Dr. Janet Laine, a former French teacher of 15 years now, has a new role that she loves as a training and development manager for a small tech company. I interview her in this episode of the podcast, but our interview actually focuses more on the perseverance and strategy that Janet brought to her career hunt, which were key factors in her success. You’ll want to listen in as she gives tips of what worked and didn’t work in her own career hunt.
Listen to the episode in the podcast player below, or find it on Apple Podcast or Spotify.
Persevering in Your Job Search with Dr. Janet Laine – Transcript
Daphne Gomez:
Hey Janet, thank you so much for being here today.
Janet Laine:
Thank you for having me. I’m really excited to be here.
Daphne Gomez:
I always start with asking a little bit about your history working inside of education. So do you mind sharing your story?
Janet Laine:
Sure. Actually, I’m one of those people that did not want to be a teacher to begin with. The only thing that I knew is that I love to study French. And so when I was looking at colleges, I was really looking at French programs and my mom told me that I couldn’t just study French. I could either be a teacher or go into business. And I said, “Well, I’m going to go into business because I’ll never be a teacher.” And so that was my whole plan and I sat in an hour and a half of a statistics class, which was a prereq for the business and I hate math and I hate all of those kinds of things and I didn’t understand anything and I envisioned the next four years of my life and I said, “This is not for me.” So I walked out of the class, I called my mom, I said, “Mom, I’m going to be a teacher.”
It really was probably one of the best decisions that I made. I liked playing school when I was a kid. I was always really good at school. I always enjoyed learning. I had tutored people in high school. So it kind of was a really good fit. And the longer I was in the program, the more I was sure, “Hey, this is definitely the path for me. This is what I want to do.” So I had a degree in education and French, so I was certified to teach from kindergarten all the way up through 12th grade. When I got my degree, there really weren’t a lot of teaching positions in the area I was, so I had done a backup plan to be able to teach English for a year abroad. So I went back to France, taught for a year over there, and then I came back and got a teaching job in the high school that my mother would not let me attend.
So it was a low income, pretty much like 90% of the school had free and reduced lunch, very difficult first couple of years. I was barely older than some of the students. I ended up working there for seven years. And in the last three years that I was there, there were some leadership changes and the school district actually unified with another school district. So a lot of restructuring, a lot of different things coming down the pipe, and it was just really chaotic and just not what it was when I started. So then I was like, “Maybe this is not the best fit for me.” So I started looking at some other schools and ended up switching to a private school in the city, the next city over. So I went from having a 20-minute drive to a 40-minute commute to a fairly wealthy private school for the next four years.
I really enjoyed it for the first couple of years. Totally different set of obstacles when it came to students and dealing with parents. You went from no parent input to way too much parent input. And then at the end of those four years, again, some different things were going on. I was questioning, should I even be in teaching anymore? Is this for me? Is this what I want to do? So I had started even applying for some jobs then outside of teaching, but I was still applying for other teaching jobs. At this point, I was working on my doctorate and I was like, “Well, maybe I can get into an administrative position or something to that effect.” It wasn’t really happening and I ended up with two job offers for still teaching French. One in another state that was a couple hours from my hometown and then one that was eight hours away.
So I moved and chose the eight hours away and moved to Florida and went to another private school and worked there for a few years before I finally decided I was tired of the good old boys club, I was tired of the politics and everything else. I loved my students, I loved most of my coworkers, but all of the other stuff was just too much for me. And so in March of 2022, I left teaching and I’m very happy doing what I’m doing now.
Daphne Gomez:
So it sounds like it’s always been something that you knew in the back of your head may have not been your forever career.
Janet Laine:
Yes and no. When it was good, it was really good. I loved it. When I started, I had difficult students, but I could not have asked for better leadership and better direction to put me on the right path and all of the support I needed. Even though it was a low-income district, I mean, I had so many people there supporting me, cheering me on, rooting for me. They were the best advocates for me. And then for whatever reason with the change in leadership, the change in structure, that went away. And it was like I was always competing for ideas.
