This is the Business English Podcast, Episode 188, Michelle's Startup Stories.
Welcome to the Business English podcast from All Ears English.
Get the English skills you need to achieve your dreams in global business.
For a presentation, a meeting, or your office party, this is Real Business English with your favorite American hosts, Lindsay and Michelle, coming to you from New York City and Colorado, USA.
Still translating in your head when you speak English?
It's time to change that. The Connected Communicator course from All Ears English helps you train your ear, speak naturally, and finally connect with real people.
In our tailored study plan, you'll hear unscripted interviews from tattoo artists to entrepreneurs from all across America. and you'll use new AI tools to practice speaking anytime you want.
No more stiff, scripted English. Build confidence, fluency, and cultural insight all in one course.
Plus, get real-life speaking experience at our Open Conversation Club every single week and build community with Allers English teachers and students.
Go to allersenglish.com slash connection to save $50 this week only.
Offer ends August 10th. allearsenglish.com slash connection.
Hi, Michelle. How are you? Hi, Lindsay. I'm good.
Excited to be here on the Business English podcast today.
Yes. Love it. Love talking about business, especially modern business, right?
Things have changed a lot in the business world.
Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. Things have changed.
Are we just stepping on each other? I don't know what is going on.
Anyway, all right. Yeah, I think especially with the pandemic, just so I mean, a lot of what we talk about now on this show is kind of stems from some of those changes.
And with that pandemic, obviously, so many companies went through lots of hard times.
And yeah, it's important to talk about this and not not not kind of It's easy to forget what happened, but there are still aftershocks, I think.
There are aftershocks. The pandemic was an interesting case, right?
Because we came into the pandemic remembering the 2008 crash where the recovery was extremely, it was devastating.
And then the recovery was extremely slow.
Right. People were still out of jobs in 2011, 2012.
It was bad news for a very long time. So we came out of it maybe thinking something like that was happening.
But the recession was very short after the pandemic.
I think it was like a month or two. Extremely short.
A lot of people did get laid off, but then things bounced back very quickly.
Yeah. Yeah, interesting. I think a lot of companies now are feeling like you said, the aftershocks, the after effects.
We're now, you know, AI coming up. Things are changing in a deeper way, which may be somewhat linked to the pandemic, but also linked to the future.
So some companies are kind of starting to lag a little bit.
My mind is spinning. Yeah, it's true. Lots of things going on.
But today we actually have a listener question about...
A company going through something difficult.
So, Lindsay, would you like to read it? It's a quick one.
I would love to. Here we go. So this is from Honoraya Shoglu.
And they said, how do we say in an idiomatic way that the company is in a hard period?
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. This is a good this is a good one.
I like this question. Yeah, it's I mean, this is you should have the tools to talk about these things.
Even if your company isn't in a hard period, you can comment on something else, comment on something in the world that a lot of people are talking about anyway.
I mean, even not relating to the pandemic.
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. right i remember but then you hear about in small businesses too like just yesterday i was on a ceo call where i'm in part of like a coaching program where business owners get on a call together to help each other and one of one of one guy there was about to have to lay off two people and people were trying to like help him through it and they say i'm so sorry you know he was kind of preparing how to how to talk to his man that his company's really needing to to lay off a few people so this affects every layer of business you know man that's too bad yeah yeah yeah um so yeah it's important to be able to talk about so good question um guys if you haven't heard yet episode uh 183 we did just recently it's how to go deeper with your explanations in business english so check that one out as well Yeah.
So why does this matter? But we've just said this affects everyone.
Every layer, you know, companies go up and down, whether they're huge Fortune 500 or tiny little micro businesses.
Right. What? Yeah. Yeah. I mean, I think this is important because it's honest to be able to share what's going on, because also you never know who can help you.
If you're talking about something you never this is just part of business business in general is you never know.
I feel like it's always a good idea to throw things out there unless they're secret, of course.
Like if you don't want it, you might not want to reveal that your company is having a hard time.
Maybe that's not something that would be good to share.
Yeah, you have to think about it. But it's just it is a good way to connect if it's something you want to you are OK sharing.
Yeah, we have to make sure that we don't have too much pride that we can't reach out for help when we need it.
Right. So what are the words? So I guess this would probably be coming from the higher levels of leadership in the company that what we're teaching today.
Right, Michelle, like your ways of saying that or would it be anyone or what's the angle on today's episode?
I mean, yeah, these are mostly the examples that I'm giving are mostly about in a leadership position.
However, you can be using them to share it with a friend.
I mean, share what's going on at work. But I would say that in general, at least our angle is a little bit more from the leadership position.
Okay, yeah, because it really matters here.
And this is exactly what came up on the call yesterday.
You know, for this particular business owner, it really matters the way he talks about this to his whole team, right?
Now I feel bad for those people today. Yeah, it's hard.
It's hard. The economy, tough. But it matters like how he presents it to the rest of the team, right?
Yeah. After those people are gone, like, are we okay?
Like, are the rest of us okay? It matters.
