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Ep. 125 Why Language Learning Is the Next Big Competitive Edge for Growing Companies
Show Notes:
In this episode of The Business Growth Spotlight, host Heidi Schalk, Co-Founder of HLH Growth Solutions, sits down with Stacy Richter, CEO of Live Lingua, a global online language school serving students in 80+ countries.
What starts as a conversation about business growth quickly evolves into an inspiring deep dive into Stacy’s 20-year entrepreneurial journey: from corporate collections, to a kitchen-table startup, to launching multiple businesses, to ultimately becoming the CEO of an international company.
Together they explore:
- Why language learning has become a competitive advantage for teams doing business cross-culturally
- The mindset and resilience behind long-game leadership
- How learning another language strengthens relationships, improves creativity, and boosts strategic thinking
- The most common mistakes companies make when rolling out language programs
- How language training impacts the triple bottom line: people, partnerships, and profits
- Why you don’t need fluency to build trust, just a willingness to try
- How AI is reshaping language learning (without replacing human connection)
Stacy brings refreshing honesty, real-world experience, and a powerful reminder that every chapter of your journey prepares you for something bigger than you can imagine.
You’ll love this episode if you are:
✓ A founder, CEO, or executive expanding into multilingual markets
✓ Growing a global or cross-cultural team
✓ Interested in the intersection of leadership, learning, and growth
✓ Someone who appreciates a great “kitchen table startup” story
Bio*
Stacy is better known as the Marketing Mindbender. To kickstart his career, Stacy completed his Bachelor of Commerce degree at the University of Calgary with a double major in Marketing and Information Systems. This was quickly followed up by completing an Industrial Marketing minor at the University of Kaiserslautern in Germany.
He has successfully lead marketing initiatives in nearly every sector known in the business world including oil and gas, ecommerce, retail, hospitality, manufacturing, professional services, finance, fintech and language services.
What you might not know about Stacy is that…
•He was once a winner of a beauty contest in Monopoly.
•Stacy enjoys playing guitar and the harmonica but not at the same time.
•He performed a song he wrote and produced on the Buck Shot Show when he was 5.
Stacy completed his MBA at the University of Phoenix before joining a boutique marketing agency as a Senior Associate. At the time of his exit 4 years later, he and the partners had grown the agency to 6 offices and 30+ associates across North America.
He has since been pursuing his venture career through acquiring and growing small to medium sized businesses. Stacy brings lives his philosophy of Ask Great Questions, Get Great Answers to 10x is businesses AND, his life.
To connect with our guest, click on the links below:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/livelingua
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/livelingua
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/livelingua
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@LiveLingua
Website: https://livelingua.com
Connect with me:
🎁Spotlight to Scale: Spotlight to Scale Blueprint
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/heidischalkcoaching/
View all episodes
By Heidi SchalkShow Notes:
In this episode of The Business Growth Spotlight, host Heidi Schalk, Co-Founder of HLH Growth Solutions, sits down with Stacy Richter, CEO of Live Lingua, a global online language school serving students in 80+ countries.
What starts as a conversation about business growth quickly evolves into an inspiring deep dive into Stacy’s 20-year entrepreneurial journey: from corporate collections, to a kitchen-table startup, to launching multiple businesses, to ultimately becoming the CEO of an international company.
Together they explore:
- Why language learning has become a competitive advantage for teams doing business cross-culturally
- The mindset and resilience behind long-game leadership
- How learning another language strengthens relationships, improves creativity, and boosts strategic thinking
- The most common mistakes companies make when rolling out language programs
- How language training impacts the triple bottom line: people, partnerships, and profits
- Why you don’t need fluency to build trust, just a willingness to try
- How AI is reshaping language learning (without replacing human connection)
Stacy brings refreshing honesty, real-world experience, and a powerful reminder that every chapter of your journey prepares you for something bigger than you can imagine.
You’ll love this episode if you are:
✓ A founder, CEO, or executive expanding into multilingual markets
✓ Growing a global or cross-cultural team
✓ Interested in the intersection of leadership, learning, and growth
✓ Someone who appreciates a great “kitchen table startup” story
Bio*
Stacy is better known as the Marketing Mindbender. To kickstart his career, Stacy completed his Bachelor of Commerce degree at the University of Calgary with a double major in Marketing and Information Systems. This was quickly followed up by completing an Industrial Marketing minor at the University of Kaiserslautern in Germany.
He has successfully lead marketing initiatives in nearly every sector known in the business world including oil and gas, ecommerce, retail, hospitality, manufacturing, professional services, finance, fintech and language services.
What you might not know about Stacy is that…
•He was once a winner of a beauty contest in Monopoly.
•Stacy enjoys playing guitar and the harmonica but not at the same time.
•He performed a song he wrote and produced on the Buck Shot Show when he was 5.
Stacy completed his MBA at the University of Phoenix before joining a boutique marketing agency as a Senior Associate. At the time of his exit 4 years later, he and the partners had grown the agency to 6 offices and 30+ associates across North America.
He has since been pursuing his venture career through acquiring and growing small to medium sized businesses. Stacy brings lives his philosophy of Ask Great Questions, Get Great Answers to 10x is businesses AND, his life.
To connect with our guest, click on the links below:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/livelingua
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/livelingua
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/livelingua
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@LiveLingua
Website: https://livelingua.com
Connect with me:
🎁Spotlight to Scale: Spotlight to Scale Blueprint
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/heidischalkcoaching/