“Shōganai”: How Italian Creative Sonia Candy Transforms Language Lessons into Risk-Aware Infotainment

Italian influencer and teacher Sonia Candy has built a successful brand with a mix of humor, dialect and discipline in the form of short English lessons. Now she’s in Tokyo, applying the same creative rigor and pragmatic risk philosophy to launch a new business. Her concept offers surprising insights for insurers looking to communicate complex topics in an engaging way.

In a video interview with our partner Philippe Séjalon from The INGAGE Institute, Sonia calls her formula “infotainment”: short, funny sketches that convey something concrete. She plays three versions of herself: the fluent “cool” speaker, the confused learner and the practical teacher. “It’s all me,” she says, “little bits of me.”

The formats range from translating the Roman dialect into English to songs and quizzes. The aim is to reduce friction and increase memorability without simplifying.

Tokyo as a creative operating system

Life in Tokyo gives Sonia size and structure, divided into:

• Order and reliability: “People stick to the rules … You don’t have to fight to achieve something.”
• Rich stimuli: art, food, friends and stories provide new ideas every day.
• A small mishap in a sushi bar, when a family member burned himself on the hot tap, made her realize that risks lurk everywhere, often with cultural nuances.

The 30-minute production habit

Contrary to expectations, their videos are often created within 20 to 30 minutes from idea to publication. No elaborate preparations, just good lighting and a clear message. The speed ensures consistent results, and consistency keeps the algorithm and the audience happy.

Viral is random. Quality is not.

“Sometimes an unpolished video goes viral, not the polished one.” Sonia doesn’t chase trends she doesn’t believe in. The antidote to algorithm anxiety is to regularly post work that you are proud of.

Authenticity instead of imitation

Critics advised her not to mix the Roman dialect with English instructions. She kept it anyway because it is distinctive and transferable: learners can match their Roman expressions to their own dialect and then use the English.

AI: a powerful tool, not a replacement for teachers

Sonia uses AI every day to practise Japanese: flashcards, on-demand exercises, even conversation corrections. But she is certain: “I still learn more in a human classroom.” The embarrassment after a mistake, she argues, consolidates what she has learned and creates a motivational cycle that AI cannot yet fully replicate.

Setting up a company in Japan

After quitting her traditional job, Sonia wrote down what she wanted: Freedom, travel, time for herself. Online courses followed, and now she is building an English academy specializing in Japan. She delegates numbers and marketing to professionals, learns what she needs to learn and considers product quality non-negotiable.

Willingness to take risks: minimize, decide, accept – Shōganai

Sonia evaluates disadvantages, invests in quality, selects capable partners and then accepts the remaining risk. “You can minimize it, but the risk remains. At some point it’s shōganai, it can’t be avoided.” (Shoganai: accepting what cannot be controlled. Translated from Japanese, shoganai means something like “it just is”. This means accepting unforeseen things or situations that cannot be changed for what they are).

Trust as capital: the sponsor filter

She only works with brands that she can really recommend. The reason for this is simple: the trust of the public is more important than short-term income. This lesson has always applied in the insurance industry.

Language lessons that pay off

She recommends:

• Start early with pronunciation: Italians often place too much emphasis on grammar.
• Practice under pressure: Radio, live shows and stage performances have taught her to stay calm and recover quickly.

A guide for insurers

Do you want to make risks tangible without being boring? Try out Sonia’s toolkit:

1. Outline the risk: Short scenarios that dramatize everyday risks (travel, cyber, home, health).
2. Segment by personas: “Confident”, “Confused” and “Coachable”: reflect the mindset of your customers.
3. Deliver quickly: small, daily statements are better than quarterly epics.
4. Stay authentic: Use local language or dialects to increase relevance.
5. Learning tools: quiz questions, micro-tasks and “find the mistake” tasks promote memorization.
6. Maintain trust: Only promote products that you would recommend to your family.

Advice for budding creatives (and innovators)

Start before you are ready. Know your strengths. Outsource what weighs you down. Be relentlessly authentic. If an idea matches your gut feeling, you will still be proud of your work even if it fails.

In the future

Sonia’s three-year plan: Getting her Japanese business up and running properly, on the way to having her own academy. Think “Sonia Candy, Tokyo.” The long-term goal combines craft, community and the calm acceptance that some risks cannot be eliminated, only respected.

Binci Heeb

Listen, watch and read also: Europe is oversleeping its defense and risking its survival