Advertise on podcast: Teachers With Money: First In Class

On October 1, Teachers Pay Teachers (TPT) announced that Premium Seller membership ends January 1, 2027. A week later, TPT held a town hall webinar for sellers to explain why. I have a TPT store, so I was there. And I showed up with a genuinely open mind! I expected math and a business reason I could respect, even if I didn't love it. I came out shocked. In this episode I walk through what's changing (with real numbers on a $10 resource), what was actually said at the town hall, how it landed for me, and what I think sellers should know before the December 31 deadline. Not a TPT seller... stick around anyway. If you've ever bought a resource on TPT, this is about the educators you buy from. And no, this is not a "leave TPT" episode. Please keep shopping there.   This episode covers: What TPT is, and what changed on October 1, in plain termsThe $10 math: $8 on Premium today, $7.75 on Exclusive, $5.20 on BasicWhy the sellers who did the smart thing and built their own websites and memberships are hit the hardestExclusivity usually pays MORE. Brand deals, Audible, and a stock video site show how it normally works.Inside the town hall: three reasons, a lot of "fair," and a slide that literally said "unclear"The "personal reflection" moment, and why it landed as a lectureTPT's new AI policy, plus my own business read on itWhat I'm doing with my store (I haven't decided, and I'm not letting the mad make the decision)Should you still start a TPT store in 2027? Yes.  🍏 The takeaway: sellers, use the time between now and December 31. Read the actual Exclusive Seller terms, write down every question you have, and send them to TPT. Everyone else, keep buying from the educators you love on TPT.   Mentioned in this episode: TPT's feedback form, where you can send your questions (TPT says they read every message) → ixl.com/feedback/tptThe TPT seller town hall recording (October 8, 2026), so you can watch it for yourself. Register at this link to view the replay → Zoom registration pageTPT's Seller Blog post on the Exclusive Seller membership → sellerblog.teacherspayteachers.comTPT's Exclusive Seller FAQs for existing Premium sellers → TPT Help CenterAudible's royalty model for audiobook creators, my example of how exclusivity usually pays more → acx.com  This episode is my opinion and my experience as a TPT seller. It's for educational and informational purposes only and is not intended as legal, financial, or business advice. Please read TPT's terms for yourself and consult a qualified professional for guidance specific to your situation. If this one landed, follow or subscribe wherever you listen, and pass it along to a teacher friend who sells on TPT (or shops there). 💜   🎧 Subscribe now for new episodes every Tuesday. 📩 Real money talk for teachers, in your inbox every Wednesday. Short, free, and everybody’s welcome. Join the Teachers With Money newsletter: https://teacherswithmoney.beehiiv.com/?utm_source=podcast Come hang: Instagram → @teacherswithmoneyInstagram (Christa) → @christajeanjonesLinkedIn → Christa JonesLet's finally start your Teachers Pay Teachers store, together! → TPT Launch LabGot a big dream or project you keep starting and never quite finishing…? The Follow-Through is my six-month 1:1 coaching for edupreneurs and educational leaders who are ready to get it DONE. Apply here: https://tally.so/r/vGkpLl This podcast is for educational and entertainment purposes only and does not constitute financial advice.

Keina Newell's Teach For America offer paid about $33,000. Her other job offer paid $50,000, so at first she thought she should decline the teaching job. Then she sat down, ran the numbers, and realized a budget could make the smaller salary work. That budget let her spend years in the classroom doing work her heart was in, and it's the same lesson she teaches today as a financial coach and the founder of Wealth Over Now. Keina has a line she comes back to again and again: managing your money is a leadership skill. In this episode she makes the case for a budget as a tool for freedom instead of a punishment, walks through the math every teacher on a 10-month paycheck needs to hear, names the kinds of money shame she sees in her clients, and explains why you might be allowed to want a LOT more than you think you are. This episode covers: Why a $17K pay gap almost kept her out of the classroom, and what made her say yes anywayMoving to DC for a bigger paycheck... and a $1,500 rent that ate itThe 10-month paycheck trap: why you should budget for all 12 months, not for the size of your checkBudgeting for the stuff that makes you roll your eyes (flat tires, haircuts, the holidays)Why freedom isn't the same as never looking at your bank accountWhen you really do need more money, and why you still need the budget to find out how muchThe Joneses are on TikTok Shop nowSituational shame, spending shame, and system shame, and why naming them takes away their powerWhat she'd tell a teacher who feels guilty charging for her work. It involves your electric company.Her own money ceiling, and the question that finally cracked it: what would you create in the world if you made double? 🍏 The takeaway: your salary schedule is fixed, but you still get to lead the money that's coming in. Know your real numbers, budget for the whole year, and let yourself dream a little bigger about what's possible. Mentioned in this episode: Keina's Spending Plan → wealthovernow.com/spending-planHer Money Shame series, all about naming the kinds of shame that keep you stuck → wealthovernow.com/money-shameMoney Files, Keina's weekly podcast → [PASTE LINK]Wealth Over Now → wealthovernow.comKeina on Instagram → @wealthovernowTPT Launch Lab, my 30-day course from your someday dream to a real, open Teachers Pay Teachers store. Code PODCAST takes it to $20 → christajones.samcart.com/products/tpt-launch-lab This episode is for educational and informational purposes only and is not intended as financial advice. Please consult a qualified financial professional for guidance specific to your situation. If this one landed, follow or subscribe so you never miss an episode. And if you have a minute, a rating or a quick review helps more educators find the show. 🍏 🎧 Subscribe now for new episodes every Tuesday. 📩 Real money talk for teachers, in your inbox every Wednesday. Short, free, and everybody’s welcome. Join the Teachers With Money newsletter: https://teacherswithmoney.beehiiv.com/?utm_source=podcast Come hang: Instagram → @teacherswithmoneyInstagram (Christa) → @christajeanjonesLinkedIn → Christa JonesLet's finally start your Teachers Pay Teachers store, together! → TPT Launch LabGot a big dream or project you keep starting and never quite finishing…? The Follow-Through is my six-month 1:1 coaching for edupreneurs and educational leaders who are ready to get it DONE. Apply here: https://tally.so/r/vGkpLl This podcast is for educational and entertainment purposes only and does not constitute financial advice.

