Educator Forever

Dr. Tracy A. Benson is the founder and CEO of Tracy A. Benson Consulting at Anti-Racism Leadership Institute. He is the author of “Anti-Racism Phobia” and co-author of “Unconscious Bias in Schools: A Developmental Approach to Exploring Race and Racism.” A former elementary school teacher, assistant principal, high school principal, and assistant professor, professor of educational leadership at UNC Charlotte, Dr. Benson bridges research and practice to help leaders confront the systems that produce racial inequity and build schools where every student can excel

In this episode, Tracy and I discuss how he’s had so many different titles, his work with communities of color, and how he’s helping students who are stuck in systems that prevent them from reaching their potential.

For all links and resources mentioned in this episode, head to the show notes: https://www.educatorforever.com/episode205.

Megan Coltoniak is a board-certified music therapist with more than 20 years of clinical practice supporting children's emotional and developmental growth. First in schools and early intervention settings, and now through the company she's built, Bloomiverse Music Therapy and Enrichment, Bloom Creative Arts Preschool, and Bloom Early Learning Center. Most recently, Megan created the Bloomiverse app for children ages two through nine, with the goal of creating a safe space for children to spend time on tablets.

In our talk, Megan and I talk all about her music therapy practice and how she started it. We also get into the challenges she’s faced in her business and her own music career.

For all links and resources mentioned in this episode, head to the show notes: https://www.educatorforever.com/episode204.

Jan Helson is a business leader and education innovator who spent more than two decades helping build Golden Foods and Golden Brands, her family's niche food manufacturing company, into a $200 million global business. In 2013, two years after selling the company, Jan co-founded Global Game Changers, building on two award-winning children's books that she co-authored with her daughter Rachel. Today, Global Game Changers provides free, evidence-based pre-K to five character, leadership, and service learning resources designed to help children develop confidence, empathy, resilience, problem solving, and a belief in their ability to make a difference.

Jan and I have a pleasant conversation about her success in business and why she jumped into the non-profit world. We get deep into her thoughts about education and child development, and she also provides some great business advice.

For all links and resources mentioned in this episode, head to the show notes: https://www.educatorforever.com/episode203.

Sammy Gonzalez Zeira is the Founder and CEO of Young Musicians Unite, the nation’s largest provider of free music education. Since founding YMU in 2013, Sammy has grown the organization to serve 21,166 students weekly across 131 partnering schools in Miami-Dade County, reaching more than 71,400 students to date. He has also personally raised more than $35 million for music education and continues to lead YMU’s mission of transforming lives and communities through music.

In this episode, Sammy gets into how teaching guitar and his love for his music teachers led him to start YMU. He also breaks down all the services YMU provides and gives some great tips on how to be a successful fundraiser.

For all links and resources mentioned in this episode, head to the show notes: https://www.educatorforever.com/episode202.

Paul McKee is a former K-12 teacher turned education entrepreneur who has spent more than 20 years building and growing online education businesses. He is the founder of FreeWorksheets.com, a free resource platform created to help teachers, parents, and homeschoolers access classroom materials without memberships or paywalls. Along the way, Paul has worked extensively in SEO, digital publishing, and ad tech, while remaining closely connected to education.

In this episode, Paul and I discuss how his history in the tech world led to him starting his Free Worksheets business and what’s he’s learned about entrepreneurship over the years. He’s got some great advice about running a business so tune in!

For all links and resources mentioned in this episode, head to the show notes: https://www.educatorforever.com/episode201.

Hi everyone, welcome back to Educator Forever. Episode 200. Wow! 200 episodes. It’s been such a pleasure hosting this show over the past four years.

Today I'm doing something different — no guests . Instead, I want to talk about a framework I've been developing for a long time, one I built out of my own experience as a teacher, a curriculum designer, and now someone getting a doctorate in learning design. It's eight ideas about how learning actually happens: finding your truth, envisioning possibilities, imperfect action, confronting perfectionism and shame, developing agency, co-creating learning, being fully you, and reflecting and repeating.

For all links and resources mentioned in this episode, head to the show notes: https://www.educatorforever.com/episode200.

If I asked you to name the skills that make teachers successful outside of the classroom, you might say something like communication, or curriculum design, or organization, and those are real. We learn so many transferable skills as classroom teachers, but after working with tens of thousands of teachers who have successfully transitioned to expand their impact beyond the classroom. I've been thinking about what actually made the difference for them, and it's almost always not just a skill on the resume. It's really a behavior, a way of being, a way of moving through uncertainty. And so today we're not doing another teacher skills employers one episode. We're doing the one that nobody really explicitly asked for, but I think we all want, which is what do the people who actually make this transition successfully do differently?

For all links and resources mentioned in this episode, head to the show notes: https://www.educatorforever.com/episode199.

Alex Mozes is the CEO of Gravity Learning, a workforce development company using cognitive science to help managers actually change how they lead. Before Gravity, Alex founded Sheprd.io, a fractional operations consultancy helping companies solve scaling challenges from early‑stage through IPO. Nowadays he brings that same obsession with real‑world impact to Gravity Learning—building programs HR and L&D leaders can finally measure.

Alex and I talk about his journey from tech to the world of education and his mission to democratize it. We also talk about the importance of interactive learning and issues created by corporate environments.

For all links and resources mentioned in this episode, head to the show notes: https://www.educatorforever.com/episode198.

Jenelle Rawlins is the founder of Janelle Marie Web Design and Branding. She helps service businesses who have outgrown their current website and want to work with more premium clients. She specializes in custom logo design and website makeovers so that her clients have the confidence, authority and messaging.

In our discussion, we talk about how Janelle taught for 16 years before getting into web design. Then she gets deep into her work, from how she learned to do it to the aspects of website design that folks might not know. If you need a website for your new business, you’ll want to tune in.

For all links and resources mentioned in this episode, head to the show notes: https://www.educatorforever.com/episode197.

There comes a moment for many teachers in their careers when the classroom no longer feels like the right fit.

It can show up as burnout or exhaustion. Or it might be a curiosity or feeling that there’s something else out there for you.

If you’re a teacher considering a career change, you’re likely wondering what’s next. The great news is you don’t have to leave your passion for education behind.

In this podcast, I break down how to make a successful career change for teachers (or former teachers), so you can navigate your next step with clarity and confidence.

For all links and resources mentioned in this episode, head to the show notes: https://www.educatorforever.com/episode196.