Today I’m sitting down with a beloved seller in the TPT community - Deedee Wills! Deedee is someone I consider a true legend and has also been an integral part of the School of Sellers community over the years. I honestly can’t believe this is the first time she’s on the podcast!

During our conversation, I’m firing all kinds of questions at Deedee about her TPT success and personal life. You’ll hear how Deedee transitioned from a medical career to teaching to the world of TPT. We also discuss how TPT has changed over time, our TPT feature wishlists, moments of resilience, how Deedee has simplified things in her business, and what she has focused on most in her TPT store over the last couple of years.

As always, we talk fun stuff too! Deedee lets us into her personal life and shares about her ideal day off work, favorite foods, what she’s currently reading, and more. Whether you are familiar with Deedee or not, I know you’ll find this conversation enjoyable and inspirational. So grab your Diet Coke (our personal favorite) and listen in!

Show Notes: https://schoolofsellers.com/episode155/

Resources:

🔥 Join Ignite today: https://schoolofsellers.com/ignite

💻 Follow along on Instagram @school.of.sellers.

❤️ Loving this podcast? Rate and write a review on Apple Podcasts here!

🗣 Continue the conversation in The School of Sellers Facebook group.

Related Episodes to Enjoy:

• Episode 142, Catching Up with Abby Mullins: 12 Questions About Life, Business, + Beyond
• Episode 138, Meet the Seller: 20 Questions with Michelle Staley
• Episode 125, A Decade on TPT: 10 Questions for 10 Years (Featuring Abby Mullins)
• Episode 135, Sellers Actually with Amy Lemons: OG Seller Success WITHOUT a Huge Team

Welcome to the School of Sellers Podcast, a teacher business

show that is short on time but big on action. Full time,

part time, or just getting started? No matter where you are in

your teacher seller journey, there's something here for everyone,

making your online teacher business feel doable every step of the

way. Here's your host, Erin Waters.

Hello there, my seller friends, and welcome to another episode of The School of

Sellers podcast. Today, I have the absolute

pleasure of sitting down and chatting with someone I consider a

true TPT legend. I am so excited to welcome

Didi Wills to the podcast today. And, honestly, I can't believe it's

her first time on the show because she has been such a staple in the

seller community and such a an integral member of the school sellers

community over the years. So it was really just such an honor and a treat

to sit down with Didi today and talk to her, and I know that you

all are going to love hearing her story. And for those of you who

might not know Didi, although I'm sure that's a very small number, you

are in for a treat because Didi has been in the education space

for decades and has a journey that's both inspiring and

super, super, super relatable. I think Didi has seen it all

from teaching in the classroom to building an incredible TPT

business, and we get to dive into her experiences, her transition

from the medical field to teaching, which I never knew about, and also how she

became one of the original creators on TPT. So get ready for a

conversation that's filled with Didi Wills' wisdom, heartfelt

moments, and a few laughs along the way. So let's get into it.

Alright. Well, Didi, welcome to the show. I

was just saying I can't believe we have not had you on before. You are

just such an amazing face that's been in the School of Sellers community for so

many years. So welcome to the show. Thank you. Thank you for having me. I'm

excited to be here. Very excited. Honored. So I consider you a TPT

OG. You have been around since the very beginning days of

TPT. But tell us a little bit about for our listeners

who may not know you, which I guarantee that number is very teeny tiny, but

give us a little glimpse into Didi Wills and

what you have done in the field of education and what you're doing today.

Sure. So I, you know, grew up knowing I wanted to be a

teacher. Right? Like many, many people, I had it all set up

in my backyard. I had all the the dogs in in a

line. They were my students. Right? So I'm a dog lover. But,

so I've always wanted to be a teacher, but I had found while I was

going to school, I was in the medical field. So I worked in a medical

office and one thing led to another. I worked my way

up and became a manager of medical practices.

So that was that was really a great moneymaker.

And so it was hard for me to step away from that because, you

know, I had our first home, all of that kind of stuff. So

we got married and and I needed that income. So it was really hard for

me to step away from the medical field, but I eventually decided that was

really what I wanted to do. So I took a big pay cut and became

a teacher. So I've been in education for

about 25 years now. So it's 20 years I'm old.

Like, I've been around for a long time. So 20 years in the medical field

and about 25 years in the education field.

