Teachers in Transition: Career Change and Real Talk for Burned-Out Teachers
Burned out in the classroom? You’re not alone—and you’re not stuck. Teachers in Transition: Career Change and Real Talk for Burned-Out Teachers is the podcast for educators who’ve given everything to their students—and now need to give something back to themselves. Hosted by Vanessa Jackson, a former teacher who transitioned into the staffing and hiring industry, this show blends honest conversations, practical strategy, and deep emotional support. Vanessa knows exactly how burned-out educators can reposition themselves and stand out to recruiters because she’s been on both sides of the hiring table. Each episode offers real talk and real tools to help you explore what’s next—whether that’s a new job, a new identity, or a new sense of peace. 💼 Career advice for teachers leaving education 💡 Practical job search tips, resume help, and mindset shifts 🧠 Real talk about burnout, grief, and rebuilding You’ve given enough. It’s time to build a life that gives back. 👉 Learn more at https://teachersintransition.com
Episodes
This week, we dive deep into a viral story that’s about so much more than a stolen Hello Kitty Funko Pop. We explore boundaries, respect, and why burnout isn’t just about exhaustion—it’s about disillusionment. Plus, Vanessa shares a simple brain hack for instant momentum (spoiler: it involves a sticky note) and walks you through two powerful frameworks—Finding Your Element and Ikigai—to help you uncover your next care...
In this episode of Teachers in Transition, Vanessa Jackson celebrates cracking the Top 250 in Apple Podcasts Career category 🎉 — and dives into a jam-packed episode covering toxic leadership, classroom chaos, Halloween hacks, and how to discover your personal brand that can actually open doors.
🚩 Red Flag Radar kicks off with a jaw-dropping Reddit story featuring a gaslighting principal, zero mentorship, and why some...
Explore how Ghostbusters can help teachers reframe burnout, build resilience, and take bold steps toward a new career.
In this week’s episode of Teachers in Transition, we’re looking at the 1984 movie Ghostbusters through the lens of teacher burnout, career change, and rejection resilience.
If you’ve ever felt slimed by endless rejection emails or haunted by the fear of leaving teaching, this episode will resonate. Just...
You’re already paying the price - now it’s time to count the cost.
In this episode of Teachers in Transition, Vanessa pulls back the curtain on what it really costs to stay in a job that’s slowly burning you out. From sleepless Sunday nights to surprise pizza party scams, we’re exploring the Three Coins every teacher spends—Time, Money, and Stress—and what it means to start reclaiming them.
You'll hear:
- Why burn...
Feeling burned out and overlooked? In this episode, Vanessa shares how to build a Custom GPT that writes your lesson plans and the resume fixes every teacher needs to land interviews outside the classroom. Save hours, cut the stress, and start building your next chapter.
In this episode, you’ll learn:
- 🛠️ How to create a Custom GPT to generate lesson plans faster
- 📂 What to upload and how to train your GPT (without t...
Burned out and job hunting? Vanessa shares a powerful story, a time-saving hack, and a no-fluff resume detox to help teachers transition careers with clarity. Learn what to keep, cut, and reframe for your next chapter.
In this episode of Teachers in Transition, host Vanessa Jackson tackles two traps many teachers face when planning their exit strategy:
- The ever-rising bar of expectations that leads to chronic burnou...
What if the problem isn’t just how many balls you’re juggling—but the whole game itself?
In this episode of Teachers in Transition, Vanessa Jackson breaks down a powerful framework to help burned-out teachers stop doing all the things—and start identifying what actually matters. You’ll learn how to tag your tasks as glass, rubber, lead, or hot air—and why that color-coded system could save your sanity.
Then we zoom out ...
Stop Saying “Someday” + Teacher Career Transition Tips from Knight and Day
Ever notice how “someday” sounds like a plan… until it becomes your excuse?
This week, I’m diving into the utterly bananas spy movie Knight and Day—and pulling out some surprisingly relevant lessons for teachers on the edge of burnout. Between Tom Cruise’s calm chaos and Cameron Diaz’s underestimated genius, there’s a message every teacher-in-tra...
Hey friend, this one's personal.
If you’ve ever said, “Maybe I’ll just stick it out one more year,” this episode is your invitation to something different. Not a lecture. Not a pitch. A real workshop. A pause. A chance to breathe.
