A Pew Research Center study discovered that around 21% of secondary school teachers assumed a second job during the school year. In addition to teaching, many teachers sell their curriculum, pursue their hobbies in a way that makes some extra money, or simply work in another industry. But why do so many teachers run a side hustle or take up a second job?
This concept of working another job is not foreign to the community at Vista del Lago High School. Many Vista teachers have a job outside of teaching at Vista, and there is a common trend as to why this is.
Janice Johnson, the Multimedia Production and Personal Strategic Planning teacher, currently runs several of her businesses on the side and has run two others in the past. Her journey began when she founded a nonprofit organization called InvestLov, through which she funded youth projects to improve the community. She ran it for two years until she had to shut it down due to underfunding.
Then, during the COVID-19 quarantine, Johnson began to pursue her passion for art by selling it on the side under the brands Abstract Tranquility and then Janice Johnson Art. Johnson, also a former English teacher, currently sells her curriculum on the platform used by many teachers to find activities, Teachers Pay Teachers.
Starting her own business “was a challenge” for herself, said Johnson. “The point isn’t to have a side business, the point is rediscovering myself,” she said. “If you’re a person that needs new things to feel, find ways to invest yourself and have fun,” Johnson said.
Many other teachers said similar things. For instance, Video Production teacher Brittney Valtierra runs a side business with her husband in which they help film wedding videos, corporate videos, and social media content for various companies.
The business is a way for her and her husband “to be really creative, when maybe we can’t be as much in the 9-to-5 work that we do,” said Valtierra. “I enjoy what I do, and I enjoy going out and shooting content and videos, so it just feels like something fun,” as opposed to an added stressor, she said.
Another teacher, who would like to remain anonymous, sells her curriculum on Teachers Pay Teachers, as well as participates in content creation on Instagram. She began her business during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“It was a kind of a creative outlet” and “something to do to fill my time when we were all quarantined,” she said. Owning your business is “really empowering, and as a woman too, it’s nice, because women are underrepresented in business, so it’s like my business is a corporation, and I’m a CEO of my corporation,” she said.
Similarly, Computer Science Principles and Physics Teacher, Brian Ellis, stated that he has a second job helping with professional development of teachers at Sacramento State University.
Having a second job can make someone, especially a teacher, feel “like a person who has a little bit more going on, and helps you get out of a headspace of just thinking about the grind of teaching every day,” he said.
It seems as though there is a common theme as to why so many teachers end up assuming second jobs. Although, yes, there are many financial and educational benefits to getting a side job, second jobs are also a great way to take care of their mental health. They allow people to express their emotions and de-stress in a healthy way, as well as empower people to feel a sense of control and accomplishment in their lives. This is especially true for teachers; no matter how much passion they have for teaching, it can sometimes be a very draining and repetitive lifestyle. Teachers see the same things and go through the same routine every day. Thus, as a teacher, having a second job is not only a perfect medium of self-expression, but is also a way to add a little bit of flavor to what can become a bland and repetitive lifestyle.
When asked if they recommend that other teachers get a second job or begin a side business, most teachers said yes, but only if the job reduces stress. They encourage that if you have a passion, it’s good to try to invest in that passion through establishing your own business or getting another job that is related to it.
Valtierra perfectly explains this idea: “Try anything. Why not, you know? If you really love something, why not?” she said.