So yes, it lingered there, but if you would’ve asked me when I went from public school to private school or from one private school to another, would I permanently leave teaching? I would’ve said no. I kind of toyed with the idea a little bit, but until I really was—I hit my last straw and there were a couple things that really just kind of pushed me over the edge and I was like, “I’m done with this.” Like, “I have to be.”
Yes, it was there, but not to the extent until there were a few things. I’m a very patient, forgiving, I’ll stick it out, I’ll stick with it until I can’t and then there were certain things that were just too much. And I consider myself a person of principle, and they had crossed all those boundaries and I was done. So yes.
Daphne Gomez:
I can relate to that in a lot of ways. I wanted to go into the first few months of you maybe searching for a new role outside of the classroom. Where did you start searching or how did you start figuring out what your next step was going to be?
Janet Laine:
So I finished my doctorate in curriculum and instruction in 2019. Then COVID hit, so kind of a pause on that. I was still looking for maybe something in higher ed, maybe something like training future teachers. I still wanted to be in the educational domain. So I was kind of looking along that path. And then as certain things were changing in the school that I was at, I was like, “Maybe I just need to get out of education in general.” So I just started looking. I was literally Googling like, “What can I apply for? Something training, corporate training, learning jobs.” I didn’t know what I was looking for. I was just like anything. And I would do a one-click apply and I would write my little resume that was the same for every single job and I would do a cover letter.
Daphne Gomez:
Oh no.
Janet Laine:
Oh my gosh, it was so bad. And so I’m applying for all these jobs and I’m not hearing anything and I’m like, “I know I’m qualified. I know I have the skills.” And so it was at the end of a workout class and one of my friends, Leah Sarsfield, who was on the podcast, she had quit teaching at the end of the 2021 school year and she was just going to make cakes. She was going to do her side job. She was just going to make cakes and just see where she ended up. And so I hadn’t seen her in a couple months over the summer.
And I said, “Hey, how’s it going? How’s the cake business?” She goes, “Well, I actually got a job.” I said, “Doing what?” She’s like, “Oh, I’m on the learning and development team for whatever company.” And I literally, my jaw hit the ground and I said, “How did you do that?”
I was like, “That’s literally what I want to do.” Like, “How did you do it?” And she goes, “Oh, it started with a podcast.” And I was like, “What podcast?” And she’s like, “The Teacher Career Coach.” I was like, “Well, what is this?” She’s like, “You have to listen to it. It will change how you do everything. And then I did her class and you should really do the class.” She’s like, “Start with the podcast, tell me what you think. And if you really like it, then you should definitely do the class because it made all the difference in what I was doing.” And I was like, “Okay, I’m willing to try.”
Daphne Gomez:
I’m screaming inside right now. You’re saying this story. It’s so hard for me to accept that this is about me in any way, but keep going.
Janet Laine:
We literally spent another 30 or 40 minutes and she was just telling me about how she would ride to work and she would listen to your podcast and the different episodes that really stood out. And then she’s like, “This class, it taught me how to do this and it taught me how to do this.” I’m kind of skeptical, but I was like, “You know what? If it worked for you and you’re singing praises, you’ve got this great job you’re super excited about. Let me start with the podcast.” So I literally left the workout and turned on the first episode and I was hooked. I was like, “Who is this Daphne woman and what… ” And I just started listening and I mean I just had them on repeat. Every time I got in the car, I just kept listening and I was like, “Okay.” Within probably five episodes, I was like, “Okay, I’ve got to take the class. Like I need to see what I’m doing wrong, what’s the deal.”
At this point, school is starting again. I’m trying to piece it in a little bit, trying to come up with a plan. I was also doing personal training on the side. So my life was busy. I was coaching sports at school, all kinds of stuff. I realized all the wrong things I was doing and I was like, “Okay, this is why I haven’t heard from anywhere. I’ve got to rethink and just open my eyes to, I don’t just have to research corporate training, there are other possibilities of things that I can do.” And so that really just kind of started me on that path. And Leah was such a help. She even sat down and had a couple calls with me and with another friend who was able to successfully transition too, to give us some tips and tricks and things that worked for her, things that didn’t. And it all went back to your podcast, in your course. And so it’s just been amazing.
