Michelle López’s journey at Bridge is a clear reflection of the culture the company seeks to build: internal growth, continuous learning, and trust in people. Six years ago, she joined Bridge as a Global Teacher, and today she steps into the role of Director of Operations, leading one of the key areas for the organization’s sustainable growth.
“It has been a very enriching journey, with a lot of learning and a very natural evolution of responsibilities,” Michelle shares.
Each stage, she explains, prepared her for the next—allowing her to progressively broaden her perspective, from direct classroom experience to a strategic, organization-wide view of operations.
From the Classroom to Strategy: A Holistic View of the Journey
Starting as a teacher was a fundamental point of departure. That experience allowed Michelle to understand firsthand what it means to learn a language while working, as well as the real impact that close support has on learners throughout the process.
Later on, her time in Customer Success and strategic roles such as Chief of Staff gave her a deep understanding of how experiences, processes, and communication flows are designed to sustain learning over time.
“Today, that combination allows me to lead operations with a much broader perspective: understanding what teams need to do their jobs well, while also recognizing what our clients and learners expect at each stage of the journey,” she explains.
Operations as a Hub for Coordination and Consistency
Taking on the role of Director of Operations at this moment is a direct response to Bridge’s growth. For Michelle, operations now play a critical role: connecting teams, aligning processes, and ensuring consistency in the experience delivered to learners and clients.
Her priorities for the beginning of the year are clear: maintaining high quality standards, strengthening program personalization, and driving innovation—not only in content and technology, but also in the way teams work internally. All of this with a long-term mindset and a strong focus on sustainable growth.
Turning Experience and Satisfaction Into Concrete Decisions
The focus on experience doesn’t remain at a conceptual level. From an operations perspective, it translates into daily decisions that directly impact how learners and clients experience their programs. This involves reviewing processes, workflows, and touchpoints to ensure that every interaction is clear, consistent, and delivers real value.
Rather than reacting to problems, operational work aims to anticipate them: identifying friction points before they escalate, simplifying what creates unnecessary burden, and making teams’ work easier so they can focus on better supporting learners and organizations.
“It’s not just about operational efficiency, but about ensuring the experience is consistent, thoughtful, and positive at every touchpoint,” Michelle explains.
Every adjustment, no matter how small it may seem, is evaluated based on its real impact on the experience. Satisfaction is not an isolated metric—it is a direct consequence of well-thought-out decisions aligned with the program’s purpose.
Starting Strong in Q1 Makes All the Difference
A strong start helps build habits, continuity, and sustained progress in language learning programs. In language programs, early engagement is critical: when the launch is unclear or fails to gain traction, learning tends to fragment and lose momentum over time.
“The first quarter sets the pace for the entire year. When learning programs start with clarity and focus in Q1, it becomes much easier to build habits and sustain progress over time,” Michelle explains.
From an operations standpoint, support for HR and internal teams comes through clear planning from the start of the year, guidance in choosing the right solution, a well-structured onboarding process, and close support from Customer Success and Account Managers. The goal is for programs to start strong in the first quarter and remain aligned with business objectives throughout the year.
Scaling Without Losing the Human Element
As Bridge continues to grow, one of the biggest challenges is scaling operations without losing the human component that defines the learning experience. Growth brings more programs, more learners, and greater complexity—but it also demands protecting what truly makes a difference in everyday interactions.
For Michelle, technology plays a key role in this process—as long as it is used as an enabler rather than a replacement for people. Automating tasks, organizing information, and optimizing processes help free up time and energy for what matters most: pedagogical and human support.
“We use technology to optimize processes and reduce operational load, so teachers and teams can focus on what truly makes a difference: feedback, personalization, and their role as guides,” she notes.
In this way, scaling doesn’t mean over-standardizing, but rather building structures that allow for a close, flexible, and relevant experience—even at greater scale.
A New Beginning With Experience at the Center
This new role represents, for both Michelle and Bridge, an evolution toward a more integrated and strategic operation—one where experience becomes the central axis of decision-making. It’s not just about coordinating teams, but about ensuring all efforts move in the same direction.
For companies that work with Bridge, this translates into better-executed learning programs, greater clarity from the start, continuous support, and the ability to adapt throughout the year. A strong operational foundation allows strategy to translate into concrete actions and sustainable results.
“We remain committed to supporting that process at every stage, combining strategy, closeness, and operational excellence,” Michelle concludes.
People Who Grow, Impact That Multiplies
At Bridge, we believe that the growth of our people is a fundamental part of the experience we deliver to our clients. Supporting the professional development of people like Michelle, recognizing their journey, and trusting their evolution within the organization allows us to build more committed teams—with a deep understanding of learning, our programs, and the real needs of those who work with us.
This perspective translates into stronger operations, better-aligned decisions, and closer support for our clients. Because when people grow within Bridge, the quality of the impact we generate across every learning program grows as well.
Discover more stories that reflect how the Bridge team drives purposeful learning at Bridge here.