That's true. That's true. Yeah. Yeah. So let's go over it.
What's something that somebody might say if their business isn't going so well?
Okay. You could say we're in a tough spot.
So for example, we're in a tough spot right now.
We need to reevaluate our budget. OK, yes.
Good. That's too bad. Yeah. Another one is setback to use the word setback.
So we have had some setbacks this month, but it's nothing we can't bounce back from.
Yeah, it's good to be positive as much as I can, you know, keep people motivated or tough break.
Our team had a tough break last month, but I'm hopeful that things will turn around.
Tough break is a good natural phrase, Michelle. i like that one yeah what do we think yeah yeah um i like that one too um i feel like I feel like it kind of takes away some responsibility.
It's more like, oh, it's almost like we fell into this.
Yeah. A tough break. It's almost like bad luck.
Whereas other things might be more, oh, maybe it was due to things that have happened to us.
Right? Yeah. So you're saying maybe it's like making excuses if performance is down.
Is that what you mean? Like it's saying something happened to us.
Yeah, I think tough break is because I think it's it sounds more like it's about luck or just like bad luck.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. I don't know. Does that make sense at all?
It kind of indicates that the agency is outside of ourselves, which is not a great way to lead with that mentality.
Right, right, right. But I mean, yeah, that's true.
This one isn't like very like this example.
It's not very specific. You know, oh, I'm hopeful things will turn around like we had some bad luck, basically.
Yeah. But I mean, this is a very useful one, I think.
OK, what about the next one, Michelle? What else might we say? a little longer, haven't been reaching our goals.
This is much more direct than tough break, I think.
So you could say, unfortunately, we haven't been reaching our goals.
I think we need to have a whole team meeting.
We need all hands on deck, which is a bonus for today.
Yeah, good bonus for today. All hands on deck.
I love that. You do hear this sometimes in business, right?
All hands on deck. I guess it refers back to traveling by boat.
In the early 1900s, probably, right? Yep.
But it is used a lot in business. Super interesting, right?
Yep. Yep. Abercrombie's viral denim sale is back.
And Spotify listeners get an extra 15% off with code SPOTIFYAF.
Abercrombie is known for their denim. With 30-50% off all jeans, find out how denim should feel.
Shop the viral denim sale in the Abercrombie app, online or in stores.
Valid in stores and online through August 11, 2025 in US and Canada.
Excludes clearance, price reflects discount.
Code valid in US and Canada through August 11, 2025.
Exclusions apply. See details online. All right.
So, Michelle, here's a bigger question. How should we react during tough times at work?
So as employees, if we're getting this vibe that something's not going well, let's talk about that for a minute.
You know, that could be very that could be very unsettling.
I mean, I so I worked at a startup when I graduated college. and oh it was a it was a great job but it was um like i always felt like it could end at any moment yeah startups are very tumultuous yeah yeah yeah i just felt like it could just just all fall apart and i really liked what i was doing um so it was it was I remember I would just call my mom during lunch.
I remember, you know, this is my first job living in the city and I would call my mom during lunch and I would just like cry.
So yeah, yeah. It just felt like it was always like there were so many, you could, I could tell because there were so many changes all the time, like very rapid, extreme changes.
Like they were just throwing stuff against the wall and hoping something would work, but it didn't feel like I was secure.
It didn't feel like I was like things were under control.
So I think the leadership really matters there.
Like how can a leader help his or her employees to remain calm in these situations?
Definitely tricky with a startup. With a startup, because literally the definition, the textbook definition of a startup is an idea that's searching for a business model.
So by nature, a startup doesn't have a business model yet in the early stages, maybe like angel investment or round A, round B, right?
So I think there is probably some, I've never run a startup.
Startups are extremely fast moving and tumultuous.
There probably is some kind of stability that the leader could give. even though employees i think should know if they are joining a startup it's not going to be yeah really stable my brother before he he worked he's a electrical engineer uh now he's been with the same company a government contracting company for years but he had a stint with a startup like he left his current company went to this startup the startup failed i think then he went you know because startups do fail they absolutely do all the time So I think it's a balance of employees need to know what a startup like what what happens in a startup and the leader needs to provide some kind of stability as much as possible.
Right. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. That was a tough one.
Yeah. I don't know if I could do that again, but I think it is always important startup or not a startup.
I think it's important to have that leadership. to make you feel secure even when your company has a setback or a tough break or is going through a tough spot or hasn't been reaching their goals.
Well, it's true because people can't really be creative if they're protecting themselves, if they're feeling insecure, right?
By nature, we can't expand and self-protect.
So as human beings, if we feel like something's not going OK with the company, we're going to get more conservative in our work.
Like we're not going to take risks. We're not going to be creative.
And that could cause the company to go under even more.
Right. Right. It has kind of a snowball effect.
And I mean, I ended up leaving this job because I couldn't I couldn't handle I couldn't handle that anxiety.
It was. It was too much for me. I went to my next job, and then from there, I went back to graduate school.
Interesting. And so the question is, the question is, Michelle, is this company still around?
