Episode Transcription

1: Classroom To Business

Hello, lovely lady. Welcome to Classroom To Business, the podcast designed specifically for teachers working to become successful businesswomen and creating financial freedom and lifestyle flexibility. I'm Kirsty Gibbs business coach mentor for educators and teachers just like you who are ready to step away from the classroom and create something.

The Classroom to Business Podcast is committed to helping you grow your business, break down those barriers to success, and replace your teaching salary without having to work more hours. It is time for you to find freedom and start being your own boss so you can once again enjoy what you do and wake up each morning loving life.

Let's get. Hello, welcome to episode one of Classroom to Business. I am Beyond thrilled. This podcast has been a long time in the making, and I know that so many of you have been asking me to share more of the behind the scenes of my. Journey with my tutoring business, share some of the step-by-step strategies that I used and that I now implement and that I share with other ladies all around the world.

And also, I'm really excited because this podcast sees me bringing on some very exciting guests, but for today's podcast, Being that it, it is number one. Episode number one. I wanted to start with how I got to where I am. I thought that that was fitting, and I know that a lot of you have asked me questions about my journey.

So that's what today's going to be all about. So, In 2011, I was working full-time in the classroom. I absolutely loved what I did. I loved working with kids. I loved making a difference. A passion of mine was teaching reading. Another passion of mine was working with those kids who other teachers thought were naughty or other teacher.

Had sort of given up on, I really liked that side of my job. I taught all over the place. By this point I'd taught in England, I taught all year levels all the way from prep through to year 13 in London, and I really did love what I was doing. The thing is, it got to a point where, The joy was being sucked out by all of the other stuff.

So there was a certain approach that I wanted to take with reading and teaching, reading and spelling in my class, and I couldn't necessarily do that because the way that we did things at school wasn't aligned with that and the school wasn't set up to. You know, bring on a whole new program or approach, just because I thought it was a good idea, even down to the fact of, you know, teaching nutrition in health to year sixes and teaching the food pyramid still.

And I mean, now this was some time ago, and I know that things have changed in the curriculum, but even at that point, it went against what I felt was right. and then there were these days where I could see that I was having to power through the curriculum so quickly and so many of my students were being left behind.

And this is nobody's fault. This is just part of being a teacher. And I'm sure that so many of you listening can completely understand and agree with what I'm saying in. The school system is very fast paced and unfortunately it doesn't cater for all learners and there are so many who slip through the cracks.

But I could see that when I could work with a student one-on-one, or if I could work with a small group of students, I could make such a massive difference. So that coupled with the fact that I always had had. Burning fire in my belly to just do something more, do something extra. I was always looking for other ideas of things to do on the side.

I decided to start my own tutoring business to begin with. I thought that I needed to buy a franchise. I thought that I needed the guidance from somebody who had done it before and. Just a little side note here. I'm not going to say that that I was wrong in thinking that, but I was about to fork out a lot of money for something that didn't necessarily align with the way that I wanted to teach.

So by buying a franchise, I was so naive. I remember. I paid my deposit and I received the contract, I guess, and I went through everything and I had this highlighter and I started highlighting all of the things that I didn't agree with or that I didn't want to do in my center. And I went to the solicitor and he just looked at me.

He said, it doesn't matter what you want to do, it doesn't matter if you agree with this. This is a franchise. And at the end of the day, It's always going to be 49% yours and 51% this. And that was a real moment for me where I thought, oh. That's kind of what I'm trying to get away from in the classroom.

No, I'm not a control freak, but I wanted to have that freedom and that flexibility to teach things the way I wanted and to run my business the way I wanted. So, I pulled out of that agreement very last minute, and I decided to go at it on my own. It was a massive leap of faith. I had no business support.

I had no business. Degree or idea or anything like that. No business background. But I had this passion and I had this idea, and I knew that I wanted to make it work. I also knew in the back of my mind that I had a plan B, and you know, The principal of my school at the time, she's amazing. And she was thinking, why are you leaving?

You know, what are you doing? You, you're such a great teacher and you've got a great class. And I was at a beautiful school. You know, I had really all of the boxes ticked and my family were questioning my decisions, but there was just something in me that knew that. I wanted to do something more and I knew that teaching was always going to be there if I needed to go back to it.

