In episode 174 of the Teacher Career Coach podcast, Elizabeth chats with Janina, a former high school English teacher who transitioned to a Senior Business Program Manager at Microsoft.
Janina shares her journey, detailing her initial burnout after five years of teaching and her decision to seek a better work-life balance.
She discusses her first tech role as an onboarding specialist, the transferable skills from teaching that helped her succeed, and her rapid career growth.
Janina emphasizes the importance of resilience, organization, and communication, offering valuable insights for teachers considering a career change.
Listen to the episode in the podcast player below, or find it on Apple Podcast or Spotify.
Free Quiz: What career outside of the classroom is right for you?
Explore the course that has helped thousands of teachers successfully transition out of the classroom and into new careers: The Teacher Career Coach Course
Explore the course that has helped thousands of teachers successfully transition out of the classroom and into new careers: The Teacher Career Coach Course
Mentioned in the episode:
- Use code “TCC” to get 50% off of everything at Aspireship
- Our career path quiz at www.teachercareercoach.com/quiz
- Explore the course that has helped thousands of teachers successfully transition out of the classroom and into new careers: The Teacher Career Coach Course
Episode Transcript:
Elizabeth Suto: Hi, everyone, and welcome back to our next episode. Today, we get to meet Janita. And Janita was a high school English teacher for five years before she made the transition into the tech world. She currently works for Microsoft as a senior business program manager. And before that, she was a VP of customer success.
Join us today as we learn about her background and how she stood apart from the competition as she transitioned into tech and advanced her career. Hope you enjoy!
Hi, everyone. Welcome back to the next episode. Today we have Janita with us and we’re very excited to learn about her story from teaching English to now being a senior business program manager for a big software company.
So welcome.
Janita: Thank you, Elizabeth. Thanks for having me.
Elizabeth Suto: We’d love to kick this off by hearing a bit about what got you into education in the first place.
Janita: My second grade teacher, Ms. Taylor, got me into education. Uh, since I was a kid, I’ve always wanted to be a teacher and nothing else. You may remember those little books that your parents fill out for you each school year about like, how old are you? What’s your favorite color? And what do you want to be when you grow up?
And since I was like, Six. The answer in those books has been teacher.
Elizabeth Suto: I’d love to hear that. And can you tell us a little bit about what you taught, how long you were in the classroom,
Janita: I taught English literature at Arcadia high school in Phoenix, Arizona for five years. I went to school for English lit first and my bachelor’s and then got my master’s in education or the fancy way is curriculum and instruction.
Elizabeth Suto: and how, what was that point where you decided after those five years that you were looking to kind of expand your career or go in a different path?
Janita: So I remember as a new teacher in my first year, Elizabeth seeing a chart that says statistically teachers burn out and quit around the five year mark. And I never thought that would be me. I’m like, no way. This is my calling. I’m here for it indefinitely, but it really was at that point where I was just very tired and exhausted from.
The demanding role and needed a hard switch immediately to start getting that work life balance back and really focus on self care for the first time.
Elizabeth Suto: I know a lot of teachers will be able to resonate with that, especially this day and age with some of the technology, you know, after COVID. And they’re, they’re also looking at some different career paths. So we’d love to hear initially, what did you transition into right after you left the classroom and kind of walk us through that process?
Janita: My transition immediately after the classroom was to become an onboarding specialist at a SAS company in Gilbert, Arizona. Onboarding specialist to me, Elizabeth on paper will look like take a customer who has purchased a product of yours or service. And help them adopt it till they can use it on their own.
That’s what onboarding specialists do on paper. But from my experience in the classroom, that’s teaching. And so I found it. Once I understood what these roles in tech look like and how I could leverage my existing skills from the classroom, I was like, yeah, I can do that. I can teach anyone. Anything is your service about plumbing.
Sounds good. I, I can teach plumbing, just teach me. And then I got it from there. And so I was very confident in my switch. Cause I knew even if it wasn’t English literature, I had built the five years of teaching skills. That would allow me to succeed in any, any setting.
Elizabeth Suto: I love to hear that because there are so many transferable skills. It’s just about figuring out, you know, what are they, you know, what roles are you applying to? How do they relate? And that time, did you have any mentors or any other, you know, kind of friends or family who kind of supported you during this?
