WEBVTT 00:00:03.830 --> 00:00:07.849 Welcome back to Life's Next Lesson Plan. Today's 00:00:07.849 --> 00:00:11.470 episode is for anyone who has ever felt that 00:00:11.470 --> 00:00:15.330 tug, that nudge in your gut that says maybe it's 00:00:15.330 --> 00:00:19.030 time for something new. So excited to introduce 00:00:19.030 --> 00:00:22.210 you to someone I've admired from afar for years 00:00:22.210 --> 00:00:26.329 and finally got to connect with in person. And 00:00:26.329 --> 00:00:32.229 now for this new chapter in my life. Our guest 00:00:32.229 --> 00:00:35.890 today started her career in education, but like 00:00:35.890 --> 00:00:38.750 many teachers, she reached a moment where staying 00:00:38.750 --> 00:00:42.789 no longer felt aligned. Instead of feeling stuck, 00:00:43.130 --> 00:00:47.189 she made a leap, a brave one, into entrepreneurship, 00:00:47.990 --> 00:00:50.890 motherhood, and a completely new career that 00:00:50.890 --> 00:00:53.890 gives her what she was craving most, freedom, 00:00:54.649 --> 00:00:58.450 flexibility, and fulfillment. Today, she'll share 00:00:58.450 --> 00:01:01.229 how she navigated the transition out of teaching, 00:01:02.250 --> 00:01:04.989 built a thriving business as a virtual assistant 00:01:04.989 --> 00:01:08.730 and human grace representative, and learned to 00:01:08.730 --> 00:01:12.109 trust her intuition even when the path ahead 00:01:12.109 --> 00:01:16.030 wasn't fully clear. If you've ever wondered what's 00:01:16.030 --> 00:01:18.530 possible when you rewrite the rules for your 00:01:18.530 --> 00:01:26.819 own life, this conversation is for you. Thank 00:01:26.819 --> 00:01:29.120 you for joining me for another episode of Life's 00:01:29.120 --> 00:01:31.799 Next Lesson Plan. I'm Rachel, and I started this 00:01:31.799 --> 00:01:34.939 podcast during my 29th and last year as a high 00:01:34.939 --> 00:01:37.680 school teacher. The goal of my work with Life's 00:01:37.680 --> 00:01:40.000 Next Lesson Plan, as well as my Live and Learn 00:01:40.000 --> 00:01:42.920 Patreon, is to create a connection where we are 00:01:42.920 --> 00:01:45.719 all teachers. We all have lessons and stories 00:01:45.719 --> 00:01:48.799 to share that can help others. I'm so fortunate 00:01:48.799 --> 00:01:51.400 to be able to extend the four walls of my previous 00:01:51.400 --> 00:01:55.189 classroom to an unlimited audience. where we 00:01:55.189 --> 00:01:57.489 can all learn from each other. And my guests 00:01:57.489 --> 00:02:00.209 are some of the most inspirational people with 00:02:00.209 --> 00:02:03.010 the best stories and lessons I know, which is 00:02:03.010 --> 00:02:06.010 why I want to share them with you. Their words 00:02:06.010 --> 00:02:08.669 are something everyone should hear. It is my 00:02:08.669 --> 00:02:10.449 hope that you are able to take away something 00:02:10.449 --> 00:02:13.449 from each episode to apply to your own life, 00:02:13.810 --> 00:02:16.569 whether that be a career search, path to a more 00:02:16.569 --> 00:02:20.229 fulfilling life, or new ideas on current topics. 00:02:21.849 --> 00:02:26.270 I'm so honored today to introduce you to our 00:02:26.270 --> 00:02:29.810 guest, Sammy Christopherson. It's funny because 00:02:29.810 --> 00:02:33.509 actually I was thinking about when I first met 00:02:33.509 --> 00:02:35.990 Sammy and I was trying to remember if I had ever 00:02:35.990 --> 00:02:38.930 met her in person or not because some of my guests 00:02:38.930 --> 00:02:41.969 I have never met in person and I think I did 00:02:41.969 --> 00:02:46.509 meet her one time and one time only. Years and 00:02:46.509 --> 00:02:48.930 years ago when we were both in the beach body 00:02:48.930 --> 00:02:52.770 world I think we met at one of the conventions 00:02:52.770 --> 00:02:56.389 along the way. So I have technically met her 00:02:56.389 --> 00:02:59.069 one time in person, but I definitely was joking 00:02:59.069 --> 00:03:02.110 with her before recording that I do follow her 00:03:02.110 --> 00:03:05.930 on social media, have always admired her. And 00:03:05.930 --> 00:03:09.210 you will definitely see why after this conversation 00:03:09.210 --> 00:03:13.389 today, she's just a very brave, very self -assured, 00:03:13.810 --> 00:03:16.969 confident, knows what she wants. She's very much 00:03:16.969 --> 00:03:19.990 like me into routine and knows what works for 00:03:19.990 --> 00:03:23.569 her. And so I just really have always admired 00:03:23.569 --> 00:03:27.509 her from afar and definitely had to have her 00:03:27.509 --> 00:03:31.210 on the podcast. So that's how I know Sammy, but 00:03:31.210 --> 00:03:34.050 I will let her give you a little bit more about 00:03:34.050 --> 00:03:37.090 her specific background before we launch into 00:03:37.090 --> 00:03:41.250 our conversation today. So welcome Sammy. Hi, 00:03:41.370 --> 00:03:44.340 thank you so much for all your kind words. It's 00:03:44.340 --> 00:03:46.979 kind of surreal to me that we're here like this 00:03:46.979 --> 00:03:50.560 many years later, which is just crazy. But yes, 00:03:50.819 --> 00:03:54.060 previously, I guess to what I'm doing now, I 00:03:54.060 --> 00:03:58.020 was in the education world before. What feels 00:03:58.020 --> 00:04:00.199 like a short time in the grand scheme of things, 00:04:00.879 --> 00:04:03.979 but ever since I was a young child, being a teacher 00:04:03.979 --> 00:04:06.360 was the only thing that I ever wanted to do. 00:04:07.500 --> 00:04:09.560 So I grew up kind of knowing that's what I wanted 00:04:09.560 --> 00:04:11.819 to do. I went to college with no questions. That's 00:04:11.819 --> 00:04:14.819 what I wanted to do and actually graduated a 00:04:14.819 --> 00:04:17.620 little bit early, pushed through some tough classes, 00:04:17.819 --> 00:04:20.459 got my student teaching done, got into the education 00:04:20.459 --> 00:04:24.040 world and over the first, you know, three years 00:04:24.040 --> 00:04:25.980 that I was in education and the only three years 00:04:25.980 --> 00:04:29.800 I really taught school, I kind of realized that 00:04:29.800 --> 00:04:32.819 it wasn't all that it was cracked up to be. There 00:04:32.819 --> 00:04:35.779 was a lot of things that were very different 00:04:35.779 --> 00:04:38.680 than I had remembered them when I had, you know, 00:04:38.839 --> 00:04:42.199 had the budding passion as a child and even teachers 00:04:42.199 --> 00:04:44.420 I feel like who were around back then will say 00:04:44.420 --> 00:04:46.519 that a lot has changed in that amount of time 00:04:46.519 --> 00:04:50.990 and so it really ended up being a very interesting 00:04:50.990 --> 00:04:53.569 experience for me. And I don't think it was anything 00:04:53.569 --> 00:04:57.790 specific. There was no specific person who deterred 00:04:57.790 --> 00:05:00.170 me from the profession or anything like that. 00:05:00.449 --> 00:05:03.610 But I quickly came to realize that the life that 00:05:03.610 --> 00:05:07.290 I wanted to live for myself and my family was 00:05:07.290 --> 00:05:10.170 not going to be supported by that environment. 00:05:11.029 --> 00:05:13.649 And I had to, you know, kind of make the change 00:05:13.649 --> 00:05:16.490 at the time when it was crazy, which was the 00:05:16.490 --> 00:05:19.529 end of COVID and kind of build a couple of different 00:05:19.529 --> 00:05:21.910 businesses for myself and really take that leap 00:05:21.910 --> 00:05:24.930 of faith and realize that I wanted to do something 00:05:24.930 --> 00:05:28.129 different and kind of just learn by doing and 00:05:28.129 --> 00:05:30.509 taking action and figuring it out along the way. 00:05:30.970 --> 00:05:34.889 And here we are now. I think this was the sixth 00:05:34.889 --> 00:05:38.379 school year possibly that I've been out. of the 00:05:38.379 --> 00:05:40.759 classroom, fifth or sixth, that I've been out 00:05:40.759 --> 00:05:44.319 of the classroom and home with my kids and working 00:05:44.319 --> 00:05:46.259 my own businesses. So that's a little bit about 00:05:46.259 --> 00:05:48.800 my backstory with education. Yeah, that's so 00:05:48.800 --> 00:05:51.600 amazing. And you were an elementary school teacher, 00:05:51.819 --> 00:05:55.360 right? Yes. So I was licensed K through six, 00:05:55.500 --> 00:05:57.600 and I only ever taught fourth grade. I taught 00:05:57.600 --> 00:05:59.779 fourth grade at a very small charter school. 00:05:59.819 --> 00:06:02.779 My first school year, it was in Brooklyn Park, 00:06:02.800 --> 00:06:07.089 so it was very... low income, high needs situation, 00:06:07.310 --> 00:06:10.449 which did not bother me at all. It was, it was 00:06:10.449 --> 00:06:13.310 fun. It was, I love the kids. I love the staff. 