We recently connected with Dr. Marquita S. Blades and have shared our conversation below.

Dr. Marquita S. , thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Being a business owner can be really hard sometimes. It’s rewarding, but most business owners we’ve spoken sometimes think about what it would have been like to have had a regular job instead. Have you ever wondered that yourself? Maybe you can talk to us about a time when you felt this way?

Whenever I’m out in schools working with educators, it always makes me miss being in a school building full-time. I even think about what it would be like to go back into the classroom again, but those thoughts are always short-lived. Not because I don’t love teaching – I absolutely DO – but there is a lot that comes with teaching full-time! Whenever I miss the classroom, I am also reminded of how much I struggled during my final years in the classroom.

During the last five years of my teaching career, my health was on a swift slide down and it became increasingly more difficult to fulfill my teaching duties consistently at a high level. I had my days where you could see the rockstar come out and then there were days when I was just there so I wouldn’t get fined. It was such an interesting time for sure. I felt that I was finally getting some of the leadership opportunities that I’d worked so hard for, but I also knew I was in no physical condition to take my career to the next level and be able to sustain it or grow it any further.

Although I have come a very long way in restoring my health, I know that the main reason for that is being a business owner. Working for myself means that I can take time to properly care for myself. I can block out as much time as I need for sleep, fitness, and doctor’s appointments. (It is hard scheduling appointments when all of your time off has to be approved in advance.) Working for myself also means that I don’t have to deal with personalities that drain my energy. I can take on the projects and clients that appeal to me while still allowing me to put myself first. While I would love to teach full-time again one day, it would take a very unique working environment for me to be able to commit to that again.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

I am an award-winning educator, international speaker, author, and education consultant with 16 years of experience as a high school science teacher and manager of national STEM programs for high-achieving high school students. I save schools and school districts time and money by teaching them how to increase student engagement and collaboration through rigorous and meaningful learning experiences, using the resources they currently have on hand.

In 2018, I created the POWARRful Teaching Strategies® framework to help students build their critical thinking and problem-solving skills, based on recurring themes in her teaching practices. Upon evaluating my work over the years, I found that I was constantly teaching the same six-core POWARR skills: Predict, Observe, Write, Analyze, Research, and Report. Since releasing POWARRful Teaching Strategies®, I have shared the framework with thousands of educators across the US, giving them the tools and confidence, they need to put it into practice and build more student-centered classrooms immediately. I am also the founder of The Mediocre Teacher Project, which helps teachers avoid and battle burnout by incorporating their unique gifts and talents into their daily practice.

I always knew that I wanted to be a teacher, but at first, I thought I’d become a Language Arts teacher. English has always been my favorite subject because I love reading and writing, however, I fell in love with Chemistry my junior year in high school thanks to Mrs. Hiers at Griffin High School in Griffin GA.

Mrs. Hiers was not ‘exciting’ or ‘engaging really, She was no frills and no thrills – just a chalkboard, a piece of chalk, and a whole lot of formulas and equations. I LOVED every minute of it. I am a systematic person so learning formulas and applying them was so much FUN for me!

Though I loved Chemistry, I never thought about pursuing Science in general, because I’d always been told that science was “hard” and for “boys.”

It wasn’t until a powerful STEM woman came in and showed me how amazing Science could be. On the first day of biology class during my freshman year at Georgia State University, in walks the professor, a black women with a PhD in biology – and she could TEACH! She made me like biology and before the semester was over, I wanted to teach Biology. However, once I took my Chemistry requirements, I remembered how much I loved chemistry too, so I decided four things:

1) Science was for ME and
2) Science is not “hard”
3) I would become a high school chemistry teacher
4) I also wanted a PhD (I eventually earned an EdD – different degree, but an academic doctor nonetheless)

I am most proud of the fact that I am proud to be an Educator, even if is not in the traditional sense. As of late, I am also proud of the fact that I have just recently joined the faculty of Nova Southeastern University – my doctoral alma mater – as an adjunct and I’ll be teaching graduate students in the college of education.

What sets me apart from most educators is that I’ve done so many things in so many different areas of education – far too many to list here – but I’ve seen the field from all sides. People often say, “I don’t see how you do it. I could never be a teacher.” My response is, “You’re right! YOU COULDN’T!”

Does your business have multiple or supplementary revenue streams (like a ATM machine at a barbershop, etc)?

The supplemental source of income for POWARRful Teaching is selling real estate. Back in my early teaching days, I got my real estate license as a way to make additional income. I loved teaching, but it does not pay for the type of lifestyle I’ve always wanted. But at that time, I did not put the proper effort into learning real estate so I didn’t do well.

Once I got married, I worked as my husband’s transaction coordinator so I was able to really learn the business inside and out. Since I have reactivated my license, I have used proceeds from closings to invest in coaching and systems that will allow me to scale POWARRful Teaching.

I really love being a real estate agent and it feels so natural this time around. In fact, I’m able to use so many of my teaching skills in the real estate industry. run a free webinar for teachers who are interested in getting their real estate licenses!

In addition to real estate, I am also an independent publisher. I publish under two imprints that own: DBC Publications and The Gyrlfriend Collective.

How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?

I had to pivot early in my consulting business. When I first left the classroom, my focus was on coaching teachers through burnout and I called my program The Mediocre Teacher Project. To say the least, this program was ahead of its time. At that time, no one wanted to talk about teacher burnout and helping teachers fall back in love with the profession. Everyone told me that my platform was too negative. It’s funny to me now, well not FUNNY – but it’s interesting considering where we are post-pandemic. People just didn’t fully understand what the program was all about and that was also rooted in the fact that I was new in business and failed to properly communicate the value of the program.

Today, teachers are leaving the profession left and right and I predicted that before COVID ever hit! In the spirit of the pivot, The Mediocre Teacher Project has been added to my offerings once again! Never be afraid to start, stop, add or delete when it comes to your business!

Contact Info:

• Website: www.drmarquitablades.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/powarrfulteaching/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/POWARRfulTeaching/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/drmarquitasmithblades/
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/powarrfulteach
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCa-YI4A_YStkzYNYHikeRWA
• Other: https://www.facebook.com/drbladestherealtor

Image Credits
VSquared Photography