"I just woke up one day, and knew I had to be a teacher!" - Karen Brettingen: High School Business Teacher

When you were a child, what did you want to be when you grew up?

 I always loved to play office, and teacher. And so one of my Christmas presents when I was little was-you won't even know what this is-but its when you would go into a store and it would have these triplicate receipts in it, and the sales person would write out your receipt on this metal box, then they would snap it out of the bottom of the box. They would keep the top copy and give you the bottom copy of your receipt.  And so for Christmas my mom and dad bought me one of those real receipt boxes, and they also bought me office supplies to play office and teacher.

Then when I got into high school, and started taking business and marketing classes, and was involved in DECA*, I knew for sure that I wanted to go into business. I was from a very small town, I worked at a Sears catalog store, and I loved my job. I loved my job because I got to answer the phone, then take people's orders, and I loved filling out the forms. Just like that receipt back I told you about. So I would literally just take orders and fill out these really cool forms, and on a good day, I would get to type them in as well, you know just like you would do on a computer now, but those weren't the thing then.

So, then when I graduated from high school and went to school in a neighboring town they transferred me to the Sears store in the bigger town. And right away they started talking about about going into their management program. So I was studying Business Management in college, and Sears told me I could go into their management training program, and I loved retail. Loved everything about retail! So I thought that everything was a perfect fit.

Until I woke up one day, sat up in my bed in my dorm room and looked over at my roommate, and I said "I have to be a teacher!" and she asked me "what are you talking about?" And I said, "I just woke up and I know I have to be a teacher." And she asked my where that came from, and I think it was because I had such a good experience with marketing and DECA in high school, and this was October of my freshman year, so I wasn't very far, but I loved my job, loved college, loved the classes I was taking, loved everything. But I just woke up and said "Oh my gosh I have to be a teacher!"

 So I finished out out the year at that school taking all of my business classes and they were all taught by people who had just come out of business. My sales teacher was an IBM sales superstar and decided to change careers, I mean they were amazing. But that day I called up the school I knew I would get my teaching degree from, and I transferred at the end of the year and that was it.

Can you briefly describe some of the things you teach in your business and marketing internship class?

KB: Yes. So the business of marketing and trade programs for highly motivated seniors who want to get a head start in their college and career planning. So in that class I think there's three really important parts. First, there's the let's really figure out who you are. So you do the Myers-Briggs test,  the strengths finder, and the strong interest inventory to do all those assessments.  Let's really figure out who you are and then how do we match that to careers.
Next we teach that whole networking process. So how do you introduce yourself? How do you make conversation? You know dining etiquette, phone etiquette, e-mail etiquette. How you interact with business professionals, how you do informational interviews. We send you out on group job shadows so that you can practice in the safety of a small group. Then you have to go out and do it on your own. So there's the career assessment piece. Then there's the employment strategy piece. Because once you know where you are and you find your dream job in your dream industry and your dream company we want to make sure that you're the one to get the job. So we do mock-interviews, things like that. So those are kind of the three main components here.

 What are your favorite parts about your job?

 I just love everything. I think this material we're doing can change the world. I really believe that what I teach matters for people, and I am really crazy and passionate about it. I hope I can help students get excited about the rest of their life! I really feel like everything I teach is is everything I would want to teach to my kids!    Why go through college trying to do a crazy expensive career exploration? It’s truly unfortunate that we measure our worth by our ACT and our GPA and versus all the other talents that we have. And so it's like “Okay, yay! You've got 36 on your test, and you're in have a 4.0  with all AP classes! Yes. Now you can go to your dream school, and be what you want, and love it.” You’re going to go there and and do what you love and are good at! However, school's not always good at validating all those other talents outside of academia.
For this reason, I love strength finder tests, because they help to show kids what their talents lie.I just don't think high schools are good about helping people see these talents. Another favorite part of my job is helping people realize what they're good at. I really like the differences in each and every student. Teaching helps me help people, and I think that's really cool.  

What have been the most memorable events or days in your career if you can recall certain moments?

I had a girl one of my first years of teaching her first name was Kelly. I remember what she was wearing on this day. She said to me “I think I spend more time with you than I do my mom.” And she did have a great mom, but I had her in class and she was in DECA. So you know I'd see her every day in class and she'd be there after school we would go on our DECA trips together. I ask myself, do I do I pay attention to every person every day? And it doesn't mean I have to have a conversation with you but you know,  somebody has to recognize that you're in the room and I do that for people every day. That was a defining moment for me. Another one was when somebody wrote me a note and they said  “You make me want to be a better person” which makes me tear up a little bit. And I thought like that's like that was the ultimate compliment. So that was another defining moment for me.  If by teaching you I can make you feel that like, that's pretty cool. That's pretty cool.

What are your biggest challenges in your career?

I have a hard time saying no to things. So right now I'm overcommitted in my job. I have I've taken on too many pieces and it's hard to be great at one thing when you're stretched thin.  

So my challenge is knowing how to say no because I have DECA, I have the internships, I have marketing, and I am the strike coordinator. And I love every single thing. But it's hard to be fabulous at one thing when you're stretched too thin. So my biggest challenge is knowing how to focus on one focus, so then I can be better.

A final thought..

You hear about how some people say teachers are not respected. I cannot tell you a time where I have felt like the world didn't respect my profession, and I think it's because I love it and people see my passion. Nobody would ever do that because I love what I do, and people know that. If you’re in a career that you don’t love and respect, of course people wouldn't respect what you do.

So what do I love about my job? I love that it matters. A teacher made me believe in myself. So I love that I can help people feel good about themselves; they get excited about what they're going to do in college, and get excited for what they're going to do in their life!You have to work with motivation each day so you don't you dread going back to work tomorrow. You have to love it. I have some girlfriends who live for vacations, these well-planned fun girls trips, and they'll email each other, “72 days before we leave!” I don’t get it, like don't you love your today, why are you doing what you’re doing?  I can’t even imagine if I only lived for weekends and vacations... Find what you love because you do not want to wake up when you're 40 years old and have a pit in your stomach because you hate what you do. Then you feel like you can't do anything about it because you have a mortgage, kids, car payments, and bills to pay. Keep going keep going and then figure out what that is so that you can be happy!


Like if you're happy, if you love what you do, you feel confident, and you're nice to people then you're nice to your college roommates, you're nice to your neighbors, and nice to your family! When you're happy and nice, you make the world a better place! If we all did this for other people, just think about this big ripple effect that we have! When people are nice, they’re happy. When people are happy, they’re nice, and I really think this makes the world a better place.

*DECA is an international business/marketing club for high school students

Story Facilitators: Thomas Swartout, Bri Flasch