Hello, welcome to episode one. So today we're going to talk about the core idea of this podcast. Really the core idea here in teachers in business is that the teaching skills you have as a former teacher, as a former person, you know, either in a classroom or in a school building, or from whatever venue you're teaching, you don't have to have been in a classroom to be a teacher. 

The core idea, though, is that teaching skills really are business skills. This is what I'm here to help you see, today, we're going to talk about the first layer of this. And that's how this idea that teachers teaching skills, our business skills could actually be true. And basically, who am I to tell you this? Like, what am I doing here? I'm actually going to work backwards here. I'm gonna start with my story and how I got here. I'm talking about this,that teaching skills or business skills because I, I am both of those things. I have both of those skill sets. But I learned the hard way that they have a lot of overlap. 

I started out my career as a classroom teacher. I knew when I was a little kid, that I was going to teach it over time. So I've been from teaching to business and back to teaching and back to business. I've done this loop. I started my career as a middle school math and science teacher. And after some years in the classroom, I was asked to become a teacher coach as a part of a National Science Foundation grant that the school district I was in at the time was a part of this was early on in the trends, you know, early 2000s, of coaching teachers and schools. I've worked with middle school teachers, and then elementary teachers in math classrooms for a bunch of years. 

At one point, we then moved in 2010, we moved states my husband took a new job, his company was bought, they moved us to Pennsylvania. And I took sort of an unexpected turn into the sales and educational curriculum world. In that role, I was initially a product manager. But what I really ended up was a translator. I translated school systems to sales people, I translated sales, things to school people, I translated tools to librarians and teachers, I translated, what librarians and teachers were saying to product development people, I went in all the directions, my role was to make all the connections for people, and help them all speak the same language.

And eventually what happens is I felt too far from teaching. So I went back to teaching only this time I started teaching college kids, which is something that I still do today and started my first business, which is in the education space. Slowly but surely, as I was working in that first business, making all the mistakes using not enough teaching skills and business skills that I didn't know I had, I found my way back into coaching and coaching other people in their businesses, helping them grow. 

That's where I am today. Primarily, I work with people who are former teachers, because I speak both languages, right? So all of this is great. But you know, I have this background. What on earth does this actually do with the topic here, which is teaching skills being business skills. The first thing I want to say is that all the roles I've ever been, all the jobs I've ever had, all the things I've ever done. When I've been at my best I've been using my teaching skills, whether it was in the classroom, teaching online, building a business coaching others, I am using my teaching skills to help me be better. No matter what I'm more successful, you are more successful. When you use all the tools in your tool belt. It took me a while to really understand, especially when I moved into business, that the teaching tool belt actually applied all over the place. You know, I did a lot like other people do where I was like, Oh, wait, I'm new to this. I have to learn everything from scratch from the very bottom. I'm you know, a total newbie, I don't know anything. 

But I realized, you know, not as quickly as I would have liked that I had a lot of prior knowledge that I should be using to my advantage. So I am an example today in my business Mrs. of how to apply teaching skills. And when I'm talking about peak teaching skills, I'm talking about the skills that help us manage people, information, learning, evaluation, all the things that are normal in a classroom setting. I get to use those now in business. And I know that my teacher skills aren't a deficit, they didn't mean that I was missing things in business, they mean now that they're a benefit, like I'm extra. And then depends on how much you like me, how extra you think I am. I'm extra, because I have those skills. Not, it's not hurting me to have had that experience as a teacher. 

Okay, so maybe here, you're like, Alright, well, I'm willing to maybe believe that my teaching skills could be business skills, but I don't really see how this works. All you have to be as willing right here. Let's get a little more concrete with some examples. I have two examples for you of how this goes. The first one is in business. One of the things I hear from clients that if you go on to Facebook, or LinkedIn or anywhere else, you'll hear people say like, Oh, my gosh, I don't know how to sell things. The struggle is not creating the product, or knowing you're good at something, although that's part of it. 

But really, then figuring out how to get people to buy it. Like that's how you make money. And that's the trick. If you own a business, you know, for a fact that selling can be really hard. And there's a whole host of reasons underneath it. But what you might not have realized as a former teacher is that if you have taught somebody something, you have sold somebody something, basically teachers and this sounds weird, but teachers sell information to children, or even adults, you sell ideas to other humans. And the thing about teaching that isn't true in business is you have to sell ideas to people that don't want them. 

Like I was a math teacher teaching algebra, I still do some of that today with college kids. My job is to help kids learn something they don't want to learn sometimes. And to help them become excited and connected and engaged with information. They didn't know that was valuable to them. That's, that's selling, because not only do I have to sell it to the kids that want it, I have to sell it to the people, they're like hell, no lady I want no part of this, this is horrible. I have to sell it, every person that sits in my classroom, business is a little different. Because really, it's actually a little easier in some respects, not that it's easy. But it is a little simpler in the idea that when you're selling, what you're selling is the resource, you have the skills you have to the people that want it to your ideal clients, you don't have to sell it to every human that walks through your door. There's this idea that it won't be for everyone. And that's kind of amazing. That's not how it works in a classroom. So that's one example. 

