Leaving Teaching to Go All In on Sleep Consulting with Kate Faraci

 

Leaving Teaching to Go All In on Sleep Consulting with Kate Faraci

 

Kate built her sleep consulting business while working full time as a teacher and raising three kids. For three years, she fit client calls into evenings and weekends, slowly growing her business while continuing to show up for her career and her family.

This year, after 20 years in education, Kate decided she was ready to bet on herself and take her sleep consulting business full time.

I really loved our conversation about what it took to get her to this point. We talked about the confidence that came from supporting more than 100 families, the challenge of walking away from a steady paycheck, and how strange it can feel to leave a career that has been part of your identity for so long.

But mostly, I loved hearing how excited she is!

There’s uncertainty in making a change this big, but Kate isn’t dwelling on that. She’s focused on how much she loves supporting families, how hard she’s willing to work for the business she wants, and how exciting it feels to finally have the time to give her business her full attention.

 

Links:

Website: It Starts with Sleep
Instagram: @itstartswsleep

 

If you would like to learn more about the Becoming a Sleep Consultant, please join our free Facebook Group or check out our CPSM Website.

Book a free discovery call to learn how you can become a Certified Sleep Consultant here.

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Transcript: 

Intro: Welcome to Becoming a Sleep Consultant! I’m your host Jayne Havens, a certified sleep consultant and founder of both Snooze Fest by Jayne Havens and Center for Pediatric Sleep Management.

On this podcast, I’ll be discussing the business side of sleep consulting. You’ll have an insider’s view on launching, growing, and even scaling a sleep consulting business. This is not a podcast about sleep training. This is a podcast about business building and entrepreneurship.

Jayne Havens: Kate, welcome to the Becoming a Sleep Consultant Podcast. I’m so excited to chat with you today.

Kate Faraci: Thanks for having me, Jayne.

Jayne Havens: So before we get started, why don’t you share a little bit about yourself? Tell us about your career and why you decided to become a certified sleep consultant.

Kate Faraci: Sure. So I’ll confidently date myself here.

I’ve been studying child development for over 20 years. My first class was back in high school in 2003, and I’ve just been enamored with all things children ever since. I mean, being able to observe developmental milestones and breakthroughs in children, and it’s just been something I’ve just been so passionate about over 20 years now.

So I now have three kids of my own who are 8, 7, and 4, and fully back to school this week, which is very exciting. I just resigned from a 20-year teaching career. So most of my experience was in a Gen Ed setting, preschool for the most part, couple years in kindergarten, and then the last three years I spent in a special education setting, which was a self-contained multiple disabilities room.

I became a sleep consultant because a couple years ago I was teaching Gen Ed. I just saw this major shift in behavior, and I was like, I need to do something about this. Definitely, boundary issues with children of the 3-, 4-, 5-year-old age, and I’m like, I need to figure out how to kind of help the world to be a better place. Like, how to, like, be a little bit like Mister Rogers without the spotlight here. And I was like, what am I going to do to make a difference? Whether it’s hitting 100 families or hitting the world, I don’t know what this is all going to turn out to be, but I needed to figure out a way to make a difference.

I came across sleep consulting. I came across you from a friend through a friend. She really enjoyed your course. I dove in, and I didn’t realize this is really where my passion is right now. So I’ve been in business for three years, and it’s grown organically and deliberately, and it’s been a wonderful process so far.

Jayne Havens: So you just sort of quickly glossed over the fact that you are not going back to your teaching job this year. This is the first year that you’re going to be doing sleep consulting full time. So first of all, congratulations. That’s a huge milestone. But what I want to ask you is, I guess when you enrolled in CPSM three-ish years ago, did you envision this being a full-time career, or did you initially see it as something that you were just going to do alongside teaching?

Kate Faraci: I think it was a bit of a roller coaster at first. I was kind of reaching my end mentally in teaching. It just wasn’t fulfilling me the way it used to, so I wanted to kind of figure out a way to shift careers. And then I landed in special ed, and that was such a change that needed to happen for me. It came at the right time. And I was like, okay, I needed this. I needed this new change in education while still growing my sleep consulting business.

And then over the last year or two, this wasn’t a decision that was impulsive by any means, right? It’s been definitely five to six years in the making. And through the last three years in growing my business slowly, organically, deliberately, as a side hustle, truly became my passion.

So while I was working full time and juggling the three kids, who I’ll admit are overly committed after school as well, with a wonderful husband who works, leaves early and comes home late because of his commute, a very supportive husband, but a lot of that parenting during the weekdays fell on me too.

