Teachers touch lives. They can change trajectories, open horizons, and reveal paths you never knew existed. They certainly did for me. I’ve never shied away from taking on teaching roles, even as a teenager. It always brought me joy and helped me learn. I’ve taught project management, entrepreneurship, dance, gymnastics, and foreign languages to hundreds of students. But Bitcoin? I couldn’t bring myself to teach it. I felt like I did not earn the right to teach it. I didn’t know it inside out (does anyone?). Money is a very sensitive topic, even taboo. Who was I to teach Bitcoin? What if someone asked a question I couldn’t answer? The excuses not to start were endless…

But here’s an incredible thing: when something moves you deeply, you can’t ignore it. It feels like a splinter in your brain. After watching countless people miss out because no one was there to guide them, I realized: waiting to feel ‘qualified enough’ meant staying silent forever. Gradually and then suddenly, I reached the f*ck it point and decided to just do it (Nike style!). I have to credit a lot of people who helped me get there, but this is not about my journey down the rabbit hole. This is a call to action. If something’s been calling you, this is for you. Here are my lessons learned + some resources that helped me take the leap, and I hope they can help you too.

1. **Do it with someone. The best decision was to join forces with **@1338f...7f01b from *Dream Grad Academy *for our first cohort. I could not have done it without a co-pilot. It made it twice as fun! We split and conquered the workload, brought our unique perspectives and styles while accommodating different time zones on 2 continents. If you don’t know anyone, please get in touch with me or Emma. Also, get out there and check these powerful networks: @f609d...c3ea2 (where I met Emma), @5e2a0...e72b5 and @eba7c...39e8f

2. ***Don’t reinvent the wheel. ***There are a ton of open source resources for educators. Leverage them. My First Bitcoin provides high quality resources including slides, workbook, translations and educator training & community. *Plan B Academy *offers curated courses, education kits, visuals and more. AI tools (Claude, Chat GPT or else) are extremely helpful with planning lessons plans, exercises and relatable analogies. 

3. **Do it with empathy. **I have to confess: I stopped myself a few times from rolling my eyes. ‘But who is going to build the roads?’ I also fought the urge of jumping into discussion with arguments, historical facts, examples and memes. We heard it before: ‘meet them where they are’, but I learned that it is a lot deeper than ‘dumbing it down’. As Fiachra Figs O’Sullivan says, Bitcoin is a mirror. Not everyone likes what they see. It’s more than just an informational gap, it’s a multi layered psychological gap. This stuck with me. So, instead of engaging in debates, I paused and listened to understand where they’re coming from. I made a note, parked it and addressed it later at the right moment. I don’t think my points always landed, but our students felt heard. That’s how you plant seeds and build trust. Through empathy.

4. Do it imperfectly. Both Emma and I taught in colleges and universities, and we wanted to deliver a high quality experience. At the end of the day, we ended up building this plane while flying it. We experimented with different formats and interactive tools. We went on tangents and overcomplicated stuff, but with each session we made small tweaks and learned something new. Week by week, we drove every single one of them to the finish line.

5. ***Do it small. ***An 8 week program felt like a big commitment. And it is. So we started with hosting 2 introductory 1-hour sessions offered by My First Bitcoin to test our collaboration and promote the program. In parallel, we ran through the curriculum with our family members and students one-on-one. We were determined to teach whoever was willing to listen, and to our surprise we got 11 students, 100% completion rate and 90% women from all walks and stages of life.

6. **Don’t expect to orange-pill. **People must be ready and willing to do the work. Initially, I was hoping to accelerate the process, but the orange pill is not a hand out. I realized that even if we had the best resources, visuals and world class speakers - it is not enough. Once I redefined success, the dynamic changed and magic started happening. Did we orange pill them all? I don’t think so. But we saw their wheels turning. They asked right questions, understood that Bitcoin is in a league of its own (well, most of them did) and learned how to think about it, not what to think. Some reflections from our group:

“It was a huge eye opener for me realizing the future about money, Bitcoin and what the  world could look like… ”

“The financial system used to feel more abstract and unclear whereas now I have a better understanding of the system along with its challenges.”

*“I improved my financial literacy which, hand in hand, gives me hope in building wealth!”. *

7. ***Don’t try to sell them on Bitcoin. * **We received feedback that the content was one-sided. We made a note and at the end wrapped the course by addressing their FUDs head-on covering potential threats facing Bitcoin. The price action and the Epstein file release made it extra difficult, but it was important to address their concerns and look at both sides. We discussed different scenarios to let them decide if Bitcoin is worth consideration and further exploration.

8. ***Make it fun. ***Money is an uncomfortable topic and the fiat system is not the most fun to study. But humour is a powerful tool! Don’t take yourself too seriously and let that ego die. Not everyone is a natural comedian, I understand, but try to lighten the mood and keep things positive. Lean on AI to draft fun and even borderline ridiculous analogies. Use fun visuals like this video series or cartoons from time to time. The clown world is full of relatable material. Here is one more for sh*ts and giggles, and it’s not about Bitcoin… Sometimes I’d say: “Yeah, Bitcoin is kind of a ‘cult’. The one that has no leader and teaches you to think for yourself.” This little* snippet* by Natasha Leggero captures the essence of it, and I just love her delivery. 

There are a lot more tactical things we could cover, and if you want to learn more, please reach out. What I want to leave you with is my personal reflection: the best teachers I’ve had weren’t world-class experts. They were people who cared deeply about the subject and the people they were guiding. If Bitcoin, or whatever it is, is calling you, teach it. Don’t wait to feel qualified. Your students need your care more than they need your expertise. Start small. Start imperfect. Just start.

DM me if you want to talk through it. I mean it.