00:06:13.529 --> 00:06:16.629 And then I moved to the public district a year 00:06:16.629 --> 00:06:18.529 after that and worked in the public district 00:06:18.529 --> 00:06:21.870 for two years and the pay was better, but the 00:06:22.279 --> 00:06:25.240 requirements were very different, and that was 00:06:25.240 --> 00:06:29.300 a very eye -opening experience for me. Yeah, 00:06:30.399 --> 00:06:33.839 definitely a lot of my listeners are educators 00:06:33.839 --> 00:06:38.300 for sure, either current or previous, and I always 00:06:38.300 --> 00:06:41.279 am interested just because one of the guests 00:06:41.279 --> 00:06:45.079 that I had on wrote a book about just kind of 00:06:45.079 --> 00:06:47.139 leaving education and what other opportunities 00:06:47.139 --> 00:06:49.699 there are. And she had a checklist in there of 00:06:49.699 --> 00:06:53.439 like, is it end of teacher fatigue, end of year 00:06:53.439 --> 00:06:56.720 teacher fatigue, which all teachers have, or 00:06:56.720 --> 00:06:59.779 is it time for a change? You know, and when I 00:06:59.779 --> 00:07:03.230 was... contemplating this decision for a few 00:07:03.230 --> 00:07:05.829 years now. I was like, oh, you know, all my colleagues 00:07:05.829 --> 00:07:08.069 too would say, oh, you're just tired or oh, it's 00:07:08.069 --> 00:07:10.250 just winter. This is how we always feel in winter. 00:07:10.250 --> 00:07:13.029 And I was like, no, I just I feel different. 00:07:13.149 --> 00:07:15.449 Like things that used to like my favorite class 00:07:15.449 --> 00:07:18.449 that used to bring me joy is no longer even bringing 00:07:18.449 --> 00:07:21.550 me joy. Right. And just the putting on an act 00:07:21.550 --> 00:07:25.129 hour after hour each day. Can you speak to a 00:07:25.129 --> 00:07:27.990 little bit of just like how you knew you know 00:07:27.990 --> 00:07:30.810 especially so early that it was time for a change 00:07:30.810 --> 00:07:33.370 like how it was it an intuition kind of feeling 00:07:33.370 --> 00:07:37.589 or yeah so um my last school year was the year 00:07:37.589 --> 00:07:41.160 of covid which was a psychotic year in itself 00:07:41.160 --> 00:07:44.100 with a lot of changes and challenges and you 00:07:44.100 --> 00:07:47.319 know a lot of navigating of situations that nobody 00:07:47.319 --> 00:07:49.439 had ever been through before. So kind of just 00:07:49.439 --> 00:07:51.560 prefacing with you know that was the situation 00:07:51.560 --> 00:07:54.000 everyone was in and nobody really knew how to 00:07:54.000 --> 00:07:56.459 deal with it or move forward or you know put 00:07:56.459 --> 00:08:00.000 things in place to kind of help teachers in that 00:08:00.000 --> 00:08:03.959 time I would say. And so actually the year that 00:08:03.959 --> 00:08:06.639 I had left was like that spring we had been doing 00:08:06.639 --> 00:08:09.850 distance learning for however, four months or 00:08:09.850 --> 00:08:14.029 whatever it was, or a couple of months. And there 00:08:14.029 --> 00:08:16.569 were just a couple of instances that really stuck 00:08:16.569 --> 00:08:20.910 out to me that made my decision easier, I would 00:08:20.910 --> 00:08:23.329 say, kind of pushed me over the ledge without 00:08:23.329 --> 00:08:27.370 trying to be dramatic about it. And one of the 00:08:27.370 --> 00:08:30.449 things that really bothered me a lot just throughout 00:08:30.449 --> 00:08:32.970 that whole school year, honestly, and even, you 00:08:32.970 --> 00:08:34.950 know, when we weren't distance learning and there 00:08:34.950 --> 00:08:37.850 wasn't a pandemic, was kind of just this idea 00:08:37.850 --> 00:08:41.919 that as a young person in the profession, you 00:08:41.919 --> 00:08:44.279 were never trusted to know what you were doing. 00:08:44.879 --> 00:08:47.200 And, and I don't know if that was just like my 00:08:47.200 --> 00:08:50.100 specific situation or if it's more universally 00:08:50.100 --> 00:08:52.899 across, you know, other schools, other districts, 00:08:53.039 --> 00:08:55.679 but, and I understand the idea of checks and 00:08:55.679 --> 00:08:57.919 balances, like you need to, you need to be observed 00:08:57.919 --> 00:08:59.480 and you need to be able to grow and like all 00:08:59.480 --> 00:09:03.899 those things. But the way that that all had kind 00:09:03.899 --> 00:09:07.799 of happened, you know, being judged by people, 00:09:07.940 --> 00:09:10.840 you know, who have power, who aren't teachers 00:09:10.840 --> 00:09:14.139 in the classroom was something that really didn't 00:09:14.139 --> 00:09:16.940 make sense to me, just like in general. And I 00:09:16.940 --> 00:09:19.559 didn't like that. That was what was happening 00:09:19.559 --> 00:09:21.480 was like the person who's in charge of my bonuses 00:09:21.480 --> 00:09:23.620 and the person who's giving me a score on a, 00:09:23.720 --> 00:09:27.100 on an observation has really doesn't know what 00:09:27.100 --> 00:09:29.120 they're talking about when they're you know, 00:09:29.120 --> 00:09:31.299 writing those reports and things like that. So 00:09:31.299 --> 00:09:33.039 that was one thing that I really did not like. 00:09:33.220 --> 00:09:37.419 And then another thing is just, I really liked 00:09:37.419 --> 00:09:39.620 and was taught in school, which I feel like a 00:09:39.620 --> 00:09:41.340 lot of us are taught when you're going to school 00:09:41.340 --> 00:09:43.899 for education is to meet the needs of the students. 00:09:44.159 --> 00:09:47.259 Like that to me is like, what should be your 00:09:47.259 --> 00:09:49.500 number one goal as a teacher. And I feel like 00:09:49.500 --> 00:09:52.799 that is very much turned away from in the public 00:09:52.799 --> 00:09:57.909 education world in the idea that you're supposed 00:09:57.909 --> 00:10:01.429 to be teaching to a cookie cutter you know a 00:10:01.429 --> 00:10:04.169 cookie cutter different um what's the word i'm 00:10:04.169 --> 00:10:08.720 looking for is um It's like we're not manufacturing 00:10:08.720 --> 00:10:10.960 widgets that are all the same. You're literally 00:10:10.960 --> 00:10:14.460 dealing with 25 kids who each have individual 00:10:14.460 --> 00:10:17.120 needs. There's no one -size -fits -all for that. 00:10:17.820 --> 00:10:21.279 Correct. Yeah. And so just the idea that, okay, 00:10:21.399 --> 00:10:24.580 you have to teach this same curriculum the same 00:10:24.580 --> 00:10:27.500 way. You have to say these same things and give 00:10:27.500 --> 00:10:30.399 these same tests. And if you don't... you get 00:10:30.399 --> 00:10:32.279 slapped on the wrist for it and you get, you 00:10:32.279 --> 00:10:34.919 know, I guess reprimanded, but like, you know, 00:10:34.940 --> 00:10:36.820 not again, not trying to be right, but like you 00:10:36.820 --> 00:10:38.940 get reprimanded for it, especially in those first 00:10:38.940 --> 00:10:40.559 three years that you're teaching because you're 00:10:40.559 --> 00:10:43.080 probationary. So you can't, you know, you have 00:10:43.080 --> 00:10:47.100 no flexibility. You have no, um, you know, like 00:10:47.100 --> 00:10:50.159 intuitive mind thinking for yourself as a teacher. 00:10:50.340 --> 00:10:52.820 And also I just feel like coming from that first 00:10:52.820 --> 00:10:54.620 year where I was at a charter school and had 00:10:54.620 --> 00:10:58.539 a lot more freedom to do what I knew my students 00:10:58.539 --> 00:11:02.240 were capable of, or change courses and do what 00:11:02.240 --> 00:11:04.639 they needed for that time period. And having 00:11:04.639 --> 00:11:06.840 that flexibility and then moving to the public 00:11:06.840 --> 00:11:09.659 district that didn't have that, where you were 00:11:09.659 --> 00:11:12.440 actually, I guess, encouraged not to do that, 00:11:12.580 --> 00:11:16.950 did not make sense to me morally. didn't feel 00:11:16.950 --> 00:11:19.370 good about that. And I would say, you know, growing 00:11:19.370 --> 00:11:21.230 up, one of the reasons I wanted to be a teacher 00:11:21.230 --> 00:11:24.409 is because I wanted to help kids be successful 00:11:24.409 --> 00:11:27.169 adults. Like that was that's another goal of 00:11:27.169 --> 00:11:31.129 mine that like I always had. And when you get 00:11:31.129 --> 00:11:34.289 again, like kind of reprimanded for doing certain 00:11:34.289 --> 00:11:36.730 things that are helping them be more successful, 00:11:36.730 --> 00:11:40.970 but necessarily aren't to the typical standards 00:11:40.970 --> 00:11:43.509 for what you're supposed to stick to. Again, 00:11:43.509 --> 00:11:46.149 you just get you get reprimanded and I didn't 00:11:45.720 --> 00:11:48.519 personally feel like that was doing the kids 00:11:48.519 --> 00:11:50.980 justice. And it wasn't something that sat well 00:11:50.980 --> 00:11:53.740 with me. And so that kind of just, there were 00:11:53.740 --> 00:11:55.700 instances like that, that kind of just kept coming 00:11:55.700 --> 00:11:58.580 up over, over throughout the school year. And 00:11:58.580 --> 00:12:01.080 then at the end of the year, it was my third 00:12:01.080 --> 00:12:03.759 year, you know, teaching, but it was only my 00:12:03.759 --> 00:12:05.850 second year in the public school district. So 00:12:05.850 --> 00:12:08.850 essentially, I was still probationary. I still 00:12:08.850 --> 00:12:11.710 had to, you know, fight for my job again for 00:12:11.710 --> 00:12:13.570 the next year. I had been in the same position 00:12:13.570 --> 00:12:15.269 in the same grade at the same school for two 00:12:15.269 --> 00:12:18.929 years. And the principal had said that I was 00:12:18.929 --> 00:12:21.470 essentially going to have to interview against 00:12:21.470 --> 00:12:25.049 the other younger teacher who was in the district. 