Creating Impact with AI: How CEO Anada Lakra Empowers Non-Native English Speakers

ANADA LAKRA is the CEO & Co-Founder of BoldVoice, an AI-powered app that helps non-native English speakers improve their speaking clarity and confidence.

What inspired you to start BoldVoice?

I was born and raised in Albania, and I moved to the U.S. to attend Yale. 

Despite having studied English for 10 years, people would still ask me to repeat myself when I would say my name or make a comment in class.

I struggled to express myself confidently in both social and professional settings, and found that my international classmates felt the same way.

So, this problem lived in the back of my mind for nearly a decade until I went to pursue my MBA at Harvard Business School. 

This time around, I was inspired by Artificial Intelligence. For the first time ever, voice-powered models could be used to do something as specific and nuanced as giving feedback on pronunciation.

I reached out to some accent coaches to learn how they train their clients. One of them, a Hollywood accent coach, ended up joining me on the journey to create BoldVoice.

My background as a product manager with startups like Peloton definitely helped us to design a personalized, expert-led, engaging product experience.

What we ended up building is an app that combines the expertise of the best accent coaches in the world, with cutting-edge AI feedback, to give everyone a personal speech coach in their pocket.

Looking back, is there any advice you would give to your younger self?

I wish I knew that nobody *really* knows what they’re doing on day one.

Entrepreneurs don’t know everything on day one—they learn along the way.

Have the courage to get started, as well as the appetite and curiosity to keep learning. It’s important to be brave if you want to be an entrepreneur. 

BoldVoice has raised over $5 million! How did you secure your investments and what do you think contributed to your success in sparking investors’ interest? 

We started our journey as part of Y-Combinator, which is an accelerator program that I highly recommend.

However, the most important part of attracting investment is building a great, enduring business.

Obviously, in the very early stages, it’s hard to do that without any funding, so it’s a bit of a chicken-and-egg problem.

You have to be scrappy with the very limited resources you have. 

I didn't have the resources to build an app, so I ran a pilot that was super manual. We created videos that were sent via email, along with some worksheets to be used for practice. That’s how we got our first paid users. 

Even after you have that initial funding, continue to be scrappy. Ask yourself: “What do I need to show by the end of this time period to get me to the next fundraising step?”

Other than that, be confident and bold in the story you’re telling investors. Make sure the problem resonates and that you’re painting the full picture of how big this could get, and why you’re the right person to tackle this.

How do you find balance with your personal life and well-being? 

It’s a marathon, not a sprint.

It’s important to carve out time for yourself because it’s not only for your well-being, but it also makes you a better founder, CEO, and leader for your team. 

For me, I always make sure to get a workout in before work, and find time to unplug and connect with friends on the weekends.

The other important thing is team building. Our team just got back from a retreat. It was a great opportunity to go through strategy, but also a good time for bonding.

What is the most rewarding part of your job? 

The user stories are by far the most rewarding thing. My team and I read every user email and every review on the app store. It is our main source of motivation for what we’re building. 

Our app is giving people more confidence. We’re making them feel like they can speak up, own a room, get better opportunities, and be recognized for their intelligence and contributions, as opposed to being overlooked because of their accents.

We've been hearing from users who say, “I've been in the U.S. for 20 years and I had nearly given up, but you've given me hope.” Or people who say they’ve just landed the job of their dreams, thanks to the speech training they did on BoldVoice.

So we’re not only building a good business, but we're actually doing some good in the world. 

Where do you hope to see BoldVoice in the next few years?

The market opportunity for something like this is huge. There are one billion people who are learning English or who speak English non-natively. 

Plus, English is the language of business. It’s a must-have skill to succeed in today’s world, make more money, and bring in more income for your family.

Right now, we’re mostly operating in the U.S. But as we grow, I would love to see BoldVoice with a strong presence in every country, helping people everywhere to speak English more confidently. 

What advice do you have for young women aspiring to become entrepreneurs?

Be as scrappy as you can. Ask yourself, “What do I need to prove to get to the next milestone?” On day one, you only need one customer. 

Set achievable milestones and figure out what the “zero dollar way” is to do that because the more you’re able to prove yourself without money, the more money you can actually fundraise for less dilution. 

Also, have confidence in yourself and surround yourself with people who are doing cool things, too. Just being in the right circles can be hugely inspiring and will help you elevate yourself to their level of potential.