June 19, 2025 • 37 mins
Katherine Martín-Fisher welcomes Rachel Cicioni to discuss her transition from classroom teaching to private instruction. Rachel shares how the COVID-19 pandemic prompted her career shift and the challenges she faced in establishing her private teaching business. They explore key strategies for success in the education sector, emphasizing the importance of mentorship and financial investment in personal and professional growth. Rachel reflects on her journey and future aspirations, offering insights into her vision for her business. The episode concludes with inspirational thoughts on mentorship and ways to connect with Rachel, along with closing remarks and a call to action for listeners.
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(00:02):
I am Katherine Martín-Fisher, and I helpbusiness owners who have lost their vision
because they're struggling with cash flow,sales, marketing, which also affects their
company culture.
By showing them how to implement proven systemsthat increase their revenue by 30% in 90 days,
and this allows them to reignite the passionand that big dream that they started with.
(00:28):
So, the reason that I started this podcast wasto celebrate businesses that have overcome
adversity and have come out on the other sideof it.
And I want you to know that you are not alone.
Good afternoon, this is Katherine, your hostwith The Beyond Business Podcast.
I'm excited to have Rachel Cicioni, who is thefounder of The Private Practice Teacher and a
(00:54):
business dedicated to helping teacherstransition from burnout and survival mode to
building thriving self-led careers as privateteachers and entrepreneurs.
Rachel, thank you so much for being on ourpodcast today.
I am so excited for what we're gonna share withour audience.
Thank you so much for having me.
(01:15):
I am too.
So Rachel, let's start with who you are, whatis it that you do, but we will want our
audience to just know just a little bit aboutyou and what led you there.
So tell us first who you are and what you do.
I am first and foremost, a mom and wife,mother, sister.
(01:41):
But, growing up, I always wanted to be ateacher.
That was my dream.
I always wanted to be a teacher.
It took me a while to get there.
I'm a second career professional, so I didn'tactually start teaching until I was 31.
But after nine years or so in the classroom, Iwas becoming disenchanted with it.
(02:01):
With the pay, the lack of respect, theworkload.
And then after COVID, it was even worse.
In fact, it became kind of impossible withoutthe help of my in-laws and grandparents to help
with childcare.
It didn't make sense for me to go back into theclassroom.
So, I left.
And I missed teaching, so I started teachingprivately.
(02:26):
And so, I had my own private teaching businessthat I still have to this day, five years later
now, where I teach the same thing I did in theclassroom, but I teach it privately now.
The student twelve.
My oldest student currently is 72 years old.
And once I figured out how to replace myfull-time teaching income teaching privately, I
(02:49):
realized that this is something I really wantedto share with other teachers, especially as I
saw teacher attrition and teacher satisfactionfalling or teacher attrition rising and
satisfaction falling.
Instead of having all of this brilliance andpassion and expertise and knowledge lost to the
teaching profession completely, I thought maybethey could do what I'm doing.
(03:10):
So I created the Private Practice Teacher inorder to teach teachers like me who love
teaching, but it doesn't make sense or it's nothealthy or the best option for them to stay in
the classroom anymore.
Now that's a courage.
First, let's start with the fact that this isyour second career.
So, you know, you had to make choices there andthen you do that.
(03:32):
You become a teacher.
You're in the classroom.
At what point did you decide that wasn't goingto be part of your journey and you needed to
shift that journey?
I had to get to a place where, like between arock and a hard place, before I could finally
do it because we made sacrifices for me to goback to college as an adult to become a
(03:53):
teacher.
So, leaving the classroom felt a lot like I wasletting down everybody who supported me to quit
my job, go to college full time, particularlymy husband.
But, you know, in-laws helped as well withchildcare and whatnot.
So, I've had to really be pushed to the pointwhere the dread of going back into the
(04:15):
classroom was insurmountable.
And I didn't like who I was.
I didn't like who I was anymore.
I was angry almost constantly, just fromresentment.
I was exhausted.
I was irritable.
I wasn't being the mom I wanted to be.
I wasn't being the partner I wanted to be.
And as that last summer break went on, insteadof the dread lifting like it had, like usually
(04:41):
there'd be a point over the summer where thedread would lift, the exhaustion would lift,
and my excitement about meeting my new studentsand all the cool things I wanted to do in the
classroom next year would just kind of takeover.
But this last year, it didn't.
And the closer the school year got, the more Icried, the more I just couldn't bring myself to
(05:02):
go back.
And so, I had a really hard conversation withmy husband about what would it look like to not
go back.
I used the excuse of COVID as what I told myemployer as to why I wasn't coming back and
staying.
Of course, that was a big part of it because Idid need to be able to get our kids on and off
the bus.
That was a huge part.
(05:24):
But, so COVID was really, it was of course afactor because I did need to get my kids on and
off the bus, or we needed me to get the kids onand off the bus.
But it wasn't the driving force.
I had been thinking about leaving for a longtime, so it was really just the straw that
broke the camel's back and gave me a reallygood excuse to leave that community without
(05:46):
becoming persona non grata.
I taught there for five years.
And as the only French teacher, I had kids thatI had been teaching for five years and I wanted
to be able to go to their graduation.
I wanted to be able to go to the football game.
So I really didn't want to like burn thosebridges because there were still families that
I was really close to and I wanted to be ableto interact.
(06:06):
But the real driver was just the unhappinessand the resentment and just becoming the person
I didn't want to be.
So, I had this conversation with my husband.
He knew that I'd been unhappy for a long time,but it was COVID and it did not make good
financial sense to walk away from a guaranteedpaycheck when everything was so uncertain.
(06:27):
My husband co-owns now, but at the time he justworked for a commercial construction business.
And we didn't know if there was going to be abusiness in a year.
We didn't know if he was, you know, how stablehis job was going to be.
Thankfully, it has been.
But we agreed that as long as I could findsomething, he would support my label.
(06:50):
Just anything.
Anything at all.
Just so we had some guaranteed income and thatwould give us some cushion if we needed to
switch.
So, I did.
I became a part-time classroom aide in an ESLclassroom in one of my dream districts.
So, one of the districts I really wanted towork in.
Then I started just teaching on the sidebecause I missed it.
(07:12):
And by November of that same school year, sofrom August to November, it had grown so much
that it was costing me money to stay as theteacher's aide.
If I could open up those hours and thatavailability to take on more students, I would
earn more money doing that than staying in theclassroom.
(07:33):
And so, I finished.
I gave them a month's notice.
So, I finished out, you know, up until theChristmas break.
And then starting January, I was all in.
January of 2021.
I was all in in my teaching business.
And it was just up for me.
So I love that you're sharing this part of thejourney because teachers, you know, they're one
(07:53):
of the most valuable people teaching our nextgenerations.
And in the way that the system is set up, itseems to be that the value is not there in the
same way.
You're expected to do I would love to talk alittle bit about that because what I wanted to
talk about is, you know, you've decided you'veactually become an entrepreneur through this
(08:16):
journey and you have opened your own business.
But what would you say is something that youdidn't know that you didn't know that you now
are like, had I just known this sooner?
