This October, we celebrate the birthday and legacy of our founder, Hortensia. Her vision shaped Global LT into more than a language company — she built a community rooted in human connection. Her belief that language and culture are about people, not just words continues to inspire us today.
As part of our month-long commemoration, we sat down with Mary Beauregard, Global LT’s first Cultural Director, for a heartfelt reflection on her three decades with the company and her memories of Hortensia.
What began as a chance opportunity in the early 1990s became a career that blended Mary’s love of language, culture, and teaching. Along the way, she developed a deep bond with Global LT’s founder, Hortensia — a woman whose warmth, vision, and leadership left an enduring impression on the company and everyone fortunate enough to know her.
In our conversation, Mary reflected on her early years in education, her first encounters with Hortensia, the creation of Global LT’s cultural services, and the many lessons she gathered from decades of working with global clients, expatriate families, and colleagues around the world.
Mary’s path to Global LT began with a strong foundation in education.
“I received my degree in secondary education from the University of Detroit,” she recalled. “It was all very hometown — I lived at home, took the bus to school. Education was very much a part of who I was.”
During her university years, Mary had the chance to live in Europe with a host family, an experience that awakened a deep curiosity. “I fell in love with what I didn’t yet call culture,” she said. “I was intrigued not only by language but also by the ways people are different and yet the same.” That early exposure planted a seed that would stay with her for decades.
Mary began her career teaching English and French at the secondary level, a role she cherished. In the 1970s, she paused her professional life to raise her family — “a very, very important decision,” as she put it. When she returned to teaching, she did so with a renewed awareness of her students’ needs, eventually joining an all-girls private school as a French teacher.
It was there that a mutual friend began approaching Mary with an unusual request: would she be willing to teach French to corporate executives? At first, she brushed it aside — “Oh, that sounds interesting, but I’m really busy,” she told her friend. But the invitations kept coming, and eventually Mary agreed to give it a try.
That decision would change the course of her life.
“She came in, explained everything, and then we sat down and talked about the world, family, life, and teaching for over an hour. That woman was Hortensia — the owner of the company. Yet she never even mentioned her position, she just wanted to relate, get to know me.”
- Mary Beauregard, Global LT's First Cultural Director
Mary’s first step into the world of corporate language training came with an unexpected knock on her door.
Hortensia always focused first on people. Her warmth, energy, and genuine interest made a lasting impression. “I immediately felt she was very special,” Mary said.
Hortensia always focused first on people. Her warmth, energy, and genuine interest made a lasting impression. “I immediately felt she was very special,” Mary said.
That first meeting in 1992 led to years of part-time teaching with Global LT. Mary loved working with a new kind of learner — professionals and executives — and found the experience both challenging and rewarding. By 1996, as she navigated personal transitions in her own life, Global LT invited her to join the company full-time.
“At the time, there were only five full-time employees,” she recalled. “Language training was the main focus, with translation and interpretation just beginning to develop. It was an exciting new chapter for me.”
Hortensia’s presence shaped Global LT in ways that went far beyond business strategy. She had a gift for connection — with instructors, clients, and colleagues.
“She was a very unusual person,” Mary reflected. “She connected with everyone, not for her own gain, but because she was a good listener. She was aware of what was happening around her, and she would introduce you to, or connect you with someone you needed — or someone who needed you. She was gentle, joyful, funny, and so intelligent.”
In the 1990s, Detroit’s automotive giants — General Motors, Ford, and Chrysler — dominated the region’s business landscape. Hortensia, often working from a small office with a handful of staff, managed to build strong relationships with these companies. “It was not easy to walk into Ford Motor and sell classes on Spanish,” Mary explained. “But Hortensia did it with charm, intelligence, and business savvy.”
She also created a community around the company. Instructors would often stop by the office, not necessarily for work, but simply to see her. Clients, too, looked forward to meetings with her. “Everyone felt like they were her personal friend,” Mary said.
Her generosity extended beyond the workplace. She welcomed teachers and their families into her home, sometimes hosting lively gatherings that included everything from psychics to puppies. “She had this open door for everyone,” Mary recalled. “It was always about connections, and she made it look effortless.”
