Teachers With Money: First In Class
Teachers With Money: First in Class is the podcast for teachers who are done accepting the story that financial struggle is the price of a meaningful career. Real money strategies, real talk, no guilt.
Teachers With Money: First In Class
First-Gen Millionaire on a Teacher Salary — with Davy Yap
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Davy Yap is a full-time middle school teacher in California. She's also on track to retire at 45 as a millionaire on a teacher's paycheck. As a teacher who got specific about money and made moves most teachers haven't been told they're allowed to make.
In this conversation, Davy walks through the actual plan: the high yield savings accounts that pay you 3-4% instead of 0.02%, the retirement accounts many teachers haven't opened, the earning streams she built outside the paycheck. And the mindset work that made all of it possible, including unlearning the “money is bad” wiring most of us absorbed without realizing.
This episode covers:
• Davy's path from default-saver to wealth-builder, and the specific moves teachers can copy
• High yield savings accounts (HYSA): what they are, why Chase and Bank of America are quietly costing you, where Davy keeps her money instead
• The reframe that lifts the entire ceiling: there's a cap to saving, no cap to earning
• Davy's three side income streams (focus groups, content + brand deals, digital products) and how she actually built each one, including the brand deal she landed at 4,000 followers and the one Instagram bio detail that unlocked it
• Money guilt for teachers who talk publicly about money: how Davy navigates the haters, the affirmations practice that rewired her thinking, and the book that started it all (Secrets of the Millionaire Mind by T. Harv Eker)
• Why being a great teacher and building wealth are not mutually exclusive
🍏 Millionaire Mind affirmations playlist (mentioned in this episode): Listen on Spotify
Connect with Davy:
🎧 Subscribe now for new episodes every Tuesday.
Come hang:
Instagram → @teacherswithmoney
Instagram (Christa) → @christajeanjones
LinkedIn → Christa Jones
Start your Teachers Pay Teachers store in 30 days → TPT Launch Lab
This podcast is for educational and entertainment purposes only and does not constitute financial advice.
Okay, you guys, I have been waiting to have this conversation. Davi is a full-time middle school teacher in California, a content creator, a financial coach, a first-generation Cambodian American, and she has built a sizable net worth on a teacher salary. She is on track to retire at 45 as a millionaire, and she's here today to tell us all about it. This is Teachers with Money First in Class. I'm Krista Jones, founder of the Teachers with Money movement. And this show is for the educator who is done accepting the story that financial struggle is the price of a meaningful career. Let's get into it. So welcome, Davi, to First in Class. Thank you so much.
SPEAKER_01I'm so excited to talk today. And I feel like we need to talk about money and the teaching profession in general.
SPEAKER_00Mm-hmm. Agreed. So Davy and I connected actually on Instagram and we became fast friends. And so I'm glad that we're having this conversation today for everyone to hear. So for anyone who hasn't found you yet on Instagram, who are you and what are you building?
SPEAKER_01So you introduced me a little bit, but my name is Davi, and I'm a first-gen Cambodian American, born and raised in Long Beach, California. And my parents had immigrated from Cambodia in the 90s from the Khmer Rouge, and we grew up really low income. There was 11 of us in a household, a three-bedroom house, and but it never felt poor. They've always nurtured me, took care of me, and I was very privileged that we had a lot of stability. I started doing really well in school, went down college route, got my teaching credential in history and social sciences, um, and then went back to my hometown in Long Beach and started teaching here as a middle school history teacher.
SPEAKER_00Amazing. So your family, like you said, came to the US from Cambodia, and your family has an extraordinary story. How did that background shape the way that you think about money now?
SPEAKER_01Yeah, so when they had left their country out of force, right? Political refugees, um, they taught me how to be very, very safe. Save money, don't take on debt, unless it's a mortgage. There's always an exception for a house, right? Like the American dream. So growing up, I saved and saved, and I hardly spent on myself. So while I feel like saving is a good like money foundation, it really had it was a hard time for me in my adulthood to spend money on fun things, or even a five-dollar hairbrush because I wanted one for home and one for travel. So even though they taught me a lot and how to be responsible, I felt like I had a lot of work to do in terms of building wealth and investing for myself.