00:12:25.070 --> 00:12:27.490 She was there one year after me. So I had one 00:12:27.490 --> 00:12:30.029 year of seniority on her in our same positions 00:12:30.029 --> 00:12:33.389 and she wasn't Choosing to pick either of us, 00:12:33.549 --> 00:12:35.370 we had to interview against each other to go 00:12:35.370 --> 00:12:41.009 back. Whoa. Yeah. And it was that moment I looked 00:12:41.009 --> 00:12:43.870 at Sam and I said, I don't want to do that. I 00:12:43.870 --> 00:12:46.570 was like, I don't want to be a part of that at 00:12:46.570 --> 00:12:51.840 all. Wow. That's crazy. And just, I'm laughing 00:12:51.840 --> 00:12:54.539 because of the teacher shortage now. They'd be 00:12:54.539 --> 00:12:57.340 begging people to be like, please stay, please 00:12:57.340 --> 00:13:00.799 stay. Wow. For me, I was like, I've been here 00:13:00.799 --> 00:13:03.639 for a whole extra year. Not like, not anything 00:13:03.639 --> 00:13:05.379 bad about her. She was great. She was fun to 00:13:05.379 --> 00:13:07.580 work with. She was, you know, we enjoyed each 00:13:07.580 --> 00:13:09.519 other. We're still friends now, actually, and 00:13:09.519 --> 00:13:13.019 we still see each other now. And I just didn't 00:13:13.019 --> 00:13:16.360 like that I was being put in that situation. 00:13:16.360 --> 00:13:19.519 And it really left a bad taste in my mouth. And 00:13:19.519 --> 00:13:21.820 so I got on, it was Zoom meetings again, because 00:13:21.820 --> 00:13:23.860 it was COVID. So I got on my Zoom meeting with 00:13:23.860 --> 00:13:25.779 the principal and I said, you know what, like, 00:13:25.840 --> 00:13:27.879 actually, I'm going to choose not to reapply. 00:13:28.379 --> 00:13:31.039 I said, I will sub in the building, because I 00:13:31.039 --> 00:13:32.539 have no problem with the building or, you know, 00:13:32.740 --> 00:13:34.919 the relationships that I had formed and with 00:13:34.919 --> 00:13:38.720 a lot of the teachers in that building. And I 00:13:38.720 --> 00:13:41.559 was like, I'll sub if I want to, but I'm going 00:13:41.559 --> 00:13:43.759 to kind of try to figure it out on my own. And 00:13:43.759 --> 00:13:47.399 that was kind of my my push out the door and 00:13:47.399 --> 00:13:50.000 decision to make a different future, I guess. 00:13:50.299 --> 00:13:53.320 Yeah. And so many things you said I can relate 00:13:53.320 --> 00:13:57.500 to. I mean, just long story short, the public 00:13:57.500 --> 00:14:02.059 education system in the last few years. it's 00:14:02.059 --> 00:14:04.559 been really eye -opening to me, some of the things 00:14:04.559 --> 00:14:07.320 that are having to happen, and I'll just leave 00:14:07.320 --> 00:14:10.440 it at that. But then also, just how the universe 00:14:10.440 --> 00:14:14.100 gives you kind of a strong nudge, right? Like, 00:14:14.200 --> 00:14:16.799 had you felt better in the situation, had that 00:14:16.799 --> 00:14:18.779 not happened to you, you know, you may have stayed 00:14:18.779 --> 00:14:21.259 longer, but now when you look back, you're like, 00:14:21.340 --> 00:14:24.279 thank goodness. It happened that way, right? 00:14:24.379 --> 00:14:27.379 And it's just so strange how life works, definitely. 00:14:28.059 --> 00:14:30.620 The number of things that I have had happen to 00:14:30.620 --> 00:14:34.340 me this year, my significant other always says, 00:14:34.360 --> 00:14:36.399 you know, last year, if you would have resigned, 00:14:36.519 --> 00:14:40.059 you probably would have felt like 50 -50. You 00:14:40.059 --> 00:14:42.720 know, kind of, and I was, I was torn. And this 00:14:42.720 --> 00:14:46.419 year, 100%. The things that have happened, I'm 00:14:46.419 --> 00:14:49.259 like, yep. It's kind of like when you get that 00:14:49.259 --> 00:14:51.929 idea and it just like... burrows into your brain 00:14:51.929 --> 00:14:54.169 and keeps like coming back and coming back and 00:14:54.169 --> 00:14:56.750 coming back. But then once you make that decision, 00:14:56.789 --> 00:14:58.830 I feel like you can kind of free yourself to 00:14:58.830 --> 00:15:03.549 fully embrace that idea. And that I like again, 00:15:03.690 --> 00:15:05.009 like you said, that's when I like kind of turns 00:15:05.009 --> 00:15:07.250 out like 100 % like this is the right decision. 00:15:07.690 --> 00:15:10.330 Yeah. And I, you know, I made that decision because 00:15:10.330 --> 00:15:12.629 I had been talking about it and I made it kind 00:15:12.629 --> 00:15:16.509 of late fall. So it's been a long like you know 00:15:16.509 --> 00:15:19.590 like knowing that I was gonna leave but once 00:15:19.590 --> 00:15:22.299 I made that decision I was like You have to be 00:15:22.299 --> 00:15:25.179 almost like two feet into the next chapter so 00:15:25.179 --> 00:15:27.299 that you can devote yourself to that because 00:15:27.299 --> 00:15:30.639 that was a whole building, rebuilding too. And 00:15:30.639 --> 00:15:33.539 that's what I kind of want to ask you next is 00:15:33.539 --> 00:15:36.919 it seems like it was sort of abrupt. I mean, 00:15:37.039 --> 00:15:39.759 you weren't like four years kind of planning 00:15:39.759 --> 00:15:42.720 that you were going to be leaving. And so how 00:15:42.720 --> 00:15:45.740 did that work? You didn't have kids at the time, 00:15:45.840 --> 00:15:50.419 right? So how did your transition work? Yeah, 00:15:50.700 --> 00:15:54.940 so, um, you know, at the time I was still running 00:15:54.940 --> 00:15:57.320 my beach body business and it was interesting 00:15:57.320 --> 00:16:00.440 because I at that point had hit the amount of 00:16:00.440 --> 00:16:03.580 success where my income that I was bringing in 00:16:03.580 --> 00:16:05.700 from that was actually matching my teacher's 00:16:05.700 --> 00:16:08.279 salary. And so like, again, like it was great. 00:16:08.419 --> 00:16:10.279 We were actually wedding planning. We had weren't 00:16:10.279 --> 00:16:12.860 even married yet. We were getting married that 00:16:12.860 --> 00:16:16.360 following fall from that spring. So, um, you 00:16:16.360 --> 00:16:19.250 know, I told my husband, I was like, this is 00:16:19.250 --> 00:16:22.169 what we can do. And if I had more time to devote 00:16:22.169 --> 00:16:25.029 to building my own business, who knows where 00:16:25.029 --> 00:16:27.090 that could continue to go. And I said, I know 00:16:27.090 --> 00:16:30.649 it's not steady income that you can always rely 00:16:30.649 --> 00:16:33.409 on, but I was like, I still can sub. I can sub 00:16:33.409 --> 00:16:35.970 a little bit. And so I did end up doing that. 00:16:35.990 --> 00:16:37.750 Actually, we had our wedding in the fall. And 00:16:37.750 --> 00:16:39.809 then throughout that next school year, I actually 00:16:39.809 --> 00:16:42.269 got pregnant with our daughter a month after 00:16:42.269 --> 00:16:44.929 our wedding. And so I was pregnant for that whole 00:16:44.929 --> 00:16:49.840 next winter to spring. summer and I did sub quite 00:16:49.840 --> 00:16:52.700 a bit. I was a medical sub for a student for 00:16:52.700 --> 00:16:54.659 I think like five or six weeks straight at like 00:16:54.659 --> 00:16:57.240 the end of that school year and so I always knew 00:16:57.240 --> 00:16:59.919 that that was an option and I always knew that 00:16:59.919 --> 00:17:02.480 okay let's say I try this for a year and it doesn't 00:17:02.480 --> 00:17:04.599 work out I can go back to education and that's 00:17:04.599 --> 00:17:06.680 okay and like maybe I just needed a break and 00:17:06.680 --> 00:17:10.259 whatever so I knew I always had options and I 00:17:10.259 --> 00:17:13.099 tried to just be open to those options and be 00:17:13.099 --> 00:17:16.259 like okay like I'm making this decision and I'll 00:17:16.259 --> 00:17:18.500 figure out how to make it work and I'll do what 00:17:18.500 --> 00:17:21.839 I need to do to make it work and so it really 00:17:21.839 --> 00:17:24.859 yeah it wasn't like a thought out long time thought 00:17:24.859 --> 00:17:28.799 out plan it was more okay like I'm gonna make 00:17:28.799 --> 00:17:30.940 this jump I had this summer because obviously 00:17:30.940 --> 00:17:33.339 like you paid through the summer like we had 00:17:33.339 --> 00:17:36.000 a 12 you know 12 month pay and so I was paid 00:17:36.000 --> 00:17:37.599 through the summer so I could kind of you know 00:17:37.599 --> 00:17:39.960 figure out what my my business routine was going 00:17:39.960 --> 00:17:42.299 to be, what that was going to look like if I 00:17:42.299 --> 00:17:45.180 needed to get. I think I also reffed volleyball 00:17:45.180 --> 00:17:48.859 that summer just like as like extra cash, you 00:17:48.859 --> 