24 — The 3 Biggest Mistakes Educators Make When Launching a Business
Release Date: 05/26/2025
1 – From Crickets to Clients: The 3 Systems that Helped us Scale 10x Faster
Unleash YES (Your Entrepreneurial Spirit) with Tom Schimmer & Natalie Vardabasso — Business, Education, Mindset
Most K–12 consultants are hustling hard — posting, networking, trying every tactic they see online — and still hearing crickets. The truth? Hustle and heart aren’t a business strategy. In this kickoff episode of From Crickets to Clients, Tom Schimmer and Natalie Vardabasso reveal the 3 simple systems that took them from side hustling to nearly 7-figure consulting businesses. You’ll discover: · Why consistency is a muscle, not a personality trait · The difference between getting noticed and getting hired ...
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Introducing... From Crickets to Clients!
Unleash YES (Your Entrepreneurial Spirit) with Tom Schimmer & Natalie Vardabasso — Business, Education, Mindset
Are you a K–12 consultant tired of hustling, posting, and hearing nothing but crickets? In this limited series, From Crickets to Clients, Tom Schimmer and Natalie Vardabasso pull back the curtain on the exact systems that took them from side hustling to a combined yearly revenue of nearly 7-figures in their education consulting businesses. Across 5 progressive episodes, you’ll learn: The 3 systems that help you scale 10x faster The $100K webinar framework (and how to steal it) The social posts that consistently landed clients How to run sales calls that convert...
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28 – If We Were Starting A Business From Scratch This Fall, We'd Do This
Unleash YES (Your Entrepreneurial Spirit) with Tom Schimmer & Natalie Vardabasso — Business, Education, Mindset
Back-to-school energy hits different when you know you’ve outgrown your role. But what if this was the year you finally started your consulting business — for real? In this episode, we’re sharing the five things we’d do if we were starting from scratch this fall:✅ The mindset shift that changes everything✅ The habit that builds unstoppable momentum✅ The system we wish we built sooner✅ The easiest offer to launch before the holidays✅ The biggest mistake that keeps educators stuck If you’re ready to stop swirling and start moving, this episode is your game plan. 🎧 And...
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27 – The Receipts That Get You Booked
Unleash YES (Your Entrepreneurial Spirit) with Tom Schimmer & Natalie Vardabasso — Business, Education, Mindset
Think you need a fancy title, a website, or another degree to get hired as a consultant or speaker? Think again. In this episode, we’re breaking down what actually builds credibility, and spoiler alert: it’s not your credentials. It’s your receipts. You’ll learn:🎯 What receipts are (and why they matter more than your résumé)🧠 The 4 types of receipts that get you booked as a consultant or speaker🙌 How to uncover and leverage your real-world impact to become in-demand Whether you’re already sharing your work or still sitting on your genius, this episode will help you claim...
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26 – From Terrified to Post to Leading a Thriving Online Community
Unleash YES (Your Entrepreneurial Spirit) with Tom Schimmer & Natalie Vardabasso — Business, Education, Mindset
They were terrified to be seen online. Now they’re building a brand that’s impossible to ignore. In this episode, we sit down with Kristy Cognata and Lauren Staats, two instructional coaches who turned their fear of visibility into a thriving business. When we first met them, even the thought of sharing their names online made them panic. Today? They're confidently posting on LinkedIn, building an engaged community, and launching their first group offer for instructional coaches under their new brand, Lime Lotus. We talk about: · What pushed them to...
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25 – Live Coaching Call: Pricing, Selling to Individuals vs. Schools, and Social Media
Unleash YES (Your Entrepreneurial Spirit) with Tom Schimmer & Natalie Vardabasso — Business, Education, Mindset
What if you could sit in on a real coaching call and hear exactly how educators are turning their expertise into powerful, profitable businesses? In this special episode, we take you behind the scenes of the Unleash YES Bootcamp to listen in on a group call as we help four incredible clients. You’ll hear us coach them live on some of the most common questions we get: ✅ How do I price my offer so I’m not more expensive than my competitors?✅ Can I sell to individuals and schools without having to build two different businesses?✅ Are district leaders really going to hire me through...