SPEAKER_00Yeah. So you have talked about online that you grew up believing that money was bad. Um, I wonder if you can share more about where that came from, because I think a lot of teachers, consciously or subconsciously, do have that internalized belief, either that money is bad or that people with money are bad. So I'm curious if you want to if you could share where did that come from and then what cracked it open for you.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, I think that came from media, to be honest, and maybe the way I grew up. So my parents have modeled to me to live with little or below your means and not to be excessive or like flex, basically. So we hardly took any vacations. We bought gold to pass down to um down to generation to generation, but we never bought luxury cars or luxury clothing and lived very minimally. On top of that, I watched movies and TV shows that kind of bagged on rich people or kind of said that um that they're kind of evil because they have so much money, they hoard it, they exploit people. Well, that is true sometimes, but I feel like just general media has taught me that because nobody has explicitly said rich people are bad. I think these are like unspoken money scripts.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, I totally agree with the point about media. Like, how many movies are there where like it's the rich villain, you know, who's like ruining everything? And yeah, I mean, I think that it's something that I have had to work through too is an internal belief that I didn't even realize that I had of like, well, rich people are they're assholes. Yes. And I have really had to dismantle that. I think that money is a tool and you can choose what you're going to do with it, whether you have a little bit of it or if you have a lot of it, it's just a tool. It's a neutral thing in the world that we have decided has value in our society. And I don't think that it's inherently bad or that people that have money are inherently bad by any means. There's so much good that happens when good people have more money. And we know that teachers are pretty darn good people. So I want to see more teachers with more money. Yeah, I agree.
SPEAKER_01I think that all those movies with the rich insane, like billionaires and millionaires, have taken an effect, and I think also might just come from a place of resenting being poor. You know, I didn't really feel class conscious until high school, to be honest, because I told you earlier, like I I never felt poor until high school because I saw 16-year-olds driving BMWs and I was like, whoa, meanwhile, I didn't get a car until I was like 22.
SPEAKER_00Same. Maybe 21. Mm-hmm. Yep. Yeah, I relate to that a lot. Okay, so here's where I want to go next because I know my listeners and I know that right now a lot of people are thinking, okay, that's amazing for Davi, but my situation is different because I barely have anything left after rent. I haven't even looked at my retirement account. I don't want to touch that or open it or think about it. And so that's exactly why I wanted you here, because I have been one of those teachers before. And right now, you are a current classroom teacher. You're not somebody who left and is looking back. You're doing this right now on a teacher's salary in California, which is not a cheap state to live in. So I'd want to get really specific because you're so good at this, and also because the vague money advice is already everywhere. Like we were already hearing invest early, live below your means. Great, thanks. But what does that actually look like when you're a teacher?
