Teachers in Transition - Episode 176 - October 30, 2023

After a long hiatus, Kitty Boitnott returns to #TeachersinTransition to introduce Vanessa Jackson who has bought the coaching business from Kitty after Kitty's retirement. 

#coachingbusiness #teachersintransition

Transcript

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Speaker 1 0:03

Welcome to a new episode of Teachers In Transition, the podcast for teachers in transition, the company that is specialized in helping burnt out teachers who are ready for a career change. As a reminder, you'll note that I retired this. My name's Kitty Boy Knot , and I retired last year at about this time coming up on Thanksgiving of 2023. And here , here we, well, I announced my retirement for 2023 around Thanksgiving of 2022. That's what I meant to say. So it's been almost a year since I announced my retirement plans for the new year. And part of that process included finding someone who would be interested in buying my business so that people who are already in the program would not be left hanging and not have somebody to support them throughout their search . I admit that I have dropped the ball since I retired in January and haven't been providing the kind of support that needs to be provided for those folks. And I did find someone who would buy the business. And I'm here today to introduce her to the listeners who may be out there listening to teachers in transition and to ask her a few questions about her intentions for teachers in transition. So please join me in welcoming Vanessa Jackson, a former teacher from Texas. Uh , Vanessa has been a teacher for over 25 years, and she left teaching in 2021 to start a career in the corporate world. And I'll let her tell you a little bit more about that. But when I was ready to sell my business, Vanessa was the person who kept popping up in my mind as someone that I thought would be a great transition person because when I worked with Vanessa, she got the program, she used the program, and she was successful with the program. And I felt like she would be the ideal candidate if she was interested in the business. And it turns out that luckily for me, she was. So we have managed the transition into getting her up and started. And Vanessa, I wanna welcome you today to Teachers in Transition, the podcast.

Speaker 2 2:32

Thank you . I'm so excited to be here.

Speaker 1 2:36

I'm excited for you to be here too. So I wanted today to be an introduction. You'll be picking up the podcast and you'll be transitioning over the next few weeks and months, taking over more and more aspects of the business so that you'll be reaching out to current clients as well as former clients who may want to reignite their own job search if they weren't successful the first time around. So I've already mentioned that you were a veteran teacher of 25 years. You, I believe, taught in a number of states, including Alaska as well as where you are right now at in Texas. You were a military wife, is that right?

Speaker 2 3:17

20 years worth . Yeah .

Speaker 1 3:19

Traveling all over the country, doing your part to support your husband and his service, and thank him for his service when you get a chance. Um , so tell us a little bit about your experience with teachers in transition. You start , I , I went back and looked it up. You started working with me in December or January of 2021. It was , would've been January, I guess specifically 2021. And then by the end of 2021, you had made your exit and you started your new career. So tell us a little bit about that process.

Speaker 2 3:57

Yeah , so 20 20, 20 21 was that year where we started at home, or it was hybrid in many respect . And it, I quickly realized that the new normal was not going to be sustainable. And I actually started listening to your podcast from the beginning, probably in November, I believe. I, I binged and listened to it, and I, I listened to some others too. But then I made the decision to work with you because I, I like your very calm and measured approach and there's a lot of good tools to use . And I appreciated that there was the weekly podcast that dealt with more than just job transition. It also included the survival skills for teachers who were still teaching because a lot of teachers would be happy to continue teaching if they could just figure out how to make it work for them . And so I started with you in January and I started going through the process and engaging in the group call . And then I was putting off the , the networking part of it , because I am a little uncomfortable with cold calling and networking and things like that. I have to learn to be much better at it. Uh , and in fact, it wasn't until I reached out and tapped my entire network and said, Hey, I need a job. I'm looking for a job that I had a friend reach out and said, Hey, we have a job that would be perfect for you. And then three weeks later I was working for that company. I worked for that kind , that was in the contingent staffing industry. So I have gained some HR experience, I've done interviewing, I've done hiring, sadly, I've done layoffs. Uh, and I, I learned how to kind of , I experienced how long the hiring manager would look at a resume because I was looking at resumes and I , uh, pitfalls in talking to someone on the phone , uh, depending on how all that went. So I got to experience, I feel like I had, I was prepared well, but then I also got to grow those skills in the contingent staffing industry. And unfortunately, I was laid off from that this past August as the tech industry was , is shrinking a little bit. And I decided because I , I went to work in corporate America because I wanted to know that there was a paycheck. That's why I was so happy to join this portion 500 company . What I had not taken into account is how often they will let people go to the balance sheet was good at the end of the year, and it was, you know, it was not personnel related . It was not performance related . They were very sad to see me go. And in fact, they brought me back for a one month short contract to organize a bunch of chaos because that's my specialty . And so I, I thought about it, I sat on it. I had a lot of things change in my life this year, and I decided that I wanted to bet on me and that I wanted to take this. And, and , uh, this will be, I I will be , um, fully en engaged in our role with this. So I'm very excited to do that.

