Dear Teaching Colleague:
I hope you’ve already made a decision to join our network of teachers by signing up for our Rich Teachers Club™. If so, I thank you and welcome you to our growing family of PASSIONATE teachers who are on a mission to change the world and how teachers are paid. I look forward to working with you to enrich your life as you enrich the lives of our students. I hope that today will be the beginning of a life-long relationship between us; and who knows, maybe we might even get a chance to meet each other during my travels.
Please allow me to take a moment to share my personal story with you, so you can understand what inspired me to create such a unique and valuable resource for teachers.
If you’ve read my bio, you know that I’ve been truly blessed to have accomplished much at a relatively young age (most before I was 30). However, my bio doesn’t even begin to tell the story of my journey into what I consider to be the greatest and most rewarding profession in the world…teaching.
I was born and reared in one of the toughest inner-city ghettos in Miami, Florida, in a place called “Liberty City.” My mom was a single, teenage mother (age 16) with no high school diploma. By the time I reached 16 years old myself, I had already buried six of my friends and knew more than a dozen others who were incarcerated; I had dodged bullets, witnessed murders, learned how illegal drugs were produced and sold, and even lived through a modern day race riot. It’s a miracle I even survived my childhood, let alone live long enough to pursue an education.
After being the first in my family to graduate from high school and attend college, I managed to graduate early (age 20) at the top of my class with a degree in communication (emphasis: public relations). However, at the age of 19, I worked part time at an elementary school as a pre-intern teacher working with Title I children (first graders) in one of the toughest school districts in our county. It was there that I first discovered I had a PASSION (and gift) for teaching.
Unfortunately, since I was starting my senior year, I thought it was too late to change my major to education. However, I couldn’t shake my desire to make a difference in the lives of students. I continued to student teach until I graduated.
Shortly after I graduated from college, I took a highly-competitive job working for the federal government (beating out more than 500 applicants), but still considering the remote possibility of pursuing a teaching career (as I worked on my masters’ degree). However, my family, friends, and even other teachers, kept emphasizing the cruel “reality” of teaching:
“It’s (teaching) a wonderful and noble profession,
but they don’t get paid a lot of money.”
Unfortunately, I allowed myself to buy into “their belief” system. So after getting my masters degree, I continued to pursue the path of “security” instead of “significance.” I found myself working for a paycheck, instead of working for a purpose. I was facing a “midlife crisis” at the age of 24 – young, educated, financially successful, but surprisingly miserable. I was asking myself, “Is this all there is?”
I was missing something. I was missing the passion I felt teaching and reaching students. Teaching was all I read, thought, and talked about. I missed my students. But how could I possibly walk away from a great-paying job (by this time, I had left my government job and was working for a Fortune 500 company)? And to do what…teach? Was I crazy?
After having a long talk with my wife (and God), I decided to step out on faith and pursue my dream to teach (regardless of the financial consequences and the mocking of my peers). I decided I would just take the financial hit in the wallet and re-adjust my lifestyle to accommodate a teacher’s salary.
After being discouraged by all the hoops I would have to jump through to get my teaching certificate (in Florida), I decided to pursue teaching at the college level instead. I didn’t care what age group I taught, I just wanted to teach. Unfortunately for me, the starting pay wasn’t much better at the college level (actually less), even though the students were older. But I didn’t care, because I was teaching. I was just happy to be excited about waking up every morning to go to work (for a change).
As my income dropped (and my enthusiasm soared), the financial realities of life started to set in. My lifestyle had changed dramatically. For the first time since graduation, I was doing something that I really loved; but at the same time, I had to live on a strict budget. The words “discretionary income” were dropped from my working vocabulary and replaced with “I can’t afford that.”
This lifestyle continued for another year, until one day I got an epiphany. I was driving in my car (to class), asking the question, “Wouldn’t teaching be the perfect job if we only got paid more?”In other words, I wanted to have my cake and eat it too. It was then that I discovered the SECRET to having a “rich” and fulfilling life as a teacher.
Since childhood, we’ve always been taught to “go to college, pick a good major, make good grades, get a good job, and make good money.” Sadly enough, most of us have bought into that philosophy, and we teach this to our students as well. This philosophy is somewhat selfish in the fact that it focuses solely on what society can do for us, instead of what we can contribute to society.
The SECRET to being “rich” – both personally, as well as financially, — is to find what you love to do (your gift), and figure out a way to share it and give it to the greatest number of people who could benefit from it. And if your gift is good enough, someone might even offer to pay you for it. Thus, the old success formula of a good major = a good job = good money becomes somewhat misleading. I decided to adopt a new philosophy:
“The person who SERVES more, EARNS more.”