Always early childhood, but I really started my

TPT journey by buying my very first product from

Erica Broer and then, you know, you get on the email list. And so

I had gotten that email that I think a lot of people got. I think

it came out right around the holidays, Christmas holidays, and it was the one that

was talking about this person named Deanna Jump who had made this

crazy amount of money at the time. And I was

that was in the day when we used to get paid every 3 months. Do

you remember those days? Every Yes. Oh my gosh. Yeah. TPT would pay us

every 3 months. And so she'd gotten, like, $20,000 after 3

months. And I was like, this is like drug money, my husband. I'm like, oh

my gosh. I said, I think I should try to do it because I'd always

make my own resources in my classroom. And so I put my first product up

and very shortly after that, started making money. And

so I called it my shoe fund because, you know, like

many teachers lived paycheck to paycheck. You know, we

we saved, but really the extras weren't there and I have this shoe

thing. And so even today, that that account is

called DiDi's Shoe Fund. So that was what that money was for

and from then on, things progressed,

which was great. So I stepped away from the classroom full time about

10 years ago, moved from Missouri to Colorado, and

decided I needed to take a year off because I had worked myself

like many TPT years. We burned the candle from not only both ends,

but also the middle. And by the time I had stepped away,

you know, I was presenting a couple of times a month. So I would get

on a plane, go somewhere, doing TPT, taking care of my

kindergarten kiddos, and then blogging. And I don't even know.

Like, I know what happened. I gained, like, £25. I was, like, eating

my feelings, but I needed to, like, get my head back on because

I was really, like, mentally kind of, like, falling

apart. Like, I couldn't remember things. I wasn't

resilient. Just really had burnt myself out, and what I found was

I became busier with the TPT business and the presenting and

professional development. So I never went back full time to school,

although I do go and work in classrooms, several times a

week, but it's not the same as having your your own

class. Right. Right. Yeah. Gosh. Okay. I never knew

about how you started in the medical field. That is brand new

information to me. That's so fascinating. And I also

am just like laughing over here because I feel like you just hit on so

many universal TPT milestones that aren't actually

milestones, but like your origin story, obviously,

like the first product you ever bought, your first burnout, maybe your

second burnout, you know. Yeah. Like 8 burnout stories. So It's like

awakenings along the way that I think a lot of people can relate

to. So that is that is really fascinating. So

kind of in the spirit of, you know, you've you've you've said it yourself. You've

been in the TPT space for a while. Is there anything else

that people might not know about you? Like, whether it's a hidden

talent or a skill or something cool that you've done? Well,

I have 0 talent. So I I can't sing. I can't I

think I can, but I can't. I can't dance. I think I can, but I

can't. But, you know, some people might know this about me, but maybe they

don't. So I told you that story, that transition from the medical

field to becoming a, I was gonna say a doctor. No. I didn't become a

doctor. I became a teacher. I mean, that would have been that would have been

an amazing story. Then I was a doctor, then I became a teacher. No. But

in order for me to go back to school, I had to keep working full

time. So I had to go back to school to get my teaching certificate and,

finish my bachelor's degree, actually, get my teaching certificate. Then I decided I need to

get my master's at the same time. Woo hoo. So

in order to do that, I needed the Montgomery GI Bill. My husband's in the

service, Navy officer for, like, 6000000 years,

and so he talked me into very gently talked me into joining

the Navy Reserves. So I joined the Navy Reserves to pay

for my my education. I was able to take classes at an

accelerated rate on base, which would have

been impossible in the amount that it would have cost me. So

I was able to get it at a discounted rate, and the Montgomery GI Bill

helped pay for that. So the thing that most people don't

know is that I went to boot camp boot camp when I

was 33 years old. 33 years old.

So, you know, I lived in Southern California at the time, and so I'd never

really had winter. Like, you in Ohio, you're like, yeah. I know winter in Colorado

now. I know winter. Right. But I didn't know winter. So they

sent me to Great Lakes, Illinois in March, and it

was a freaking it was a nightmare. It's my own, like we could do a

whole, like, my private Benjamin story. Not everybody knows the story. Pretty

Benjamin. But it was a hot mess. But anyhow, went to boot

camp. So that is my unknown. Most people don't know that about me.

