Brittany Ann Cufaude of Joyful Classrooms: Second Chapters; How I Reinvented Myself In The Second Chapter Of My Life

Get really specific and focused about what your minimum viable product is. I grew my business in response to each client’s needs, and this worked well for years. However, it meant that I did not have a strong brand or “the thing” we do. In other words, what Joyful Classrooms did was whatever the client needed. This is a business model that is bound to struggle. It is more recently that I have consulted with various business leaders to determine exactly what it is that Joyful Classrooms provides, what our minimum viable product is, and why our customers should stick with us.

Many successful people reinvented themselves in a later period in their life. Jeff Bezos worked in Wall Street before he reinvented himself and started Amazon. Sara Blakely sold office supplies before she started Spanx. Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson was a WWE wrestler before he became a successful actor and filmmaker. Arnold Schwarzenegger went from a bodybuilder, to an actor to a Governor. McDonald’s founder Ray Croc was a milkshake-device salesman before starting the McDonalds franchise in his 50's.

How does one reinvent themselves? What hurdles have to be overcome to take life in a new direction? How do you overcome those challenges? How do you ignore the naysayers? How do you push through the paralyzing fear?

In this series called “Second Chapters; How I Reinvented Myself In The Second Chapter Of My Life “ we are interviewing successful people who reinvented themselves in a second chapter in life, to share their story and help empower others.

As a part of this interview series, I had the pleasure of interviewing Brittany Cufaude.

Brittany Ann Cufaude is a teacher, coach, author, and founder of Joyful Classrooms, a company that exists to bring joy and equity to all children through a devotion to continuous learning & compassionate community. Brittany has been in education for over fifteen years and has devoted her life to improving outcomes for all humans who are connected to schools in any form. Brittany is author of Lessons in Joy, a book that gently supports educators in opening up their hearts, rolling up their sleeves, and partnering with a compassionate community to better serve the children whose lives depend on it.

Thank you so much for doing this with us! Before we start, our readers would love to “get to know you” a bit better. Can you tell us a bit about your childhood backstory?

I was born in Vail, Colorado to a couple of ski bums who are both California natives. During a party in Aspen, they caught each other’s attention with this commonality. We all returned to California when I was about three. I grew up in the Sacramento area. My earliest memories include staring out car windows at the pale farmlands of central California, appropriately dubbed the breadbasket of our nation.

My parents split up right after our return, and my mom entered law school and subsequently pursued a career as an attorney. Like most parents, mine were busy. Most of my memories are of palling around with my little sister. We were thick as thieves and pretty mischievous. Bored one Sunday afternoon, we found a can of Pepto-Bismol-pink paint and applied several layers to the trunks of several Redwood trees that lined our neighbor’s property. The neighborhood never forgave us for that one. We were the last generation of kids who ran around unaccounted for until dark. No internet. No cell phones. No playdates. Just a lot of time and not much to do.

I come from a huge extended family and I spent much of our childhood with my aunties and adorable Nicaraguan grandmother in the Los Angeles Valley. I feel almost as at home in LA as I do in Sacramento.

I was pretty disinterested in academics well into high school. I was an avid equestrian starting at around eight. I spent considerable time wiping arena and barn dust from the corners of my mouth. I skipped school a lot to ride. When asked what my spirit is, horse is always the easy answer.

My sister and I were both pretty alternative in our nonchalance around authority, our aesthetic rebellions, as well as our eclectic music interests. Though we were very social, we also always related to the margins and were powerfully drawn to social and animal justice. I became a vegetarian long before you could find tofu in the grocery store.

One summer, my mom sent us to what I can best describe as a hippie stronghold in the form of a summer camp nestled in the Trinity Alps. I adored it. Spending my summers there was pivotal for me. My campmates were a bunch of affluent, precocious bay area kids, very different from the Abercrombie and Fitch devotees that made up my rural high school crowd. Between summers, I began a fervent effort to catch up with my campmates’ literary consumption and sophisticated lexicons. Though I was pitifully behind, academia swept me off my feet. I have remained enamored with learning ever since. In retrospect, intellectualism was my great escape. That remains true in one form or another to this day.

Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?

My grandmother always says, “Querer es poder,” which loosely translates to what you want to do, you can do. While I can poke holes in this blanket wisdom when if applied too widely, whenever I am drowning in a deluge of doubt or stuck behind seemingly insurmountable obstacles, I do hear my grandmother’s voice saying, “querer es poder.” And in those moments, I choose to believe her. There is certainly something to perseverance and determination. In my particular experience, if you combine those qualities with a clear mission to help solve a very real problem for real people you truly can achieve the things you want.