Jason Major has worn a LOT of name tags. Radio sales (he calls it the Monday-through-Sunday scaries), then math teacher, math coach, data analyst, assistant principal, and now principal of Denver Elementary in Chicago, in his 11th year. And somewhere in the middle of running an entire school, he wrote a book! Subplots: Navigating Life as a School Leader opens with a line every educator will recognize: keep kids safe, help them learn, don't let the adults lose their minds. Everything else is a subplot. In this conversation Jason talks about why he built a book, paid workshops, a Substack, and a brand new podcast on top of the principal job instead of leaving to do it. He shares how he landed his first paid speaking gig (fall 2023, and he still can't quite believe it), and why the imposter feeling never fully goes away. His answer to that one is honest in the best way. This episode covers: How one morning of substitute teaching got a radio guy to go back to school to become a teacherThe line that opens his book, and the 47-checkbox facilities form that proves itZero staff turnover this year (!!) and what he thinks actually explains itWhy he chose to build a book, workshops, and a podcast alongside the principal job instead of walking away to do itHow to start presenting: small district PDs first, put your name in, and the district leader who'd offered 2,000 teachers a classroom visit before Jason became the first one to say yesImposter syndrome, moving goalposts, and a trick called cognitive restructuringWhat sustainable pace looks like on a genuinely hard week. (Close all 47 Chrome tabs. Go home.)How a 25-page companion guide turned into a real, published bookWhat he'd tell his 22-year-old selfAlso: why he answers spam calls. We have questions. 🍏 The takeaway: you don't have to leave education to build something of your own. Jason stayed, and built a book, workshops, and a podcast one small experiment at a time. The imposter feeling came along for the whole ride. That's normal! Put your name in anyway. Mentioned in this episode: Subplots: Navigating Life as a School Leader by Jason Major, on Amazon Full transparency: I coach Jason and I edited Subplots, and I say so on the mic too. It's still one of my favorite gifts for the principal in your life.Jason on LinkedIn → linkedin.com/in/jasonmajor314Subplots on Substack (pickleball open-play rules, spa reviews, and school life, in no particular order) → substack.com/@jasonmajorJason's new podcast → https://open.spotify.com/show/033EFMOqnC5KzwXanBUzks?si=7922a6bf60784c6c750 Words, the daily writing site where Jason kept an 1,100-day streak goingThe Book of Alchemy, the journal-prompt book that shaped the format of SubplotsTPT Launch Lab, my 30-day course from your someday dream to a real, open Teachers Pay Teachers store. Code PODCAST takes it to $20 → christajones.samcart.com/products/tpt-launch-labGot a big dream or project you keep starting and never quite finishing…? The Follow-Through is my six-month 1:1 coaching for edupreneurs and educational leaders who are ready to get it DONE. Apply here: https://tally.so/r/vGkpLl And if you buy Subplots, Jason wants to hear about it. Email him and he'll write you right back. This episode is for educational and informational purposes only and is not intended as financial advice. Please consult a qualified financial professional for guidance specific to your situation. If this one landed, follow or subscribe so you never miss an episode. And if you have a minute, a rating or a quick review on Apple Podcasts helps more educators find the show. 🍏 🎧 Subscribe now for new episodes every Tuesday. 📩 Real money talk for teachers, in your inbox every Wednesday. Short, free, and everybody’s welcome. Join the Teachers With Money newsletter: https://teacherswithmoney.beehiiv.com/?utm_source=podcast Come hang: Instagram → @teacherswithmoneyInstagram (Christa) → @christajeanjonesLinkedIn → Christa JonesLet's finally start your Teachers Pay Teachers store, together! → TPT Launch LabGot a big dream or project you keep starting and never quite finishing…? The Follow-Through is my six-month 1:1 coaching for edupreneurs and educational leaders who are ready to get it DONE. Apply here: https://tally.so/r/vGkpLl This podcast is for educational and entertainment purposes only and does not constitute financial advice.

Jared Nicholson taught high school math and business for twelve years before becoming a financial advisor, and he will tell you the two jobs are far more alike than you would guess. Both come down to explaining something complicated without making anyone feel small, and both come down to genuinely wanting the person in front of you to succeed. He did not grow up planning either career. He took AP calculus his senior year of high school, worked harder than he ever had, and walked away with a growth mindset that shaped everything after it. Now he is on a mission Christa is fully behind: helping teachers actually understand their money instead of crossing their fingers and hoping it works out. In this conversation Jared makes the case that a pension is a wonderful thing and usually not the end of the story, walks through what to look at first, and takes on the quiet shame a lot of teachers carry about wanting to build wealth at all. His phrase for it is building wealth respectfully, and it might be the most freeing thing in this episode. This episode covers: Why teaching and financial advising require nearly identical skills, and why one firm started asking Jared if he had more teacher friendsThe transferable skills teachers do not realize they have, from presenting six hours a day to being handed a brand new subject and figuring it outWhere money shame comes from for educators, and why society undervaluing your salary does not mean you have toWhat building wealth respectfully actually means, and why an honest paycheck is nothing to apologize forWhy your pension is probably not the whole retirement picture, and the questions to ask your union rep or HR right nowHow to research your 403(b) options, because not all providers or fee structures are created equalSetting up a systematic savings plan so the money leaves before you can miss itThe money basics Jared taught high schoolers that most adults were never taught, from account types to credit card balances to housing ratiosWhat a fiduciary is and why it matters when you go looking for helpWhy doing one to three good financial things a year is what actually compounds, and how to start this week 🍏 Jared's takeaway for teachers: prioritize a savings plan today rather than waiting another year to feel ready. Whatever the amount, start it now and let the drops in the bucket add up. Connect with Jared Nicholson: LinkedIn: Jared Nicholson, Confluence Financial Partners (LinkedIn is the best place to reach him, and he is happy to answer questions) If this one hit home, follow or subscribe so you never miss an episode. And if you have a minute, leaving a rating or a quick review on Apple Podcasts genuinely helps more teachers find the show. 💜 Disclaimer: The views, thoughts, and opinions expressed in this video belong solely to that author, and not necessarily the firm where they're employed. The information presented herein is not specific to any individual's personal circumstances. These materials are provided for general information and educational purposes based upon information provided to the author and from sources believed to be reliable — we cannot assure the accuracy or completeness of these materials. The information in these materials may change at any time and without notice. Any action you take upon the information you've received is strictly at your own risk. Confluence will not be liable for any losses and/or damages in connection with the use of this data. Confluence Financial Partners and its advisors do not offer tax or legal advice. You should discuss any tax or legal matters with the appropriate professional. Confluence Wealth Services, Inc. d/b/a Confluence Financial Partners is an SEC-registered investment adviser. Registration of an investment adviser does not imply any level of skill or training. Please refer to our Form ADV Part 2A and Form CRS for further information regarding our investment services and their corresponding risks. Additional information about Confluence Wealth Services, Inc. is available on the Investment Adviser Public Disclosure (IAPD) website at: www.adviserinfo.sec.gov 🎧 Subscribe now for new episodes every Tuesday. 📩 Real money talk for teachers, in your inbox every Wednesday. Short, free, and everybody’s welcome. Join the Teachers With Money newsletter: https://teacherswithmoney.beehiiv.com/?utm_source=podcast Come hang: Instagram → @teacherswithmoneyInstagram (Christa) → @christajeanjonesLinkedIn → Christa JonesLet's finally start your Teachers Pay Teachers store, together! → TPT Launch LabGot a big dream or project you keep starting and never quite finishing…? The Follow-Through is my six-month 1:1 coaching for edupreneurs and educational leaders who are ready to get it DONE. Apply here: https://tally.so/r/vGkpLl This podcast is for educational and entertainment purposes only and does not constitute financial advice.

