People ask me why I only work with teachers. Here’s why. As teachers, we’re battling a huge amount of scrutiny and there’s a monstrous pay gap to overcome.
People still think teaching is an easy option because they have no idea what the job is really like.
The odds are against you as you as schools are measured with horrendous yard sticks such as ofsted and league tables.
Schools strive for the impossible, asking the impossible from you in turn. It’s no wonder why thoughts of climbing the career ladder can fill you with dread.
Then you truly go and screw it up and get pregnant.
Whether SLT are supportive or not, one thing is certain – you’re out of the game while you’re in procreation mode and when you return, things will be harder.
Breastfeeding, nursery drop offs, actually wanting to see your child – all hindrances in the 60 hour-a-week slog.
There are countless stories of female teachers demoting themselves, being overlooked for promotions or generally treated like crap for having had the audacity to give birth (somehow our line managers magically forget where they came from).
So you have a choice to make.
- You do the part-time thing, sacrificing your income
- You work full-time and barely see your baby.
- You do the stay at home mum thing and put everything on hold
Each choice comes with huge sacrifice – one that you might be happy to make, or maybe not…
You have this realisation that this thing you’ve been working towards your WHOLE professional life is utterly incompatible with being a mother (or a human for that matter).
Working all hours, dropping your kids off at 7:30 and picking them up at 6. Our kids do longer days than we do – how mental is that?
So after working your whole life following the roadmap set out for us by this century-old education system, reality hits:
If you want true flexibility and balance you have to get off your ass (that’s a joke, you’ve obviously not sat down since you became a teacher) and start your own tuition business.
And that’s no easy feat. With a lifetime of conditioning to battle through to get to the point where you say, “Screw this institution, I can do this. I can have a business that earns me bucket loads of money and see my kids and my partner and go on nice holidays and buy that big house because the only person it relies on is me, and . . .
“I’ve been a teacher in this screwed-up system AND dealt with childbirth. So I really can do anything!!”
Culturally, we associate risk-taking with masculinity – who do you picture tight-roping across the Grand Canyon or flipping motorbikes?
But the risks we see here already lean into gender bias. Women are more likely to donate their kidneys to family members in need, go through life-threatening pregnancies to bring life into the world, and challenge sexism.
Women are brave, strong and gutsy.
Add ‘mother’ to the mix and you’re freaking unstoppable.………………..
The story above is mine and it’s why I work with teachers (mostly but not exclusively women)
All the guys in the house – thank you for bearing with me on this one. I’m sure you can relate!
We live in a world where teachers who become mums have to choose between their teaching job, their sanity and time with their children.
It’s about time that changed.
If you want things to be different, you are responsible for making the change.
Much love
Ellie xx
P.S. Whenever you’re ready, here are 2 ways I can help you map out and launch your tuition business
1. Book a free Game Plan call
Thinking about getting a proper tuition business off the ground? I have a simple progress pathway to 2 and 3k months and we will map this out together:
2. Work with me closely in my 4 month mentorship programme, the 2 Hour Tutor
If you’d like to work directly with me to create a scalable group programme, or turn your existing 1:1 tuition business into a group programme … just
reply back with the subject line ‘2 Hour Tutor‘ and I’ll get you the details. This is for you if you:
- Have already quit / decided to quit teaching
- Are serious about creating a tuition biz that replaces or exceeds your teaching income
Struggling to find a time? Feel free to choose one of these alternatives:
1. Send me a message with the words ‘2 Hour Tutor‘ directly on Instagram, Facebook or Linkedin and we can chat back and forth that way
2. Hit reply to this email with the words ‘2 Hour Tutor‘
p.p.s. if you’re wondering what on earth a 2 Hour Tutor programme is, check out this pdf where I share the structure I use: CLICK HERE >> 2 Hour Tutor Blueprint