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24 — The 3 Biggest Mistakes Educators Make When Launching a Business
Unleash YES (Your Entrepreneurial Spirit) with Tom Schimmer & Natalie Vardabasso — Business, Education, Mindset
You’re not stuck because you’re unqualified. You’re stuck because you’re doing things that look like business-building… but aren’t. In this episode, we break down the 3 biggest mistakes educators make when launching a learning-based business—and how to fix them before they sabotage your momentum. You’ll learn: Why selling ideas (instead of outcomes) is killing your sales How perfectionism hides behind constant rebranding and research Why all-or-nothing thinking is keeping you inconsistent and invisible We also share the story of Lauren and...
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23 — From Working for Free to Her First Sale: Aimée’s Journey from Instructional Coach to Entrepreneur
Unleash YES (Your Entrepreneurial Spirit) with Tom Schimmer & Natalie Vardabasso — Business, Education, Mindset
If you’ve ever been the “go-to person” at work—but never gotten paid what you're worth—you’re going to feel deeply seen in this episode. Meet Aimée: a full-time instructional coach who spent years giving away her best ideas for free—until she realized her expertise was worth more. With no business background, and limited time outside her job, she joined our Bootcamp, got clear on her niche, designed her first offer, and made her first sale. Want to take the first step like Aimée did? Start with the Educators Business Blueprint—our 2-day roadmap to building a...
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22 – The Best Launch Strategy We've Ever Used (That Nobody Talks About)
Unleash YES (Your Entrepreneurial Spirit) with Tom Schimmer & Natalie Vardabasso — Business, Education, Mindset
If you’re stuck overthinking your business idea — constantly “too busy” to start but secretly craving a new chapter — this episode is for you. Today, we're pulling back the curtain on the exact launch strategy we used to build Unleash YES... before we had a finished offer, a polished brand, or even a website. Instead of waiting until everything was perfect, we started working with real people — what we call "guinea pig clients" — and it changed everything. Inside this episode, you'll learn:🔹 Why starting messy is smarter (and faster) than waiting to feel ready🔹 ...
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21 – Why Most Educators Never Start a Business (& How to Be the Exception)
Unleash YES (Your Entrepreneurial Spirit) with Tom Schimmer & Natalie Vardabasso — Business, Education, Mindset
You’re sitting on gold—and you know it. The ideas. The passion. The vision. So why haven’t you started the business you keep dreaming about? In today’s episode, we’re pulling back the curtain on why brilliant educators stay stuck—and how you can break free. Spoiler: it’s not about skills, strategy, or having the perfect website. It’s about mindset traps you’ve been taught to see as "normal." We’re walking you through: The 5 most common mindset blocks keeping educators stuck. How to reframe each one so you can move forward. Why you don’t need permission to...
info_outlineYou’re not stuck because you’re unqualified. You’re stuck because you’re doing things that look like business-building… but aren’t.
In this episode, we break down the 3 biggest mistakes educators make when launching a learning-based business—and how to fix them before they sabotage your momentum.
You’ll learn:
- Why selling ideas (instead of outcomes) is killing your sales
- How perfectionism hides behind constant rebranding and research
- Why all-or-nothing thinking is keeping you inconsistent and invisible
We also share the story of Lauren and Kristy—two “accidental entrepreneurs” who were terrified to show up online… until they realized their story was the strategy.
If you’re overthinking your next move, disappearing after every flop, or secretly avoiding visibility—this episode is your mirror and your map.
🎁 Want a 2-day shortcut out of overthinking and into real momentum?
Grab the Educators Business Blueprint: https://www.unleashyes.org/ebb
🧡 If this episode helped, leave a review and email a screenshot to [email protected]—we’ll send you one of our favorite business books as a thank-you.
Resources:
>> Grab the Educators’ Business Blueprint on pre-summer sale for just $47!
>> Learn More About the Unleash YES Bootcamp!
>> Quiz: Which Learning-Based Business Model is Right for Me?
>> Starter Guide: The First 6 Steps to Launch Your Learning-Based Business
Connect with Tom & Nat:
>> Follow Tom on Linkedin
>> Follow Nat on Linkedin
>> Follow @unleashyes on Instagram
>> email [email protected]
>> Book a call.