Should Jess Go to the TpT Conference in Vegas?

TPT Forward 2026 takes place July 7–9 at the Las Vegas Hilton at Resorts World — and Jess lives in Las Vegas. So she's going, right? Maybe. In this episode of Two Wacky Teacherpreneurs Tell All, Jess and Amanda go through the entire TPT Forward 2026 conference guide session by session, debating which ones are worth attending, which ones sound like recycled advice, and whether the conference is still valuable for a seller who's been to five or six of them already.

What starts as a simple "should I go?" turns into one of the most honest conversations about the TPT seller community you'll ever hear — covering the haves-and-have-nots dynamic at conferences, the role of generational wealth in TPT success, why the advice that changed Jess's career came from her very first conference, and whether blogging is dead in the age of AI.

In this episode, you'll learn:

• The full TPT Forward 2026 session lineup, reviewed and ranked by two veteran sellers: everything from "From Resource to Unit to Curriculum for Secondary Sellers" to "Your AI Advisory Board" to "Blogger's Boot Camp"
• Jess's origin story: how her first TPT conference launched her entire social media career — the trifecta advice (blog + Pinterest + social media → TPT store) that started everything
• The haves and have-nots: Jess's candid take on the wealth display at TPT conferences — the Louis Vuitton bags, the Louboutin heels, and what it feels like to be a smaller seller in that room
• The generational wealth conversation: why some sellers start from a higher elevation and how access to capital for websites, virtual assistants, and business tools creates an uneven playing field
• Why Jess would attend: the Canva product creation session, Ashley Bible's money mindset talk, the AI advisory board session, and the thumbnails workshop
• Why Jess might skip: email funnels she can't build, sessions that don't differentiate between novice and advanced sellers, and post-trip exhaustion from a month in Germany
• Amanda's conference frustration as a neurodivergent attendee: over-excitability, information overload, and wanting concise quick wins instead of hour-long deep dives
• The "is blogging dead?" debate: Amanda argues AI is just a fancy search engine that still links to blogs; Jess isn't sure anymore
• Why Amanda wants Jess to go: the gossip, the learnings, and the vicarious conference experience from Uruguay
• The sessions Amanda is most curious about: AI advisory board, thumbnails, and product partners

Conference details:

• TPT Forward 2026 runs July 7–9 at the Las Vegas Hilton at Resorts World
• Sessions cover resource creation, marketing, productivity, data, and more, with a keynote from Teacher-Author AYO Jones

Watch this episode on YouTube to see Amanda's AI-generated entourage of conference-ready ladies and Jess trying not to sneeze on camera.

Subscribe and leave a five-star review — and remember, if you share this podcast with 10 other people, you'll have good luck forever.

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:02

Hey, welcome back to two Wacky Teacherpreneurs Tell Hall. I'm here with my buddy Amanda, who has a bunch of ladies that look like they're about to go to the TPT conference, because I've been a million times a TPT conference and I know what the look is. And that's the look. You're serious. You want to make more money, but you're also sort of summer fashionable. Anyway, today we're gonna talk about whether or not I should go to this year's TPT conference. I have been to a bunch. I've been to five or six TPT conferences. I've been to a lot of them. I I was on a roll where I almost went to every single one, but then COVID happened. I even went to the COVID ones. There were two and they were online and I went to both online COVID conferences. So I I've been to so many, and I don't know if I want to go to this year's, but it is silly because it's taking place in my the city I live in, which is Las Vegas, and that's where the first two Teachers Pay Teachers conferences were. Anyway, we're gonna ditch on what's happening at this one, and maybe I'll come up with some reasons to go or not go. I mean I'm definitely gonna go walk around, and some of my buddies are coming down. Some of my TPT friends are gonna be there. So I'm gonna go like lurk, but I don't know if I'm gonna buy a ticket to the conference because TPT isn't the highest on my priority list right now, but maybe it should be. We're gonna talk about it.

SPEAKER_00 1:27

Welcome to the Wacky Teacher Preneurs Podcast! Your hosts, Jess and Amanda, have been friends and teacher preneurs for years! Along with their successes, they've had lots of failures, foibles, and fumbles. And now they're here to share it all with you. Stay tuned for some funny times and awesome business insights. Let's go behind the scenes of their teacher businesses now. Raw, unfiltered, real. Let's get started.

SPEAKER_01 2:07

Alright, now we're back, and we're talking. Amanda! So tell me this. If there was a TPT conference in Montevideo, would you go to it? Yeah, I would definitely go. To Montevideo? You'd pay the money to go. So I'm being silly, not wanting to go, basically.

SPEAKER_02 2:31

Do you think no because you have a big trip coming up and um my esposo just walked in um because I'm in an Airbnb right now and he's scowling at me. So uh let me just uh real quick uh do something and uh uh uh okay. I paused and now I am um in another room and maybe the the sound is a little better. I don't know. I apologize for the bad sound quality. I don't have my microphone. Do you have your microphone, Jess?

SPEAKER_01 3:10

I haven't used a microphone in years. None of my mics work, they all sound like hooey. They're all very echoey.

SPEAKER_02 3:17

Maybe you could go to the TPT conference and they could tell you about how to start a podcast and what microphone you need to get.