SPEAKER_01Yes. So to give you some context, because I feel like context is really important. I am a dink, dual income, no kids with my partner right now. But really, I started saving really early on, as even before my teaching credential. So I I don't know if a lot of people would like to hear this, but it does take sacrifice. In college, I've always lived with roommates and saved money, whether like I would pay for my bills first and I would save a portion of my money into a savings account. And trying to be very specific, if any money is being left over, it needs to be saved in a high yield savings account. Meaning a traditional bank like Chase or Bank of America is gonna give you 0.02% on your dollar. So you're making pennies on your dollar. And inflation is eating away at that. So for example, if you have $100 today and you keep it at Chase or under your mattress, it's gonna be worth about $97 next year. A high yield savings account are typically online banks like Ally, SoFi, uh Marcus, and they actually give you a percentage or an inter interest for keeping your money in their bank. It's kind of like a reward. So for example, if a bank gives you like 3%, if you put a thousand dollars into a high yield savings account, at the end of the year, you would get $30 compared to like three cents. So that's the first step I took was remember, I was a saver, I didn't know how to invest yet. And then later, when I figured it out, I was questioning myself. Like, I I think a lot of people assume that social security and a pension will carry you to retirement, but unfortunately, it will not. A social security check on average is about a little bit over a thousand dollars a month. So when I saw that, I was like, how are the average American getting to retirement at 65, if not at all? So I totally sympathize with teachers because oftentimes we are underpaid, we don't get paid enough. But starting just with the habit of setting aside money into your savings is what you can do right now. So even if you don't have hundreds to save, you can save 10, 20, 50 bucks every two weeks or every month. And what's really great for teachers is there's a lot of credit unions that offer even a higher interest rate or APY, which is annual percentage yield. So for example, I'm from California. We have school's first credit union and they're offering six percent high yields savings account. So your $1,000 you might have saved could be $60, if not more, from compound interest when your money is making more money. So I think that's step one. Well, step two besides understanding your budget.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, I love that you brought up that you can start so small because I think that really when you're starting off, what is more important than the dollar amount is building the actual habit, right? Like I really like the book Atomic Habits by James Clear. Me too. He talks about what it takes to build a habit and breaking bad habits. And he talks about, he gives the example of going to the gym. And he says, if you want to build a habit of going to the gym, step one isn't going to the gym and doing a workout and going home and showering and this and that. Step one is actually just literally driving to the gym and sitting in the parking lot and not even going in. You need to prove to yourself that you can get up. You can wake up to your alarm early before your workday or whatever. You can drive to the parking lot. That's step one. And I think it's the same with investing that step one might be investing five dollars a month. And that's it. Just to build the habit and build the confidence and kind of figure out what are these different accounts, like to get your eyeballs on them and get your name on them and start building that habit of investing. And then later on, once you've built the habit, then you can go into the gym. You can start investing more money and putting more money into these accounts.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, absolutely. I read that book and I know exactly what you're talking about. Sometimes I'll go to the gym for 15 minutes and I'll go home and just call it a day. So, same thing with saving and investing. Recently I just got my friend Chloe to get on it. She's saving up for her wedding, and I think within five weeks, she's already made about $1,000 on D Scout.
SPEAKER_00Dang! Okay, I need to get on there.
SPEAKER_01That's incredible. Yeah, she's a go-getter though. Like she like graduated UCLA Yale. Like, so she like when she gets something, she runs with it. So that's what I'm saying. Is like the more you apply to, the higher your chances are of getting accepted and getting paid.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, so that sounds like something that I mean you could be watching Netflix and also applying to these at the same time.
SPEAKER_01Yes.
SPEAKER_00That is so interesting. So you actually offer a focus group starter kit. What is in it? And then who is it for?
SPEAKER_01Thank you. It's a shameless plug. I sell a focus group starter kit for $29.99, and I always disclaim like, you can literally get started without this focus group starter kit. Like those three websites I told you, you can just literally sign up and just get started. But this is for anybody who feels that they want to have extra income. Talking about early the issue with teachers, feel like we don't have enough money left over after we pay our bills. I always emphasize yes, it's great to save where you can, but there's a cap to saving. You can only save so much on food, groceries, bills, but there's no cap to earning. So this is for anybody who feels pinched and needs extra money for groceries or to live a little bit more freely. What's in it is a 15-minute video of me going over slides about water focus groups, where to find them, how to get paid, taxes, all the questions that people have about it. And then also the slides with over 45 vetted websites. So even though you can start on this for free, totally can, but I think what people pay for is saving time, right? And not having to scour the internet for all these, for all this information.
SPEAKER_00Exactly. I think that's so valuable and such an affordable price. And I think that that's really important for people to remember as they are starting different side hustles or businesses or things like that, that your time is your money. So to have such a vetted and valuable resource like that, I think is really cool. It's a win-win for everybody.
SPEAKER_01Thank you so much. And honestly, I tell people you can literally make your money or not more if you buy it, spend $30 and then get a hundred dollar an hour focus group. Like it just pays itself off and more. And I love that point. I think something going from scarcity mindset, like feeling very poor and like time poor, or willing to spend my time actually to save a couple of bucks. I've learned I've started to buy courses and digital products because I'm like, I value my time so much that I'm willing to pay $30 to potentially save 10 hours of my day. That was a big shift.
