📖Turn the Page📖

Before we jump in: ‘ve been talking about this FREE Ask me Anything Event on Saturday December 13th at 11am.

If you are thinking about or planning on being there, will you reply with the word (initials?) AMA?

If you are interested but will have to catch the recording, will you reply with RECORDING? I want to have an idea of who will be attending live!

Hey Reader,

There’s something I always think about this time of year. And I’m wondering if it’s on your mind too.

As a teacher, Thanksgiving week always hit me with a double punch.
​
The feeling of needing to have gratitude for a “steady” job, benefits, and a predictable routine… and also a sinking feeling that I was meant for something different.
​
I’d pack up my classroom for the break thinking, “I should be more grateful… so why does this still feel like it just doesn’t fit?”
​
Eventually, though, that quiet discomfort became too loud to ignore.

So in late 2021, I took a small-but-terrifying leap:

I started building my freelance business—in the early mornings, in the hours afterschool, and on the weekends—in all those precious pockets of time that teachers guard like treasure.
​
Eventually that “side experiment” became a whole new career—one built around creativity, autonomy, and work that actually felt like mine. With an energy that felt aligned instead of draining.
​
The shift didn’t happen overnight, but it did happen because I let myself want something more. I let myself wonder past that initial what if…?

I like to call this: dreaming with the lid off. Let yourself have the big, wide open type of thinking that your self limiting beliefs often shutdown because, because, because…

Recently, I’ve been connecting with teachers who are walking that same path—balancing lesson plans with client projects, staff meetings with strategy sessions.
​
Within minutes of talking, I could tell how much they’d shifted: more grounded, confident, and clear-eyed about what they’re building…and no longer apologizing for wanting something beyond the classroom.
​
The point here?
​
You can take chance on what you really want—even while still showing up for your students. Even while feeling grateful for what you currently have and the spot you’re currently in.

Both/And.
​
For me? My life this thanksgiving is almost unrecognizable compared to 2021.
​
That’s the difference between forcing yourself to only be grateful for a life that doesn’t fit…

Instead of also honoring the nudge toward the one that does.
​
Gratitude doesn’t mean you have to stay.

You’re allowed to appreciate what you have and outgrow it at the same time.
​
​This year, don’t chase “being thankful enough to stay.”
Instead, chase the work that makes you feel alive, energized, like yourself again.

​
​
And if you’re in that in-between season — loving parts of teaching but craving something that’s yours— I recorded a podcast episode with Preston Lee on his podcast on From Freelance to Founder about balancing a full-time job with building a freelance business.
​
It’s the conversation I wish I had when I was sitting in my classroom, wondering if wanting more or something different made me ungrateful.

You can listen right here (or anywhere you listen to podcasts!):

​

Balancing Self-Employment Dr… Nov 7 · Freelance to Founder 25:10   ​

​
​
And if you’re feeling ready for some steps to find your own path out of the classroom and into content or copywriting for education companies, stay tuned. The next few weeks are going to be geared toward those exact steps and strategies to get yourself moving in this direction!

I hope you had an amazing and restful Thanksgiving. I’m so happy you’re here!

xo,

Meredith