Krista left the classroom for a career in customer success after eight years as an elementary and special education teacher. In this episode, Krista shares what it was like to transition from the classroom into a role as an Associate Partner Success Manager.
Listen to the episode in the podcast player below, or find it on Apple Podcast or Spotify.
From SpEd Teacher to Associate Partner Success Manager
Daphne:
Krista, do you mind sharing a little bit about your experience with working in the education system?
Krista:
Yes. I was a public school educator in New Jersey for eight years. I spent my first five years as a first grade special ed teacher and I was already feeling the burnout then. So like you suggest a lot of people to do as their first option when they’re unhappy in the education world is I change districts. Then I spent three years as a second grade general education teacher and I switched to a district that had smaller class sizes, more funding, more parental and school support, and I was still experiencing those same feelings that I was experiencing before. And so, that’s what brought me on this journey and brought me to you, and your course, and your podcast.
Daphne:
That’s one of the things I always recommend, evaluating if you’re even open to the idea of changing to a different classroom or a different grade level or a different school or a different district. And some people already in their heart know that’s not the answer for me. You’ve already written it off. I found the exact same experiences when I went somewhere with more parent involvement, things got actually worse for me. So what types of jobs did you start looking into while you were still in the classroom? What was the beginning of your career transition process?
Krista:
I had actually decided, after my seventh year teaching, that I was very unhappy. So at the end of the summer of 2021, I knew that I needed to make the change, but the school year was about to get started. And so, what worked for me was that I decided to use that entire last year of that school year to do the research to figure out exactly what I wanted to do.
So the first thing I honestly started doing was listening to the podcast just for exposure of what was even out there. I had no idea what I could transition to. All of my jobs were only ever in education. Even when I was in college, my summer jobs were daycare jobs, summer camp jobs. My master’s was in education. And so, I just needed to learn what was out there. So from listening to the podcast, I started making a list of careers that I could see myself transitioning to and ones that I couldn’t. And I think it’s so important to self-reflect and realize what your strengths are and what you can bring to the table when you’re transitioning, and that’s exactly what I did.
And so, then from there, I had narrowed it down to a few fields and I really started networking on LinkedIn and asking people for informational interviews because I figured the best way to learn what I thought I would do well with was speaking to people who were in the role, getting to hear what these people do on a day-to-day basis. And that was what really had me narrow down into the field of customer success. And that was ultimately where almost all of the roles that I was applying to were in.
Krista’s search for a new career path
Daphne:
Yeah, this is something you and I were talking even before the podcast, is so many teachers get fed this, if you’re a teacher, you would be great at X. We could say corporate training or instructional design or even sales. Any of the roles that I have showcased, any teacher is going to be a good fit. That’s why this podcast exists, but it doesn’t mean that every teacher should go for the exact same role because you’re all completely different, unique individuals. Some of you really love pointing together extreme PowerPoint presentations. Those teachers who really like sitting down and creating the most visually appealing PowerPoint presentations are going to want to do something like that where there are teachers that are like, “Absolutely not. That’s not my passion.”
You said that you started looking into instructional design at first, right?
Krista:
Yeah, I thought about certain things like being a corporate trainer or instructional design. And again, as I focused in on what were my interests as a teacher, what were my strong points as a teacher, I realized that creativeness aspect wasn’t exactly for me, or with being a corporate trainer, I didn’t necessarily want to be teaching anymore, which is there’s such a mirror with the corporate training and teaching. And so I realized, you know what? Those would be amazing fields for other educators to transition into, but personally for me, that’s not where I see my strong suits in.
Daphne:
Yeah. That takes a lot of reflection. Were you already in the Teacher Career Coach course during this part of the process?
Krista:
I had started about–It was August and listening to the podcast and everything, and then I started taking the course in December of last year. So that was when I really started going through the modules and doing a lot of that heavy self-reflection to really narrow things down.
Daphne:
So once you had identified the path, did you use those resources to help you with rewriting your resume and how did that help you?
Krista:
Yeah, so I had actually hired the resume writer through the course, which was for me amazing to have that there. It was daunting for me to imagine sitting in front of a blank screen with nothing and just starting from scratch. So for me, I really felt that it was worth it, and then I went in and I put my own personal touches into it, and of course, you need to add in your own specifics, change the order around of things, a lot of things that you talk about. I used your resources so much when I was prepping for the interview, when I was writing my cover letter, when I was making my LinkedIn profile and connecting with people on LinkedIn. I really feel like everything I learned was seriously through the course with you. I mean, really, it was a lifesaver for me.