SPEAKER_00Yes, I have experienced that same shift. I think, like, for example, when I was starting my Teachers Pay Teacher store, I was piecing together a lot of different information, really great stuff. And I'm so grateful to those creators who had that information out there. But now that I'm further along my entrepreneurial journey and running now a second business and things like that, I spend more on coaching and courses than I ever have before. And it is totally worth it, 100%. So I have like a personal question because I'm honestly relatively new to the content creation space, being an online content creator. So I'm curious if you would share a little bit about your journey with that because I know that we have listeners who are online content creators or are aspiring content creators or have been telling themselves maybe someday I'll finally post on LinkedIn or Instagram or whatever. So can you tell me more about how did you start with content creation? What has your growth journey been like along the way?
SPEAKER_01I'm happy you asked because that was part of the income source I forgot to mention.
SPEAKER_00Yeah.
SPEAKER_01I started about three years ago in like December 2023. I actually have been wanting to do content forever. In middle school, girl, I used to like make songs like covers and like post it on YouTube and then delete it and then post it and just delete it. So this has been a dream since I was like 12. But I had COVID and I was so bored, and I thought, you know what? Let me call my spectrum bill and try to like lower my my costs. So I recorded that just for fun to inspire somebody else, and then I posted about my budget, and that video went viral. I think I got like hundreds and thousands of views, and I kept on doing it and got a million, and I was like, oh my god, it was very overwhelming. I got a lot of people who are supportive and happy for me, and I got a lot of haters who was like, She's lying, she's getting she's overpaid, she gets she only works six months out of the year, and like I was such a baby, like I cried, and I just felt like wow, like there's so many people who do not value teaching in that profession. Yeah, but you know what? I I got thick skin and I just kept posting because I felt like I was helping and I'm still helping like a several educators like learn how to read their paycheck. They're like, I don't even know how to read my pay stuff, and I started looking at it, or like I've helped my coworkers open their 403B and their Roth IRA and start contributing it to it in their 20s and their 30s. Um, and it's never too late, too, if you're older than that. It's really like we said, the habits. I've been doing this consistently now for two to three years, honestly. Get started. Like basically, I used to stop caring what other people thought. I was like, I'm gonna do this for me. Like I'm making content that I like to see. At the end of the day, it's really I'm doing it out of enjoyment. So I feel like if you do something out of joy, you don't lose, even if you get like 200 views. Like who cares? Now how I'm making money off of social media. I mean, I I definitely intended to make money. Don't get me wrong, like I'm not a saint, okay? Oh, yeah. But of course, contribute to the community. Thank you. Yeah. You'd be surprised. I got a brand deal with having about 4,000 followers. Yes, I won't say the name, but they were basically their service was trying to help you roll over your 401k or 401B. If you forgot it, lost it uh to another your current company. And I got I think $300. I was so hyped. Yeah, yeah, that's amazing. Thanks. And it was the crazy part was that I got that offer the day after I put my email in the link in my bio.
SPEAKER_00Okay, I keep hearing this. So yeah, that's important for people to clock. If you're a content creator, I have heard you need, and I don't have my email on my link in bio right now. I'm gonna literally do that after this call because I keep hearing from the other side of it from brands. They're like, Babes, we want to give you money, but we don't know how to reach out to you. And like most of this, I guess, happens over email. So yeah, that's really a good tip.
SPEAKER_01Yes, it was wild. Like I learned about it on a YouTube video, changed it, and then they reached out to me. From my understanding, a lot of these brands and agencies are on their laptops working, so they need to quickly and accessibly find your email and copy and paste it. So, yes. So started off with brand deals quite early, and then I've actually been negotiating for myself for the last two or three years, which is so fun. Because I feel like in teaching, you negotiate, but you don't quite get to negotiate your salary. I mean, you can in terms of but yeah, really, not really. So now I'm I'm making money also through affiliate links. So if somebody signs up to with my high yield savings account, I started the digital product, the focus group starter kit last summer. I was so scared. And you know what, Krista? I'd love to talk about this. I felt so guilty selling products. I'm like, I feel like a scammer or I feel like a salesperson, and same thing with affiliates. Have you felt that way too? I mean, you have actually how did I want to know how you overcame that? Because I'll tell you.