Janita: I don’t think my friends or family could, I actually am married to a high school English teacher as well. We met at school is how we, first met each other. So no, I did not have friends or family in tech. No one in my family has a tech based role. My sister does now, but at the time I started in education, she did not.
My husband did not. My friends did not. All my friends were teachers. So, uh, what I did have, and I’m very grateful for is on my first day, I had a new cohort of new hires. So there were other people joining this company that also didn’t know left from right at the time and didn’t know yet the details of our software.
So I felt comfort and took confidence in the fact that I wasn’t the only one who didn’t know everything on the first day. I had a group that I onboarded with. As a new hire, I also got assigned an onboarding buddy. His name was Scott Richens. He had been at the company for a few years, very seasoned in what he does.
And his role when I got hired was to set me up for success and train me on how to do this job. So the title of Scott was onboarding buddy. But what he really was as a trainer who helped me understand the service and software that I would then be walking customers through.
Elizabeth Suto: I love to hear that they had that support in place to really show new hires that, you know, we want to set you up for success. also I love to hear that you met your husband in education as well. And so, you know, currently you’ve moved on from that onboarding role. So tell us a little bit about kind of your career evolution to where you are now and that growth in between.
Janita: So during my time as an onboarding specialist, again, I confirmed what I thought would be correct, which is this is teaching. I was really good at it naturally. And I would say the same for like all, all teachers listening, like. You’re a good teacher. You can help customers learn how to do a product. And I did that for about a year and a half.
My leadership noticed that it came easy to me. And along with my communication organizational skills, I did land a manager role a few years after becoming an onboarding specialist. I became a manager of the onboarding specialist. From there, I became a director. I continued my success and my consistency in saying because I’m so organized, because I communicate so well to anyone on anything as a former teacher, it just really aided that career progression.
I just kept doing more of it. At a greater level. I went from being a director of onboarding to a VP of customer success. So before COVID, I was a director of onboarding and customer success. After COVID, I actually landed a job. Via LinkedIn at a startup based in Chicago as VP of customer success. And that transition, although it sounds like it, I really changed things up.
I’ve been doing the same thing since I left the classroom. I’ve been helping people get organized, communicate effectively and take them from point A to wherever they needed to go using my educational background.
Elizabeth Suto: And how did you stand out? You know, it’s, it’s so nice to hear this because within this timeframe there’s been so much growth, you know, you’re doing this specific thing that you’re really good at moving to a VP position now to a senior manager position. So how do you stand out when you are, are looking for these positions among kind of the competition out there as well?
Janita: I think the two words that helped me stand out even to this day are consistency and follow up. Consistency, meaning. Anyone that I work with knows that if I say, I’ll do something by Friday, end of the week, they will have it at that time. So I, again, I think from teaching, you can’t afford to miss your grading windows.
You can’t afford to skip parent teacher conferences. I learned things have to be done by a certain time, or there are consequences. Took that right into my tech career. And. It doesn’t happen as often as you think, especially in a startup environment. There’s a lot of fluidity, flexibility, ambiguity. I’m not like that.
I bring structure. I bring organization. I bring clarity. And when people see that they want more of it. So one thing that’s really helped is consistency. the other is follow up. They’re very similar, but follow up meaning I always close the loop with the people I work with. And again, that sounds very simple and straightforward, but if you do it consistently, it will, at least for me, has helped me stand out over the years. People know they can rely on me and then I’ll do what I say I’ll do.
Elizabeth Suto: That’s so important too. And I feel like both of those really show the trust aspect. You know, they you, they can rely on you. And those two are things are very helpful to hear because we hear about all these different skills and just, you know, those in itself are, very important. Like you said, to kind of build your reputation around too.
They know you’re the same person. This is what to expect from you and that you’ll deliver. I’m
Janita: Yeah, I want to emphasize, I don’t have an MBA. I did not go to school for business or technology. It is the skills I developed being an educator that has gotten me this far. No one’s really asked me about what certificates I’ve got or what I graduated. They just have seen my, and that’s what they want more of.
Elizabeth Suto: glad. I’m really glad you brought that up because I know a lot of teachers are, know, when they’re looking at new careers, they’re a bit stressed out. Do I need to go back to college? Do I need to get a master’s degree in this? And then looking at how expensive some of these training programs are, but there are people.
Lots of people who’ve done this you didn’t go back to school. You know, you utilize those skills and now you’re in a tech role. Um, so I just love that, you know, we can hear your story and see, see where you are now. And speaking of where you are now, um, can you tell us what a senior business program manager does and kind of walk us through, uh, your day to day?