You have been blessed with much success. In your opinion, what are the top three qualities that you possess that have helped you accomplish so much? If you can, please share a story or example for each.

The three top qualities I possess that have led to my accomplishments are resilience, heart, and courage.

Early in my twenties, I was backpacking with my now ex-husband and two dear friends, one of whom was my oldest friend. During a long bout of silence, she piped up and asked everyone to think of the one word we each felt would be best inscribed on each other’s gravestones. All I remember from this morbid discussion is that she said the one word she chose for me was resilient. I chuckle now because I went on to overcome so much more than I had by that time. That said, she knew a lot about my childhood and she was right. I spent most of my childhood surviving, adapting, and overcoming. These days, that existential endurance serves me in every area of my life, but I have put it to particularly good use in business. I have been through quite a lot and I have yet to encounter something I am unable to adapt to, solve, or avoid.

I am all heart. I just adore people and children in particular. I often say children (big and small). I started my teaching career as a high school teacher. Back then I was a kid myself, but I still feel high-school-aged folks are children. Starting at a very young age, my auntie and I would stay up into the early mornings talking; I can’t even imagine about what. But this reminds me of how from the start I have been fascinated by people. I’ve been told I can talk to anyone and I think that is true. People’s stories deeply matter to me. Consequently, people share a lot with me and their stories hang in my memory a bit like linens on a clothesline. I can see all the stories hanging out back blowing gently in the breeze. And, I have essentially built a life dedicated to going back, one story at a time. I retrieve the stories, I care for them, and I try to place them where they belong. I often tell my son everything deserves a place. I believe that on a material and on a human level. When someone is telling me a story, I want to see pictures of all involved. When I visit other countries or regions, I pick up the accents. I rehearse them silently in my head. I connect deeply with others. I would do anything for the people I love, and as an educator and single-mother, this means I have stayed pretty busy. But this life of service has brought me unrelenting joy.

Fearlessness is something I felt from a young age. Professionally, this later turned into ambition and courage. I do have an almost childlike and magical belief that I can do just about anything, especially if it involves improving the lives of others. Thus, I work feverishly to accomplish what I believe are worthy causes. I chose the education arena as I believe children, and those who work most closely with them, should be the top priority of any just and moral society. I am deeply invested in better outcomes for all children, and I advocate pretty fearlessly for marginalized and underserved schools, students, and teachers. Teachers are a group of professionals who earn very little respect in many areas but particularly in regard to the sophistication and intellectual requirements of the job. Folks who have never worked full-time in classrooms are really misinformed regarding how remarkable one has to be to teach effectively. My vision is to change the world one classroom at a time. Classrooms are really forgotten spaces for most folks outside education. So, I remain courageous in changing that. I started a podcast called, “Opening the Door.” The thinking being: we should all get more involved in classrooms. They deserve more care, support, resources, and joy.

Let’s now shift to the main part of our discussion about ‘Second Chapters’. Can you tell our readers about your career experience before your Second Chapter?

Before my Second Chapter, I was a high school and middle school English teacher. During my first year of teaching, I was also planning a wedding for a marriage that would eventually fall apart. I was young. I was often mistaken as a student walk around campus. I adored teaching. Teaching remains the favorite job I have ever had. I get giddy when I think about being in the classroom.

And how did you “reinvent yourself” in your Second Chapter?

Well, this really connects to the three qualities I mentioned before. My reinvention was really shaped by courageous acts of love and required resilience, some for myself, many for my son. About five years into my teaching career, I was divorced and a single mom to a one-and-a-half-year-old precious baby boy. I hadn’t even turned thirty yet. There was so much to do and so many pieces to put back together. So, I just did them one by one. I worked incredibly hard. I bought a car that fit his car seat. I bought my home a year later. And I was pretty sure I would find a partner to share it all with, which is to say, I couldn’t actually afford my mortgage. So, it wasn’t long before providing became one of those seemingly insurmountable challenges. I was broke. I rented out my spare bedroom, but that proved challenging with a young son. My first quasi-entrepreneurial move was converting my garage into a studio and becoming an Airbnb host. That was my first side hustle. In other words, my reinvention was, at least at first, the amalgamation of various acts of survival.

Can you tell us about the specific trigger that made you decide that you were going to “take the plunge” and make your huge transition?