SPEAKER_00Oh man. Well, let me tell you how I overcame it. I'm still on the journey of overcoming it. Yeah, it's really hard because we, you know, as teachers, we are really conditioned to be servants. And like, truly, like the phrase servant leadership comes up a lot. Um, and and I do I always come back to this. I really believe that teaching is a calling, but I also think that we get conditioned to be exploited. And yep. Yeah, it's really hard. A lot of teachers have money blocks that they have to work through. A big thing for me has been just sitting with the feelings of discomfort of what it feels like to actually make money, a lot of journaling, a lot of meditation. Um, I've actually, I'm like not gonna gatekeep it all. I've done like um like hypnosis tracks and like subconscious reprogramming. I've gone really deep into this because the shame is so deep about the money guilt that teachers have. Now it does get a little, it's it's tough too, because it's like, okay, I'm talking the talk that teachers should be making money and not being afraid about that. And I want to walk that walk too for myself and for my family. It gets tricky though when it's like, okay, we're selling to teachers though, right? So we want to serve the community. I have a couple ways that I offer my resources to teachers. One is through my Teachers Pay Teachers store. And the other is I have a course called TPT Launch Lab for getting teachers to start their store. So the way that I navigate this is I'm I do make my prices as low as I can because I know that teachers need that. There is a barrier to entry for teachers who are buying things. I offer a lot of free resources, I offer a lot of free contents. It's the same as what you said with your focus group. For so much of what I offer, I have a free version of it. But sometimes it's the when somebody purchases something, for example, my TBT course, that's what gets them to actually start the store, is there's that extra level of accountability that comes with it. So, from the business perspective, because I know that we have listeners who are classroom teachers and are here for the retirement stuff, but we also have listeners who are starting or running businesses. So I'll share a little bit of perspective on my end from the business side of things. I am gonna be a low-ticket girly through and through forever. So, what that means is for those of you who are not in the entrepreneurial space, a low-ticket product is just any resource that is priced at a low price point. A high ticket product would be something that is priced at a high price point. Now, depending on your industry that you're in, high ticket can mean different things. You know, if if I were selling to like CEOs, high ticket would mean one price point. In education, high ticket might mean a different thing. But from the business perspective, I keep my products at a low price. But what that means for me is that I need to have high volume if I'm gonna actually make money on these things. Um, so high volume, low ticket, that's the way that I roll. That's how I'm that's how I'm making money in the space. But the other part of it, and I'll share this, I'm I'm kind of building in public. Yes, you are. And it's hard and it's a little cringy. So I'll just share with everybody. My intention, though, is to get brand deals. So as I grow this podcast, I want teachers to have free resources or very low price resources, and I want the brands to be paying me. I want to get a sponsorship from SoFi. I want SoFi to sponsor this podcast and they can fill up my wallet while I'm offering free and very low price services to teachers.
SPEAKER_01That's amazing. I love that you're always thinking community first, because you're right, a high-ticket item, like $9.97, can be good for like a corporation or people who are software engineers. But then when it comes to teachers, especially the average teacher salaries, like that could be perhaps $197 or maybe even $147, you know? So I love that. That I and I honestly keep going with your podcast because there's I think in California, there's like 200,000 teachers alone, like just a one state. So imagine like all nationwide and also across countries. And then eventually I cannot wait for your first sponsored podcast episode.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, I'm excited. And I hope that like with everything I'm doing, the reason why I'm pulling back the curtain on all of this is because I want to be an expander for other teachers. I know that there's somebody listening right now who's been thinking about having a podcast of their own. And actually, I'm so glad you brought the example up about when you were a little, when you were younger and you were like filming videos and then deleting them and filming and then deleting them. I uh I've heard before that like if you grew up like daydreaming about being interviewed on a podcast or like creating content or things like that, I have heard in a nice way that's actually not normal. And like I say normal as like an intention attention grabbing word. Right. But what I really mean is if you have been growing up with that daydream, like I grew up imagining having a podcast, even though podcasts didn't really exist then, but like being on a talk show exactly. I've come to have a voice for it.