Oh my goodness.
I would say pricing.
I didn't know how much what I have to offer,the value of it, would be in the private
(08:40):
sector.
And I would have been able to grow so much morequickly if I had known how to price properly.
I way undercharged for what I offer.
What would be your advice to someone who isdealing with some of the same challenges that
you dealt with and making that decision thatthey would be okay if they decided to make that
(09:02):
kind of a move?
So, for the teacher who is reluctant or scaredto make this move, I have a couple pieces.
The first, just while I'm thinking aboutpricing, is every single teacher that I have
worked with, every single one for the lastthree years, has severely underestimated what
they could charge.
(09:24):
Even teachers who have had their ownbusinesses, it locks you into being back on
this exhausted wheel of constantly working andnever feeling like you can get ahead.
And so, burn themselves out and theirbusinesses go poof.
So, my number one piece of advice before youeven start is understand that you can charge a
(09:44):
lot more than what you think.
And I tell teachers to look at how much parentspay for dance lessons, music lessons, and
athletic coaching.
Look at those things because that's what you'recompeting with.
You're actually competing withextracurriculars.
You're not competing with other teachers andtutors.
(10:06):
So, look at the things that parents already seevalue in and they're already paying for.
And that's where you can price.
And that's also where you should model yourterms and conditions and late policies and
reschedule policies.
So, look at them.
You're not marketing yourself to schooldistricts anymore.
(10:27):
And you don't even really have to fight forpeople to understand the value of what you
bring, which was a huge surprise for me.
Huge.
The respect that I get now as a privatepractice teacher has blown my mind.
From being in the classroom and beingconstantly told I'm not doing enough, to be
(10:48):
given more and more to do, to do more withless, micromanaged.
Sometimes I've talked to teachers who aremicromanaged down to the quarter hour of what
they're supposed to be doing.
I know.
And I have never once had a parent ask me for alesson plan or a scope and sequence.
They just trust me to do my job.
(11:08):
They are appreciative.
They are thankful.
The kids always do their homework.
I don't have behavior issues.
It really blew me away how much respect I getfrom my students and the families and the adult
learners I work with.
So, I guess for a teacher who's just wanting todip their toe in, because I would say I'm a
(11:28):
conservative risk-taker.
I'm an accidental entrepreneur.
I did not jump into this with both feet.
I waded my way in and scaled up.
And so you absolutely can do that.
And I just lost my train of thought.
So for a teacher who wants to dip their toes inand, you know, through that process that you're
going through, you know, what it's pretty muchgiving them advice.
(11:53):
Okay.
Yeah.
So, find out how much you can charge.
Start right there and ask yourself is what youhave to offer any less valuable?
So, I have a question.
When we talk about being micromanaged in, youknow, as school teachers, you've gotten this
education.
You know what to do.
And so, do you find that that's part of thechallenges that we're having?
(12:16):
Because the same way when you're trying tomicromanage children instead of allowing them
to be their creative selves, what I'm hearingyou say is the same thing's happening for the
teachers, the educators, is that they're beingmicromanaged and so they can't be their
creative selves and give their all in themanner in which that, you know, they have that
because everybody has a different personalityand a different style, but then people learn in
(12:39):
different styles as well.
And, to be to be allowed to just create isprobably one of the best gifts.
And what I find, and this is a personal thing,is that when you do hire a private practice
teacher, a teacher who can, you know, just dowhat she wants to do without somebody telling
her what to do all the time, then that alwaysseems to open up the doors to just being who
(13:03):
you are and giving your gifts out, right?
Absolutely.
Yeah, it absolutely does.
The autonomy and the freedom to teach in a waythat is aligned with our beliefs as an educator
and our beliefs about the way not even ourbeliefs, but brain science.
What science says about how people learn best.
Right.
And to have the creative liberty to makelearning joyful.
(13:29):
To make it fun.
We learn better when it's fun.
We learn better when it's play.
They want to do their homework because it's funand it's playful and it's interesting.
And in private practice teaching, we get tomake everything customized to the learner
that's in front of us.
And we're not bound by scripts or curriculum orscope and sequence.
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That was one of my biggest pet peeves withbeing bound to those types of calendars.
As a professional teacher, when I was in theclassroom, if my students got interested in
something and they wanted to go down thatrabbit hole and they had total buy-in and they
were completely engaged.
But I'm not supposed to go down that rabbithole for another month.
(14:11):
I'm going to go down that rabbit hole in themoment while they're engaged.
And then I can circle back to whatever theywanted me to do later that week.
And I also know my learners.
I know the things that they're struggling with.
And so, maybe this particular concept mighttake them two to three weeks to get.
But a concept later on will probably only takethem a day or two.
(14:32):
And so, the people that are writing thesethings, they don't know my students.
They don't know the kids that are sitting infront of me.
And a lot of times they don't have thebackground in pedagogy.
They don't know the brain science.
They don't understand child development the waythe teacher in the classroom does.
And I have found that for some of the teachersI've worked with, that limitation and that
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micromanagement, even to the extent of beingmandated to do things that they know are
counterproductive to the students' learning andsuccess, that has driven them out of the
classroom.
That was for some of them, that's the laststraw.
Because they got into teaching because theywanted to help students reach their potential.
(15:17):
They wanted those light bulb moments where thekids get it and they understand what they're
capable of.
We don't have the freedom and we're notempowered to teach in that way for the learners
in front of us, it's the opposite of joyful.
It's almost heartbreaking.
(15:38):
I don't know anybody that would sign up to dothis job for that.
Right.
So, let me ask you.
You decide that you're gonna now be in privatepractice and you're loving this.
On the business side, what would you say arechallenges that you had to overcome?
In my teaching business or in my coaching?
(15:58):
In both, either. As
either. As far as challenges in being abusiness owner.
So, one of the big challenges was figuring outwho to follow.
Because there's a ton of free advice out there.
I mean, everybody's got their system.
Everybody's got something to say aboutsomething.
And I definitely invested in things that I didnot need to invest in.
(16:21):
I spent money that I did not need to spendbecause there are free resources out there that
can do the job and sometimes even better.
So, that was a huge learning curve for mebecause I was afraid of what I didn't know.
I mean, I have a degree in pedagogy and Frenchand curriculum and instruction.
(16:45):
I don't have a degree in marketing.
I don't have a degree in business.
So, all of that was like learning as I go.
I paid for a logo, somebody to make a logo forme.
I hate it.
I never actually used it.
So, that was $65 for nothing.
There's just a lot that you could kind of doyourself and love it more.
(17:07):
I was also really afraid of the marketing.
And the marketing does not need to be thatcomplicated.
It really, really does not.
It's not as complicated as you would think.
And there is a point at which, I would sayprobably within about a year and a half, I
stopped marketing my teaching businesscompletely.
I didn't have to.
(17:28):
It was all, I mean, my students were chompingat the bit to tell people when I could take on
more students.
Just let me know.
Just let me know when you're ready for morebecause I have people I wanna talk to.
And so, as soon as I gave them like freedom,I'm like, Go ahead.
