Online Business for Teachers · 2026-04-22 · 15 min
Key moments - from our scoring
Substance score
19 / 100
Five dimensions, 20 points each
Monica Lopez, host of Online Business for Teachers and a former burnt-out educator, tackles the psychological obstacles that keep teachers from launching their own businesses. Rather than focusing on technical how-tos, she addresses the deeper issue: the limiting beliefs that masquerade as practical constraints - "I don't have time," "I'm not creative enough," "It's too late." Lopez shares her own winding path, which included years exploring unrelated online business models before recognizing that her education expertise was the asset she needed all along. The turning point came when she uploaded her first resource to Teachers Pay Teachers out of curiosity; those initial $2 in sales proved the concept worked. She challenges the misconception that teachers must perfect their materials before selling them, arguing that teachers share unpolished classroom creations with colleagues daily without hesitation. Her core message: the resources sitting in teachers' computers right now solve real problems for other educators actively searching for them. Lopez positions one-on-one coaching calls as the solution for teachers stuck in analysis paralysis, promising clarity and momentum even for those starting from zero.
Teachers commonly tell themselves they don't have time, aren't creative enough, are too old or inexperienced, lack technical skills, or that their materials aren't good enough compared to established sellers - but these are beliefs, not reality, according to Monica Lopez.
After years trying unrelated online businesses while teaching first grade and managing significant family stress, she uploaded a resource she'd already created to Teachers Pay Teachers out of curiosity; its sale proved she could make money using her existing education expertise.
Teachers already have valuable solutions to problems other educators are actively searching for; they should publish and sell what they've created rather than waiting to make it perfect or learning entirely new skills.
She helps teachers get their doubts, fears, and ideas out of their head and into a conversation, providing clarity and a concrete plan so they can move from analysis paralysis into action.
There is never a perfect time to start; waiting leads to endless procrastination cycles ("I'll start this summer," etc.) and every day of delay costs momentum, time, and potential income.
Our reviewer’s read on each dimension, with quotes from the episode.
The episode relies heavily on motivational platitudes ("you are enough," "it's all in your head," "you just have to get started") and repetitive anecdotes about the speaker's personal journey rather than substantive, novel insights. While the metaphor about babies and business has some utility, the core advice - overcome self-doubt, use skills you already have, start before you're ready - circulates widely in entrepreneurship content and offers little new to someone already familiar with founder psychology or solopreneur frameworks.
There's never the right time to start a business. You're never going to find that one day that you say, oh, this is a great day to start a business.
You are already enough the way that you are. Your audience is not waiting for beautiful things. They are waiting for the materials that solve their problems.
The episode recycles well-worn motivational tropes about impostor syndrome, perfectionism paralysis, and the false assumption that you must be ready before starting. The speaker's personal narrative of burnout and discovery is sincere but follows the standard "hero's journey" template of entrepreneurship podcasting. No contrarian arguments, frameworks, or first-principles analysis appears; the entire thesis boils down to "mindset blocks are the real barrier."
You can't possibly create resources as nice or as beautiful as the ones that you have bought from cpt. You don't have the time, you don't have the energy. You feel like it's too late. You're too old, you're too inexperienced, you're not techie enough.
It took me many years to realize that I could use my education skills to build a business around that.
This is a solo host episode with no guest. The host is a teacher-turned-entrepreneur selling one-on-one coaching, which positions her as a career podcast guest and coach rather than an operator with demonstrable business scale or exit. The episode is primarily a sales pitch for her coaching services with minimal operational insight.
I have helped people see what they have been struggling with for months and solved it in the first few minutes of the call.
The link to book your call with me is in the show notes.
The episode almost entirely lacks concrete data, metrics, timelines, or named examples. The speaker mentions making $2 from her first upload (vague and undocumentable), references a client who published products in one week (no specifics), and alludes to multiple failed business attempts without naming them or explaining what went wrong. No revenue figures, platform details, product categories, or customer numbers are provided to ground claims in reality.
It wasn't even about the $2 that I made.
One of my clients even told me that after our call, she looked at her product list, realized what still needed to be finished, sent it to her va, and that week everything was finally published.
This is a monologue, not a conversation. There is no host asking probing questions, no guest pushing back on claims, and no dynamic exchange that would test ideas or reveal deeper insights. The brief interjections from Speaker B are generic podcast framing with no substantive questioning. The structure is entirely confessional storytelling followed by a coaching services pitch, making it impossible to evaluate conversational quality.
Hey, teacher friend. Welcome to Online Business for Teachers, the podcast for educators who are tired of being tired and wondering if there's more out there.
I hope you enjoyed today's episode. If this show is helping you dream a little bigger, would you take 30 seconds to leave a quick review?
Computed from the transcript - who did the talking, and the words that came up most.
