I have wanted to be a teacher my entire life. I used to set up my dolls and my brothers Ninja Turtles and teach them for hours. I remember never wanting to come downstairs from my playroom. I was the boss of the playroom and my imaginary classroom and I liked it that way. My mom came up one day and walked in on my class she said “Now Susannah, don’t be bossy students won’t respond to that.. Teach with your heart. They can feel it and then they will know who is boss.”

This time last year I was teaching full time in the public school system in New York. I got a long term subbing position in the inner city of my hometown and I remember feeling stressed, emotionally drained, under appreciated by my students, parents and administration. I felt like I couldn’t use my creativity in my curriculum and everything I was doing was being scrutinized. I was teaching to a test and left school many days crying. I have no idea how people stay positive and keep their sanity teaching in America the way the school system is now.

When I started coaching I had no idea what this hobby would turn into. I did it as a way to hold myself accountable to my own goals and inspire others plus make some money to cover my hefty student loan bills. Once I got more involved in the company, experienced the positivity and inspiration it has brought to my life and career and experienced the feeling of appreciation and gratification for the hard work and effort I put in. I quickly saw that this business fit with my personality and what I want from a career and from life. I felt that #girlboss coming out. I’ve made incredible friends through coaching and reconnected to people from all different parts of my life. I’m changing people’s lives and my own. Through personal development I have gained passion for being an entrepreneur and the courage to stand up for what I believe in. I am blessed to be living in Australia pursuing my teaching career in adult education and also building my coaching business. Traveling and being an entrepreneur have both opened my eyes to following MY path even if it’s not the path I expected.  “A #girlboss is someone who’s in charge of her own life. She gets what she wants because she works for it…You’re a fighter-you know when to throw punches and when to roll with them”

When I was teaching full time in America I was waiting for the weekend and feeling like I would never be appreciated for how much of myself I gave to my students and my profession. I felt like my creativity and my own mental health was suffering tremendously and I just wasn’t happy. I was craving freedom, flexibility and the ability to travel. Now that I’ve entered the world of being an entrepreneur I am so excited for what the future holds. In teaching terms, Beachbody is my “curriculum” and coaching is my personally designed lesson plan.

Coaching is what I wish traditional classroom teaching could still be but isn’t. I am in charge of my lesson plans and I can deliver the material in any way I see fit. I can introduce new activities or group projects, reading material or ideas because I AM THE BOSS. I get the honor and privilege of handpicking my coworkers and being surrounded by a team of people who are positive, motivated, dreamers and doers that would do anything to lift their teammate up. Like teaching, I still face false criticism and opinions of people who are highly misinformed but the good I am bringing to my life and the lives of others far surpasses the hard parts. Right now I am still a teacher in an ESL classroom and building up my coaching business on the side. I am so excited for the future and I no longer live for the weekend…I’m excited for everyday. I will always be a teacher because I took my mom’s advice and I still teach with my heart. My students feel it and so do the people who I am connecting to through sharing my story and my journey to success and a happy and healthy lifestyle. I am learning and growing and being pushed to better myself every single day. I am immersed in a world full of dreamers and it’s so much better on the other side.

If you have a dissatisfaction with your current situation, a desire to change your life and the lives of others and most importantly that inner #girlboss just dying to get out.. either sit back and watch me make it work or join me for this journey. And Mom, I promise I’m still teaching with my heart, but that bossy side is being put to good use. “People have only as much liberty as they have the intelligence to want and the courage to take.” Cheers to having the courage and living the life you imagine and the humility to CHANGE THAT PLAN if it isn’t what you want anymore. Life is simply too short to do anything less. Make it count.