I can open up three more slots because or fourmore slots because I left that part-time
teaching aide position.
(17:50):
Then they did it for me.
And now Google does it for me.
So, I have not invested any time or money inpromoting my teaching business since 2022 and
it's still going.
Now what advice would you give someone who'sstarting, they're just getting started in your
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field?
Don't be afraid to learn on the job.
That's good advice.
Teachers, so many of us.
Okay, first of all, I don't think a lot ofpeople understand how truly intimidating the
interview process is for a teacher.
It's kind of nuts.
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My interview with a public school was an hourlong.
I only had 15 minutes to answer to askquestions that I had.
Forty-five minutes of being grilled with nineadministrators sitting at the table.
So, you know, we're used to like feeling judgedand having to have everything perfect.
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And so, I work with teachers, a lot of timesthey are so stuck in analysis paralysis.
They are so stuck and it has to be perfectbefore I put it out there.
Because I'm a teacher.
I'm supposed to be the expert.
And I find there's a lot of freedom in saying,I'm not the smartest person in this room.
I can learn from other people.
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I have faith in my own ability to learn.
I know that I work hard and that I havesomething of value to share with others.
And when you can let yourself off the hook andsay, My superpower is that I am brave enough to
try.
And just go out there and try.
And make mistakes.
And learn from them.
And do better next time.
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Even people who have those degrees.
You know, even when we're teaching in our firstyear of teaching, right?
We have that degree.
We know a ton.
There's so much we learn on the job.
And so, just don't be so hard on yourself.
Just because you post it doesn't meaneverybody's going to see it.
Just because they see it doesn't meaneverybody's going to judge it.
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Practice.
Every next time you post will be better.
And the next time you post will be better than.
So, that's my big advice for them.
So, now the kind of clients that would be yourideal client, is that, do you work with people
virtually?
Do you work with them in person?
How would they do business with you?
So, most of my teachers are not local to me.
I did have one who was only about an hour away,and so occasionally we would meet somewhere in
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the middle, but most of them we work online andwe meet usually twice a week.
And then we do one-on-one a month just to deepdive into whatever issues are particular to
them.
My ideal client is, I started this businessreally thinking about teachers like me who felt
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like their classroom got the best of them andtheir family got the rest of them.
Got what was left over.
I was this bright, sunny, energetic, engaging,warm person in the classroom that my students
felt they could come and talk to.
And then at home, I was tired.
I was irritable.
I was resentful.
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I never felt like I could do enough.
And my oldest daughter, who was eight when Ileft the classroom, told me that she just
thought that's how I was.
She didn't realize that I could be this bright,happy, playful.
Like, kitchen dance parties were not the normwhen I was still in the classroom.
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Now they can happen anytime.
I sort of lost where I was going with that.
Helping teachers like me.
Teachers who feel that, you know, who feel soresponsible and feel so much love and passion
and care for their students that are in theircare.
And so much for their children, their ownbiological children, that they lose themselves
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in the middle.
So, that's really who I designed this for.
That's not everybody I've worked with, thatdoesn't describe everybody I've worked with.
And I have also worked with some teacher dads,so it's not all teacher moms.
But that's who I designed it for.
So, that way we can feel like our best,happiest, shiniest, most energetic selves in
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all areas of our lives and not just for ourstudents.
And have you found along your journey while youwere having to transition from careers or
decisions you had to make, did you have mentorsor people who helped to guide you along the
way?
Yes.
Every time I leveled up, like really madesignificant progress and leveled up, it was
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when I worked with a mentor or coach.
Right.
So, when I first started, it was just me and myhusband because he was a business and marketing
major.
A lot of his advice was very good.
Some of it did not apply because this is aslightly different kind of business.
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So, I would say he was really probably my firstmentor.
And just encouraged me to get it out there.
You need to tell people, you know, that you'rehere and what you want them to say about you
and what you want them to think about you.
You'd have to do that.
So, he was really my first mentor.
But my next mentor not only helped me figureout how to truly organize my business to where
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I wasn't spending so much time in the back end.
And I really do say that it's in the back endthat the burnout happens.
The front client-facing time, that's thejoyful.
That's the fun.
That's when you—that's the part that keepscoming back.
Back-end admin work, not nearly as much joyful.
So, having a mentor who helped me really createsome good systems for managing that back-end
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part of the business, I would say that's when Ireally was able to level up and maximize my
client-facing time and get to the next incomelevel.
And then, when I decided I wanted to create theprivate practice teacher, that's a whole other
thing.
Like, I know how to teach, but coaching?
That was definitely different.
(24:06):
And to create like a self-paced course to goalong with the life coaching, I definitely
hired a mentor.
That was my first like high-ticket coach that Iever hired.
She was in the thousands, but I couldn't havedone it without her.
And I made that money back within three monthsof opening the private practice teacher.
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So, it was always worth the investment.
It was scary at first, but definitely worth theinvestment.
So, one of the things I do want to bring up isearly on you mentioned one of the most
challenging things was figuring out youroffers.
Do you find that because you seek out coachesthat it's easier for you to offer your coaching
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services and be able to, you know, to justifythe offers and how you've set them up?
Absolutely.
Yes.
So, working with coaches, somebody who's aheadof where I am right now has been completely
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instrumental, transformative.
I don't think—I was going to say, I don't thinkI could have leveled up.
I think I would get there eventually, but Iwould not have gotten there nearly as quickly
without their help of
helping.
Absolutely.
Like, I tell everybody when you are building abusiness, you are always going to be spending
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some ratio of time and money.
That's just what it is.
And sometimes at some points in your business,you have more time than money.
And other times in your business, you have moremoney than time.
So, you have to make that decision that's bestfor you.
Ultimately, time is money.
And so, if it was going to take me a year toget to a point where now I'm earning $2,000 to
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$3,000 and $4,000 more than I was previously,or I could get there within a three-month
period of time.
That's an opportunity cost.
Now I have lost six, seven months of earning$2,000 to $3,000 more.
It makes it worthwhile to pay that $3,000 nowin order to earn that money back in another
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three months and then be making profit for therest of the year.
That's great advice.
So let me ask you this.
If you were to have if you were to sit down andhave dinner with your younger self, what would
you tell her?
Oh, man.
I would tell her to dream bigger.
I would tell her to dream bigger.
To stop underestimating what she's capable of.
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Because I never imagined what I'm doing now.
And I never imagined the fulfillment and prideI have in what I am able to help bring to life.
The things that my teachers I call them mine.
So, any teacher knows that you call yourstudents my students and then they're like, or
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my kids.
And then they just become a part of you.
So, the teachers I work with, I say the samething to my teachers.
They're completely autonomous.
They do not work for me, but we keep in touch.
And so, anyway, the things that they havebrought into existence to serve the communities
that they are passionate about and that wouldnot be possible if they had stayed in the
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traditional school system.
I am so immensely proud of them and grateful tohave been part of what they have been able to
bring to life for the communities that theyserve.
And it's really humbling.
