Hello!
Today is my last day at my W2 job. I’ve taught math in various capacities over the past 6 years. I’ve worked as a private tutor and contract teacher. The largest part of my time, however, has been spent serving as the assistant director of a math learning franchise.
It’s taken more than two years, but I’ve been able to grow this practice to the point I can focus on this full time. It’s a good practice to test the waters before taking a big leap. I wanted to ensure that this business was in fact the direction I wanted to go in life.
I have plenty of mixed emotions over my decision. I will certainly miss all my students. I am also excited for what the future holds.
Building a Practice While Teaching
Splitting my time has never impacted my ability to serve existing clients, but it limited time for me to do many business development activities. So I am excited to dive headfirst into growing my practice. I am looking forward to building my firm into what I know it can be.
So what kind of business do I want to build? I want to always ensure that education remains a key part of what I do. I enjoy incorporating education into my client engagements. I make recommendations, but I want people to know why I’m making these recommendations. I also enjoy more challenging problems. I also help clients with RSUs and the complexities that go into tax planning and portfolio management. It’s been interesting to say the least trying to balance both types of clients but I continue to enjoy serving both.
I Felt It Was Time
I knew ever since I started teaching math that unless I got a full time gig teaching in a school (my background is in pure mathematics, not education) I wouldn’t be able to support myself just tutoring. I launched my firm to be able to continue using my knowledge and expertise to better lives, while building a better life for myself.
Not to get too inside baseball, but there was (and still is) a changing of the guard at my soon-to-be previous place of employment. The long time director (my boss) left after being there for (almost) as long as I was. Anytime you introduce new management in a small group like we had there is probably going to be a change in the culture. I think that was a contributing factor to, not just me, but several of my peers leaving over the course of the past few months.
The changing climate there along with growing revenues set the stage for my exit. I woke up one morning a few weeks ago and just FELT it in my soul. I couldn’t shake the feeling I needed to quit. I gave it a few days and still felt the same way. Sometimes you just know, you know?
Why Financial Planning?
As for the question of why financial planning & investment management. It goes back to my number sense and desire to help people. I got into the stock market during my time in college. I became the go-to person in my friend group for finance questions. Several asked me if I had considered getting paid for my advice. I told them it had crossed my mind. Enough of them told me they would hire me that I felt confident I could launch a practice. I studied and passed the Series 65 in 2022. I got registered in the state of Ohio as an investment advisor.
Thank You to All the Families I’ve Served
One final thing I would like to say. If you are a parent of a student that I’ve taught reading this. Thank you so much for trusting in me all these years. I will treasure the memories I’ve made teaching for the rest of my life. Please don’t be a stranger. I would love to keep in touch 🙂
You can find my contact info here
Thank you for reading!