00:17:50.740 know. And I always knew there was going to be 00:17:50.740 --> 00:17:53.180 stuff that would come up that I could do if needed 00:17:53.180 --> 00:17:55.859 and that I would figure it out and make it work. 00:17:56.559 --> 00:17:59.700 And obviously your future husband, now husband, 00:18:00.079 --> 00:18:03.819 was supportive in the situation. But then, as 00:18:03.819 --> 00:18:08.150 some of my listeners will know, Beachbody changed 00:18:08.150 --> 00:18:11.549 and had you started another stream of income 00:18:11.549 --> 00:18:14.970 before that change or did the change spark you 00:18:14.970 --> 00:18:18.829 to look into other directions? So interesting 00:18:18.829 --> 00:18:21.589 that you asked that also kind of goes into new 00:18:21.589 --> 00:18:24.369 I know one of the things that we'll probably 00:18:24.369 --> 00:18:27.109 talk about is any sort of like mentors that were 00:18:27.109 --> 00:18:31.990 You know helpful and I will say so I want to 00:18:31.990 --> 00:18:36.099 say it was almost Probably a year and a half 00:18:36.099 --> 00:18:39.640 before Body had announced that they were closing 00:18:39.640 --> 00:18:42.140 the partner opportunity and that chapter was 00:18:42.140 --> 00:18:47.400 done. One of my mentors had said, I've been in 00:18:47.400 --> 00:18:50.099 this business for a long time. I just don't have 00:18:50.099 --> 00:18:53.160 a good feeling about this. And she knew it would 00:18:53.160 --> 00:18:56.319 impact me a lot because that was my only income 00:18:56.319 --> 00:18:58.900 at the time. We had just moved to our new house. 00:18:59.799 --> 00:19:02.380 six months prior to that. So like our mortgage 00:19:02.380 --> 00:19:04.099 was more like, you know, we had all these other 00:19:04.099 --> 00:19:06.220 things going on and she knew that that change 00:19:06.220 --> 00:19:08.920 would impact me if that were to be like how things 00:19:08.920 --> 00:19:11.140 went down, you know, and so about a year and 00:19:11.140 --> 00:19:13.380 a half before it actually happened that she had 00:19:13.380 --> 00:19:16.900 told a lot of her leaders who she knew this decision 00:19:16.900 --> 00:19:21.019 would impact a lot. She said, you know, I just 00:19:21.019 --> 00:19:23.420 like don't foresee these decisions that they're 00:19:23.420 --> 00:19:26.160 making in the company at this time to be leading 00:19:26.160 --> 00:19:29.700 somewhere positive and if I were you, I would 00:19:29.700 --> 00:19:32.980 start kind of looking at other income opportunities, 00:19:33.160 --> 00:19:35.960 whatever that looks like for you. And it's interesting 00:19:35.960 --> 00:19:38.940 because maybe like a month or two after she had 00:19:38.940 --> 00:19:42.539 said that, I had been following a guy on Instagram 00:19:42.539 --> 00:19:46.180 who had done a training for our team many years 00:19:46.180 --> 00:19:50.539 prior, and he had posted looking for a virtual 00:19:50.539 --> 00:19:53.660 assistant. And he just posted on a story, you 00:19:53.660 --> 00:19:56.240 know, apply at the link, whatever. And I was 00:19:56.240 --> 00:19:57.819 like, God, like, I feel like that's something 00:19:57.819 --> 00:20:00.599 that I would be really good at because it would 00:20:00.599 --> 00:20:03.680 use a lot of the skills that I really enjoy. 00:20:04.700 --> 00:20:09.039 And like, I'm a super type A organized planners 00:20:09.039 --> 00:20:11.660 list, like all that kind of stuff is like my 00:20:11.660 --> 00:20:14.299 jam and what I like how I function personally. 00:20:14.559 --> 00:20:16.700 And so when he posted that, I was like, Oh, I've 00:20:16.700 --> 00:20:18.809 never thought about doing that. But like, I think 00:20:18.809 --> 00:20:20.809 that'd be an awesome option. It would be something 00:20:20.809 --> 00:20:24.009 that would really fit my person and like my skill 00:20:24.009 --> 00:20:27.809 set. And so I, on a whim applied. I had no training. 00:20:28.069 --> 00:20:31.349 I had no experience, literally nothing. And they 00:20:31.349 --> 00:20:33.789 always say like, don't do that. And I'm like, 00:20:33.950 --> 00:20:36.349 no, like throw your hat in the ring, figure it 00:20:36.349 --> 00:20:40.430 out. Like, you know? Um, so I randomly applied. 00:20:40.910 --> 00:20:44.009 I got a first round interview and then I got 00:20:44.009 --> 00:20:46.809 a second round interview and then found out in 00:20:47.160 --> 00:20:53.799 I think it was early February of 2023 that I 00:20:53.799 --> 00:20:56.680 had gotten the position. And it was part -time. 00:20:56.680 --> 00:20:58.740 It was 20 hours a week. And I was like, this 00:20:58.740 --> 00:21:01.799 is great. This will be perfect for this period 00:21:01.799 --> 00:21:04.759 of time, because I still have my thriving body 00:21:04.759 --> 00:21:07.440 business at that time. I have this other now 00:21:07.440 --> 00:21:10.339 20 hour a week thing that was going on. And our 00:21:10.339 --> 00:21:12.119 daughter at the time was about a year and a half 00:21:12.119 --> 00:21:14.720 old. So we had a good routine with her. We weren't 00:21:14.720 --> 00:21:16.519 in the newborn trenches or anything like that. 00:21:16.829 --> 00:21:20.549 So that's where it started. And I got hired by 00:21:20.549 --> 00:21:23.309 him and then he actually opened the door to a 00:21:23.309 --> 00:21:27.170 second client of mine about a year and a half 00:21:27.170 --> 00:21:33.589 ago now. So it kind of just snowballed from there. 00:21:34.049 --> 00:21:36.349 And now I'm like, I have all these people who 00:21:36.349 --> 00:21:39.559 want this service that... I don't have the hours 00:21:39.559 --> 00:21:41.799 for it anymore. So it's just, it's interesting 00:21:41.799 --> 00:21:45.500 to see how that has grown and how my own confidence 00:21:45.500 --> 00:21:49.920 in that space has grown because of the experience 00:21:49.920 --> 00:21:52.599 that men have accumulated. But it's interesting 00:21:52.599 --> 00:21:55.220 how, you know, all these connections make sense 00:21:55.220 --> 00:21:57.279 because if I wouldn't have been doing body, I 00:21:57.279 --> 00:21:59.500 never would have seen his posts. I never would 00:21:59.500 --> 00:22:00.740 have followed him. I never would have seen his 00:22:00.740 --> 00:22:04.680 posts. I never would have applied. So it's interesting 00:22:04.680 --> 00:22:07.460 and now like that is my full -time job and that's 00:22:07.460 --> 00:22:09.660 what I do and then when body closed its doors 00:22:09.660 --> 00:22:12.579 because then you know by that point I had grown 00:22:12.579 --> 00:22:15.579 that to my virtual assistant job to be my full 00:22:15.579 --> 00:22:18.680 -time income and body was just extra which it 00:22:18.680 --> 00:22:21.960 felt really good honestly to just have that be 00:22:21.960 --> 00:22:24.619 extra and not be my full -time job and so I was 00:22:24.619 --> 00:22:27.299 like well you know I'd really like to continue 00:22:27.299 --> 00:22:29.700 having extra income beside my full -time income 00:22:29.700 --> 00:22:32.220 because Who doesn't want more money coming into 00:22:32.220 --> 00:22:34.259 their household, right? Like that's, that's always 00:22:34.259 --> 00:22:37.339 a good thing. And so, um, actually previous still 00:22:37.339 --> 00:22:42.299 to body closing, I had, um, been using a company, 00:22:42.299 --> 00:22:46.519 a brand that I had used for my skincare and I'd 00:22:46.519 --> 00:22:49.019 switched to, and that's kind of how then I ended 00:22:49.019 --> 00:22:52.019 up partnering with Hue and Grace was I had already 00:22:52.019 --> 00:22:53.859 been using this stuff and loving this stuff and 00:22:53.859 --> 00:22:55.940 then, you know, body closed its doors and then 00:22:55.940 --> 00:22:59.339 I could kind of pivot. on that front, too, to 00:22:59.339 --> 00:23:02.740 a different stream of income. So that's a long 00:23:02.740 --> 00:23:05.799 story. Yeah, no, it's great because, again, a 00:23:05.799 --> 00:23:08.359 big thing is people think that they have to have 00:23:08.359 --> 00:23:11.259 their next five -year plan all figured out. And 00:23:11.259 --> 00:23:13.960 you are a living, breathing example of, like, 00:23:14.000 --> 00:23:17.559 I... took a risk. I had something. I knew I had 00:23:17.559 --> 00:23:20.779 skills. I knew I could sub, right? But you couldn't 00:23:20.779 --> 00:23:23.579 have seen three years, five years down the road 00:23:23.579 --> 00:23:25.559 that this is what you would be doing, right? 00:23:25.700 --> 00:23:28.599 And so sometimes it is sort of that blind leap 00:23:28.599 --> 00:23:32.319 of faith and thinking positively. And I have 00:23:32.319 --> 00:23:35.319 said on this show many times that every day is 00:23:35.319 --> 00:23:37.799 a job interview, whether you realize it or not. 00:23:37.799 --> 00:23:40.359 And that's exactly what has happened for you 00:23:40.359 --> 00:23:43.950 at your first VA job. You obviously did so well 00:23:43.950 --> 00:23:46.670 that he recommended you to somebody else, right? 