We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Christina Sticka-Jacobs a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Christina, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Can you open up about a risk you’ve taken – what it was like taking that risk, why you took the risk and how it turned out?
In 2018 I had been serving as a full time school psychologist for area K-12 schools for 12 years. I had always enjoyed education, being a student and walking the halls of schools. In college I studied psychology because I wanted to figure out the human mind and better understand behavior. In graduate school I decided to combine my love of education and psychology and pursue a career in school psychology. While I was in my graduate studies there was a big part of me that wondered if it was truly what I was meant to be doing. It became evident early on that what I would be doing in my role as a school psychologist is far from what I imagined. I decided to continue anyway since I was already in the thick of it and convinced myself that I could like it. 11 years in, the creeping feeling that there was something else for me to be doing started to reemerge. During the 12 years that I worked full time, I was fully invested in making a difference within the confines of my position. However, I became frustrated with the education system and how little I could do in the ways that I wanted. Within those 12 years I furthered my education by going back to graduate school and working towards a credential of special education director. I believed that I could make a bigger impact on the education system if I worked in administration. I tried for five years to get into administration. I applied for every opening that came available and was overlooked in all of them. By 2018 I was frustrated with my job and with the system in which I worked. My mental health began to suffer as a result and I became quite negative and anxious. I sought out counseling and in that process my therapist suggested I begin meditating. I started small with a 5 to 10 minute guided audio practice in the mornings. While I was receiving counseling and meditating it became quite evident to me that I could not continue to work the amount of years it was going to take for me to receive my teacher’s pension. I knew in my gut that I needed something different. Since I was the primary income earner in my family, I felt restricted in my options. However, after my conversations with my husband on how we might be able to do things differently to make ends meet and provide for our three children, he supported me in embarking on a journey of becoming a yoga teacher as well as beginning a small business of selling my homemade candles that I had begun making as a creative outlet.
In the fall of 2019 I started my yoga studies. I had begun making candles for people I knew and started a website where I sold my candles and also blogged. By the fall of 2020 after an unusual end to the 2020 school year in the spring, I was able to convince the school board at the school district I worked for to cut one day a week out of my contract. I wanted to have one day a week that I could dedicate to my yoga practices and learning as well as the candle business. I soon learned that the one day I had set aside for these intentions was hardly enough. In the spring of 2021 I asked the school board to cut my contract by another day, which would put me in the position of working 60% of a full time equivalent. They denied my request. I felt defeated, but still hopeful that it could happen in the future. I told them that I would keep asking for a reduced contract each year. I shared openly with my supervisors that I felt it was better for my own mental health as well as improved my productivity and enjoyment of my job.
In the summer of 2021 I was contacted by a friend and colleague letting me know that a neighboring school district, the one I actually lived in and where my children attended school, had contacted her to let her know about a position within their district that had just opened up for a school psychologist with a 60% contract. She immediately contacted me to encourage I apply since she was not interested. The universe knew what I was asking for and turned in my favor without me needing to force the issue. I believe to this day that had I not been honest and truthful to myself, my supervisors, and the school board about what I needed in order to continue to work in the field of education, that the position that had opened up and met the criteria I was looking for, would not have been presented to me as it was.
I took a risk on believing in myself and listening to what my intuition was telling me I needed in order to serve as my authentic self in this world. At this point in my journey I feel whole. I lean on my yoga practices and self-study so that I continue to listen to what my soul needs to thrive. I feel more freedom over my time now and don’t feel trapped in a box as I did five years ago. I expect myself to evolve and at some point maybe the work I do as a school psychologist will no longer be part of my journey. Right now, while my children are still in k-12 education themselves, I feel my assignment is a good fit. I don’t know where the road will lead once they have all graduated, but I trust that at that time, I will know.
Christina, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?
Hello fellow seekers! My name is Christina and I have been writing poetry and journaling since I was in 2nd grade. I loved any assignment that was given to me that involved using words and playing with imagery. By the time I got to high school I enjoyed my language arts classes and psychology classes the most. I went to college to acquire a degree in psychology, but continued to dabble in writing. In graduate school my writing skills came in handy. I needed to write a lot of technical reports as I was studying to become a school psychologist. I have now been working as a school psychologist for 17 years. Within the last 5 years I tired of the technical writing and started a blog so I could free write about what was on my mind. I also began writing poetry again and posted it occasionally on Instagram for others to read. In 2019 I began studying yoga and have been teaching it now for the past two years. I continue to practice and learn this transformative philosophy and way of living as I teach it. Meditation in particular as been quite informative in my life and I enjoy sharing that with others.
I was able to move into a part-time position in the current school district I work in so that I can spend more time serving as a yoga teacher and also as a small business owner. My small business involves selling handmade soy wax candles. I began making candles as a creative outlet when I was frustrated with my job working in k-12 education. I sell candles at local events as well as on my website. Within the past year I have evolved into making room sprays and essential oil rollers as well. I have always enjoyed aromatherapy and adorning my surroundings with candles, but my own making of them was born out of a desire to make a healthy product that I couldn’t find in big box stores. My candles, wax melts, and room sprays are all made out of safe materials that are free of toxic substances, making it safe for you to breathe in your own home. When I researched what conventional candles and sprays were made out of, I felt sick. It was no wonder that I experienced headaches and black soot on my walls when the majority of candles are made out of paraffin, a petroleum byproduct! YUCK! Imagine the exhaust from your car being present in your living room, bathroom, or kitchen. Well, that is what is happening when you burn the majority of candles that are made from mass production because paraffin is cheaper than natural waxes (e.g., soy and coconut). Not to mention that many fragrance oils that are used in mass produced aromatherapy products are made out of chemicals that are toxic and should not be inhaled. The candle industry is not regulated by anyone, so there are no requirements for companies to report ingredients on their labels. Companies can state things like, “made with soy wax”, when a small portion of the candle is soy and the rest of it is paraffin. The same goes for the fragrances that are used. Many might say “natural”, but there is no criteria to fulfill a “natural” standard. My essential oil rollers are my new favorite creation and involve glass rollers filled with crystals, sweet almond oil, and essential oils that can be safely used directly on the skin to promote well-being.
My brand Ease Of Being is meant to stand for a wholistic approach to health that involves both yoga as a way to live wholistically, addressing mind, body, and spirit as well as making handmade products that are safe and healthy for our homes and bodies. While I continue to write technical psychological reports for my part-time job as a school psychologist, I now also have more time to dedicate to creative writing and musings on my blog.
Can you tell us about what’s worked well for you in terms of growing your clientele?
Since I am a yoga teacher and small business owner of handmade creations, getting in front of people at local events and venues is important. I teach yoga in two different local studios and have met many of my students that meet with me individually or on yoga retreats that I lead through the connections that I have made with them in the studios that I teach. Selling my candles at local art markets and fairs has been helpful to grow my reputation and clientele base. I also have an online store and can lead people to that through in person events.
How’d you build such a strong reputation within your market?
I truly believe that being myself and not comparing myself to others in the same field has been the most helpful in building my reputation. It is important to look at what others are doing in your market and to learn from them and what they are offering, but at the end of the day you have to make yourself and your business authentic to who you are. It has to feel and sound like yourself, not somebody else.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.theeaseofbeing.com
- Instagram: @theeaseofbeing
- Facebook: @theeaseofbeing