Last week (Part 1) was the monthly recurring bills. This week is my half, and it's the one I've been most excited about! Part one was my husband, Grant's, territory. Insurance, escrow, internet, the subscription graveyard. One-time fixes you make once and then they just keep paying you back every month while you forget they happened. This week is completely different, because these are things I do every single week. They didn't change what I pay. They changed HOW I spend, which honestly might be the bigger deal. And the centerpiece is a system I have genuinely never explained out loud before. Here's the conflict it solves: I'm pretty sure I was born a spender. Buying things feels good to me, it hits those little dopamine receptors, and I'm not going to sit here and pretend otherwise. But groceries are an area of my life where I've chosen to be really, really disciplined. So I turned the whole thing into two games. Game one, everything goes in the cart. Game two, how low can I get this bill. Same exact actions, completely different experience. And I swear at least half the secret to enjoying your life is just tricking your brain like that. In this episode: Why I basically never walk into a grocery storeSplitting my list between Aldi and Walmart, plus a very important detail about who actually shops your Instacart orderThe two-game cart trick, explained out loud for the first time. Game one is a Toys R Us sweepstakes. Game two is brutal. I love both of them.What to do if cutting the cart feels sad (split it across two days, that's what I usually do)The $2 pickup fee that quietly outgrew the membership that replaces itThe only two times all year I paid for delivery, and why the convenience tax was absolutely worth it both timesWhat Rakuten actually is and how you can get $50 from the get goMy girl math, in which grocery cash back pays for my Instacart membership. Is that how accounting works? No! Do I believe it? Completely.Searching Rakuten backwards to decide WHERE to buy, which is my whole gift-shopping strategyA 20% cash back day at Old Navy, plus the category everybody forgets (it's hotels)Amazon Subscribe and Save, why I stubbornly refused it for years, and where it actually adds up beyond toothpasteA completely unhinged razor tangent. I've been gatekeeping this one for about a decade. 16 razor heads for twenty bucks.The Poshmark search that got me a brand new coat for half what it cost on the actual website that same dayAnd then the part I really want you to hear: where I happily overspend on purpose, and why the fancy salon and the laundry service are the entire point of all of this🍏 Here's what I actually want you to take from both episodes: none of this was about spending less. You cut hard in the places you genuinely don't care about so you can spend freely in the places you do. Personal finance is personal. I say it constantly and I mean it. Your list would look completely different from mine, and it should. 🎧 New here? Part one is the bills half. Insurance, escrow, internet, subscriptions, and the exact script for a retention phone call. It has the single most useful thing I learned all year in it. Everything I mentioned: Rakuten (free cash back, and yes I freaking love it) → www.rakuten.com/r/CHRIST281426 Sign up with this link and you get $50 once you hit the qualifying spend. That's a real number, I've gotten it, so has Grant.Dorco razors, the Pace 3 heads specifically. Buy the handle once, then just replace the cartridges.Poshmark, for the copy-the-product-title-and-paste-it-in trickInstacart and Instacart Plus, which is how I do Aldi pickupTPT Launch Lab — from nothing to your first Teachers Pay Teachers product listed and live. Code PODCAST takes it to $20. Affiliate disclosure: that Rakuten link is a referral link. You get your $50, and I get a referral bonus too, at no extra cost to you. I say it on the mic and I'll say it here. That kind of support genuinely helps cover the cost of making this show, so thank you. 💜 This episode is for educational and informational purposes only and is not intended as financial advice. Please consult a qualified financial professional for guidance specific to your situation. Now go figure out what your salon is. The thing you'd spend on without flinching if you decided it was allowed. Then come tell me! I'm @christajeanjones on Instagram and that is genuinely my favorite kind of DM. If this one hit home, follow or subscribe so you never miss an episode. And if you have a minute, a rating or a quick review on Apple Podcasts helps more teachers find the show. 💜 🎧 Subscribe now for new episodes every Tuesday. 📩 Real money talk for teachers, in your inbox every Wednesday. Short, free, and everybody’s welcome. Join the Teachers With Money newsletter: https://teacherswithmoney.beehiiv.com/?utm_source=podcast Come hang: Instagram → @teacherswithmoneyInstagram (Christa) → @christajeanjonesLinkedIn → Christa JonesLet's finally start your Teachers Pay Teachers store, together! → TPT Launch LabGot a big dream or project you keep starting and never quite finishing…? The Follow-Through is my six-month 1:1 coaching for edupreneurs and educational leaders who are ready to get it DONE. Apply here: https://tally.so/r/vGkpLl This podcast is for educational and entertainment purposes only and does not constitute financial advice.

