Why Not You? (How I Became an Online Business Coach for Teachers)

I never in my wildest dreams thought that this online business coach for teachers making multimillions would be me. The girl who lived in a one-bedroom trailer with her fiance and used a hairdryer to thaw it out every night so we could sleep in a cool bedroom. The girl whose family remembers the day that they could finally afford new carpet for their home and rolled around for hours on the floor together with pure joy like I’d never known. The girl who, just a few years ago, was on government assistance to help feed her babies. This isn’t a joke. I won’t try to say I was the poorest because I know I wasn’t. I won’t say that I don’t have privilege because I know I do. I don’t want you to feel sorry for the person I was because I’m so darn proud of the girl I was and the girl I am now. 

I was raised in a home with two parents that loved each other, and that’s something to hang your hat on. My mom wanted to stay at home to raise us, and my daddy did what he had to do to make it work. Even if that meant not seeing us until dinner every night as he went door to door selling insurance. I’ve seen hard work, I’ve seen tired eyes, and I’ve seen counting every cent that came in the door. I’ve gone to the laundry mat with my husband because we didn’t have a washing machine or dryer. So to think that the same little girl with bifocals at age three would be a mother to almost five children and a multimillionaire online business coach seems better than the dream I had of becoming a country music singer I was a little girl. 

So if you’re reading this thinking life has passed you by, or that you are just a small-town nobody, stop it right now, and start asking yourself this, “Why not me? Why not now?” It has nothing to do with who you think you are supposed to become and everything to do with who you think you CAN become. 

Life Before I Became an Online Business Coach for Teachers

As I sat on the couch with my husband, drinking a beer and watching trashy reality television back in October of 2013, I didn’t know that a few words and a conversation would spark this business. We were doing well for ourselves. We purchased our first home- a 1,300 square foot ranch styled brick home built in the 1970s. We were so proud. We had made it through some of the darkest times, but we weren’t out of the woods yet. Our kids were 3, 4, and 10. I was a 6th-grade English teacher that year, and my husband was an 8th-grade assistance principal. We were still living paycheck to paycheck, but we had finally been able to say that government assistance was just a means to an end. 

I can’t take credit for that quote. One of my students in 6th grade told me that one day. I’ll never forget it. Another student was picking on her for living in the projects and for being on food stamps, and she said, “My mama told me to hold my head up high because I’m not just a girl from the projects. The system helps me find a new way, and this is just a means to an end for us. I won’t be that girl forever.” I still get chills writing those words from that bright-smiled girl I used to jokingly call my llama drama because she always had the latest scoop on the middle school drama. Gosh, I love her!

Where My Passion to be an Online Business Coach for Teachers was Born

So we were living better than ever before, but that week saved my life. I decided to start selling my teaching resources on Teachers Pay Teachers. Luckily, I had an older laptop that I purchased with student loan money for my college days that still worked. So, I bought Microsoft Office and started playing around on Microsoft Word. It was an epic fail until I figured out I was supposed to be using Powerpoint. Hahaha! I share about it in my cringe-worthy Youtube videos from 2015, where, even then, I began helping teachers try to find the joy I was feeling. That first month selling my teaching resources online, I just wanted to pay for our $8 Netflix bill, and I made $50. For the first time in my life, I was getting paid for my performance. And it was life-changing!

My CEO Teacher Journey to Online Business Coaching

I’d love to tell you this journey to becoming an online business coach making millions was all rainbows and butterflies, but it wasn’t. I hit a lot, and I mean a lot, of roadblocks. From my first poor rating review to a mean teacherpreneur emailing me with the words, “if you don’t stop selling interactive notebooks, I will ruin you.” I kid you not. It was intense. A lot of tears, shaking, anxiety, and hard work went into those first five years of my online teacher business.

But those first five years also brought success. I was making more than my teaching salary, and I was on fire! I knew I had a decision to make. I could continue to do what I was doing to get paid for my performance while juggling teaching full-time and being a wife and mom. Or I could take a leap of faith and leave my teaching job to pursue this passion that was lighting me up inside. Ultimately, I knew I would always wonder “what if…” if I didn’t take that leap of faith. So, in January 2018, I left my teaching job. And it was the scariest thing I ever did in my life. 

The Leap of Faith That Paid Off & Led Me to Coaching Online Business Owners

By definition, a leap of faith involves having a basic belief in yourself and a fundamental trust in the vision of who, what, and where you want to be in the future. The leap of faith involves believing that good things will happen when you choose to change your life. It’s so scary when you don’t see your landing pad when you take the leap of faith. But with determination, hard work, and trust in yourself, it could be the most significant catalyst to changing your life.

When I left the classroom, I rented an office that I could go to work on my business every day. I would drop my boys off at school and work at the office every day. I loved the devoted time I had to build my business, and that work, day in and day out, paid off. Within eight months of leaving the classroom, I had launched The CEO Teacher Podcast and had made a quarter of a million dollars. I finally found something that brought me true happiness and motivation to persist and take massive action. That year I went all in to become an online business coach for teachers. Two short years later, as I’ve helped teachers accomplish the joy and triumph in impacting more lives of teachers and students worldwide, I’ve also created a multimillion-dollar business.

Being an online business owner STILL isn’t always rainbows and butterflies, but I have an amazing group of team members who lift me up on those bad days with positive words and praise. Someone told me at a teacher conference a couple of years ago that I needed to be careful with how I shared my successes because one day, I may not have them. She was right, and her words shook me to my core. So I decided to make a conscious effort every single day to make sure that never happened to me.

What is an Online Business Coach and Why Do I Need One?

If you’ve read this post and are a teacher who wants to start or expand your online business in 2021, I’m so glad you’re here. As an online business coach for teachers, I walk with you along your CEO Teacher journey, coaching and supporting you every step of the way. I want to teach you everything I learned in seven years so you can apply it and see success quicker than I did! How would your life change if you made more than your teaching salary this year online?

Let’s start with my free book. It’s brand new and created just for you! I want to help you not only set goals for this year but actually accomplish them. And it all starts here. This new book is designed to take your wild ideas to start or expand an online teacher business in 2021 and put them into MASSIVE action that brings you happiness, life-changing transformation, and a commitment to be the next CEO teacher. Download it here!

Thousands of teachers are selling their resources online and making over six figures a year. Why not you? Why not now?