And so I felt that I was AD had an advantage, I guess, because I had a plan B if I ever needed to, so I finished teaching. I started up my first center on the Gold Coast in Burley, and I went all in. So I did take a small loan to set up my business because you know, I was going all in. I had to have an interactive whiteboard.

I had to have the most expensive designer to create my logo and my website and this amazing signage because I knew. Innately, I knew that building that brand and that awareness of my business was the first and most important thing. And I think if you don't take anything away from today, please take that away.

That when you start a business, it's not just, oh, yep, I've decided I'm going to start a business and now I expect people to come in. You actually have to build the awareness of your business and your brand, and you have to get out there. And spread the word and get your business name and your logo and everything in front of as many people as possible to start to get that momentum.

So anyway, I took out a loan. I found a, a perfect little premises in Burley. I decked it out exactly the way I wanted it, fitted it out. I tried to paint some walls and my husband very quickly told me that I was rubbish at painting. So he got that job. . We got beautiful furniture and fittings and it was just, My dream come true.

It was exactly, I think what every teacher dreams of is creating their own space with a budget that's not, you know, their own pocket. In this case, yes, it was my own pocket, but because it was my business, I saw it in a different light and I created this space that I was so proud of and so happy about. So that was how.

I sort of started my journey over the years. My business has pivoted quite a lot, so I opened a second center maybe 18 months later, I think We grew out of the space that we were in at Burley and moved to a bigger space. I had my first baby and sold one of my businesses and. Pivoted our second business so that it was all mobile and I think, you know, that's a story for another day.

Something to consider too is that when you are starting out with your business, the way that you begin, it doesn't need to be the way that it stays forever. So when I started my business in, in the very beginning, I had no idea what it was going to evolve into. There is no way. I thought that I would have two centers within 18 months.

I really didn't think I would have that many staff working for me. And then I didn't think that I would sell one, and then I didn't think that we would go completely mobile, you know? So you have to have an open mind and be willing to. Adapt as your life changes and as your life situations change and also as life in general changes.

So just you know, off on a tangent, and I'm really going to apologize right now because. This podcast is probably going to have quite a few off on a tangent moments just because that's how I am, but off on a tangent. Marketing. Marketing, your tutoring business now as opposed to when I started my business is so different.

Some of the components are exactly the same and we still use those and they're very effective, but some of them are so. and you know, yellow Pages, for example, who uses Yellow Pages anymore? It just doesn't exist. Handing business cards out all of the time. That used to be a big thing. It's not so much anymore, it's all online.

It's all digital. So coming back , you have to be able to be flexible and be able to adapt with things as they change. And I think for me, coming out of the classroom and coming into business, I had such an open mind of I'm just going to make this work whatever way possible and not having. You know, a set criteria of what my business has to actually look like.

I think that worked in my favor. I am going to go into a bit more detail over the next few episodes about some of the really big challenges that I had starting up my business. But today I re just wanted to touch on how I got to where I was initially and why I sort of started my tutoring business and hopefully.

Inspires you to consider that little burning flame inside your belly that is making you want to take that leap. Or maybe you've just started that leap and you're just thinking, oh my gosh, I dunno what to do right now. Like I have no idea. No, that you actually can still be successful. That it is all about being open-minded, being persistent, being consistent, and you don't have to do.

In the, you know, with no support like I did, there is so much more support out there Now, yes, Google can be overwhelming, but this podcast is going to be a place, one of the places, hopefully your favorite place where you can come and hear. Strategies that you can implement, learn from other people who have done it before and get some inspiration to take away to implement into your own business and your own lives so that you too can create that financial freedom and the flexibility that helps to create the work-life balance that suits you.

Thank you all for joining me today. I really hope you've enjoyed this first episode of Classroom to Business. If you have. Do not forget to subscribe. These podcasts will be coming out every fortnight. Jump over and leave me a review. I am so, so thrilled to be bringing this to you, and I cannot wait to chat with you again next time.

Have a great day. If you enjoyed this episode today, I would absolutely love for you to leave a review. It only takes a minute, and if you haven't yet subscribed, make sure you do to ensure that you never miss an. Finally, if you want to know more about what we do, head over to the website, casey gibbs.com or check out the link in the show notes below.

Thanks for listening. It's so great to have you here.