Sarah Blank grew up surrounded by education. With a mother who was an educator, teaching always felt like her calling. She was even offered a second-grade position during student teaching, stepping into the classroom before graduating college.

Sarah spent 10 years in education; four years in second grade and nearly six years teaching fourth-grade math. Over time, she began to see how leadership and administrative decisions directly impacted teacher growth, morale, and classroom effectiveness. The disconnect between district expectations and the realities of teaching, especially balancing in-person Special Education students with asynchronous learners, ultimately led her to reconsider her path.

Taking a leap of faith, Sarah left the classroom and moved to a new state in search of new opportunities. Today, she works as a Training Specialist for Deutsche Windtechnik, a global wind turbine manufacturing company.

In this episode, Sarah shares honest insights about leadership, burnout, risk-taking, and advice for teachers still deciding whether to stay or leave the classroom.

After six years as an elementary school teacher, Erin knew she was ready to explore new opportunities outside the classroom.

As a former Lane Switch Consulting client, she leveraged focused resume updates, targeted job alignment, and consistent networking to successfully translate her teaching experience into the corporate world.

Erin landed a role as an Executive Administrator at a government contract staffing company, giving her exposure to multiple career paths within the organization. Her discipline and persistence quickly paid off, leading to a recent promotion as a Proposal Coordinator.

In this episode, Erin shares how networking, consistency, and positioning transferable skills helped her successfully transition into a growing career outside education.

After serving 20 years in the Air Force, Maureen stepped away from military life to focus on her family. While helping in her son’s kindergarten classroom, she discovered a passion for literacy and student learning that led her back to school and into education.

Maureen went on to teach for 15 years across K–12 schools in multiple states, primarily in high school science and AVID. She was named North Carolina Teacher of the Year in 2020 and a Teacher of the Year finalist in 2021, giving her a rare inside view into education policy and direct access to decision-makers.

Today, she serves as the Vice President of Policy and Programs at BEST NC (Business for Educational Success and Transformation in North Carolina), where she works to create meaningful, statewide change for students.

In this episode, Maureen shares how policy is shaped, why teacher voices matter, and how her impact now reaches far beyond a single classroom.

After more than a decade in the classroom, Kristen knew it was time for a change. She began teaching in 2008, spending six years in middle school and four years teaching high school English. As her family grew and her husband’s schedule became more demanding, the traditional classroom no longer supported the life she wanted for her children.

Kristen chose flexibility by leaving the classroom to homeschool her kids and create a career that allowed her to stay present for her family while still doing meaningful work.

Today, she works part-time as a tutor with Smart Solutions VA, supporting students of all ages through flexible private and small-group sessions. The company connects her with clients so she can focus on teaching and tutoring on her own schedule.

You can book a session with Kristen here: https://www.smartsolutionsva.com/

She also serves as a Client Success Manager for Integrative Health Courses, an online program created by medical doctors that provides education and support for children and adults with eczema and food allergies.

In this episode, Kristen shares how she built a flexible career outside the classroom and redefined success on her own terms.

Sam’s story is proof that you don’t need decades in the classroom to build a powerful career outside of education.

After six years in education, a defining moment with limited administrative support and compassion made her realize it was time to pivot.

She stepped into recruiting, learned on the fly, and climbed from Talent Acquisition to Lead Recruiter and then Talent Acquisition Manager in under two years.

Since then, she’s worked with a startup as Head of Candidate Success and now serves as a Recruitment Consultant in her husband’s business, wearing many hats and applying the same skills teaching sharpened every day.

Her journey is a reminder that sometimes the fastest growth comes from taking the leap before you feel fully ready.

After eight years in education, she knew something had to change.

Long nights, low pay, and missed time with her son made teaching unsustainable, so she took a leap into something new.

With support from a community of teachers making the same transition, she navigated the challenges, stayed patient, and built a new career that offers both flexibility and growth.

Today, she’s been promoted to Enterprise Customer Success Manager at Syndigo, where she’s thriving in a role that values balance and impact.

Her story proves what’s possible when you bet on yourself.

I sat down and spoke with Lakeisha Webb who taught within inner city schools for over 12-years covering grades 4th-8th. Lakeisha moved into an Educational Technology Specialist within the district to before finally stepping out of the education all together.

She highlights some of the pressures, challenges, and struggles she faced while teaching and the realities of working with student's within an inner city school system.

Lakeisha finally took the leap of faith to move into a family-owned Funeral Home Business. She started as a Service Support Specialist and is now a certified Funeral Director for Service Corporation International.

I sat down and spoke with Meredith Cooley, who was a former English teacher for over 17-years across multiple states and even overseas, before finally deciding to leave.

She highlights her early understanding of wanting to have the work-life balance to be able to be there for her family, but like so many teachers didn't know where to start.

Her passion within writing help fueled her mindset to help up skill and acquire new skillsets to help her become marketable in the job market.

She then started her own business, Page & Purpose, which she has been running for over 3-years. She is an education content and copywriter and even also helps coach teachers wanting to get into copywriting.

Her website link is included below:

https://www.meredithcooleyb2b.com/

I sat down and spoke with Candice Coker, who was a former Elementary School teacher for 5-years before deciding to leave the classroom.

In this special episode, Candice has over 13-years experience within recruitment and talent acquisition. She highlights very specific skillsets and ways you can help sell yourself on LinkedIn in a competitive market.

We also discuss the use of AI and how companies use Applicant Tracking Systems to source candidates for openings.

Candice has now been a Talent Acquisition Manager for Total Education Solutions for over 5-years.

I sat down and spoke with Natalie Parmenter, who was a former elementary teacher in California and then North Carolina.

We discussed her journey on stepping outside of the classroom into entrepreneurship of starting her own business.

She discusses the grit that comes with running a business and all the transferrable skills teachers have they don't realize.

Natalie has been running Primary Focus for over 4-years. Primary Focus is the parent's guide to elementary school where she hosts workshops locally here in Charlotte to help parents prepare their child for schools.

Her website and YouTube channel links can be found below:

https://primaryfocus.tv

https://www.youtube.com/@primaryfocus