As I was approaching my tenth year of teaching, I had also worked my way into site and district leadership. This work included coordinating and implementing large-scale organizational shifts and initiatives. This was during a time when various publishers were selling new curricula to districts throughout California. I worked closely with various curriculum sales teams to support my teacher teams’ while they tried out the new materials. I tried a few of them with my own students. I would never have seen this coming, but one of the sales reps apparently saw something in me I wasn’t aware of and she recruited me into publishing. This was the first of many plunges. I loved my district, my colleagues, and my students. All of them were and remain like family to me. Tears were shed. But, I was also missing mortgage payments and this new path was far more lucrative than my teacher salary. So, I submitted my resignation in August of 2015.

The education publishing world was a riot. I learned all about business travel. I spent most days of the week on planes, in rental cars, and in various hotel rooms. I had no idea that I had essentially accepted a sales position. My nature is to give my absolute all to whatever I am doing. I worked as hard for that company as I did for my students back in my classroom. Thus, I was successful.

On a work trip, I met up with an entrepreneur friend. As we were talking and catching up, she stopped me and made clear: “Brittany, if you are going to work this hard, you really should be doing it for something you can build yourself.” That sat in the back of my mind for about a year. One afternoon, after a long day of consulting, a school district superintendent and director of curriculum and instruction asked me for advice that fell well outside my existing job description. I took a minute to inhale and exhale. Then I told what my godmother would call a stretcher. I said I had a private consulting company that specializes in organizational change and team culture. The truth was these were my specialties. The stretcher was the company part. I said I would be more than happy to provide them all the details, including a professional development plan.

I left their office and flew home that night in my rental car, music blaring and inspiration flowing. In the three hours it took me door to door, I decided on my company’s name, my mission and values, and I took yet another huge plunge. When I got home that night, I designed a logo, threw up a website, made business cards, and even filed with the California State Secretary. I was thus incorporated. Joyful Classrooms LLC was born.

What did you do to discover that you had a new skillset inside of you that you haven’t been maximizing? How did you find that and how did you ultimately overcome the barriers to help manifest those powers?

I imagine that most paved professional paths are similar to the teaching profession. For teachers, the professional trajectory is pretty lockstep. Excellence is often something that is privately experienced between great teachers and their students. There are teachers of the year, those who go into leadership, etc. However, if you remain a public-school teacher until retirement, you can download a pdf salary schedule and see exactly what you will earn regardless of how hard you work or do not. While I am not in favor of merit-based pay for teachers for reasons that are too complex to unpack here, a few skillsets I had in me were innovation, adaptability, and a keen business sense.

My adaptive and resilient nature really served me during this time. One of the barriers to growing professionally within a bureaucracy is that it is very confining. During my time as a district employee, I kept my head down and worked well within an established system. Whatever trailblazing I did during those years had an immediate impact but on a relatively small number of people. As an entrepreneur deadest on changing the world, my scope has widened. So, while I still keep particular people in mind when I am building a new campaign, product, or strategy, my impact is worldwide now. To be honest, that meant developing a new relationship with vulnerability and my own ego. Now, when I take risks and fail, I fail big. Many people get to watch. And, it is not the same as failing in front of my beloved students or colleagues. However, when I am successful, it is bigger than I could have ever imagined for myself.

How are things going with this new initiative? We would love to hear some specific examples or stories.

Things are amazing at the moment. I just finished my book, Lessons in Joy: The Journey to Save Our Sacred Teaching Practice and Heal Our Hearts Along the Way. That will launch May 1st. Simultaneously, we are scaling up our multi-vendor site, professional coaching practices, as well as providing a comprehensive course to teach teachers how to become teacherpreneurs. All of that can be found on our website www.joyfulclassrooms.com. 2020 was a rough year for everyone, but teachers and students were hit particularly hard. I just adore educators. They are some of the hardest working professions with incredible sophistication and expertise. They work for so little fiscal reward. They work hard for moral and spiritual rewards. It’s remarkable. My current campaign is to help educators leverage their gifts. I am also working on the healing our profession needs. in 2020, I really thought about my beloved educators and what I could do to help. Every aspect of my new book and campaign is truly an homage to teachers and children (big and small).

Is there a particular person who you are grateful towards who helped get you to where you are? Can you share a story about that?

There are so many. I have to thank my son for being so mellow and allowing me to work so hard. Businesswise, Leah Broeske is the woman who saw something special in me and she is who recruited me into publishing. To this day, she’ll email me an idea or inspiration. To me, she exemplifies a woman who absolutely uplifts other women. I have so much to thank her for. My mentor and guru is Lauren Greenberg. She turned me around in terms of my understanding of literacy best-practices. While my specialty in the area of literacy has become one of many things I offer now, her wisdom, and willingness to share, were huge stepping stones on this path. She also saw something special in me. I mentioned before that I struggled in school. As a result, teachers didn’t take very kindly to me. There is something particularly rewarding about being revered by teachers. So, I adore both of these women for many reasons.

