Teachers in Transition

Teachers in Transition - Episode 45 - Interview with Suzanne Klein, Former Teacher Turned Serial Entrepreneur

February 05, 2020 Kitty Boitnott Season 1 Episode 45
Teachers in Transition
Teachers in Transition - Episode 45 - Interview with Suzanne Klein, Former Teacher Turned Serial Entrepreneur
Show Notes Transcript

In today's episode, I interview Suzanne Klein, a former teacher turned serial entrepreneur. Suzanne worked as a teacher in multiple roles and different grade levels before becoming an instructor for BER (Bureau of Education And Research). She developed a writing curriculum that was so effective she was able to turn it into a million-dollar idea--literally. She started a business using the writing curriculum and eventually sold that business for 7 figures. Now she is starting a new business and she is helping teachers who want to start their own business build the strong foundation that they need to be successful. From helping them flesh out the germ of an idea to planning when to quit their teaching job, Suzanne is there to help. The difference between what Suzanne does and what I do is that Suzanne want to help teachers with ideas for a business to create the business foundation. I help teachers who want a traditional job outside the classroom and need to understand the fundamentals of the job search process as well as how to create the tools they need for success:  a winning resume, a compelling cover letter, a stellar LinkedIn profile and the ability to interview with poise and ease. 

To access the "Rewrite Your Future Map" that Suzanne talked about in the episode, click here:

https://www.suzanneklein.com/vs-map-download



And to access her "Five Freedoms" quiz that we talked about on this episode here:  https://www.suzanneklein.com/

Contact Suzanne at SuzanneKlein.com.

If you have any questions for me, email me at kittyboitnott@gmail.com. My website is TeachersinTransition.com

Kitty Boitnott:

Are you a teacher who's feeling stressed out and overwhelmed? Do you worry that you're feeling symptoms of burnout or are you sure you've already gotten there? Have you started to dream of doing some other kind of job or perhaps pursuing a whole different career, but you don't know what else you're even qualified to do? You don't know how to start a job search. You just feel stuck. If that sounds like you, I promise you're not alone. My name is Kitty Boitnott. I'm a career transition and job search coach and I specialize in helping burnt out teachers just like you deal not only with the stress and overwhelm of your day-to-day job, but to consider what other careers might be out there waiting for you. Join me for"Teachers in Transition." In some episodes I'll be speaking to stress management techniques and how you can manage your stress on a day to day basis. In other episodes I'll be talking about career transition. What tools do you need to be successful in a job search when you're moving from one career into a totally different track? These are questions that you need answers to and I can help you find those answers. My name is Kitty Boitnott. Welcome to"Teachers in Transition." Welcome back to Episode 45 of"Teachers in Transition."My name is Kitty Boitnott and I'm the owner of Boitnott Coaching and"Teachers in Transition." This week we're going to be talking with a special guest and it will be a, the topic will be related to teachers and alternate careers for teachers who might be thinking about making a career change. So my guest is Suzanne Klein. Suzanne is a former educator, turned entrepreneur. She's also a spiritual seeker, a lover of life, and a freedom initiator. From an elementary teacher to owning a seven figure business, selling it, and now teaching teachers how to do it, too. Suzanne serves educators through coaching and online courses that help them successfully transition from education to entrepreneurship, creating a business and a life they can love. Welcome, Suzanne. First off, I want to ask you if you would share just briefly a little bit about your teaching history and background, uh, what you were doing before you became an entrepreneur.

Suzanne Klein:

So, thank you Kitty, first of all for having me on your podcast. This is great. So always happy to be able to share with educators what the possibilities are for them. So I actually came from really two extremes. I started teaching in a farming community, uh, and Michigan and this community, uh, was where I really became and loved teaching. And so I started out as a computer teacher because I came in kinda the middle of the year. And then, uh, that was with Apple IIs's, those really big machines way back when teaching computers to kindergarteners. Um, and then everything from looping my first graders up to second and continuing to do that cycle, um, as a fifth grade teacher. And then also I was a Title One third and fourth grade reading and writing, um, improvement teacher. And then on the opposite extreme, I was an administrator. I was a teacher coach going into an inner city district that in Michigan, and I was observing teachers and providing them feedback. And this district was extremely challenging. It was just outside of Detroit because, um, the state had taken over the district because of poor performance and the district is no longer. But that was definitely a huge challenge. And so all of that really led me to be able to have the strength and the grips to start businesses and be an entrepreneur. So I'm very thankful for all the experiences that I have.