Yeah. Good times. Oh, you were just dropping all sorts of

information here that is blowing my mind. Many layers

of Didi Wills. Yeah. Wow. Well, I feel like you must have had some

sort of resilience hidden deep down in you. Even when you were saying you weren't

feeling resilient, I have to imagine boot camp, you know, instills a little bit of

that Yeah. On the way. That is fascinating. I mean and

I always kinda look back on that moment. When I was going to

school full time, we had a 3 year old. I was going to the on

the weekends that I wasn't in school. I was doing my Navy Reserve

duty and then homework. And so that was a 2

year, like like, burn. And then, also,

you know, they're going to oh gosh. It was just some it was a lot.

And so that is a moment that I look back when things are hard

because we all have moments in our life that are hard. I don't know why

I'm I feel teary about this, but we all have I like, right now, it

feels like a hard moment for me in my life, not because of

anything major. Everybody's healthy. It just feels hard.

Mhmm. But I always look back on that time and say say to myself,

you made it through that. You will make it through this. And

so I I think, you know, those moments in our lives that are really

challenging and you get to the other side is a moment that

you can lean back on and say, okay. I did that. I can do

this. And Yep. I think that is you know, I

think it's a it was a blessing from the time. Right? Yep.

Yeah. I love that. I absolutely love that. And I heard a quote recently that

reminds me of kind of, like, the harder your life becomes, also

the easier it becomes. Because, like, the more hard stuff you have to go through,

the easier, you know, like, little, like, hard things become for

you. So I think Right. And I don't mean to wait that moment

because that was all things I could step away from. Right. But

no. I mean, that's but other people have things, you know, that they can't step

away from, and they just have to get through it. So but that's my

own that's my own resiliency, like, reminder. I

used to have a a band, but then it broke, so I don't even know

what that means. Oh, no. But it was one that I would just, like, physically

hold on to that would remind me of those times. So

I think that speaks to a lot of sellers, especially now. You know, life just

feels hard for a lot of different reasons. Yeah. A lot of different people. So

I think that's a good message to always be reminded of.

Well, kind of leaning into the TPT side of things, you were

talking about how you got started in this amazing world

of selling by buying Erica's product. Do you remember the first

product that you ever made for TPT? I totally do. It was one that

I'd had in my classroom. So it was one that was and then, you know,

you look back on it, and you're like, oh my god. Oh, yeah. I thought

it was amazing. I actually I still have it in my store. It's

been revised, like, 17 times in the last, you know, 15

years, but it, it it was it's just a worksheet.

I used it was a sentence structure worksheet. Students would

cut apart a sentence, put it back in order, and then handwrite it, and then

illustrate it. And it was a way that we started our day every day. In

kindergarten, it was great because it taught us sentence structure. We we did a

little handwriting. They could focus on the handwriting because they didn't have to think

about the composing part of it, so they could really think about the mechanics.

And then they had the fun of the illustrating. So it's one I called it

retrace glue and draw. So that's what it was called forever.

But who knew that SEO was such an important thing? Nobody searches for

that. So now it's called handwriting something or another, but it's,

it's one that I used, and I think I really believed it was

helpful for my classroom. Yeah. I think that was something that kind of

was always, like, my guiding candle or light or whatever. Guiding

light, that's like a isn't that a soap opera? Anyhow, that was, like, my that

was, like, my little mantra is if it if it's something I won't use in

my classroom or I don't think it's beneficial for my students, I won't make it.

So, that was something that I just kinda stuck with. Yeah. I

think that's a really good rule of thumb. I think I could go through my

store right now, and, literally, my best to least sellers are very much the ones

that I was using and seeing success with in my classroom. So that's such

a good thing to stick to when Yeah. There's so many distractions all around.

Oh my gosh. Yes. It's tempting. So

any itch to return to the medical field? Like, if you weren't

doing if you weren't doing teaching things

or CPT things, like, what would your dream job be? Or what's something you think

you'd be really good at, even if you're completely unqualified currently? Oh, I'm

totally unqualified. But, I mean, I I did love working in the

medical field because I loved helping people. I helped solving problems. I was

always kind of that person that would if there was a

challenge that they were having, whether it was getting a referral to another physician

or medical bill or whatever, I kind of was the person who solved that problem,

and I loved doing that. But, honestly, if I

could do anything, I think I would be like a

docent at a national park. Like, I think I I'd actually, right

now, be really happy. You know, like, your life feels so complicated that

you just want simple, like, almost like I could probably work at Walmart and

be the greeter. But I almost think I would wanna be the person at the

little booth that took your money and gave you, like, the map. Like, that

would actually be welcome. But I love I grew up by

the beach, but I'm a mountain girl. So I love being in in

nature. My husband and I, we we get in our trailer. We're gone for

2 or 3 months at a time, which we love, and we love going

to state parks, national parks. And I just always look

at that, you know, the people who are doing the education programs, like, this is