In this short episode, I’m sharing:
- What I mean by the “Invisible Backpack” and why it keeps you stuck
- The truth about “just one more year” (hint: it’s still a decision)
- The 5Ps Fr...
What does a ridiculous comedy bout dodgeball have in common with the emotional rollercoaster of being a burned-out teacher? More than you think.
In this episode of Teachers in Transition, Vanessa uses Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story to explore the hidden truth behind teacher burnout, resilience, and identity loss. From flying wrenches and Globo Gym gaslighting to career pivots and Average Joe’s community, this metapho...
To Live Would Be an Awfully Big Adventure (Especially After Teaching)
In this heartfelt episode, we head to Neverland, but this isn’t just a nostalgia trip. It’s a wake-up call for teachers who feel like they’ve become someone they don’t recognize.
We unpack the 1991 film Hook and its surprising resonance for burned-out educators, creative souls, and those contemplating a career transition.
From the chilling mo...
What can a sci-fi comedy teach us about burnout, imposter syndrome, and teacher career transitions? A lot, actually. In this episode, Vanessa Jackson—former educator turned career transition coach—dives into Galaxy Quest to explore how pretending can lead to reality, why martyrdom in teaching needs to end, and how your “teacher skills” translate far beyond the classroom.
This episode is for every educator who’s ever fe...
What do stained glass, jousting, and Geoffrey Chaucer have to do with your next career move? More than you think.
In this episode, Vanessa uses A Knight’s Tale to explore what it means to reinvent yourself without erasing who you’ve been. From burnout to “changing your stars,” we break down how hope, identity, and real-world strategy (hello, skills gap analysis!) can guide you out of survival mode and into something th...
In episode of Teachers in Transition, career coach and former middle school teacher Vanessa Jackson uses the cult classic Groundhog Day as a metaphor for the emotional and professional loop so many educators feel stuck in. Vanessa dissects the 5 stages of grief not only as they appear in Bill Murray’s iconic time-loop comedy, but as they show up in the lives of teachers contemplating an exit from education.
Listeners ...
Teachers in Transition – Episode 260: What School of Life Teaches Us About Time, Teaching, and Taking the Leap
What if the best career advice came from a forgotten 2005 TV movie starring Ryan Reynolds in red Chucks?
In this episode, we unpack the under-the-radar gem School of Life—a story that holds unexpected wisdom about purpose, time, and finding joy in teaching.
- Why Mr. D’s lessons hit harder than any PD you’ve ...
What can a 2004 sci-fi film teach us about modern AI—and our careers? In this episode, Vanessa Jackson breaks down I, Robot, explores the Two Wolves metaphor, and reveals how teachers can use AI ethically to reclaim time, clarity, and direction offering real-life ways to work with AI instead of fearing it.
💡 Not sure what your next step should be? Start with the DECIDE Workshop.
👉 https://teachersintransition.c...
Your Job Search as a Goonies Adventure
This week, Vanessa dives into what The Goonies and your own nickname history can teach you about career pivots, found family, and the power of not doing it alone. If you’ve
In This Episode:
- Why some nicknames hit differently
- What the Goonies can teach us about teamwork, courage, and weirdness
- Thunderbolts as the grown-up, world-weary version of the same journey
- How to find y...
Episode Overview
In this episode, Vanessa explores How to Train Your Dragon through a powerful lens: not just as a fantasy adventure, but as a roadmap for reclaiming agency, curiosity, and purpose in career transitions. The conversation covers how Hiccup from a collection of children’s books to a live-action movie, themes of belongings, the Huge different between ‘couldn’t’ and ‘wouldn’t’, and finally some career trans...
This week on Teachers in Transition, we’re diving into one of Vanessa’s favorite underdog films—The Replacements—to explore what it really means to get a second chance. Spoiler: it’s not about parades or endorsement deals. It’s about the quiet, often-overlooked moments of greatness that shape who we are—and who we’re becoming.
Vanessa breaks down how this lighthearted football flick offers surprisingly deep insights on...
In this episode of Teachers in Transition, host Vanessa Jackson explores the heartwarming 2003 film Secondhand Lions and what it reveals about identity, respect, and rewriting your personal story. Through the lens of this quiet classic, Vanessa draws deep parallels between the character Walter’s journey and the experience of burned-out educators who are questioning their place in the classroom.
Vanessa encourages teach...
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