If anyone is creating her own path, it’s Shauntavia Johnson. She started out teaching math and has built up a full-time income through tutoring and the sales of her crafts. Shauntavia is the owner of Chic Customs, a business she started while still teaching. She took a break from crafting her stylish and colorful earring products to share with me about her inspiring journey from teaching.
Hi, Shauntavia! Can you briefly describe your educational career?
I have been teaching math overall for 15 years. I started while in undergrad tutoring College Algebra and Trigonometry for the Math Department at Francis Marion University and working with students in grades 2nd and up at Mathnasium Tutoring Center. After graduating undergrad, I taught in the public classroom for 9 of those years in high school. I have taught every math course, Algebra 1 and 2, Geometry and Probability & Statistics.
That’s great– teaching high school is no joke. (And math, at that!) What do you do to pay the bills nowadays?
For income now, I manage two small businesses, Chic Customs and ULearn Math Tutoring. Chic Customs is my handmade crafts shop and services, where I create customs gifts and decor. My current list is clay earrings, custom coasters, print designs, personalized and custom shirts, balloon decor and acrylic signs. I sell my items on my website for Chic Customs.
ULearn Math Tutoring is my private tutoring service, where I assist students one-on-one at the local library from schools in my area. This year, I will start creating new resources for my Teachers Pay Teachers shop.
(Shauntavia estimated that roughly three quarters of her income came from Chic Customs sales with the other 25 percent from her tutoring services.)
I think you’ve nailed it as far as navigating a notoriously hard transition out of classroom teaching. Tutoring especially is my top recommendation for educators looking to branch out– it’s such a good in-between option.
What motivated you to start your craft business?
I have always had the dream of making income from creating crafts for gifts and special moments. I have always been the DIY and crafty type, but I got the real push the summer after my 5th year of teaching. Every year since I could get a job, I worked a summer job. While teaching, my summer job was summer school, I decided that particular summer that I was ready to do my own thing. I had been making crafts and gifts for my first apartment and friends so I decided to make some for my childhood churches and the business kept growing.
Shauntavia’s transition from the classroom to the business world
Beautiful. Though we’ve trimmed your hustle down to just one paragraph, it’s motivating to see how you created your own business.
Let’s zoom in on some of the finer details of your journey: How did you make it work while you were getting the business up and running AND teaching at the same time?
Running my business while teaching was difficult, but creating was my outlet and mental break from my daily work. I grew up always having something to do outside of school, so I was always in go-mode with something to do. Whether it was an event for school, something to do for church, attend a family function or go to work. I didn’t really have a system at first because it was something I did on the side when I had free time or someone requested a custom order.
I can totally relate to being on “go-mode” for a while. You’ve made that drive and ambition work for you!
This was all the result of years of hard work. Can you give us a bird’s eye view of the timeline of events?
Well for my timeline, I started teaching in public schools in 2013 immediately after graduating from undergrad. I finished my Masters in the Spring of 2018 and by the end of that school year, I was burnt out. I was ready for some change. I decided I didn’t want to make my summer income from working summer school, so I started accepting orders for Chic Custom Coasters, now Chic Customs.
I initially started my business with making custom coasters, where I would create a design on Canva or use old pictures to add to ceramic tiles. I realized I wanted to make various items, so I would just go on Youtube and watch crafting videos or find something on Pinterest and just give it a shot. I like to create without directions and see what I can do before following someone’s designs and instructions.
In early 2019, my sister-in-law had to deliver some sweets for a friend’s baby shower and I just went to help out where I could. Well, the person who was supposed to be making the balloon garland or purchased it wasn’t sure of what to do, so I stepped in and hopped on Youtube and made my first garland.
It turned out so beautiful and everyone said, “You need to keep this service!” So I kept watching videos. I practiced by creating garlands for the holiday events at church, a family member’s birthday or my current school had an event. I was excited when my school was willing to support me. So I just kept creating when I had the chance.
Fall of 2019, I continued watching Youtube videos and I came across a video about clay earrings. I took a trip to Michaels and A.C. Moore and gave it a try. That became a consistent mental break for me from teaching and while balloon and custom orders were slow. I practiced and created styles to wear to work and match with outfits. In the midst of this, I was also planning my wedding and creating a few things for that. I decided that I wanted to make earrings for myself, my bridesmaids and women of honor for my wedding.
Then the lovely pandemic started and paused everything so I was home either on zoom calls for school or making crafts. This gave me a chance to grow my Etsy shop and realize I was going to be able to make my dream a reality. I was extremely nervous about leaving teaching and making my full income on my own, so I found a position outside of the classroom as a Testing Coordinator.
I did that for a year. Unfortunately the admin staff wasn’t supportive and didn’t seem to care as much for the testing that needed to take place– everything was on me, and it was too much. This position made me realize that I could run my businesses full time. It would take discipline and dedication. So I did a lot of praying, talked to others in the district about how to be a vendor for the school district for events and focused on being sure I had some things in place before the school year was over.
Fast forward to fall 2022, I received my last check for teaching and I used my savings and tutoring income to hold me for a year. This helped me build my client list, and I became the “crafty friend.” I started making different crafts and displaying them via social media or simply leaving my business info attached to any displayed products or decor. People would reach out and ask me to make something, I got on Youtube and gave it a try, it was a success, I accepted more requests. My husband wanted a Cricut and heat press. I learned how to use those tools and added custom shirts and acrylic signs to my list.
Now, I attend local pop-up markets throughout the year to bring attention to my brand and let people know I’ve got them for whatever crafts you need.
That’s an incredible journey– look how far you’ve come! So, to summarize:
2013 Shauntavia started teaching mathematics in public school classrooms
2018 Instead of teaching summer school, Shauntavia started taking orders for Chic Customs
2019 Surprise baby shower garland job! Shauntavia learned more skills and widened her product offerings
2021 She started a job as a testing coordinator while continuing to grow Chic Customs
2022 Shauntavia quit as a testing coordinator and went all-in on her businesses
The future of this former teacher’s small business
What do you expect your career future to look like?
I expect to have a craft space to host workshops to allow people to create pieces. I hope to be a craft resource for other creatives in the future and allow my brand to grow into retail store fronts.
This is such a great vision for the business! I’m so rooting for you.
What would you say to educators who feel a strong sense that they need to reach for more and possibly leave teaching?
It will be extremely hard, but don’t let the outsiders stop you. You can keep your certification and return if you need to, but don’t give up on what you want to do. Even when you don’t believe in yourself, keep going, those moments will happen. Traffic can be slow, that’s okay, you now have time to do something you enjoy. Go get lunch with friends or family outside of teaching. Slow traffic gives you a chance to work on something for your business or take a break. Enjoy the sun that you couldn’t enjoy while teaching. Just go for it. There’s so many ways to make an income and do what you want. Live your life and enjoy the journey!
I agree with everything you just said! You’re living proof of this. Thanks so much for sharing your story on here, as I hope to keep connecting with teachers who have left the classroom for other income opportunities. Keep us updated!
To find Shauntavia and her creations, check out her shop site or connect on Instagram, Facebook and TikTok. For ULearn Math Tutoring, you can find math resources on her Teachers Pay Teachers shop and on Instagram, Facebook & TikTok at @_ulearnmath843.
