Retiring From Teaching - Chasing The Next Chapter In Life
This is a blog post I never EVER thought I would be writing when I started my journey as a coach but sometimes life takes you to unexpected places. I started Beachbody coaching in March of 2014. This was one month after participating in my first challenge group as a challenger myself. I just wanted to lose a few pounds that I had left of baby weight. I ended up loving it and decided I liked it so much I wanted to be a coach myself. At this point I was not looking for this opportunity to allow me to quit my job. In fact, I loved my job as a teacher and I had no plans to ever leave education. I just liked helping others feel as great as I did. I was enjoying using my skills I had from being a business teacher and applying them to my own business. It was fun to use my talents outside of my classroom.
Like all things I do when I decide to do something, I went ALL in from the start. I wanted to learn as much as I could and I wanted to make it work. From month one I kept telling my upline coach that I was going to be a top coach someday. I am certain she thought I was nuts but I kept showing up. I listened to every training and call I could get my hands on. I wanted to learn as much as I could as fast as I could. I was hungry to learn. I saw very quickly that the harder I worked the more disposable income I was able to create. As a teacher that was not something I was used to. My income was fixed. I got a raise once a year. It didn't matter how many extra things I did or hours I worked. The pay wasn't going to change. While it was a decent pay with wonderful benefits and a lot of other great perks it often left me with little disposable income at the end of the month. Paying for our mortgage, bills, groceries, daycare and just life in general in an affluent town gets expensive and I found myself wishing I could bring in just a little bit more for our family.
I decided after a few months in I was going to make this opportunity work for me no matter what. I saw others who had gone before me leaving great jobs and going on not just to retire themselves but also their spouse. While it seemed SO crazy I had this feeling in my gut that I could do it too. I kept saying over and over to myself "why not me" and I often reminded myself those successful coaches were no different than me. I believed in myself from day one and in my heart of hearts that is why I believe I was able to turn in my letter of resignation from teaching at the age of 29. It's funny because if you look closely I really didn't stop teaching and I don't think I ever will. My classroom and my students just have changed. I am still teaching which is where my heart is and always will be. Instead of teaching in a school I am teaching people how to get healthy in my challenge groups and I am teaching my new coaches how to run a business and become successful. When you look at it thru that lense you start to understand why I love this like it do because really it's my passion simply disgiuised as something else.
I don't want you to think this was easy. I worked REALLY REALLY hard for two solid years. I worked 5 - 6 nights a week from 8 pm - 11 pm sometimes until midnight or later. Only to wake up the next day by 5:00 am and do it all over again. I was relentless. I knew what I had to do to make this work. Last year I balanced a full time job as a teacher and this past year I was the Dean of Students for the 12th grade instead of teaching. I juggled motherhood, married life, the demands of keeping up with a household and I also took grad classes. I was the definition of busy. I managed to finish out the year last year in the top 200 out of 400,000+ coaches in the network. It was becoming very obvious that my little business that I was building after my sons bedtime started to grow beyond a hobby. The income went from spending money for me to buy make up at ULTA to covering a weeks worth of groceries to evolving into covering a months worth of groceries in a week. The longer I kept at it the more my residual income grew. To the point that I was making more at my part time job than I was at my day job as a teacher. It meant we had to think about how much longer I could keep juggling it all. While I did it well, I will admit it was taking it's toll on my health and I was starting to burn out. I couldn't keep doing both. My team and my role as a coach was needing more and more of my time the bigger we grew. It meant I needed to take the leap.
Quite honestly, I got lucky. My husband has been my biggest fan since day one. Not everyone can say that about their spouse when they start to chase crazy dreams. He is the reason why I am where I am today. He believed in me and what I could make of the opportunity and has supported my decision all the way. He too has made sacrifices so I could make this work. We have both had others question what on earth I was doing as a coach. We have been the butt of a few jokes over the last few years and sometimes when we tell people what our goals are they look at us like we have fallen off the crazy train. We kind of smile at each other when we get those questions because we are both thinking the same thing. If you only knew what it's doing for our family you wouldn't be questioning us. We let them laugh because they don't sign my paycheck. Not everyone gets this lifestyle and that's okay we don't need everyone to understand it or approve of it. We get it, we love it and he supports it and quite honestly that is all that matters to me.
Living your life out loud on social media is not for everyone but I have discovered that it is for me. Over the last few years I have shared my journey from being a busy working mom who never took care of herself into a confident fit mom who made a change not just in her life but also her families. We have chosen to share the good and the bad on social media. We have shared our most private moments and some of our most difficult. We have used our platform to inspire others. Is is difficult to share so much all the time? Sure it is, but the joy and positivity it has brought into our life can never compare. This blessing has been worth all the sacrifices.
I feel like I have been handed something that will change our world forever and I gladly share the opportunity with anyone who is up for the challenge. Like I said before it's not for everyone but it is for those who are brave enough to say why not me. It's for those who need a change in their life and for those who are willing to learn and work hard. It's for those who are willing to believe and bet on themselves.
I want to end with a huge heartfelt thank you to all of my customers, coaches, my family, my mentors and my followers on social media. Thank you for letting me share my life with you and for allowing me into yours. I am excited to see where life will take us next. I'm anxious to close this chapter of my life and enjoy the freedom that will come along with my new career as a coach. I would be lying if I didn't say it's a little scary to leave something so good but often on the other side of good lies great. You won't ever know unless you give it a try. Sometimes you just have to trust your gut and my gut is saying it's time.
As always, your welcome to join me. If you have a voice inside your head telling you to try it like I did. You probably should. I am certainly glad I followed mine. It's lead me to a beautiful place.
To make the legal team at Beachbody happy I do need to share our income disclaimer. "Beachbody does not guarantee any level of success or income from the Team Beachbody Coach Opportunity. Each Coach's income depends on his or her own efforts, diligence, and skill."
I got here because I worked hard. Nobody handed it to me and the same goes for you. If you want a life like others can only dream of you have to outwork everyone else. Plain and simple.
