The Adventures After Teaching Podcast

Lauren made the exciting move from school leadership to a Project Management role within the NHS supporting children and young people's mental health. She's using her teaching and management skills to develop and coordinates project with multi-agency teams, while pursuing her passion for mental health. She shares her journey to a new balanced life working from home! In this episode we al...

Becs is now an Educational and Professional Development Officer for an Environmental body and enjoys a much calmer pace! Bec joins me to talk about her successful transition into a part-time remote role which allows her to be at home for her children whilst growing her career. She shares how the resources in the Adventures After Teaching Academy gave her the step-by-step plan and mental support to...

Deb shares her journey from teacher to celebrant! Having tried everything to make teaching fulfilling again, she knew it was time to make a change. It was a revelation at a funeral that led her to realise she had all the skills, compassion and creativity to become a celebrant! Deb is an Adventures After Teaching Academy member and shares her experiences of finding more balance in the classroom and...

Shelley chats to us about her transition from Primary teaching to becoming a voice over artist. She worked her way up to deputy head before deciding there were other adventures she wanted to explore. In this episode, Shelley breaks down how she studied while still in teaching and planned her transition which included initially taking a sabbatical. She now enjoys a varied day and enthusiastically s...

Danni is joining us this week to talk about her move from Primary education to starting her own child minding company. She now enjoys working for herself and having the freedom to provide a relaxed and creative learning environment for the children in her care. Danni shares so much gold in this episode and if you've ever wondered about starting your own childcare company, this is one not to m...

I'm joined by Matt, who after a successful career in teaching, found his next adventures working for the railway as a train manager! Matt talks to use about the process of applying for a wide range of positions and the interview process for his job managing trains across the country.  In this episode we also explore: - The signs he wanted to leave the classroom. - The benefits which attracted...

I'm joined by the amazing Andrea who was one of the very first Adventures After Teaching Academy members! Andrea talks us through the whole process she went through to be accepted on the Police Detective graduate scheme. This is a fascinating chat as Andrea reflects on the process of selling her teaching skills and showing how these translate brilliantly to the police. Even if the police is n...

I'm joined by Ewan in this episode who talks to us about his adventure after teaching working as an Operations Officer for The Duke of Edinburgh's Award! Ewan describes the process of applying for multiple different sectors and how he persevered to open as many doors as possible. Now valued in a company which prioritises mental wellbeing in their staff, Ewan has developed his confidence...

Join me as I chat to Leanne about her transition from Early Years teacher to working for an educational publishing company. After leaving to pursue a Masters and securing some part-time work, lockdown hit and sent Leanne's plans into a spin! She set to find a job and secured an interesting role as a video content creator for Twinkl and Leanne has been with the company for several years creati...

Join me for this interesting chat with Helen Woodhams as she explains her journey from education senior leader to working for the National Trust. Helen enjoys a varied day supporting multiple departments within the organisation and loves working across different estates and land-based projects.  In this episode Helen shares how valued she feels and how she loves being part of a supportive team, fo...

Do you enjoy coaching and mentoring colleagues? Like evaluating curriculum needs? Perhaps you still enjoy training? In this episode we talk to Alison Dale, who went from Secondary English teacher to HR & Learning and Development professional. Alison has worked for an animal charity, a large accountancy firm (where she created their apprenticeship scheme) and now in a large law firm. Currently...

Isobel Kent has had a fascinating journey which began with a background in law and music, before running a school library. She explains her path to becoming an editor and proofreader and the courses and associations available to support you to do the same.   Isobel's company specialises in editing children's books and supporting authors to get their work into schools. We chat about the u...

I talk to Susan about her move from teaching English and Journalism in a high school to retraining as a copywriter. We explore the course Susan took, how she secured her first clients and how her niche developed over time. This is a great episode if you've ever wondered if you could make money from writing online and clearly explains the difference between copywriting and content writing.  In...

I talk to Emily Mills who has been out of the classroom for 10 years now building her hypnobirthing business and private hypnotherapy practice. After her own positive birth experience, Emily trained as a practitioner herself and has niched to support mothers.  In the last few years Emily has successfully franchised her classes and expanded to offer mindset support for mums in her membership and 1:...

I chat to the fabulous Nikita who is the creator of the brand Story Sense. Nikita left the classroom after having her first child and when weighing up what to do for childcare realised there were no baby and toddler classes locally. Nikita's classes are based around books she writes and provides early education opportunities, as well as lots of support for parents around issues such as feedin...

I'm joined by Joanne O'Connor who went from teaching Art to growing a property portfolio which allows her now to work very little day-to-day and have plenty of time for all the passion projects she'd been dreaming of. Joanne is keen to share how other teachers can start to invest in property and create financial freedom for themselves and their families. In this episode we also expl...

Ella talks to me about her interesting journey to retraining as a will writer and how this has changed her work life balance for the better. She explains the ins and outs of studying and choosing her hours to spend more time with her children.  In this interview, Ella talks about the challenge of leaving teaching and we explore how easy it can be to look back with rose-tinted glasses!  In this epi...

I speak to Chloe Savage who has had a fascinating Adventure After Teaching retraining as a professional embroiderer!  Chloe Savage trained as a hand embroiderer at the Ecole Lesage in Paris and the Royal School of Needlework at Hampton Court Palace. Her work has featured on international catwalks with couture houses as well as in prestigious restoration projects.  We chat about her transferable sk...

Join me as I chat to the amazing Anuper Roper who wrote about her relationship with body image in her picture book Sparrowlegs which she self published in lockdown. Anuper has been a passionate advocate for encouraging children to develop healthy talk around body image and supports parents, carer and teachers to have the tools to facilitate positive self-image. In this episode we also explore: - C...

In this episode I talk to Annie Bennett, who after 30 years in education, made the move to self-employment. Annie talks about how she navigated her exit while building her business and how it's developed over the past couple of years to flourish under the constraints of lockdown. In this episode we also explore: How Annie started the business (6:05) Going from growing bookings to lockdown piv...

I talk to Ruth who took her love of all thing STEM and created a busy activity class business. Ruth shares her journey from the classroom to the logistics of running a business which requires resourcing and taking your classroom with you! Ruth explains her experience of working with a franchise and what to ask when looking at this as an option and potential health warnings around this model. STEM...

I talk to Tracey Whitehead about her amazing adventure starting and growing her Airbnb business. Tracey turned her second home into a holiday let and hasn't looked back. Having created a "home from home" feel with quirky decor inspired by her background as an Art teacher, Tracey's customers come back and she's always fully booked. Now her days are spent enjoying reading po...

In this episode Esther Schencks talks about interesting journey from the class room as a nursery nurse and then 1:1 LSA to a play therapist. Esther and I talk about her studies and interests in attachment theory and her desire to work more holistically with children's 1:1 unique needs. Exploring the practicalities of training to be a play therapist, we discuss her business, Dandelion Play The...

I talk to Ellie Smallcombe who is living the dream on her small holding in Wales with her family. Ellie was a Special Needs teacher who trained as a Forrest School teacher before starting her own business. Ellie describes her journey building her business with her own small children and her plans to scale for the future. This fascinating chat explores ways to create an outdoor education company an...

Jo talks to Catherine who has made a complete career change from teaching to an interesting role with Deloitte.  She talks about what it’s like to work in the world outside of teaching and the refreshing pace of her new day-to-day.  Catherine explains how her teaching skills have transferred to the financial sector, how she navigated the interview process and opportunities for teachers to move int...