First, if you’re not familiar with my story, allow me to reintroduce myself. My name is Dr. Shaun Woodly and education is my calling. As a decorated K-12 teacher, university professor, and author I taught for 10 years in urban schools. I am an educator in every sense of the word. Such that, I study, research, live and breathe teaching and had a great deal of success. During that 10 year period teaching in K-12 schools I also had a profitable side hustle as a DJ. I wrote a whole best-selling book about it too. 

Here’s the thing though - when I started teaching I went about it all wrong. And I mean all wrong. I taught in an urban school and because of what I thought “those kids” needed, I taught in a very cold way. If you’ve ever heard the phrase “don’t smile until November”, you know what I’m talking about. Just know I took it entirely too far. It wasn’t pretty and is truthfully something I regret to this day. 

It wasn’t until the end of year TWO that I had a very rude awakening - a parent of one of my sixth graders called and said her daughter is scared in my classroom. I fell victim to the narrative of the type of educator I was supposed to be for “those kids” and inadvertently created an environment of fear. How many students did I miss an opportunity to connect with? How many slipped through the cracks because I did not present myself as approachable? This is not the type of person I am, nor the type of educator I wanted to be. 

As a result of this I began to make some serious changes which resulted in a great deal of success I began to have with “those kids”. And I’m talking beyond grades and achievement. I’m talking better connections, better student effort, a better learning environment that was warm, inviting and yielded great results. It was a place I wanted to be - more importantly it was a place my students wanted to be. These changes contributed to us earning state-level blue ribbon recognition. And we were the only school in the district to achieve this.

If I’m being honest, at that time, you couldn’t tell me nothing! 

But, when I began to examine this further  - the fact that we were the only school in the district with that level of achievement - that in fact was a problem. The students were clearly capable and clearly wanted to achieve at the highest levels, but it wasn't happening. 

It was around this time I began to feel a bit of a higher calling if you will. I felt the desire to spread this message and help others grow and achieve at high levels in the same manner I helped myself. I began to transition from my side hustle as a DJ and started to position myself to serve educators as a speaker and consultant. I truly wanted others to experience the same levels of success I had or more.

They deserved it. Those students deserve it. 

What was clear to me was my mission - I set out to improve education in communities that are traditionally underserved, under-valued, and under-loved. What was NOT clear to me was HOW to do this. How do I establish myself in this space? How do I get people to believe in my vision? How do I find and book speaking engagements to impact as many people as possible? Would I be able to do all of this while teaching full time? 

What I started to understand is that - as obvious as it may seem - my skill set lies purely in the space of being an educator, NOT an entrepreneur. 

But I figured it out! Slowly but surely, I got it. Today, I am able to impact teaching and learning through the educator movement “Teach Hustle Inspire”, which has influenced over 47,000 educators in 30+ states.

You see what many people see today with Teach Hustle Inspire is the result of what I’ve been working on since 2009. 2009! And what I've come to realize is that there are so many other educators with similar aspirations. Aspirations to improve education as well as the lives of teachers and students. 

If you’ve ever had questions about the idea of impacting education, monetizing your expertise to serve others or even questions as to whether or not it's possible I am here to tell you it is. Moreover, it can all be done on the side. I know, first hand, because I did it.

Please check the receipts….

I left the classroom in order to have a greater impact. Today, I am able to work with schools and districts across this country helping to break down barriers that can limit educator success in urban and culturally diverse classrooms - truly making a difference in education. I am blessed to operate in my purpose but know there are so many others who have similar aspirations but just do not know where to begin. Or if you have already begun, how to take it to the next level. But I may have a solution for you…

On January 8th and 9th, 2022 we bring you Build On The Side! For this event, the focus will be on prosperity and profitability as an educator-entrepreneur! This is a virtual, interactive, two-day business-building experience designed specifically for educators like you! The speakers have been hand-selected for this event because we have been where you are and know exactly what you are going through. These are experts with experience as educators with proven results and guess what? They will be at this event to teach you - join us!