The Wise Why

Kirsty van den Bulk : Hello and welcome to the Wise White. I am joined by now. Interestingly enough, I’ve known Zoe for a very long time, but I’ve never asked her how to pronounce her surname. As everyone knows, being dyslexic and dyslexic, I get things wrong. But I’m joined by Zoe Morale, and she can tell me if I’m wrong in a minute, who spent 24 years as a teacher. And then left teaching, worked another 2 years of supply teaching, and then really took the brave step, Fought on those brave fans and launched a business.So as usual, the show is not about me. It is about my guest. Zoe, please introduce yourself.

Zoe Morrall : Hi. Thank you very much, Kirsty. Yes. You did say my my surname correctly. I’d like morale is, it’s it’s hard.It’s hard. My my I I used to have a double barrelled name before I got married. So when I had a didn’t have a double barrelled name, I was like, yes. I’ve got a single name. It’s Brilliant.But I even I find it quite, you know, morale morale. You know, it’s it’s hard. But yes. Thank you very much For a lovely introduction, I did teach for 24 years in a lovely, lovely school. I was, 3 schools in 24 years, And I taught key stage 2, 7 to 11 year olds, and I kinda landed myself in the computing curriculum Purely by accident. I’m actually geography trained with science and maths when I did my degree at university. Because I was the youngest there when I joined, the school, I took interest in the computer. I was like, oh, what’s this new tech? And then, yeah, the the computer leaving on maternity leave, And they said, Zoe, do you wanna do it? Oh my goodness. And that was, I think, the first step into That mindset of, I don’t know what I’m doing, but, hey. I’m gonna learn it. And that has stuck with me all the way through leading computing. And through my career, I did actually try to jump out of computing quite a few times, but the school didn’t have anybody else, and I couldn’t give it To somebody who knew less than me for the benefit of the children and the staff. So I just carried on being the lead of computing. Yes. So that’s.

Kirsty van den Bulk : Yeah. And I love that.

Zoe Morrall : That’s how my career started and ended.

Kirsty van den Bulk : Yeah. And I absolutely love it because that’s where, I mean, that’s where we first started talking was about Tech and our love of tech because I come from the tech world and we had this because not many a lot of people get scared, particularly women, who get really scared as soon as they see something technical. You know, we’re we’re all a small business owner’s desk. We’re trying to be compliant with Google and all the changes, And it’s overwhelming, but you cut through that noise, don’t you?

Zoe Morrall : I do. I I see it as Look, probably like a lot of other people. Oh my goodness. There’s a change. What does that mean? But once I’m I’m inside that program and I give it time. I can I I can just figure it out? I don’t know what it I think the mindset of teaching computing and having Teachers coming and say, oh, I’ve got a problem here. I’ve got a problem there. And I’m thinking in my head, I don’t know what to do. But the minute I seem to be inside a program, I can logically work out the next steps to make it work. Sometimes it takes, you know, quite a while, but I can usually get there. I can usually work out. And that does come from teaching. And there was a program called Scratch, which if you’re a teacher, junior school teacher, you’re like, oh, Scratch. I had this thing with Scratch. Like, People ask me how to use it, or they’ve got a problem. It’s an animation program, and you you build a flow of instructions and something moves. So you have to have that flow right. Yeah, I could just seem to work out all these problems. It and in my lessons, I mean, we’re talking 11 year olds who Actually get quite technical and could be quite clever. So the mindset of I can do this has developed throughout my career. Definitely. In in the terms of tech anyway. Yeah.

Kirsty van den Bulk : And and it’s inspiring because 24 years as a teacher And then you go into supply and now you’re running your own business. Could you just talk through that leap? Because quite a big decision to leave, you know, to to leave or to have life after teaching.

