Teachers in Transition – Episode 236: Branching Out and Exploring Entrepreneurship

In the segment on stress management, Vanessa starts with a quote by Thich Nhat Hanh, using the metaphor of a leaf's journey to emphasize resilience, adaptability, and interconnectedness. We are leaves on the wind. 
 
 Our hack today is all about how phoning a friend can make things better using basic math principles. 

And in the segment on career transition and job search, Vanessa explores entrepreneurship as a potential, albeit a little bit scary, career path. While acknowledging the demanding nature of starting a business, Vanessa shares the sense of autonomy and reduced stress that comes from working on one's terms. She shares personal anecdotes about advocating for her children within the education system, illustrating how teachers' unique expertise can be leveraged for entrepreneurial ventures like advocacy or consulting.

The discussion expands on practical steps for aspiring entrepreneurs, encouraging them to identify problems they can solve using their teaching skills. 
 
 

LINKS!
Thich Nhat Hanh Quotes and Teachings:
Explore more wisdom from Thich Nhat Hanh: Plum Village Official Website

Entrepreneurship for Teachers:
Article: “10 Steps to Starting Your Own Business”
Free Small Business Courses: SBA Learning Platform

Advocacy and Special Education Resources:
Special Education Advocacy: Council of Parent Attorneys and Advocates (COPAA)
Certification in Behavior Analysis: Behavior Analyst Certification Board (BACB)

Stress Management and Mindfulness:
Guided Meditations: Insight Timer
Book Recommendation: The Miracle of Mindfulness by Thich Nhat Hanh

Connect with Vanessa
              Vanessa@TeachersinTransition.com
              Connect with Vanessa on LinkedIn!
              Schedule a free Discovery Session with Vanessa here
              Follow Vanessa on Bluesky @beyondteaching.bsky.social
              Visit the homepage at TeachersinTransition.com to learn more!

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The transcript for this episode can be found on its Buzzsprout homepage at https://www.buzzsprout.com/277608/episodes

Transcript

Are you a teacher who is feeling stressed out and overwhelmed? Do you worry that you're feeling symptoms of burnout - or are you sure you've already gotten there? Have you started to dream of doing something different or a new job or perhaps pursuing an entirely different career - but you don't know what else you're qualified to do? You don't know how to start a job search, and you just feel stuck. If that sounds like you, I promise you are not alone. My name is Vanessa Jackson; and I am a career transition and job search coach, and I specialize in helping burnt out teachers just like you deal with the overwhelmingly stressful nature of your day-to-day job and to consider what other careers might be out there waiting for you. You might ask yourself, What tools do I need to find a new career?  Are my skills valuable outside the classroom?  How and where do I even get started?  These are all questions you deserve answers to, and I can help you find them.  I’m Vanessa Jackson. Come and join me for Teachers in Transition.  

***Hi!  And Welcome back to another episode of Teachers in Transition. I am your host, Vanessa Jackson – I’m a career transition and job search coach who specializes in helping educators just like you. I provide tips and suggestions to help with stress and mental health, hacks to help your day, and tips for job-hunting and career transition.  Today on the podcast we talk about how to be a leaf (you heard that right – a LEAF, not aloof!), we get a quick mathematical hack which combines addition and division, and finally, we explore an often scary career transition option – entrepreneurship.  Let’s dive in. 
 
 Today in our segment on stress management, I want to start with a quote from Thich Nhat Hanh (Tick N’yat Hawn): “I asked the leaf whether it was frightened because it was autumn and the other leaves were falling. The leaf told me, ‘No. During the whole spring and summer, I was completely alive. I worked hard to help nourish the tree, and now much of me is in the tree. I am not limited by this form. I am also the whole tree, and when I go back to the soil, I will continue to nourish the tree. So I don’t worry at all as I leave this branch and float to the ground. I will wave to the tree and tell her, ‘I will see you again very soon.’”

That day, there was a wind blowing. After a while, I saw the leaf leave the branch and float to the soil, dancing joyfully. As it floated, it saw itself already there in the tree, and it was happy. I bowed my head, knowing I have a lot to learn from that leaf.

This passage offers profound insights - It teaches us about the impermanence of life and the interconnectedness of all things. By embracing the cycles of change - much like the leaf accepting its journey - we can cultivate a sense of peace even amidst uncertainty. This philosophy reminds us to focus on the present moment and recognize the beauty in transitions rather than fearing them.

Stress often arises from our resistance to change or clinging to outcomes we cannot control. When we accept that life is fluid and ever-changing, we open ourselves to growth, resilience, and a deeper understanding of our role in the greater ecosystem of life. Like the leaf that nourishes the tree, our actions, efforts, and presence leave an impact, even as we move through different phases of life.