Last spring Christa and her husband Grant went through every single thing that automatically comes out of their account each month. Every bill, every subscription, every auto-draft they set up once and never looked at again. The question they asked about each one was simple: is this really the best we can do. Several months later the answer had knocked hundreds of dollars a month off their expenses, and not one thing they actually love got cut. This is not a spend-less episode. Christa is openly tired of teachers being told to feel guilty about a coffee or a pack of flair pens from Target while an insurance policy set up in 2019 quietly overcharges them sixty dollars a month. One of those is worth talking about, and it is not the coffee. This is part one of two, covering the big recurring bills, the one-time fixes that keep paying you back every month afterward. Part two is the other half of their money, the day-to-day spending that is entirely Christa's territory. *Quick correction: I flip-flopped some numbers reading them out loud in this one! Our internet bill went from $105 a month down to $35. The $70 in savings is right, my math on the mic was not. 😅 This episode covers: How escrow actually works, and why lowering your homeowners insurance drops your mortgage payment (theirs went down $151 a month)The two refund checks nobody warned them were coming, and the cash-flow caveat to know before you switch policiesRe-shopping auto insurance with a quote aggregator, and the $64 a month it freed upWhy comparing coverage matters more than comparing price, and how a cheaper policy can quietly cost you moreThe exact words to use on a retention call, including the part where you stop talking and let them answerWhy the word "retention" gets you to a department with offers the first person cannot seeCutting a phone and internet bill by $70 a month, and the lateral trade that made it possibleThe subscription audit that surfaced $113 a month, and why the goal is never to cancel everythingThe two savings Christa calls "kind of cheating," and why she included them anywayWhat her last year in the classroom actually paid after childcare, and why that number is a math problem rather than a personal failurePaying off the last of a medical payment plan, and why that one felt different from every other number on the listWhere to start if you have been avoiding your accounts, and why the bill you dread most is the right one to open first 🍏 The takeaway: almost everything on this list was money already going out the door. Nothing about it made their life smaller. Pick the one bill you feel the most avoidant about, because that feeling is the signal, and go look at it this week. The confidence comes after. 🎧 Part 2 drops next week: the two-game trick Christa plays with her grocery cart that she has never explained out loud, the cash back that pays for her grocery membership, and the resale hack that got her a brand new coat for half price. Mentioned in this episode: Insurify and Simplifi, quote aggregators for shopping insurance in one form instead of six🍏 TPT Launch Lab, Christa's course that takes you from nothing to your first Teachers Pay Teachers product listed and live in 30 days. Use code PODCAST for $20.  Christa is not an insurance expert, a financial advisor, or a personal finance coach, and says so on the mic. This episode is for educational and informational purposes only and is not intended as financial advice. Please consult a qualified financial professional for guidance specific to your situation. If this one hit home, follow or subscribe so you catch part two next week. And if you have a minute, leaving a rating or a quick review on Apple Podcasts genuinely helps more teachers find the show. 💜 🎧 Subscribe now for new episodes every Tuesday. 📩 Real money talk for teachers, in your inbox every Wednesday. Short, free, and everybody’s welcome. Join the Teachers With Money newsletter: https://teacherswithmoney.beehiiv.com/?utm_source=podcast Come hang: Instagram → @teacherswithmoneyInstagram (Christa) → @christajeanjonesLinkedIn → Christa JonesLet's finally start your Teachers Pay Teachers store, together! → TPT Launch LabGot a big dream or project you keep starting and never quite finishing…? The Follow-Through is my six-month 1:1 coaching for edupreneurs and educational leaders who are ready to get it DONE. Apply here: https://tally.so/r/vGkpLl This podcast is for educational and entertainment purposes only and does not constitute financial advice.

Neva Bowers spent years not looking at her own money. She was twenty-two, teaching high school French, and mostly just trying to survive the school day. Retirement accounts, spending, the future, all of it felt like one more thing she could not carry. So she avoided it. And as she says in this episode, avoiding your money does not mean you stop thinking about it. The bill still shows up. The retirement presentation still happens at the staff meeting. You just feel it in your body instead of dealing with it on paper. What finally changed things was not a budgeting app or a burst of willpower. It was a group of friends who started a money club. They read books together, worked out what a Roth IRA actually was, ran zero dollar day competitions, and slowly turned a scary topic into a manageable one. That experience eventually carried Neva from the classroom to an MBA at Berkeley to a corporate career in talent development, and then to something she never planned on: coaching other people through their money. Most of her clients are teachers, because as she puts it, teachers have enough stress in their lives and money should not be one of them. This episode covers: Why avoiding your money creates more anxiety than facing it, and what that low-grade stress actually does to your sleep and your healthHow a teacher money club turned personal finance into something social instead of shamefulThe five numbers Neva says everyone should know, and why most of us cannot answer them off the top of our headsWhy systems beat willpower, and the ten minute automatic transfer that does the heavy lifting for youHow to bridge the ten month pay gap so summer stops arriving as a financial cliffWhat to do if you are living paycheck to paycheck and there is genuinely nothing left to set asideThe real difference between a financial coach and a financial advisorWhy hiring help is not a failure of discipline, and the one kind of person coaching does not work forThe small first step Neva recommends taking this week 🍏 Neva's takeaway for teachers: the first small step is usually the hardest one, so make it small enough that you cannot talk yourself out of it. Be honest about the numbers, and be gentle with yourself while you look at them. Connect with Neva Bowers: Instagram: @nevathecoachWebsite: nevathecoach.comEmail: [email protected] This episode is for educational and informational purposes only and is not intended as financial advice. Please consult a qualified financial professional for guidance specific to your situation. If this one hit home, follow or subscribe so you never miss an episode. And if you have a minute, leaving a rating or a quick review on Apple Podcasts genuinely helps more teachers find the show. 💜 🎧 Subscribe now for new episodes every Tuesday. 📩 Real money talk for teachers, in your inbox every Wednesday. Short, free, and everybody’s welcome. Join the Teachers With Money newsletter: https://teacherswithmoney.beehiiv.com/?utm_source=podcast Come hang: Instagram → @teacherswithmoneyInstagram (Christa) → @christajeanjonesLinkedIn → Christa JonesLet's finally start your Teachers Pay Teachers store, together! → TPT Launch LabGot a big dream or project you keep starting and never quite finishing…? The Follow-Through is my six-month 1:1 coaching for edupreneurs and educational leaders who are ready to get it DONE. Apply here: https://tally.so/r/vGkpLl This podcast is for educational and entertainment purposes only and does not constitute financial advice.