Daphne Gomez:
That’s such a full circle moment right now, but also it’s so hard for me to accept it a little bit.
Were you applying to jobs year round?
Janet Laine:
There was an incident that happened at the end of the 2021 school year that put me on this path like, “This is not going to be a long lasting. Definitely not at this school. Maybe it’ll get better, but I don’t think it will.” And so I spent all summer applying for jobs just constantly. And that was before I got to your course and knew about the resources there. And then when the school year started, I kind of backed off a little bit, but then as I was advancing through the course, I was like, “Oh, there are things I need to be doing that are different.” And so I started retailoring my resume. I started changing the cover letter to really fit the position and to highlight things that I knew were important for that position and why I felt that I was a good fit for that.
I continued to do that from October through Christmas. After that, I kind of backed off a little because I wanted a break. I was getting burnt out doing all the things I was doing. And then another incident happened at the school and I was like, “If I don’t get something, this is not. . .” They either expect me to quit or they’re not going to compensate me fairly or they’re going to push me out of the school. It’s one of those scenarios and it was all based around, I’m going to say, a lot of lies. Then I really was like, “Okay, let’s try this again.” I was applying to a lot of things through LinkedIn and then I switched to looking at Indeed, a couple of other things just through Google search hiring, that sort of thing. And I ended up getting more hits through Indeed than I did through LinkedIn. So that was the platform that actually worked for me.
Daphne Gomez:
That’s interesting to hear. I do know that LinkedIn is one of the more competitive ones and also why we put that list of companies and their careers pages, most of the education companies linked inside the course because going and clicking on the careers page is where you’re going to get less competitive. If they post something on their actual careers page and not on LinkedIn, then it’s more likely that you’re not up against a ton of different people. But that’s interesting. I haven’t actually ever heard that about Indeed.
One of the things that I know that you’ve noted has been one of the reasons why you were ultimately successful and I think that it’s a really important topic to address is perseverance, because this is not a project that is going to happen in a week. Changing careers altogether, I always make this as transparent as possible for everyone who’s listening. Like this is a big task. It is not something that I can answer in one podcast episode. It is not something that I can make a LinkedIn post or make a Instagram post and I’m going to solve all of the different factors to consider. Where did you find yourself hitting roadblocks and how did you overcome them?
Janet Laine:
So it was very frustrating to not hear anything because when I was applying. . . When I was making those transitions from public school to a private school and a private school to another private school, I would send out a resume and I would hear a response within two days. I felt very qualified in the French teaching domain. I had done a lot to build up my resume in the education world. And so to get no response, at least tell me no, just tell me you’re not interested. And to spend all that time just knowing that I’m applying again and I may not get a response and that definitely was frustrating. I definitely cried certain days, especially when it was just I felt like I was spinning my wheels just to, “Okay, I’m going to try another one. Let’s see if this one will work.” Like, “This is my best letter yet. I know it. I know they’re going to send something back.”
And I’m a person of deep faith and belief that there’s a timing for everything and a season for everything. And I think it made me all the better and the stronger in the long run for the position that I’m in now. But I’ve talked to several teachers who reached out to me on LinkedIn, “Hey, can I talk to you about how?” I’m like, “Sure.” And I tell them the same thing you were saying, “It doesn’t happen quickly. I applied for this many positions. I spent this much time looking. And you just have to be committed to the process. And if you’re not committed to the process or you’re still in the wishy-washy phase, this may not be the time to be doing it and decide what are you willing to invest in it.”
There are weeks that I was like, “I’m not touching any of this. I don’t have time, I don’t have the mental energy.” But then I would pick back up and I would be like, “Okay, now I’m ready. Let’s go. Let’s keep pushing forward.” And I’ve done that in other facets of my life too. Just daily consistency and that persistence, whether it’s your fitness goals, your mental health goals, taking on a home project, those types of things. I feel like that attitude is just really important if you want to see success.
