Wildlife Biologist Turned Science Teacher Empowers Educators (and Students)

 

 

[INTRODUCTION]

 

Shelli Varela: When you can combine kids’ unbridled enthusiasm with the ability to ignite their natural curiosity, that is a recipe for an amazing membership.

 

Stu McLaren: There is a big trend brewing that’s revolutionizing the way business is being done. Big companies like Netflix, Amazon, and Apple are jumping on this too but so are thousands of others in all kinds of markets like photography and calligraphy, fitness, finance, meal planning, lesson planning, dog training, and so many more, and they’re doing it by shifting to a recurring revenue model. Hi. My name is Stu McLaren and for more than a decade I’ve been helping tens of thousands of entrepreneurs generate recurring revenue through membership sites. Join our host, Shelli Varela, as she takes you behind-the-scenes to see how these companies are building a thriving tribe that spends with them every single month. Now, let’s get to today’s episode.

 

[INTERVIEW]

 

Shelli Varela: Jackie Grundberg, welcome to the It’s a TRIBE Thing Podcast. How are you?

 

Jackie Grundberg: I’m doing very well. Thank you.

 

Shelli Varela: We are super stoked to have you here. You have an incredible diverse story. And it’s one of those tapestries that it’s really cool to watch your story unfold. Your membership site is called Backpack Sciences. Wondered if you would be so kind to start with who you are, who you serve, and the origin story of how you got to be this amazing person with this membership site.

 

Jackie Grundberg: Great. So, Backpack Sciences, well, actually, first of all, I’m sorry, I’m Jackie Grundberg and I have a membership called Backpack Sciences. So, my membership really the purpose is to help teachers and parents of elementary-age children overcome the overwhelm of teaching science. It’s interesting because the purpose has sort of pivoted a little bit because of the current situation with we’re in COVID-19 school closures. So, originally, it was to focus on helping the actual teachers, that’s parents who are teaching their own children but because of the shift of what’s going on, I have actually turned to teaching the children because how else thus can I help that those teachers and parents who are now really overwhelmed? I mean, before they were overwhelmed, but now it’s even more so. But we can go into that after the shift, but it’s really a place where I want to give those who teach science however they do, the confidence and the tools so that they will teach more, and the more science that they teach, I feel like the better our world will become.

 

Ultimately, I really want kids to love science and to know and understand that it’s not that hard. I mean, I think kids naturally when they’re young, they are so inquisitive. They want to know, you know, you see them digging in the dirt, they’re playing with bugs. They love it but then somewhere there’s a shift like in elementary or somewhere that some reason think science is difficult. And so, I want to shift that to like, “Oh, science is really easy and really cool and I want to learn more,” and ultimately, just have fun with it. So, those are the people I serve right now.

 

Shelli Varela: I’m sure the parents are super appreciating you right now, especially as they’re trying to ill-equipped to homeschool their kids yet they’re homeschooling their kids. So, hats off to you, my friend. How did you end up having this membership site? Like what are the roots of your story if we were to go all the way back to the beginning?

 

Jackie Grundberg: So, if we go all the way back and it’s a firewall all the way back, but I was in college and I was destined to be a veterinarian. That’s what I wanted to do specifically with marine mammals but I basically stumbled upon an IMAX, you know, and IMAX at that point was sort of new and I was in there actually all by myself. I don’t even know. No one came with me. I was with myself and it was the Serengeti. I mean, if you can imagine seeing this huge screen and the music, the African music and the thunder, the hooves of the wildebeest going through, it was just absolutely amazing. My eyes were just wide-eyed. I was so excited. I went back home and I was actually already enrolled in another study abroad program. And so, I switched it and they had one. It’s still present too. It’s a school for field studies and they have a study abroad program that is specifically for science field studies. And so, I switched it to Kenya. And honestly, that was the change that forever my like aha moment of what I wanted to do in biology.

 

So, I came back, switched my major, graduated, became a wildlife biologist, worked in the field, I worked in Colorado, I worked in New York. Then I also returned back to Africa. I went to Cameroon. And I worked in the bush, like all like serious. Really, there is no connection. There was no electricity. There was no running water, nothing. It was quite amazing and very tough mentally, physically, but when you’re doing what you love, it’s okay. You can endure some of those things.

 

Shelli Varela: For sure, and that’s a dedication to your craft too.