Daphne:
That’s so great to hear that it was really helpful. When you were using those materials, though, let’s talk a little bit about your LinkedIn strategy because that was part of your entire process. And I think one of the things that people get so weighed down with is, should they be posting on LinkedIn every single day? There’s a lot of people in this echo chamber like, “That’s the way to get attention.” And for me, it has never been an efficient process. I feel like it’s a time waster, but that’s something that I talk about in more detail on other episodes.
But also, another thing that happens is people don’t understand the easiest way to actually network on LinkedIn and get those informational interviews. Sometimes, because it’s a new process, you might end up asking something that could take a lot of bandwidth for someone to answer that type of question. And you’re going to face a lot of rejection when it comes to even asking someone in general. So there are ways to ask in a way that you’re going to get less rejection. Did you find that people were receptive or did you face a lot of rejection, which is normal?
How Krista networked during her job search
Krista:
Yeah, first of all, I was not a poster. I was not the big hashtag transitioning teacher. Again, like you said, I felt like I had to put so much of my time and energy into other things that I didn’t spend time doing that. So what I did was that I had reached out to people who worked in companies that I was interested in working in, specifically in the customer success field because, at that point, I knew that that’s what I wanted to go into. And I would just send a quick message, a, sentence or two about myself and ask a couple of very simple questions that I knew wouldn’t take a lot of time, or I would say, “If it’s easier for you to schedule a phone call or a Zoom, I’d be more than happy to do that,” and there were a lot of people who did not answer.
I never had one single response that was just shut me down. That was like, no, or somebody who was rude. I never had that. I did have a lot of people who didn’t answer, which is completely understandable because all of those people have jobs and they probably have a lot of other people reaching out to them. But those people that I did have those conversations with were truly so helpful in giving me insight into their companies, into the role, even into things like salary and benefits because sometimes it’s hard to find that information, which was important for me leaving a job. And teaching in New Jersey, we do have strong insurance and a strong salary, so those questions were important for me to have answered. Those people really were helpful with just gaining insight. And there were people who even offered to look through my resume and give their opinion, which I know we air on the side of caution with, but I think it’s always helpful to have insight from other people who are doing what you want to be doing.
Daphne:
Yeah, 100%.
It’s always like that delicate balance because if you have a really well done resume and you send it to people who have no insight into the hiring process. So most people, unless you’re going for a recruiter role or a hiring manager type of position, most people don’t sit on the other side where they’re actually reviewing all the resumes to make that decision, so they’re going to have their own opinions. And always, if you’re asking someone to look for red flags, they’re going to give you red flags.
If you’re asking someone, “Hey, rip this thing apart,” they’re going to find reasons to rip it apart. And then they’re also potentially not the people you’re trying to impress at that stage either. So it’s such a hard concept of, how do I get feedback on this but take it with a grain of salt and not change everything every single time someone gives me any insight if they aren’t someone that has the experience of actually reading resumes?
During your job search process you were super organized. Sounds like you were on top of it.
Krista:
Yes.
Krista’s experience applying to roles in customer success
Daphne:
How many roles do you think you applied for before ultimately getting that yes?
Krista:
I applied to 70. So, personally, for me, what I found to be the easiest was, you are right, I am very structured and organized. So I had created a spreadsheet for myself and I was mainly applying to EdTech roles. I did apply to other roles on LinkedIn, but the ones I was really focusing my time and attention on were EdTech roles. So what I did was I made a spreadsheet. I had a list of companies, the link that went directly to their career boards, and then any of the roles that were active that I was interested in applying to. And I just constantly went through that list and made note of which ones I applied to, which ones didn’t have any available roles but they may at a later date. And I just constantly went through that list and it ended up really being about 70 that I applied to in total.
Daphne:
We have to have template of that inside the course as well.
Krista:
I used that and then I tweaked it and added in other companies that I came across. But yep, that was the template that I used.
Daphne:
Okay. I love that. I was like, oh no, what if she didn’t see that link to help her with it? Did you have any interviews prior to this one or prior to the one that you were successful in?
Krista:
Yeah. I had started applying in April. I had one interview in May. It was for a teeny tiny baby startup company. So I did the first round of the interview. They immediately offered me a second round interview, and then, a couple days later, they said, “We’re actually not hiring for the role anymore.” And so, that was it. And I was thinking it went so well that literally that night they offered me the second round. But that’s something you do have to get comfortable with along this journey, is there are going to be instances where you feel like a little crushed or discouraged, but you just have to keep going because, again, it only takes that one yes. And then, other than that, it was just this interview process that I went through with my company, which I had a really positive experience with.