Janita: So I’m a senior business program manager. I feel very blessed to be working at Microsoft. I’m heading into my fourth there here as a program manager at Microsoft. My role really involves just overseeing various projects and ensuring they’re always aligning with the company’s goals. We do have program managers focused on different areas.
Mine is the A. T. U. Short for account team unit. And what that means is The programs that I see through as a program manager actually end up as learning and scaling available to sellers at Microsoft. So I feel entirely connected to, to Microsoft as a company, let alone with my team and the org I work with.
My work has impact as a program manager. I feel really grateful that that’s the case that I am at this company and that I keep getting better and better. Bigger projects with a larger scope, because again, that consistency and follow up was there and they want people who will actually close out projects.
I can do that all day.
Elizabeth Suto: That’s so cool. And do you have a favorite part about this job?
Janita: Thousand percent my team. I feel so fortunate to be teamed up with the nicest, most caring, thoughtful, smart group that also extends grace and has a lot of patience. I’m not perfect. And I have. Had failures at Microsoft, but they’ve really helped me learn and grow. And that’s actually what makes me want to keep doing it.
Like it’s okay to mess up and not know everything. And I’ve learned that because I have an incredible team. So I always try to give that back since I’ve received so much grace and patience in my time,
Elizabeth Suto: And on the flip side what are some of the challenges that come with this position?
Janita: it is, it can be a 24 seven job. It never ends. There’s always more work to be done. So the challenge that I face here. Is no different to what I was facing in my fifth year of teaching burnout, exhaustion, constant demand, constant need my list. Does not end. And so the challenge is being able to say, despite the incredible amount of work we’re doing together, help me prioritize it because I can only do this much today, this week, this month, this year, and so that the This may never end in this role, but at least my leaders and myself can have a conversation, how to organize it so I can still log off and be a mom, be a wife, be a sister, be a daughter, be a dog mom.
There’s a lot to do after four o’clock when I log off and I want to make sure I have time to do it. So similar to my challenge and teaching, to be honest.
Elizabeth Suto: I know you mentioned earlier some skills, you know, with the consistency and the follow up. Are there other specific skills, you know, if teachers are looking maybe grow into this position in the future, skills that you would recommend they learn or that they already have and they can kind of emphasize on their resume?
Yeah.
Janita: I would say those skills are organization, communication, and the ability to work as a team or that relationships building skills that we all have organization, because there are so many moving parts and tech roles, and many people, if you say yes, they will give you a lot of work. They will add to your plate unless you have the ability to respond back and say, Thank you so much for the offer.
Here’s what’s on my plate currently as an organized team member. I’m showing you what I have versus what you’re giving me. Let’s have a conversation in the school setting. We always got a lot of ask us teachers and it was important to stay focused on what we were responsible. I was responsible for teaching English lit.
At this school to this group of students, I can’t also be basketball coach. Even if you need the help, I can’t say after for four clubs, right? I had to be organized enough to stay focused on my role and, and no one to say no to any additional asset come in that segues right into the second point.
Communication. You hear me as part of organization. I’m communicating what I’m focused on and having honest conversations about what I can and cannot do. And it’s always okay to say. Hey, you want me to do something new? That’s great. What are you going to help me take off my plate to make room? It’s not just a never ending opportunity to keep adding to my plate.
And then last but not least, I found the most success at my current job and former jobs because I understand the importance of working with people. I do not do my job on my style in a silo. If I did, I don’t think I would be successful. Working with others means I understand what’s important to them. I call that the whiffen what’s in, what’s in it for me, right?
So Elizabeth, if you and I were working together, I would make sure I knew what your job is, how you get paid, right? And then I would incorporate that constantly into our conversations. That way you could see, I truly care about what’s important to you. I share what’s important to me. We work together to collaborate on those things and move forward.
Elizabeth Suto: love how you phrased a lot of that, and specifically the part about, you know, what you have on your plate, communicating that, and then how to work to, be able to manage everything. And I think that’s such an important topic with teachers because The boundary, the saying no, the structure. I was speaking to one the other day on a podcast and it was something he learned after he left teaching was that boundaries, he was like, I, I had to say no, I took on all of these clubs at school.