 

Jackie Grundberg: Yes, it was so wonderful. I’m so glad hands-down that I did those things. So, then when I came back to the States, I at that point, then moved to Japan and my ex was an Air Force pilot. So, we went to Japan and lived on a military base there. And so, it was a different change of life. It was a different career and trying to figure out what I’m going to do. So, still loving biology and so I started to get my teaching certification. So, I started teaching middle school and then also high school AP Biology. It was great in a different way because you get to pass on your information and that was the whole start of I want kids to be excited, as excited as I am with science, and came back to the US then fell in love, stumbled upon and fell in love with Montessori philosophy. At that point, there weren’t that many high schools. Now there are. There are some Montessori high schools but at that point, it was really just up to about sixth grade.

 

So, I started teaching fourth through sixth grade. It really aligned with everything that I believe in with hands-on. It’s inquiry-based. It’s individualized. It just fit me, my personality. And so, the funny thing is, is that I had never taught really younger children. And when you don’t teach younger children or you don’t know what you’re doing, you fall back on what you know, right? So, I started teaching them my high school science curriculum but I changed it a little. But the thing is, it really proved to me which is really the point later on, this is where my membership comes in, but really proved to me that these kids can learn high-level scientific concepts as long as we incorporate sort of a hands-on an experiential component. It’s just the same way that I loved being out in the field. I don’t have the greatest memory but when I’m in the field and actually, I’m applying everything that I’m supposed to be memorizing, and I’m applying it, it just makes sense.

 

So, I did that for 11 years, then I left the classroom and started teaching. So, for the last three years now, I’ve been teaching adults earning their Montessori credentials. And so, I just last year, almost one year ago, actually, exactly one year ago today, well, actually, no, let’s go back a little bit is that so I thought about writing an updated curriculum for Montessorians and we call them albums. And it’s just basically like I said, it’s just a book of lesson plans. It’s a curriculum. So, that was my plan. I was like, “Okay, I’m going to just update it. I want to do the hands-on. I want to do really have them outside outdoors enjoying it, not just doing experiments inside. That was it. That’s what my thought was probably a year and one month ago, then I don’t know, I really don’t know how I stumbled upon TRIBE but I kind of went like, “Oh, what is this? Who is this?” And to be quite honest, and I’ve said it before, but I had no idea who Stu was. I don’t know any of these people’s names that everybody dropped like I’m not going to say their names because I feel embarrassed that I don’t know them but everyone’s like, “Oh, this is…” I actually didn’t even look up.

 

I looked up Stu like, “Is this fake? Like is this going to be like take my money and run kind of scam artist?” And so, I was like, “Okay, well, I’ll try this. This sounds really cool, this whole recurring revenue.” I mean, I would write my album, write my curriculum, and like I wouldn’t have to sell it every single day or like everyplace? That sounds kind of nice and I can actually help people on a regular basis. That sounds good too. So, then I dived into TRIBE Experience, just 2019, and the icon, the little emoji with the brain exploding, exactly it was me. I was like, “Ah, wow.”

 

Shelli Varela: What was the first concept you had or the first epiphany you had when you decided you were going to take your learnings about teaching people about science and the Montessori principles and turn that into a membership-style program?

 

Jackie Grundberg: Well, the thing is, is I think with any kind of subject, when someone doesn’t understand it, I mean, it’s so easy to go get all the information like those albums that I have, like I’m talking to you. So, I have been teaching so long. I have three or four sets of 10 or 15 each. So, I have a lot of these albums, I have a ton of information. But the problem is and I think nowadays you go online, you find all this information, it could be free or it’s a couple of dollars or whatever, I print them out, I put them off to the side, I may or may not look at it and then you find other information. The problem is I think you don’t have someone who’s like, “Okay, let’s go. What are you doing this week?”

 

[ANNOUNCEMENT]

 

Stu McLaren: So many people in all kinds of niche markets are leveraging their existing knowledge and influence and they’re transforming it into passive monthly income. This isn’t luck. This is a repeatable formula for producing a growing subscription income and if thousands of others can do it, you can too. To find out what type of membership site would be right for your business, visit GetTRIBEGuide.com. Go to GetTRIBEGuide.com and download it today. You’re awesome!

 

[INTERVIEW]

 

Shelli Varela: The great thing about the TRIBE Experience and working with Stu specifically is it is tried, tested, and proven. And so, it takes not only the fear out of it for the person who’s trying to implement the membership site perhaps for the first time, but also you know that it works. And Stu says TRIBE works, TRIBE works, TRIBE works and it’s absolutely true.