Daphne:
I know that you’re a former special education teacher. Did you leverage that in any way throughout your process with your resume or even specifically for this education company?
Krista:
Yeah. A lot of data. In my interview process, a lot of the questions that they asked were, how have you used data as a former educator? And special education teachers know that… I mean, every teacher uses a ton of data, but specifically special education teachers with IEPs and setting goals, and monitoring those goals, there is so much data analysis in there and setting goals and monitoring progress to reach them. So that was something that I spoke about a lot when I was going through the interview process.
How Krista handled questions about leaving the classroom
Daphne:
Did they ask any specific questions like, why are you leaving teaching?
Krista:
They did. In the beginning, it was just a general, well, what made you want to leave teaching, and why do you want to come to this company, and why specifically do you want to be in this role? So, for me, I spun it as I truly valued my eight years as an educator and I feel that I had grown so much as a professionalism in X, Y, Z ways, but I’m looking to grow more within my career, and that’s what brought me to your company. And I made sure that I did a lot of research on the company and on the role before I interviewed. And I tied so much of that specific knowledge into the interview, which I had gotten feedback afterwards that that was one of the things that they really loved, was, even though I hadn’t used the actual product, that I did so much research on it. And that was something that I think really helped me to get this role.
Daphne:
Oh my gosh, I feel like you have memorized the interview modules of the course.
Krista:
I did a lot of work.
Daphne:
That is wild. I saw you do that. I was like, she has practiced this.
Krista:
It was a long journey, let me tell you. That year, I really put in so much work, but it’s not magic. It doesn’t just happen out of nowhere. You have to put in the work to get the result that you want and to get your happiness back.
Daphne:
And the biggest struggle that I think so many teachers really have, myself included, my first few interviews outside, I was nervous. I wasn’t sure I was going to be good at that job. And that is energy that they are looking for. They see your resume, they see that you’re going into a new position, and they’re looking to see, does she seem excited about this position? Does she seem passionate? Does she seem like she did our homework and she loves it just as much as we want her to love it because we want them to stay long term? And I didn’t have that energy until I found my very first role that I was like, “Oh, this is a perfect fit.”
Krista:
Absolutely.
Daphne:
Yeah, I will go through a multiple step process of interviews for this or I can see it. So until you do that soul searching and that clarity work to figuring out what it is and you start to really dig into maybe their LinkedIn learning courses or whatever you need to do to understand the role, you’re not going to be able to confidently speak about it. And hiring managers are looking for that energy.
Krista:
Yes. And I remember literally reading this job description and being like, they are describing me. To a T, every bullet point that they’re looking for in a candidate is me. And then when I had watched the videos on the company’s page and explored their history, I was like, this is a company that I truly believe in that I wish I had used as an educator. And when you really truly believe that, it is so easy to speak to that during the interview process because I was 100% in. And I think that that confidence came across when I was interviewing.
Daphne:
I felt the same way. And now that I am no longer employed by either of these companies, I’m happy to say it because it’s not a conflict of interest, but I felt the same way when I worked for Microsoft in their education program. And also, when I worked for Go Guardian, both of them, I was not really familiar. I wasn’t an expert going in. I wasn’t a company that was my, while I was in the classroom, I used it nonstop. And I think that that is where everybody really struggles when looking for EdTech companies as well is they only list off their top 10 favorites, and so, everyone’s fighting for those 10 favorites.
Once you start to explore other ones, you realize there are companies that have great missions, that have products that you feel good talking about, that also have teachers and classrooms best interest in mind, and that’s where you’re going to be the happiest, and that’s where you’re going to find the most natural fit, is when you are able to really believe in it. But you have to search the company page to understand what they do. There’s 700,000 companies that have SEL products that you probably would love if you are a teacher who loves social emotional learning, but you have to dig in and find them so that they’re off the beaten path and not just like that one LinkedIn post that says, “Here’s a one company that you’ve heard of.”
Krista:
Exactly.
Krista explains what it’s like to be an Associate Partner Account Manager
Daphne:
So your role that you landed now is a partner success manager. And that’s also one of the tricky things, is when you’re looking for customer success, there are all these variations of the title. So can you tell me a little bit about what a partner success manager does?
Krista:
Yes. And just to add, when I was hired for the role, it was actually called that of an associate account manager. Right after I took on the role, they rebranded the department, so now I’m an associate partner success manager. So that’s another name that could be similar to customer success, partner success, account management. So I just wanted to add that in too for people that are searching. So my role, it’s a little bit cyclical in nature as the school year progresses.