So juggling full time, juggling the kids, working on the side hustle, at first I thought, like, this is too much, right? Something has to go, and it’s obviously not going to be the children. So I thought, first, I have to say goodbye to sleep. That was not settling well for me. And then I realized I don’t. I can dive full in, and I’m so excited for this next chapter.

Jayne Havens: So you’ve supported over 100 families, which is incredible. I’m wondering, at what point did you start to feel really confident in yourself as a sleep consultant?

Kate Faraci: It definitely takes time to get there, right? I think of my first days of teaching, and I think of my first couple of months as a business owner, and you kind of look back and sometimes cringe a little bit, and maybe some of the things you’re advising. There’s definitely imposter syndrome too.

But just being able to grow my confidence as I— I almost kind of watched my business grow. Like when you take a seat back and kind of see how things pan out, and you’re like, you could see the confidence growing. It just kept working, right?

I’ve had success with all the families who I’ve worked with, who have really followed my plan and listened to the directions, right? And I know so well that when parents are totally in and when they’re following the sleep training methods properly and appropriately, they work. But I also know so much of that comes from my coaching and holding them accountable and making sure they’re following. So I think as every year passed, my confidence grew. Having all that success really got me to where I am today.

Jayne Havens: What from your 20 years in the classroom has most directly translated into the way that you’re supporting families?

Kate Faraci: I think I can’t just say, like, I know how to work with kids, right? That’s too easy, right? There’s just so much more to it. I think being able to understand children and understand families, right, the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree for everybody, for all of our little offspring. Being able to understand the child and communication, right, especially in the special ed setting. I have seen such an overlap in the special ed setting, in the classroom and outside of the classroom, and my sleep consulting business, right?

So I think about children in that special ed setting who might not be verbal. They’re communicating in different ways, and that overlap with babies who are not yet communicating or not yet verbal, excuse me. Such an incredible overlap to be able to communicate with families and meet them where they are, right? And sharing what this communication means and how to help some of those behaviors that are happening, whether it’s in a classroom setting or outside of school and in their crib or bed.

I think that when you really can empathize with parents, I think that really hits home. And sharing your own personal stories, I think that’s where families can really, really relate.

Jayne Havens: You mentioned working with special needs kiddos in school. Are you supporting that population in your work as a sleep consultant?

Kate Faraci: I’ve not yet supported anybody in special education. I think I have a family friend who has a son with special needs that I’ve kind of given some pointers to, but he was doing okay with his sleep as well. I’ve had a student who also was struggling a bit, so I did give some tips and tricks, but I didn’t want to cross any lines as a teacher as well. But I was happily offering some tips that I’ve learned from our course and my experience to be able to help that family last year.

Jayne Havens: One thing that I know to be true about you is that you’re highly committed to giving your clients a really individualized approach. What does that personalization actually look like when you’re supporting families?

Kate Faraci: That’s a great question. I can’t help but go back to special ed too, right? No two children are the same. I’m not here to give the same exact plan because I know that that won’t work for every child. So I think really looking at the big picture, looking at the whole child, looking at the whole family needs as well.

When I think back to parent-teacher conferences and sitting across from a family who is frustrated or angry or exhausted, these are all the things that I see in my business too. So to really connect with them, come parent to parent sometimes, come teacher or coach to parent as well, being able to make sure that they know that I’m doing everything I can to understand their child’s needs and abilities. That goes all the way down to babies too, all the way down to newborns, right? It’s something that as sleep consultants, I think we could— we have a gift to be able to do that.

Jayne Havens: Are there any specific strategies that you used as a teacher for gaining cooperation with parents, or maybe navigating big feelings that either the children have or the parents have around their children’s big feelings, that you’re now finding yourself teaching to parents or utilizing in your work?

Kate Faraci: Yeah, I think building a great sense of trust from the beginning. Right on your discovery call, I like to share as I start my call, this is a completely judgment-free call. The more you tell me, the better I could help you. So no sugarcoating anything, and I won’t either. So first, building that trust, and that really makes them take a deep breath. That’s like my favorite part of the discovery call.

Even if the discovery call doesn’t always land, sometimes just hearing them at the end of the call take a sigh and say, like, “Okay, I know that this can get better, it’s such a rewarding feeling to be able to even share that alone with families. Of course, I want to land every call. But when it doesn’t, it’s still good to hear that.

As far as strategies go, I love working with the toddler and school-age kids and being able to send videos. So I learned that in the course from you. But really using appropriate language with the children and with the fam, with the parents too.