Zoe Morrall : Yeah. It was a big decision, and I left not knowing I was gonna leave. So I left in Taber, I hit overwhelm, was crying in my friend’s cupboard, going, I don’t think I want to be here anymore, and I’ve got to stay until December. Because I’ve been in that school for years years, the head teacher was absolutely lovely, was a bit shocked, wanted to support me until December. I went, No. I I just want to leave. And within, like, a week, he’d organized, you know, a few interviews to get a teacher to cover the class. I I said I’ll definitely stay there until that class had a teacher that was gonna follow through the whole year. I wasn’t just gonna leave. My heart were in children, honestly. They were lovely class, but for me, I wanted to be a mom, and I just want to sleep. I didn’t know what I was gonna do. I had no idea. But what I did know is what I wanted in my life. I knew what I needed my next Step to align to, and that was to be a month to be able to take my children to school, to be able to pick them up, to have children after school for tea, Taken to brownies and ballet and whatever. I wanted that type of freedom for my family, and I wanted to work on my computer. And that’s all I really knew. I didn’t know what I was going to do. It evolved into I decided to do something for me. And I thought, whatever I do, I want to enjoy it. So being computer again, I I got myself an iPad. I didn’t know I had an iPad. 2020 9/9/2019. I didn’t have an iPad. So I got myself an iPad, and I wanted to learn digital drawing. And a friend told me about Procreate. So I I got my iPad, I got my nice pen, got the app, and I started digital drawing. I Did that for a whole year. Every evening, I learned the ins and outs of Procreate. And so I was beginning to do online courses, and then tech pixies turned up. And I did the social media in 2020, Became certified in social media. To be honest, I thought, I didn’t know if I want to do this, but I think it was imposter It’s a syndrome. I wasn’t good enough. I didn’t know about other industries. I didn’t know about online business, particularly. I then opened up with my digital drawings. I opened up Shopify store, Redbubble store, Etsy store. And I was playing with tech, basically. It wasn’t my solution to working from home. But I wanted to learn. I wanted to I’d heard about these things, and I wanted to know how it was done. And then So from doing the social media, I was actually out at a playground with a friend, and she had a friend. And I was talking to her, and she was talking about TEDx talks and all this. I thought you are really interesting. She’s, what is it you want to do? I said, I just wanna gather teachers around And support them. I said, I don’t know how to do it. I have no idea. I said and I was toying with the idea of starting a Facebook group. And so I just she said, why don’t you? And I thought, yeah. I was scared, really. Despite doing the whole social media certification, I was scared. And I thought, yeah. So I took that leap. I took that leap, and I started Thrive After Teaching Facebook group. That was the name I started It with, that’s the name that stuck, Thrive After Teaching, and it all evolved from there. So from having my Facebook group, I thought I don’t know how to talk People, obviously, I too, being a teacher, but I didn’t know how to really help in the way of coaching. So I then did Coaching certification. Through that, I I learned how to coach, obviously, And I have set up my own website. I’m thinking, oh, bit of tech. Bit of tech. Let’s learn a bit new tech. Very exciting. But then at the back of my mind, I was, for a long time, thinking this is what I I actually really am happy doing. Rather than coaching, I thought I can’t my I for my personal energy, I’m very introverted. I like having conversations with people, but it does exhaust me. And I, I love being on my computer and Website design lits me up through and through. So I then did a lovely long journey of a year learning website design On the side of coaching, because I was thinking, no. I’m being a coach. I’m being a coach. In fact, I spent all this money on a life coaching course that I had to be a coach. You know? But so that now brings me to now doing social media management, life coaching, and website design all in one bubble. So that’s my journey.

Kirsty van den Bulk : Yeah. But it’s quite interesting because, you know, we we all know wiggly careers, particularly moms, and I think, You know, I know there’s a lot of dads out there, so let’s not say moms. Let’s say the stay at home parent because it is different. I’ve got lots of friends who do choose, who are male, who just do decide to be the at home parent. But when your kid go sorry.

I shouldn’t say kid because they’re not goats. When your child goes to school, There is a shift in the relationship because, you know, once your child’s at nursery, it’s okay because she can both work full time because she can drop your child off at 7:30 in the morning or 7, depending what time the nursery opens. And you can pick them up at 6, 6:30. And sometimes you can pay extra and pick them up at 7. And so you’ve still got that working day, Then school comes along and it’s a massive and I remember it took Dennis and I 2 years to work out what we were gonna do and then we had a bet. And it was that one of us has gotta get a better job. So whoever gets the better job, who’s paying the most. That one’s going to go and take a job, and the other one have to work on what they’re gonna do. It’s a massive shift, isn’t it?

