Don't Quit Your Day Job Teachers...Yet

Right now educators across the country (and I'm guessing the world) are questioning whether they can truly stay in the classroom for the rest of their careers. This isn't news to anyone paying attention. Walk the halls, visit a chatroom, read a social media feed, or look at LinkedIn profiles and you'll see a high number of teachers talking about advice to make the leap. That's because most teachers think there is no other option. It's either continue teaching or find an other career. I'm here to advocate for another option.

In 2010, I had just finished my 10 year of coaching basketball when I decided I needed something different. I wasn't sure where this would lead, but mentally I needed a new challenge. So with another teacher we took the leap and started our own company. We both taught during the day, but we also devoted time at night and on the weekends to building Midwest Teachers Institute to help teachers find the most affordable masters degrees and graduate classes on the market.

We didn't follow the advice you'll see on Shark Tank or on many of the popular podcasts out there. There wasn't an option to quit our day jobs, raise some outside money from investors, and dive in full time to building our business. Like most of you, we had families that we needed to take care of. We needed insurance, a steady paycheck, and some security. So we built on the side, learned as we went, and continued to grow. Today our business isn't as big as it might have been if we did it full time, but it's still a huge part of our financial security for our families. And both of us are still in education to this day. I'm still teaching consumer education, and he's now moved on to become an administrator.

Time is always a factor, but as we've grown our side hustle, we've discovered the power of bringing in others to help us with the day to day operations. We now handle more of the big picture concepts with the business. Hiring others helps grow the time you have available, cutting back on Netflix and Hulu has helped as well. Leveraging other peoples time was the game changer though, you personally only have so many hours in a day, but each person you bring in expands the amount of time your business can be productive.

So it all starts with taking that first step. You might get lucky the first time like I did, you may need to do it several times. But you need to start planting seeds now to reap the benefits later. So the first step is to find inspiration. That's why I started a blog with another fellow teacher, the Teacher Side Hustle Blog. We interview teachers who have made the leap and those that have done it on the side. We dive into topics to give you resources and ideas to start your own journey.

The point of this is that many of us aren't in a position where we can go all in. But starting something, even if it's small, gives you an option to later make the call with more confidence. I know right now, based on years of data, that if I quit my teaching job I'd have a pretty secure income. I could budget for the lean months that are inevitable. I'd know where to focus my time, and where I could make the biggest impact. It gives me the one thing that we have so little of in the teaching profession, the power of choice. I decide whether or not to go back to the classroom in the Fall, and mentally that's actually worth the extra time I put in on the side. I decide where our extra income goes: should I put more money into my kids college fund, or should we go on an extra family vacation? Or is it a great month and I can do both?

I realize many of us are mentally drained, and taking on something new seems like it could be too much. This isn't for everyone. But you don't have to start a business. That was my path. But part of my mental fatigue was doing the same thing every day, year after year. Learning new things to run my business (and now my blog) has stimulated my brain, and I find myself with more energy even though I'm doing more things.

So if quitting your job sounds like too much, take smaller steps. Look through our articles on the blog, find something that interests you, and start learning. Give yourself a deadline, say you want to start a podcast in 30 days. Then start creating. Your first try will probably not be fantastic, but you can't grow until you start. You'll get better at whatever you are doing, that's the nature of life. And then, maybe a year from now, maybe 10 years from now, you'll have more control over your life. You'll be in a position to decide, on your own terms, how you want to exit this career. Or maybe you'll decide to stick around a little longer.