I also have to say my mom. She was a pioneer as well. She was in her late twenties when she became a single mom. She put herself through law school and graduated as valedictorian. My mom taught me about hard work. She works tirelessly. She taught me that hard work is a blessing.

Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you started in this new direction?

Well the Covid-19 pandemic has certainly been interesting! Although it did not feel interesting at first (in fact it was completely terrifying) in the end, pivoting during Covid-19 has proved incredibly exciting. Prior to COVID mitigation and school closures, my primary business model relied on live, in-person workshops, keynote addresses, and consulting services. The moment schools closed, it felt as though my business would as well. However, with respect to all the devastating impacts, suffering, and loss, I have also looked for as many silver linings as I could. And, my latest campaign was really inspired during all the down time.

Did you ever struggle with believing in yourself? If so, how did you overcome that limiting belief about yourself? Can you share a story or example?

Believing in yourself is a tricky thing. I have gained a lot by paying attention to my internal belief systems, both about myself and others. Of course, I struggle with my imposter complex all the time. Sometimes I catch myself feeling like an awkward tween. That happens without question. That said, I do a lot of work in relation to my ego. The idea of self in relationship to the world and others is worth exploring. In my life, I am certainly aware of thought patterns that sometimes lean toward feeling like I can conquer the world. At other times, I wonder why in the world anyone has ever listened to or read a word I’ve said. I have a practice that leads me toward noticing that that is how my mind works and it just is. Letting things be what they are holds a lot of power in this case. As I get older, I just notice the various thoughts without investing in them with any particular attachment. The highs are often as illusory as the lows. In relationship to my professional work, I do not have celebrity-like ambitions. I truly do see myself as a cog in a particular set of wheels that turn toward justice. I feel deeply connected to all the other humans engaged in that work, and I strongly believe our collective activity is far more important than my individual abilities, work, or impact. For me, this is huge because humility is so critical in business. If someone else can do it better and faster, let them or hire them. Limiting beliefs about myself wax and wane, I call it the mental Olympics. I certainly cannot allow that activity to interfere with my mission. That said, if I find myself particularly swept away in negative thoughts, it is usually because I am overworked, or I have been avoiding something that needs my attention. That’s usually a signal to slow down, listen, and pay attention. Something I do more now is create time for nothing. I take long walks without my phone or company. I rest. I find all my best inspiration and creativity come during or right after rest and inaction. Inspiration and creativity are lynchpins of entrepreneurial pursuits. There is no question, stepping into the entrepreneurial space is scary and there is no escaping fear if you want in. It is also vulnerable and replete with failure. If someone is opposed to fear and failure, I imagine negative beliefs could easily take that person down. What I have done to work on this is to know what I can always fall back on. I connect deeply with my purpose. I am here in this lifetime to improve lives and leave the world better than I found it. Everything I do, I do with that in mind. When I fail, I learn, and I keep it moving. I never give up not do I see failure as something to shy away from. Then, I remember my strengths. I have these written down in case I fall into a slump, which happens. When it does, I read: “Brittany, your superpowers are vision, speed, and complex problem-solving. You also blessed with a ton of energy and creativity. And, you connect deeply with other humans and in particular those who are or have suffered.” I assume this way of relating to oneself is like the athlete’s journey. There is a clear purpose and you remain devoted to it. Sometimes you get injured. So, you rest and rehab. Then you get back at it. There no shame in that game.

In my own work I usually encourage my clients to ask for support before they embark on something new. How did you create your support system before you moved to your new chapter?

This made me chuckle because this is on my top five things I wish someone had told me before I got started! I did not have a business support system and I paid for it! I do now and it makes a huge difference. I wish I had had the time to slow down, plan, consult with others, and move forward with solid advice!

Starting a new chapter usually means getting out of your comfort zone, how did you do that? Can you share a story or example of that?

I suppose it falls in line with my no fear principle. Another principle that guides my work is do no harm. But as far as my comfort zone, I have slowly acquired a sense of, “Why not?” What will we do with this one precious life? My response is certainly not safe and comfortable! I think a particular set of circumstances in my life have encouraged me in this direction. For example, when I got married and began a family, I believed with every fiber of my being that would last a lifetime. I was absolutely certain. It did not last a lifetime and far from it. Slowly, and as a result of riding the unpredictable waves of life, I have grown accustomed to uncertainty and I feel as though it only brings me liberation. There is more in this lifetime that is unpredictable than the other way around. We cannot possibly predict what will happen next, and I believe we can choose our attitude about that: anxiety or excitement. I choose the latter.