So making sure that I’m really connecting on those videos with the kids, and I know that they’re looking back and nodding their head. The parents tell me they’re nodding their head. They’re so into this. I welcome the families to send a video back, or at the very least, maybe just record it. They don’t have to send it if they’re not comfortable. Because the child probably wants to watch themselves back too, right, to help them gain their confidence and feel proud of themselves.

And then really connecting with families, making sure I’m being really clear, empathizing with them, sharing that I know this is hard, sharing my own experience too.

My oldest, who’s 8 now, when she was 3, at that point, she had transitioned to a bed, no problem. She was our angel sleeper. I mean, at two weeks, she gave us a six-hour stretch, and it just continued to go from there. Definitely from the Sleep Foundation, my husband and I really established early on, we took a lot of pride and did a lot of research on that because our most fearful part becoming a parent was sleep.

When she turned 3, you know, I hate to use a regression. It’s like a completely overused word in my life, in our lives, right? It completely triggers me. But some would say there was a bit of regression at 3 years old. Bedtime was a struggle. Middle of the night was a struggle. It was such a low point for myself, for my marriage, for our house. It completely rocked us. So had I known about sleep consulting at the time, I would have hired somebody ASAP. I had no idea it existed.

So now being able to help families get through that chapter so much faster than I did is just the best. So sharing those stories, I think, really resonates with families.

Jayne Havens: I think also when you have some personal experience with the struggle and how hard it is, either similar to what you described, or every now and then when one of my kids comes down with an illness, they wake up in the middle of the night and they have a high fever, or their throat is killing them, or their ears are killing them, or they’re vomiting, whatever it is, and you’re up all night with them and it’s out of the norm, like you’re used to your kids sleeping through the night, and then you spend all night up with them, I always find those moments give me so much perspective and so much empathy for the families that I’m supporting.

Because this is what they’re going through night after night after night. Sometimes these families are waiting weeks, months, years to actually seek support. I’m starting with a family— we were supposed to start tomorrow, but her little girl has come down with some illness. So we’re kicking the can down the road. But this family hasn’t slept in three years. They never sleep trained their child as a baby. Mom was very opposed to it. And now three years later, she’s gotten to the point where she realizes this is not sustainable. It’s not working for her family.

When we go through those moments personally, even if it’s just for a short period, I do think it’s really important because it allows us to, on some level, have an understanding of what our clients are experiencing.

Kate Faraci: Absolutely. Those nights rock me. The next day—

Jayne Havens: Me too.

Kate Faraci: —I am cranky, and I’m like, “Oh my gosh. I can’t.” It’s hard to imagine that families go through that every single night for months, for weeks, for years. That’s where I think so much of my passion lies. I tell families, like, it doesn’t have to be this hard. Sleep obviously looks different house to house and to each their own, right? I think we’re all doing what works for us as parents, especially parents of young children.

But we know the impact that sleep has in the home and on us individually, on our spouses, on our marriages, on our parenting. It’s really challenging. So those nights of the stomach bug don’t do well for anybody. But I could say firsthand, I’m pretty cranky the next day and feel horrible for my child who’s ever sick. But that’s challenging.

Jayne Havens: Let’s shift gears a little bit. I want to talk about what it’s looked like for you to grow this business. I’m, I think, most curious about how you juggled your three kids, working, and growing a business. Because I think that this is something that anybody who’s interested in getting into this field, these are the questions they’re asking. They’re wondering, like, “Do I have time for this? How do I make it all work?” So what did that look like for you?

Kate Faraci: That was a challenge for sure. I won’t be here to sugarcoat it. But it was a challenge that I was willing to take on because I don’t know, I just turned 40 this summer. I feel like every year I’m so all in on finding new ways to challenge myself, whether it’s personally or professionally.

So I’m not going to sugarcoat that. I think juggling a full-time teaching career, bringing a lot of that home—whether it was actual work to do or just stressors from the job—bringing that home, having that 20 minutes before the kids got off the bus and having to turn on mom mode and shut off everything else, challenging. Texting clients as the kids are getting off the bus, also challenging. And then running around after school and then taking calls in the evening, especially the last three years of business look like, it’s a lot of calls at 7, 8, 9 o’clock at night.

That’s hard, right? I try to get up early and get a workout in, get up before the kids, shower, be ready. The days were pretty long. But I always knew it was worth it, right? It was something that I was not ready to give up on.

Sometimes weekend calls would happen too, and I really wanted to make sure I was spending time with my family and not taking that time away from them. But sometimes I did. So now, as I grew, especially this last year, I realized I can hold better boundaries. That Saturday call, if I chose, can be shifted to Monday afternoon, if I have the childcare in place, which I did so often with my parents coming on Mondays.