Not every side-hustle story starts in a classroom. Nikol Toteva's starts at the front desk of a language school in the south of France. She has spent nine years as a fractional chief of staff and senior virtual assistant, the right hand who runs the life and business behind a founder, for entrepreneurs across Europe and the US. And the skills the job actually runs on (organizing chaos, managing people, keeping a hundred plates spinning) are the exact ones teachers use before 9am. You just call it a Tuesday. This episode makes the case that being a virtual assistant might be the most natural side hustle a teacher never considered, then gets practical about it. Nikol breaks down what a VA and a fractional chief of staff actually do, which teacher skills map straight across, how to find your first clients (and where not to waste your time), what to charge, and how AI is reshaping the whole role. Christa adds a teacher-specific on-ramp along the way. This episode covers: • What a virtual assistant and a "fractional chief of staff" actually do all day: inbox, travel, events, lead gen, funnels, and being someone's calm in the chaos • Why teachers are already qualified: managing 30 humans, triaging constant chaos, parent communication, and field-trip logistics is operations work • The soft skills that matter most (emotional intelligence, reading a room, discretion), and why the tool stuff can be learned with YouTube and AI • Where to actually find clients: the truth about Upwork now (flooded and underpriced), Fiverr versus Upwork, LinkedIn and Indeed, and referrals as the real engine • A teacher's on-ramp: the "TPT Virtual Assistant Finder" Facebook group, and offering a few free projects to build a portfolio before you raise your rates • What to charge: pricing your freelance rate instead of your employee rate, setting aside your own taxes, picking one rate and not negotiating, and using monthly retainers so you can plan • How AI changed the job: Nikol uses it for 80 to 90% of her work, why "data entry" is no longer a viable side hustle, and how the role is becoming "AI manager" • Lead magnets, translated for teachers: the "100 free art activities for indoor recess" example, and how the free thing actually works as a business • Redefining freedom (and permission to start): why "laptop on the beach, $10k a month" is a myth, and why you don't need anyone's blessing to try 🍏 Start this week: Look up what a VA really does, and peek inside the "TPT Virtual Assistant Finder" Facebook group to see the gigs teachers are hiring for right now. You don't have to have it figured out. Just get curious. Connect with Nikol: Nikol Toteva (LinkedIn) Enjoying First in Class? Two quick things help more than you'd think: subscribe or follow the show wherever you listen so you never miss an episode, and leave a rating or review on Apple Podcasts. It's the easiest way to help another teacher find us. 💜 🎧 Subscribe now for new episodes every Tuesday. 📩 Real money talk for teachers, in your inbox every Wednesday. Short, free, and everybody’s welcome. Join the Teachers With Money newsletter: https://teacherswithmoney.beehiiv.com/?utm_source=podcast Come hang: Instagram → @teacherswithmoneyInstagram (Christa) → @christajeanjonesLinkedIn → Christa JonesLet's finally start your Teachers Pay Teachers store, together! → TPT Launch LabGot a big dream or project you keep starting and never quite finishing…? The Follow-Through is my six-month 1:1 coaching for edupreneurs and educational leaders who are ready to get it DONE. Apply here: https://tally.so/r/vGkpLl This podcast is for educational and entertainment purposes only and does not constitute financial advice.

India Amos is a passionate teacher who turned the skills she used in the classroom every day into a freelance writing business—and grew it on nights and weekends until it matched her entire teacher salary. She started as an Appalachian healthcare reporter, moved through travel and lifestyle writing, and built a content-marketing and copywriting business on the side. Her throughline: the skills you already have are worth real money outside your classroom walls. This one's for the teacher who's ever thought "I could never make money doing that." India makes it concrete — exactly how a teacher with zero freelance experience can send a first pitch this week, and how a single well-placed one can pay $100–$350 (sometimes more!). She also shares the hard turning point that made her build a safety net: after a season of illness and two surgeries, her side income was the ground under her feet—and it opened the door to a fully funded master's. Whether you stay in the classroom or not, her case is simple: build the net before you need it. This episode covers: • Why teachers are secretly excellent marketers—the lesson "hook" is a sales pitch, and you sell to the most reluctant buyers alive all day long • India's path from Appalachian healthcare reporter → travel & lifestyle writing → content marketing and copywriting (and what copywriting actually is) • The exact first steps with ZERO experience—pick a topic you like, prove a little expertise, find publications that take pitches ("[site] + write for us"), and send it • How the money works — a single pitch can pay $100–$350 (she's seen $15 to $500), the publication names the price, and why "you don't propose on the first date" • Travel writing, honestly — comped trips, writing about where you already live (local expert, low competition, zero startup cost), and why most of her stable income is nonprofit writing • From one-off articles to a real business — pivoting into higher-paying copywriting so you're not burning out on endless pitches • Finding clients without cold-pitching your life away — the "inbound life" on LinkedIn, DMs, and referrals (the gold standard) • The procrastination trap — building a website and picking brand colors before you've written a word ("expensive hobby vs. business") • Free ways to build a portfolio — Contently, Substack, or even a Google Doc • The turning point — illness, two surgeries, and why a side income became a safety net (and a launch pad into a funded master's) 🍏 Start this week: Grab India's free ebook, From Classroom to Clients — her step-by-step guide to landing your first $500 as a freelance writer. Then send ONE pitch about a place or hobby you already know. Connect with India: India Amos (LinkedIn) @beyondsummerbreak (Instagram) beyondsummerbreak.com From Classroom to Clients — free ebook 🎧 Subscribe now for new episodes every Tuesday. 📩 Real money talk for teachers, in your inbox every Wednesday. Short, free, and everybody’s welcome. Join the Teachers With Money newsletter: https://teacherswithmoney.beehiiv.com/?utm_source=podcast Come hang: Instagram → @teacherswithmoneyInstagram (Christa) → @christajeanjonesLinkedIn → Christa JonesLet's finally start your Teachers Pay Teachers store, together! → TPT Launch LabGot a big dream or project you keep starting and never quite finishing…? The Follow-Through is my six-month 1:1 coaching for edupreneurs and educational leaders who are ready to get it DONE. Apply here: https://tally.so/r/vGkpLl This podcast is for educational and entertainment purposes only and does not constitute financial advice.