amazing. I think I'd love to do this. So that might be something, you know,

for my next layer of my life. That might be something I could still

do. I love that answer, and I totally agree with you on the

simplicity. Like, just give me the outside and

just Yeah. Not a 1,000,000 things to think about. I mean, sometimes I'm

also, like, I you know, I wouldn't even mind, like, working at In N Out

Burger because, like, the menu is simple. I love the food, although

I would be, like, £5,000.

Oh my gosh. I love that. Okay. So I just have, like, a host of

random questions for you. I love these I love these episodes. So

what is your ideal way to spend a Sunday or

a day off of work? If we're in our trailer, that's my ideal

happy place. Like, why do we have a house? I should just be in

a trailer. I wanna live in a trailer park, but we love to hike too.

So just being outside is something that we love to do. So hiking, skiing in

the wintertime would be great as well. Is there do you have an ideal

hiking season? Fall is gorgeous. You know, summer is great here

too. We have very cool summer mornings. So if you get out before

it's too hot even when it's hot here, it's not that hot. You know? Mid

eighties, nineties, so it's not bad. But, yeah, fall is beautiful.

Spring is not great because it's kind of muddy and slushy sometimes Oh, yeah. That

way. But, I love fall. Yeah. Sounds awesome.

Okay. TBT question. What is the TBT task you

love the most and the one you despise the most?

For a while, I really did not like revising product

reviews Mhmm. Because I felt

really ill equipped to know what would work and what wouldn't work. And

I felt like, in my opinion now this probably in a

year from now, I'll change my mind, but at the time, I felt like every

cover had to look exponentially different than another

product line. And what I'm coming to find out is that it's

better for me to I know people have said to keep it branded,

but to kind of brand my look a little bit more. When I first changed

my brand, I noticed that there was a bit, I

think, a little bit of a dip in my sales. I think I could contribute

some of it to that. But now that I'm becoming a little bit more consistent,

I'm finding that, one, it it does spark joy because

it now looks nice and fresh and crisp, but I also look at

it from a buyer's perspective. You know, I'm, I'm in this

YDP group. I know I know you as well, and they talk about that, you

know, that first impression. It needs to be really clear

what the benefit of that is on the cover. And if you're doing that

font in a light yellow color on a different color background, I

mean, nobody's gonna be able to see it because it you just have to stop

them in their tracks. So now,

like, I actually enjoy like, one of the things that I do is I get

on my TPT app, which is, by the way, somewhat worthless.

But I get on a TPT, and I look at the things that, the

notifications when it shows the sales. Yes. And that's kind of a

way for me to look through and say, oh, that cover does not pop for

me. So I know I need to go back and do that. So that's kind

of my that's probably not the vetting process that other people would

recommend. But for me, that's sort of my instead of scrolling

social media, that's something that I do, and it just says, oh, I need to

make sure I I go to that product. Because if it doesn't pop for

me on that little tiny thumbnail Mhmm. Then it's not gonna probably

pop for other people. I love that process, though, like, the thought

process behind that because you're still just comparing your own things to your own things.

You're not like, oh, gosh. He said no social media. You're just Yep.

Yeah. It's such a good feeling when you have the opposite reaction, and you're like,

wow. That looks amazing. I'm so glad I changed that. I'm not,

like, regretting that someone just bought that. Yeah. Sometimes you're like, oh, my

gosh. I need to send them an email if I only could. I'm so sorry.

Yeah. Like, can we just issue them a refund? I'd feel really uncomfortable about this.

That's not not not a good look for me. But, yeah, it does. And it

really is scrolling through social media is

I know it's important that we need to know what's going on out in the,

TPT world and but it to me, it it doesn't I

don't enjoy it. It it, like, my

anxiety medicine just cannot keep up with social media. It's

just there's not enough. And I say that jokingly, and I say that wholeheartedly. I

mean, I do I think what most people probably

don't know about me is that I do have to take anxiety medication. I don't

know if it's TPT anxiety produced or if it's just as you get older,

you know, your body changes. And, you know, maybe that resilient

pool that I thought I had is now all dried up. But, you know, that

is something that I, I don't hide from people, obviously, I'm telling you

and now the entire world that visits your podcast.