But yeah, juggling all that, it’s not for the weak. But if it’s something that you’re really passionate about, it’s totally worth doing. And I’m so glad that I did. I’m so glad I reached the point that I realized that this can be full time. And now having the time during the day, which is definitely preferred for me, is wonderful. Being able to pour my time, my heart, my passion, my everything into it is really exciting. I’m really excited for it.

Jayne Havens: Where are your families coming from? Where are you connecting with parents who need this type of support?

Kate Faraci: Overall, I would say a lot has been word of mouth and referrals. That’s one of the many reasons I realized I can go full time. I’ve been able to grow so organically with word of mouth, and that told me this is working, right?

I did not have much of a social media presence up until a few weeks ago. I’m not the biggest fan of social media. I think there’s a lot of garbage on there that I don’t always want to be associated with. But the purpose of social media is to connect, right? So I took Allison Henderson’s content challenge that you were in in June. As I’m finishing my career, taking on four clients in June, taking on this challenge, I’m like, what am I thinking? But it’s worth it.

So I was able to build a bunch of content with her and got some great coaching from her. So now I think for me is building that social media presence in a way to make those connections. I think, for me, a little bit of the branding is important too. So I’m excited for that, to be able to grow in that way.

Word of mouth has been my biggest way of growing. My referrals have been wonderful. I’ve made some good connections with some local pediatricians.

I’m currently in a wonderful collective called Maternal Wellness Collective, a group of professional women who are here to support each other—therapist, OT, speech, a collection of wonderful people. A couple of CPSM grads are in there as well. We’re here to build each other up and create a really nice community for moms.

A couple other things on the docket are: connecting with a good friend of mine, who’s a wonderful speech therapist; doing some office-hour Q&A sessions at some coffee shops that are located near us in New Jersey; and finding ways to just keep growing my community. So it’s been wonderful so far. And like I said, it’s really exciting to be able to have some more time to do it.

Jayne Havens: Looking back in the past three years, what have you learned about building a business that you didn’t know or didn’t understand when you were first getting started?

Kate Faraci: So much, right? My background was with tiny little humans for 20 years. There’s so much that I’ve learned that I had no idea. We don’t know what we don’t know, right?

My husband, luckily, has a great business mind behind him. He’s been kind of the brains around the business. I like to say my product is gold and the business I’m working on, the business aspect of it all. So there’s been a lot that has surprised me in ways. I know that there is a lot of glamour to owning your own business. But it’s not always glamorous, right?

Now, leaving a steady income, it mentally has its challenges too. But I’m here to not only manifest this but grind. I’m here to really, really work. So I think that it’s a big mental mind shift for me, which is what we coach our families on, right? Shifting that mindset, and that’s what I’m currently processing as the kids are back to school this week.

But I think it’s been really wonderful to learn something new and challenge myself in a new way. That definitely includes the business portion of this. I think what has also surprised me, it’s not only coaching families, it’s also building a brand and building a community. I definitely learned a lot of that with Allison’s Content Challenge too.

I think back to when I started, and a couple of my girlfriends were like, “You need to take photos. You have to take professional photos.” I’m just not, like, the professional photo type. My family has never taken a professional photo. We’re, like, totally cool with an iPhone picture. And I’m so glad I did, because here I am finally using those photos and making it part of my brand. When I kind of relaunched on Instagram, I had so much support, especially from family and friends. It’s been wonderful.

Jayne Havens: I think that your energy around growing your business is just so positive. I’m sitting here listening to you talk. Even the things that feel hard for you, you show up with just excitement. Instead of hesitation, your whole attitude is just, “Yeah, this is hard and this is new, but also I’m really loving it.”

I think that type of energy is really what oftentimes drives people in a very successful direction. Because mindset is— I don’t want to say it’s everything, but mindset is almost everything. You can choose to focus on how hard things are, or you can choose to focus on how hard you’re trying and how much you love what you’re doing. I think when you choose the latter, people receive what you’re putting out there in just a totally different way.

Kate Faraci: Yeah, I’m definitely a glass-half-full kind of gal. I think it’s just how I’ve always been. But while I’m not starting, I kind of call it my restart, right? Because I feel so fortunate that I was ready to move on from teaching, and I’m not starting a business right now. I’m just kind of growing it, right? And yeah, I think positivity goes a really, really long way. It also, it can only help you, right?

