Grant shares how he became a teacher almost by accident—and how physical hardship later reshaped his approach to life.

He remembers showing up at a school in paint-spotted clothes to ask about a substitute geography opening. While he’s speaking with the secretary, the principal overhears, comes out quickly, and asks, “What degree do you have?” Grant answers, “Geography.” The principal responds, “Can you start this afternoon?” Grant is told to go home, clean up, and that he can keep the job as long as he commits to taking three education courses per year.

Grant says he “backed into teaching” and never intended to do it, but once he started, he took to it naturally—“like a duck to water.” He loves talking, reads widely and profusely, and pulls from many different sources. Teaching fits.

Money is tight in the early years, so Grant paints houses on weekends, holidays, and summers—often making twice as much painting as teaching at first. Wanting to grow professionally, he applies to programs and is accepted in Tucson, where he earns a master’s in secondary education in two years. He even intends to pursue a doctorate, but life intervenes.

Grant describes being highly active—long bike rides and mountain hikes—until one day he lifts one side of a piano, hears a loud “snap,” and within an hour his back pain becomes so intense he can’t walk. He has herniated a disc in his lower back.

A back surgeon recommends avoiding surgery and gives him a list of six to eight exercises. At the time, they call it physical therapy, but Grant later realizes it was essentially yoga. He begins doing the exercises and learns a new lesson: balance. He has to do just enough, not overdo it, and he can’t stop doing it. Over time, gentle yoga, walking, and slow bicycling help rebuild muscle around his spine. As his muscle tone improves, the vertebrae pull away from the disc and relieve pressure, helping him recover.


This chapter is both a career origin story and a life lesson—how Grant found his calling through an unexpected opportunity, and how a physical setback taught him moderation, persistence, and a more sustainable way to live.