Hello!

Our Journey

Thank you for allowing me to share my journey and my why with you. My name is Davido Van Haute, also known as "Mr David", especially in Hong Kong. I established The English Teacher Ltd. in Hong Kong in 2009 with the initial focus on teaching kids and adults English in a fun and playful manner and environment to help them speak English fluently without studying or homework. After 6 years of operating the first learning centre and me being the only English teacher, it was time to expand the business by creating and selling franchises of the learning center. Unfortunately, things don't always go the way you want them to go in life and our first franchise, our current English learning centre in Sai Wan Ho, went bust after only 6 months. No matter, fail again, fail better. I picked up the pieces and started rebuilding the brand from my home office.

Summer of 2019

Then in the summer of 2019, after being provoked by the forceful invasion of China in Hong Kong and after learning that China had abolished the one-child policy, I decided not to live in a country where freedom of speech is limited and silently punished, a country where you can suddenly vanish without a trace. A country that would likely to be suffering greatly if that doubling of the population in China resulted in a pandemic. "Not me, folks. I'm out. I'm moving to New Zealand."Therefore I convinced all my Students to take their English classes with me online, 1-to-1 via screen sharing because it’s so much faster, more focused and intensive than teaching in a classroom setting. Then in September 2019 I visited New Zealand all the while teaching online from wherever I was. But I needed a system and a place to keep track of my Students’ progress and to allow them to book their Courses and Session flexibly with me. Because right now, it was nearly impossible for my students to review their notes, to find their PDFs I sent them by email, to listen to the uploaded voice recordings I always make for my Students after each session. It just didn't work for my students the way I wanted it to work for them and it was a tiring and lengthy process for me, the teacher. Something had to be done.

January 2020

So it wasn't New Zealand after all. It was Sydney, Australia. Australia, mate! Australia! So by January 2020 I decided to build my own platform from scratch which allowed my Students to book their Sessions flexibly with me according to MY availability, keep their Session notes and the voice recordings in one place: on the platform. No more hassle with emailing PDFs of Session notes, etc. Everything easily accessible and saved privately on the platform.

No expert coder

I was no expert coder and 3 months later by April 2020, in the midst of the COVID lockdown in Australia, I got completely stuck. I had run out of all the free stuff. You know, the YouTube tutorial videos, the coding recipes and answers on forums to my very specific questions and problems.

What to do?

Initially I didn't know what to do because I didn't have the money to go outsource everything and I wanted to learn coding myself. I also wanted to stay in control of something I built myself so I had to upgrade my skills. Finally after being stuck for a few weeks, I decided that I needed a coding coach, someone who is an expert in the field of “Drupal 7” – the content management system I was using to build the platform. Someone who is passionate and gets their kicks out of sharing their valuable knowledge and most preferably online, via screen sharing. It took me 2.5 weeks of searching, screening, comparing and testing people, until I finally found "Azmat”.

Azmat

Azmat Mohammed Syed was phenomenal! I took 1-hour Sessions with him daily for 3 weeks straight at USD 25 per Session. After every Session, I felt SOOOO GOOD because I finally got my answers and I wasn't stuck anymore. I could ask this guy anything and he would know it. I was learning and improving so much faster than E.V.E.R. B.E.F.O.R.E. And it’s a this moment that it hit me: "Wait a minute, THIS here, this experience that I'm having is EXACTLY what I want to see available for everyone. The sheer happiness of learning faster than every before. Knowning an expert in the field whom you can ask your questions to your heart's desire. And for EVERY possible subject, not just English.

And that's when 5StarTeachers.net was born.

Broke

So after being locked down (or up) "down under" for 1.5 years, losing all my customers from Hong Kong, and focusing on developing the platform I finally had to move back home, to the motherland "Belgium". Broke and in serious debt I returned home to live in the barn across my parents' house. No running water. Just a wood stove, electricity, Internet connection and cold rain showers. Very cold in the winter, refreshing in the summer. And there I am ... still, as of this writing in January 2024. I've been on this journey with 5StarTeachers since January 2020, alone, working 7/7, roughly 10 hours a day. But no despair. I've fully agreed with myself that this is the sacrifice I'm willing to make, my time, energy and focus, and the suffering I'm willing to endure. And you wanna know why? Because it's too beautiful to not do. I must do it. There is no other way. I don't care that my time here on earth is ticking away, as long as it is ticking away whilst doing something meaningful, in line with my purpose in life. And 5StarTeachers is exactly that: aligned with my purpose in life. How can anyone give up on themselves if their purpose transcends even their own existence? It's not the profits that attract me or that keep me going, even though I am convinced these will come in abundance and will be used for an even greater purpose, but it's the gargantuan number of people we are going to truly help to improve their lives with this platform, that is the goal.

I loved watching those breathtaking skies in Sydney, especially at around dusk.

That's my story.

There you have it. That's my story or at least part of it. To me, the future of education is 1-to-1. Ai is taking over the tech world by storm but I contend that the human 1-to-1, face-to-face connection will always be there and be greatly needed ... until we have merged with Ai.

The future

I don't see a bright future for this world. Many people, especially teachers will lose their jobs because they will be outclassed by the surge of the exponential technological improvements of the world. The economy is already rapidly shifting in this direction. More and more people will be replaced by robots, Ai or technological advancements. Hello!?! Most companies focus on profits. As an employee, you may just be in the way of their profits. What are you going to do then?

Wouldn't it be great if you could live where you wanted to live, create your own Courses, set your own schedule, and provide for your family by teaching, coaching, advising and sharing great knowledge with people from all over the world, face-to-face, 1-to-1 and for good money?

And doesn't such a future inspire you? Well, it sure inspires me to built such a platform and it keeps inspiring me. Again, it's too beautiful to let go, to give up. And that's why I will keep going. Question is: Will you go with me?
As a Student?
As a Teacher?
As a Teammate?
As an investor?

Future destination

So where will the future bring us with 5StarTeachers? Toronto, Canada. This is where the headquarters will be located in the future. By when is depending on lots of different aspects, such as money, traction, progress, and for which I don't have the exact date or even an estimated date. But Canada, we're coming! It's been decided. So if you are already in Canada and you are a teacher, coach, consultant or an expert in the field, why not join us and sign up as a Teacher, huh?

Toronto – Canada, our future destination for headquarters.

Current

Our current official location is in Hong Kong. We are a limited company in Hong Kong. We are live and we have an office in Hong Kong. Our bank account is with HSBC so 5StarTeachers who have a bank account in Hong Kong can instantly be paid out with the lowest bank charges, probably zero.

So what about the team, Davido?

Well, good question. At current there is just me, my inner critic and my inner coach. We're three. We build and develop everything. At least we work for 3 but that's by no means a team. Good to know is that if you want to become part of the team, you're going to need to be a 5StarTeacher first. Everyone who comes on board must consider themselves at least an expert in their field, confidently show it and prove it. Then, you can try to convince me that we should consider you invaluable to the team. My current motto is: "It's better to have no team than to have a bad team."

The journey is the reward. So take the journey, even if it means starting out alone.