After ten years in the classroom, Lauren Fulbright loved her students and coworkers but constant stress and burnout took a toll on her mental health. In this episode, she opens up about the moment she knew it was time to leave teaching, the uncertainty that came with starting over, and how she eventually found success as a Trade Desk Consultant in the automotive industry.
Lauren shares how she used her transferable skills, built confidence after countless rejections, and even earned a spot in her company’s President’s Club within her first year. Her story is an inspiring reminder that leaving education doesn’t mean leaving your purpose behind, you can thrive in a completely new career that still lets you connect, communicate, and make an impact.
Listen to the episode in the podcast player below, or find it on Apple Podcast or Spotify.
Transcript:
Elizabeth: welcome back everyone. Today we have Lauren Fulbright with us. Welcome, Lauren.
Lauren: Hi!
Elizabeth: Thanks for joining us.
We would love to hear your story today and are really appreciative of your time today. And we’d love to kick it off by hearing about your journey in education.
Lauren: Okay, so I didn’t go to college for education. I actually have a degree in merchandising, a BS in merchandising. and honestly, after graduation, I [00:02:00] just couldn’t find my spot in that world. and I’d be bopped through different, fields doing different jobs from like veterinary and offices and just different things it wasn’t until I don’t even remember what year it was, but it was a couple of years later that I was like, I, really think teaching could be the thing for me. I had so many teachers in my family, grandmothers and aunts and my sister and the list goes on. So I did the alternative certification program in Texas, and got my certification. And started teaching. I began in fourth grade, did that for three years and then transitioned into first did that for seven years.
So I had 10 years of teaching on a run belt before I left.
Elizabeth: Awesome to hear. And a couple, this question has come up pretty frequently, [00:03:00] but some teachers are asking me if I remember a specific point where I knew I was ready to transition, was there a specific point in your career or a specific moment where you knew you were ready to move on?
Lauren: Yes, for me, it was very much mental health related. I love the school that I was at. I loved my administration. I loved my coworkers. And having loved all of those things, it should have been like, why didn’t you stay? It sounds like it’s great. But I guess it was post pandemic, lots of extra pressure being put on. it got to the point where I had to be put on two different medications so that I could make it through the school day, without, my heart racing, like I just ran a marathon. I would come home feeling like a violently shaken bottle of coke and that was just going to explode. and yeah, that was the big one. But, it [00:04:00] was that along with me feeling like I was giving the absolute best of myself to other people’s Children. All day, like from the moment I woke up, I was getting there early and getting stuff done and working with them all day and feeling so overwhelmed. And then I would come home and I had no energy for my own child. And was absolutely the point where I said, something’s got to give it’s time to leave.
Elizabeth: Thank you so much for sharing that moment and for being vulnerable with us. I think a lot of teachers are thinking as well, with the mental health aspect that it’s gotten to a point. In some of their careers where they really have to make a change. So thank you so much for sharing that part of your story.
And I’m so glad to hear that you have transitioned out and you have moved on and we’re excited to hear about where you are now as a trade desk consultant. But we’d love to learn a [00:05:00] little bit about the initial transition when you were leaving the classroom. How did you navigate that?
Lauren: it’s hard if 1 thing for a long time, I had been doing it for 10 years. That’s a long time to be doing something. it’s scary. And I, I didn’t break contract or anything like that. I finished out of school year, but I had decided the previous Christmas, that was what I was going to start doing.
So February of that final spring semester of school is really when I started trying to build LinkedIn connections and beef up my resume and start getting those things ready. so that I could really dive into it. once the school year ended. I did have a few interviews during the school year. none of them panned out. it was, a lot of prep. and it was frustrating because you’re sending out hundreds of [00:06:00] resumes and applications and maybe hearing back on one or two of them, maybe getting a first interview on one or two of them. but you just have to keep trying and you have to keep going. It’s, tough, but you just have to keep if it’s truly what you want, you just have to go for it.
Elizabeth: That makes sense. And like you said, that’s don’t, to get out, you just have to keep applying and continue on and know that you will get rejected. Don’t take it personally, but you’ll learn from each opportunity as well too. So speaking of that transition point, you were persevering resilient, How did you find that career clarity? Did know what your next step was, or were you like, I just want to escape and find the next thing.