Even in business, her creativity shone. Mary remembered a pivotal meeting at General Motors where Hortensia brought a team of six colleagues to demonstrate the company’s range of people and capabilities. “Her purpose was to show it wasn’t just about her — it was about what she had built,” Mary said. “That creativity was incredible.”
Hortensia’s approach blended heart and vision. She was, as Mary put it, “a true businesswoman who also made you feel like family.”
“Culture and language go hand in hand. You can’t truly understand one without a little knowledge of the other.”
- Mary Beauregard
While Global LT began as a language-focused company, culture was always present just beneath the surface.
In the early 1990s, translation and interpretation services were just starting to take shape. Around the same time, more expatriate families began arriving in Michigan to work with the automotive industry. As instructors supported these families, questions about life abroad naturally arose.
Mary remembered one early example: “A couple preparing to move to Brazil asked their Portuguese instructor about daily life there. She decided to dedicate part of their lesson to talking about Brazilian culture. That was the first formal moment I recall when we shifted from teaching language to teaching culture.”
Recognizing the growing need, Global LT brought in experts to help shape a new service. Professors and trainers introduced the team to the principles of intercultural communication, and Mary was asked to form a department.
“As an educator, my role wasn’t to be the lecturer,” she said. “It was to connect, act as a link — to bridge the academic material with the real needs of families and professionals who didn’t want just theory, but guidance for daily life.”
Mary and her colleagues began attending training institutes and conferences, connecting with pioneers in the intercultural field. They developed a more conversational, relational approach — one that blended expertise with empathy.
In addition, Mary worked with a client group led by a remarkable anthropologist who invited her to write a chapter for her book on partnering for organizational development. The chapter addressed corporate and national culture, marking a high point in her work and the first time they deeply integrated cultural elements into their services.
Soon, Global LT was running full-day cultural programs for corporate clients such as General Motors, Ford, Nissan, and others. “We always started with a needs assessment,” Mary said. “Whether it was a group of twenty or a single family, we tailored each program to our clients’ specific questions and challenges.”
As Global LT’s cultural services grew, so did its partnerships with major corporations. Mary worked closely with automotive companies such as General Motors, Daimler-Chrysler, Lear, Ford, and Nissan, delivering programs that blended cultural awareness with practical support for expatriates and their families.
At Nissan, she recalled learning “by fire.” Early on, the company was facing communication challenges between Japanese and American employees at its new technical center. Global LT brought in experts to help bridge the gap.
“It was still very difficult,” Mary admitted, “but over time, Nissan began to understand the value of cultural training. At one point, they even lost a vice president who left because his wife was unhappy abroad. That cost them millions. After that, they said, ‘Okay, we get it. We need to train our people.’”
This realization opened the door to deeper collaboration. Mary and her colleagues were invited to design mentorship and expatriate adjustment programs, as well as diversity and inclusion workshops. “Nissan trusted us,” Mary said. “It felt more like a collaboration than a client-vendor relationship.”
Her work often involved delicate adjustments on the spot. In Hong Kong, for example, she and a colleague delivered a program for newly hired airline managers. “They told us, ‘We’re nothing like our parents or grandparents, we are the new generation, we have opinions and speak our minds’ so we designed group exercises. But once the program started, we realized they were, in fact, very traditional. They didn’t want to be singled out in groups or take leadership roles in front of peers. We had to redesign everything during the break. It was stressful, but it taught me that learning never stops — you must always adapt.”
She also recalled a moment of anxiety while leading a program on French culture with a French executive sitting in the audience. “I was a wreck,” she admitted. “I immediately shifted my approach, encouraging the Americans to share their assumptions and then contrast them with French perspectives. At first, he wouldn’t make eye contact with me, but later, he spoke up and actually supported the discussion and what we were saying. That was such a relief — and a reminder that the best programs create dialogue, not lectures.”
Across clients and countries, the common thread was connection, once again! Whether adjusting programs midstream, cooking meals for families about to relocate, or role-playing with assignees, Mary approached every engagement with empathy. “The teachers and trainers were really the face of Global LT,” she said. “We built trust one person at a time.”