Stop Overthinking and Start Your Teacher Business: How to Go from Idea to Action You have had the idea. You have thought about it, researched it, and maybe even had a full conversation with ChatGPT about it. But you still have not made anything. In this episode we talk about: Why teachers stay stuck before they even start The real cost of waiting to feel ready How comparing yourself to other sellers is keeping you broke My own story of starting over and what finally clicked The truth? You already have everything you need. You just need to get out of your own way. Not sure where to start? Grab the free mini course: Ready to stop overthinking and actually start? I work with teachers one on one to help them get clear, get focused, and take action, whether you are starting from zero or you have products but are still stuck. Book your coaching session here:
Transcribed and scored by The B2B Podcast Index.
Speaker A: It seems too hard. You can't possibly create resources as nice or as beautiful as the ones that you have bought from cpt. You don't have the time, you don't have the energy. You feel like it's too late. You're too old, you're too inexperienced, you're not techie enough. You are not creative enough.
Speaker B: Hey, teacher friend. Welcome to Online Business for Teachers, the podcast for educators who are tired of being tired and wondering if there's more out there. Are you up late googling online jobs for teachers or. Or how to make extra money from home? Do you dream about starting a business, working from home, or finally getting paid for the resources you've already created without adding more stress to your plate?
Speaker A: I'm Monica Lopez, a former teacher who
Speaker B: was burnt out, overwhelmed, and secretly searching
Speaker A: for a way out.
Speaker B: I wanted more time with my kids, the freedom to work from home, and a way to make money doing something I actually enjoyed. That's when I discovered the simplest path. Creating and selling my own teacher resources using the skills I already had. Now I help teachers like you turn your ideas into income with step by step guidance. Real talk about finding time to grow your business and the mindset shifts that help you believe it's actually possible. So close those lesson plans and grab your favorite drink. It is your turn now. Hey. Hey.
Speaker A: Today I want to talk about something that kept me from starting my own business because I know that this is something that you might also be struggling with. I see you guys, you are sitting there just wishing and hoping that one day you can have an online business. But then you get busy at work or at home and you end up feeling torn between taking care of your mental health, your family, and then also starting a business that is going to take, uh, more of your bandwidth. And you just don't feel like you have the energy, the time, or the know how to even get started. And if you already started an online business, y', ah, all this is also for you because many times we get stuck in that. I'm tired and I can't do this and just that balancing of time and energy. So listen in. Even if you already have an online business, because you are going to get some gold nuggets from this episode as well. All right, so what happens when you just don't think that you have the energy or the time or the bandwidth to start, what you do is you stall. You listen to podcasts, you have conversations with ChatGPT about starting this business and what the easiest way to make money online is. And the next day, you do it all over again. Y', all, I have been there, so I can tell you that I know exactly how that is. And then you start thinking, okay, this summer is when I'm going to start, because I'm going to be off, and I'm not going to go to work, and everything is going to be amazing, and I'm going to start my new business. But then when you are off for the summer, you realize that you are tired, and you just don't want to sacrifice those precious moments that you get off just to start something that may or may not work. So what you do is you take that vacation, and when you come back, you clean your house and you sleep because you're tired. And your brain continues to tell you that you need the rest, right? But what happens is, by the time you realize it, it's time to go back to school, and you never started your business. And then when you're at school, you remember why you didn't start the business. It seems too hard. You can't possibly create resources as nice or as beautiful as the ones that you have bought from cpt. You don't have the time, you don't have the energy. You feel like it's too late. You're too old, you're too inexperienced, you're not techie enough. You are not creative enough. Y', all, if this sounds familiar, I want you to keep listening. Because there's never the right time to start a business. You're never going to find that one day that you say, oh, this is a great day to start a business. You don't do that because a business is like a baby. You know, it's just one of those things that you're never ready enough. It's just, you just have to make the decision that you are ready now. Okay? So all of these thoughts kept me from starting, too. And my, uh, version might be just a little bit different than yours. I'm not sure. Maybe you can identify with it, maybe not. But when I first started thinking about creating an online business and just making money on the side, I had just had my third child. I don't know what it is about having a third baby, but when you have your third baby, you know that things have to change. I remember I was teaching first grade, and I was super stressed out. I needed to find a way to balance my home life and my work life. I had a kid at home whom we just had found out that he had add, and so he was having problems at school. And my husband Was working out of town and I had my third baby. And it was just a very, very, very stressful time in my life. And. And I also went home after teaching all day thinking, I'm taking care of all of these other children that are not mine. I'm giving them my all. And by the time I walk through my own door, I have nothing left. So I wanted to do something different. But, uh, and at the same time, I didn't want to work for somebody else. And at that time, I wanted it to be as far away from education as possible because just the word education sounded stressful to me. I was under that much stress. And what I did is I found time and I found energy between all of the things that I was already doing to learn other businesses. But what happened is I would start and then stop and then start in the Stop many different businesses that had nothing to do with education. And I did this for years. And every time it was the same story. It took too long. I had no guidance. I was trying to do everything on my own. I was not willing to invest in buying, coaching or anything like that because I wanted