After 20 years in the tech industry, Eric Johnson traded his corporate commute for a whistle and a clipboard, proving that with the right support, it’s never too late to reinvent yourself.
Carrie Varoquiers
Chief Impact Officer
Workday
After finishing college, Eric Johnson didn’t head for a cubicle. Instead, he hopped on a bicycle and pedaled across the United States to raise money for charity. His "training" had been a childhood paper route and one weekend trip, but the 3,000-mile journey taught him a permanent lesson.
"That cross-country ride showed me that if I'm interested in doing something, I can do it," Johnson says.
Decades later, that same can-do spirit would lead him to his most challenging journey yet. After 20 years in the tech industry, Johnson realized the long commutes and constant corporate mergers were crushing his spark. He decided it was time to trade his laptop for a whistle and a clipboard.
Report
“My mom was a high school English teacher,” Johnson reveals. “I think she really enjoyed it at first, but over time, I saw her struggle.” When Johnson initially told his mom that he’d like to be an educator, she advised against it, warning him, “You get paid nothing, and they make a lot of demands on you.”
Convinced teaching wasn’t a viable choice, he soon accepted a customer service job in the tech industry. Johnson subsequently found fulfillment as a technical instructor, traveling the world to share his expertise with eager cohorts. But once he was married and had kids, his nomadic lifestyle became unsustainable. He moved into program management and weathered the tech industry’s frequent mergers and acquisitions.
“Every four or five years, I would change companies, or the job I was doing would change,” he says.
Through it all, he leaned into the educational aspect of tech. As a certified Scrum Master, he coached colleagues on frameworks and pilot programs, which led to a role at Fitbit, helping build its health app. The job aligned with his interests, but the long train commute from his suburb to San Francisco crushed his spirit. Even a subsequent role closer to home failed to reignite his spark. He knew then something had to change.
That cross-country ride showed me that if I'm interested in doing something, I can do it.- Eric Johnson
“I found a career coach and a therapist,” he recalls. “I also signed up for a career-direction class at UC Davis for people seeking a midlife career change. And then COVID hit.”
For Johnson, the pandemic offered an unexpected respite. Free from commuting and the office grind, he spent lockdown in discovery mode, searching for a more satisfying career path.
The turning point came on a Thanksgiving road trip with his wife. “I told my wife that I can't do this career anymore, and she said, ‘Okay, I can go back to work.’”
Through his coaching and coursework, Johnson identified two vocations that would capitalize on his strengths and keep him active: landscape architect and PE teacher. A couple of his friends happened to teach PE and they assured him he’d be a perfect fit.
In the summer of 2020, Johnson enrolled at Cal State East Bay to earn his teaching credential. During the year-and-half program, he secured an internship covering a PE class at a local middle school. Within two months, the internship evolved into a paid position.
“I wasn’t shadowing anybody. This was my own class, and it was a great introduction to the PE world,” he notes.
The experience fulfilled his certification requirements and, a year later, he accepted a full-time teaching position at an alternative high school—one that had never had a dedicated PE and health teacher.
I’m doing it for my well-being and to help students become better people.- Eric Johnson
Johnson discovered he wasn’t just hired to teach; he was tasked with building the program from the ground up. He designed PE and health curricula for both in-person and online learning and converted the school’s parking lot into functional spaces for sports and exercise.
“Nothing was here,” he remembers. “I had the district paint lines on the concrete. I built two new basketball courts. I bought tons of equipment to run a PE class.” Along the way, he also earned a master’s degree in technology education.
Now in his fifth year of teaching, Johnson feels uniquely equipped to mentor students navigating learning disabilities and personal obstacles. Living with dyslexia has shaped his approach.
“Dyslexia was a curse when I was growing up, and now it’s a blessing,” he says. “I understand students’ challenges and I’m able to try out different teaching approaches and see what sticks.”
The job, Johnson admits, is tough and far from lucrative. But money was never the motivation. “I’m doing it for my well-being and to help students become better people.”
To manage his heavy workload, he uses AI tools to assist with lesson prompts, quizzes, and parent communication, while remaining cautious about AI’s potential to undermine students’ critical thinking skills.
His focus is preparing students for life after high school, which is why graduation day is his favorite day of the year. “They’ve gone through adversity, put in the effort, and earned a diploma,” he says. “Those are the same steps I went through.”
In Johnson’s case, his wife’s financial and emotional support—as well as guidance from his therapist, career coach, and the college courses—lit the path forward. He encourages anyone considering a career change to talk to people in different fields, assess the financial realities, and, most importantly, find a cheerleader.
“There’s going to be doubt, frustration, and fear. I had those daily,” he recalls. “Having someone to talk to who will say, ‘Hey, you’ve got this, you can do this,’ makes all the difference.”
Report
The rapid advancement of AI has raised huge questions about its impact on jobs. Despite that, 83% of workers agree that AI will enhance human creativity rather than limit it. Learn more about the AI skills revolution in this new global Workday study.