Becoming
The goals of Terra’s Teachable Teas and the goals of Terra Teaches LLC are at the intersection of an invisible venn diagram that has been floating around in my mind for several years. I want to teach others to be better and to take better care of themselves and others. How I will accomplish those goals is where things were getting muddy.
I am an idealist, I am an optimist, I am a dreamer.
Five days ago, I was at Barnes and Noble lost in the business section. I was trying to decide if I did the right thing by opening a for-profit herbal tea business. I knew that this business was only a small part of my long term plans, and I was giving myself anxiety thinking that I should have started this plan with a different approach. Why was I teaching about herbs, when I really wanted to teach math… and reading, and science, and life-skills, and mental wellness, and financial responsibility, and, and, AND! Well, I honestly didn’t even have a plan yet.
I came across “250 Questions for Starting a Nonprofit” by: Martin Stephens and started reading it immediately. I was so engrossed that I knocked over a stack of books on my way to the children’s section to meet up with my daughter, her two friends, and their mother. I went to my friend (a fellow teacher) to say, “I don’t know why I’m grabbing this one. I just put one back for starting a business a few weeks ago. I’ve already started a business, but I wanted to learn how a business works.” Her response was, “you can always return it,” and something to the effect of needing an excuse to buy more books anyway!
I didn’t expect to be up at five in the morning doing research that gave me so many different new words and ideas that I had to take notes. That overwhelming feeling I was struggling with was lightening even though I was getting so much information at once. That night I learned about community housing, what nonsectarian meant, micro schools and so much more. I organized my thoughts, wrote out my vision and mission statement, and realized my end goal for creating Terra Teaches LLC: make enough money to buy property.
Currently, I am working on breaking things down into smaller steps. I have a four-phase plan to start a non-profit and am hoping the inspiration for the name of this nonprofit will come to me soon. As I move through “Phase 1: Learning” I will be altering the plan often because honestly, I don’t quite know what I’m doing. I have to start somewhere, so I will go into greater detail over the next couple of months so that I can be transparent and hold myself accountable. I am becoming who I was meant to be.
PHASE 1: LEARNING
1. Create a small business to generate personal profit and gain hands on experience with running a business
Terra Teaches LLC (2/16/2021)
Participate in pop-ups, vendor events and farmers markets for networking and money (my third one is this weekend)
Improve business credit (help!)
Earn 10% down payment to secure land/property (as of today I have 0.005% of my goal in the business account 😂)
2. Read about non-profits
3. Read about communities
4. Read about opening schools
5. Visit communities, child care facilities, and related nonprofits
6. Draft vision and values statements
7. Marketing, events, website, ect.
8. Improve personal credit score
9. Secure land
PHASE 2: BOARD MEMBERSHIP
PHASE 3: COMMUNITY BUILDING
PHASE 4: SCHOOL LAUNCH