A few weeks ago, Christa sent listeners on a "resource hunt"—dig through your files, find the things you've already made from scratch, and drop them in a folder called "TPT Ideas." A lot of teachers did it, stared at a folder fuller than they expected… and then froze. This episode is the sequel to Episode 3, and it's for anyone stuck in the gap between "I'm so inspired" and "I actually did it"... including total beginners who don't have a single idea yet. No overwhelm, no fluff, just the first three concrete moves to actually get your Teachers Pay Teachers store going, the ones nobody really spells out for you. Christa walks through what to make first (and why your first product should be your worst), how to name your store without losing months to it, and how teachers actually find your work once it's listed — plain-English TPT SEO from someone who went from a list of ideas to a top 1% store in her first year on the platform. This episode covers: • The "resource hunt" recap — why you've almost certainly already made things worth selling, and the real gap between feeling inspired and hitting publish • Move 1 — your first product will be your worst, and why that's the plan, not the tragedy (the "practice rep," plus the marble-statue-vs-garden reframe from Episode 3) • How to choose what to make first — pick your easiest, most "boring," most proven resource, even if you're convinced you have nothing original (a simple worksheet, exit-ticket pack, or set of Google Slides) • Move 2 — name your store without losing months to it: just use your name, why "still deciding" is fear in a branding costume, and the name-tag-not-a-tattoo rule • Move 3 — how teachers actually find your work: TPT SEO in plain English, and why your title is the most important real estate in your whole listing • The 3 ways to find the exact keywords buyers are already typing — the TPT search-bar autocomplete, studying the top sellers in your niche, and getting more specific than feels comfortable • Why niching down beats broad terms — "spring multiplication color-by-number for 3rd grade" gets found; "reading activities" gets buried • The honest truth about the next 27 days — branding, file security, descriptions that convert, previews, pricing, and hitting publish — and how TPT Launch Lab hands it to you in order 🍏 Podcast listener deal: TPT Launch Lab — Christa's 30-day, zero-to-open-store course — is just $20 with code PODCAST at checkout (less than your last DoorDash order). The code won't be live forever. New here? Start with Episode 3 — How to Start a Teachers Pay Teachers Store: Breaking Through the Excuses Holding You Back — where Christa dismantles the originality, saturation, and time myths. Start your store: TPT Launch Lab (code PODCAST for $20) → https://christajones.samcart.com/products/tpt-launch-lab   Free TPT Store Optimization Checklist → https://docs.google.com/document/d/19jhk9-1Ac_TWziJ7i74ACI5CgZ_vjIxowPfQnr1234o/edit?usp=sharing Find Christa: @christajeanjones (Instagram) A quick note: Christa's "top 1% store in year one" is her own experience, not a promise of results — every store and timeline looks different. 🎧 Subscribe now for new episodes every Tuesday. 📩 Real money talk for teachers, in your inbox every Wednesday. Short, free, and everybody’s welcome. Join the Teachers With Money newsletter: https://teacherswithmoney.beehiiv.com/?utm_source=podcast Come hang: Instagram → @teacherswithmoneyInstagram (Christa) → @christajeanjonesLinkedIn → Christa JonesLet's finally start your Teachers Pay Teachers store, together! → TPT Launch LabGot a big dream or project you keep starting and never quite finishing…? The Follow-Through is my six-month 1:1 coaching for edupreneurs and educational leaders who are ready to get it DONE. Apply here: https://tally.so/r/vGkpLl This podcast is for educational and entertainment purposes only and does not constitute financial advice.

Christy Nguyen is a teacher first—the kind who played “school” with her nieces and nephews as a kid and never lost the calling. She’s also a hypnotherapist who helps women clear the subconscious self-sabotage running quietly underneath their confidence, their goals, and their money. After hypnotherapy “found her” at 3am through an Instagram video, she finished a year-long program in four months, left the classroom, sold her house, and moved to Austin to build her practice. And in a full-circle twist, she’s just returned to teaching — this time for kids with dyslexia, helping them believe their brains are a superpower. ***A quick note before you listen: this conversation covers hypnotherapy, subconscious beliefs, and revisiting difficult memories. It is offered for educational and informational purposes only. It is not financial advice, and it is not a substitute for therapy, counseling, or any other mental health care. Christy and I both talk openly on this episode about the value of working with a licensed therapist, and nothing here is meant to replace that. If any of this brings something up for you, please reach out to a qualified professional who can support you properly.*** Christa worked with Christy one-on-one, and it shifted things she’d been stuck on for years — so this conversation is personal. If the word “hypnotherapy” makes you a little skeptical, good; bring the skepticism, because they look at it together. Christy demystifies what hypnotherapy actually is, why your subconscious runs about 95% of your life, where money blocks come from (usually long before you can remember), and what it really looks like to rewrite the story underneath. The throughline: you can build every budget in the world, but if the story running underneath says you’re bad with money, it fights you the whole way. That story was written for you. You get to rewrite it. This episode covers: • What hypnotherapy actually is — “guided meditation with a goal,” and the brainwave states (beta → alpha → theta) that make your mind open to change • Why the subconscious runs about 95% of your life — the iceberg model, and how much of adulthood is still running on programming installed between ages 2 and 7 • Where money blocks come from — plus Christy’s own “money equals heartbreak” story, and the empty piggy bank that quietly rewrote her whole relationship with money • The skeptic’s welcome: why your belief determines whether it works, and why bringing your doubt is completely allowed • What a 1:1 session actually looks like — the induction, revisiting (not reliving) memories, inner-child and reparenting work, and installing new beliefs • Why affirmations mostly fail — and the one thing (a strong emotion) that makes them actually stick • Christa’s own experience: the “fear of being seen” that surfaced when she started creating content, and working through it with Christy • The teacher money stories to unlearn — “I’m bad with money,” “wanting more is greedy,” “this is just a teacher’s lot in life” • An accessible first step for the curious — start with free meditation and affirmation tracks to build the belief that your mind can drop into that state 🍏 Try the first step: Christy offers free meditation and affirmation tracks (including a “7 Days of Flourishing” set) on her Instagram — DM her and she’ll point you to them. Pick one track and listen this week. Connect with Christy: @christythehypnotist (Instagram) christy-nguyen.com A gentle note: this episode is for education and inspiration, not therapy or financial advice. Hypnotherapy can be a powerful tool, but it isn’t a substitute for mental health care — if you’re working through something heavy, please loop in a licensed professional. 🎧 Subscribe now for new episodes every Tuesday. 📩 Real money talk for teachers, in your inbox every Wednesday. Short, free, and everybody’s welcome. Join the Teachers With Money newsletter: https://teacherswithmoney.beehiiv.com/?utm_source=podcast Come hang: Instagram → @teacherswithmoneyInstagram (Christa) → @christajeanjonesLinkedIn → Christa JonesLet's finally start your Teachers Pay Teachers store, together! → TPT Launch LabGot a big dream or project you keep starting and never quite finishing…? The Follow-Through is my six-month 1:1 coaching for edupreneurs and educational leaders who are ready to get it DONE. Apply here: https://tally.so/r/vGkpLl This podcast is for educational and entertainment purposes only and does not constitute financial advice.