 

Jackie Grundberg: Yeah. No, definitely. And, of course, I even like, “Sure, it works.” You know, sure it works for this person, right? You know, like it’s not going to work for my situation or me. But the fact of there’s so many like just little steps and the little steps make sense. Like, okay, this is what I’m supposed to do. I’m a very logical person. You need to tell me what to do. I’m a list person. It’s just like, boom, boom, boom. But here’s the thing, so because I’m organized and I would have written this curriculum hadn’t it been for the fact of I love Stu’s like his little saying, I mean, he’s got so many things, but one of them that really hit me was, “You don’t have to get it perfect. You just have to get it going.” For me because I am very organized and I would have never put out anything until I think it’s perfect, until it’s ready, I would have written that curriculum, I don’t know, it probably would have taken me a year and then, of course, another year to edit. And by then it’s already outdated because two years of science is already outdated. And then I’m almost positive I would not have done what I did but going to TRIBE Live, doing the experience, meeting all these people who are like, “Just do it.”

 

Shelli Varela: Yeah. Just do it but also just like you.

 

Jackie Grundberg: But the thing is, is like so I didn’t just. There’s some amazing people that I still, you know, I’m like, “Oh my goodness, I couldn’t do it.” But the people who are like, “Oh, I finished it or finished a workshop and I just did it right now.” Now, I was still like, “No, no, I can’t do that. I need to have at least I need three months of curriculum before I feel comfortable.” So, I did. I spent the whole summer working on my lesson plans. They were not perfect but they were there that a good outline. And then I said, “Okay. This is enough,” because really, ultimately, what do I have to have? I only have to have one week’s worth ahead. I only really need, I have to be one that’s like when you’re teaching. You don’t have to plan for the whole entire year. You just have to be one step ahead of the kids.

 

Shelli Varela: It’s true. Well, I’ll share this with you. I launched a program as well and much like yourself, I toiled about it and thought about it and then I just decided. Once I made the decision, and I said yes, I basically hurled myself off the bridge and met my parachute in freefall. Honestly, it was the smartest thing I ever did because what happened was the response that I got from people that I would have never gotten otherwise because there would have been no program was outstanding. And it just proved that yes, I know what I know like I know it, and they need it.

 

Jackie Grundberg: And that’s the thing is that I feel, okay, it’s still not even perfect. I mean, right now, it’s still and if I go back to look at some of the things like, “Oh,” but if I helped one person, if I help that one parent or teacher actually give the lesson and they feel confident, they actually have more time for their families now, I mean, because all the prep time that supposedly I’m doing for them, if they can go home, and be with their family or spend more time with another student who needs help or another parent who needs help of just having support, that is so worth it. It really truly is and I know it’s kind of cheesy to say like just that one person, but it really is. When you receive an email or you see a Facebook post or something that says, “Thank you. Thank you so much for helping me, XYZ,” it’s just like yes, I’m doing it.

 

Shelli Varela: Absolutely. And oftentimes I’ll hear people say, “If I can only help one person,” but the truth is you never help just one person. There’s always so many more. And for you, I wanted to trace this all the way back to something that I think is super special. Because I know for a fact that there are people listening right now that are thinking, “Well, that’s really great for Jackie but is that possible for me?” But if we trace the route all the way back in your story, there was a young woman sitting in an IMAX theater watching a movie on the Serengeti who said yes, and that was the fuse that sparked all of the other things. And so, for those people listening, there are those moments that when you feel inspired, I call it that zero point when your body tells you the truth. It’s almost encouraging you to take some sort of action. So, hats off for you for doing that, but also being such a beautiful brave example of what can happen as a result of that.

 

I’m curious about this. What was the biggest misconception that you thought? Because one of the things you said at the top of this conversation was you heard Stu speak and he was talking about TRIBE and how to make a membership site and have recurring revenue and you said, “Is this a scam or is this too good to be true?” What is the biggest misconception that you thought at the time that turned out not to be true?

 

Jackie Grundberg: Basically, that you have to have it all together or you have to know what you’re doing because I did not. I had zero information. I don’t know anything about marketing. Honestly, it took me a while. I didn’t know what an opt-in was. I didn’t know what a lead page like all those words went over my head. I had to learn everything from the very beginning. And that’s okay, though. It really is because I think the fact of we’re all on our own little journey and whether it takes certain people, it takes them one week to figure it all out or it takes them one year or two years and it’s okay, though, because I think as long as you’re moving forward, that’s all that matters. And I felt like because of how I am, I needed to have everything. Like I said, I wouldn’t have written that curriculum. It would have been done and perfect. And who knows how long that would have been? But I love how right now, you can do it at your own pace so you don’t have to have everything put together.

 

Shelli Varela: Absolutely. What’s the best piece of feedback that you have received as a result of birthing Backpack Sciences?