And any teacher I know who is addicted to thatlightbulb moment, that moment when they know
what they're capable of, being able to do thatfor a teacher, it's like a whole another level
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of to see, you know, when they open up and theystart to understand the possibilities of what
they are able to create for the communitiesthat they care about, that's what keeps me
going.
That's why I can't walk away from this evenwhen it gets hard sometimes.
What would you say are, you know, just someteachables?
Some things that our audience could walk awaywith, you know, that you maybe haven't
(28:17):
mentioned yet.
That I haven't mentioned yet.
Let's see.
I guess maybe some big messages that I wantteachers to hear is that you are a professional
learner.
There is almost nothing you can't learn to do.
(28:38):
You literally have a degree in learning.
You can learn anything you want to learn.
Really, the sky's the limit of what you arecapable of learning and teaching to others.
Do not feel limited by your certificate orwhatever you have licensure in.
If there's something that you are passionateabout, but you didn't get that cert because it
(29:01):
might make you harder to hire, don't let thatlimit you.
It's your passion and your enthusiasm for yourcontent that's contagious.
So, if you got an English cert but you justlove history, you can teach history in private
practice.
You're not limited to that.
Or gardening.
Maybe you are passionate about environmentalscience and gardening.
(29:23):
You can do that even if your degree is inchemistry or physics.
That's great advice actually because so manytimes wouldn't you agree you do limit yourself
and you keep yourself boxed in because that'spretty much the mentality of what we've been
taught is like, well, this is what I have mycertificate in.
This is what I have to teach. And
And in private practice, it's giving you theopen forum to teach what really speaks to your
(29:47):
heart.
Yep.
And that's where that creative juice comes out.
Yes.
And that's where it's fun.
Remember when and a lot of times, so I workwith a lot of teacher parents.
And so we remember when learning was fun, likewhen our kids would learn how to do something
and they were so excited that they learned howto do this.
(30:09):
It can be like that again.
It's like that.
Even when I work with my adults, it's stilllike that.
You know, it's just it's fun and it's engagingand I don't have to worry about the grades.
We worry about proficiency.
And we worry about, did we meet these learninggoals?
But the focus is back on learning.
(30:30):
It's not on the grades.
It's not on anything else.
It's back on the learning and it's fun.
And I think that's what most teachers, at leastthe teachers I work with, or that are the right
fit for working with me.
That's why we became teachers.
It's for that inspirational fun moment wherethey really get to see what they're capable of
and they start to release their limitingbeliefs about what they are capable of
(30:53):
learning.
If you could close your eyes and have a magicwand and say, this is the ideal thing that,
like, this is what I would imagine the businessthat I'm building, what would that be?
I guess my ultimate goal for the privatepractice teacher is what I want to really come
(31:14):
out of this, all of this, looking back, wouldbe that teachers are recognized as the
educational professionals they are and thatthey are the driving voice and force in what
education should be in order to have it servethe learners properly.
(31:36):
I've said before that my goal is I want thereto be an army of private practice teachers out
here showing what is possible when teachershave the autonomy and the freedom to practice
our craft.
I think of teaching as a science-informed art.
So, to practice our art in a way that we knowis best for the learners that are in front of
(31:59):
us, amazing things happen.
And so, I want there to be an army of privatepractice teachers out here demonstrating what
we and our students are capable ofaccomplishing, the gains that we can
accomplish, and in the time spans we can getthem accomplished in.
And I believe that when people see that, theywill recognize the amazing professionals and
(32:23):
experts that teachers really are and that willuplift the profession as a whole and have a
meaningful change on education.
So Rachel, you've shared really great, reallygreat teachables, really great inspiration
about why it would be important for you tojust, I mean, pretty much just live your dream,
be creative, be the best version of yourself.
(32:46):
And you actually help people, teachers be ableto do that.
And so if they are listening to this and theysay, you know, that just I'm just I just want
something that I can be in charge of again, andI can just, you know, be my true self and I
wanna speak with you.
How would they find you?
How would they do business with you?
You can just Google.
(33:07):
I'm now the top search on Google or thisbusiness is.
If you put in private practice teacher, mywebsite will come up.
So, you can just put in Private PracticeTeacher and you will find me.
And then I give everyone a free discovery call.
Sixty minutes.
We will talk about your business, your dreams,what you want to accomplish.
(33:31):
I will give you a little bit of homework sowhen you sign up in order to really allow us to
make the best use of that time.
But my goal is for you to see what is possibleand to answer any questions you have.
That's the point of the homework.
That way, you can kind of get some thingsfigured out on your own first and then come and
be able to use that time we have together withsome really good questions.
(33:53):
But that's completely free, and I offer that toall teachers, any teachers.
You can find the link; I'm going to give thelink to Katherine, and then the link is on my
website as well.
One other thing I wanted to just say isNapoleon Hill, he talks about how if your aims
in life are vague, then your achievements willalso be vague.
(34:15):
And Grant Cardone talks about, you know, to begreat because nothing else pays.
And what I've, you know, what you've had to do,you've had to navigate several things in order
to be able to get to, you know, to the placewhere you can help others.
And I'm just so grateful that you were herewith us today, are in Lancaster County area, is
(34:36):
that correct?
Yep.
And so that's in Lancaster, Pennsylvania.
And I'm just so happy that we, you know, thatwe've met, we've connected and that you're able
to serve our community with what you do, andalso beyond and being able to serve people
virtually because I do believe that oureducators, they need nurturing.
They need to be able to be their authentic selfand to be able to do the thing that was that
(35:01):
dream in their heart.
And that's one of the things on "The BeyondBusiness Podcast." You know, I like to have
business owners that have started with a dreamin their heart.
And so many times we go into overwhelm, andthen you just don't know how to keep that dream
going because, you know, that's the thing thatstops many people, but it didn't stop you.
You kept going and you found a way and it'sjust almost like the, you know, you ever watch
(35:26):
ants?
I love ants.
I love to watch them work because they are theones that go over, above, around, and through
any obstacle that gets in their way.
And when they do that, they are like, itdoesn't matter what you put in front of me.
I'm gonna do it anyway.
But we need to seek mentors, coaches, peoplewho can help us.
(35:47):
And like you said, shorten that timeline of,you know, it takes us longer to do all that
learning, but we can shorten the learning.
So thank you so much, Rachel, for sharingtoday.
I really do appreciate you being with us here.
Well, thank you so much, Katherine.
It was really a joy to speak with you.
Thanks.
And so again, please reach out to Rachel andyou will have her website and social links in
(36:11):
our additional notes.
And I'm just so grateful that you were herewith us today.
Again, this is Katherine, your host with TheBeyond Business Podcast.
Thank you so much, Rachel.
Well, if you made it to this point, then youmade it to the end, and you are my star.
And I just want to thank you from the bottom ofmy heart.
(36:32):
I hope that you enjoyed the conversation withtoday's guest.
And if you did, please leave us a review onApple Podcasts and Spotify and share this
episode with others who may be interested inthis topic.
Also, please feel free to let us know whattopics you'd like to see covered in future
episodes.