SPEAKER_01I'm sure you've heard of that several times, but I actually have been hearing that.
SPEAKER_00So I appreciate that. So yeah, I like grew up imagining being imagining being on a talk show or whatever. And what I've heard is if you are somebody who is daydreaming about those things, it's because you have it in your heart that you should be actually doing those things in real life. And if you haven't yet, maybe it's time to think about like what is stopping you? What are your internal fears of being seen, or what other blocks are in your way right now? Because this might be your sign that you should actually start your podcast or you should actually open up your camera and post your first Instagram video.
SPEAKER_01Oh my gosh, that's so funny because that's so true. You know, I told you I started like three years ago. Months prior to that, every single day I thought, make a video. Let's do it. I really want to make a video right now. And it would not go away. So yeah, I think that's there's this internal dialogue and desire we've had since we were kids. Like I've always wanted to be a pop star, to be honest. Yes!
SPEAKER_00Well, we should start a girl group then. It's not too late. It's not okay, so much good stuff. And thank you for being so transparent about things. I really appreciate that. And I know the listeners really appreciate that. Now, I do want to pull back for a second, and we've talked a little bit about mindset here, but we've been talking a lot about strategy. So we were talking about numbers, accounts, side hustles, and all of that really matters. But I also know that for a lot of teachers listening, the barrier or the biggest barrier actually isn't information, it's that permission piece that we were kind of digging into. So, like I said, teachers are conditioned to give and sacrifice and put everyone else first. And when you start building wealth, or especially talking about money publicly the way that you do, when you're first starting off, that can feel wrong. Like we're breaking some sort of unspoken rule. So I want to talk more about that because I think that you've lived it. Have you ever felt guilty about building wealth while you're still a teacher? Well, absolutely.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, I definitely think that. And sometimes I even struggle too with a perception because a lot of comments I get are like, oh, like you're a teacher, you must not care about your students, as if being a great teacher and building wealth are mutually exclusive. But honestly, I'm an Aquarius, so I'm kind of rebellious by nature. Over time, I did not care. I was like, I don't care what you think, you're not paying my bills, like you do not know me. Like, if you saw me teach, you'd be very happy. Like, I'm gonna toot my own horn because I feel like women don't do this enough, but I'm a good teacher. Like I have people observing me because they've heard about me through the district, so I do not care. I love that. Yes, yes, keep going. Yes, so for me, it's like I am absolutely publicly sharing my salary, but I'm just really proud of that. And honestly, I started sharing about my salary because I saw other women like me do that online. Some people who I look up to are Rose Han. She's a Korean American investor. And when I saw her, like I'm Asian, she's Asian, I thought, oh my god, like this feels really this feels more achievable when you see people who look like you or who are in a profession like you making wealth for themselves and their and for their family. And I got over that roadblock of that quote unquote money is evil. It's a tool, it's really a neutral object. It's people who are evil or people who are very kind, right? So just being really rational and being logical and just overriding all these guilty thoughts really helped me. So yeah, I do still deal with the guilt, but really more so of like perception, right? Because I'm such a people pleaser. I know down in my heart that I'm a good person, I'm a good community member, a teacher, and I'm I'm building wealth at the same time. So I think only in moments of weakness and insecurity do I start feeling guilty again.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, I feel that too. I totally relate to that. And there's a reason why I'm calling this ecosystem teachers with money. Because it is like, it's almost a little bit uncomfortable to just call it that. And why? Why is that an oxymoron? Why do those three words feel so uncomfy together? I really want to change that for us internally as teachers, but also for the world, world's perception. This should not be so weird that teachers are talking about making money. Absolutely.