But I think, you know, that is something that I don't even know.

We just totally took a left turn. Anyhow, I just share that because other people

might be feeling like, oh my gosh. I can't keep up.

I have all of these feelings. I don't know what to do with them. And

for some people, there may be a stigma to maybe reaching out and

getting help, especially as you reach a certain age. You know, our

hormones change. Our reactions to those hormone changes.

And my my doctor said, you know, 100%, I see people in

your age group Yeah. Postmenopause that, you know,

actually might, you know, really benefit from this. So Yeah. Anyhow. That's it.

I think that's gosh. That's another completely important conversation. We might have to come back

for another episode on that. I mean, I am right there with you, but I

totally I totally agree with the hormone thing. I mean, I did not I did

not have anxiety issues until after I had kids. And then it was like

like a whole new world. You know? Absolutely. It certainly doesn't

help with juggling us. I mean, I'm really grateful that our son was born

in the age prior to social media because I would've

I seriously would've worried myself into, like, a hole. Oh, yeah. It's

just too much. It's too much. Yeah. It really it truly, truly

is. Yeah. I Yeah. It's a lot. Well,

on a little lighter note, one of my favorite things I feel like whenever I'm

making these lists, they always somehow come back to food or, like, I just

love talking. So if you were to go out to dinner, what is

your restaurant of choice? Like, do you have a go to place or do you

have a preferred cuisine when you're going out to eat? Well, I love

Mexican food. I love you know, growing up in Southern California,

in San Diego, Mexican is my love language. I

really love cheap Mexican food. Like, you know, the the

taco stand that you stop at at 2 o'clock in the morning after you've been

out with friends, those are my favorite. We don't have a lot of them here

in Colorado, sad city, but I still love Mexican food. So I love I I

really do love Mexican food. I also I love anything with a little kick and

spice, like Thai food, Indian, all of that. I love a little spice.

Love. Yeah. Alright. Back on the TBT train, what is

a feature that you wish this is a loaded question. What's a feature on

TBT that you wish they had? Because I'm sure there's probably more than just one.

I wish in the q and a's that they would allow us to

include links. Mhmm. And there's probably a workaround.

I don't know. There used to be this HTML builder that you could

do that was this long link. I don't know that that still works. I mean,

I think I tried it before, and it didn't work. And so then I

stopped, and then I didn't put any more energy into it. But oftentimes,

people have a question that is, I like this, but I need

something that's that, or do you have a bundle for it even though it's all

bundled and blah blah blah? You know, I wanna know if you have more like

this. I would love to be able to upsell even if even

if they limited it to links within TpT. Right?

Because, I mean, they may be like, we don't want you to link outside.

True. I I would think I mean, they seem like they're smart people over

there. They would be able to figure out how to link, you know, add a

link within the TpT Mhmm. Platform.

You know, I I collaborate with Deanna a lot. And so oftentimes, the

answer is not something in my store. It's Indiana's store. Right. So, you

know, they're like, I heard you had this, and I can't find it. Well, yeah,

I do, but it's Indiana store. Anyhow, yeah, that would be

simple. Right? Or, like, even the ability to go back and forth. Like, I

hate that once, like, you each send a message, that's the end of that q

and a. Like, they can't then reply to your reply, so it gets so

confusing. Yes. Yeah. That a thread would be great. I've had a

lot of people say, I saw this in your q and a's, and I was

wondering if I could get the same thing. Right? And so if they could

see that whole chain, you know, of I had this question, and then you

answered this, and they had a follow-up. I mean, I feel like it would just

provide so much better customer service. 100%. Yeah.

Yeah. Oh, man. Well, hopefully, someone from team TBT is somehow

listening to this episode. Yes. Because they're so good at listening.

Yeah. They're so good. Yeah. One of their best qualities.

Yes. Okay. So I love this question because I, we've been on

TBT for a similar amount of time. But if you could get in a

TBT time machine, what year are you traveling back to

and what would you do in that year? Well, I mean, I've

already done the TBT, you know, travel machine because I've gone back and

revised all of my ugly things that I created in Word.

Right? Oh my gosh. I think I think probably right

now, I would probably travel back I would say I

would I would say 2019, but that's the year COVID. So I I don't

wanna imply that that's it. So I'll say 2018

because things were

so much easier, in 2018, and things came

much things were how do I say this without sounding I'm

just saying more profitable. Right? You didn't have to spend so much

money. You didn't have It was more passive income.