Get in touch in the comments or on RocketGrowth's social media platforms to have
(36:57):
conversations with me.
My booking link is in the comments.
See you next week for an all-new episode.
I am Katherine Martín-Fisher, and I helpbusiness owners who have lost their vision
because they're struggling with cash flow,sales, marketing, which also affects their
company culture.
By showing them how to implement proven systemsthat increase their revenue by 30% in 90 days,
and this allows them to reignite the passionand that big dream that they started with.
(00:28):
So, the reason that I started this podcast wasto celebrate businesses that have overcome
adversity and have come out on the other sideof it.
And I want you to know that you are not alone.
Good afternoon, this is Katherine, your hostwith The Beyond Business Podcast.
I'm excited to have Rachel Cicioni, who is thefounder of The Private Practice Teacher and a
(00:54):
business dedicated to helping teacherstransition from burnout and survival mode to
building thriving self-led careers as privateteachers and entrepreneurs.
Rachel, thank you so much for being on ourpodcast today.
I am so excited for what we're gonna share withour audience.
Thank you so much for having me.
(01:15):
I am too.
So Rachel, let's start with who you are, whatis it that you do, but we will want our
audience to just know just a little bit aboutyou and what led you there.
So tell us first who you are and what you do.
I am first and foremost, a mom and wife,mother, sister.
(01:41):
But, growing up, I always wanted to be ateacher.
That was my dream.
I always wanted to be a teacher.
It took me a while to get there.
I'm a second career professional, so I didn'tactually start teaching until I was 31.
But after nine years or so in the classroom, Iwas becoming disenchanted with it.
(02:01):
With the pay, the lack of respect, theworkload.
And then after COVID, it was even worse.
In fact, it became kind of impossible withoutthe help of my in-laws and grandparents to help
with childcare.
It didn't make sense for me to go back into theclassroom.
So, I left.
And I missed teaching, so I started teachingprivately.
(02:26):
And so, I had my own private teaching businessthat I still have to this day, five years later
now, where I teach the same thing I did in theclassroom, but I teach it privately now.
The student twelve.
My oldest student currently is 72 years old.
And once I figured out how to replace myfull-time teaching income teaching privately, I
(02:49):
realized that this is something I really wantedto share with other teachers, especially as I
saw teacher attrition and teacher satisfactionfalling or teacher attrition rising and
satisfaction falling.
Instead of having all of this brilliance andpassion and expertise and knowledge lost to the
teaching profession completely, I thought maybethey could do what I'm doing.
(03:10):
So I created the Private Practice Teacher inorder to teach teachers like me who love
teaching, but it doesn't make sense or it's nothealthy or the best option for them to stay in
the classroom anymore.
Now that's a courage.
First, let's start with the fact that this isyour second career.
So, you know, you had to make choices there andthen you do that.
(03:32):
You become a teacher.
You're in the classroom.
At what point did you decide that wasn't goingto be part of your journey and you needed to
shift that journey?
I had to get to a place where, like between arock and a hard place, before I could finally
do it because we made sacrifices for me to goback to college as an adult to become a
(03:53):
teacher.
So, leaving the classroom felt a lot like I wasletting down everybody who supported me to quit
my job, go to college full time, particularlymy husband.
But, you know, in-laws helped as well withchildcare and whatnot.
So, I've had to really be pushed to the pointwhere the dread of going back into the
(04:15):
classroom was insurmountable.
And I didn't like who I was.
I didn't like who I was anymore.
I was angry almost constantly, just fromresentment.
I was exhausted.
I was irritable.
I wasn't being the mom I wanted to be.
I wasn't being the partner I wanted to be.
And as that last summer break went on, insteadof the dread lifting like it had, like usually
(04:41):
there'd be a point over the summer where thedread would lift, the exhaustion would lift,
and my excitement about meeting my new studentsand all the cool things I wanted to do in the
classroom next year would just kind of takeover.
But this last year, it didn't.
And the closer the school year got, the more Icried, the more I just couldn't bring myself to
(05:02):
go back.
And so, I had a really hard conversation withmy husband about what would it look like to not
go back.
I used the excuse of COVID as what I told myemployer as to why I wasn't coming back and
staying.
Of course, that was a big part of it because Idid need to be able to get our kids on and off
the bus.
That was a huge part.
(05:24):
But, so COVID was really, it was of course afactor because I did need to get my kids on and
off the bus, or we needed me to get the kids onand off the bus.
But it wasn't the driving force.
I had been thinking about leaving for a longtime, so it was really just the straw that
broke the camel's back and gave me a reallygood excuse to leave that community without
(05:46):
becoming persona non grata.
I taught there for five years.
And as the only French teacher, I had kids thatI had been teaching for five years and I wanted
to be able to go to their graduation.
I wanted to be able to go to the football game.
So I really didn't want to like burn thosebridges because there were still families that
I was really close to and I wanted to be ableto interact.
(06:06):
But the real driver was just the unhappinessand the resentment and just becoming the person
I didn't want to be.
So, I had this conversation with my husband.
He knew that I'd been unhappy for a long time,but it was COVID and it did not make good
financial sense to walk away from a guaranteedpaycheck when everything was so uncertain.
(06:27):
My husband co-owns now, but at the time he justworked for a commercial construction business.
And we didn't know if there was going to be abusiness in a year.
We didn't know if he was, you know, how stablehis job was going to be.
Thankfully, it has been.
But we agreed that as long as I could findsomething, he would support my label.
(06:50):
Just anything.
Anything at all.
Just so we had some guaranteed income and thatwould give us some cushion if we needed to
switch.
So, I did.
I became a part-time classroom aide in an ESLclassroom in one of my dream districts.
So, one of the districts I really wanted towork in.
Then I started just teaching on the sidebecause I missed it.
(07:12):
And by November of that same school year, sofrom August to November, it had grown so much
that it was costing me money to stay as theteacher's aide.
If I could open up those hours and thatavailability to take on more students, I would
earn more money doing that than staying in theclassroom.
(07:33):
And so, I finished.
I gave them a month's notice.
So, I finished out, you know, up until theChristmas break.
And then starting January, I was all in.
January of 2021.
I was all in in my teaching business.
And it was just up for me.
So I love that you're sharing this part of thejourney because teachers, you know, they're one
(07:53):
of the most valuable people teaching our nextgenerations.
And in the way that the system is set up, itseems to be that the value is not there in the
same way.
You're expected to do I would love to talk alittle bit about that because what I wanted to
talk about is, you know, you've decided you'veactually become an entrepreneur through this
(08:16):
journey and you have opened your own business.
But what would you say is something that youdidn't know that you didn't know that you now
are like, had I just known this sooner?
Oh my goodness.
I would say pricing.
I didn't know how much what I have to offer,the value of it, would be in the private
(08:40):
sector.
And I would have been able to grow so much morequickly if I had known how to price properly.
I way undercharged for what I offer.
What would be your advice to someone who isdealing with some of the same challenges that
you dealt with and making that decision thatthey would be okay if they decided to make that
(09:02):
kind of a move?
So, for the teacher who is reluctant or scaredto make this move, I have a couple pieces.