Kitty Boitnott:

So tell me about your most recent, uh, since, since you've owned several businesses. Let's talk about the one that you're starting now and getting off the ground now that you sold your other business and you're starting a brand new endeavor to help teachers in particular. So talk a little bit about that. What do you do?

Suzanne Klein:

Yeah, let me just go back if we could a bit why I left teaching, because I know a lot of your listeners are probably, um currently considering, should I leave, should I stay, should I go? Um, and I would have to say the advice that I would give somebody in a position where they're not sure or they're feeling stuck or they're feeling burnt out or they just don't know is follow your heart, but do a lot of seeking about what it is truly that you want. What--a lot of times I find people when they make a move and they make a transition, they leave, they don't think about what skills they actually enjoy. So what I mean by that is they will take their skills and they'll leave somewhere and they'll go in, they'll do take, okay, I'm good at these skills, so I'm going to get this job. But they don't think about, okay, I might be good at these skills, but I don't enjoy it. Yeah. So it's important to consider not only the skills that you're good at, but also the skills that you enjoy as well. So I know you help people who are looking to find a new job, um, and be, um, employed by someone else. And so, all right. So let me just briefly talk about why I left teaching because it's a little different of a reason than maybe some of your Lester's I didn't leave because I was burnt out. I left. Yeah, I left. I still love teaching. But what I didn't love about teaching is I didn't love going to the same place every day at the same time. Didn't love that. Um, and then also it didn't love some of the people politics that were going on. Uh, and I really felt like I was made for something more. I felt like there was a bigger purpose. I knew I was making an impact in the classroom, but I knew that I really wanted to make a larger impact. And so, you know, I was offered an opportunity to be a national presenter for the largest, um, education presenting company that offers PD, uh, BER. And so I went on the road and I was presenting my own writing curriculum and that was such an amazing experience, but I thought that traveling around the U S would be glamorous thing. And I'd get to see all these cities, but business travel is never glamorous. And so, um, yes. And so I, you know, I left the classroom to be a presenter and then when I realized that that wasn't really a fit, um, I had a very humbling experience. I had to, I had already moved out of the district. I was a teacher in and a sought-after teacher. So the humbling experience was that then I had to, now that I was living in a different location, I had to go and substitute teach. So here I go from this, you know, master teacher and parent requested to substitute teaching. But I have to tell you that was again, a excellent experience because the writing curriculum that I created when I was a teacher in the classroom and had presented, I was able to model and all these, um, I was able to really practice with these students that I was doing substitute teaching. And I got a lot of great ideas from the classrooms that I was going into. So you know, it all, even though sometimes it feels really muddy and we feel like, Oh, what am I doing? This isn't what I want to be doing in the end. When you look back, it can be really quite, uh, a beautiful thing. Yeah. So that's kinda just a quick history and then, um, just to, to get us caught up to where I am today. Uh, yes. So I left the classroom. I was substitute teaching. Then I, um, started hearing from the teachers that I had been nationally, well when I was a national presenter, um, I kept hearing you should package these lessons before someone steals them. And then when I was teaching these lessons and other teachers would see, they kept saying, Oh, this is really good stuff. So then I started going in as a consultant modeling these writing lessons. And again, people kept saying, you've got to package this before someone steals it. Well, when you're doing like your audience, they probably are having some success in an area, either in the classroom or outside the classroom where they've gotten a lot of feedback or compliments. You got to listen to that because there's a sign there that that might be something you need to pursue. And so finally about after six years or so, um, you know, I come from a family of female entrepreneurs. So I was like, okay, what, what am I going to do really next? I've started this consulting business where I'm modeling these lessons but I feel like maybe it's time to listen to what people are saying. So I jumped to zip the net would appear and I started"Write Steps," which, uh, was a writing a curriculum. It was all common core based, uh, curriculum for teachers and we were selling into six different countries. We impacted and served over 350,000 students. And it was amazing. I had the company, I say past tense because I had the company for 10 years. It was an amazing journey and we were helping teachers teach writing. And I am so proud of what we created and what we established and my team was amazing. They're pretty much all former teachers. And so I grew the business from basically nothing and started becoming profitable really within the first year. And that was just a lot of blood, sweat and tears and going and doing a lot of presentations to principals, and schools and sharing with them what I have. And, uh, we grew it to over seven figures, so that's over a million. Um, and we had about close to 10 million in sales by the time I sold it after 10 years. And it was such a, an amazing learning process because, you know, I went from teacher with a teacher with a Master's degree, but not any business experience and not an MBA, so it truly can be done. There's so many examples out there of teachers that are just really, um, killing it, doing amazing. And so I think there's a lot of traits that teachers have that they don't even know that are very, make them very well-suited for business. And so I sold"Write Stuff" in 2017 and then I thought, okay, what am I going to do? I have now, um, no business. I sold my, my baby. Um, which was an amazing opportunity. It was really great. I sold it to a much larger education company that could really take it, um, and a direction and grow it much bigger than I could, um, with my team at 30. So I thought, well, I'm good at business. I've had three businesses now, and this one now is my fourth. And I know teachers and I love serving teachers because I feel like it's such an essential profession and teachers, you know, um, don't get the recognition, they don't get the pay. You know, I'm preaching to the choir so I won't go on and on. But you know, there's just so many things flawed in education and in the way teachers are treated. And the system that I really felt like I needed to help and I needed to help, um, these teachers who were feeling burnt-out, stuck and wanted more, and I like my story and they want to start a business. So I kinda was like, okay, I know business and I know how to start and create a successful business and I want to serve educators. How could I combine the two? And that's how"Rewrite Your Future@SuzanneKlein.com. My name a Z website. Um, that's how we write your future started. It was really on the need and the want to serve and to really help educators who want to take a transition. And that's why, you know, I think that we are so well suited kitty because you help teachers who want to get a job, a new career and great at the resume and the LinkedIn and you know how to really position yourself well. And I'm, my jam is really helping teachers start from, okay, what are your, if you have no idea, I help those that have no idea. And they come to me and say, I know I want to start a business. I know I want to be my own boss, I want to build my dream and I'm, I'm building someone else's dream. I want to build my dream. Um, and so we go from like, I take them from the beginning and I'm looking at my whiteboard cause our model, all my modules are there. I take them from the beginning of, I think I have a sort of a little bit of an idea to all the way to being able to figure out when they can quit their job, how are they going to make money, all that.

