Have you ever wondered what it takes to become a financial coach? If you’re unhappy in your workplace and looking for something more fulfilling, this could be for you.
In 2017 I quit my full time teaching job to help people with money, and now I run a 6 figure business. This is a behind the scenes look at how I became Financial Coach Jess!
Is anyone happy in education?
In 2021 I enrolled at Missouri State University for Education. Since being a sophomore in high school, I’d known that I wanted to be a high school teacher. I had a fantastic experience at Missouri State University and made a lot of friends. But the college classes weren’t very challenging to me, so I wasn’t very interested in them. There were a few professors that I respected, and I enjoyed their classes, but there was a real negative vibe in the Education Department.
The education professors talked a lot about how teachers can’t find jobs, a LOT of teachers quit before their 3-year mark, and more and more teachers were getting burnt out. The more I got into my upper-level education classes, the worse it got.
I was one of the few women in the history section of the Education Department, and I had a female professor say that I was not going to get a job as a high school history teacher unless I coached football.
The politics and negativity toward education honestly STUNNED me. I tried to avoid the negativity as much as I could. I remember getting up and walking out of classes because I just couldn’t take it.
While all of this was going on, I worked at a home for neglected and abused youths. It was one of the many jobs I had in college, and I really enjoyed it. I found a lot of fulfillment in being a guide and a mentor for them. I was also the head of my college house, where I lived off-campus with seven other girls.
In the late spring of my senior year, I got a call from the high school I graduated from, saying they were looking for a history teacher. Long story short - I was interviewed, and I got the job!
I landed my dream teaching job
I was on cloud nine for several months. I got to teach my FAVORITE subject, World History (probably not what you expected!), got to coach volleyball, a sport I LOVED, and I got to start an organization I was super PASSIONATE about - Eagle Ambassadors.
The infatuation started to wear off around my second year at the school. I began to notice some red flags in the school’s leadership and saw immoral traits that I no longer wanted to be under. But I felt so GUILTY as I thought about wanting to leave.
I’d landed the dream job at an ideal school, and I’m proving wrong every terrible professor I ever had....
And yet, I wanted to leave.
It was a really tough time, and I struggled with a lot of questions. Do I just have shiny object syndrome? Am I just seriously ungrateful? What if I can’t find another job? What if this is it? Should I settle?
But at the same time, isn’t that the point? I knew I was settling, and I knew I had more potential. I knew what I saw, and I knew I didn’t want to be under this leadership anymore. So I went to my principal and my superintendent. I discussed the issues that I saw and the glass ceiling that I was under but was met with excuses.
This is a critical piece, though. I don’t believe in just complaining to complain or quitting when something gets hard. I tried to find solutions and had many ideas on something we could work out, but it just came down to differing beliefs and power.
So I started applying to other jobs and other schools. In my fourth year of teaching I stumbled on Bookkeeper Business Launch.
Bookkeeper Launch - the best investment I ever made
I found Bookkeeper Launch in August of 2017, and it’s the BEST investment I ever made. That initial investment absolutely changed my life! Bookkeeper Launch is an online course that teaches people without a background in finance how to do bookkeeping AND how to start and run their own bookkeeping business. It takes people like me and turns them into entrepreneurs. [You can learn more about Bookkeeper Launch here.]
I WAS SO DESPERATE to get out of teaching that I went home and did the modules inside of Bookkeeper Launch every evening from 4pm to 10pm. One month after purchasing the program, I’d completed the entire course. I then launched my business at the beginning of October 2017.
I was still teaching full-time as I got my business off the ground. I felt so aligned with entrepreneurship, bookkeeping and finance, but I knew I couldn’t quit my job because I had no income coming in, and we were still living paycheck to paycheck.
I remember so clearly, God planting this thought in my head - “Why don’t you trust me? Why don’t you pursue this? I’ve called you to it. Why don’t you trust me enough to go for your dreams?”
I fought back against this for a long time because it was so RISKY. In reality, doing both was killing me. I was exhausted, mentally drained and I cried a lot.
I couldn’t ignore God’s invitation any longer
Finally, I couldn’t ignore God’s invitation any longer. So I quit my job, and in November, I became a full-time entrepreneur.
I worked really hard after quitting my job, and sure enough, God came through, and I made $175 my first month in business.
I went on to make $14,000 in my first six months of business.
By mid-2018, I had a solid client base of bookkeeping clients. A few of them started coming to me and saying “This is great! You’ve revolutionized my business. BUT I need help with my personal finances - they’re a wreck! Can you help me with this?”
The lightbulb went off for me here. I went through a program to become a financial coach.
SPOILER ALERT: The financial coaching program was not good (That’s why I created my own program!)
After I finished the program, I started taking on beta clients at the end of 2018/beginning of 2019. I then made the complete branding switch to Financial Coach Jess in the summer of 2019.
Since starting my business in 2017, I’ve invested about $15,000 on things like professional development, training and furthering my education.
That’s a pretty good ROI when you consider I've generated $350,000+ in revenue! (as of Dec 2021)
It doesn’t take money to make money
However, the point is not to say don’t spend money on college, as it’s not a good investment. I’m so thankful for my time in college, and I wouldn’t have done anything differently.
The point is to bust the myth that “it takes money to make money”. It doesn’t. It takes a valuable service or product to make money. Just because you invest a lot of money in something doesn’t mean the ROI is automatic.
I hope this blog helps inspire you to think about quitting your job and going for your dream. If you’re really unhappy in your workplace, feeling miserable and trying to get out, let me encourage you that there is hope. You CAN start a business and learn something new that you’ve never done before.
If you’re interested in learning more about Bookkeeper Launch, click HERE. And if you’d like to learn more about becoming a Financial coach, check out my Become a Coach program.
[Disclaimer: This blog contains affiliate links. If you purchase a product or service with the links that I provide, I may receive a small commission with no additional charge to you. Thank you for supporting me so I can continue to provide you with valuable content!]