The first, just while I'm thinking aboutpricing, is every single teacher that I have
worked with, every single one for the lastthree years, has severely underestimated what
they could charge.
(09:24):
Even teachers who have had their ownbusinesses, it locks you into being back on
this exhausted wheel of constantly working andnever feeling like you can get ahead.
And so, burn themselves out and theirbusinesses go poof.
So, my number one piece of advice before youeven start is understand that you can charge a
(09:44):
lot more than what you think.
And I tell teachers to look at how much parentspay for dance lessons, music lessons, and
athletic coaching.
Look at those things because that's what you'recompeting with.
You're actually competing withextracurriculars.
You're not competing with other teachers andtutors.
(10:06):
So, look at the things that parents already seevalue in and they're already paying for.
And that's where you can price.
And that's also where you should model yourterms and conditions and late policies and
reschedule policies.
So, look at them.
You're not marketing yourself to schooldistricts anymore.
(10:27):
And you don't even really have to fight forpeople to understand the value of what you
bring, which was a huge surprise for me.
Huge.
The respect that I get now as a privatepractice teacher has blown my mind.
From being in the classroom and beingconstantly told I'm not doing enough, to be
(10:48):
given more and more to do, to do more withless, micromanaged.
Sometimes I've talked to teachers who aremicromanaged down to the quarter hour of what
they're supposed to be doing.
I know.
And I have never once had a parent ask me for alesson plan or a scope and sequence.
They just trust me to do my job.
(11:08):
They are appreciative.
They are thankful.
The kids always do their homework.
I don't have behavior issues.
It really blew me away how much respect I getfrom my students and the families and the adult
learners I work with.
So, I guess for a teacher who's just wanting todip their toe in, because I would say I'm a
(11:28):
conservative risk-taker.
I'm an accidental entrepreneur.
I did not jump into this with both feet.
I waded my way in and scaled up.
And so you absolutely can do that.
And I just lost my train of thought.
So for a teacher who wants to dip their toes inand, you know, through that process that you're
going through, you know, what it's pretty muchgiving them advice.
(11:53):
Okay.
Yeah.
So, find out how much you can charge.
Start right there and ask yourself is what youhave to offer any less valuable?
So, I have a question.
When we talk about being micromanaged in, youknow, as school teachers, you've gotten this
education.
You know what to do.
And so, do you find that that's part of thechallenges that we're having?
(12:16):
Because the same way when you're trying tomicromanage children instead of allowing them
to be their creative selves, what I'm hearingyou say is the same thing's happening for the
teachers, the educators, is that they're beingmicromanaged and so they can't be their
creative selves and give their all in themanner in which that, you know, they have that
because everybody has a different personalityand a different style, but then people learn in
(12:39):
different styles as well.
And, to be to be allowed to just create isprobably one of the best gifts.
And what I find, and this is a personal thing,is that when you do hire a private practice
teacher, a teacher who can, you know, just dowhat she wants to do without somebody telling
her what to do all the time, then that alwaysseems to open up the doors to just being who
(13:03):
you are and giving your gifts out, right?
Absolutely.
Yeah, it absolutely does.
The autonomy and the freedom to teach in a waythat is aligned with our beliefs as an educator
and our beliefs about the way not even ourbeliefs, but brain science.
What science says about how people learn best.
Right.
And to have the creative liberty to makelearning joyful.
(13:29):
To make it fun.
We learn better when it's fun.
We learn better when it's play.
They want to do their homework because it's funand it's playful and it's interesting.
And in private practice teaching, we get tomake everything customized to the learner
that's in front of us.
And we're not bound by scripts or curriculum orscope and sequence.
(13:50):
That was one of my biggest pet peeves withbeing bound to those types of calendars.
As a professional teacher, when I was in theclassroom, if my students got interested in
something and they wanted to go down thatrabbit hole and they had total buy-in and they
were completely engaged.
But I'm not supposed to go down that rabbithole for another month.
(14:11):
I'm going to go down that rabbit hole in themoment while they're engaged.
And then I can circle back to whatever theywanted me to do later that week.
And I also know my learners.
I know the things that they're struggling with.
And so, maybe this particular concept mighttake them two to three weeks to get.
But a concept later on will probably only takethem a day or two.
(14:32):
And so, the people that are writing thesethings, they don't know my students.
They don't know the kids that are sitting infront of me.
And a lot of times they don't have thebackground in pedagogy.
They don't know the brain science.
They don't understand child development the waythe teacher in the classroom does.
And I have found that for some of the teachersI've worked with, that limitation and that
(14:56):
micromanagement, even to the extent of beingmandated to do things that they know are
counterproductive to the students' learning andsuccess, that has driven them out of the
classroom.
That was for some of them, that's the laststraw.
Because they got into teaching because theywanted to help students reach their potential.
(15:17):
They wanted those light bulb moments where thekids get it and they understand what they're
capable of.
We don't have the freedom and we're notempowered to teach in that way for the learners
in front of us, it's the opposite of joyful.
It's almost heartbreaking.
(15:38):
I don't know anybody that would sign up to dothis job for that.
Right.
So, let me ask you.
You decide that you're gonna now be in privatepractice and you're loving this.
On the business side, what would you say arechallenges that you had to overcome?
In my teaching business or in my coaching?
(15:58):
In both, either. As
either. As far as challenges in being abusiness owner.
So, one of the big challenges was figuring outwho to follow.
Because there's a ton of free advice out there.
I mean, everybody's got their system.
Everybody's got something to say aboutsomething.
And I definitely invested in things that I didnot need to invest in.
(16:21):
I spent money that I did not need to spendbecause there are free resources out there that
can do the job and sometimes even better.
So, that was a huge learning curve for mebecause I was afraid of what I didn't know.
I mean, I have a degree in pedagogy and Frenchand curriculum and instruction.
(16:45):
I don't have a degree in marketing.
I don't have a degree in business.
So, all of that was like learning as I go.
I paid for a logo, somebody to make a logo forme.
I hate it.
I never actually used it.
So, that was $65 for nothing.
There's just a lot that you could kind of doyourself and love it more.
(17:07):
I was also really afraid of the marketing.
And the marketing does not need to be thatcomplicated.
It really, really does not.
It's not as complicated as you would think.
And there is a point at which, I would sayprobably within about a year and a half, I
stopped marketing my teaching businesscompletely.
I didn't have to.
(17:28):
It was all, I mean, my students were chompingat the bit to tell people when I could take on
more students.
Just let me know.
Just let me know when you're ready for morebecause I have people I wanna talk to.
And so, as soon as I gave them like freedom,I'm like, Go ahead.
I can open up three more slots because or fourmore slots because I left that part-time
teaching aide position.
(17:50):
Then they did it for me.
And now Google does it for me.
So, I have not invested any time or money inpromoting my teaching business since 2022 and
it's still going.
Now what advice would you give someone who'sstarting, they're just getting started in your
(18:11):
field?
Don't be afraid to learn on the job.
That's good advice.
Teachers, so many of us.
