Teacher Quits Job To Become Full-Time Grocery Shopper, Now Makes Over $100K
It’s almost an axiom that teachers are underpaid. People in and out of the field of instruction acknowledge that those who dedicate their lives to instilling knowledge in youngsters simply don’t make enough money.
Professional athletes can pull down salaries worth millions, and so can top-tier actors and actresses. But how much dough do teachers take home?
One Oviedo, Florida, teacher says that he earned a relatively humble $50,000. Now, though, he has changed to an entirely different career — and his income has doubled.
Ed Hennessey loved teaching. In fact, he spent 20 years at Oviedo High School.
During that time, though, he got used to tightening his belt. His salary simply didn’t cover raising two kids and paying off his own student debt.
“I was (living my dream), other than money,” he told WESH. “I mean, it was a struggle.”
Over the years, he moonlighted at retailers such as Target and Blockbuster. Then the gig economy arrived, powered by smartphones and innovative apps.
Hennessey tried his hand at driving for Uber. Then he discovered Shipt.
The same-day-delivery grocery service provides users with a list of products from their local grocers through an app or the company’s website. All they have to do is specify what they want and when they want it.
Shipt shoppers do the rest. They go to the grocery store, fill up the carts, and deliver the goods, sometimes in as little as an hour.
Hennessey connected with the company in 2015 and performed well, building up a client base. That was when the realization struck him: He could turn this side job into his main job.
“Leaving education is one of the scariest things and very sad,” he explained to WESH. “(But) I don’t think there is a way to turn it around unless you’re going to offer more money.”
The veteran teacher took the leap in 2017, and it paid off big time. He has now propelled his paycheck to seven figures.
It isn’t all easy. Hennessey works 50 to 60 hours weeks now.
He also doesn’t get some of the teacherly perks he once enjoyed, such as summers off. But he doesn’t seem to mind.
“It’s so relaxing,” he said. “I get to go out. I see people. I’m my own boss. I am what I want to be.”
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