00:23:46.789 --> 00:23:48.670 Who recommends you to somebody else. And now 00:23:48.670 --> 00:23:51.769 you're like, ah, I can't keep up. And that's 00:23:51.769 --> 00:23:54.430 just, I think, another important reminder for 00:23:54.430 --> 00:23:58.789 people, too. And it's what I really like, too, 00:23:58.789 --> 00:24:01.630 and was always envious of you. And really, a 00:24:01.630 --> 00:24:03.950 lot of your messaging from following you for 00:24:03.950 --> 00:24:07.799 so long helped me in my decision. because you 00:24:07.799 --> 00:24:10.579 were like I'm just I believe in the products 00:24:10.579 --> 00:24:13.240 that I'm sharing and I just put myself out there 00:24:13.240 --> 00:24:15.819 and I'm just living my life and it's all going 00:24:15.819 --> 00:24:19.259 well and I'm like yeah I can do that right so 00:24:19.259 --> 00:24:22.099 a lot of the things that you talk about liking 00:24:22.099 --> 00:24:25.779 in your transition like time freedom and you 00:24:25.779 --> 00:24:29.359 have little ones I have one coming to your state 00:24:29.359 --> 00:24:34.099 to go to college my only daughter so I wanted 00:24:34.660 --> 00:24:37.180 I kind of wanted it to look different in this 00:24:37.180 --> 00:24:40.980 chapter too. I mean, can you speak to sort of 00:24:40.980 --> 00:24:43.940 how that feels? I know you mentioned it a lot 00:24:43.940 --> 00:24:46.339 on social media, but for those who don't follow 00:24:46.339 --> 00:24:49.299 you, just the blessings that that has brought 00:24:49.299 --> 00:24:52.400 compared to, I mean, teaching is nice in a way 00:24:52.400 --> 00:24:55.019 when you have kids because you do have the... 00:24:54.680 --> 00:24:58.559 holidays and you do have the summers. But every 00:24:58.559 --> 00:25:01.119 Friday you're burnt out. I know I'm grading papers, 00:25:01.420 --> 00:25:04.059 lesson planning. And so can you just speak to 00:25:04.059 --> 00:25:06.119 a little bit more about like the difference in 00:25:06.119 --> 00:25:09.319 your day to day, what it allows you to do? Yeah, 00:25:09.339 --> 00:25:13.240 I will say that is probably my favorite perk. 00:25:13.339 --> 00:25:15.319 And like you said, I do talk about it a lot because 00:25:15.319 --> 00:25:18.210 it is my favorite perk. you know, what I've built, 00:25:18.670 --> 00:25:20.549 especially when my kids are young, but I can 00:25:20.549 --> 00:25:22.549 also, like you said, like see it as your kids 00:25:22.549 --> 00:25:25.549 get older to have the flexibility to go to the 00:25:25.549 --> 00:25:28.730 sports games, to, you know, move your kid into 00:25:28.730 --> 00:25:33.490 college, to be able to. have that freedom. And 00:25:33.490 --> 00:25:36.150 I would say, you know, for me, and this is a 00:25:36.150 --> 00:25:39.170 memory that is burned into my brain, I will never 00:25:39.170 --> 00:25:41.609 forget it. It was the summer before I was starting 00:25:41.609 --> 00:25:43.750 my first year teaching, I was working at a summer 00:25:43.750 --> 00:25:46.710 camp. As a lot of teachers do, they do, you know, 00:25:47.049 --> 00:25:50.509 the summer latch keys or the summer fun programs 00:25:50.509 --> 00:25:53.609 or whatever. And so I was doing that. And I was 00:25:53.609 --> 00:25:58.559 teaching kindergartners at the time. And I got 00:25:58.559 --> 00:26:02.039 a text message that my grandfather, who we call 00:26:02.039 --> 00:26:08.059 Pappy, he was my favorite person that I've pretty 00:26:08.059 --> 00:26:11.359 much ever had in my life. Like he's, he had every 00:26:11.359 --> 00:26:14.299 fun childhood memory for me and involved him. 00:26:14.779 --> 00:26:17.859 And he had to have a quadruple bypass and was 00:26:17.859 --> 00:26:21.759 in the hospital. And I had to stay up late and 00:26:21.759 --> 00:26:24.339 make sub plans and call KidStop and tell them 00:26:24.339 --> 00:26:26.940 that I needed to go to Duluth and I needed to, 00:26:27.039 --> 00:26:29.559 I had a lot of extra stress. Not only was I stressed 00:26:29.559 --> 00:26:31.779 about what was happening to my family, but I 00:26:31.779 --> 00:26:34.400 was stressed about then having all these added 00:26:34.400 --> 00:26:36.380 things that I had to do before I could go and 00:26:36.380 --> 00:26:38.440 be there for my family. And at that time then 00:26:38.440 --> 00:26:41.619 not only was I just prepping for someone to be 00:26:41.619 --> 00:26:43.640 there, but I was also then again, like not getting 00:26:43.640 --> 00:26:46.680 paid because I was out, you know, I was out doing 00:26:46.680 --> 00:26:50.599 what I needed to do to be with my family. And 00:26:50.599 --> 00:26:54.980 I luckily got the time off to go do that. I prepped 00:26:54.980 --> 00:26:57.660 for someone else to be there for me and got to 00:26:57.660 --> 00:27:00.119 go and be up there for a day. And luckily the 00:27:00.119 --> 00:27:02.660 procedure went well and all of that. And that 00:27:02.660 --> 00:27:05.500 was great. He ended up passing away earlier this 00:27:05.500 --> 00:27:07.960 year from just a lot of health complications 00:27:07.960 --> 00:27:10.779 later on. But I mean, this was like now seven 00:27:10.779 --> 00:27:13.900 or eight years ago. So at that time, he had pulled 00:27:13.900 --> 00:27:17.420 through that and made it through that. remember 00:27:17.420 --> 00:27:21.660 thinking, I don't love the fact that I have to. 00:27:22.089 --> 00:27:24.630 not only ask people for time off, but plan for 00:27:24.630 --> 00:27:26.390 someone to be there while I'm gone. Like I'm 00:27:26.390 --> 00:27:29.470 doing the work for them and I'm still gone. And 00:27:29.470 --> 00:27:32.549 you know, like, like I, I just did not like that 00:27:32.549 --> 00:27:36.069 whole situation. And so from that time and then, 00:27:36.089 --> 00:27:38.049 you know, other random things that had come up 00:27:38.049 --> 00:27:40.910 over the years that I was in teaching, um, I 00:27:40.910 --> 00:27:42.789 don't know if you remember the beach body cruises, 00:27:43.029 --> 00:27:45.289 but I had to go or I got to go on the cruise. 00:27:45.470 --> 00:27:47.930 I'd earned the cruise. I was so excited. It was 00:27:47.930 --> 00:27:50.640 not during spring break. And as a teacher, you 00:27:50.640 --> 00:27:52.859 get three years, three days of PTO per year. 00:27:52.900 --> 00:27:55.839 And the cruise was five days long. So I decided 00:27:55.839 --> 00:27:57.700 to go on the cruise because I wanted the life 00:27:57.700 --> 00:27:59.579 experience. I love to travel. That was like a 00:27:59.579 --> 00:28:02.819 big thing that meant a lot to me. And I left 00:28:02.819 --> 00:28:05.200 on the cruise, prepped all the subplans for the 00:28:05.200 --> 00:28:08.190 five days I was going to be on. I had to do dock 00:28:08.190 --> 00:28:10.869 days for the last two days that I was gone out 00:28:10.869 --> 00:28:13.029 of those five days. I could not use my sick time. 00:28:13.269 --> 00:28:15.309 I hadn't been sick a single day that whole school 00:28:15.309 --> 00:28:18.009 year. I had 11 sick days in the bank. I couldn't 00:28:18.009 --> 00:28:20.029 use either of them for those last two days of 00:28:20.029 --> 00:28:23.089 that week. And out of my paycheck that week, 00:28:23.349 --> 00:28:26.769 over that pay period, my paycheck was normally 00:28:26.769 --> 00:28:31.269 $1 ,100 every two weeks. I had been docked $800 00:28:31.269 --> 00:28:34.720 of pay. for those two days that I was gone. So 00:28:34.720 --> 00:28:38.839 my paycheck that week was $300 and I had to pay 00:28:38.839 --> 00:28:42.599 $800 to cover my sub for those two days because 00:28:42.599 --> 00:28:45.480 they did not fit into the PTO. And I had to pay 00:28:45.480 --> 00:28:47.440 my health insurance those two days because they 00:28:47.440 --> 00:28:51.500 did not fit into the PTO. Oh my word. And so 00:28:51.500 --> 00:28:56.119 those two instances made me relish the time freedom 00:28:56.119 --> 00:28:59.960 that I have now to be able to do what works on 00:28:59.960 --> 00:29:02.180 our schedule to be able to say yes to the random 00:29:02.180 --> 00:29:04.000 lunch dates with my friends who I don't get to 00:29:04.000 --> 00:29:06.579 see very often, to be able to drop things to 00:29:06.579 --> 00:29:09.700 go to Duluth for the day and see a grandparent, 00:29:09.779 --> 00:29:15.519 see a family member, be able to go be other places 00:29:15.519 --> 00:29:19.440 for other people or for my children at the drop 00:29:19.440 --> 00:29:22.380 of a hat. I can, I have the flexibility to do 00:29:22.380 --> 00:29:25.980 that and it has meant the world to me. And I 00:29:25.980 --> 00:29:29.000 think it's really changed a lot of how I view 00:29:29.000 --> 00:29:31.680 relationships with people because I have been 00:29:31.680 --> 00:29:36.059 able to pour more of myself into growing those 00:29:36.059 --> 00:29:38.480 relationships with other friends, family members, 00:29:38.579 --> 00:29:42.619 and my kids, which to me is worth everything, 00:29:42.839 --> 00:29:44.779 is worth everything, would make me make that 00:29:44.779 --> 00:29:48.480 