Okay, first of all, I don't think a lot ofpeople understand how truly intimidating the
interview process is for a teacher.
It's kind of nuts.
(18:31):
My interview with a public school was an hourlong.
I only had 15 minutes to answer to askquestions that I had.
Forty-five minutes of being grilled with nineadministrators sitting at the table.
So, you know, we're used to like feeling judgedand having to have everything perfect.
(18:52):
And so, I work with teachers, a lot of timesthey are so stuck in analysis paralysis.
They are so stuck and it has to be perfectbefore I put it out there.
Because I'm a teacher.
I'm supposed to be the expert.
And I find there's a lot of freedom in saying,I'm not the smartest person in this room.
I can learn from other people.
(19:13):
I have faith in my own ability to learn.
I know that I work hard and that I havesomething of value to share with others.
And when you can let yourself off the hook andsay, My superpower is that I am brave enough to
try.
And just go out there and try.
And make mistakes.
And learn from them.
And do better next time.
(19:35):
Even people who have those degrees.
You know, even when we're teaching in our firstyear of teaching, right?
We have that degree.
We know a ton.
There's so much we learn on the job.
And so, just don't be so hard on yourself.
Just because you post it doesn't meaneverybody's going to see it.
Just because they see it doesn't meaneverybody's going to judge it.
(19:55):
Practice.
Every next time you post will be better.
And the next time you post will be better than.
So, that's my big advice for them.
So, now the kind of clients that would be yourideal client, is that, do you work with people
virtually?
Do you work with them in person?
How would they do business with you?
So, most of my teachers are not local to me.
I did have one who was only about an hour away,and so occasionally we would meet somewhere in
(20:20):
the middle, but most of them we work online andwe meet usually twice a week.
And then we do one-on-one a month just to deepdive into whatever issues are particular to
them.
My ideal client is, I started this businessreally thinking about teachers like me who felt
(20:42):
like their classroom got the best of them andtheir family got the rest of them.
Got what was left over.
I was this bright, sunny, energetic, engaging,warm person in the classroom that my students
felt they could come and talk to.
And then at home, I was tired.
I was irritable.
I was resentful.
(21:03):
I never felt like I could do enough.
And my oldest daughter, who was eight when Ileft the classroom, told me that she just
thought that's how I was.
She didn't realize that I could be this bright,happy, playful.
Like, kitchen dance parties were not the normwhen I was still in the classroom.
(21:23):
Now they can happen anytime.
I sort of lost where I was going with that.
Helping teachers like me.
Teachers who feel that, you know, who feel soresponsible and feel so much love and passion
and care for their students that are in theircare.
And so much for their children, their ownbiological children, that they lose themselves
(21:47):
in the middle.
So, that's really who I designed this for.
That's not everybody I've worked with, thatdoesn't describe everybody I've worked with.
And I have also worked with some teacher dads,so it's not all teacher moms.
But that's who I designed it for.
So, that way we can feel like our best,happiest, shiniest, most energetic selves in
(22:09):
all areas of our lives and not just for ourstudents.
And have you found along your journey while youwere having to transition from careers or
decisions you had to make, did you have mentorsor people who helped to guide you along the
way?
Yes.
Every time I leveled up, like really madesignificant progress and leveled up, it was
(22:35):
when I worked with a mentor or coach.
Right.
So, when I first started, it was just me and myhusband because he was a business and marketing
major.
A lot of his advice was very good.
Some of it did not apply because this is aslightly different kind of business.
(22:56):
So, I would say he was really probably my firstmentor.
And just encouraged me to get it out there.
You need to tell people, you know, that you'rehere and what you want them to say about you
and what you want them to think about you.
You'd have to do that.
So, he was really my first mentor.
But my next mentor not only helped me figureout how to truly organize my business to where
(23:20):
I wasn't spending so much time in the back end.
And I really do say that it's in the back endthat the burnout happens.
The front client-facing time, that's thejoyful.
That's the fun.
That's when you—that's the part that keepscoming back.
Back-end admin work, not nearly as much joyful.
So, having a mentor who helped me really createsome good systems for managing that back-end
(23:46):
part of the business, I would say that's when Ireally was able to level up and maximize my
client-facing time and get to the next incomelevel.
And then, when I decided I wanted to create theprivate practice teacher, that's a whole other
thing.
Like, I know how to teach, but coaching?
That was definitely different.
(24:06):
And to create like a self-paced course to goalong with the life coaching, I definitely
hired a mentor.
That was my first like high-ticket coach that Iever hired.
She was in the thousands, but I couldn't havedone it without her.
And I made that money back within three monthsof opening the private practice teacher.
(24:29):
So, it was always worth the investment.
It was scary at first, but definitely worth theinvestment.
So, one of the things I do want to bring up isearly on you mentioned one of the most
challenging things was figuring out youroffers.
Do you find that because you seek out coachesthat it's easier for you to offer your coaching
(24:49):
services and be able to, you know, to justifythe offers and how you've set them up?
Absolutely.
Yes.
So, working with coaches, somebody who's aheadof where I am right now has been completely
(25:09):
instrumental, transformative.
I don't think—I was going to say, I don't thinkI could have leveled up.
I think I would get there eventually, but Iwould not have gotten there nearly as quickly
without their help of
helping.
Absolutely.
Like, I tell everybody when you are building abusiness, you are always going to be spending
(25:33):
some ratio of time and money.
That's just what it is.
And sometimes at some points in your business,you have more time than money.
And other times in your business, you have moremoney than time.
So, you have to make that decision that's bestfor you.
Ultimately, time is money.
And so, if it was going to take me a year toget to a point where now I'm earning $2,000 to
(25:57):
$3,000 and $4,000 more than I was previously,or I could get there within a three-month
period of time.
That's an opportunity cost.
Now I have lost six, seven months of earning$2,000 to $3,000 more.
It makes it worthwhile to pay that $3,000 nowin order to earn that money back in another
(26:21):
three months and then be making profit for therest of the year.
That's great advice.
So let me ask you this.
If you were to have if you were to sit down andhave dinner with your younger self, what would
you tell her?
Oh, man.
I would tell her to dream bigger.
I would tell her to dream bigger.
To stop underestimating what she's capable of.
(26:44):
Because I never imagined what I'm doing now.
And I never imagined the fulfillment and prideI have in what I am able to help bring to life.
The things that my teachers I call them mine.
So, any teacher knows that you call yourstudents my students and then they're like, or
(27:04):
my kids.
And then they just become a part of you.
So, the teachers I work with, I say the samething to my teachers.
They're completely autonomous.
They do not work for me, but we keep in touch.
And so, anyway, the things that they havebrought into existence to serve the communities
that they are passionate about and that wouldnot be possible if they had stayed in the
(27:29):
traditional school system.
I am so immensely proud of them and grateful tohave been part of what they have been able to
bring to life for the communities that theyserve.
And it's really humbling.
And any teacher I know who is addicted to thatlightbulb moment, that moment when they know
what they're capable of, being able to do thatfor a teacher, it's like a whole another level
(27:54):
of to see, you know, when they open up and theystart to understand the possibilities of what
they are able to create for the communitiesthat they care about, that's what keeps me
going.