In moments of anxiety, consider practicing mindfulness by grounding yourself in the present moment. Use your senses to observe what’s around you - notice the colors, the textures, the sounds, and the scents. Pair this with deep, intentional breathing. As you inhale, imagine yourself drawing in strength and calmness. As you exhale, visualize releasing stress and worry. This practice helps create a sense of calm and clarity, allowing you to move forward with purpose and acceptance.

It reminds me of one of my favorite TV shows, Firefly. The character Hoban “Wash” Washburne, the ship’s pilot. One of his character traits is that the wilder and crazier things get, the worse things look - the calmer he becomes.  He has a mantra he repeats when things get chaotic: “I am a leaf on the wind. Watch how I soar.” And he becomes COMPLETELY engulfed in the present. We can’t fight the wind or the current. Instead, we must soar with it.

Thich Nhat Hanh’s wisdom invites us to find joy in this dance of life, much like the leaf floating joyfully to the soil. His teachings encourage us to let go of fear, embrace the beauty of now, and trust in the natural flow of life. As we do, we may find that stress diminishes, and a sense of inner peace emerges, guiding us like a leaf on the wind. And you’ll watch how you soar. 

Moving on to today’s hack - Today's hack is quite simple and is inspired by the old gameshow – Who Wants to Be a Millionaire:  Phone a friend.  Whenever we get an extra set of eyes on something or an extra person to bounce ideas with, we end up with something better. It's just that simple. It's better.  It’s addition.  

It’s also division – there’s a phrase that I no longer remember where I read it, so I don’t know who to attribute this to, but really it’s just a mathematical constant – anything divided by two leaves half as much. When you are feeling overwhelmed and like you are drowning in your tasks, phoning a friend can literally or figuratively take part of your load away so it doesn’t feel as heavy. 

This really can be something as simple as  phoning a friend, although we probably just text or message them nowadays. Reach out and contact a friend, a therapist if you need someone to talk to on a deeper level, or a professional who can help you with tasks you haven't been able to complete yourself.  There’s no shame in asking for help, and you don’t have to do all things alone.  Remember the quote from a couple of weeks ago? “You can do anything but you can’t do everything”  

And phoning a friend doesn’t just have to be for our feelings or our frustrations, but also on the things that we are working on – on the job hunt, things like your resume.  It’s really super-helpful to have someone else look that over. 

The reason this works so well is that our eyes auto-correct for what we know our brain meant to do. Consider how many us do your best proofreading as the email is being sent. When I learned this little fact, all of a sudden,  my frustrations from high school English came back with a vengeance. Remember when they used to tell us to do a better job of proofreading  Well, I didn’t think it was wrong. Because my brain was autocorrecting,  why would intentionally write it wrong? If you were just proofreading what you were doing, well, I didn't think it was wrong. Would I write something wrong on the paper?

So, if something is bugging you, if you need an extra set of ears or an extra set of eyes, reach out and bring someone else in that you trust to talk with you and help you out. 

Moving on to our job search segment, we’re going to talk about a scary option. 

If you can’t find the job that you want, consider making the job that you want. To be fair, many teachers leaving the profession are searching for work-life balance, a sense of purpose, and the opportunity to heal. We want to contribute, show up, and do our part—to do our job and log off the laptop at the end of the day. In all honesty, starting a business is kind of the opposite of that. It requires a lot of work, logistics, and moving pieces.  It requires tenacity and optimism.

Being the owner and proprietor of Teachers in Transition is a bit like that. I don’t work standard 9-to-5 hours. I work the hours it takes to meet the needs of my clients and to  and provide useful products and create value . The interesting thing is that I’m so much less stressed because this is all on my terms. I am never in a situation where nothing I do is good enough. I don’t have to be critiqued by someone who doesn’t even understand my subject area. I was recently listening to people talk about some of the concerns and frustrations of their jobs and I realized – I have no frustrations with my job.  Well, maybe one – I wish I could reach and help even more teachers to help them find what they want.  
 
 Entrepreneurship has been an excellent choice for me.  It was a very scary proposition.  (Sometimes it still is).  

So, let’s go over the basics of entrepreneurship: What does it take? What should you be looking for? This will be a brief overview. If you find you want to know more, send me a message here at my new email address (Vanessa@teachersintransition.com) and I can go into deeper details.   One of the first steps in being an entrepreneur and building your own business is to look around at your expertise and experience for an issue or a problem you can solve. As a teacher, I might argue there is a vast, untapped opportunity to be a paid advocate. Who knows the system better than a teacher?

