We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Amanda Means. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Amanda below.
Amanda, we’re thrilled to have you on our platform and we think there is so much folks can learn from you and your story. Something that matters deeply to us is living a life and leading a career filled with purpose and so let’s start by chatting about how you found your purpose.
I’ve wanted to work with children since the third grade. Honestly, the first time a sent a pair of scissors gliding along lamination, I was hooked! I was convinced that teaching combined most of the things I loved. I could be be creative, read, act, listen to music, and be silly while imparting my love of learning to others. Plus, I believed, I’d be in charge of my classroom, so it was a win-win.
On this side of my teaching career, I realize that I still want to do these things, and I want to help other teachers to be able to enjoy education as I did for so many years. Most days were a fun adventure, and that moment when something clicked for a student will always be a favorite for me. Teaching’s an opportunity to not only impart knowledge, but also have the opportunity to get to know some amazing little people! Everyone needs someone who will listen and get to know them, and by creating the activities and tools that I do, I save teachers time to be able to build those important relationships.
I also want teachers to feel freedom in what they do. That sense of autonomy that I had in my classroom allowed me to create a learning environment that encouraged my students to thrive. I felt it was my purpose to create meaningful memories that sparked a thirst for future learning, and I hope to inspire other teachers to do more of the same with their students.
Appreciate the insights and wisdom. Before we dig deeper and ask you about the skills that matter and more, maybe you can tell our readers about yourself?
I’m a Georgia girl who loves deeply and enjoys making memories with the people that I love the most. It’s why I believe in striving for harmony in your life, not balance. Work is never going to mean more than my loved ones, but I know that there will be seasons I need to work more, so I can truly be present with those I love when I’m done. I also know there are seasons that work will take a backseat, and I want others to be able to confidently walk away from work without worrying about what they have to do when they return.
Teacher Life Harmony’s tagline is “Make Time for What Matters Most”. I created Teacher Life Harmony to help teachers maximize their time, so they can enjoy life in and out of the classroom. This is so important to me because for years, I believed that staying late and doing the absolute most at school was what made me a good teacher.
In reality, it just made me tired.
When asked what “matters most” I always think about the relationships that I have with the people around me. Outside of the classroom, it’s the life I live with my loved ones, the experiences I have, and more. In the classroom, it’s the relationships I build with my students. In teaching kindergarten, I had the opportunity to truly see my students grow academically and as people. It amazes me how much my students have grown from the five-year olds who giggled on the carpet to models, future lawyers, actors, and even athletes on international fields. The activities they do in class are important, but I don’t want to discount the importance of pouring into our students as people as well!
I want to show primary teachers there are ways to have an exciting and creative classroom without sacrificing your life outside of the classroom. I do this by creating an array of activities, ebooks, resources, stationery, and organizational tools to help save time while they create memorable learning experiences for their students and have a fulfilling life outside of the classroom as well.
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?
Ooh, okay, my three would be faith, resourcefulness, and leaning into my creativity.
I strongly believe that this business was put on my heart because I’m supposed to see it through. This gives me faith that what I’m doing can be done and helps me to not see setbacks as failures but as lessons. The projects I choose to do, must be done with careful intentionality and must be aligned with the vision I’ve been given when it comes to what Teacher Life Harmony is supposed to be and the impact I will make in the world through this business.
Resourcefulness is certainly necessary for all entrepreneurs. When I started my business, I was a focused student of YouTube University, and as the years have come I’ve learned to place myself in groups with people who have similar goals and values. The decision to find and create community through conferences and local groups has been incredibly impactful because I have made friends who are friends in and out of business. The bonds we’ve created are deep, and they’ve encouraged me to step out on faith many times, including when I decided to become a full-time business owner after years of being afraid to leave the classroom.
Lastly, leaning into my creativity has served me well since I was a little girl. I’ve always been told I was creative, but it was when I created my first resource for Teachers Pay Teachers that I realized I could share the creativity I was using in my classroom with other educators. As a kindergarten teacher, my creative thinking served me well because I had to constantly find ways to break down concepts to make them palatable for sweet students to comprehend. I spent lots of time crafting, creating new activities, and engineering lessons to help my students grow, and being creative about reaching goals with them has become a habit that I take into business when I create for my audience.
What’s been one of your main areas of growth this year?
I love this question because my answer goes for life personally and professionally.
The largest area of growth for my has been my ability to let go and niche down. I know that talking about niching down can make some people shiver, but when you are letting go of people, things, and concepts that do not serve you, you are making room for the things that serve you well!
In the last year, I’ve let go of the business that became Teacher Life Harmony after two years of not wanting to let go of what I’d worked so hard to create. I had to take a hard look at what I was creating and offering to my audience. I’d gone through so many stages as a business owner, and I knew that everything I’d done up to that point was coming together to guide this next chapter. I’ve been a teacher, blogger, graphic designer, stationer, calligrapher, visual artist, and product designer. I get to combine these skills while creating the tools and resources that I provide for teachers now. These tools are more visually appealing with better functionality, and they help maximize teachers’ time!
It’s not easy to let go of who you were and the things you used to do, but in doing so, you’re allowing yourself to see the world in ways you may have missed before. As a person, this has made life more joyful, and as a business owner, this has allowed me to become more focused when making content that will guide educators to become more thoughtful, make more connections, and love what they do. If I can make a positive impact and help people change for the better with what I do, then I am truly walking in my purpose.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.teacherlifeharmony.com
- Instagram: www.instagram.com/teacherlifeharmony
- Facebook: www.facebook.com/teacherlifeharmony
- Other: https://www.etsy.com/shop/TeacherLifeHarmony
Image Credits
Bri Cibene https://www.bricibene.com