 

Jackie Grundberg: Honestly, it’s the and this is where my pivot has happened where I actually love this pivot because once again, I wasn’t teaching kids or this wasn’t my intention of teaching children directly. And so right now, I have chosen because of what was going on. I’m giving video lessons and you know, the kids watch them. And then on Fridays or any day really but on Fridays right now, we all come together and of course with Zoom, it’s fantastic. And the kids have been sharing and this is a part of Montessori is that you really want them to express what they’ve learned and at the same time, the kids who didn’t do some stuff, they can still learn. They’re listening to what their classmates have figured out or have shown some interest in and that has been so fantastic because I’ll give a lesson on something and a child will take one little word that I said and go a total different tangent, but still science-related.

 

For example, I would say something about just chemistry or how there’s sodium chloride or something and then one child said, “Oh, you mentioned something about the periodic table. Well, I investigated all these chemicals and found out this,” and I was like, “Yes!”

 

Shelli Varela: They have time now.

 

Jackie Grundberg: Right, exactly. But the fact of like they’ve drawn like comic strips. Oh, so I told them this story, of course, being in Africa I have incredible, crazy stories. So, I did one on some larva, and they were drawing my adventures in Africa. They drew comic strips.

 

Shelli Varela: How rewarding was that?

 

Jackie Grundberg: So adorable. I love them. And the funny thing is, is that I have never met these kids in real life and I probably will never meet them, but it has made me miss teaching honestly. And here’s the thing I think, if I had planned everything for a year or month, or I’m sorry, a year’s worth, you can’t anticipate this. No one anticipated what happened with COVID-19, right? So, I would have never fallen in love with what I’m doing right now if I had planned it. I mean, there’s no way I would have planned it.

 

Shelli Varela: Well, it’s an important point because the truth is, you’re right, you can’t steer a parked car and had you not gotten going and gotten some momentum in the face of I’m not sure exactly how this is going to look but had you not done that, you would have never been able to tell that beautiful story that you just told about the periodic table and about these kids getting lit up by the fact that you’re now learning science and enjoying it and the fact that their enthusiasm is contagious.

 

Jackie Grundberg: Oh, yeah. No, and the fact that it’s not only contagious to, I mean, I’m hoping they’re getting each other excited but like the adults and hopefully at home now, if they’re getting excited, they can share it with their adults, their parents or their grandparents or whoever of, “Listen to what I learned.” And so, they can get excited and they can further investigate and it’s just overall. My thing is that I don’t want to make like put any pressure of these have to be great scientists or doctors. No. I just want them to love the world that they live in, to be respectful, like just to understand that, hey, we need to and they don’t have to be some full-blown environmentalist. I just want them to be respectful of what we live in and also feel very confident of something that they may not have been interested in or may not have felt like, “Oh.” It’s just the whole thing when people say, “Oh, math is so hard. I’m not a math person.” or, “I’m not a science person.”

 

Shelli Varela: Well, it’s almost like it creates a safe place for their curiosity to be reignited because it’s something we all have innately and naturally within us.

 

Jackie Grundberg: Exactly. I 100% feel that everybody does have some kind of love for nature or outdoors or science but somehow, somewhere it may have gotten clicked off. And I would love to turn it around, even for the adults too and I think that’s where I wanted to help the teachers and the homeschooling parents of, “Hey, you know what, it’s not that hard. Don’t worry, I got your back,” like, we’re going to do this.

 

Shelli Varela: Well, the time is right for that. So, if people are looking for you online, where’s the best place they can find you? Because I suspect you may have a very large influx of people that may be interested in your help and your expertise at this moment?

 

Jackie Grundberg: Yeah. The best place is my website right now especially if things changed but it’s www.BackpackSciences.com.

 

Shelli Varela: Easy-peasy. Jackie, thank you so much not only for what you’re doing but for hanging out with us and spending some time. We appreciate you.

 

Jackie Grundberg: Thank you. I was honored to be here. Thank you.

 

[CLOSING]

 

Stu McLaren: I hope you love that story. It’s amazing, right? That’s what It’s a TRIBE Thing is all about. So many people in all kinds of niche markets are leveraging their existing knowledge and influence and they’re transforming it into passive monthly income. Listen, this isn’t luck. There’s a repeatable formula for producing a growing subscription income and each week we’re going behind the scenes to show you exactly how they did it. Get the latest stories and actionable ideas from each episode at www.ItsaTRIBEThing.com and if you know one other person who could benefit from this, tell them to subscribe. Tell them to go to ItsaTRIBEThing.com.

[END]