I have a quick story in this area to illustrate this. I was once asked to attend a meeting regarding my daughter. She had transitioned from  kindergarten and first grade at a private school to a public school, and we had advanced her a grade, but she wasn’t doing well. They wanted to discuss placing her back into a more developmentally appropriate grade. I told my husband, “If you’re free, you should come. We’ll be meeting with two people, and it would be great if we had two people on our side. Although, as soon as they see you’re coming, I bet they’ll find a third person.”

Sure enough, as soon as they saw my husband, one of them excused themselves to get another person. My husband found it amusing that I knew this would happen.

In another instance, in the area of special education after moving to a new district, my son was struggling in middle school. At the time I was teaching at seven different locations, working with sixth graders. When my son’s school  called and requested a meeting, I explained that I couldn’t drive over but would gladly join via phone. I sat in my car, in a parking lot, before my first school of the day to join the call.

His entire team of teachers was there. There was the perfunctory round of things he was doing well.  Then there was always the real reason we made the meeting.  One teacher took point and began listing what my son wasn’t doing well. I pointed out that his IEP had not been renewed in seventh grade, he tested out, but his previous teachers had maintained effective accommodations, and he had been successful. I outlined what worked for him. The teacher taking the lead interrupted me to tell me that ‘This was 8th grade and they had different expectations’.  I was angry that my input wasn’t just going to be ignored – it was flat-out dismissed.  I can admit I probably overreacted, but I interrupted right back and said,

“I need to interject here that  I’ve taught exclusively 6th to 8th  grade for 20 years (at the time). I know exactly what we expect of eighth graders.  I am here to tell you that it will NOT work for my kid.  I am the reigning expert in this call about this kid.  I’m not just his mother; I am also his teacher.  I’ve taught him first period of the day and last period of the day.  I know EXACTLY what you’re dealing with. Rather than giving me platitudes about what ‘standard’ eighth graders should do, let’s discuss what my  child needs.”

It was at that point that a different teacher took lead - one more versed in special education and current educational tactics, and while it wasn’t a productive discussion, at least I wasn’t getting railroaded anymore. And I KNEW the system. That school did very little to help my son which led to pushing him into a crisis point.  In the end, though, I was grateful because that left to  the series of events where we discovered my son was on the autism spectrum. That diagnosis changed everything. It’s unfortunate that a piece of paper was necessary for the school to provide appropriate support, but that’s all too common a story in a world where teachers are overworked and understaffed.  And it’s an opportunity for a teacher looking to be an entrepreneur

Being an advocate for students and helping parents navigate a system designed to let children fall through the cracks (not just “push them through”) could be a rewarding entrepreneurial path. Teachers, especially those familiar with special education laws, are uniquely suited for this work.

There are other possibilities as well.  Last week we talked about becoming certified in behavior analysis to work with children in classroom settings could be another avenue. Teachers already understand what’s normal and what’s not, which makes them valuable in documenting and supporting behavioral needs.

There are countless ideas I haven’t even thought of because I didn’t teach every subject or grade. These just cover a couple of education-adjacent opportunities.  But if you’re considering entrepreneurship, these are some things you can explore. The most important takeaway here is that you can excel by leveraging your unique skills and experiences in more places than you realize.

The entrepreneurial mindset is about sensing opportunity, taking action and persisting through uncertainty.  One teacher friend helped to cover lost income in her family during the pandemic by making and selling masks. There was a problem, there was a gap in the market, and she had the skills and creativity to fill that gap early on. 
 
 Entrepreneurship is the ultimate exercise in creative problem-solving and self-leadership with endless opportunities to improvise creative responses and empathy.  As you go through things this week and you inevitably see things that are wrong and that someone should do something about that, take note of those things.  You might be able to create an answer that yields some income. 
 
 And it’s OK to start small. Entrepreneurship is limitless in its variety.  The most common form is the ‘side-hustle’ which is a small way to make extra money on your time and your terms.  Sites like Teachers Pay Teachers, Uber or Lyft, and Door Dash are examples of this.  Starting small can be one way to test the waters to see if that suits you.   

If this is something that you were thinking of doing now is a great time to really explore that before we even get close to the end of the school year.  I’ll see you here next week and remember – you can do this.  And if you were looking to leave the classroom for a more traditional approach, I can do that too!

You are always welcome to sign up for a free discovery session and you can find that at Teachersintransition.com/calendar.  There is a link in the show notes.  Show notes also has links to lots of the things that we talked about today and I look forward to seeing you here again next week!

That’s the podcast for today! If you liked this podcast, tell a friend, and don’t forget to rate and review wherever you listen to your podcasts. Tune in weekly to Teachers in Transition where we discuss Job Search strategies as well as stress management techniques.  And I want to hear from you!  Please reach out and leave me a message at Vanessa@Teachersintransition.com  You can also leave a voicemail or text at 512-640-9099. 

I’ll see you here again next week and remember – YOU are amazing!