If this philosophy sounds familiar, it should, because it’s based on the often-quoted biblical principle: “Give and you shall receive.” It doesn’t say, “Pick a better major and you shall receive” or “Choose a better school district and you shall receive.” It says to “give” first. Therefore, if I wanted to raise my teaching income, I had to figure out a way(s) to GIVE my gift (to teach) to more students. In other words, I had to discover how to make a BIGGER difference in the lives of students and those who impact them.
To make a long story short, in less than two years, I discovered several ways to share my teaching gift with others. And as a result, I immediately doubled my income, while still teaching full time – without even changing professions! Years later, I now can honestly tell you that I earn more than 90% of the teachers, administrators, and professors in this country… but I actually work less, which means I work smarter.
But before you accuse me of being boastful, allow me to make a confession. I’m not the most talented, gifted, educated teacher in the country, nor am I the luckiest or the brightest. But let’s do the math. The average American teacher probably serves and teaches a few hundred students a year (maybe more). Personally, I teach and serve more than 75,000 students a year (I reach more than 110,000 students a month on my web site alone!) and I train more than 15,000 school teachers a year (not counting how many I reach on my teacher web site). Now, let me ask you, based on those numbers and my level of service to students and teachers, who do you think SHOULD get paid more as a teacher, me or the “average” teacher?
No, I may not be the brightest or the most talented teacher in the country, but I will assure you, I EARN more because I SERVE more. It also doesn’t hurt that I’m one of the most passionate teachers you’ll ever meet. And if you’ve ever met me personally, you already know this.
Remember my philosophy:
“The person who SERVES more, EARNS more.”
That’s the SECRET to a “rich” life; to take what you love to do (your gift) and expand and multiply it so you can impact more lives. My income increases every year, not because I’m greedy (I make more than enough to live on), but because I’m always looking for better ways to serve more students, train more teachers, and help more parents. In other words, I’m always searching for more ways to do what I love, and to do it better. But shouldn’t we all?
The Rich Teachers Club™ is just another idea of dozens that I’ve come up with over the years to make a greater impact on the lives of teachers and students across America. I’ve decided to help, teach, and train other educators (like you) how to achieve the same professional, as well as financial, success I (and others) have achieved. The greatest challenge I face isn’t whether or not I can help you succeed professionally and financially, but whether or not I can get YOU to BELIEVE you can do it!
A good friend once told me, “You have to believe you’re worth the success you deserve.” I believe you’re worth it, but do you believe it? The only thing that stands between you and success is an excuse. PLEASE don’t allow any of these excuses (from doubtful, cynical teachers) stand in the way of your success (note my responses):
“But Joe, I’m not like you; I’m just an ‘average’ school teacher.”
That has absolutely NOTHING to do with your income potential, but your level of commitment to teaching does. Stop selling yourself short by undervaluing your worth.
“I don’t have enough time to increase my income.”
That just means you have to work smarter, not harder. I actually earn more now, working less, while impacting more students and teachers than I did when I first started teaching. In education, I discovered that people will pay you more for what you KNOW than what you do. What a great profession!
“I don’t have the resources to get started.”
You probably didn’t have the resources a year ago, or even five years ago. The truth of the matter is, if you keep doing what you’ve always done (i.e., waiting), then you’re going to keep getting what you’ve always gotten (i.e., older). The bottom line is this: if you don’t invest in yourself, no one else will. The question is, do you believe you’re worth the investment (whatever that may be)?
“My school district should be responsible for my pay raise, not me.”
That sounds logical, but it’s not practical. How long has salaries been a problem in the teaching profession? So how long will you hold your breath waiting for “the system” to fix the problem? Unless you have extraordinarily strong lungs, it’s not worth the effort (of waiting).
“I shouldn’t have to work this hard to be fairly compensated.”
Whoever told you that life was fair, lied. If life WAS fair, we’d all be paid strictly on commission, based on the results we produce (with no excuses). I’m sure you’ve heard the old adage, “success” only comes before “work” in the dictionary. Well, it’s true. So, as a teacher, you need to change your approach to teaching in order to change how you’re paid.
Although you won’t find a similar resource for teachers anywhere (trust me, I’ve looked), there’s no guarantee of your financial success. But the truth of the matter is, if you don’t get “richer,” then I don’t get rewarded, which is the way life should be (for all of us). RTC will only be as successful as the quality of information, strategies, ideas, and resources I provide AND you apply. So YOUR SUCCESS is directly linked to MY success.
Together, I truly believe we can help change the stereotypical perception of our profession; and ultimately, we can help teachers enrich their lives while enriching the lives of students. And I’m willing to teach you how. Like I always tell my students, “I’ll supply and plant the seeds, but YOU have to supply the soil and remove the weeds.” All the rest is up to God.
So keep the passion and teach with purpose!
Purposefully,
Prof. Joe Martin Jr.
Rich Teachers Club™
President & Founder
