I'm a teacher turned tutor. I was forced to leave classroom teaching due to a diagnosis of terminal leukaemia so pivoting to private tutoring was a natural path for me to choose. I had very little business knowledge for this new venture but I had no choice. I had to acquire those skills - and I did. I scraped together the knowledge from many and varied sources - some good, some bad, but at the two year mark I had the successful business I needed. I've hummed along nicely for ten years and even helped two friends set up their own tutoring businesses. I really thought nothing of that, I didn't realise how valuable that hard-earned knowledge was for others, I was just glad I could help. Thankfully the effects of the pandemic were minimal on my own business as I was able to quickly switch to exclusively online lessons. I watched on in horror as our classroom teachers were thrown in and out of school and home teaching, many times as our beautiful city of Melbourne endured severe and prolonged lockdowns - but we all willingly made those sacrifices to save as many lives as possible - we were seeing the unacceptable situations unfold around the world. I read a news headline in March 2021 which stated that the Education Department of our State of Victoria was predicting that 22% of teachers would not be returning to the classroom in 2022. That figure, which so clearly illustrated the pain and anguish of our teachers, broke my heart. The realisation that our students were going to be the unwitting victims of the flow-on effect of this, broke my heart. We need these wonderful teachers to stay in teaching. The students need these wonderful teachers. I couldn't bare the thought of these amazing, skilled and experienced people finding jobs in other industries - never to return to education. Okay, let's get to work! I can find those teachers in my local community and teach them how to set up their own private tutoring business and I have the expertise to fast-track this process. How do I find them? Pre-pandemic I could easily have run a course at my local community centres. Okay, take it online! I had looked into producing online courses - just for my high school students using resources I had created - so I was following the course creation gurus and the marketing gurus but hadn't taken action. One guru stood out to me, Marisa Murgatroyd. Her values aligned with mine - an absolute desire to help people, not just chase money. Then 'that dopamine email' landed in my inbox. Having teachers actually complete my course, because it's an experience, not just 'how-to' information, but with a fully functioning tutor business as the end result, was my raison d'etre. I signed up for the Experience Product Masterclass. There need to be some new words invented to describe Marisa, her Coaches and Support Team - the usual positive superlative adjectives just don't cut it! Every single aspect of the course and the support was a million miles above what I had expected. There are no egos getting in the way here. We are all equal. We are a team. I learned the things I needed to make a successful course - tick! Huge as that is, it was just a little trifle compared to the extraordinary amount of knowledge imparted. Time to take this baby for a test-drive! I made my first sale on this test run. I will always remember the shock, delight and, yes, a bit of fear, that came with signing up my first client. This teacher not only wanted my course, she wanted it yesterday. Mission accomplished! This tiny, little success in my new business venture is just a glimpse of what I now know will be a huge future and positive change in circumstances for me and the people who matter most to me. I might only have 10 years left in this life but I'm sure as heck going to do my best to leave behind a great future for them!