SPEAKER_01And that like we're not selfish for doing that. And actually, there's a study that shows a lot of self-made millionaires are teachers because of how disciplined we are, and I'm sure for other factors, we can fact check that later, but I hear that a lot. Yeah, I've heard that too. Yeah. I also want to share about the mindset, like something like very practical. You know how you would do hypnosis and stuff? I was too. So well, oh we need to talk more then. Yeah, one book I really recommend everybody listen to. They are trying to get over the guilt of wanting to make money. What book really transformed my mindset is Secrets of the Millionaire Mind by T. Harve Ecker. I think after every chapter, he gives like these affirmations like, all right, repeat it after me. I am deserving of wealth. I'm gonna be a millionaire. And it feels so wrong and cringe to say it, but over time, like, yeah, I'm rich. I deserve wealth. And then you you really start to believe it the more you repeat it.
SPEAKER_00Yes, okay, so that book is on my bookshelf. I haven't read it yet, but it's on my list. However, I have I listen to affirmations a lot, a lot of different types of affirmations. And one, I'll put it in the show notes. The affirmations are based on that book. And like the person, the creator says, These affirmations are based on the book. So that's why I bought this book. And that's exactly right. Like the first time I listened to it, I was like, Well, I'm not a millionaire and I'm not this and I'm not that. And now I listen to it and like it feels natural to hear it. Like, I I am not a millionaire yet, but I know I'm going to be. I'm gonna make it happen. Yes. My affirmations every morning are telling me I'm going to make it happen.
SPEAKER_01Yeah. And then a lot of it is psychology. If you believe it's gonna be true, like you will take the actions and you will get there. I love I was a psychology major. I love the science behind the brain. Yes.
SPEAKER_00Okay, that is so, so interesting. And I love hearing that perspective from somebody with a psych major. That's such a great recommendation.
SPEAKER_01Thank you.
SPEAKER_00So I just have a couple more questions. One is so you are a full-time teacher and you're building a brand, and you you have your digital product. I'm curious, how do you sustain all of this without burning out? Or have you ever burnt out and what did that look like?
SPEAKER_01That's a great question. I don't think I fully burnt out, like took weeks and months off of work. To me, I definitely take all my days off. I use all my PTO, I use all my sick leave. And I think that's another thing that teachers are guilty about too is taking time off. But they're there for a reason. So that's how I sustain myself through grad school, full working full-time, content creation, and building a course. I take more days off than I have as well, which is kind of bad. Well, hmm, why did I say that? So it's like guilty. I know.
SPEAKER_00I feel guilty again. Yeah, I know. It's funny. We feel well, I I feel like, and I'm hearing that I'm seeing this happen with you right now. It's like we work through so many of these blocks, and then still I'll have something come up, or I'll say something or do something. And I'm like, hold on, let me let me rewind that real quick. However, I think that that like the fact that we are aware of those things is so important. Like we're aware, we see those blocks, we see those habits or past habits come back up and resurface. Whereas the version of me from just a few years ago, I wouldn't have even noticed that I was saying or doing something that was actually kind of problematic.
