TPT Forward 2024: What I Learned (and What I’d Do Differently) ✈️

Hey friends. 🌺

If I could describe my TPT Forward 2024 experience in one phrase, it would be this: a great negative experience. It was full of amazing moments, but it also completely overwhelmed me.

When I started my Teachers Pay Teachers store in September 2023, I gave myself a goal. I wanted to make enough money from my store to pay for my trip to TPT Forward 2024 in San Diego. The conference was in the summer, and I thought it would be the perfect milestone to work toward.

I worked so hard that year. I created 49 products, including a few bundles and freebies, and gave it everything I had. I didn’t make enough to cover the trip. I earned about $600 total, but I was proud of every dollar. The conference ticket alone was about $200, plus the flight and hotel, so my husband and I decided to treat it as a working vacation.

We made the most of it. We went to a Padres game, Sesame Place, SeaWorld, and the San Diego Zoo. My husband even drove all the way to Calabasas just to see where the Kardashians lived out of pure curiosity. On the flight home, the plane was half empty, and we had a whole row to ourselves. It felt like a private jet. We had a lot of fun and had no regrets there.

During the conference, though, things felt very different. I came in nervous. Everyone already seemed to know each other. They’d been coming to these conferences for years, and I was the new one trying to fit in. I did meet some wonderful people. We shared sessions, talked about our stores, and cheered each other on. That part was beautiful.

But underneath it all, I couldn’t shake the feeling of imposter syndrome. It’s something I talk more about in The Comparison Trap: Finding Joy in Your Own Journey (coming December 29).

So many creators there had hundreds of products, thousands of followers, and full-time teams helping them. Some were making thousands of dollars a month. I was barely at 50 resources and doing everything on my own after work. The gap felt huge.

To their credit, most presenters gave great advice: choose only two or three ideas from the conference and focus only on those. But that’s not how my brain works. I’m an all-or-nothing person. I came home with a notebook full of thirty ideas, all marked as “priority.”

Everything became important, except the one thing that started it all: creating.

During the sessions, most speakers talked about refining products you already have—improving listings, testing ads, building email lists, and scaling what’s already selling. But I didn’t have that many products yet. I was still just getting started. Hearing all of that made me feel like I was behind before I’d even had the chance to catch up.

When I got home, I was filled with ideas but completely paralyzed. Every note I took turned into a new task, and every task made me feel smaller. Instead of inspired, I left feeling like the imposter syndrome I walked in with was actually true.

That’s why I didn’t go to TPT Forward 2025 in Nashville.

At that point, I was seven months pregnant and already exhausted. Traveling wasn’t realistic, but even if I could have gone, I’m not sure I would have been ready. My store had sat untouched for over a year, and the idea of walking back into that environment made my stomach turn.

Still, I don’t regret the experience. It was our last trip before having baby Santiago, and it showed me what I needed to change.

Now that I’ve had time to breathe (see Why I’m Back (and What I’ve Been Working On) for more on that journey), I can see the good parts more clearly. I learned so much from that trip, not just about TPT, but about myself. I learned that growth is not about doing everything at once. It’s about doing what matters, consistently, and finding joy in the process again.

Next year, TPT Forward 2026 will be in Las Vegas, and my husband and I are already talking about going. This time it would be the three of us, turning it into a family trip. Maybe I’ll go for the whole conference and they’ll join me at the end. Hotels in Vegas aren’t too bad, and I can already picture us walking down the Strip, celebrating how far we’ve come.

And maybe this time, I’ll come home feeling inspired, not overwhelmed.

💬 Let’s Reflect

Have you ever gone to a conference or PD that left you more overwhelmed than motivated? What helped you find your balance again?

Stay curious, chipmunks. 🐿️

Daniela

🧩 Related Resources

Here are a few activities that reminded me why I love creating — simple, creative, and student-approved favorites:

⭐ Function Personality Quiz & Assignment | Graphing Functions and Math Writing
⭐ Solving Literal Equations Spatial Maze | Space-Themed Manipulating Formulas
⭐ A Thanksgiving Feast of Inequalities | Solving 1 Variable Inequalities

Thanks for reading! You can find all my math resources on 
👉 Teachers Pay Teachers | Math with Mrs. DOT
and follow along for new posts and classroom ideas on 
📸 Instagram | @mathwithmrsdot
📘 Facebook | @mathwithmrsdott
📌 Pinterest | @mathwithmrsdot