Lauren: I think, a first step for a lot of teachers just from, a lot of friends who have also gotten out. the first thought is ed tech. [00:07:00] to keep the good part of teaching that I really like, but without having to be in the classroom and the stress and the whatever is going on there. Just from my personal experience, I feel like it is a really hard space to get into, just because so many people are looking to get into it because it seems like such a natural progression. and so that was where I had focused my search at the beginning, it was actually probably once the school year ended, I just, I sat back and I thought. Okay. skills do I actually have? let’s write, what are the things that I’m good at doing and thinking of those and then trying to match them with jobs or career positions that matched where they would be really transferable and best suit me. that’s when I, landed on sales. it was just I feel like so many of the things that I had to do and balance [00:08:00] as a teacher walked a very similar line to sales. then I shifted there.
Elizabeth: I love hearing all the parallels to sales with teaching. We’ve had quite a few. I feel like it’s such a natural stepping stone and a position. That’s widely available. It’s still very competitive, but for the most part, if you think of all different organizations, everyone has sales.
Lauren: the way that I always said it to people is that as a teacher, all day long, you are selling what you’re teaching to those kids. You want them to buy what you’re selling and that’s what you’re doing all day. So it’s really not as different as it seems to be.
Elizabeth: And did you do any upscaling within that sales realm?
Lauren: So I, I did the Aspireship program, which I felt was helpful just because I Even though I zoomed in on sales being [00:09:00] like, this seems like a good idea. I didn’t have any foundational skills in sales itself. so going through that program and learning kind of some basics of the sales process, taught a little bit about how to use Salesforce, and did some interview prep. I just feel like that experience really helped prepare me a little bit more, especially for interviews that we’re going to be coming up and to be able to have a little bit more of a sales focused vocabulary. but it was through that program that I ended up landing my first job out of teaching.
Elizabeth: Oh, that’s awesome to hear. now you have moved on from sales and you are a trade desk consultant. Can you tell us what that is?
Lauren: Yes, so it is [00:10:00] a little bit like, I had mentioned previously, it’s very niche. So I work for a very large company, within it’s within the States and worldwide actually. and they have an automotive, branch, so it’s, called Cox Automotive Inc, and essentially I will try to condense this as much as I can. So you know, you go to a car dealership, you’re looking at all of the cars. Those are all retail deals. They’re trying to sell those to the customer behind the scenes all day. day the little that’s just run by a guy named Bob to the big giant chain store on the highway, They are making wholesale deals all day long because they need to say hey, this. Particular vehicle has been sitting on my lot for 90 days. Let me sell it [00:11:00] wholesale and get something else in here that people will wanna buy. So they’re making their business decisions about what inventory they want to try to sell to the public, and what they are wanting to, keep or put onto the wholesale market.
So there’s that happening behind the scenes. All day, every day, and our platform is what they, it’s one of the few platforms in the United States that they use to be able to put those cars up for sale and for people to bid or make offers on them. So my job as a trade desk consultant, I have a specific territory.
I work three auctions in North Carolina, even though I live in Texas. so I have three auctions in North Carolina that I work and day. I am pulling fresh reports. So if any one of these vehicles out of North Carolina is getting an offer or a bid [00:12:00] somebody is looking to buy it, I see it. And a lot of times, the automotive industry is old school, I guess you could say. lot of the guys just like doing their own thing. And they’re stubborn. And, if left to their own devices, sometimes, personality gets in the way and they just butt heads and then a deal doesn’t happen. I’m there to bridge the gap between the buyer and the seller. all day long. I’m pulling my reports. I’m seeing what’s new, I’m prioritizing, organizing. And then I am the friendly voice in between trying to bridge the gap between the buyer and the seller and make sure that the sale happens.
Elizabeth: That is so interesting.
Lauren: I told you it’s niche. It is so niche, but that’s, what it is.
Elizabeth: it is, and it’s great to hear that too, because we don’t know. What we [00:13:00] don’t know, like there’s careers out there, and if we’re not exposed to them, and we don’t hear about them, we don’t know that could be of interest to us and could be a great fit for a teacher or someone looking to leave the classroom.
you mentioned a couple skills, what are some of those, ones that you brought from teaching that you utilize in this job.