Fantastic. Here is the main question of our interview. What are your “5 things I wish someone told me before I started leading my organization” and why? Please share a story or example for each.

1. Get really specific and focused about what your minimum viable product is.

I grew my business in response to each client’s needs, and this worked well for years. However, it meant that I did not have a strong brand or “the thing” we do. In other words, what Joyful Classrooms did was whatever the client needed. This is a business model that is bound to struggle. It is more recently that I have consulted with various business leaders to determine exactly what it is that Joyful Classrooms provides, what our minimum viable product is, and why our customers should stick with us.

2. Connect and dialogue with other industry leaders and leaders outside of your field as you get started.

I wasted a ton of time and money flying by the seat of my pants. Once I finally connected with folks who have been in business for years, I was able to make wiser decisions. Now I know when to pivot and when to stay the course.

3. Make sure you have a strong mission, vision, and core values, that they are inspiring, and that they are designed to solve real problems for real people.

I feel as though companies spend a ton of energy on branding and I’m not against it. It is important to stand out. However, we are in an era during which consumers care about ethics. They love to know the story behind a company, and they want to be a part of a community, product, or experience that they can connect to. People also are drawn to concepts, products, and services that solve problems simply. I feel like mission, vision, and values feel like fluff to a lot of folks, and it can be. But if we invest in these meaningfully and they come from our heart, it changes everything! Also, verify and test before you launch.

4. Stay focused but be flexible.

Running a business is one of the most challenging things I have ever done. And, my nature is to please. So when my clients need something, I want to act immediately. As the years have passed though, I have realized I have to stick to my plan and accomplish my goals, even if it means asking a client to wait longer than I would like or even having to say no to an opportunity. On the other hand, your company will grow in ways you cannot plan for or predict and that is part of the beauty of business. So, maintaining focus and sense of flexibility is key!

5. Know when to say yes and when to say no.

One of the most brutal mistakes I made early in my career was saying yes to everything. Once I said yes to doing a district-wide training of over 400 teachers. There were a number of details I knew would compromise the quality and integrity of what I would be able to provide, but I wanted to please my client. Despite my intuition about the details and how it would be difficult to deliver, I proceeded. To say it was a disaster would be an understatement; I considered closing my company and taking a different path. I was humiliated and disappointed in myself. In the end, however, I just kept my head up and forged on. My takeaway, however, is it is crucial to say no to the things that do not align with your mission, vision, values, and focus. It is also critical to understand your limitations and strengths.

You are a person of great influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be?

If I could start a movement it would be to connect each person to his or her purpose, how to cultivate that purpose in each aspect of one’s life, and emphasize that work is just one of innumerable aspects. I am also hugely devoted to self-compassion and I feel the brutal nature of business requires so much grace and forgiveness. It reminds me of what Brene Brown says: if you are going to enter the ring, you will fall on your face. You will fail. My advice would be to go ahead and stand up, brush yourself off, remember with piercing confidence that you are right where you belong, and be kind to yourself as you learn from your mistakes. I love this Mark Twain quote: “Good judgment comes from experience, and experience comes from poor judgment.” My movement would be to know oneself deeply, pursue the path best suited for you with tenacity, connect meaningfully with like-minded people, welcome all stumbles and fumbles, serve others when they are struggling, and love the whole thing, including your own fallibility.

We are very blessed that some very prominent names in Business, VC funding, Sports, and Entertainment read this column. Is there a person in the world, or in the US with whom you would love to have a private breakfast or lunch with, and why? He or she might just see this if we tag them. :-)

I would have to say Van Jones. I feel I got close because his production crew filmed part of his restorative justice series, “The Redemption Project,” in my house. Episode, “Left for Dead,” to be exact. In all seriousness, I feel a deep connection to folks involved in restorative justice. My next chapter will involve work with incarcerated youth, harm reduction, and helping folks released from prison find purpose, compassionate community, and prosperity on the outside. Once a teacher, always a teacher I suppose. I see the inner children in every adult I work with. So, I would love to be of service in that regard, like Van is.

How can our readers further follow your work online?

Well, I’m easy to find! Folks are welcome to explore the Joyful Classrooms website: www.joyfulclassrooms.com. I am also very active on social media. I’m on LinkedIn, Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, and most recently TikTok!

Thank you so much for sharing these important insights. We wish you continued success and good health!