Most career changes don't start from zero. The best ones take a skill you've spent years sharpening and point it somewhere new.
I kept coming back to that idea after I had the pleasure of talking with data transformation specialist Jared Slaweski on Bucks Co Living. Jared is a Pennsbury and Monmouth grad, an Eagle Scout, a former Teacher of the Year, and a professional Bucks County magician who now works in sales at dbt Labs. I walk through what he taught me about reinvention, communication, and why people still need a human touch.
Here’s a preview of that episode:
Why I Had This Conversation
I met Jared at a Newtown brewery where he performed for me, and he blew my mind. His personality stuck with me, too.
In my work with buyers and sellers, I see how career and money decisions shape where people live. Jared chose his family's financial future without giving up what he loves.
He grew up in Langhorne and Yardley and earned the Eagle Scout rank, which he says only about 5% of Scouts reach. He taught social studies in Jackson, New Jersey, for about eight years before moving into tech sales.
All of these make him a perfect guest on my podcast!
Watch the full episode here:
The Magic Trick That Quietly Trained a Teacher of the Year
Jared started doing magic around age 11. What hooked him was fooling smart, logical people who know it's fake and still can't figure it out. As a teen, he'd botch tricks in front of friends, which taught him to rehearse before going public.
Those reps paid off. Holding a crowd, thinking on the fly when a volunteer messes up, and handling hecklers carried straight into managing 30 students in an 80-minute block.
His classroom engagement strategies evolved with the times. In 2012, students voted on questions with their phones and watched live results on his slides. A few years later, phones had taken over, so they went into a cubby. History couldn't compete with their screens.
He broke up long classes with movement and real conversation. Attention is earned, not demanded.
When Loving Your Job Isn't Enough to Pay the Bills
Jared won Teacher of the Year and loved his colleagues, yet he walked away in 2024. The reason was financial, not a loss of passion.
The New Jersey teacher pension changes in 2011 placed newer teachers into tiers, and Jared landed in Tier 5. To match the pension of colleagues retiring that year, he'd have needed about 25 more years on top of their service.
When a new three-year contract arrived, he ran the numbers.
“I want to own a house. I wanna, you know, maybe get into rentals. You know, I wanna do some stuff. And I was living in my, I had a one bed, one bath condo in Southampton. And when I purchased it, you know, my family was like, that's your starter place, and maybe you'll rent it out one day. And I was like, I've been teaching for a decade and I have the exact same dollar amount in my bank account. Hasn't gone up, hasn't gone down."
Coaching tennis on top of teaching meant 14 to 15 hour days.
Many Bucks County homeowners reach their own starter-place moment. When a first home no longer fits your plans, it helps to understand what selling your home in Bucks County involves before you make your next move.
Teaching 30 Different Learners Was the Best Sales Training He Ever Got
A tennis parent at BMC Software asked Jared if he'd considered tech sales. Within a month, he was selling workflow orchestration software.
His first major deal, with Walmart, took about an hour of work and paid the equivalent of four months of coaching tennis. His AP World History students had posted top scores, and his reward was jeans on Friday. In sales, the reward matched the work.
This is where transferable teaching skills shine. When sales training covered tailoring the message to each buyer, Jared already knew it. The hard part was the technical content, not the communication.
If you're considering a career change, audit your "how," not just your "what." You can follow Jared’s path in tech.
Why AI Still Needs Someone Who Knows the Context
About a year ago, Jared joined dbt Labs, a friend's company originally called Fishtown Analytics. His analogy stuck with me. You don't pour crude oil into your car, and you can't run a business on raw data.
AI data transformation is reshaping that work. The product was built in 2016 for humans and now serves AI agents first, as teams build with ChatGPT, Gemini, Copilot, and Claude Code. That shift brings real problems.
“There are a lot of problems with that. It hallucinates a whole heck of a bunch. So a lot of the things that we try to do are solving those hallucinations, making sure your AI has context. So when you ask it a question, it's not making up answers, especially for, like, ‘Hey, how much money do we make this year?’ And you have one team that goes, it says we made a million dollars, and another team goes, says we only made $50. What's going on here?"
The lesson is to give AI clean context and one source of truth before trusting it. Jared sees AI shifting the focus of jobs, not erasing them. When I asked if an AI agent might overvalue a home, he said my job is safe for now.
What Changed for Me After This Conversation
During our rapid-fire round, I asked Jared to pick between teaching and technology. He didn't hesitate.
"Yeah, I mean through and through. As I said, from the time I was a kid, whether it was Boy Scouts, coaching the tennis team, that doesn't matter. It's been in my blood forever. It really has. And the fact that I'm looking to try to do a teaching-like role in my technology job kind of is just, it's all right there."
His students prove the impact outlasts the job. One former troublemaker came back in Marine fatigues to apologize. I now see a career change as relocating your strengths, and Jared is aiming to train new sales hires at dbt Labs, bringing him full circle.
I try to meet each client where they are; the way he differentiates for every learner.
Want to hear my full conversation with data transformation specialist Jared Slaweski on how he turned his gift as a teacher into a tech career?
Frequently Asked Questions
Why did Jared Slaweski leave teaching after winning Teacher of the Year?
Jared loved teaching, but the math didn't work. New Jersey's 2011 pension changes placed him in Tier 5, so he left in 2024 for his family's financial future.
How do teaching skills transfer into tech sales?
Teaching is constant differentiation. Jared adjusted lessons for every learner, and in sales he does the same for VPs, directors, and data engineers.
How can I book Jared for a magic show in Bucks County?
Jared performs at a Newtown brewery monthly and books private parties. Reach him on Instagram or Facebook at Magic by Jared, or at magicjared8@gmail.com.
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