Danny Kofke spent 18 years in the classroom — first grade, kindergarten, and severe-profound special education — and did something the salary supposedly doesn’t allow: he raised a family of four on about $42,000 a year, helped support his wife's (also an educator) dream to stay home for eight years while their kids were young, paid off his debt, built a real emergency fund, and grew a retirement nest egg. Then he turned what he learned into six books and a mission. Today he’s Director of Training & Outreach for the Southern Education Retirement Consortium, helping teachers, bus drivers, and cafeteria staff keep more of their hard-earned money. This conversation is for the teacher whose budget already feels stretched to nothing. Danny keeps it refreshingly simple: know where every dollar is going, automate the saving before life gets in the way, and let time do the heavy lifting. He breaks down compound interest, the debt snowball, the retirement math most teachers never see, and the quiet 403(b) fees that drain savings for years. His throughline: you don’t need a windfall to build a wealthy life — you need a plan, a little consistency, and the reps. This episode covers: • Where to actually start when the budget feels stretched to nothing — write down every dollar for one month, then give each one a job before the month begins • The classroom-management analogy for money: like a room of 24 five-year-olds, money runs wild without direction (call it a “spending plan” if the word “budget” makes you flinch) • Why small and automatic beats waiting until you can “do it right” — starting a 403(b) or 457 at even 3%, and how automation quietly beats lifestyle creep • Compound interest made simple — the Rule of 72, and why the teacher who starts early and stops still out-earns the one who starts late • The debt snowball vs. the debt avalanche — and why paying the smallest balance first keeps you going, because most money problems are behavior and emotion, not math • The retirement math teachers rarely see: how a pension can be worth like having a million dollars in the bank — and how to find (and push to fix) the 403(b) fees draining your savings • Writing six books while teaching — self-publishing, realistic royalties, and how one project opens doors you can’t yet see • The August 2017 day that redefined what money is for — and why the wealthiest thing Danny ever did actually cost him money • The one move for this week — pick one small, automatic thing (or one rep on the project you keep putting off) and start it 🍏 Danny’s book: The Wealthy Teacher: Lessons for Prospering on a School Teacher's Salary Find all six of his personal-finance titles on his Amazon author page. Connect with Danny: Danny Kofke (LinkedIn) How to Survive (and Perhaps Thrive) on a Teacher’s Salary (book) Danny’s books on Amazon (author page) Southern Education Retirement Consortium — sercsolutions.com Resource mentioned: 403bwise.com — Danny and Christa both call it the “GOAT” for checking whether your 403(b) vendor is charging you too much in fees. 403bwise.com — check your 403(b) vendor’s fee rating Note: Danny shares general financial education, not personalized financial advice. For decisions about your own pension, 403(b), or investments, talk with a licensed financial advisor. 🎧 Subscribe now for new episodes every Tuesday. 📩 Real money talk for teachers, in your inbox every Wednesday. Short, free, and everybody’s welcome. Join the Teachers With Money newsletter: https://teacherswithmoney.beehiiv.com/?utm_source=podcast Come hang: Instagram → @teacherswithmoneyInstagram (Christa) → @christajeanjonesLinkedIn → Christa JonesLet's finally start your Teachers Pay Teachers store, together! → TPT Launch LabGot a big dream or project you keep starting and never quite finishing…? The Follow-Through is my six-month 1:1 coaching for edupreneurs and educational leaders who are ready to get it DONE. Apply here: https://tally.so/r/vGkpLl This podcast is for educational and entertainment purposes only and does not constitute financial advice.

Rochelle Wilson was a sixth-grade ELA teacher who saw a problem she couldn’t look away from. When a student she was mentoring through a painful season needed someone in her corner, Rochelle showed up — and one lunch period turned into fifteen girls, then thirty, then sixty, then a full mentoring program. That program became Intelligent and Ambitious Minds — her “I AM” mentoring — and the calling kept growing from there: a published book, a national speaking career, and a company of her own. This conversation is for the teacher holding a dream they keep moving to “next year.” Rochelle walks through her “Prepare Them with Purpose” framework, the real (and unglamorous) sacrifices behind building something while teaching, how an anti-TikTok teacher became a sought-after keynote speaker, and the money fears wrapped up in betting on yourself. Her throughline: take the chance on the thing that scares you — the dream you can’t stop thinking about is usually the one that’s yours to chase. This episode covers: • How a single act of mentorship grew into Intelligent and Ambitious Minds — Rochelle’s “I AM” program — and what it taught her about purpose • “Prepare Them with Purpose”: her framework for living your purpose first so you can actually teach it — because kids always know when you’re faking it • The problem that won’t leave you alone: why the thing that bothers you more than it bothers your colleagues might be the breadcrumb to your calling • “Positive jealousy,” or teacher envy — how to read the ache of wanting what someone else has as a signal, not a flaw • What it actually took to build it: trust, terror, four years of consistency, and real sacrifice (Rochelle is a mom of four who wrote her book on lunch breaks and summers) • Becoming a speaker by saying yes before she felt ready — her very first ask was a keynote — and how social media (and her students) opened the doors • Self-publishing Purpose Over Popularity on Amazon KDP: what she’d do differently, and the second book on the way • The money side of the leap: building income beyond the paycheck, and what she’d say to a teacher who’s scared to start • The one move for this week — write the dream down, put it where you’ll see it, and say it out loud as if it has already happened 🍏 Rochelle’s book: Purpose Over Popularity: Living Beyond Likes and Follows  Connect with Rochelle: @mrs.wilsonsclassroom (Instagram) Mrs. Wilson’s Classroom (YouTube) Rochelle Wilson (LinkedIn) mrswilsonsclassrm.com — newsletter, freebies + the I AM mentoring program Purpose Over Popularity (book) 🎧 Subscribe now for new episodes every Tuesday. 📩 Real money talk for teachers, in your inbox every Wednesday. Short, free, and everybody’s welcome. Join the Teachers With Money newsletter: https://teacherswithmoney.beehiiv.com/?utm_source=podcast Come hang: Instagram → @teacherswithmoneyInstagram (Christa) → @christajeanjonesLinkedIn → Christa JonesLet's finally start your Teachers Pay Teachers store, together! → TPT Launch LabGot a big dream or project you keep starting and never quite finishing…? The Follow-Through is my six-month 1:1 coaching for edupreneurs and educational leaders who are ready to get it DONE. Apply here: https://tally.so/r/vGkpLl This podcast is for educational and entertainment purposes only and does not constitute financial advice.

