Educator Forever

Hosted by Lily Jones, Teacher Advocate

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Episodes

203

Latest episode

Oct 2026

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About the show

There’s a lot that needs to change in education. But there are inspiring movements going on too! At Educator Forever, we believe teachers need to be at the forefront of education reform and be empowered to create career pathways that work for them. Do you ever think about leaving the classroom but have absolutely no idea what else you could do? You may not realize it yet, but you have acquired highly valuable skills throughout your teaching journey, and there is unlimited potential for you to use them. Tune in each week to hear about career opportunities that will help you achieve the income, impact, and freedom you’ve always dreamed of. The best part? You can do all of this without having to leave the world of education entirely. In addition to showing you the many ways you can expand your impact beyond the classroom, we’ll introduce you to inspiring leaders in education. Want to learn about new research? Looking to get familiar with innovative approaches to teaching and learning? We’ve got you covered. Your host, Lily Jones, is a former kindergarten and first-grade teacher who transitioned out of the classroom to work in curriculum design, writing content for ed tech companies and even launching her own educational product-based business. After quadrupling her teaching income, she realized she could help other teachers do the same. Now Lily runs Educator Forever, where she empowers teachers to expand their impact beyond the classroom, and Educator Forever Agency, where she works with a team of educators to create inspiring curricula. For more helpful resources, head to www.educatorforever.com.

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60 recent

October 21, 202629 min

202. Building the Nation’s Largest Free Music Education Program with Sammy Gonzalez Zeira of Young Musicians Unite

Sammy Gonzalez Zeira is the Founder and CEO of Young Musicians Unite, the nation’s largest provider of free music education. Since founding YMU in 2013, Sammy has grown the organization to serve 21,166 students weekly across 131 partnering schools in Miami-Dade County, reaching more than 71,400 students to date. He has also personally raised more than $35 million for music education and continues to lead YMU’s mission of transforming lives and communities through music. In this episode, Sammy gets into how teaching guitar and his love for his music teachers led him to start YMU. He also breaks down all the services YMU provides and gives some great tips on how to be a successful fundraiser. For all links and resources mentioned in this episode, head to the show notes: https://www.educatorforever.com/episode202 .

October 14, 202629 min

201. Creating Resources for Teachers with Paul McKee of FreeWorksheets.com

Paul McKee is a former K-12 teacher turned education entrepreneur who has spent more than 20 years building and growing online education businesses. He is the founder of FreeWorksheets.com , a free resource platform created to help teachers, parents, and homeschoolers access classroom materials without memberships or paywalls. Along the way, Paul has worked extensively in SEO, digital publishing, and ad tech, while remaining closely connected to education. In this episode, Paul and I discuss how his history in the tech world led to him starting his Free Worksheets business and what’s he’s learned about entrepreneurship over the years. He’s got some great advice about running a business so tune in! For all links and resources mentioned in this episode, head to the show notes: https://www.educatorforever.com/episode201 .

October 8, 202622 min

200. What 200 Conversations Taught Me About Learning

Hi everyone, welcome back to Educator Forever. Episode 200. Wow! 200 episodes. It’s been such a pleasure hosting this show over the past four years. Today I'm doing something different — no guests . Instead, I want to talk about a framework I've been developing for a long time, one I built out of my own experience as a teacher, a curriculum designer, and now someone getting a doctorate in learning design. It's eight ideas about how learning actually happens: finding your truth, envisioning possibilities, imperfect action, confronting perfectionism and shame, developing agency, co-creating learning, being fully you, and reflecting and repeating. For all links and resources mentioned in this episode, head to the show notes: https://www.educatorforever.com/episode200 .

September 9, 202610 min

199. What Actually Makes Teachers Successful Beyond the Classroom?

If I asked you to name the skills that make teachers successful outside of the classroom, you might say something like communication, or curriculum design, or organization, and those are real. We learn so many transferable skills as classroom teachers, but after working with tens of thousands of teachers who have successfully transitioned to expand their impact beyond the classroom. I've been thinking about what actually made the difference for them, and it's almost always not just a skill on the resume. It's really a behavior, a way of being, a way of moving through uncertainty. And so today we're not doing another teacher skills employers one episode. We're doing the one that nobody really explicitly asked for, but I think we all want, which is what do the people who actually make this transition successfully do differently? For all links and resources mentioned in this episode, head to the show notes: https://www.educatorforever.com/episode199 .