Zoe Morrall : It is. It is. From nursery, from having those outer hours, which are just there for you, And then they go to school and actually your day becomes smaller, shorter, and the children wants to do things after school. They want, You know, they want their friends around. They want to go and play. They want to go to all these clubs. And you can I have seen teachers Take their children to morning club, and then they then they go to our school club in the same school, and they are there all day? And I just think my children my heart was with my children. I said, oh, do you want to go to after school club? I’ve got Piles of you know, I’ve got 60 books I need to mark before I go home and get all my resources ready for the morning. Because my sorry. My children were at the same school that I taught at, which was supposed to be easier, which it was. But They didn’t they were really good. My children, so good. They would sit in the classroom almost in silence. And they were, at the time, there was 7, 7 and 9 occupying themselves with coloring pencils. I did bring a tablet so they could buy something. But they didn’t want to go to the to the after school club. They didn’t like the children in there. They didn’t really like the lady that was running it. You know? And they I just I didn’t have the heart to send them. And that that was the push. I thought I don’t I can’t do this job. I don’t want to do this job anymore. It’s too absorbing in my life. And then it’s not just, you know, the Monday to Friday. It’s actually The Sunday. The Sunday night. It’s the job sharing. You’re liaising and sending emails and updating The other teacher, and I just thought, you know, this isn’t for me anymore. It was perfect for me being a teacher. When I was single, I had no children, and I I literally spent all day there until 6 o’clock at night. And I could do that, and I did it efficiently. And I I I still took new things home, but It’s great if she’s single.

Kirsty van den Bulk : Yeah. So as you’re saying that, I’ve got a really good friend who’s a teacher and everything you’re saying there, and I think you won’t realize it, we know Teachers work hard. We all work hard. But it is it’s the hours that you work that you’re not paid for that are fine. Absolutely. And that’s the thing that that gums me. You I watched her and then and I’m sure you were the same. Hours upon hours of your personal and I know Where when I worked part time, I did a lot of hours that I wasn’t paid for. But it’s it it was my choice whereas for teachers, it’s expected.

Zoe Morrall : It’s expected, and you you can’t not do it. Like, if you don’t do your lesson plan or you don’t make that worksheet or no. If you don’t make that PowerPoint or, you know, presentation, you haven’t got a lesson. You can’t not do it. You can’t not fill out a form for a special needs child. You can’t not Send an email to a teacher to inform them of something important. You you have to do it. I have to do it. And when I left, I was part time teaching. I was teaching 2 days a week, and I still felt that, actually, I don’t want to do this anymore. I was spending 2 days a week. One day, I remember it was a Wednesday, all day at home working all day. So I didn’t have to do anything on Sunday. I calculated teachers must never do this. I calculated my hourly rate when I left, And I was only part time teaching £7. Wow. £7 an hour. And I thought, wow, actually, I could go and be a teaching assistant. And I’m even though I’d be bringing home less, I’d actually get paid more per hour of doing less hours, and that was my logic at the time.

Kirsty van den Bulk : So talk about now because you’re in a really you’re you’ve got yeah. Right now you’ve got this Thrive After Teaching. You’ve launched online courses. You’re helping people with social media. You’re doing web design. I mean, it’s a huge shift.

Zoe Morrall : It is a huge shift, but I love being my own boss. I love like, my mom said to me last weekend, can I meet you on Wednesday morning? I really want to go to that really lovely shop in your town. I was like, yeah. Okay. I’ll shift So so every week, I make sure I have a clear day. Nothing is planned on one day a week. So I have effectively one day a week off. And Believe me, somebody will turn up. Somebody will love love to go for coffee. Somebody will need the doctors, the dentist, or or the hospital or you know? So I I organize my life, so I don’t work full time officially at home. But the shift is lovely. The shift is, Like, I I can be me. I can breathe. I can smile. I can I can go Zoom calls? It is It’s hard. There’s a lot to learn to run your own business, but it’s all doable. And people say it’s hard, The word hard work, and I I know you used it in a phrase, but then you did correct yourself and say, actually, no. It’s time consuming. Time. People go, oh, it’s really hard work doing your own business. I’m like, no. No. No. No. Teaching 30 children from half past 8, 5 past 3 It’s hard work. You know, that is physically hard work. Running a business is time consuming, But it’s a different type of work. So it’s hard work, but it’s it’s time consuming. It’s like nice work. So it’s it’s, yeah, easier. Kirsty van den Bulk : So you’ve got, you’ve talked about your children, how they inspire you, and you’ve talked about your mom. Is there anyone else that’s come along along the way that you’ve gone, actually, that really resonates with me and it’s made you change something about what you do?