I listened to a different podcast and she said, “We’re always worried about the destination.” We have destination envy or something like that and we don’t want to walk through the process. We always just want to get to that end point. And I think yes, that’s the ultimate goal when you’re transitioning and you want to go from being a teacher to whatever that position is, but I think there is something beautiful, there is something important that happens along the way and you just have to work through that process and you can look back and be like, “You know what? That really did help prepare me for what I’m doing now.” So that’s just kind of how I just pushed through and just kept trusting that it was going to happen. It wasn’t happening in the time that I wanted it to, but I did trust that it was going to happen.
Daphne Gomez:
Oh my gosh, I’ve dwelled on this topic for three or four years of just thinking of how can I best explain this and you did such a good job of explaining it. To add to it, everybody’s goal is just get a new job, but that is outside of anyone’s control. You can write the absolute perfect resume, chef’s kiss, perfect resume. You can send it to the job that you are 100% qualified for. They can hire someone that is an internal reference because they know that that person at least is probably going to be less likely to be a flight risk, they’ll work there more long term because they have a best friend that’s going to work in the department who says for a fact, this person loves this job or will love working here, they’ll want to work there.
That’s the decision that they make. You are not going to know that. That’s going to beat you down where you’re going to think, “This resume stinks. I’m unqualified. No one’s going to hire me.” And it’s completely outside of your control. There are so many things that you cannot control, and that’s why I always am just as transparent as possible. It’s like, you have to make your to-do list what you can do, how many hours you are going to put into it, what you are going to research.
I also think one of the biggest things that happens is that you’re in this really extreme stressful period of your life and there’s also so many different directions and tasks you feel like you maybe forced to be doing right now. Maybe you get on LinkedIn and everyone’s telling you, “Post every day,” which is absolute nonsense. But something that people keep really encouraging, like it’s a task that’s going to be a complete game changer. And those types of things that are distractions, where I hear a lot of people saying what helped them with the perseverance is having this organized course of a task list of, “This is what I need to do first. And once I’m done with this, once I fill out these worksheets and once I do this, then I’ll go to the next video.” And having it organized has helped them just keep track of everything that they’re doing because it’s such a big project.
Janet Laine:
It is. And I think for me, one of the biggest ones that was the huge help for me was if you’re interested in this type of position, these are the potential jobs that you could look up in what you could be searching. Because I had also been looking for instructional designer and then when I looked at some of the things on an instructional designer, I’m like, “I am not qualified for that. I am not even the slightest bit interested in all of the tech features that go with that.” Like, “That’s not my thing.” So I was able to take that out.
And even the ones that I was slightly interested in and I was like, “Hmm, okay, let me reach out and use LinkedIn as a platform to find somebody who was a teacher.” I would look, “Oh, you used to be a teacher. Hey, would you be interested in talking to me? I just want to learn more about what you do.”
And so after one person, talking to her, I think she was in customer success and I realized that is not what I want to do. I was like, “Okay, I’m glad I can check this one off. It is not the path for me.” So just through that trial and error process and having those conversations with people who are in those roles, like, “What do you do every day? Oh no, I could not do that. Thank you though, for your time.” And that sort of thing. So that was super helpful for me just in narrowing down my focus.
I think a lot of times, we come with this super broad idea and way too many. Like, I saw somebody today that I had talked to and he’s still listing six different jobs, completely different jobs, “Open to work in this, this, this, this.” They’re not related. You got to narrow your focus. It’s going to help you. For me, that was really, really helpful. And again, those task lists, I’m very much a list person. Whether this makes it on the podcast or not, you can see that I have my chart paper back here and things I’m working on and sticky notes and I’m like, “Okay, got to do the notes, got to. . .” And I can work through that. I need to see the big picture. “Okay, what are the steps to get to. . .” Break it down and that sort of thing. So it was super helpful for me.
Daphne Gomez:
When you were networking, it sounds like you were using the course for those resources also for asking. Did you find yourself prior to that, making common networking mistakes, like asking things that potentially weren’t easy yeses?