And now, you know, once you are able to like professionally and efficiently communicate that. He realized how, how much better it was for him, for the team, and for everyone. So I, it was so good to hear you, um, kind of phrase it in that way. And like you said, it all comes back to communication. It
Janita: since I left in the classroom, but I remember one of my breaking points and why I decided to quit at the end of my fifth year is just the asks did not stop. And I don’t think I articulated my response. Well, when I quit, but I do remember Elizabeth.
I was working six fifths and for those that may not know, six fifths means I have my five core class in a day plus I stepped up to take a sixth course, meaning I had no period off all day was a course. That’s fine. I signed up for it. But what I didn’t sign up for is constant meetings being scheduled as required over lunch.
And I remember this one time I got an email from the school counselor. I get it. student needs are important, parent needs are important, but I just needed 20 minutes to myself. During lunch, and I heard my name on the PA system calling the office and I said, no, I’m sure it came off as very direct and unsportsmanlike, if you will, but I am telling you, that’s when I realized this role is no longer for me.
I feel like I don’t have the ability to even take 20 minutes for lunch and that realization. Was very strong that day and part of why led to quitting at the end of my fifth year. I just could not keep up with keeping my boundaries. Something had to change.
Elizabeth Suto: leads me into our next question about your work life balance. Now tell us a little bit about how it’s different or similar from, from leaving the classroom.
Janita: Okay. Oh my God. I love it
Elizabeth Suto: Silence.
Janita: 20 minute lunch break that I had to myself constantly. And that if I did not Overwork myself. I was seen as not being a good teammate. I had said yes for years, but that last year I was really pushing back and trying to get some time back and it didn’t work at the school I worked at and in the system I worked at.
Now I have hard out of offices at the beginning of my day that gives me enough time to take my little kids to school just because I’m a full time working mom doesn’t mean I don’t want to do school drop off. I log in, I. Block off a lunch that shows up as out of office so I can step away from my desk at home for 30 minutes.
And then when I log off for the day, I help my kids with homework. I do not let people schedule over those blocks. There’s been a few times it’s been like an emergency or an escalation, but outside of that, over the course of these three and a half years going forward, people know not to schedule over my out of office.
They have tried and been declined and it’s just building that muscle with the people you work with saying. This is a non negotiable for me. If you want me to show up at a hundred percent tomorrow, I need to have lunch. I need to log off and spend time with my family. And I will show you leaders and people I work with that this strict schedule I keep for myself will not negatively impact my work.
And if you see it does please reach out and then I will adjust my schedule. But as long as I’m delivering the outcomes you expected. This is going to be how I do it.
Elizabeth Suto: I love to hear it kind of goes back to the theme of consistent communication, and I’m just so happy to hear, too. You can bring your kids to school. You know, you have lunch. So you can kind of rejuvenate finish up the afternoon. And then you have your dog and your husband. So I’m just so happy hear about the story.
And we love to kind of wrap these up by hearing about what you learned about yourself during this big career pivot.
Janita: I learned that I’m capable of doing anything. It really didn’t feel like that during COVID when I was in between jobs, but. After applying and applying for jobs and getting over 20 nos, Elizabeth, I just started to shift my mindset to like, you know what? I will get a job someday. Like, even if it’s at Circle K or a restaurant, there are jobs available that I can step into at BB.
So I will get a job someday. The question is, how long am I willing to wait and be uncomfortable? By not working and I learned during that period during COVID that a no is a learning opportunity. So each one of those knows I started saying, okay, that company did not choose me. And if they gave me a reason, here’s why and how I can grow from it.
So by the time I got to around interview 21, I was so relaxed in that call with the CEO of a construction tech startup. This was what I then became my VP role. I was so relaxed in that interview because I was so confident in myself. It simply was, here’s what I want. Here’s how I want it and here’s what you get in return if you hire me, if we’re aligned, great.
Hire me and let’s have a great day. If we’re not. Okay. I understand it’s not for you or it’s not for me. Let’s move on. And I just got really crisp about my value and how I could support a team and how much that value cost. And I’m so glad I went through that unemployment period because it’s giving me a ton of confidence to keep speaking like that about my work moving forward.
I know what I bring to the table and I know how to bring it to the table and what I need in order to get there.
Elizabeth Suto: I love to hear that mindset. And I’m so excited for everyone to listen to this episode. Thank you so much for your time today.
Janita: Thank you for having me.
