Raise your hand if you’ve recently felt:
😮💨 Burnout.
😟 Guilt from even thinking about taking time to rest (and combat the aforementioned burnout).
😓 Extra guilt about considering changing professions.
If you said “yes” to all 3, we’re willing to bet you are a teacher.
Today’s episode of the Build Your Copywriting Business podcast is dedicated to the teachers in our community. If that’s you, a giant thank you for your service.
If you’re NOT a teacher, but have felt any of the following:
- You don’t have more to give at your current job
- You are stuck in a career because you have poured so much time, energy, and money into it
- You have an obligation to your profession
Then you’ll want to listen, too.
Some of the biggest questions you face when even exploring other possibilities for your career are “what would I even do?” or “how would I even start over?”
Exploring these questions can kick up major resistance.
But in this episode, we’re encouraging you to reframe this exploration. What if your current career isn’t a lifelong calling?
You have a set of skills. You are never starting over.
You have so much life left to live. A year, five years, ten years, is a long time.
And, yes, you deserve better. You deserve more.
TUNE IN: Spotify | Apple Podcasts | Stitcher
Looking for closed captioning or a transcript? Watch the episode on YouTube!
A Sneak Peek at the Episode
[01:37] We’re putting together a page of some interviews that we have with teachers. There are a lot of careers I feel like, that just aren’t meant to be lifetime roles. And also how to make the transition into something else.
[02:35] Yes, we should pay teachers more, but also the reality is because teachers aren’t paid well, they are burning out, feeling unhappy and they are literally looking for other ways to use their teaching skills. Why some of these oppressions exist in and how to get over them.
[08:25] I think that there is some guilt in the idea of making oneself and one’s needs and one’s self-care a priority. And even considering stepping away from this career. Especially when you’re good at it. For a lot of teachers, there’s the rewarding aspect of seeing your kids transition and transform over the course of the year.
[09:28] When you’re so just dedicated to what you do, it’s hard to walk away from that. The idea of, well, I’m paying off student loans on this. I put in a lot of time and I put in a lot of money. How can I walk away from the career? It leads to this feeling of being overwhelmed and feeling trapped.
[11:17] The sunk cost of time. I think often we pour time into something and then it gets harder and harder to walk away from it. How do I even start over again? Oh, I can’t even imagine starting over again.
[14:25] If you are someone who is going through work and you go, ah, I just gotta make it through till Friday. Yes. But Monday’s gonna come again, and then you’re gonna feel miserable. It’s not like things are going to have changed so fundamentally much that it’s going to be a whole different experience.
[15:28] The only reason to go into teaching is because you care so much because it calls to you. But at the same time, it doesn’t mean that it has to be a lifelong calling. There are other opportunities and ways to have an impact. It’s a mindset shift.
[16:04] Think about it in the context of providing a service. There’s so many small ways that we can make a difference that we maybe overlook. Teachers don’t want to be burned out and feeling trapped teaching kids. But also parents don’t want that and kids don’t want that.
[19:54] When you’re feeling trapped in a career, how could you possibly be the best that you could be? We have had the pleasure of working with so many teachers who have transitioned from teaching into copywriting.
[20:45] There are things that you have developed as a teacher that actually make you uniquely skilled to be a copywriter. One of the big things a teacher skilled at is motivating kids of whatever age and framing it in a way that is compelling to them. You have mastered the skill and it is very, very transferable.
[23:52] The other big one too that comes to mind is you care. You care about your students, you care about them doing well.
[24:45] Teacher knows the experience of teaching something to students and then finding a way to make it make sense to them. It’s that making that connection between a student and a concept by conveying it in a way that resonates with a student. And that is 100% what you do as a copywriter.
[27:24] The creativity element. How am I going to present this so that a student not only remembers this, but then is also able to use it. Copywriting is this fun, frankly, combination of creativity and strategy. It’s solving a problem.
[29:08] It’s not something that you have to leave the workforce and dedicate yourself to learning and training for years and years and years.
[29:45] One of the things that we always say to our students from any background is if you can carve out like 15 minutes a day. You could start making some traction. Or you might get to the point where you get to the summer and you’re ready to go and ready to start earning immediately.
[31:41] If you’re a teacher, if you’re listening, no matter what you end up doing next, Take care of yourself. You deserve to lead a life that, by and large, again, not always perfect, but you enjoy and that you find fulfilling and that fills you up instead of just draining you.
[34:00] I just think exploring the possibilities of, If I could do anything with my life and it could be however I wanted, what would that be? Why not pursue it? It seems so simple. But I think for the people that do it, it’s working out real well.
Must-Hear Takeaways
As with every episode, we highly encourage you to listen to the entire conversation! But here are a few of the highlights:
“Part of the challenge about the burnout is it’s the expectation that it’s a lifetime career. You’re giving so much of yourself intellectually and emotionally. ” – Nicki
“When you’re so just dedicated to what you do, it’s hard to walk away from that.” – Kate
“Maybe they’re starting to be open to the idea of doing something else. And there’s this massive question of what else am I even qualified for?” – Nicki
“What if it’s about getting into teaching, putting in your best when you are at your best, and then when you are done with it, you can move on?.” – Nicki
“How could you possibly be at your best and having the best impact that you can when you’re burned out and when you have nothing left to give.” – Nicki
” Teachers are masters of persuasion and of empathy. Putting those two things together makes you uniquely skilled at getting into your target audiences heads, and get people to take action.” – Nicki
“Copywriting isn’t an overnight career. It doesn’t have to be all or nothing. It could be part-time. I think for the people that do it, it’s working out real well.” – Kate
Mentioned in the Episode
- Best Backgrounds and Degrees for Getting Into Copywriting
- Copywriting Tips for Creating Ideas and Concepts That Stick
- The Copywriter’s Creativity Problem
- Summer Rewind: Ep 15. Traits of the Most Successful Copywriters
- What Does it Take to Become a Copywriter?
Related Links
- Her Goal Was to Replace Her Teaching Income in 5 Months: She Did It in 6 Weeks – Erin’s Story
- Ep. 148: Copywriting Replaced This Teacher’s Income and She Works Less Hours – Jess’s Story
- Ep. 160: How This Teacher Doubled Her Salary and Decreased Stress – Amanda’s Story
- Ep. 176: How This Ex-Teacher Joined the Filthy Rich Writer Team—As a Copywriter – Rebecca’s Story
- Ep. 206: From Monk to Teacher to Copywriter – John’s Story
- Ep. 222: This Teacher Now Leads a Team of Copywriters – Catching Up with Charlotte
- Ep. 91: Transitioning Out of Teaching to Copywriting – George’s Story
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About the Build Your Business Podcast
Ready to turn your love of writing into a successful copywriting career?
Join professional copywriters Nicki Krawczyk and Kate Sitarz to get the tips, tools, and training to help you become a copywriter and build a thriving business of your own. Nicki and Kate have 20+ and 10+ years of experience, respectively, writing copy for multi-billion-dollar companies, solopreneurs, and every size business in between.
Whether you want to land an on-staff job, freelance full-time and work from wherever you want, or make extra money with a side hustle, the best place to start learning is right here.