Janet Laine:
Yes. That’s not my personality at all. I would never just reach out to a stranger and be like, “Hey, will you talk to me about a job?” And having those conversations with Leah, she’s like, “I know. I did not the idea of it either.” And she’s like, “And some people will never respond to you.” But she had committed to a process of messaging five people a day and she’s like, “You might message 20 people and only two people respond and are willing to talk to you, but those two conversations could be really helpful in giving you some tips and some direction and that sort of thing.”
So I did reach out to a lot of people and I got a handful of responses and I think I ended up talking to maybe three or four people for 30 minutes up to an hour, that sort of thing. And again, it was super helpful just to hear what path they took, what they did, what worked for them and what didn’t. And just for me, just again, narrowing down that focus, because I was kind of like, “I just need to get out.” We’re so focused on getting out, we might take anything and it may not be a good fit. I think for me, being able to narrow down that focus, I knew I was going to find the job that was a good fit for what I wanted to do. So that was really important for me.
Daphne Gomez:
And even that rejection, just asking someone like, all I want to do is learn about your role and I’m facing rejection in this part of it. And from a person in a different perspective, I understand, you’re very busy. It’s not your job to train me on what a sales enablement trainer does. I get that. I can watch other videos, but I do want to talk to some humans here. I understand why people ghost. They’re just very busy. There’s a lot going on in everyone’s world, but that is a level of rejection that still takes perseverance because you can get beaten down at that phase of it as well.
Janet Laine:
Absolutely, yes. Again, why can’t you just respond to me and say, “I really don’t have time to talk, but thank you for reaching out.” Just like a little, I don’t know, being polite. So I’m very conscious of when people reach out to me on LinkedIn now, whether it’s because they’re trying to sell me something or “Hey, would you be willing to talk to me?” I’ll send a response no matter what because I’m like, “You know what? At least you know I’ve acknowledged you as a person. I’ve acknowledged your request, whether I’m going to accept it or not.” But going back to that perseverance piece, yeah, you just have to keep sending them out.
So when my friend told me that she was sending this many a day, I was like, “Okay, I’m going to send this many a day and we’re going to see what happens.” But I think it was also important that I was picking people that were former educators. So whether they were connections through the course or anything like that. When I was looking up learning architects, trying to find, like that was one I was interested in, I would go and look at their job history. And if I saw that they worked in any kind of high school, any kind of education, I was like, “Oh, hey, I see we were both teachers. I’m trying to potentially get into a role like this.” So I was trying to make that connection over and over again. I didn’t just reach out to people who had no educational background. I’m like, “You don’t care if I get into this role or not, but other ones could sympathize with me a little.”
Daphne Gomez:
However, some of them are going to be off the beaten path where they’re not getting potentially 50 messages that are similar per month.
Janet Laine:
That is true.
Daphne Gomez:
For me, I would go to the ones that are like, if I had a warm intro of, “I know so and so and I also know that you’ve been in this industry for three or four years at least.” I would probably go for someone who wasn’t a former teacher, but that’s just my own personal preference. But it’s good for that warm introduction to be able to bridge some sort of common gap. That’s not how you phrase that, but it is good in this situation to be able to show something in common that you have in order to break the ice. So I 100% agree. Did you feel like the course prepared you from a mindset of knowing what types of roadblocks may be ahead of you in order to help you persevere through them?
Janet Laine:
I would say yes. Even through the forum and stuff, where teachers were posting some of their successes and frustrations and just knowing that you’re not in it alone. Because when you’re in whatever setting you’re in, you might be the only teacher that’s potentially… Or you feel like you’re the only teacher that’s looking for something else. How dare you try to look for a different job outside of teaching? That sort of thing. So to know that there are other people in the same space that are experiencing the same things and you can kind of encourage each other or just even if you never comment like, “Okay, I’m not the only one. I’m not alone in this process.” Just keep swimming. Just keep doing it.