Jenn Jamali spent years in tech — at companies like Indeed and Spotify — negotiating other people’s salaries for a living. Then, at eight weeks pregnant, she was laid off. Instead of scrambling, she leaned into a plan she’d already started building: during the pandemic she got obsessed with money, bought her first investment property, and turned all of it into First Jenn Money, where she now coaches women to build real wealth on their own terms.  This is a warm, honest conversation between two friends — and two reformed “I’m just bad with money” spenders — about what rich actually means. Jenn breaks down her full RICH framework, gets practical about the first money system a tired teacher can truly automate, and reframes wealth as options: control over your time at every stage of life. This episode covers: • How Jenn went from “ask my husband about the finances” to real estate investor — and why money is a skill you can learn, not a personality trait you’re stuck with • The story behind the name First Jenn Money, and getting laid off at eight weeks pregnant — and how years of money and mindset work turned a scary moment into the start of her business • Jenn’s RICH framework, piece by piece: Rewrite your money story · Integrate systems for saving and investing · Career and money-making capabilities · Honor your values • Money as three separate skills — making it, managing it, and spending it — and why spending is the one nobody teaches (especially women) • The first system for an exhausted teacher: a six-month emergency fund you automate straight from your paycheck, starting as small as $25, kept in a separate high-yield savings account • Redefining “rich” as options and time freedom — Jenn now runs her business from Bogotá, Colombia • Values-based spending without white-knuckling: the “leave it in the cart for a week” hack, a $100/month laundry service, and the twice-a-year salon splurge • Vision boards that actually work — putting a real picture to the dream, from a Business Insider feature to the life you’re building Connect with Jenn: @firstjennmoney (Instagram) Jenn Jamali (LinkedIn) firstjennmoney.com Newsletter — raw, real money stories + challenges RICH Reset Roadmap Call with Jenn Payday Club Podcast (find it wherever you listen) Jenn Jamali is a money coach; this episode is for educational and informational purposes only and isn’t personalized financial advice. Always consult a qualified financial professional about your specific situation. 🎧 Subscribe now for new episodes every Tuesday. 📩 Real money talk for teachers, in your inbox every Wednesday. Short, free, and everybody’s welcome. Join the Teachers With Money newsletter: https://teacherswithmoney.beehiiv.com/?utm_source=podcast Come hang: Instagram → @teacherswithmoneyInstagram (Christa) → @christajeanjonesLinkedIn → Christa JonesLet's finally start your Teachers Pay Teachers store, together! → TPT Launch LabGot a big dream or project you keep starting and never quite finishing…? The Follow-Through is my six-month 1:1 coaching for edupreneurs and educational leaders who are ready to get it DONE. Apply here: https://tally.so/r/vGkpLl This podcast is for educational and entertainment purposes only and does not constitute financial advice.

Bryson Tarbet is a former PreK–6 music teacher and the founder of ThatMusicTeacher.com and Tarbet Education Network, where he builds content-specific professional development for music and arts specialists. He's also one of the earliest supporters of Teachers With Money — someone who helped Christa workshop the mission months before this show was live. This is a conversation between two former elementary music teachers who both stepped out of the classroom and never stopped fighting for the people still in it. Bryson coined a phrase for something a lot of teachers feel but can't quite name: the Specialist's Burden — the isolation of being the only one doing your job in the building, with no team and no support built for your content. From there the conversation opens into the bigger setup underneath it: the story that your sacrifice is your value, that asking for more somehow makes you a worse teacher. Bryson and Christa trace that same story across three levels — the classroom, the business, and the bargaining table — and land on the one boundary every teacher can start practicing tomorrow. This episode covers: The Specialist's Burden — why being the only music, art, or PE teacher in your building leaves you isolated and underserved by general PD, and why naming it out loud is the first move toward fixing it"Do it for the kids" as systemic gaslighting — how a phrase that sounds noble puts the whole broken system on teachers' shoulders, and Bryson's reframe that flips it: teacher working conditions are student learning conditionsThe charging guilt that follows you out of the classroom — why "I should just give it away for free" is the same voice that ran you ragged in the room, and how Bryson made peace with charging by anchoring to his values: inclusivity, community empowerment, advocacyInside the summit model — how free access funds paid access funds free initiatives, and why putting it all on the table (no sneaky tactics, "we can still be friends if you don't upgrade") is both the kinder and the more sustainable way to sellPaying speakers fairly — how Bryson moved from affiliate-only to a base-pay-plus-affiliate hybrid so it's not only the big audiences that get paid, and how he coaches first-time speakers to leverage the opportunityThe collective layer — Bryson's years as a union rep and then VP, what he saw on the negotiations team during a contract year that came right up to a strike, and why individual mindset work and collective action are the same conversation, not either/orWhere to start if you've never opened your contract — read it, know it word for word, and remember that a union is only as strong as the people in itThe one walkaway: it's okay to say no — why saying no is the boundary that protects both your health and your career, and how it pushes the system to deal with what it's been quietly offloading onto teachers 🎵 Music teacher friends: Join us for the Summer 2026 Elementary Music Summit!*   Connect with Bryson: ThatMusicTeacher.com — for elementary music teachers Tarbet Education Network — for arts specialists @thatmusicteacher (Instagram) Bryson Tarbet (LinkedIn) *This is an affiliate link — Christa may earn a commission if you register through it, at no additional cost to you. 🎧 Subscribe now for new episodes every Tuesday. 📩 Real money talk for teachers, in your inbox every Wednesday. Short, free, and everybody’s welcome. Join the Teachers With Money newsletter: https://teacherswithmoney.beehiiv.com/?utm_source=podcast Come hang: Instagram → @teacherswithmoneyInstagram (Christa) → @christajeanjonesLinkedIn → Christa JonesLet's finally start your Teachers Pay Teachers store, together! → TPT Launch LabGot a big dream or project you keep starting and never quite finishing…? The Follow-Through is my six-month 1:1 coaching for edupreneurs and educational leaders who are ready to get it DONE. Apply here: https://tally.so/r/vGkpLl This podcast is for educational and entertainment purposes only and does not constitute financial advice.