decision 10 times over and over again. So. That's 00:29:48.480 --> 00:29:53.779 kind of a long one. And that part of your life 00:29:53.779 --> 00:29:57.900 is really where I was like, it's possible. Like 00:29:57.900 --> 00:30:00.740 you you I do not have to be stuck in four walls 00:30:00.740 --> 00:30:03.460 of a classroom. I did this for 29 years I had 00:30:03.460 --> 00:30:07.259 an amazing career I need other things out of 00:30:07.259 --> 00:30:11.079 this next chapter and You just have to trust 00:30:11.079 --> 00:30:13.500 that it's gonna work out not that it's not scary 00:30:13.500 --> 00:30:15.599 not that it's not bittersweet, right? There's 00:30:15.599 --> 00:30:19.339 all the emotions that come with it But I so appreciate 00:30:19.339 --> 00:30:21.680 you sharing that because I think a lot of people 00:30:21.680 --> 00:30:24.279 are looking for Just especially you don't want 00:30:24.279 --> 00:30:27.250 to get to the end of your life and think oh I 00:30:27.250 --> 00:30:29.509 regret not being able to do this. I regret not 00:30:29.509 --> 00:30:31.710 being able to spend more time, you know, or when 00:30:31.710 --> 00:30:33.910 you're in the, in the moment, right? Like I just 00:30:33.910 --> 00:30:36.170 want to be able to take this five day cruise 00:30:36.170 --> 00:30:38.849 that I earned and, you know, can't people just 00:30:38.849 --> 00:30:42.410 support me and like make it work? So I completely 00:30:42.410 --> 00:30:44.930 relate to what you're saying. I think what we'll 00:30:44.930 --> 00:30:47.269 do here is we'll give Sammy a little bit of a 00:30:47.269 --> 00:30:49.730 break to catch her breath. She's been telling 00:30:49.730 --> 00:30:52.869 us so much about her life. And then when we come 00:30:52.869 --> 00:30:55.630 back, we will chat a little bit more and get 00:30:55.630 --> 00:31:02.700 to hear It is time for Ask the Teacher Anything. 00:31:03.359 --> 00:31:07.799 And since I'm in the last week, days, hours, 00:31:07.980 --> 00:31:12.039 minutes of being a teacher, the most common question 00:31:12.039 --> 00:31:15.460 I'm getting this week is, how are you feeling 00:31:15.460 --> 00:31:19.160 in the last week of teaching? And, you know, 00:31:19.160 --> 00:31:21.859 it's like with any big event in life. It's surreal. 00:31:22.279 --> 00:31:25.700 It doesn't hit you right immediately. I mean, 00:31:25.680 --> 00:31:28.880 looking at an empty classroom and saying goodbye, 00:31:29.200 --> 00:31:31.779 you know, it just feels like, whose life is this? 00:31:33.859 --> 00:31:38.000 I've prepared obviously for so long for this 00:31:38.000 --> 00:31:43.000 that, you know, it feels right. I have some trepidation. 00:31:43.000 --> 00:31:45.480 I'm already starting to get anxious, you know, 00:31:45.720 --> 00:31:48.039 for what's going to be next and what it's going 00:31:48.039 --> 00:31:50.259 to look like. So I'm really going to have to 00:31:50.259 --> 00:31:55.460 force myself to just enjoy and really, you know, 00:31:55.619 --> 00:31:58.019 trying to keep the connections that are important 00:31:58.019 --> 00:32:00.779 with, you know, from my previous chapter that 00:32:00.779 --> 00:32:02.819 are important to me trying to keep those connections 00:32:02.819 --> 00:32:05.700 alive. Because, you know, those those people 00:32:05.700 --> 00:32:09.240 become a part of your daily life, like eating 00:32:09.240 --> 00:32:11.480 lunch with the same people and knowing you're 00:32:11.480 --> 00:32:15.400 going to see the same faces every day. So yeah, 00:32:15.400 --> 00:32:17.319 you know, that's kind of the things that I'm 00:32:17.319 --> 00:32:21.000 thinking about. And, you know, just thinking 00:32:21.000 --> 00:32:23.799 about you know, the last questions that I got 00:32:23.799 --> 00:32:26.960 about next year's yearbook this year and watching 00:32:26.960 --> 00:32:30.539 the person move into my room and it's just all 00:32:30.539 --> 00:32:34.539 bittersweet. I know it's right, but it's still 00:32:34.539 --> 00:32:38.859 hard. And, you know. just there's so much unknown 00:32:38.859 --> 00:32:41.019 and I just don't do great with unknown but I 00:32:41.019 --> 00:32:44.539 know that it's time and and I'm going to try 00:32:44.539 --> 00:32:48.279 to follow all of what I preach in the next chapter 00:32:48.279 --> 00:32:51.640 so thank you I guess maybe follow me on social 00:32:51.640 --> 00:32:54.519 media in the next month or two and I start to 00:32:54.519 --> 00:32:57.859 process it we'll see what happens the second 00:32:57.859 --> 00:33:02.480 question are what are your upcoming camping trips 00:33:02.480 --> 00:33:05.880 so so talking about the next chapter right so 00:33:06.200 --> 00:33:08.599 I think I had mentioned that we had planned all 00:33:08.599 --> 00:33:11.859 close in Wisconsin trips for the summer. So we 00:33:11.859 --> 00:33:16.339 have one more trip in June. We're staying at 00:33:16.339 --> 00:33:20.019 a place in the Dells. We have a lot of favorite 00:33:20.019 --> 00:33:23.940 restaurants up there. And of course, Devils Lake. 00:33:24.380 --> 00:33:26.799 And then last time we rented a jet ski, which 00:33:26.799 --> 00:33:30.980 is really fun. So we're doing that in June. In 00:33:30.980 --> 00:33:34.539 July, we're going to Governor Dodge State Park, 00:33:34.599 --> 00:33:37.720 which we did. camp tent there before. Now we're 00:33:37.720 --> 00:33:42.059 taking the Lunar Rover. In August, we are going 00:33:42.059 --> 00:33:46.660 to Door County, one of our favorite places. And 00:33:46.660 --> 00:33:51.019 then in September, we are going to Kohler Andre, 00:33:51.200 --> 00:33:54.000 which I've never been to, but have heard it's 00:33:54.000 --> 00:33:57.660 really beautiful. So, you know, buying this camper, 00:33:58.019 --> 00:33:59.640 kind of the promise was we were going to use 00:33:59.640 --> 00:34:04.000 it once a month. and, you know, get the feel 00:34:04.000 --> 00:34:07.440 for it, see how it goes. So those are our upcoming 00:34:07.440 --> 00:34:11.360 trips with the camper. We always, if you follow 00:34:11.360 --> 00:34:13.800 me, you know that we're tourists in our own state. 00:34:13.860 --> 00:34:17.539 We're always doing a lot of city hopping. I definitely 00:34:17.539 --> 00:34:21.000 want to get back to a pond, possibly Lake Geneva, 00:34:21.539 --> 00:34:24.539 possibly Port Washington just for like a day 00:34:24.539 --> 00:34:28.119 trip. So lots of fun stuff coming up. Thank you 00:34:28.119 --> 00:34:32.960 so much for asking. Okay, we are back from break 00:34:32.960 --> 00:34:36.079 and I mean I feel like Sammy has already packed 00:34:36.079 --> 00:34:40.320 multiple lessons into this episode because she's 00:34:40.320 --> 00:34:45.420 so forthright about sharing her journey and it's 00:34:45.420 --> 00:34:48.659 so helpful again if you don't follow her already 00:34:48.659 --> 00:34:51.199 on social media I'll put some links in the show 00:34:51.199 --> 00:34:54.239 notes for you but she's just very authentic and 00:34:54.239 --> 00:34:57.059 I've just always really appreciated that about 00:34:57.059 --> 00:34:59.500 her but I want to hear because I know she's a 00:34:59.500 --> 00:35:02.619 very prepared and definitely still has that little 00:35:02.619 --> 00:35:05.179 bit of teacher in her even though she's not in 00:35:05.179 --> 00:35:07.559 a classroom she still teaches people things every 00:35:07.559 --> 00:35:10.840 day so I'm eager to hear all about her lesson 00:35:10.840 --> 00:35:14.719 that she has for us today so you are up Sammy 00:35:15.480 --> 00:35:19.260 Yes. So I feel like this sometimes for people 00:35:19.260 --> 00:35:22.980 can be very much so easier said than done. But, 00:35:22.980 --> 00:35:26.320 you know, I really encourage people and if you're 00:35:26.320 --> 00:35:28.980 listening, I encourage you to think about the 00:35:28.980 --> 00:35:31.599 things in your life that are making you feel 00:35:31.599 --> 00:35:35.440 stuck or unfulfilled or that you'd like to change 00:35:35.440 --> 00:35:38.360 and understand that you do have the power to 00:35:38.360 --> 00:35:40.800 change them. Even if you're someone who doesn't 00:35:40.800 --> 00:35:43.099 feel like you maybe do, or you don't feel like 00:35:43.099 --> 00:35:46.420 there's an opportunity out there for you. And 00:35:46.420 --> 00:35:48.719 knowing that you don't have to stay stuck in 00:35:48.719 --> 00:35:51.579 the things that aren't bringing you joy, aren't 00:35:51.579 --> 00:35:53.719 showing you growth, aren't bringing you forward, 00:35:53.840 --> 00:35:56.380 aren't helping you hit the goals that you have, 00:35:56.400 --> 00:35:59.260 you know, for your personal life, for your family, 00:35:59.760 --> 00:36:03.800 that that feeling is not normal. I feel like 00:36:03.800 --> 00:36:06.380 we normalize that feeling of feeling stuck because 00:36:06.380 --> 00:36:08.699 everyone feels that way or this is just how it 00:36:08.699 --> 00:36:11.219 is or this is just how it's supposed to feel 00:36:11.219 --> 00:36:14.380 and you don't have to play to that narrative. 