Lauren: Definitely a relationship building. being able to communicate effectively with people, being clear and concise that you’re not confusing them. just going into every interaction, being positive and trying to build that relationship and have it be less transactional and just, I’m helping you right now. But, I’ve got, I’ve only been in this job a little over a year and a lot of my car dealers that I work with, they send me Merry Christmas texts or, Happy New Year. They We’ve built a relationship and they have that trust in [00:14:00] me to help them do what they need to do. I also think a little bit of that sales, aspect goes into it where you can be like, Hey, you have to, cause sometimes you have to push a little bit you have to be able to, cut negotiate, I guess is the best way to say it is. you’re going to get objections and you have to overcome them just like you do in a sales situation. those are really the biggest ones. Oh, an organization is really important because it can be overwhelming. And if you’re unorganized, it’s real hard.
Elizabeth: It does sound like you mentioned earlier. it’s fast paced. It’s busy. You’re refreshing reports in the day to day, is it pretty would you say fast paced? Busy and are you able to shut down at 5 p. m after work and have that balance or good?[00:15:00]
Lauren: So they’re just the nature of the business. I have busier days and I have less busy days. Mondays are typically. I’m running a hundred miles an hour entire day to get everything done that I need to get done. But, this Monday I only stayed clocked in, I think, 10 minutes longer than my actual, get off of work time. absolutely I clock out, I hook my work phone on the charger, and I go downstairs and my life, and I’m not waking up in the middle of the night worrying about things and if my work phone rings and it’s eight o’clock at night, I just let it ring. I don’t feel like I have to run up and answer it. yeah, I’ve got very set boundaries for work life and home life now. and it is so easy to separate myself from [00:16:00] it.
Elizabeth: and earlier you mentioned, with teaching you were taking care of a lot of children and you were coming home and Maybe didn’t have the energy to be with your family. Do you feel like you have a bit more energy to be with your children?
Lauren: Absolutely. and it’s funny and this is I guess a little bit of a personal story. So my daughter, I only have one. She was at the school that I taught at, it’s not the school that we were zoned to, but because I worked there, she went with me and she loved that I was there in the building and, when she was in 1st grade and I was teaching 1st grade, it was an concept, building.
And from my desk, if I was doing a presentation, she could, walk by her teacher’s desk and wave and I could see her. and so when I left, she started to go to the school that we’re zoned [00:17:00] to in our neighborhood. And for the longest time, she would be like, Oh, I wish you’d go back to teaching.
Oh, I miss having you in the building. I wish you would go back. I really miss when you were teaching and she just would harp on it. And so eventually I was like, I know you liked having me in the building. But let’s think back to what it was like at home at the end of the day. And I said, did I play with you more then? do I get to play with you more now? And she was like, Oh, you play with me more now. I was like, And I said, do you remember how I was always so stressed out? And it was just, you could tell I was stressed every night. And she was like, yeah. And I said, I that way now? And she was like, no. And I said, okay, This is the better option for us. even if I were at the school you’re at, you won’t be at that school forever and you would eventually move on from it [00:18:00] anyway. I just had to go through all the little pieces that have improved with our lives since I left to help her see that it was a good thing for her too.
Elizabeth: Oh, I’m so glad you shared that. And it’s great too. She can see the long term effects now. You, all can.
Lauren: Yeah.
Elizabeth: what are some of the challenges that come with
Lauren: time management. just because it is fast and furious and there’s a lot coming at you. you have to be able to manage your time well. and I think another thing is, really being able to make a quick assessment and move forward. it’s not the kind of thing where you can go, Oh, let me sit back and think about my strategy for this. 10 minutes then execute it, you’ve got to be able to look, cause I may have 50 vehicles on my screen at one point in [00:19:00] time I need to be able to look at the information quickly and decide where do I need to prioritize and what can wait until a little bit later. and so just having to be on like that throughout the entire day. is difficult because it’s, There’s a lot of jobs that I think you could probably do. And you could have an audio book playing in your ear and just go through the motions. And even though I’m, doing repetitive tasks throughout the day, always different because it’s a different car, a different person, different numbers that we’re dealing with. so you’re constantly on while you’re working, you’re constantly on, and you’re constantly, Having to make those decisions quickly about prioritizing the work, because the way that I get paid at this job, it is an hourly position. So I clock in and I clock out, but then there is a bonus structure. And so I’m given a goal every month of how many [00:20:00] cars I need to help sell. And then they break it down by day. And yeah, it is important to me that I’m able to sell as many as I can. And if I’m not prioritizing the right things, not going to get the sales that I want.