Choosing to leave education was not an easy decision. It was, like I said, it was years in the making. It’s been my only career besides my side business here and now full-time business. But it’s a big part of your identity too. So kind of finding this new identity for myself, it’s been really cool to kind of, like, dig deep. Therapy helped me a bit to get me to this point too. No shame there. I think my goal is to be really successful, and I’m going to work really hard at that.

Jayne Havens: I’m really curious to see how you manage your time now that you have all of this time, right? Because you’ve grown a really successful business without having time, which is incredibly impressive. You should be patting yourself on the back for that. And now that you have all of this time, it’s like you could totally explode. Or you could just be like, “I don’t know what to do with myself. I have all this time.”

Kate Faraci: It’s no doubt overwhelming, right? For 20 years, I was told, like, “This is when you teach math. This is when you have your lunch break. This is when you could use the bathroom.” I like that. That’s structure. Who doesn’t? I mean, many of us. But who doesn’t have structure?

So that is, again, a mindset shift of how am I figuring out my time? That’s still new, right? As I said, my kids are back in school this week. During the summer, I thought I would get a little bit more work done, but that didn’t. Kids didn’t allow it, which is totally okay.

And so now it’s, how am I managing my time? It’s something I’m currently asking myself every day. So I’m not sure yet if I’m going to go more of blocking out times for certain things of my business. I feel like right now there’s a lot of new things I want to work out that is not just supporting clients right now. So finding the time to do it.

Since I was full time and the kids and having the side business, I really knew how to utilize my time and take advantage of that time. So now I’m like, okay, it is a bit overwhelming to have a bit more time on my hands, but I find myself looking at my to-do list, making sure I’m knocking something off every day. And so far so good.

Jayne Havens: I’ve been training people to do this work since 2019. One thing I’ve said since the very beginning—I noticed this straight out of the gate—is that the people who enrolled in my program who are working full time were the most productive out of anybody.

People who work full time and they come to me and they’re like, “I don’t know if I have time,” I always say to them, like, “I hear you and I agree. But also, what I know from years of experience of training people to do this work, the people who are working full time and raising kids, it’s like you already have such systems in place because you have to, right?”

You’re juggling your full-time job and your kids and your home. Maybe you have parents who need your support. Who knows, right? We have so many things on our plate. And I really feel like it’s the women who are working full time and raising kids that tend to be really successful in this work because they just know how to prioritize their day.

Sometimes people who have too much time don’t necessarily know what to do with it, and they don’t utilize it properly. And so I’m not surprised that you were able to have this success with tiny little pockets of availability. But I hope that you’ll be able to take all of these hours that you now have and really utilize them for good. I’m sure you will.

For someone who’s been doing sleep consulting on the side and maybe wondering, like, “How do I know when to quit my job? When to go all in on this,” what would you say to them? What are the markers?

Kate Faraci: I think thinking deep about what your goals are personally, professionally. I think, like I said, it took me years to get to this decision. During those years, I told you, I think this is what I was going to give up first, and that’s when I knew that wasn’t the right choice. So I think that’s a big marker for me. It’s like if you’re thinking about stopping something, and if it happens to be your business, and that doesn’t sit right, then what are you going to do about it? How are you going to grow?

So before making that decision, I think whatever your method is, whether it’s writing it out or speaking with somebody—a spouse, a therapist, a family—I think really working out how you’re going to make this happen, especially if you’re relying on it financially too. That’s something that I very much value. So thinking deep about, is this the right move? And if it is, how are you going to make that work?

That’s definitely where I came from. I have a very supportive husband who has been all in on this since the moment I started your course. So that is no doubt a big motivator for me. I think if you have that support around you, that makes a really big difference.

Jayne Havens: Where can people learn more about you? Do you want to share your website, social media?

Kate Faraci: Sure. So my business name is It Starts with Sleep, and my website and Instagram are at itstartswsleep.com or @Instagram. That’s where you’ll find me.

Jayne Havens: Thank you so much, Kate. This was so great chatting today. I’m so proud of the business that you’ve built, and I just can’t wait to see where you are another three years from now. So keep up the good work.

Kate Faraci: Thanks, Jayne. Thank you so much for today.

Outro: Thank you so much for listening to this episode of the Becoming a Sleep Consultant Podcast. If you enjoyed today’s episode, it would mean so much to me if you would rate, review, and subscribe. When you rate, review, and subscribe, this helps the podcast reach a greater audience. I am so grateful for your support.

If you would like to learn more about how you can become a certified sleep consultant, head over to my Facebook Group, Becoming a Sleep Consultant or to my website thecpsm.com. Thanks so much, and I hope you will tune in for the next episode.