Meet J.K. Lynch

We were lucky to catch up with J.K. Lynch recently and have shared our conversation below.

J.K., thrilled to have you on the platform as I think our readers can really benefit from your insights and experiences. In particular, we’d love to hear about how you think about burnout, avoiding or overcoming burnout, etc.

I overcame burnout by choosing me. I love helping people and I am a person who is about results. The right and the wrong people have seen that through the years. In the faith community, I learned that I had to make some drastic changes in order to choose me because it is easy to be ‘guilted’ and ‘jilted’ by those who wish to drain you to accomplish their goals or their visions in the name of Christ. In the academic community, I had to walk away to save me. I saw some students, certain parents and quite a few colleagues who wanted me to be ‘all things to all people’, but didn’t care that my physical and emotional health were being weighed down heavily. I even learned to avoid burnout by guarding who I allow in my sacred spaces, whether that be my heart, around my family, or my home. If they possess a leech personality, I have learned to shut that down so they do not suck the life and joy out of me.

Since choosing me, leeches in my personal life have fallen off. I work a job now where I don’t have to think about it until I am in the building and leave the matters of the day once I get back to my car in the afternoon. And I am definitely more discerning of who I choose to have in my circle in my faith community. Choosing me has also forced me to be self-aware. When I feel that I am starting to get stressed or heading in the direction of burnout, I do things that help re-center me and get me back in alignment with choosing peace, joy and tranquility over dying due to a ‘savior complex’.

Let’s take a small detour – maybe you can share a bit about yourself before we dive back into some of the other questions we had for you?

I was a high school social studies teacher for twenty years in the Central VA area. During that time, I worked in two different schools and while I taught, I was a department leader, a program coordinator, a mentor, a club sponsor and an endless litany of roles that were required when teaching in ‘hard to staff’ schools that faced a highly disproportionate amount of socioeconomic distressed families.

When working in a ‘hard to staff’ school, a decision has to be made- laugh while working or weep at the overwhelming situations. I chose the prior decision. That doesn’t mean that there weren’t tears or frustration, but I chose that there would be laughter and I would get colleagues to laugh with me. I emailed them funny things that the kids did or said in my classes. Time and time again, colleagues would say, “Lynch, you need to write a book”. For years, I laughed and put the thought to the side. When I went to my second school in 2017, I got on social media and it was then that my audience for my stories grew and the request for a book came again and again, I pushed the thought to the side.

And then 2020 happened- and everyone was home for months. I needed something to keep me from going stir crazy, so I typed out the funny stories from my career. Like many new hobbies and projects from the pandemic, my book lay dormant on my Google Drive. As the world reopened slowly, I was given an opportunity of a lifetime in mid-2022- to be a contributing author for a textbook series called “Movement”. Seeing ‘J.K. Lynch’ on a printed page 15 months later was humbling. So when my sister asked me to show my friends the textbook during a game night in December of 2023 and the revelation of a dormant book draft was on my Google Drive, I was encouraged to finish what I started in 2020.

To get to a published product in May of 2025, I went through quite a bit of lows. I realized that many people are only about money and not the produced product being the best representation of their client. Though I knew it, it was a hard pill to swallow thinking of how many people I helped over the years to make sure what they put out was an awesome first impression that the world got to see. Those lows got so serious that I wondered if writing a book was even something I was supposed to be doing. I was a teacher who left the profession in June 2024, started a new line of work and had the biggest case of impostor syndrome though I wasn’t doing too bad for myself.

The great thing was during that time- I had a village of friends who I met with monthly and we would encourage each other while listening to each other’s highs and lows (we’ve wrestled with coming up with a name for the group- I like the name ‘The Trailblazers’). I gained the strength and affirmation needed to help me finish the book and have a release Memorial Day weekend.

Since then, I have had two book signings, have my book, “You Can’t Make This Stuff Up: Stories of a Tired Former Teacher”, available on Amazon, Barnes & Noble and GoodReads, and even recorded the audio book version that is available on Amazon and Audible. Doors have opened for me to also be interviewed regarding my book and even encourage fathers to be that active champion for their children’s education. I am grateful to the PopTalk Podcast on YouTube for that opportunity.

As for upcoming events- if you live in Central VA, I will be participating in the Hanover Book Festival November 8th and the Local Author’s Book Fair sponsored by Chesterfield County Libraries on November 15th. There may be a couple of December events, but you will just have to follow me on IG- @ycmt.su or TikTok- @mrlynchwroteabook for updates.

And don’t be surprised if you hear me talking about ‘The Trailblazers’ more in 2026 on my social media platforms. We’ve been meeting since early 2024 and believe that what has made our group successful (several books have been published and YouTube channels established) should be shared with whomever wishes to see their dream take flight.

Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?

I don’t know if I would define these as qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge. I think I will define them as lessons learned.

Lesson #1: Have a village. You will have days when you feel like giving up, taking a hiatus, or going rogue on your own dreams. You need a village of tight confidants who will help you get back in line when life is ‘lifing’. My village wasn’t only ‘The Trailblazers’. It was my family. It was people who heard I was a writing a book and they were encouraging me and celebrating me when I showed them the cover art or the dedication. A village goes a long way. I know it is counter-cultural to say that because of the ideal of hyper-individualism, but you will need someone on that journey to complete that project or goal.

Lesson #2: You will get things wrong. Becoming an author was an expensive investment. There are folks on my journey who got money and did more harm than good. And there are folks on my journey who I will brag about every chance I get because of how phenomenal they were. The point is- you will not do everything perfectly the first time. If you are a perfectionist like me, trust me, building that lane in life for failures, disappointments and flops will keep you from wandering through life overly-frustrated. On my TikTok page, @mrlynchwroteabook, I share my adventures going from the draft on the Google Drive to the printed book. I still get a little annoyed that a publisher was trying to publish my first draft and that I trusted her judgment, in the beginning.

Lesson #3: Suggestions for growth come at the most random times-don’t shun those moments. My audio book and even some of the creative ways that I have advertised my book came from talking to people at times when I wasn’t seeking advice. Instead of me getting mad that they were talking to me, I listened and acted accordingly. Had I not done some of these suggestions, I would have never been a part of an author’s showcase for Henrico Public Libraries, made a canvas of my book cover to hang in a studio where podcasters record, or even make a magnet of my book cover to put on my car for folks to see as they are behind me in traffic.

What has been your biggest area of growth or improvement in the past 12 months?

My biggest area of growth was realizing I am entering my era of not having to prove myself. Leaving a career I had done for 20 years left me in a place for a little while that I needed to ‘prove myself’ as an employee in a completely different field and as an author, well aware of the stigmas and stereotypes that are out there. I realized that the wisest thing I could do was get out of my own way. I know my value and my worth and those who cannot see my worth or value are not allowed my access or my energy fixating on if I proved myself to them the right way. I have made peace with being the villain or village idiot in someone’s story because I have chosen to be unapologetically authentic.

I didn’t realize that this was a hard habit to break. A lot of educators, whether they wish to admit it or not, have approval addiction and other childhood deficiencies that they haven’t addressed.

Now that I am in this era of not caring about proving myself, I am truly happier and at peace. As my mother said many years ago- ‘[people] see what they want to see’.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://ycmtsu-jklynch.com
• Instagram: @ycmt.su