Zoe Morrall : That’s a really good question. I think it’s it’s that it’s that friend of a friend At that picnic bench, and she said, why don’t you? I thought, yes. Why don’t I? Why can’t I?I can. I can do it. And it’s all a mindset shift of when you leave teaching, and realizing you can follow your dreams, and you you do need to go and Explore and discover what your thing is. I had no idea on the day that I left teaching I was gonna go and be a web designer. I haven’t designed a website ever in my computing curriculum, but I had that mindset of I could. I can. So people along the way, you see them doing things, and you learn where they’ve come from. And of especially teachers who are thriving on the online communities, you think, yeah. If they can do it, I can do it. And I’ve just got to find those steps to enable me to do it.

Kirsty van den Bulk : Yeah. I also have But you’ve also launched a YouTube channel, haven’t you?

Zoe Morrall : I do have a YouTube channel. Yes. I do everything. You know, social media, YouTube. I’m not scared to get behind the camera. I’ve got a course that I have, which I’m tweaking now. I’m updating it. I’m putting it apart to make it So as well, so a bit of course creation in that too.

Kirsty van den Bulk : I think it’s brilliant. I think it’s really inspirational. You know, I remember when we met, that very first call and we were all, like, Starstruck and trying to work out where we were going. You know, it’s it’s Yeah. 4 years 4 years ago now. And I look Your journey, and I love the wiggles that you’ve had. I love the fact that you can now help people. So if there was somebody who was listening to this right now, who was Debating, making that jump to stop being you know, maybe going to tutoring to even supplement their They’re teaching crook yeah. They’re teaching salary. Not that they have any time, but if they did, what how would you help what would you say would be the first step to do? Because you’ve done this.

Zoe Morrall : Yeah. The first step is community, actually. So get in the community where they are doing the things you want to do. And there’s some really good especially tutoring. There’s some really good supportive online tutoring type business Facebook groups, And I’m in there looking at the goodness and the value and the conversation. So if you think about what avenue you’d love to go down or even learn about, Well, I went into I didn’t want to be a tutor, but I want to learn about it. I wanted to learn about the teacher’s journey of being a tutor. Get yourself in those Facebook groups and join a community. Community has been the number one thing that has helped me discover and explore what I want to do. Without you you need to speak to people. You need to connect with people. And without any connection and conversations, it’s very difficult To actually fathom out, where are you gonna go? I’ll have some coaching. Actually, spend money on a on a on a coach that can help you Narrow down really what you want to do. You know, for me, I started with aligning with, discovering what I can do that aligns with my life Style, my family, and the nature of the work. Like, if you wanna work from home, then that’s a good Good starting point. At least you know that. You know?

Kirsty van den Bulk : That’s really good advice because if I think about how I Got the plan because, you know, I kind of was gonna launch and then the pandemic hit, and so I had to delay my launch, completely, so I delayed it for almost a year. And, actually, during the pandemic, I was out walking, doing my 2 meter distance, unlike the government. Gonna slip that one in. Unlike the government, and I would call you out on that, but I was doing my 2 meter distance with my child. And we were talking to other parents, and I was canvassing them on what their issues were with confidence and where they were struggling with those small business owners and what was it about social media that they particularly hated. I learned a lot in that time. That that I mean, it’s old fashioned market research, isn’t it? Stumping the feet. But Probably it is. It’s really, Really good advice there. Haley has joined us, which is really love I love Haley. Haley’s brilliant. And she said, if you think you can, You can how inspirational, Zoe. It’s great to hear your journey, and that is the big thing about you. Yeah. You did You did do. You did jump into the deep end. You did.

Zoe Morrall : I did.