That's why I can't walk away from this evenwhen it gets hard sometimes.
What would you say are, you know, just someteachables?
Some things that our audience could walk awaywith, you know, that you maybe haven't
(28:17):
mentioned yet.
That I haven't mentioned yet.
Let's see.
I guess maybe some big messages that I wantteachers to hear is that you are a professional
learner.
There is almost nothing you can't learn to do.
(28:38):
You literally have a degree in learning.
You can learn anything you want to learn.
Really, the sky's the limit of what you arecapable of learning and teaching to others.
Do not feel limited by your certificate orwhatever you have licensure in.
If there's something that you are passionateabout, but you didn't get that cert because it
(29:01):
might make you harder to hire, don't let thatlimit you.
It's your passion and your enthusiasm for yourcontent that's contagious.
So, if you got an English cert but you justlove history, you can teach history in private
practice.
You're not limited to that.
Or gardening.
Maybe you are passionate about environmentalscience and gardening.
(29:23):
You can do that even if your degree is inchemistry or physics.
That's great advice actually because so manytimes wouldn't you agree you do limit yourself
and you keep yourself boxed in because that'spretty much the mentality of what we've been
taught is like, well, this is what I have mycertificate in.
This is what I have to teach. And
And in private practice, it's giving you theopen forum to teach what really speaks to your
(29:47):
heart.
Yep.
And that's where that creative juice comes out.
Yes.
And that's where it's fun.
Remember when and a lot of times, so I workwith a lot of teacher parents.
And so we remember when learning was fun, likewhen our kids would learn how to do something
and they were so excited that they learned howto do this.
(30:09):
It can be like that again.
It's like that.
Even when I work with my adults, it's stilllike that.
You know, it's just it's fun and it's engagingand I don't have to worry about the grades.
We worry about proficiency.
And we worry about, did we meet these learninggoals?
But the focus is back on learning.
(30:30):
It's not on the grades.
It's not on anything else.
It's back on the learning and it's fun.
And I think that's what most teachers, at leastthe teachers I work with, or that are the right
fit for working with me.
That's why we became teachers.
It's for that inspirational fun moment wherethey really get to see what they're capable of
and they start to release their limitingbeliefs about what they are capable of
(30:53):
learning.
If you could close your eyes and have a magicwand and say, this is the ideal thing that,
like, this is what I would imagine the businessthat I'm building, what would that be?
I guess my ultimate goal for the privatepractice teacher is what I want to really come
(31:14):
out of this, all of this, looking back, wouldbe that teachers are recognized as the
educational professionals they are and thatthey are the driving voice and force in what
education should be in order to have it servethe learners properly.
(31:36):
I've said before that my goal is I want thereto be an army of private practice teachers out
here showing what is possible when teachershave the autonomy and the freedom to practice
our craft.
I think of teaching as a science-informed art.
So, to practice our art in a way that we knowis best for the learners that are in front of
(31:59):
us, amazing things happen.
And so, I want there to be an army of privatepractice teachers out here demonstrating what
we and our students are capable ofaccomplishing, the gains that we can
accomplish, and in the time spans we can getthem accomplished in.
And I believe that when people see that, theywill recognize the amazing professionals and
(32:23):
experts that teachers really are and that willuplift the profession as a whole and have a
meaningful change on education.
So Rachel, you've shared really great, reallygreat teachables, really great inspiration
about why it would be important for you tojust, I mean, pretty much just live your dream,
be creative, be the best version of yourself.
(32:46):
And you actually help people, teachers be ableto do that.
And so if they are listening to this and theysay, you know, that just I'm just I just want
something that I can be in charge of again, andI can just, you know, be my true self and I
wanna speak with you.
How would they find you?
How would they do business with you?
You can just Google.
(33:07):
I'm now the top search on Google or thisbusiness is.
If you put in private practice teacher, mywebsite will come up.
So, you can just put in Private PracticeTeacher and you will find me.
And then I give everyone a free discovery call.
Sixty minutes.
We will talk about your business, your dreams,what you want to accomplish.
(33:31):
I will give you a little bit of homework sowhen you sign up in order to really allow us to
make the best use of that time.
But my goal is for you to see what is possibleand to answer any questions you have.
That's the point of the homework.
That way, you can kind of get some thingsfigured out on your own first and then come and
be able to use that time we have together withsome really good questions.
(33:53):
But that's completely free, and I offer that toall teachers, any teachers.
You can find the link; I'm going to give thelink to Katherine, and then the link is on my
website as well.
One other thing I wanted to just say isNapoleon Hill, he talks about how if your aims
in life are vague, then your achievements willalso be vague.
(34:15):
And Grant Cardone talks about, you know, to begreat because nothing else pays.
And what I've, you know, what you've had to do,you've had to navigate several things in order
to be able to get to, you know, to the placewhere you can help others.
And I'm just so grateful that you were herewith us today, are in Lancaster County area, is
(34:36):
that correct?
Yep.
And so that's in Lancaster, Pennsylvania.
And I'm just so happy that we, you know, thatwe've met, we've connected and that you're able
to serve our community with what you do, andalso beyond and being able to serve people
virtually because I do believe that oureducators, they need nurturing.
They need to be able to be their authentic selfand to be able to do the thing that was that
(35:01):
dream in their heart.
And that's one of the things on "The BeyondBusiness Podcast." You know, I like to have
business owners that have started with a dreamin their heart.
And so many times we go into overwhelm, andthen you just don't know how to keep that dream
going because, you know, that's the thing thatstops many people, but it didn't stop you.
You kept going and you found a way and it'sjust almost like the, you know, you ever watch
(35:26):
ants?
I love ants.
I love to watch them work because they are theones that go over, above, around, and through
any obstacle that gets in their way.
And when they do that, they are like, itdoesn't matter what you put in front of me.
I'm gonna do it anyway.
But we need to seek mentors, coaches, peoplewho can help us.
(35:47):
And like you said, shorten that timeline of,you know, it takes us longer to do all that
learning, but we can shorten the learning.
So thank you so much, Rachel, for sharingtoday.
I really do appreciate you being with us here.
Well, thank you so much, Katherine.
It was really a joy to speak with you.
Thanks.
And so again, please reach out to Rachel andyou will have her website and social links in
(36:11):
our additional notes.
And I'm just so grateful that you were herewith us today.
Again, this is Katherine, your host with TheBeyond Business Podcast.
Thank you so much, Rachel.
Well, if you made it to this point, then youmade it to the end, and you are my star.
And I just want to thank you from the bottom ofmy heart.
(36:32):
I hope that you enjoyed the conversation withtoday's guest.
And if you did, please leave us a review onApple Podcasts and Spotify and share this
episode with others who may be interested inthis topic.
Also, please feel free to let us know whattopics you'd like to see covered in future
episodes.
Get in touch in the comments or on RocketGrowth's social media platforms to have
(36:57):
conversations with me.
My booking link is in the comments.
See you next week for an all-new episode.
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