LEAVE JOB YOU LIKE FOR A BUSINESS YOU LOVE
Meet our guest, Jen Parra, M.Ed. CALT, SLDS
I became an entrepreneur due to a chronic health condition that drove me out of classroom work. As I mentioned, my husband was always the one who wanted his own business. He tried a few but they did not end up being sustainable. I was happy getting a steady paycheck and working in a field I was passionate about. However, I began to suffer from a chronic autoimmune disease, and it became painfully apparent to me that I would not be able to sustain the energy needed to truly give my best to my students and my family if I continued to work in a full-time classroom job.
For a time, I was in despair because I felt like I was losing my career which meant so much to me. I was in my classroom one day too exhausted to go pick up my next group of students, and an email came through from a company offering an opportunity to provide virtual dyslexia therapy. I was terrified but decided to take the leap of faith and partner with this company and open a private therapy practice where I could be in more control of my time and health needs. I was completely taken by surprise at the doors that opened by taking the risk to go out into private practice, and over the past 7 years, we have grown from just me to a wonderfully experienced and passionate network of over 20 dyslexia specialists.
By taking the risk to start my own practice and company, we have had the privilege to work with families all across the world in different situations from scholarship recipients to military families, to families in areas where they don't have knowledgeable resources available and bring them hope that their child can become a successful reader and writer. I have also had the opportunity to develop other skills in business that are unrelated to education so that has been exciting and fulfilling as well.
The freedom afforded by being an entrepreneur has allowed me to manage my health better, it has allowed my husband and me the opportunity to relocate to a state and area where we can be closer to nature and do things we love, and my kids are very proud of me as well!
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