00:36:14.380 --> 00:36:16.579 You can create your own narrative and I feel 00:36:16.579 --> 00:36:19.179 like that's something that, you know, I've proven, 00:36:19.199 --> 00:36:22.619 you know, multiple times throughout this entrepreneur 00:36:22.619 --> 00:36:26.059 season of life and having to pivot and I think 00:36:26.199 --> 00:36:28.679 you know, doing the work on yourself and on your 00:36:28.679 --> 00:36:31.059 mental health and on your physical health can 00:36:31.059 --> 00:36:34.539 really help you kind of open up the door to understanding 00:36:34.539 --> 00:36:38.159 that you don't have to adhere to what other people 00:36:38.159 --> 00:36:42.460 might deem as normal or feelings that might feel 00:36:42.460 --> 00:36:44.579 like you're not doing what you should be doing 00:36:44.579 --> 00:36:47.019 and listen to that intuition and take action 00:36:47.019 --> 00:36:49.619 to do something about it. Yeah, that's really, 00:36:49.719 --> 00:36:52.179 it really speaks to me because we were chatting 00:36:52.179 --> 00:36:55.309 a little bit about this previously, but When 00:36:55.309 --> 00:36:57.829 you get to this stage in teaching where people 00:36:57.829 --> 00:37:00.690 are so close to retirement, everybody's saying 00:37:00.690 --> 00:37:03.809 like, I just need to hold on for this many years. 00:37:03.849 --> 00:37:07.530 And I definitely felt like guilt or like, what 00:37:07.530 --> 00:37:09.929 is wrong with me that I can't make it? Like I 00:37:09.929 --> 00:37:12.969 literally can't hold on. I am not myself. I always 00:37:12.969 --> 00:37:15.719 promised myself. Because when I was a young teacher 00:37:15.719 --> 00:37:18.719 and I saw people close to retirement, basically 00:37:18.719 --> 00:37:20.860 putting their feet up and just like not caring 00:37:20.860 --> 00:37:23.920 anymore, which I totally get, I'm not as invested 00:37:23.920 --> 00:37:26.420 as I used to be in teaching. I don't like feeling 00:37:26.420 --> 00:37:29.219 like that. I promised myself I would walk away. 00:37:29.690 --> 00:37:32.309 Even if it meant leaving some of my pension money 00:37:32.309 --> 00:37:35.110 on the table, I'm walking away with no insurance 00:37:35.110 --> 00:37:38.550 benefits. It's terrifying, as a single mother 00:37:38.550 --> 00:37:42.429 especially. But I made that promise to myself 00:37:42.429 --> 00:37:45.670 that that is not the legacy. I'm so proud of 00:37:45.670 --> 00:37:48.469 my career. I'm not proud of this last year of 00:37:48.469 --> 00:37:50.389 teaching, even though I gave it everything I 00:37:50.389 --> 00:37:53.849 still had. It was not what I would say was typical 00:37:53.849 --> 00:37:57.989 of me as a teacher. that's the hardest thing, 00:37:58.150 --> 00:38:01.289 right? Is like staying true to yourself and not 00:38:01.289 --> 00:38:03.510 listening to those messages of everyone like, 00:38:03.630 --> 00:38:05.289 well, this is what I'm doing or this is what 00:38:05.289 --> 00:38:07.429 teachers do. We just wait it out. And I'm like, 00:38:07.429 --> 00:38:10.769 well, that's not my story. That's not my narrative. 00:38:10.849 --> 00:38:14.010 But it's hard, right? It is so hard. And I would 00:38:14.010 --> 00:38:16.670 say like at the beginning, I felt a lot of guilt 00:38:16.670 --> 00:38:18.710 too, because I was so young and people are like, 00:38:18.730 --> 00:38:20.949 oh, you didn't even give it five years. You didn't, 00:38:20.949 --> 00:38:23.550 you know, or, you know, you went to school for 00:38:23.550 --> 00:38:25.710 four years for that. You paid for a degree for 00:38:25.710 --> 00:38:28.349 that. Now you're not even using it. Now you don't 00:38:28.349 --> 00:38:30.610 even have like an active teacher license anymore, 00:38:30.750 --> 00:38:35.989 you know, all these things. And I feel like that's 00:38:35.989 --> 00:38:40.030 just people's own limiting beliefs or, you know, 00:38:40.070 --> 00:38:43.130 they don't understand that there might be more 00:38:43.130 --> 00:38:46.110 out there for you. And I think it's really important 00:38:46.110 --> 00:38:49.500 that you do the things that you need to do to 00:38:49.500 --> 00:38:52.380 care for yourself. And that's so much easier 00:38:52.380 --> 00:38:54.500 said than done, especially I feel like moms, 00:38:55.000 --> 00:38:59.039 we don't feel like we can do some of those things 00:38:59.039 --> 00:39:02.139 for ourselves to help ourselves feel like the 00:39:02.139 --> 00:39:04.420 actual version of ourselves that we're supposed 00:39:04.420 --> 00:39:07.400 to be, because it's clouded by all of these other 00:39:07.400 --> 00:39:11.530 things that are going on. And I think... That 00:39:11.530 --> 00:39:14.349 was something that very early on I just got rid 00:39:14.349 --> 00:39:16.070 of. I'm like, I don't want to feel miserable. 00:39:16.110 --> 00:39:18.130 I don't have to feel miserable. Like I can do 00:39:18.130 --> 00:39:20.210 something about it. I can make this change. I 00:39:20.210 --> 00:39:22.789 can, you know, change the... different things 00:39:22.789 --> 00:39:24.929 that I'm doing in my life change the environments 00:39:24.929 --> 00:39:27.230 that I'm in because I know there's always that 00:39:27.230 --> 00:39:29.449 saying about like plants like in their environments 00:39:29.449 --> 00:39:32.510 and you know they thrive or they don't and it 00:39:32.510 --> 00:39:34.230 has to do with their environments that they're 00:39:34.230 --> 00:39:37.190 in and we I would say are very much the same 00:39:37.190 --> 00:39:39.489 way if you are not in good environments not only 00:39:39.489 --> 00:39:42.010 you know in your home with your family with your 00:39:42.010 --> 00:39:44.510 relationships but your profession is part of 00:39:44.510 --> 00:39:46.469 that your job that you go to every day is part 00:39:46.469 --> 00:39:49.570 of that and don't be don't feel like you have 00:39:49.570 --> 00:39:52.590 to stay miserable. Please don't. Yeah, I love 00:39:52.590 --> 00:39:55.230 that. That's interesting because I'm looking 00:39:55.230 --> 00:39:57.409 at the teaching thing from the end of the career 00:39:57.409 --> 00:39:59.610 spectrum, but there's definitely people I've 00:39:59.610 --> 00:40:01.510 talked to as listeners of this show who have 00:40:01.510 --> 00:40:05.409 said, but I have this degree and I'm still paying 00:40:05.409 --> 00:40:08.489 off student loans and I'm going to switch. But 00:40:08.489 --> 00:40:11.329 if you think about it, you had to start there, 00:40:11.510 --> 00:40:14.210 right? You had to have that experience in order 00:40:14.210 --> 00:40:16.889 for it to lead you to this experience and the 00:40:16.889 --> 00:40:19.840 life that you wanted, right? It may not have 00:40:19.840 --> 00:40:23.619 worked out this way had you not done it. And 00:40:23.619 --> 00:40:28.019 like, you are making a promise to yourself. We 00:40:28.019 --> 00:40:30.300 tell students like, change your major, change 00:40:30.300 --> 00:40:32.400 your degree, do what's right for you, right? 00:40:32.800 --> 00:40:35.460 This is the same kind of thing. Why, oh, I'm 00:40:35.460 --> 00:40:37.679 gonna be miserable for 10 years so that I feel 00:40:37.679 --> 00:40:40.929 like I got. my degree's worth, right, out of 00:40:40.929 --> 00:40:43.969 it. But I just look at everything as a stepping 00:40:43.969 --> 00:40:45.769 stone, right? It's not like you were saying, 00:40:45.869 --> 00:40:48.369 well, I'm never going to work again. And even 00:40:48.369 --> 00:40:51.550 if you did, so what? You tried it. You got the 00:40:51.550 --> 00:40:54.489 degree. You can always, as you said, pivot. And 00:40:54.489 --> 00:40:57.969 I love that because especially in my generation, 00:40:58.289 --> 00:41:00.469 it was you become a teacher and you stay a teacher 00:41:00.469 --> 00:41:03.170 your whole life. And now that is just not how 00:41:03.170 --> 00:41:06.070 our society works. We didn't have entrepreneurs 00:41:06.070 --> 00:41:09.690 and multiple streams of income. And these are 00:41:09.690 --> 00:41:12.670 new concepts, I think, for a lot of people too. 00:41:13.369 --> 00:41:15.889 And if they, you know, didn't see their parents 00:41:15.889 --> 00:41:19.289 do it or they're not familiar with it. It's maybe 00:41:19.289 --> 00:41:22.610 a little bit even more unsettling to them. But 00:41:22.610 --> 00:41:24.929 I think you just have to open your eyes. And 00:41:24.929 --> 00:41:28.309 I always tell people follow. If you're on social 00:41:28.309 --> 00:41:30.829 media, follow people whose lives you admire. 00:41:31.150 --> 00:41:34.550 And if that means I follow a lot of women who 00:41:34.550 --> 00:41:37.289 are in their 60s and 70s who are super fit and 00:41:37.289 --> 00:41:39.449 active, and that's what I want to be, right? 