Kirsty van den Bulk : You looked at I know.

Zoe Morrall : And I’d like to idea what I was gonna do.

Kirsty van den Bulk : Yeah. I’d like to talk a little bit, if you don’t mind, about that burnout moment, that realization that.

Zoe Morrall : Yeah.

Kirsty van den Bulk : Actually you’ve just Jabich, because we I’ve been there. I know other people have been there and recognizing it. If you hear somebody else talk about it, then maybe it can help somebody recognize that they’re there right now. So if you just talk about.

Zoe Morrall : It was quite quite shocking because I didn’t expect it. So for me, I was teaching computing, and in the summertime, just 6 weeks, I was put into back into a classroom because this Teachers having a baby, and they went, oh, really stuck. Could you go and go into a classroom? I felt quite sad. I thought, I like Teach you by I like being in my computer room. I know what I’m doing. But it it was really hard. That was really hard picking up the pieces. Right. Lots of things she had done. She didn’t expect to have a baby early. She went up. So come September, they also said, We’d like you to go back in the classroom. And I was like, yes. Brilliant. I I’ve had enough of the computer room. I was comfy in there. In my mind, I’m like, I don’t think I can keep going to that computer room and containing the noise of the children because they’re so excited. So I I was up for a change. I was really happy. It was year 3. Really lovely year group. They’re coming over from the infants. Everything’s fresh She knew. So I was really excited, but I hit overwhelmed. I literally felt I was a newly qualified teacher suddenly. Those things I didn’t, I hadn’t been trained up in in the last 7 years of not having a class on my end. So it was a learning curve. Like, where do I put the data? Where are the forms of special needs? Where what does the data even mean? What do all these letters mean? These And I was like, I felt I hadn’t been supported, but now I’ve done a live coaching course. And, actually, my confidence has grown strangely now I’ve left the classroom. I would now have the confidence to go, Excuse me. I have no idea what any of this means. I need help. At the time, you just say, oh my gosh. I’ve been in school for over 20 years. I can’t ask for help. And so that was the main thing. I didn’t ask for help. The burnout, I didn’t realize I was suffering with. So as a teacher, you have all these ailments. You have headaches. You have backache. You have, you know yeah. If you’ve got top energy, you’re doing really well. But I was having headaches, and I know only realized afterwards, I was having rashes, up my neck, and it was only on when I was when I was teaching. I was having a headache and a rash, And I had no idea. It was my body saying stop. Absolutely stop. And then one morning, yeah, I was in my friend’s cover going at, Like, half past day going, I don’t wanna be here. Oh my gosh. I just realized I don’t want to be here. And and then literally, I had to go out of her cupboard And go and greet my 30 children. Hi. Hello. Good morning. Oh, got you know? And if anybody said anything, I would just say, oh, I’ve got bit of the cold today, you know, my bleary eyes, and that was and it was only afterwards I realized all my headaches and my My rash were my body is signal signalling that I wasn’t I wasn’t coping, and I I just didn’t realize. But, yeah, that’s Really.

Kirsty van den Bulk : Really appreciate you sharing that because we can all get there and not recognize the signs. You know, I know I’ve been there, where you’re just standing there and you’ve got tears running down your face, and you’re like, why the hell am I crying? This is ridiculous.

Zoe Morrall : I’m a big grown woman. Absolutely. And and these feelings just hit you. They just kinda slap you in the face. Like, when I left the when I left home, I was fine. No. She delivered my children to their classes and their class teachers, and then it was just, like, I don’t wanna be here. Right.

Kirsty van den Bulk : Well, listen, I I can remember one day I was walking down the stairs to go to a meeting and my legs buckled underneath me. And it was like, this is and I I mean, I I I just put it down to I’m just tired. I’ve driven a long way because when you’re on the road, which is what I used to do. I used to drive travel, you know, drive up to Newcastle, Glasgow and then back again the next day, so it was exhausting. So it’s just a bit down to tiredness, but it wasn’t. It was It was complete overwhelm and complete burnout. So I really appreciate you sharing it. So this is where you get the tables get turned, and I have no idea, and you know me too well. So this is always a worry because we do speak probably at least 3 times a week. So, this is where I always worry because so when someone I don’t worry so much when no one knows me because I can almost guess what the your question’s gonna be, but you get to throw a question at me and you can see I’m uncomfortable.

