The PIE: So how do you see your company developing in the future – do you think it will be good sustained growth?

CY: Absolutely, I think Australia itself is a great product. Everyone loves Australia.

The PIE: What do they like most about Australia?

CY: Well the beach culture, the weather, the economy as well.

The PIE: What about the ability to work?

CY: Absolutely.

The PIE: Do you keep in touch with your students throughout their journey?

CY: Yes, that’s what differentiates us. We hold a lot of different events, webinars, seminars to keep them informed. We understand they come with different objectives in mind, whether that is a job or opportunities, we want to make sure we are there guiding them throughout their journey so that that they do achieve the goals they set out to achieve.

“There are many competitors now, but because we were the first ones we have a good reputation in the market”

The PIE: And how long is a student’s lifecycle?

CY: Andrea’s got some clients that have been with her for 8 years now, since the company started.

AP: Yes, now it is interesting to see that they are coming with a partner and kids. They are usually English language students and they progress to Bachelors, then Masters, then they stay and bring the family or friends.

We have a really good connection with them, we run other activities including a language exchange, so every week we have Australians learning Spanish, we partner them up with Latin American students to practise their English as well.

CY: The first 30 minutes you speak English only and the next 30 minutes you speak Spanish only. There are three rounds: 10 minutes of English, 10 minutes of Spanish, and then you switch partners. They love that, we’ve been holding that weekly now and we get on average about 40 to 50 people attending.

The PIE: How do you recruit or how do you find Aussies to take part?

CY: We’ve got a meet up group, it’s got about 4,000 members. There are many different events within that group and there are different organisers as well. So we’ve got an Aussie style barbecue coming up and they love that because Australians love showing what Australians offer.

The PIE: And that’s a good way to recruit clients as well.

AP: Exactly.

CY: It is really interesting because sometimes we’ve got clients who arrived at the country and maybe 2 days in, they’ll hear about our language exchange program and they’ll be there, which is very exciting. We love that it’s attracting people.

The PIE: And what proportion of your business is onshore and what proportion comes from your offices overseas?

AP: I would say it’s 50-50.

“Every week we have Australians learning Spanish, we partner them up with Latin American students to practise their English”

The PIE: And tell me about the award you were recently nominated for.

AP: The Colombia Minister of Foreign Affairs has the “Colombia Nos Une” program, specially created to facilitate networking and linking of Colombians abroad. They have a program where they nominate “Outstanding Colombians Overseas” and I was selected in October 2014, they went on to publish my story in Australia on the Colombian government’s website.

The PIE: That’s really good. So are you in Australia forever, or do you think you’ll ever go back to Colombia?

AP: I think I will be in Australia forever. My brother lives in Australia, he’s working with me as well and we’re planning to bring our parents.