Speaker 1 7:17

Well, I'm excited. You're

Speaker 2 7:19

My favorite people.

Speaker 1 7:20

And now that you mention it, I , my recollection is that our first conversation, we did a discovery call in December of 2020 and I was sitting in my car getting ready to go in for a physical therapy session. There was snow on the ground. We had had snow the week before and you told me that I was the person that you listened to on the podcast when you walked your dog in the morning through the neighborhood. And I had this sensation of, oh my gosh, I'm her Amy Porterfield. Amy Porterfield is a business coach that I routinely listened to when I was walking my dogs through the neighborhood. So I had had that immediate connection with you when I , when I thought, oh, I'm her Amy Porterfield. And then we just sort of, our relationship blossomed from there. Yeah,

Speaker 2 8:15

It did. Um, and I was , uh, I was able to , I had also bought the one-on-one session . And so when I needed , uh, that dose of get your button gear , uh, you know, let's talk about what you really want. And I remember when we were talking that you were saying, you know, you talked about coaching, I also have nutrition coach credentials and I've done training. And she's like , you know , one , Katie asked , why, why don't you do some of that? And I was afraid to try to make that role because of the idea. I , I felt like I needed that guaranteed paycheck. And what I've learned is that there is no guaranteed paycheck

Speaker 1 8:55

Are no guaranteed paychecks. That is for sure. That is for sure. That's why you're better off to bet on yourself in the long run 'cause you know what you're capable of and you know what you're willing to do. So absolutely welcome aboard . I am really thrilled to have you and I know you're going to do a fantastic job. So let me ask you a little bit about , um, your job in the corporate field. While as you were talking it, it appears to me that what has happened is you've had an opportunity to see the world of work from both ends, the job seeker and the job provider as a trainer yourself. And you were able to assess resumes, you got up to speed on all the latest technology and what people are looking for in resumes, as you said in the interview process, interviewing over the phone. So that has given you an , a breadth of experience that the average person just does not have. So talk, I

Speaker 2 10:05

I feel like it was leading me here that right <laugh> what I feel like that experience was leading me here.

Speaker 1 10:11

Exactly. Exactly. So tell us a little bit more about that. Um, have you had an opportunity to coach any teachers into another arena yet?

Speaker 2 10:22

Well, so interestingly, I actually was asked to talk. I , I told, when they hired me initially, I told my new manager, I'm like, Hey, if you like hiring recycled teachers, I can hook you up with a steady stream. And at one point , uh, I was told, Hey, we're looking at hiring this person. She used to be a teacher. Will you talk with her? And so I did, I did get a chance to talk to her. And , uh, she did end up working. Uh, she came to work with us . Uh , she supported a different account, but she was doing the same kind of work. And unfortunately, she was let go at the same time I was. But , uh, you know, I, I've helped in that regard. I always give, I've always given out advice to my friends based on what I've learned , uh, just , you know , in my own personal life. Uh , so I look forward to having, I've reached out and talked with a couple of people involved in the teachers in transition, but as we move forward, I'm looking forward to a , uh, more regular cadence and , uh, more regular contact.

Speaker 1 11:24

Excellent. Excellent. That sounds great. Um, so are you looking to make any, are you looking to keep up the podcasts? I know we were . I'm logging ,

Speaker 2 11:36

I'm , um, uh, I , I have been going through a sleep stress and recovery program. I , I am still nutrition certified . I am still , uh, certified as a trainer. And so I would love to bring those things around to bear in efforts to combat stress, to fight those feelings of burnout and to , I guess look to find a sense of balance in our lives in a job that doesn't think we should have any . Right . And I'm hoping that some of these things will , will be useful . I already have this wonderful podcast mapped out about when life gives its lemon and the fact that humans made lemon . So that's , um, interesting. <laugh> , lemons are manmade. They do not naturally occur, occurring naked .

Speaker 1 12:31

That is true. Um , well, like I said , I'm really excited to have you to become the next face of teachers in transition. I know it's going to be in good hands and that you're going to be a good steward for the program. It's, I'm glad too that you have that too . You're tuning in, excuse me, tuning in to the connection between burnout and stress. Because relented stress is what leads to burnout. The sensation of burnout and nutrition is part of it, and sleep deprivation is part of it as well. So if you have those additional skill sets to bring to your coaching, that'll simply give you a larger toolbox from which to pull the tools that you need to work with, with your individual clients.

Speaker 2 13:26

Absolutely, definitely.

Speaker 1 13:29

Perfect . Perfect. Well congratulations on taking over teachers in transition. And thank you so much for your op , your service to teachers and your continued dedication to teachers.

Speaker 2 13:44

Thank , thank you for the opportunity. Thank you for also helping to mentor me , mentor through this and it'll a very important part of teachers in Transition , you know , not voice podcast moving forward .

Speaker 1 14:00

Well , I've built the foundation, but you're going to continue to build it .

Speaker 2 14:04

That's the

Speaker 1 14:06

So thank you so much and have a great rest of your day.

Speaker 2 14:10

Thank you .