The other example of a teaching skill that is really vital in business is evaluating in teaching evaluation is normal, you teach a lesson, the kids are kind of all over the place. And at the end, you think like hmm, what could I have done differently here? Like, how would I teach this differently next time? Oh, you know, how could I do this again tomorrow so that it's a little clear for everybody? Or you might think about  yourself? Like, wait, this part was kind of complicated? How can I adjust what I did here? And even sometimes there are things like Oh, boy, you know, most people seem to get that. But like Joe and Rory really struggled. I'm gonna have to think about how to get to them tomorrow, and see what else we could try. This is all reflection. And we do exactly the same thing in business. 

This is the kind of reflection in business is like rocket fuel. evaluation is business rocket fuel. And most people avoid it like the plague. But in teaching it's normal course, to sit back and go like, what would I change here in this lesson to think through that lens of reflection and evaluation, and kind of pick up things? It's not always pleasant, because even in a classroom, it's not pleasant to be like, Oh, you know what, I really confused them there. But it's still valuable. You learn, you become a better teacher, you become a better business owner for thinking like, oh, crud, I have to do that differently. I was making this too hard. That's part of the human condition. So the normal evaluation that happens in the classroom should be something, is something that you can really easily transfer into a business and helps you grow exponentially. It's one of the most important things you can do, and I will tell you when I talk to clients, or even just acquaintances and colleagues in the business world, and I'll say that I'm like, Well, how did you evaluate that, and they look at me like I've lost my marbles, because it's not fun to evaluate. But if you're good at it, and you're already comfortable with it, from the teaching world, you're like six steps ahead of the game, you just didn't know it. So those are two examples of how teaching skills really are vital business skills that you're already ahead. So maybe now you're thinking like, okay, there are some parallels here between teaching and business. 

As a former teacher, I can tell you from my experience, that the more I am able to see those parallels and make the connections between the two skill sets for myself, the more my business grows. So here's something for you to try. Over the next couple of days. 

Here are a couple of questions to think about. You could write down the questions or sit down and write down the answers. Writing is always good here, you know, this. 

So the first question is, what is one teaching skill you're using right now in your business? And didn't realize it? How is your teaching experience serving you already? You know, how is it giving you an advantage right now? Because you've been in a classroom? What are you doing better in your business? Because you come from a teacher mind? 

The second question is, what's one teaching skill that you have that you're great at? Maybe it's evaluation that you aren't using in your business? And could be if you implemented that, or you started using that skill a little more, instead of keeping it over? There is something that doesn't fit? What kind of positive impact could it have on your business, on your growth on your profit? There are some obstacles to watch out for as you think through these questions. One of the things that you have to you have to be on guard for is not to get too far in the weeds of skills. So when I'm talking about teaching skills that apply to business, we're talking in a slightly like two step back kind of level, we're talking about higher level skills, questioning, selling, engaging people evaluated, and evaluating active listening. 

There is a danger of getting too specific. Because if you think well, I have a lot of skills. Like I know, personally, I was a math person, I am a math person, I have lots of skills around teaching different addition algorithms to kids. If I'm thinking that, in my business doesn't have anything to do with that, I might think like, Oh, crap, my skills aren't relevant. But that's like standing an inch from a tree, blowing your nose, right up to the bark and trying to figure out how tall it is, like you're too close, you need to step back and think about sort of the generalization from that. And if I step back, even from that example, me, having taught lots of different processes for kids to learn to add, means that I know that people taking different approaches to get the same result is totally fine. Like it works. 

In addition, it's going to work in business, it's totally okay that you do it differently than I do, as long as you get where you're going. That's a totally relevant business teaching skill. Ultimately, what I hope you'll walk away thinking from this episode, is that the skills you have your expertise as a teacher, your teaching skills, they are far more applicable than your business in your business, then you might think you might be newer in business, you might have been around a while. But the years of teaching experience you have are relevant, they matter. And you do not have to think of yourself as new at anything. If you have two or five or 10 years of teaching already under your belt or more, you can effectively take those skills and transfer them into the business world to create more and more and more success and more and more and more profit and money. 

So if all of this resonates with you, and you're looking for more, keep an eye out for more episodes that are being coming every week, but also come on over to facebook and join my free group. It's the same name. It's called teachers in business. And it's all about the ins and outs of growing a successful, effective and profitable business as a former teacher, while also keeping things simple, because Lord, we overcomplicate things, everyone does, that's the human condition, right? 

It's a community for people that are like you doing the same thing and we'd love to have you. And if you're sitting here right now thinking like oh my goodness, this is so complicated. You're looking for more help, trying to figure out how to use what you're already good at in your business right now to actually get growing. If you're in making it too complicated, my jam is simplifying. And using your skills, leveraging them to do better sooner, reach out and set up a time to talk one on one. You can go over my website, which is Torpey coaching comm and book a free one hour, or just send me a message on Facebook or LinkedIn and we'll set up a time to connect. But we'll work together we'll sit and talk actually like humans, I promise it won't hurt. And figure out the best way for you as your individual self to use the skills you already have to what you're doing now. Better right now. Thanks so much for listening to episode one. Go out and use those teaching skills and let me know how it goes.