Today, Maria talks with Michelle Welsch, a social entrepreneur, who founded the Learning House, a community learning center that offers free workshops, paid classes and scholarships to promote education and leadership in Pokhara, Nepal. She is the CEO and founder of Khata Life, a non-profit organization in the US. With a background in psychology and social work and after working for a branding company and then freelancing in New York City, Michelle left for Nepal for a two-week trip and never really came back to the US. Get inspired by our conversation that is full of zest and energy, just like our guest!
Production team:
Host : Maria Xenidou
Producer: Julie-Roxane Krikorian
Introduction Voice: David Bourne
Contact us:
impactlearningpodcast@gmail.com
Music credits:
Like Lee performed by The Mini Vandals
Transition sounds: Swamp Walks performed by Jingle Punks
Where to find Michelle Welsch:
On LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/michellewelsch/
www.learninghousenepal.com
www.khatalife.org
www.michellewelsch.com
www.projectexponential.com
Mentioned in this episode
Interbrand: https://www.interbrand.com/
Seth Godin: https://www.sethgodin.com/
AltMBA: https://altmba.com/
Listen to this episode and explore:
Michelle’s childhood as a street performer (3:02)
Fitting-in: the concept of in-groups and out-groups (5:13)
Her relationship to learning from childhood to today (7:18)
Studying psychology, working as a probation officer and getting a master’s in social work (9:11)
Her first career shift: working for a branding agency (17:39)
Meeting Seth Godin and becoming a freelancer (18:53)
From social work to freelancing: learning to build communities (21:23)
From NYC to Nepal on a fundraising trip (25:24)
Founding the Learning House Nepal & Khata Life non-profit (28:17)
Immersing herself in the community of Nepal (35:00)
How she built the team at The Learning House (37:33)
The biggest challenge in her work: what’s next? (43:39)
If you had unlimited amounts of money? (48:47)
The importance of learning how to think before learning skills (52:30)
Scarcity mentality and sharing resources (56:36)
Maria's key takeaways and call-to-action (1:00:46)