School Counselor Side Hustle Spotlight – Carol Miller

Excerpted from the book:

If I had to describe my side hustle, I would categorize it as a curriculum author. I like to think of myself as a cheerleader for other school counselors. I “own” my part-time business on Teachers Pay Teachers (TpT) called Carol Miller, the Middle School Counselor (http://bit.ly/miller-tpt); it is an online e-commerce store for educators. I offer a variety of resources from counselor planners, résumé templates, documentation forms, lesson plans, card games, and small group curricula to name a few. I also have a curriculum and a Smartboard Game published through YouthLight Publishers (https://youthlight.com/product.php?id=3071) and another small group curriculum published through Research Press Publishers (https://www.researchpress.com/authors/1296/carol-miller). These sell very well, but the majority of my sales come through TpT.

I love being able to help other counselors provide quality resources to their students. What I love most about what I do is responding to the needs that other counselors and their students have. The other component of my side business brings in no money. I run several large Facebook Groups:

• Elementary School Counselor Exchange
  (https://www.facebook.com/groups/590701787640166/)
• Caught in the Middle School Counselors
  (https://www.facebook.com/groups/176582632507419/)
• High School Counselor Connection
  (https://www.facebook.com/groups/1737770729838088/)
• On The Road To Ramp
  (https://www.facebook.com/groups/795852863864067/)
• The School Counselor Store
  (https://www.facebook.com/groups/theschoolcounselorstore/)

My goal for these groups is to have a community of counselors who can learn, grow, and share with one another. Counselors from across the globe have joined and are doing just that, whether it’s an idea for a bulletin board, a lesson for an observation, or comfort after a hard day. This is my “Why” for what I do. In my building, I am the only school counselor. I also live in a rural community, and the local counselor association focuses almost entirely on high school counselors. There is little to no professional development opportunities for those of us at the middle (or elementary level). You shouldn’t have to feel like you are alone in a situation or that there is no comradery to discuss case scenarios. If I was feeling frustrated by the isolation, I knew others probably felt the same. Collaboration is a core component of building a top-notch school counseling program. Collaboration also helps us build systems and make work more efficient. I am in this business to inspire others. It doesn’t matter if they are children or adults. I want to walk behind them when they need a push to get motivated. I want to walk beside them when they need a friend, and I want to walk in front of them when they need someone to guide them along the way.

What I have learned in building this business is that sometimes you need to listen, sometimes you need to speak, and sometimes you need to get a little loud …

Read more by getting your own copy of School Counselor Side Hustle: https://schoolcounselor.com/sidehustle/