SPEAKER_01Absolutely. So yeah, I'm it's definitely a work in progress. Um, so for me though, how I handle it all, it definitely takes sacrifice. I I try not to sacrifice my sleep at all. I think it's just way too important cognitively, and like we need to rest. But I am working on Saturdays and Sundays, like I'm working seven days a week. And it sounds like I'm a workaholic, and probably to a certain degree. But what I mean by that, and this is how I sustain myself through grad school, is I would, for example, work like four hours in the morning Saturday and Sunday, and then I have something to look forward to, like dinner with friends or a concert. So that way I'm like I I get so much done too, like with a block of time. To clarify, I'm not working 24-7. I think I'm really good at setting a blank a block of time, like four to five hours in the morning, getting all the stuff I need to get done and enjoying the rest of the day. Because I have had moments where I have burnt out, like in terms of like I think this week, to be honest, I've been sleeping at 9 30 p.m. And last night I just slept at 7 30 p.m. and woke up around 6 30. But it is almost May, and it's almost the end of the school year. So I guess for me, I kind of listen to my body. It's not, I don't, I'm not a robot where it's like Monday, I am batch scripting and Tuesday I'm batch recording. Really, just some weeks I don't post for an entire week or post for two weeks, and then like darn it, I have to get back to it. So I will say it ebb and flows. I do sacrifice time and I try not to sacrifice sleep.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, that's really important. And I also really appreciate you sharing that it does require sacrifice because I have a personal thing where I get triggered when people, when I hear things like, oh, it must be nice, or that must have been easy for her. And I always want to be like, no, hold on, hold on. I wish you could see the hours and hours I have spent doing this or doing that, and the hard work and the sacrifice that it takes to achieve our dreams or our goals. It's not going to just happen by continuing the same thing that we've always been doing. We have to do something different in order to get a different result. And sometimes that does require sacrifice and it requires Saturday mornings. For me, I'm in a season where I have been sacrificing my sleep because I have a young child, I have a four-year-old. And so, I mean, we're recording this podcast right now after bedtime. And I'm I'm glad to be doing it, but that's just the reality of the season that I'm in. And I think that's another thing I try to remind people is just because you might be in a hustle season right now doesn't mean that you have to be in a hustle season forever or every week. But there are seasons that are going to require sacrifice if you want to get big results. Absolutely.
SPEAKER_01I love how you explain the nuance of it because the last thing you want to do is lie and say, I have it all planned out. I batch everything, and I I really don't. It's the month of May, I am not hanging out with friends on Saturdays, and that sounds really wild, but that's what I need to do in order to achieve my goals for national boards. So I forgot to mention I am trying to get my national board certification while doing content while teaching the last month and a half of school. So why am I wired like this? I don't know. But I think I just know it'll be worth it for my future. Like if I want to have a family, I want to take care of my parents. I'm willing to do that work. And honestly, like I do enjoy watching TV, going on walks and all that. But I think I just love building something and I think I get so much satisfaction of seeing progress as well.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, yeah, I love that. And you are doing so much for the educational community. You have helped so many teachers and inspired so many teachers. I hope that this is the thing that finally gets one person to open their retirement account or one person to start creating content or whatever it is that they want to do. Um, I just appreciate how much you're doing for this community and how much you're sharing of yourself and about yourself.
SPEAKER_01I think the same too. Like when I saw your account, I was like, oh my gosh, I feel like she's reading my mind. Like, I cannot wait for your page to take off. And these are the conversations like I have with myself in my head. So I feel less alone with you in our community and supporting us as well.
SPEAKER_00Thank you so much. That means so much to me. Um, okay, so what do you want teachers to walk away from this conversation, believing that maybe they didn't believe before they pressed play on this episode?
SPEAKER_01I want teachers to know that they are so multifaceted that putting yourself first does not mean you're selfish, that I want you to take calculated risks, whether it's investing $5, even though you have just a little bit of investing knowledge. And or if your dream is to start social media or a podcast, that you do it. Because I think our thoughts in our head, the ones that keep coming back, are guiding us to something really awesome.
SPEAKER_00Yes, and we are here to cheer you on as well. So, one last thing before we wrap up, this is very important. Where can our listeners find you and follow you?
SPEAKER_01I'm mostly active on Instagram. It's my name, Davy.yop. So d-a-v-y. I'm also on TikTok and Substack as well.
SPEAKER_00Great, and we will put those links in the show notes so you all can connect with Davi and follow her. She is an amazing follow and has been a great friend to me, newly in this space. Davi, thank you so much for being here. This conversation is exactly why I started this show. If what Davi shared today sparked something for you, write it down before you do anything else. Maybe it's the 457B thing or opening a high yield savings account or starting a focus group. Pick one, just one, and look it up this week and get started. And if this episode was useful to you, please share it with one teacher. Text it to them right now. You know the one. I'm Krista Jones, this is First in Class. Thanks for being here today. I'm Krista Jones, this is First in Class. If you got something from today's episode, send it to a teacher friend. Quick note I'm not a financial planner and I'm not your financial planner. Always do your own research and talk to a professional before making money loss. See you next week.