Like, we didn't It really was. Now it is a hustle, and even the

hustle isn't so I think in 2018, I would have

loved to go back there and just appreciate that moment because

at the time, you didn't know it was the

time. Do you know what I mean? Yep. So, you know,

today, I'm working on just being, practicing gratitude. Every

day, I wake up and say, today, I will be grateful. I take a little

shot of whiskey, and then I go on with my day. No. I'm kidding. But

I think maybe just to pause in that moment and have that gratitude.

You know, I think I I don't know why things changed so

I mean, I know. You you and I both know why something's changed drastically since

2018 on the platform. Right. But I think that there's been

there were a lot of sellers who came on during COVID that, you know,

obviously changed the marketplace, I think, in a good way

because there were a lot of new things coming on, but it it it flooded

the marketplace. So certain grade levels are there's a lot more

competition in that grade level. Yeah. I I think we're at very

similar points in our TPT journeys because I feel the same way.

And, yeah, I wish I wish I could go back to 2018,

Erin, too, and just say, like, you have no idea how good you have

it right now. And Yeah. Just, I mean, now, even on my sale

days where I'm looking and I'm just like comparing it to the previous years and

it's the worst. It's like part of me is still like, I'm

just grateful that people are still buying anything from me. You know what I mean?

Like, every sale is celebrated. Not saying that I we didn't

appreciate it back then, but it's just But the moment wasn't

one that we felt like we had to earn so much, and now I feel

like we do. I feel like the products are better now than they

were then Mhmm. As far as what I put out. Yep.

Or at least not better, but more complete now Mhmm.

Because they have they have to be. And, honestly, that's

really what I've spent the last couple years doing is optimizing all the current things

that I have, which probably has not helped me as we know about the

algorithm. We now know that that probably was not the best business

model for the bottom line, but I also feel

really grateful for the people who have stuck with me throughout the year. So I'm

I'm happy to do that, but I don't even know where I was going with

that. But I guess I was I was gonna say, yeah. I mean, if

I look at the the sales that I get now and think about, you know,

that person on the day after Christmas looking at the newsletter saying I want my

shoe fund, gratitude, a 100%. Yep. It's allowed me to

live a life that I never really thought I wouldn't be

grinding it out every day in the classroom, coming home, all of that stuff,

and then doing more work and doing more work. So I'm I am grateful for

that. And I'm grateful to people who have who have continued to be,

my people in the TpT world Mhmm. And teacher world.

I love that. And I think a lot of people will be able to relate

to that. Well, a little more lighthearted. I

don't think I've ever asked that question on this show before, but I'm curious to

hear your answer. If your TPT store had a mascot,

what would it be, and why would it be that mascot? Well, it

would be a squirrel. I mean, it would be a a squirrel.

Speaking of squirrel, one just went by my window. You know

Hammy on that over the hedge? Mhmm. I feel like

that is me on the inside. You know,

being able to just kinda quiet down and and

tamper that inner squirrel is something that I I just really have to work

at because I feel like I have to do all the things. Mhmm. Even

if some of those things I don't like, I still try to do

them, and I don't do it with energy that I do other

things. So, therefore, they aren't they they may not yield the

results that I want. You know, I've tried to I've simplified a lot

of things. I used to have a membership. I sold my membership. I used to

have a professional development platform where we did sold

PD virtual PD, sold that. I need to get

rid of all of like, I'm not a squirrel. I'm like a herd of squirrels,

whatever. A social of squirrels. I just need to stop thinking

that I need to do all the things and really focusing on the things

that bring me the most amount of joy, I think. So,

yeah, my but I still have a squirrel. I like I know all of my

animal rights people won't like it, but I have to, like, whack him with a

club because of, no, you don't need to do that. You need to just stay

stay the course. So, yeah. I'm gonna that herd of

squirrels is gonna be, like, such a strong visual for me, I feel like, because

I can relate to that so hard. Yeah. That's an amazing answer. You know, jumpstart

is one of the things that I know that you have started, but one of

the things I love about that is that it just does

create a space for you to refocus,

re realign what it is that you like

to do, and then allow you to, you know, give

give you a license to not do all the things. I don't need to have

a membership. I don't need to have all of these things. I don't

need to be dancing on TikTok. That's not

gonna that's not gonna be authentic to me. I might do it, but I'm

not gonna like it, so I won't stick with it. Right? So just focusing again

on what it is that, you know, you,

me, that I'm good at and that that my my

readers come to expect from me. Right? Authentic stuff.