I don't think so. I mean, I used to look them up from time to time, but no, I don't think so.
But I... It was too bad. I really did enjoy the actual work.
In some ways, it was somewhat of a dream job.
It was also in like a journalism field. But, you know, I remember walking into it and I remember like when I started and it was very clear that there was money, but no one knew what the goal was like.
It's hard. These early stage companies are really tough.
It takes a special leadership and a special kind of person to work there, a certain way of thinking.
I think it's not for everyone. It's really not.
With that job, because it was a startup and it was a small team, I got to have, I got to do a lot of cool things.
I got to make a lot of big decisions. Yeah, everything.
It was like, it was, I mean, how old was I?
I mean, I guess I was like 21 or 22. So, and I was making all these big decisions, but yeah, I just couldn't take the heat.
No. Yeah. So that's kind of the thing, right?
When you work for a small company, you do a lot of different things.
You get a lot of experience, but you don't know how stable it is.
Interesting. Okay. This has become a really, I think the key here is for our listeners, before we go into the role play, know yourself, like know what kind of environment is right for you. right there's no right or wrong here some people are more designed for the big corporate world some people for small scrappy startups some people for bootstrapped companies right it just depends on what you can tolerate and where you want to be Yeah, that's true.
It's not to say I don't want to scare people.
If you're applying for jobs and you see startup right now, I don't want you to not apply because I said it was my experience was bad.
But it is true. You have to think about can you handle certain situations?
What are you secure with? What will make you feel best?
I think that's important. Yeah, it's so true.
I mean, there's going to be tons of AI startups popping up now in the next five years, I bet.
And so, you know, maybe you could take the security in the sense of maybe you're working for these startups, but you're building your own security and the skills that you're building, your own personal portfolio of skills.
And so the sense of security isn't necessarily in the company.
It's more you have these skills. And if this company goes under, you're going to, you know, you can move on to the next because you're building all these skills, you're doing all these things.
Yeah, exactly. Yep, yep, yep. So should we do a role play?
Yes, let's do it. So what is happening here, Michelle?
OK, well, we are on the same team and we got news that our team didn't get a client we were hoping to work with.
OK, here we go. Oh, man, I feel like we're in a tough spot.
The second client we haven't been able to acquire in the last two months.
I know it's definitely a setback. Yeah, tough break.
Well, we haven't been reaching our goals.
It's true, but we can still turn it around.
Yep. Let's stay positive. Nice. Yes. All right.
So you said. Well, these are for this is a little bit different because these are two.
It sounds like we're on the same level. So you can use it.
You know, it's not that these are only for, you know, the big boss or something.
But these are how you might use it level to level.
Yeah. I mean, maybe another day we come back to, you know, how would a boss sort of present a scenario to a company?
But that that that actually I don't really know the skills for.
But, yeah, this is two peers kind of talking to each other.
Right. So you said, oh, man, I feel like we're in a tough spot.
Right. And then you said it's definitely a step back.
Yeah. And you said, yeah, tough break. Right.
Yeah. And then you said we haven't been reaching our goals.
It's true, but we can still turn it around.
Oh, Lindsay, the forever optimist. I don't know.
Yeah, it's good to be optimistic as much as you can.
You know, might as well. Right. Might as well be optimistic.
But yeah, it's easy. Yeah. I don't know, business is tough, Michelle.
So, well, we're helping our listeners out on the business side here by listening to this show.
So guys, hit follow, right? Hit follow before we finish up today.
Hit that follow button or subscribe on YouTube just to make sure you are tuned in to this new information on the business English side of stuff.
What's the takeaway, Michelle? All right.
Well, guys, it's important to stay positive, even in the hard times, I think.
But these are good expressions to use to connect, to share how things are honestly going, whether you are talking to your coworker, your colleague, or if you're talking to people who... you're superior and you are talking to them and sharing that things aren't going so well.
But we've talked about also different kinds of careers and different personalities, how they might be able to take these sorts of setbacks or not.
I shared a little bit about my experience, but overall, this was a great question.
Lots to talk about today that we didn't even realize we were going to talk about.
So I know we got into some good stuff today.
Well, thanks for hanging out in the microphone with me today.
All right. Thanks, Lindsay. Have a good one, guys.
Talk soon. Bye. Bye. Thank you for listening to Business English, a podcast just for you, the high achieving global professional.
Want more from All Ears English? Don't miss our biggest and best podcast with 8 million monthly downloads.
Just search for the All Ears English podcast and hit follow to get four new episodes per week on fluency, American culture, grammar, and so much more.
Or tap the link in the show notes. Remember, we believe in connection, not perfection when it comes to learning English.
Follow the All Ears English podcast now.
Unlock big savings and add style and security to your home with high quality Schlage door locks from Menards.
Whether you're looking for a traditional interior lock or a Wi-Fi compatible electronic lock, Menards has you covered.
With more than 200 options of Schlage door locks in stock, save big on all door locks.
And don't forget to check out our weekly flyer on Menards.com for all the great deals happening now.
Save big money at Menards.