Zoe Morrall : I do a nice question, Kirsty. When you turn your computer off, What is it that you do to relax and take your mind off this busy business world?

Kirsty van den Bulk : Great question. I’m For…

Zoe Morrall : you, you though, Not to do with family because I always get, oh, I’ll go and snuggle with my family and I’ll watch a movie and I relax because I, you know, I have to concentrate because I’m with them. But what about you Personally, what would you.

Kirsty van den Bulk : That’s a really good question and a really good question at this moment in time because it’s something that I am Really, really thinking about because, I’ve just started evening’s classes on a Tuesday to try and learn Spanish to help my daughter with her Spanish homework. I did pick up the crocheting the other day, but my head isn’t there so I had to whip it all back. The The one thing I do try to do is have a bath, and I know it sounds really doesn’t seem like much. Yeah. But I do try to have a bath. But actually, My brain very rarely gets to switch off. And I have had and I can honestly say this this week. I have been told off by my chiro because I am not shopping. And, you know, I just launched the RockYour online presence courses. I’m now launching an in person event with your guy, And it feels like I’m on this roller coaster and I’m not getting a chance to step off. So yesterday I was at a an event which was with a business mentor. And my, my action that I’ve written down is I am going to find the time to breathe. Now I don’t quite know what that breathing is yet, but I am aware that if I don’t get off this treadmill and actually take some time for myself at some point, I am gonna break in 2. So Yeah. Really good question. I’d love to say that I’ve got an answer right now. I’m gonna say I’m not sure yet. It will come. But I know that night school isn’t for me, because being dyslexic and dyspraxic, I spend most of the time with a bright red face trying really hard, but to, feel incredibly embarrassed because Not only do I have to then learn the Spanish pronunciation and the Spanish right yeah. Way way of writing it, I then have to write it the way that I would say it. So I have 3 processes that I have to get through before I can even say dacientos por favor. So Oh, that sounds great. Yeah. Didn’t I? I’m quite proud of that. But Yeah. So I think once I get through that and Things have got to slow down. I know we’re planning a big holiday this year. I know we’re planning that. And that it was the holiday we were gonna do for my 50th, so I’m quite excited.

And that is something that is for me, although it’s family, it is for me. But my daughter came in last night because I did something silly in the back of my Domaine, yesterday. And it was it was a stupid, silly actually, it wasn’t stupid. It was an error that I knew not to do but I did it anyway because I didn’t check, which is typical of me. And I was getting really stressed out and she came in and she She just put her arms around my neck because she came in and went, can you put me to bed? And I went, it’s daddy’s plan, and I’m really sorry. I do need to fix this. And she just put her arms around my neck and gave me a cuddle and went, it’ll be okay, mommy. So that whether I like it or not, that is my my that’s my alarm bell that things are taking over. Yeah.

Zoe Morrall : Yeah. Yeah. And you can’t say good night to your own child.

Kirsty van den Bulk : That is. Yeah. And it was a silly error and it stopped all and I know better because I’ve done this so many times. And you It’s worse when you know what you’re doing and then you do it anyway and you go.

Zoe Morrall : Yes.

Kirsty van den Bulk : I’ve never lived. Anyway, it’s all fixed now apart from my microphone. So I’ve now got to reconnect my microphone because the mic Yeah. That’s great. Yeah.

Zoe Morrall : So But that you you can do that. You can fix the microphone. That’s your And that’s your biz. Yeah. I know, I know.

Kirsty van den Bulk : Just not in 5 minutes before we go live. Right?

Zoe Morrall : No. Maybe not.

Kirsty van den Bulk : Thank you so much for joining us this morning. I’m sorry for that. So and thank you for your honesty.

Zoe Morrall : Oh, you’re more than welcome. I believe in sharing a story because there’s other people going through it. So you’ve got to share it Because people think they’re alone, and they’re not. They’re not alone. You just gotta find your people.

You’re not alone. Thank you very much, Kirsty, for having me today.

Kirsty van den Bulk : Awesome. Bye. Bye.

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