Yeah. It is a nice time of year to kind of just reevaluate. And it's

funny you say all these things too, because definitely, like, a main theme of

jumpstart going into 2025 for this year is

like so much leaning in towards, like, the things that you enjoy doing,

the things that don't feel like a hustle to you, just the things that are

really important in life. Kind of like you were saying, you don't have to do

all the things. Like, pick one thing and be good at it and enjoy it.

And that's really what is going to make us happy at the end of the

day. I think so. I mean, I do think that you have to learn new

skills. You have to learn new things, and you have to do the hard things.

You can't just stick with the things that are easy for you. Right. But you

don't have to do all the hard things all at the same time.

Pick one hard thing you're going to work on this year or this 6 months

or this 3 months or this 4 weeks. I think it's the same as

teachers would have in their classroom. 1st year teachers, they always ask,

What do you advise? I'm like, don't think that you're gonna be able to be

the master teacher in reading, writing, math. Right. All of those

things. Pick 1, then add to it. Because if you try to do

everything, you're gonna do everything not well. Right?

So yeah. Learn everything you can about this, establish your habits, and then

add one more thing. Yeah. And figure out what you are good at and what

you do enjoy. And then, hopefully, you can find one thing where all of those

things intersect, and that's, like, your your magic. Your lane.

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yes. For sure. I love that.

Okay. Weirdest place, Didi, that you've ever gotten a

product idea? Oh, I used to have a lot of ideas, and it's

not weird. I think it's probably for most peep I mean, shower.

But it's it's usually when I'm in the car. So

I'm either a passenger, which is convenient because

I can jot it down. But when I used to go back and forth for

school, I had a 30 minute drive each way. I would have this idea, and

then I would have to get my phone out and, like, record it into my

phone. But I would just have to have a parking lot because I couldn't really

write and all of that stuff. So it's usually

in a spot where I'm not trying to

come up with an idea. And one thing that I need to work on more

is I need to get back to doing a lot of professional reading. Last year,

I just read, like, a ton of stuff, and I kind of, you know, burnt

that part of me out because I was preparing to write a book, and then

I realized I don't need to write a book. Remember, like, I told you all

the things? Yeah. And so I kinda burnt myself out, so I had put those

aside. But make sure that you're reading and knowing what

best practices are. If you don't know what best practices are, you shouldn't be making

products for TPT, the end exclamation point. Yep. But make sure you know what

best practices are, and then let that marinate for a while because if you

have that quiet space, the ideas will come. Yes. You

know, scrolling through Pinterest is not a great place for you to get ideas.

That's a great place for you to find other people's ideas. Right? Mhmm. That's not

a great place for you to come up with product ideas. But think about what

are the best practices. If you're in the classroom, that is by far the best.

That's why I still love working with kids. It's, like, what does this child right

here need? And then let that kind of marinate. And those ideas will

come for me, they come in my quiet space when I'm driving or something

like that. I that's such a good point. It's so counterintuitive, though,

because it feels like you need to be in front of the computer and looking

at things and reading things to get those ideas, but I am the same way.

I mean, the minute I step away, that's when my mind just starts going a

1000000 miles a minute, and it's in the best way possible. Yeah. For

sure. For sure. My gosh. Well, we're gonna wrap this up with a

little bit of, speaking of OG TBT days,

remember those, like, currently trends where we feel like currently

eating, reading. Yes. We're gonna do a little round of that. Okay.

So what are you currently watching? And it can be

recently too, like, if it's not right this minute that you're doing all these

things. We just finished the series Ripley.

Oh. It it was I think it's I think it's

on Netflix. I'm pretty sure. But it is

it was so good. It's a story that was it's a

series. It won a bunch of Emmys, which I was like, I didn't even hear

about it before it, like, popped up. Yeah. Do you remember the oh, what was

it called? The the talented mister Ripley along Yes. Yes. So it's

kinda it's not kind of. It is that story, but it is

so good. It is so good. And it's a it's a

a, like, a, I don't know, 7 part, 8 part series. Perfect. Super good.

Little disturbing, little dark, really good. Right up my alley.

I love that. I'm gonna add it to my list. Currently reading.

