Owning Your Bliss: Why Joy in Education Is the New Non-Negotiable
Our joy isn’t a distraction from our purpose. It’s what fuels it.
The Hidden Cost of ‘Pushing Through’
Walk into nearly any school in America today, and you’ll feel it: the weight of burnout. Teachers are doing their best to keep up—with testing demands, behavior challenges, and the emotional labor of showing up fully for their students.
In a 2023 Gallup survey, 44% of K–12 educators reported feeling burned out "always" or "very often." Among younger teachers under 35, the number was even higher.¹
What’s more concerning? This exhaustion has been normalized.
But what if we stopped treating burnout as an unavoidable part of the job—and instead asked a radical question:
What would it look like for educators to truly own their bliss?
Our Story: From Burnout to Breakthrough
As educators and sisters, we didn’t enter this work for a paycheck. We did it because we love people, learning, and transformation. But like so many others, we’ve both faced seasons of depletion.
It wasn’t until we learned to honor our own wellbeing—and reconnected with what truly lit us up—that we realized something vital:
Our joy isn’t a distraction from our purpose. It’s what fuels it.
We now train educators across the country through our Culture & Wellbeing Coach Certification (CWCC) to do exactly that—to reclaim the joy that brought them to education in the first place.
Why Joy & Fulfillment Matter More Than Ever
Educator wellbeing isn’t just a “nice to have”—it’s a research-backed driver of student success and school culture. Consider this:
Students in classrooms with emotionally regulated, fulfilled teachers show significantly higher engagement and test scores.²
Teachers who feel aligned with their purpose are 3x more likely to stay in the profession long term.³
Schools that prioritize adult wellbeing see less staff turnover, fewer behavior referrals, and stronger student-teacher relationships.⁴
In other words: when teachers own their bliss, everyone benefits.
Reclaim Your Joy (Starting Today)
We believe joy isn’t a distant dream—it’s a muscle. And just like resilience, it can be built through small, intentional practices. Try these:
🔹 Micro-moments of joy
Start each day by identifying one thing you’re looking forward to—no matter how small. A coffee, a student check-in, a quiet moment before class.
🔹 Define your “bliss anchors”
What brings you back to yourself when you’re stressed? It could be breathwork, journaling, or connecting with a trusted colleague.
🔹 Celebrate meaningful wins
Keep a “Joy Journal” to reflect on small moments of impact—student breakthroughs, affirming conversations, laughter during class. These remind us why we do this work.
Building Cultures That Sustain Educators
Through the Culture & Wellbeing Coach Certification, we equip educators with tools to:
✔️ Define and live in alignment with their core values
✔️ Set boundaries that protect their energy and creativity
✔️ Cultivate joy as a leadership practice—not a bonus
Our graduates go on to lead schoolwide wellbeing initiatives, transform their relationships with stress, and create space for others to thrive.
Because when educators reclaim their joy, they become the most powerful change agents in education.
What If Joy Was the Metric That Mattered Most?
What if thriving educators were the goal—not a byproduct?
What if we measured a school’s success by how seen, safe, and inspired its staff feels?
You don’t need permission to reclaim your joy. You just need the support—and the courage to believe it matters.
Let’s build schools where joy is the strategy, not just the reward.
Click here to enroll for CWCC
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Sources:
¹ Gallup Education Report, 2023
² OECD Teaching and Learning International Survey (TALIS), 2019
³ Learning Policy Institute, Teacher Turnover Study, 2020
⁴ CASEL & RAND Corp, Social Emotional Learning and Teacher Wellbeing Report, 2022
