Featured today on Enjoying Family Life, I’m sharing how I leveraged my years of success as a content creator to switch careers from teaching to digital marketing with the help of Udacity’s Digital Marketing Nanodegree Program! Turning side hustles like blogging and social media into a career is possible. It’s never too late to start learning. Check out three reasons why I decided to take this program. 

My passion for the topic

For six years as a teacher, I found that my side hustle of blogging and creating content was a big part of what made me feel fulfilled. Each day after grading, planning, and leading volunteer book clubs, I would come home excited to see which sponsorships I had landed, and I would start planning my family’s hosted weekend trips. Memories were made with each photo I took, which is why my blog became like a scrapbook to me.

I started to question if my Master’s degree in Elementary Education from Vanderbilt had been a choice I made more because it was expected of me and not because I was passionate about the topic. Since teaching is a career that relies on passion to get through long days, I knew it was time to make a change.

When schools shut down due to the pandemic, I even started a virtual class teaching basic marketing skills to girls. My students learned how to create the best doll idea for the new year and persuade others they would want to buy it with either a short movie, movie trailer, or commercial.

My future path became clear to me, but I didn’t know how to gain the career skills I needed without having to return to college. That’s when I learned about Udacity’s Digital Marketing Nanodegree program.

The reputation of Udacity’s Nanodegree programs

Udacity’s Nanodegree programs are known for offering specific feedback, having mentors for each class, and providing career advice.

Since the Nanodegree programs have a strong reputation in many fields, including Programming, Data Science, and more, I realized that the Digital Marketing program through the School of Business was a good fit for me to learn and gain the necessary skills for a new career in marketing.

Real-world applications of the material learned

My favorite part about the Digital Marketing Nanodegree program is that it offers projects based on real-world problems that are relevant to the development of marketing strategies. Three helpful concepts I have learned so far have been determining marketing objectives, stating a primary Key Performance Indicator, and determining a target persona for a brand. After finishing the program, I will have projects to list on my resume and even link to so potential employees can see what I can do.

Have you ever had your life head in a new direction?

Share what happened and how you learned from the experience in the comments.

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