Kitty Boitnott:

Perfect. And the, and the difference is I help people who want to find a job and B, continue to work in the traditional workplace and you are helping people build a dream if they have a dream of starting their own business and working for themselves. And it only occurred to me recently that, that I needed to add a module to my program that talked about those two paths. That when people are at the point of making a life-changing decision regarding their professional future, for some finding a job is the right answer. But for others, like myself, you know, seven years ago when I started this business, I was at the point of knowing I did not want to work for someone else. I wanted to be my own boss. I wanted to be in charge of my own schedule and I wanted to be in charge of my own destiny. So, uh, I think you're right. We are, we are a perfect fit with one another because we both help teachers, we both have a passion for teachers and I want to want to be of assistance to them but we help in different ways. One of the things that I, I don't think I mentioned in the questions that I sent you to think about ahead of time, so I hope I'm not throwing you a curve ball. I know that you do you offer on your website of free quiz on Five Freedoms? Do you mind talking briefly about that for just a minute?

Suzanne Klein:

Yeah, I'd be happy to. Thank you, Kitty for asking. Right. So I kind of stumbled upon this idea of"freedoms" and I really realize that we're all truly seeking five freedoms. We are all seeking to have more freedom in our life and lives and teachers. Educators don't have a lot of freedom. And so let me go over the five freedoms and I'm sure listeners will be able to relate. And be like, Oh yeah, I'm definitely low in that area. I'm low on that. So the five freedoms are, we'll start with time freedom. Probably. I think one of the biggest, um, lack of freedoms that the educators have. The time freedom is being able to work. When you want to work, set your own schedule, you're not nine to five. And that was the part that I didn't like about teaching was going to the same place every day at the same time. So, that's the time freedom, you know, having that luxury to be able to go to your kids' concerts or going on a field trip during the day and taking off because you can flex your schedule. You know, I can work at night when I'm doing something during the day. So that's time freedom. And then there's also people freedom and often overlooked. But the people freedom is getting to choose who you want to work with, surrounding yourself around people that have the same kind of energy. Um, instead of energy-zapping people where, you know, with that whole laptop lifestyle. And we have an online business such as myself and you as well can eat. You get to really work from anywhere. So a lot of times I will work in hotel lobbies cause I live in the Cayman islands. And so we have some beautiful hotels here. So I'll work there or we'll be on a trip and I'll work wherever, as long as I have a laptop. So time freedom, people, freedom, location freedom. And then there's financial freedom. That's a biggie for educators. Of course those educators are so undervalued and underpaid. Um, and so financial freedom is the money to be able to have opportunities and experiences that you wouldn't be able to have. So it's, it's a, that's really what money truly is. It's provided opportunities, experiences. Um, and then the last freedom is really the most important. That kind of frames all the others that gives you all the others is purpose. Freedom. When you're working in your purpose, it's a true freedom. Do you feel lit up? You are excited about what you're doing and you feel like you're serving, you have a bigger purpose in life, you're helping the world. And truly no matter if that's an a job or a business, so these five freedoms, the only way that they can be truly achieved as your entrepreneurship. I've done every scenario possible and truly the Five Freedom Life. It only comes from having owning a business. And so that's why I have that book is on my site because it allows people to see where do they score. It actually gives them a score at the end on each one of the freedoms. And so it's really cause there's questions that you have to answer that, um, are about each one of those freedoms.