00:41:39.489 --> 00:41:42.889 I follow people who have time freedom and who 00:41:42.889 --> 00:41:45.690 aren't afraid to take risks so that they can 00:41:45.690 --> 00:41:48.909 live a happy, fulfilled life. And so, right, 00:41:49.010 --> 00:41:50.730 then that's where you learn about how to get 00:41:50.730 --> 00:41:54.090 creative and how to make that happen. Yep. Yeah. 00:41:54.610 --> 00:41:56.929 Is there anything else that you want to share 00:41:56.929 --> 00:41:59.690 with us today? You've shared so many amazing 00:41:59.690 --> 00:42:03.409 messages. And like I said, she's just so brave 00:42:03.409 --> 00:42:06.469 and so herself. I mean, what you see is what 00:42:06.469 --> 00:42:09.710 you get. This is Sammy. And I encourage you. 00:42:10.219 --> 00:42:12.860 to follow her if you're not already. She's just 00:42:12.860 --> 00:42:15.619 such a breath of fresh air and she has the cutest 00:42:15.619 --> 00:42:22.179 children as well. And obviously you must have 00:42:22.179 --> 00:42:26.679 a very supportive spouse too and truly if I wasn't 00:42:26.679 --> 00:42:30.079 in the relationship that I'm in now someone who 00:42:30.079 --> 00:42:33.219 just I think gets it and now also left a high 00:42:33.219 --> 00:42:36.480 -paying corporate job to seek some of the things 00:42:36.480 --> 00:42:38.840 that we're talking about I think that's really 00:42:38.840 --> 00:42:42.469 helpful too. Yeah. And he, he really is like, 00:42:42.590 --> 00:42:44.809 we have always had that kind of relationship. 00:42:44.989 --> 00:42:46.769 I mean, even when we were young, cause we started 00:42:46.769 --> 00:42:50.469 dating when I was 20 years old. Um, and so we've 00:42:50.469 --> 00:42:52.349 been together a very long time and we've kind 00:42:52.349 --> 00:42:56.449 of always ebbed and flowed through kind of supporting 00:42:56.449 --> 00:42:57.889 each other through the different things that 00:42:57.889 --> 00:43:00.030 we're doing. Um, you know, he used to compete 00:43:00.030 --> 00:43:01.989 in weightlifting and, you know, I would support 00:43:01.989 --> 00:43:04.190 him in that. And he went and got his back and 00:43:04.190 --> 00:43:06.590 got his masters. Um, he's actually also a teacher 00:43:06.590 --> 00:43:10.710 and it's still a teacher. Um, and now you're 00:43:10.710 --> 00:43:12.789 supporting him in his new volleyball coaching 00:43:12.789 --> 00:43:15.849 venture. Yeah. So like we kind of always just 00:43:15.849 --> 00:43:18.489 like trade off and obviously like I never would 00:43:18.489 --> 00:43:21.090 have made that decision without talking with 00:43:21.090 --> 00:43:24.969 him before that. Um, but I think too, you know, 00:43:25.170 --> 00:43:28.550 he is on the same page with me as far as, you 00:43:28.550 --> 00:43:31.750 know, we all function as better versions of ourselves 00:43:31.750 --> 00:43:34.340 when we are. you know, at peace with the things 00:43:34.340 --> 00:43:36.699 we're doing and we feel supported and we feel 00:43:36.699 --> 00:43:40.139 that our environments are helping us to grow 00:43:40.139 --> 00:43:44.059 and learn and develop positively. And I think 00:43:44.059 --> 00:43:47.619 he saw the opposite of that, you know, when I 00:43:47.619 --> 00:43:49.099 was going through all the different things I 00:43:49.099 --> 00:43:51.380 was going through at that last school year. And 00:43:51.380 --> 00:43:55.639 I think that helped him kind of, you know, be 00:43:55.639 --> 00:43:58.539 super supportive in that decision. And I'm forever 00:43:58.539 --> 00:44:00.619 grateful for him in the relationship that we 00:44:00.619 --> 00:44:03.280 have. And I think it just shows kind of like 00:44:03.280 --> 00:44:06.739 our teammate mentality for each other quite a 00:44:06.739 --> 00:44:09.679 bit. It's always been that way where we've always 00:44:09.679 --> 00:44:13.219 just, you know, talked about it and then I'm 00:44:13.219 --> 00:44:14.659 like, okay, what do you need me to do? Like, 00:44:14.659 --> 00:44:17.139 what do we need to do? So. That's really special 00:44:17.139 --> 00:44:20.059 and unique. And I think, too, like, he's getting 00:44:20.059 --> 00:44:23.139 the best version of his wife. Your kids are getting 00:44:23.139 --> 00:44:25.679 the best version of you, right? And that just 00:44:25.679 --> 00:44:28.039 makes for a happier household in general. Not 00:44:28.039 --> 00:44:34.460 that there aren't tough days, right? But it is. 00:44:34.619 --> 00:44:36.739 It's the whole show. And I think, too, like, 00:44:36.739 --> 00:44:38.880 you have to be comfortable communicating that. 00:44:38.920 --> 00:44:41.119 Like, you had to say to him before you were even 00:44:41.119 --> 00:44:43.619 married, like, I'm... thinking about making this 00:44:43.619 --> 00:44:46.300 major change, which we maybe didn't anticipate. 00:44:46.920 --> 00:44:49.320 And I think that's important too, for people 00:44:49.320 --> 00:44:51.539 to, you have to share that. Otherwise you might 00:44:51.539 --> 00:44:54.159 be secretly harboring that and continuing on 00:44:54.159 --> 00:44:57.219 in this, you know, job you don't want to be in. 00:44:57.519 --> 00:45:00.400 So I just admire all of, all of so many things 00:45:00.400 --> 00:45:03.860 about you and so appreciate that you could share 00:45:03.860 --> 00:45:06.519 all of these helpful parts of your life with 00:45:06.519 --> 00:45:09.860 my listeners today. And I'm sure you'll be gaining 00:45:09.860 --> 00:45:13.750 some new followers as a result. Yes, come on, 00:45:13.809 --> 00:45:17.530 come on. Obviously, like I, and I kind of shared 00:45:17.530 --> 00:45:21.030 this with you before too, but I'm very open to 00:45:21.030 --> 00:45:22.750 questions. Like if there are questions that people 00:45:22.750 --> 00:45:25.170 have that you feel free to, you know, send me 00:45:25.170 --> 00:45:28.070 a message and I will share, share whatever I 00:45:28.070 --> 00:45:30.929 can share at that point. Okay. Thank you so much 00:45:30.929 --> 00:45:39.170 for being here, Sammy. That's a wrap on today's 00:45:39.170 --> 00:45:42.449 conversation. I hope Sammy's story reminds you 00:45:42.449 --> 00:45:45.550 that you're never stuck and the life you imagine 00:45:45.550 --> 00:45:50.010 is possible even if it looks different than you 00:45:50.010 --> 00:45:53.210 first planned. If this episode gave you a little 00:45:53.210 --> 00:45:55.889 spark of courage or clarity, share it with a 00:45:55.889 --> 00:45:59.090 friend who might need to hear it too. I do want 00:45:59.090 --> 00:46:02.190 to share with you that I have come to a decision 00:46:02.190 --> 00:46:07.010 about the podcast as I enter into this next chapter. 00:46:07.789 --> 00:46:12.110 I feel like one more solo episode and then I'm 00:46:12.110 --> 00:46:16.289 going to close season one of Life's Next Lesson 00:46:16.289 --> 00:46:20.050 Plan podcast and decide if I would like to do 00:46:20.050 --> 00:46:24.130 a season two. in the next chapter of my life. 00:46:24.269 --> 00:46:27.070 First, I would like to just take some time to 00:46:27.070 --> 00:46:30.369 decompress a little bit. I would like to get 00:46:30.369 --> 00:46:34.230 my feet under me in my new position and my new 00:46:34.230 --> 00:46:38.389 empty nest life and just kind of see how I'm 00:46:38.389 --> 00:46:41.130 feeling. I don't want to be forced into anything. 00:46:41.210 --> 00:46:44.510 I mean, I made this decision to have more freedom 00:46:44.510 --> 00:46:48.849 and to craft the life that I want. And so I feel 00:46:48.849 --> 00:46:52.269 like this will be a nice natural ending. I'm 00:46:52.269 --> 00:46:55.050 so happy that I was able to get Sammy on the 00:46:55.050 --> 00:46:58.130 podcast for all the reasons I shared today. And 00:46:58.130 --> 00:47:01.369 then I will have some final thoughts for you 00:47:01.369 --> 00:47:04.730 next week in my last solo episode. I'll still 00:47:04.730 --> 00:47:08.070 be on social media on Instagram and Facebook 00:47:08.070 --> 00:47:12.070 at life's next lesson plan. And I'm hoping to 00:47:12.070 --> 00:47:14.250 now that I'll have a little bit more time, maybe 00:47:14.250 --> 00:47:17.010 play around with my YouTube channel a little 00:47:17.010 --> 00:47:19.030 bit more. I can't believe I'm saying that because 00:47:19.030 --> 00:47:24.639 I stole reluctantly set that up. But now it's 00:47:24.639 --> 00:47:27.380 just kind of like a no pressure place that I 00:47:27.380 --> 00:47:30.800 could kind of explore and you know still keep 00:47:30.800 --> 00:47:33.900 up my journalistic skills without podcasting 00:47:33.900 --> 00:47:36.900 in the meantime. So definitely if you want to 00:47:36.900 --> 00:47:40.159 keep up with my journey social media and YouTube 00:47:40.159 --> 00:47:44.570 would be a good place to follow me. I hope this 00:47:44.570 --> 00:47:47.150 episode gave you a little spark of courage or 00:47:47.150 --> 00:47:50.789 clarity, or you just enjoyed listening to Sammy. 00:47:51.030 --> 00:47:54.429 She's such a bright light. I love following her. 00:47:55.389 --> 00:47:58.789 As always, just keep learning, keep listening 00:47:58.789 --> 00:48:02.210 to yourself, and don't be afraid to write that 00:48:02.210 --> 00:48:05.550 next lesson plan. We'll see you next week for 00:48:05.550 --> 00:48:06.510 one last time.