So at the start of the school year, there’s a lot of cleanup. So it’s like processing sales, POs, licensing schools, unlicensing ones that haven’t renewed, adding in new users, deactivating old users. There’s a lot of that cleanup to start the year off. But then, once the schools are rolling with the product, I am able to lead data meetings with school administrators. So I am kind of the head person on the meeting, and I’m looking at the student data that they got from using our product, and I’m walking them along student goals that are set, how we can help them reach those goals, what our recommendations are for their usage with the program.
And really, just throughout the year, having those strong relationships that are continuing to be built, I am emailing with customers a lot. They call me on the phone a lot. They request meetings just to make sure that they’re using our product smoothly, they are fully aware of all the features that we have. They’re happy, and so that they ultimately want to keep this and renew for the next year. And it really is like the title says. We want to make sure that our partners, our customers are successful and happy with using our products.
Daphne:
So one of the roles that I had, I was doing the professional development training and it was totally free. We worked with basically the customer success team, but they also had a different name at that company, and they just basically met with the principals and they said, “How are the teachers struggling? How can we help? How we give free training if they want it optional? Oh, also let me shoot you an email. Here’s this grant that’s out. If you need $10,000 for technology, apply for this grant,” or just any type of, some of it is sales, but any type of support that they could give of, “Hey, we’re a team here and we just want to make sure that you know how to use these and you know where curriculum is that can help you use these better.” And I feel like teachers really make great advocates for other teachers in these specific roles. Do you feel like you have the opportunity to…
Krista:
Yeah, we’re so resourceful. I feel like as educators, and a lot of this job is resourcefulness, finding out ways to answer these questions that the customers have that we’re working with, where to get those answers, ways to make them happy. And that’s something that we do all the time as educators. And another part, like you said, there is so much teamwork. I am constantly working with the professional development specialists and the sales reps that service those schools that I work with. And it is such a collaborative team effort. And again, that is something that I feel comes naturally to us as teachers because that’s what we do. We’re working with our grade level partners. We’re working with basic skills teachers, gifted and talented teachers, ESL teachers, special ed teachers. We are always working together on a team. And that’s something that, in this role, if you want your customers to be successful, it’s a whole team effort. So that’s another area where I feel like teachers can just easily segue into that.
Daphne:
Yeah, I 100% agree. I would love to hear a little bit about what the work-life balance is in this particular role. Do you find yourself bogged in eight hours of meetings every day? Are you stuck staring at a screen? Because some remote positions are different than other remote positions. And I know this is a completely remote role.
Krista:
So it is completely remote with occasional travel to actually visit our partners in the schools that we service. So that’s actually, to me, a fun component because I am mostly remote, but then I do get those opportunities to get to meet the colleagues that I work with and the partners that I’m working with. But the work-life balance has been amazing. I truly feel like a different version of myself. And every person that is close to me in my life has told me that I’m glowing. That’s literally what they say. They say my aura is completely different.
And I wasn’t completely miserable within teaching. I went the hours that I had to. I did what I had to do. I had great relationships with my colleagues and my students and my parents. But when I think about how I felt at the end of the day and how drained I was compared to now when I finished my day at five o’clock, I have so much more energy. And throughout the day, I am able to get these little things done, like laundry or vacuuming or taking a quick walk, working out, those little things that I was never able to do until the end of the school day when I would get home and be exhausted and drained. Whereas, now, when work is done at five o’clock, I shut my work phone off, I close my computer, and I don’t think about it. It’s for me to worry about the next day.
And just so many of those small anxieties that I had, something as simple as going out to dinner in the middle of the week, I love to go out to dinner in the middle of the week now. Whereas, when I was a teacher, I was worried like, “Oh no, I have to get up so early and I have to be fully 100% present in front of 20 something seven-year-olds.” I don’t have any of those feelings now. And so, it really is great to just be able to have that work-life balance. And I think, generally, in these roles, management is also understanding of that you have a life outside of your job. People have obligations for themselves, their health, their families, and unfortunately, that’s something that many teachers don’t experience, that level of understanding.
Daphne:
Yeah, I’ve just got a DM, I think, yesterday that someone was reprimanded for being sick and taking a sick day because the sub shortage is their fault as well, apparently. And that’s their responsibility to know that. That is not something that you will find in many corporate environments. I can’t tell you that when things like that happen in most corporate environments, you’ll be able to find it on Glassdoor when you’re doing a culture sleuthing on figuring out if it’s a good role for you or it makes it in the Wall Street Journal because the company gets blown up for having such poor practices.
