Dear Reader, Last week, I talked about the teacher habits that linger long after we leave the classroom. But here’s something I didn’t realize at first:I brought those same patterns into my private practice. 😬 I didn’t mean to.I wasn’t trying to recreate back-to-back IEP meetings and hours of grading.But guess what I did instead? ✅ Said yes to every student, even when my schedule was full.✅ Skipped lunch or worked through it.✅ Felt guilty resting, even though I left the classroom to breathe...
13 days ago • 1 min read
Dear Reader, This weekend at a family dinner, my mother-in-law, a former preschool teacher, shared that she just had a school dream earlier in the week. She left the classroom over a decade ago!! I'd had one too, but I've only been out for 5 years. But it got me thinking about the teacher traits that stick with us long after we leave the classroom. (Look for a link to that blog post next week.) The quirks follow us: school dreams, bathroom sprints, the look that still sneaks out at the...
22 days ago • 1 min read
Hi Reader, I expect to hear it every fall, but usually it's not until mid to late October. The fatigue. The questioning. The “I can’t keep doing this.” But this year? It started in mid-September. Teachers are burning out faster than ever—and if that’s you, you’re not alone and you’re not imagining it. In this week’s blog, I’m flipping the script on what it really means for a school to “fail.” (Hint: it’s not test scores.) I’m also proposing a new kind of success metric—one that centers you,...
29 days ago • 1 min read
Dear Reader, At the end of my last year in the classroom, I was completely spent.And not in the “needs a bubble bath and a nap” kind of way. I mean, crying all summer, questioning everything, incessantly dreading going back, kind of way. But the thing that snapped me awake? - Realizing that my mask had failed and I wasn't successfully hiding anything from anyone. I knew my mask was failing at home when I was too tired from the day, but when students started to notice ... 😓The moment I knew...
about 1 month ago • 1 min read
Dear Reader, Before we talk about marketing or pricing or posting to Instagram, we need to talk about something way less shiny but MUCH more important: burnout-proofing your business. When I first started my business, I was still recovering from the mental and emotional pressure and unrealistic expectations of classroom teaching.I thought self-employment would feel like sipping chai (or, in my case, a green tea latte) in yoga pants.Instead, I found myself copying classroom hustle energy and...
about 2 months ago • 1 min read
Hi Reader, Ever feel like you’re scrolling Instagram and everyone else seems to have it figured out… while you’re over here thinking, “Am I behind? Am I even doing this right?” That thought came up again and again in my recent voice-of-customer work — and I realized something big: Most of the teachers in this community actually fall into one of three distinct archetypes. 👉 The Burnt Out Teacher — exhausted but not done. 👉 The New-ish Biz Owner — figuring it out. 👉 The Visionary — ready to...
about 2 months ago • 1 min read
Dear Reader, The other day, I was talking with a new business owner who sheepishly told me, “I’m not ready to post yet — I still need my logo and my website.” I almost choked on my coffee. Here’s the thing: almost every New-ish Biz Owner I meet does this. They work behind the scenes for weeks (or months), building the website, perfecting the service menu, agonizing over a logo… and they wait until the entire business feels “customer-ready” before they start marketing or telling people about...
2 months ago • 1 min read
Dear Reader, It was the summer of 2020, and I was staring at yet another pros and cons list—one of dozens I’d written that year. I had a pit in my stomach and a broken heart. I’d always loved teaching. My classroom was my creative playground. I had deep relationships with my students. I was good at it - great even. But I was also exhausted. Angry. Numb. I couldn’t shake the dread. And the worst part? I felt guilty for feeling any of it. What kind of teacher walks away from kids she loves?...
2 months ago • 2 min read
Dear Reader, IA few years ago, a teacher messaged me at 11:42 PM. The subject line?“Am I too old to start over?” She’d spent the evening doom-scrolling job boards, crying quietly so she wouldn’t wake her partner. She was 53, had taught for 28 years, and told me her soul felt like it was leaking out of her body every time she logged into her school’s LMS. She said she felt ridiculous for even thinking she could start something new. And I told her the truth: • You’re not too old. • You’re not...
3 months ago • 1 min read