There are many teachers who have become successful entrepreneurs. Chances are, you can already name a few.
I thought of coming up with a list of my own. Below are some who I could name off the top of my head. There are many more, but I shortlisted those who have made the headlines, since experiencing tremendous financial success through businesses they started in their own homes. They are all google-able, and on their own, outliers.
* Before you read on, let me qualify “successful” in this post, since I know success can take on many definitions. Success in this post means that the teachers in this list have experienced financial success. For this post, the definition of success is only based on what is quantifiable in their entrepreneurial journey.
Let this be a source of inspiration to you. I hope it gets entrepreneurial wheels turning!
Julie Aigner Clark, founder of Baby Einstein
Image from the www.forbes.com article “How She did it. Julie Clark on Founding Baby Einstein and Selling to Disney.”
Julie Aigner Clark was a high school English teacher who created the Baby Einstein video series. She created the videos from her home, infusing classical music and slow-changing images that would be visually appealing to babies. After a considerable investment to make her home project a business venture, she closed many orders that earned her enough to sell to a bigger market. Her investment paid off, garnering $25 million in sales, before The Walt Disney Company eventually bought the Baby Einstein company in 2001.
She continues her entrepreneurial pursuits through her website mommymade.com.
Read more about her through her website, this CNBC link and this Forbes link.
Deanna Jump, Teachers Pay Teachers top seller
Logo from Deanna Jump’s website www.deannajump.com
On Deanna Jump’s website, she describes her blessed journey in entrepreneurship in her About Page. Teaching Kindergarten for 17 years (as of her About Page’s writing. She has been teaching for 20.), she talked about the financial struggles she was undergoing when she learned of the Teachers Pay Teachers (TpT) website. She then grabbed the opportunity and put up her own TpT store, to sell educational digital products. She grabbed the opportunity, and earned an additional $300 in her first year. The additional income was a welcome surprise to her. She continued to produce materials for her TpT store until she became one of the top sellers on the site, earning her first $1 million with TpT sales alone.
She continues to create digital products for her TpT store, and is still on the TpT’s top sellers list.
Shane and Jocelyn Sams, Digital Entrepreneurs – The Flipped Lifestyle website and podcast
Photo from their website www.theflippedlifestyle.com
Husband and wife Shane and Jocelyn Sams were teachers in Kentucky. Shane Sams was a high school Social Studies teacher and football coach, while his wife Jocelyn was an elementary librarian. I first heard of them through the Smart Passive Income podcast hosted by Pat Flynn.
Shane Sams was intrigued by the idea of making money online, and tried a hand at it by starting his own blog. He was more than stoked when he earned his first 11 cents online! To him, this proved that he can earn supplemental income through doing online business.
From then, he upped their online game. They now run three niche websites including TheFlippedLifestyle.com, ElementaryLibrarian.com, and USHistoryteachers.com, and run The Flipped Lifestyle podcast. From a combined annual income of $76,000, they are almost making $1 million dollars annually from their websites and the digital products they sell online.
You may visit their website and read about them in this Forbes article ,
Merle S. Alferez, MSA Academic Advancement Institute
Merle S. Alferez. Photo from www.gonegosyo.net
She is the M, S and A of MSA Tutorials in the Philippines. With a passion for teaching Math, she started tutoring students from her own home in 1988. Expanding her business while accepting more students, she created a prototype for the tutorials business.
From tutorial centers, she created physical products – reviewers for licensure exams, college entrance exams, and books. What started as a tutorial center in her home is now the MSA Academic Advancement Institute, dedicated to helping students through academic challenges.
More about MSA Tutorial Centers through this Asia Business Channel article and this Go Negosyo article.
What about you? As a teacher, what are you passionate about? What product can you create out of this passion or hobby?
If you can’t decide what side hustle you can start from home, please check out my blog post Four Steps to Choosing a Side Hustle.
Do you know of other teachers who have become successful entrepreneurs that you can include in this list? Let me know what you think! Leave a comment below!
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