Elizabeth: Great to hear the incentive structure too, right there. I feel like when you’re in the classroom, you’ve got like a set salary schedule. You add on responsibilities, but there’s no additional, bonus or incentive pay. So that’s nice. It’s if, you want to get this, meet this goal, work harder to do this, you can, and then you will be compensated
Lauren: yeah.
Elizabeth: it.
Lauren: And then if you exceed your goal, it increases. And you earlier, you mentioned a little bit about how. Your cars are in North Carolina or the auctions are. So is there any travel involved in this or is it fully [00:21:00] remote?
fully remote.
Elizabeth: And how do you like that? Do you like working from home?
Lauren: It is my absolute favorite thing ever. I don’t think I ever want to go back to having to go to an office every day. Like ever.
Elizabeth: That’s great to hear. And I’m throughout this whole thing, I’m thinking in the back of my head about, you’re, helping selling these cars, mediating, prices of cars, was there a special training that you had to take? Or how did you learn about like vehicles?
Lauren: it’s, crazy. and this may hit another point that you were wanting to get into, but, this position there were two open when I got hired. I got 1 of the 2 openings. normally these positions, they hired from within the company. So somebody who was in the company doing something in a different capacity. but decided they were going to try to, hire an external candidate, somebody who wasn’t from within the corporation [00:22:00] already. and give somebody a shot at it. and like they knew going in that I had no car, I had never worked at a car dealership. I had no industry, know how at all. but honestly, I think there was not a special training that I went to.
I just went to. The normal new hire training. was two weeks of us getting used to how the processes work and everything. but it’s also, you learn on the job and you’re learning new stuff all the time. So even if you’re not, wasn’t familiar with the car business, but you almost immediately I was picking up the new vocabulary. and realizing how these dealers talk and how to talk back to them using their lingo. but yeah, like it was really like the training was mostly focused on this is how you need to do [00:23:00] your job this is how you will do it well. and the rest came with time.
Elizabeth: I’m so glad to hear too, the value that the company placed on hiring someone externally and taking a chance and then realizing Ooh, this there’s people out there who can adapt and learn quickly. And if people are looking to get into this profession, do you have any tips or thoughts for them to get into trade desk consulting?
Lauren: honestly, The positions don’t come open that often.
Elizabeth: Okay.
Lauren: they do come open, not super frequently. I do feel like Cox company, the Cox Corporation, they’ve got communications, they have the automotive, and then they have an enterprise piece to it. And they, have all of their jobs listed online.
I think it’s a great company to work for. And yeah, I would just say, look at the job listings and see if anything strikes your fancy. And if it does go ahead and apply.
Elizabeth: Thank you. [00:24:00] And we love to wrap these up by hearing about what you learned about yourself from leaving, like you said, a career that you did for 10 years and, being exploring something new.
Lauren: really what it did for me, leaving teaching and then going through the process of having the rejections and not being hired. It, you start to feel like, do I have imposter syndrome? do I think that I’m greater than I am? Nobody wants seems to want to hire me, but I think I’m awesome. I think I have so many skills and I can be good at whatever I do.
Why is nobody giving me a chance? And it was this terrible feeling and it makes your, ego and your self-confidence drop a little bit. but having been hired into this position, and I’m rocking it. I was just nominated for president’s club. I’m going to be in Atlanta for a trip for them to spoil me next week because of it. Within my first year, which is amazing. it just taught [00:25:00] me that, I shouldn’t ever doubt my awesomeness. Like I know I’m capable. I know that I’m smart and I know that I can do well at whatever I put my mind to. And I need to never forget that.
Elizabeth: Thank you so much for sharing that and congratulations on the President’s Club Award. I hope you have a wonderful time in Atlanta.
Elizabeth: And I can’t wait for everyone to tune in. And thanks so much for sharing your story, Lauren.
Lauren: Thank you. This was fun.
RESOURCES
- If you are struggling right now, please seek help. The National Suicide Prevention Lifeline is 802-273-8255
- Get the template! Writing a Teacher Resignation Letter to a Principal
- Take the FREE QUIZ: What career outside of the classroom are you qualified for?
- If you know it’s time to start your transition and are looking for resources and guidance, check out the Teacher Career Coach course today!
- Join our growing community (and connect with Daphne) on Instagram @teachercareercoach.
