Why I Left a 30-Year Marketing Career to Become a Teacher: A BATTI Alum's Story
Every week, in a magazine I read, there's an ad for a UK organization called NowTeach. It profiles a person who used to work in the creative industries but now teaches math. The headline reads simply: "Are you ready for a change?"
For years, that ad was a weekly reminder of something I never let myself forget — that someday, I wanted to teach.
My name is Mark Galbraith. This is my story of a career change to teaching in California after 30 years in marketing, and how a Bay Area teaching residency made the switch possible. I'm now starting my third year teaching my own fifth-grade class.
Who I Was Before: 30 Years in Marketing
Before teaching, I spent 30 years in marketing — 15 at advertising agencies and 15 at a brand strategy and design firm.
During all that time, I always thought I might someday become a teacher. I have always enjoyed working with young people, and I appreciated how important teachers are. But I also felt I needed to raise my two daughters and put them through college before I could focus on educating other people's children.
So the idea waited. It never went away — it just waited.
What Changed My Mind About Teaching
There wasn't one single moment. There were several factors that, together, finally convinced me to make the change.
First, I have a friend who is a longtime principal, and for years, any time we got together, he encouraged me to make the pivot. Second, there was that NowTeach ad — a consistent reminder not to forget about pursuing my desire to teach.
The support of my wife was an essential turning point. And being able to pass the CBEST and all of the CSETs before I even applied to schools was a key factor — and not entirely a given after three decades out of school.
Ultimately, all of this led me to volunteer in a classroom. I did it so I could experience how I would react — whether I felt I could be myself among 25-plus kids
“After the first day of volunteering, I knew that I was going to make the change.”
How BATTI's Residency Program Made the Transition Possible
My biggest fear was real: having been out of school for over 30 years, I wasn't entirely certain I could relearn and retain all of the required concepts — much less teach them in a compelling way to fifth graders.
BATTI's residency model addressed that fear directly. It gave me access to valued partnerships with experienced teachers, where I could see adaptive teaching strategies firsthand and then try them myself in a real classroom.
The structure mattered in other ways, too. I'm not sure how I would have handled — much less passed — the edTPA without the structure of the BATTI class and the inspiration of my BATTI classmates.
Through BATTI's credential and master's program, I spent two years as an Associate Teacher and a graduate student, working toward a Master of Arts in Education and a preliminary California Multiple Subject Teaching Credential through BATTI's partnership with University of the Pacific — with evening and weekend classes built for people making exactly this kind of transition.
The Day I First Felt Like a Real Teacher
January 30, 2025. It was a Thursday. I was five months into my first year, and it was proving to be as challenging as I thought it might be.
At the end of the day, I walked back to the classroom after taking my students to the pick-up area. The room was completely empty, but the whiteboard still held two math problems we had worked through together. On the far wall hung several anchor charts about essay writing. I felt I had taught a good math lesson that day, and we'd had an engaging conversation during our English Language Arts lesson.
When I walked through the door and saw all of the work we had co-created together, I had this realization: this looked like a real classroom. It caused me to reflect, "I guess we really are doing this."
Moments like that are the outcome BATTI is built for — you can see how other career-changers have made the same journey in BATTI's program outcomes.
My Advice for Anyone in the Bay Area Considering the Change
If you're sitting where I was two years ago, here's what I would tell you: making the pivot to teaching won't be easy — but it will hopefully prove to be as right a thing for you to do as it is proving to be for me.
When I began thinking about becoming a teacher, I felt that if I was going to take on something as important as creating a daily experience for 20-plus young minds, I needed to be as prepared as I could possibly be. Between studying for and taking all of the state tests, and the two years as an Associate and a graduate student, it has certainly been a lot of work — and filled with humbling change.
But I am certain that my BATTI experience equipped me with the skills and personal confidence I bring to class every day. Starting my third year with my own fifth-grade class, I feel able to provide a positive, growing experience for all of my students and their families.
If you want to test the water the way I did, spend real time in a classroom first — volunteer, or explore Bay Area teaching positions to see the kinds of school communities where BATTI residents begin.
