed him. Actually I didn’t have any non-Japanese clients but I already wrote some articles in English just in case!


　After 1 week, we had a launch together at a curry restaurant. He was interested in my business. I had to concentrate to speak English and listen so I didn’t eat much curry. What a waste!

　The focus of our conversation was his live seminar. He had been thinking about giving a live seminar in Japan for 2 years. On the other hand I give a lecture once a month in 2016 so I said, “Many of my clients study English and some are high level I think they will join your Tokyo seminar and we hardly ever attend a lecture in English so we could feel like we are going abroad to study English.”

　He thought that there are many beginners in Japan so he should speak Japanese to teach English but his target is intermediate and advanced. He had been struggling with to do it for 2 years. I think this conversation focused on his possibilities for the first time.

“Keep in touch!” Julian said and I hoped this encounter may lead to others. And guess what happened! Only one hour later, I got his application for my next event! I was gobsmacked! He is one of the participants but like a guest speaker! I thought my clients would be pleased to meet him.


　In November, we had a coaching session on Skype and his theme was that how to give a seminar in Canada. He planed to go to Canada in February so he thought it would be his first seminar. But he was worried about gathering participants. So I said, “I’d say before Canada, you should do it in Tokyo. You should try. I can help you and some of my clients would join and then the reports of the Tokyo seminar would attract another members, they think someday I want to go to your seminar! Just do it! Go with a flow.”
“The Saturday of my birthday week I decided!”, he said. After the session I noticed that day was a new moon! It’s going to be the best starts. What luck!


　For Julian, Japanese was one of the barriers or an excuse for not doing live seminars but after 2 years his Japanese skill has improved and there aren’t any language problems. Paradoxically he gives a seminar in English, but my event is all Japanese so he needed to acquire Japanese so we happened to meet each other.


　People who try to open a new door that is behind a wall, they can meet other people who help them, in this sense “Other-Power” means the work done by others, not by myself. For me, I was promoted to a higher rank form coach to a mentor. This encounter takes me into another dimension.

　Sometimes I was called “Mentor” from Japanese clients but when a native speaker says it sounds like "An absolute mentor." It's a great honor. Thank you Julian!


　My mentor said, “At your first seminar, you should invite people who you know well, they will give you good feedback that cheers you on! So let’s pump up this event!
Thank you.

★in Japanese


*･゜ﾟ･*:.｡..｡.:*･゜

P.S. I took more than 150 photos at Julian's first seminar! I really enjoyed taking them because he looks good whatever he does;-) And he makes speech with an eloquent gesture. I like it!　★Julian's photos!