to save every dollar possible. And therefore I didn't have anybody to walk me through the mindset of, uh, what starting a business actually does to you. It took me many years to realize that I could use my education skills to build a business around that. And y', all, I did spend money. Actually, I didn't spend money on a one on one coach. I wish I would've found one. But I did spend money trying to learn something else else, trying to learn other ways to make money. And I would pay for courses on other ways to make money. But I never realized that I could use, uh, my education skills to build a business around that. It took me many years because first I had to accept that I had that I was already an expert. And then I had to realize that, that I can make money using those skills without showing up to a classroom every day. This was a foreign idea in my brain. I could not even have thought about that. But fast forward a few years. Yes, years, not months. Fast forward a few years. All it took was a curiosity to upload something I had already created for my students just to see what happened. And when it sold, I was ecstatic. And it wasn't even about the $2 that I made. It was about the proof that I could make money online with the skills that I already had. And it's something that I hadn't experienced with my other businesses. Right. And that is a Feeling that I still remember. And it makes my eyes water up until this moment. And I feel, you know, all kinds of emotion when I think about those first $2 that. So what was in my way the whole time, it was me. It was my doubts. It was my belief that I had to learn something completely new instead of using what I already had. Now, did I throw away all of the knowledge that I learned in all of those, uh, other courses and starting all of those businesses? No, I didn't. Because every single one of them, uh, helped me to understand how business works and what it actually takes as far as all of the strategy. But it's funny how they actually didn't turn out in the way that I thought they were was going to. So today I want to challenge your thinking. I want to tell you that you are not too late and you're not too old, and that you are creative enough. Because I never saw myself as a creative person either. I always thought that my sisters were the creative ones. One makes beautiful, amazing custom cakes. Her cakes are absolutely amazing and beautiful. And the other one does home decor and painting. Uh, it's amazing what she can do with a piece of ribbon. Both of them are so creative and so talented. I always thought of, uh, myself as. As a nerdy one. The one who was good at reading and books and even writing. All of this to say that you are already enough the way that you are. Your audience is not waiting for beautiful things. They are waiting for the materials that solve their problems. And you have the experience to create the solution to the problems they are experiencing right now. Think about this. When you put something on your wall in your classroom, something that your kids created, an activity that you designed, other teachers notice, they ask you to share it, and you do not tell them, oh, hold on, let me make it beautiful first. You just give them the idea. That's how you do business. You solve problems by helping people. The resources that you have sitting in your computer right now could solve another teacher's problem right now if it's a lesson plan, an activity, anything. There's a teacher out there searching for exactly that for her classroom, and she can't find it because you haven't published it yet. You have to get over yourself and your doubts and your fears. There are people out there who need what you have. All right, guys, before I close out today, I want you to hear this. Every day that you stay stuck, you are losing money, you're losing time, and you are losing momentum, and I don't want that for you. What I want for you is to just get started so that you can realize that it's not as hard as you think it is. It's all in your head. And as long as you get all of those thoughts out of your head and onto the table, you will start making real progress. This is exactly what I do on a one on one coaching call. I hold space for you to get every single thought and idea and doubt and fear out of your head and into a conversation. I see you as a whole, the whole person, not just a teacher who wants to make money online. And I help you organize all of that into a clear plan so that you're not the bottleneck in your own business anymore. I've gone into clients, stores, and analyzed what they have and given them the direction that they didn't even know that they needed. I have helped people see what they have been struggling with for months and solved it in the first few minutes of the call. One of my clients even told me that after our call, she looked at her product list, realized what still needed to be finished, sent it to her va, and that week everything was finally published. Everything that she had been sitting on, done. Someone else started calling me Monica the Butt Kicker. And y', all, I'll take it. Because sometimes that's exactly what you need. Someone who sees what you have, believes in it more than you do right now, and gives you that kick to take those tiny actions that build real momentum. You will leave the call feeling clear and confident and light and ready to actually do something. Now, you might be thinking, this call is not for you because you haven't started yet. Or maybe because, uh, you don't even know what you're doing. Or maybe because you don't have a store set up. Or maybe because there's really no way to explain all of the thoughts that are in your head right now. I want you to know something. I have been in your shoes. I have thought all of those thoughts. I have been embarrassed about where I was and worried about how ignorant I would sound and how dumb my questions would be. And I'm here to tell you that you are not an impossible case to solve. You just need a little nudge. You need clarity. And that is exactly what I'm here for. This call is for. For you if you are starting from zero. And it's also for you if you already have products but you're stuck and not growing. It's for you if you are tired of sitting on your ideas and you're finally ready to do something about it. The link to book your call with me is in the show notes. Click it, book it, and let's get you out of your head and into your business. All uh, right, guys, thank you so much for listening and I will see you next week.
Speaker B: Uh, hey, teacher friend. I hope you enjoyed today's episode. If this show is helping you dream a little bigger, would you take 30 seconds to leave a quick review? It means the world to me and it helps more teachers find their way to this podcast. I'll meet you back here next week. Take care and keep dreaming bigger.
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