And so that was also very helpful and continuing to listen to your podcast and to listen to people’s stories. And I don’t think you’ve had a single person on that just got the job immediately and were able to just sail from teaching into whatever the next phase was. Everybody’s had a process. Everybody has had to overcome obstacles. And I appreciate those stories, that it’s not just, “Oh, got it. Easy, easy street,” whatever. So all of those pieces together helped me to keep pushing forward and be like, “Okay, I can do this. This is going to happen. I just have to keep reassuring myself, yes, I have the skills, yes, I am qualified, yes, I can do these jobs. I just have to find the right person to give me a yes to show them that I can.”
Daphne Gomez:
100%. And it’s so hard to stay in that mindset and that’s why we built the Instagram, the podcast, all of this community is because it’s so important for people to share their stories and their successes. And sometimes we feel guilty talking about our own successes when other people are struggling, but they need to hear it from someone who sounds like them. They need to hear it from someone with their background that has overcome it for them to truly believe that it’s possible for them as well. And so everyone coming in, our Teacher Career Coach, that community, all the former teachers coming in and saying, “I finally got the job.” Or helping one another in there has been just such a game changer for people who are struggling because LinkedIn is not necessarily where you want to vent your, “I’m not able to get past the interview phase.”
You should not be putting that on a LinkedIn post for hiring managers to see. So that’s why we wanted to create something very private where you can have those very honest conversations without it being out in the open. I wanted to talk a little bit about your role, and I know we mostly talked about perseverance in this, but let’s just go over a little bit about you are now a training and development manager.
Janet Laine:
Yes.
Daphne Gomez:
About how many interviews did you do? You said 100 jobs that you applied for, but did you have other interviews before this one that weren’t successful?
Janet Laine:
No.
Daphne Gomez:
Oh, wow!
Janet Laine:
Not really. No. I’m trying to think. I might have gotten to an additional questionnaire filling out phase, but nothing really—and that’s why you know only need that one yes. You only need that one thing. And so when I did this interview for this position, she starts laying out the position. She goes, “This is not just standing up and presenting a prepared presentation and just training on something that’s there.” She goes, “Nothing exists. We’re building this from the ground up. We need somebody who can develop content, who can develop curriculum and do all of this.”
And I just sat there and it was a video interview and I nodded my head and all, and she goes, “You’re not even like flinching, you’re not anxious.” I was like, “No, I do this every day and I could totally do it in this domain, so I have no doubt that I could come to your company and do this.” And she goes, “Oh.” She said everybody else she had interviewed, they could only present content. They did not have that confidence or the background to develop content. Most teachers, I mean you do that all the time.
Daphne Gomez:
Oh, yeah.
Janet Laine:
That’s your back pocket skill. Like, boom, done. Even on the fly lessons when things aren’t going well. And then I got to my second interview for the company and one of the directors of operations or something, he’s like, “So what do you do when you’re trying to give a training and there’s an interruption and something isn’t going right?” I was like, “Oh, you mean when there’s a fire drill in the middle of a quiz? Or I don’t know, COVID and half the kids are homesick with COVID, so you have to pivot and do. . .” And he just looks at me and he goes, “Yeah, like that. I was like, “Happens all the time in teaching.”
I could only reference what I knew, but he complimented me on using scenarios that he could absolutely see that translated right into the workplace. I just was like, “Yes, I can do this.” Like, “This is not the exact same situation, but it’s the same skill. It’s the same thing that’s prepared me to move into this role.” So I definitely think that was something that was helpful as far as the interview process. And I definitely used your little interview tips and tricks and I went back over all those questions and made sure I was like, “Okay, they might ask me this, they might ask me this.”
Daphne Gomez:
Did they ask you why you were leaving teaching?
Janet Laine:
I think they did ask me why I was leaving the position and I just said, “I was looking for a new opportunity to be able to use my higher education.” You don’t ever want to speak badly about the place you came from before. Focus on the growth, the moving forward, that sort of thing. Which was true, it was all true. I mean, there were definitely other factors, but I did want to move into a role where I could really use all of these things I had been learning and had worked so hard to attain these letters after my name. Like, let’s see if I can move into a different role that’s going to allow me even more freedom to be able to create and to develop in a new domain. So that was really important for me.