While Mary’s professional journey with Global LT was rich and rewarding, her family remained at the center of her life.
“I’m very fortunate,” she said warmly. “My husband Fred and I have been married for 57 years. We have three children, all living nearby now, and ten grandchildren. Our oldest granddaughter is getting married this September. We’re so lucky to be close and active with them.”
Mary described weekends filled with family gatherings, cycling with grandchildren, and celebrating milestones together. Staying active, she added, has been a blessing: “We can still move — we work out, travel, and stay busy. I’m very grateful for that.”
Travel has been another constant. Through Global LT, she worked in Japan, the UK, Hong Kong, and across Europe. Personally, she and Fred have also explored new places with friends. “This fall, we’re going to Ireland,” she shared. “I’ve been before, but it’s such a beautiful country — the countryside, especially. I’m really looking forward to it.”
These experiences, both personal and professional, deepened Mary’s appreciation for cultural exchange. “I love expatriate programs,” she said. “I long for being in someone’s kitchen again, having those real conversations, because there’s always emotion in those moments of transition. That’s what makes the work meaningful.”
Over the years, Mary witnessed profound changes in how cultural training was delivered — and how it was perceived.
“In the early days, some people thought cultural training was fluff,” she admitted. “But when companies began losing executives because their families couldn’t adjust abroad, they realized just how costly it could be to ignore culture. That’s when they started to see the value.”
Programs also shifted in format and tone. In the 1990s, workshops relied on overhead projectors, printed handouts, and lecture-style presentations. Today, the emphasis is more conversational and interactive. “People come in with more experience now,” Mary explained. “They may have worked with international colleagues before and think they’re doing fine. Our role is to dig deeper — to ask the right questions and help them see where challenges might arise.”
She found that tailoring sessions to each client’s situation made the biggest impact. “It’s not just delivering facts and exercises anymore. It’s about guiding people through conversation to that ‘aha’ moment — the lightbulb where they realize how culture affects their work and relationships.”
Introducing cultural training has never been without its challenges. “Many individuals think, ‘I’m fine. I don’t need this,’” she said. “But when you ask about their families — their spouse leaving a job, their children adjusting to a new school — that’s when they see the value. Very often, it’s the family piece that makes them open to training.”
Mary believes creativity is key to keeping cultural programs relevant. “We need to connect cultural learning to what’s on people’s minds today — whether that’s generational differences, diversity and inclusion, or even global events,” she said. “It’s about listening carefully and framing culture in a way that resonates.”
As Mary reflected on more than three decades with Global LT, one theme stood out above all: connection. Whether with clients, colleagues, or families in transition, her work was always rooted in relationships.
“I never considered myself a business expert,” she said. “What I brought was an educator’s perspective — the ability to listen, to guide, and to connect. That’s what mattered most.”
She credited much of that philosophy to Hortensia, whose spirit continues to shape the company long after her passing. “When Hortensia died, I remember that we were all talking about the book The Five Love Languages, which was very popular at the time,” Mary recalled. “Her love language was people. It was so fitting that she led a language company — but her true gift was drawing people to herself and connecting them to one another.”
Mary remains deeply grateful for the serendipity that led her to Global LT. “If I had stayed in teaching, maybe I would have had a more traditional retirement,” she reflected. “But I never would have had all of these incredible experiences. I’ve been so fortunate.”
As for what’s next, she continues to support Global LT programs, write, and travel — always open to new opportunities to learn. “I enjoy keeping busy with anything the company sends me,” she said with a smile. “And I hope I can still be of use in the future.”
For those who knew Hortensia, and for those who continue her mission today, Mary’s reflections are a reminder that at the heart of every program, every lesson, and every cultural encounter lies the same principle: people first.
As Mary’s reflections remind us, Hortensia’s legacy is alive in every lesson, every cultural encounter, and every connection we create.
This month, we honor her life and vision through global huddles, reflections, and stories — remembering that at the heart of Global LT is her simple but powerful truth:
Be Human, Stay Human.
This post was written by Marina Rowe, Global LT's Cultural Programme Manager