Well, I'm not really reading this right now. I'm listening to it on

Audible, which is something that I love to do when I talk about doing

covers. I love to have an audible because it keeps me on task. It keeps

me from and I don't have to do a lot of like, if I'm not

composing, I can listen to an audio tape or music with lyrics. But I'm

listening to The Women by Kristen Hannah. Kristen Hannah. Oh, my

gosh. So good. I'm almost done with it. That's what I'm

listening to. And then reading is the Colleen Hoover, it's

It Ends With Us. Mhmm. I haven't got very far with it. I know it

came out as a movie, but I wanted to read the book before I

saw the movie. That's when I saw the movie. I'm the same way. I think

that's that's I think a lot of people are reading that. I just everyone I've

seen recently, like, everyone I sat next to on the plane my last like, when

I was traveling a couple weeks ago, I think, like, 2 out of my 3

seatmates had Colleen Hoover. Oh, yeah. I

mean, it's an easy read. Like, you don't have to work really hard. Versus, like,

The Women or, I really loved her other book that

was The Nightingale. I thought that was a good cue. I'm

heavy. So, yeah, this is yeah. That's a good one to balance it out. Yep.

I my favorite by her is The Great Alone, if you haven't read. Oh, writing

that down. Okay. Kristen Hannah's. Okay. I'm writing it

down. Mhmm. Do you are you currently or recently going

anywhere? Like, do you have you done any traveling? Or

We just got back from the, West Coast. We were gone for my high school

reunion. Oh, fun. 40 year high

school reunion, which was so amazing. Wow. We're going to Mexico at

the end of the month just for a couple of days, and then I think

I think we're going to Italy for Christmas. I don't know, but I think we

are. So that's sort of, like, the three things that only what I did

where, going just like a little weekend thing to Puerto Vallarta with my

husband and then maybe Italy for Christmas. Oh my gosh. That

sounds amazing. I know. I know. Wow. We're excited about

that. Alright. I told you, I always I have to come back to the

eating, the drinking. We'll we'll round this out with anything you're currently or

recently really loving food wise or drink wise? Diet

Coke. I mean, Diet Coke. I Right there with you.

Every 3 months, I decide I'm gonna get rid of it. It's not gonna be

my habit. And I'm gonna just gonna cold turkey. And

then about 4 days later, my husband's just throwing them at me. It's

like, just drink it. It's it's a horrible, horrible

I don't care. I don't I don't smoke. I don't do drugs.

I don't drink alcohol. I drink Diet Coke. I think that's

an okay vice to have. I don't it's probably not. I mean, there's some

countries you can't even buy it. But if it ever if it's illegal here, I'm

I will be a drug mule for you, so just let me know. Okay. I

will go across the border. I will smuggle it. I'm currently in my

lying to myself saying that I'm just gonna do sparkling water this week, and it's

not going well. So yeah. I'll be buying diet Coke by the weekend, I

think. You're like, you'll go to Costco. You'll be the only girl with the cart,

like, 5 pie. Yeah. Oh my gosh. Any good

food you're eating recently? Well, you know, we're trying to be gluten free here.

My husband has some autoimmune things. So we're we're working on gluten

free. And so and I'm kind of sad because I heard that this

company sold their company to Pepsi, but it's the

Siete Foods. Yeah. Mhmm. They're so good. They have these,

like, little chips, these queso chips Yep. That are gluten free and dairy free,

which are the 2 things and no sugar. So we're trying to get rid of

those things. Thank god it's not diet Coke free home, but

but the Siete Foods, I have yet to come up with anything that's

not good, but they have these little chips that are really, really good. They also

have, like, these lime chips, tortilla chips that are really good. So Oh,

I haven't seen that. Yeah. Love those. I'll have to check those out. That sounds

really good. They're very good. Hopefully, they don't change.

Yeah. Pepsi. Hopefully not. I think we can I think

we can forgive them? Okay. Oh, yeah. Good for them. Happy for

them. Oh, my gosh. Well, Didi, thank you so much for

coming on the show. I know people are gonna love listening to this episode. You're

such a familiar, friendly face in the TPT. Oh, thank you so much. So I

think just hearing more from you is gonna be so enjoyable for Well,

ditto. I'm glad that you asked me. I finally got asked to the prom.

That's why I said, I got asked to the prom. So excited. Thank you for

having me. Aw. Thank you so much.