Daphne Gomez:
One of the most common things that I hear people say when they do finally get that one yes. Especially with you, you only went to one interview after 100 job applications. Maybe a week before that interview, were you starting to lose hope or did you ever doubt that it would happen for you?
Janet Laine:
I think there’s always those moments, and it could be because there are other frustrations in your life. When you got into a fight with your best friend or you’re having a family issue and all of those things compound and they just pile one on top of each other. So you will hit those moments where nothing is going right. Why do I even think this is going to go right? It’s just not going to happen. And so of course, you have those Debbie Downer moments, but one thing that I know about myself and people comment on it, they’re like, “How do you stay so positive?” I’m like, “Oh, I have my moments, but then I choose to wake up to a new day and like this goes behind me. All right, new day, new possibilities. Let’s try again.”
And there could be some of the exact same problems in that day, but I’m going to choose to believe that something better is going to happen. And that is, you don’t just wake up and you’re that person, right? That’s something you develop over time and you have to choose that mentality. You have to choose to say, “I’m going to keep going. I’m going to keep doing this.” And so that’s just kind of what I did. Even though there was all that craziness going on in my job, I was like, “You know what? It’s going to happen. I’m going to make it happen. However it’s going to happen, it’s going to happen.” And so even though there were plenty of tears and moments where I’m like, “Oh, apparently it’s never going to happen.” Then I wake up the next day, I’m like, “It’s going to happen. It just has to.”
Daphne Gomez:
It’s a mixture of choice and extreme discipline to continue to focus on the positive, focus on what you can control and keep pushing. I want to ask you one last question, and I feel like you’ve covered it quite a bit through this, but what did you learn about yourself in this process?
Janet Laine:
Oh, what did I learn? I think I just learned to continue to affirm to myself that I was good enough. Yes, I am qualified. I know that I’m qualified. I just have to show somebody else that I am. And even some of my family members were like, “Why are you trying to leave teaching?” Like, “That’s all you know. Are you going to give up your summers? Are you going to do. . .” So they weren’t the most supportive all the time and it came to that and I’m like, “I can do this and I don’t care about the summer break. It’ll be fine.” That sort of piece. So I think just learning to trust myself and some of the other disciplines in my life, like being committed to a fitness routine and how important that was for my mental health.
Did I enjoy getting up at five o’clock in the morning every day? No. But was it the only time that I could get that done? Yes. And so I built that habit. And so this was just a new habit that I built that I was just going to keep going. I was going to keep pushing and it would happen. So even now when I get frustrated with different things, because no job is perfect and people are not perfect and you just have to deal. I’m like, “Okay, I’m going to make this happen.” And you just keep that mindset and as cliche as it sound, continue to believe in yourself and to believe in what you know you can do and what you want to do. And are you willing to keep going after it even if it doesn’t work out exactly in the timing and the way that you want to? And that’s just what I did.
Daphne Gomez:
And there’s a difference between listening to outside voices with concerns of, “Hey, these are the action steps that you may need to take to get into this position.” Or people who are just smooshing your dreams or your goals. Those are two different people. The people who are saying, “Here’s a realistic idea of what it may take to do that thing.” Or the people who are saying, “You should never do that thing that you are telling me is important to you.” And you have to learn to trust yourself and be able to say, “No, I’m firm on what I want to do.”
Janet, this has been such a great conversation. I am so grateful that our paths crossed and that Leah recommended you to the podcast or you joined the course, all of that. You are such a delight and this has been such a great conversation. Thank you so much for being here.
Janet Laine:
Thank you so much. I really enjoyed it.
Daphne Gomez:
I want to give a huge thank you to Janet for sharing her story with us today. If you have been struggling to work past all of the challenges of changing careers from teaching, like resume writing or identifying new paths, or even just putting together a list of all the tasks so that you know what to start with first, you don’t have to do this on your own. Check out teachercareercoach.com/course to learn more about the course that Janet and thousands of other teachers have used to help them push past roadblocks and land their new positions outside of the classroom.
Mentioned in the episode:
- 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 (If you are a Teacher Career Coach Course member, you can also sign up for our one-on-one Career Clarity calls.)