Kitty Boitnott:

Yeah. And I enjoyed taking that quiz and I recall that on the purpose freedom, I was a 25 out of a 25 so I was excited to see that. Um, and I also know that people who are listening may want to learn more about you and what you have to offer and you are offering a freebie today. So tell us a little bit about that. I'll include the link in the show notes, but tell us about the gift that you're offering our listeners today, right?

Suzanne Klein:

Yes. So it's the rewrite your future map. And I thought about where are people feeling stuck, like what part in their journey are they feeling stuck? And so whether people want to seek your assistance in helping them find a new career, a new job, this map will work for them. Or whether there are people who are thinking about starting a business and being entrepreneur. This map that will help for them. So it's almost like a candy land map. Do you remember that game? Candy land? And it takes you on a path up to the summit and that's everyone's kind of on a journey of self discovery and there's questions that people answer. And then based on those questions you find where you are on the map, on your journey, on your rewrite, your future journey, and it helps them. Then there's a tip underneath each, um, area where you're at. And it helps to guide you from where you're at to where you want to be. And it helps you kind of identify what the next.

Kitty Boitnott:

Excellent. Well, thank you for offering that. I know that people will enjoy taking advantage of that. Susanna cannot thank you enough for taking time out of your busy schedule to talk with me today and to share your insights with my audience. I know that they will have found some of what you've offered intriguing and interesting and as far as finding that purpose in our lives, I absolutely agree. I believe we are each born with a purpose, and our journey involves finding out what that is because we don't always recognize it right away and we have to look for it and uncover it or discover it or rediscover it as the case may be. And at the end of the day, I think each one of us wants to leave an imprint on the world in some way. Uh, we don't want to have been here and not made a difference in some fashion or form. And for a lot of entrepreneurs, I think their driving mission is to make the biggest impact they can on the most number of people. And that certainly what you're doing, and it's what I attempt to do every single day. So, thank you for what you do for teachers and for being there for those who are ready to start their own businesses.

Suzanne Klein:

And can I just share too, I mean politically, but I do think we are purpose can change. Like that's the other teachers that are seeking are listening right now. They've already made such a big difference and now they're finding that the per their former purpose no longer serves. And that's the, the, you know, my students that I'm coaching, that's what they're finding and it's okay. Right? I mean according to let go of that, that guilt.

Kitty Boitnott:

Well, like we repurposing thing and I tell people, I'm still teaching, I guess I'm a teacher at heart and there's nothing I can do about it. But I'm teaching a different curriculum to a different group of students. So, it's possible that if you felt like you were born to be a teacher, that you can still find the outlet for that need to teach and instruct. It just doesn't have to be in a classroom, as you said, in a brick and mortar building where you show up at the same time every day.

Suzanne Klein:

Well, thank you Kitty. Thank you for having me. Thank you for what you're doing and

Kitty Boitnott:

Okay, so I will, uh, cut off the conversation for now and, and suggest that anybody who's interested in learning more reach out to Suzanne. It's at SuzanneKlein.com. If you have questions for me, you can reach out to me, it TeachersinTransition.com or email me directly at kittyboitnott@gmail.com. I'd love for you to offer a review of today's episode. Uh, comments, thoughts, insights. We'd love to hear from me. So that's it for today. Thank you so much and I'll see you next week. Bye bye.

Speaker 1:

So there you have it, an episode of"Teachers in Transition." I hope you enjoyed the information and I hope you'll plan to come back. Please subscribe to"Teachers in Transition" so that you can be alerted of future episodes. And let me know if you have any questions or topics that you would like me to specifically cover in a future episode. I'm more than happy to help with individual questions as well. So email me at KittyBoitnott@BoitnottCoaching.com. If you are interested in finding a new career or just enjoying your life more, this is the place to start. Hi, I'm Kitty Boitnott and this is"Teachers in Transition."