On July 1st, 2005 (10 years ago for the math challenged out there like me!) I decided to “go out on my own” and become an independent consultant. I was 32 years old and had $5,000 or so cash in my savings account and thought I could figure this thing out!
Well – I could figure it out. And I did.
But I learned so much more than I ever thought I would. And I have had so many opportunities beyond my wildest dreams along the way.
My mission ten year ago was simple and straightforward:
- To improve the quality of instruction of every teacher that we come into contact with
- To make things simpler for teachers so they feel like they can be successful
- To dig deep and help struggling readers learn to read
- To tell the truth about what needs to be done and not beat around the bush
That’s still my mission now. And I hope it’s still the same mission ten years from now.
I’ve learned lots of lessons along the ten years and here are a smattering of them:
- If you are willing to work harder than anyone around you, you’ll get exactly where you want to go
- Front end work and hours eventually pays off big time
- Take the earliest flight out on the way to see your client
- Get a great attorney
- Get a great accountant
- Get a great editor
- Don’t travel the week after Thanksgiving
- Be liberal with taking vacation days
- Don’t send your email to you phone – set a strong boundary between the work and fun
- Go to dinner with your clients even when you’re exhausted – they are the best part of the job
- Stay the course on the content
- Specialize – don’t be a general practitioner
- Write as thought you’re talking directly to people
- Own your own materials
- Listen to the bad feedback and look for truth in it but then let it go
- Don’t look at what the competition is doing – just do you
- Listen to your dad’s business advice – 99% of the time he’s right on
- Don’t use your email inbox as your to-do list – you’ll waste time
- Write a book – for some reason people think you’re more legit when you’re an author
- Use your miles for upgrades, not tickets
- Never check a bag
- Keep your organization simple and bare bones so that you can focus on the content
- You don’t have to have a business plan to be super successful
- If you put out necessary content, you don’t have to have a slick marketing plan
- Word of mouth will MAKE your business
- Don’t freak out when technology doesn’t work
- Travel is not fun even though most people think it is
- Never stop getting into schools – it’s where the content is richest
- Say yes to all of the work in the beginning – you never know where it’ll lead
- The perceived decision-makers are not necessarily the real ones making the decisions – many times the quiet ones behind the scenes push the big wigs to get things done
- Read trash magazines on the plane – you can’t work all of the time
You are amazing! Thank you for all that you do. I am definitely envious of you, what you do everyday for teachers, and what you’ve accomplished! Congrats!
Thank you so much – it’s been hard hard work, but so so worth it!
Thank you so much – it’s been hard hard work, but so so worth it!
Happy Birthday to you and your team! You all have made me a better instructional coach and educator. I can’t say enough about the personal touch that you provide from phone conferences to simply responding to my questions on Facebook. You are a hands-on consultant which can only be the result of having been a caring, hands-on teacher. You rock, Jill Jackson!!! Thank you for all you do 🙂
Thank you so much – this message means the world to me! My goal is to be helpful and I try to be as available as possible in doing just that!