Krista:
Yeah, exactly.
Daphne:
One part that I heard you say about you glowing sounded also a little bit like you may have some similarities, as I know that I found out about myself. I didn’t realize how much I thrive on change and growth. And even within teaching when I did not feel like I… I always felt like I couldn’t do well, but I also felt like I had reached that this is it and no, nothing’s going to change. This is my job for the next 30 years. And I didn’t realize until I left and I was like, okay, I’ll do three years of this role, left it, I want to do that role now. I didn’t realize that that was my personality. Did you find out anything about yourself as far as what you like for stability or were you feeling stagnant after you left?
What Krista learned about herself during her career transition
Krista:
Yeah, absolutely. So I came to realize during the process I was the same way. I am a go-getter. I love to set goals for myself and I love to achieve them. And I did not like feeling stagnant and stuck. And yes, you can become an administrator, then you’re going back to school, and you are spending a lot of time and a lot of money to get into that role. And that just wasn’t something I wanted. And I just couldn’t imagine myself for the rest of my life just being in the same role. Not to mention that a lot of times teachers are switched into roles that they do not want to be in, that they do not thrive in, and that they ask not to be switched into. And unfortunately, a lot of times you don’t have a say. So, yeah, I definitely realized through the process that I am excited about change.
And actually, a good friend of mine that’s known me since I was young said to me during the process, he was like, “I really think this is going to be perfect for you because,” he’s like, “I don’t even know if you realize it about yourself, but you love change. You get bored with things easily.” So he’s like this switching into an environment where you can grow. And with staying in the same company, there’s still so much room for growth within a company. And that’s something that I’m excited about as I get started, just setting those goals for myself, hitting those goals and seeing where I end up in the future.
Daphne:
I think that’s one part of teaching that hasn’t really evolved with the rest of the workforce surrounding it. Teaching is a role that this is your job and you’re going to have this exact same job for 30 years, where all of these other professions and all of these other industries, it is the norm to stay in a role for two or three years and then potentially get transferred to a different department or a promotion of some sort. It is far more normal for people to be multi-passionate about different types of work and bring multiple skills into their work. And I think that that’s an area where teachers are starting to realize, “Oh, maybe there’s part of my own personality that just did not mesh with this for the long term.” Whether or not they were in a really great working environment and they loved their school and they loved their students and they loved their coworkers, it just wasn’t the perfect fit for what they wanted for the rest of their career.
Krista:
Yeah. And you change so much as a person. When I was 18 years old and I decided that I wanted to be a teacher or when I was 21 years old and got my first role, I am not the same person that I was nine years ago when I started teaching. And that’s normal. You’re not supposed to be the same person that you were nine years ago. You grow and evolve and your interests change. So why does your profession have to stay exactly the same when you’ve grown so much as a person?
Daphne:
Yeah, 100%. And I want to even go back a little bit to what you were saying about you see a lot of career growth within this company. It’s not you saying, “I don’t know if I’ll even this company or I’ll just constantly be moving” because that is, that’s also exhausting and daunting for people to think about. But let’s talk a little bit about what are the types of roles you could see yourself from a customer success position as the starting point. Where would you go from there?
Krista:
So right now, I’m an associate partner success manager. So, of course, the next goal would be to be a standard partner success manager. And then, from there, there’s different managerial positions. There’s also different geographic regions within the company. So maybe if there’s not an opening in this specific geographic region that I’m in right now because this is a remote position, I can switch to another region if there is an opening that’s of interest to me. I remember, when I was first speaking to my manager when I got hired, she was like, “We really want you to hone in on what you’re passionate about. Throughout this process as you are with the company, we really want you to be happy and feel that you are fulfilled in your career. So if there’s a project that you want to take on, you can absolutely take on that project.” And I just really appreciated that there was that option of, we value you as an employee and we want you to do and to grow in areas that are making you feel happy and fulfilled within this company.
Daphne:
Yeah. And even that change in the customers that you’re serving, the different type of location, I had a role that was very similar, my professional development training role. It was called a learning consultant. But it was remote and then I traveled to schools and I also loved it where I was like, “Oh, this is a cool school by a beach town.” It really was fun that it got me out of the house and I still got that human interaction, but on a limited basis, not every day I was at the office. But then there were times that they would float these different territories that I would get so excited about because it was a free trip to Hawaii. That is one that was top in my mind, where I never got Hawaii, so that’s why I quit if they’re listening. Just kidding. But do you look at the different locations of that would be exciting to be able to go to that location if I got that territory?