August 26, 202628 min

198. Building a Business Around How People Learn with Alex Mozes of Gravity Learning

Alex Mozes is the CEO of Gravity Learning, a workforce development company using cognitive science to help managers actually change how they lead. Before Gravity, Alex founded Sheprd.io , a fractional operations consultancy helping companies solve scaling challenges from early‑stage through IPO. Nowadays he brings that same obsession with real‑world impact to Gravity Learning—building programs HR and L&D leaders can finally measure. Alex and I talk about his journey from tech to the world of education and his mission to democratize it. We also talk about the importance of interactive learning and issues created by corporate environments. For all links and resources mentioned in this episode, head to the show notes: https://www.educatorforever.com/episode198 .

August 19, 202623 min

197. From Teacher to Web Designer with Jenelle Rawlins

Jenelle Rawlins is the founder of Janelle Marie Web Design and Branding. She helps service businesses who have outgrown their current website and want to work with more premium clients. She specializes in custom logo design and website makeovers so that her clients have the confidence, authority and messaging. In our discussion, we talk about how Janelle taught for 16 years before getting into web design. Then she gets deep into her work, from how she learned to do it to the aspects of website design that folks might not know. If you need a website for your new business, you’ll want to tune in. For all links and resources mentioned in this episode, head to the show notes: https://www.educatorforever.com/episode197 .

August 12, 202611 min

196. Career Change Tips for Teachers

There comes a moment for many teachers in their careers when the classroom no longer feels like the right fit. It can show up as burnout or exhaustion. Or it might be a curiosity or feeling that there’s something else out there for you. If you’re a teacher considering a career change, you’re likely wondering what’s next. The great news is you don’t have to leave your passion for education behind. In this podcast, I break down how to make a successful career change for teachers (or former teachers), so you can navigate your next step with clarity and confidence. For all links and resources mentioned in this episode, head to the show notes: https://www.educatorforever.com/episode196 .

July 29, 202635 min

195. Nervous System Literacy with Monica Rollins of Rooted: A Wellness Collective

Monica Rollins is the founder and CEO of Rooted, a wellness collective. She partners with preschool programs to give teachers what traditional SEL training misses: practical nervous system literacy, trauma-informed yoga and mindfulness practices, and the co-regulation skills needed to lead calm, connected classrooms. Her approach is grounded in brain science, honors cultural responsiveness and centers the belief that regulation, not behavior management, is the foundation of social emotional learning. In this episode, Monica tells me about how her work in early childhood education, emphasizing the importance of nervous system literacy. We dive deep into the importance of regulation and of course we get into starting a new business! For all links and resources mentioned in this episode, head to the show notes: https://www.educatorforever.com/episode195 .

July 22, 202624 min

194. Scaling a Business and Building a Personal Brand with Luba Patlakh of Kidology

Luba Patlakh is a speech and language pathologist, myofunctional therapist, and founder of Kidology. She's also an entrepreneur, podcast host, and children's book author. Luba has expanded her mission beyond one-on-one services through education, content creation, and community building. She is the host of the Growth Lab podcast, author of the children's book Bobo Wears a bow tie and creator of the Confident IEP Parent, an ebook to help parents navigate the IEP process with greater confidence and clarity. In our discussion, Luba and I talk about her busy life, going from broadcast journalism to entrepreneurship and founding Kidology. She gets into the importance of one’s communication skills when working with children and the difficulties of being an entrepreneur. If you’re thinking about starting your own brand, you need to tune into this episode. For all links and resources mentioned in this episode, head to the show notes: https://www.educatorforever.com/episode194 .

July 15, 202625 min

193. Empowering Kids Through Art with Chinon Maria of Art World Explorer Kids

Chinon Maria is an artist, educator, and founder of Art World Explorer Kids. For the past 15 years, she has dedicated her work to empowering and teaching children across the globe about the power of art. In this episode, Chinon tells Lily how became such a major part of her life and educator journey. She also discusses how she balances her successful art career while being an educator. For all links and resources mentioned in this episode, head to the show notes: https://www.educatorforever.com/episode193 .

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