Krista:
Oh yeah, absolutely. It’s like it’s an exciting aspect of it that we didn’t get to experience before.
Daphne:
It’s a completely different world and it also is not a great fit for everyone. do you mind if I ask if you have children?
Krista:
I don’t.
Daphne:
And same with me, during that time when I was traveling, because they will send you usually not every day of the week, but there were some mothers that were going on these trips with me also and it was very hard for them. So that’s something to consider if you’re looking at a traveling role as well, is if your significant other can watch if you are stuck going somewhere far away overnight before you start applying for these types of positions. But for me, in my period of life, that it was fun and I loved it.
Krista:
Exactly. And yeah, usually that is disclosed somewhere on the application, that there could be travel up to 10%. That was something that I saw for mine. It is very occasionally, so I would think it would be very doable if you were a parent, but that usually is listed right on that job description. And there were many that I did see. And some would say travel was 25% and I was like, “Okay, that’s too much for me. I want to mostly be remote. It’s exciting to travel occasionally,” but again, that’s something you don’t want to look over because people have those dos and don’ts and that’s something that you want to know going into applying for a role.
Daphne:
Yeah. And not always does travel mean that it’s an overnight trip. It could very much be, I live in the Los Angeles area and I was just forced to go within 50 miles of my home location for the majority of my work. So know that going into it when you’re going through all the process of reading those job descriptions.
So, Krista, I have to ask because usually I ask a different question, but I feel like you’ve covered a lot about how you knew or what you know about yourself now after you went through the process. I feel like we’ve covered that. I want to go back because you started out listening to this podcast when you were just trying to figure out what you wanted. There are thousands of teachers who are in that exact phase of their life who are going to be listening to this podcast episode and they’re going to be thinking, “I don’t know what I want. I’m just weighing the pros and cons.” What advice would you give to them from your perspective now?
Krista:
I would say really start off by, and I mentioned it before, getting to know yourself. You don’t just want to leave out of desperation. You don’t want to leave to leave. You want to leave and go into a role that you will be happy in and you’ll feel fulfilled in and that will make your life better. So of course it is a risk. It’s hard to know exactly what you’re getting into when you’ve never done it before, but there are ways that you can really hone in on your own strengths and weaknesses and really figure out where you can see yourself contributing to a company and helping other people. And certain things like, do you want to continue into the EdTech world? Do you want to help schools or do you not? Those are really things to just sit down with yourself, reflect on yourself, and figure out what you believe is going to be the best fit for you.
And then, honestly, just keep pushing. Like I said, I applied to 70 jobs. There were times where I was very discouraged. I had days where I would call my boyfriend and have a meltdown on the phone and be like, “I don’t think this is going to happen for me.” And he would remind me, “You are putting your energy and your time and your effort into this. It’s going to work out.” And I truly believe that the timing of it and the company that I’m with worked out exactly like it was supposed to. So just please don’t give up. Keep going, keep pushing because it’s going to happen for you and you are going to be happier than you could’ve imagined, honestly.
Daphne:
And you just can’t control the timeline even though it’s the most frustrating part. But just remember that most people, right before they finally landed their position weeks before, probably thought that they never were going to get a yes where all of them were on the verge of giving up at some point. The only way to continue to actually get to that one yes is just understanding the roadblocks you’re going to face, anticipating the roadblocks you’re going to face, and then having a support system like this community to help you stay motivated and keep pushing past it if it’s what you truly want.
Krista:
Yeah. And honestly, have confidence in yourself. We as educators have so many strong skills that are translatable and we make excellent hard workers. Know your worth, know your strengths, and make sure that when you are writing a resume or when you’re interviewing with people, they understand what you can bring to the company because I know, from being an educator, we are just hard workers to our core and we have so many strengths, and make sure that the people that you’re speaking to know that.
Daphne:
And that’s something that takes practice. It does not happen overnight, especially as you’re just figuring out your next steps, but it absolutely will happen. You are an example of someone who has practiced and studied. Just based on this interview, I know that you are going to go to really big places. And I’m so excited that you came on and just shared your story. So thank you so much, Krista, for being here.
Krista:
Thank you so much.
Daphne:
This was a really great talk.
Krista:
Yeah, thank you so much for having me. I really appreciate it. And I’m wishing everybody that’s listening to this the best of luck. Don’t give up pushing. You got it
Daphne:
Thank you so much.
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