SPEAKER_01 3:25

No, no, I've had I've had a podcast for like eight years. I don't need their advice. That's my biggest thing is I don't need their advice anymore. But it is I do walk away with things. Yeah, I really hate everything they have to say, but okay, I'm gonna go through the conference guide and see. Like I used to love this, but honestly, it is a lot of drama, and it's all about this weird world of haves and haves and have nots. And as soon as you get there, you know, because all of a sudden there's these people that are, you know, they have like Versace or whatever on, and you're just like Louis Vuitton bags, and everyone's clip clopping around and like Louis LeButon Vuitton heels. I don't know what they are. I know they're expensive, I know the signs, right? I can tell, but it's just weird. It's weird, it's like a show of like, oh, whose TPT store is doing the best, you know? And it can be a bit much, but I did grow to love it once I made my own posse of friends, which you were included in that, but now you're gone. So what's the point? That's what I'm saying. What is the point? Okay, I'm in the conference guide, and I'm trying to think like the first year I went, that's the year I decided to start social media because that's what they told me to do. I went to TPT conference and they like they're like, listen, there's a trifecta uh of stuff, and you gotta have a blog, you gotta have a Pinterest, and you gotta have social media, and in the middle is your TPT store. And your blog, your Pinterest, and your social media should all lead people to the core of your triangle, which is your TPT store. And I was like, What? I didn't have any of that. I'm like, this is dumb. But then I went home and I started all of it, right? I'm like, okay, I'll start a blog, I'll start social media, I'll start this. And that's what started my whole journey on social media. I didn't really out of my blog and pictures and social media, social media kind of took off and I started seeing success on various platforms, but I did it because a TBT conference. Like I wouldn't, we probably don't, we wouldn't have even met if I didn't join social media, right? Because that's how we met. We met talking to Sheila Jane teaching on Periscope and commenting in the comments to each other. That's how we met. We met as social media people, like we're using social media, typing to each other. It's almost like the old timey AOL chat rooms, right? Yeah, so I'm happy I went, but as the years have progressed, I've been crankier and crankier about like the advice that I've gotten. Sorry, I'm about to sneeze. I'm trying not to do it on camera. Um, so anyway, let's go look and see what they have. I'm gonna go over the sessions and then Amanda, I think this would be fun. You tell me if you would go to it. Are you ready? But I'm not telling you who's doing them. Okay, here's the first session. From resource to unit to curriculum for secondary sellers. Would you do that? I'm thinking it's all about how to make a unit feel intentional, complete, and adaptable as a secondary tool.

SPEAKER_02 6:40

I would go to that. That sounds really interesting. Well, it could well a secondary anything for secondary sellers. I'm very interested in.

SPEAKER_01 6:48

Okay, here's the next one. Are you ready? How small data moves can make a big impact.

SPEAKER_02 6:54

Yes, and I love the person that's uh running that one.

SPEAKER_01 6:58

Oh, you know that person? Okay, yes, I agree. Oh, you're you're looking to okay. Here's the next one. I'm on the I'm on page seven. Work smarter creating resources and PowerPoint slides and Canva. I didn't even think people use PowerPoint anymore, and I thought it was all Google Slides or Canva now.

SPEAKER_02 7:16

Okay, so here's the thing. I'm probably gonna say yes to everything because I don't know. That's that's why my frustration with conferences is I have like an over enthusiasm, like over, I have over excited abilities. I just get really, really excited, and it's it's really um anxiety provoking.

SPEAKER_01 7:42

So that's okay. Now we'll just talk about me then. So Amanda says yes to all of them. Next one is bet on yourself, money mindset for TPT authors. Now, listen, I would not usually do this one as I've already read a bunch of money mindset books, growing up poor and continuing to be poor. I'm like, it must be me. I don't live in poverty. Me, me, me, right? Well, but this is one of my buddies, Ashley Bible. She's one of my chatty friends. So obviously, I would go to support my friend. So we're going to the next page now. Evergreen email marketing machine. Now, I would not go to this because email marketing is just like I it says learn how to build strategic funnels that feel personal. I have never built a single funnel. I am so bad at funnel building. I would need funnel building 101 or even how to like send out an email. Like, I don't know how to do any of that. The only time I've ever been successful doing that is on um what's that really expensive? Kajabi. I I was successful on Kajabi, made it so easy, really demystified it. And I did do a successful email funnel on Kajabi, but I've never done it on another platform. So just me, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 8:56

Because I've been to a lot of these conferences too. And I mean, again, this is another one that I'm very interested in and I would want to go to, but I feel like when I do go to sessions, um, this is like if any presenter is listening, which they're probably not, but I just feel like sometimes they just overload you with too much. And if they could just like maybe give like just really um concise quick win type advice that I haven't already heard. And I know that's really hard because you don't know like who you're teaching when you're in when you're a presenter, you know, you don't know who like what level. Because I feel like TPT at a TPT conference, and this is like maybe another piece of advice for the people running these conferences, is that they should have advanced, like these are for advanced sellers, these are for you know brand new sellers, like being able to differentiate between you know what I mean?

SPEAKER_01 10:04

Like they did that one year, they did, yeah, they did novice, like and they had like levels, and I think the idea was they're gonna keep doing that, but then I don't know. I think COVID kind of messed with how they organized the conferences. Uh, you know, are they still gonna have in-person conferences? Is it more cost effective to have them online? One year they two two years they did hybrid conferences. I think in Boston they had a real life conference and an online conference, yeah, and they did level them because I remember, you know, like I don't know, there's so much drama in TPT world because there's like a novice, but some people see it as your years of experience, some people see as how much money you make. So technically, a new seller they could make just as much as an old timey seller their first year if they really hit it out of the park and found some product that went viral, or you know what I mean? They they they're the new it person, right? They could be making as much as an old time E TBT person. So I felt like it was it was weird talking to people during that time because I remember I had signed up for a conference and I was like, Well, I've been doing this for eight or nine years, but then it's uh like all my buddies know that I don't really make that much money at it. So they're like, Well, you should you be going to the expert ones when you don't really make that much money on it. But like if you've been plugging away at something for like 10 years, I felt like yeah, and and then but then I felt weird and I didn't want to go anymore because I was like, Oh, because I'm not like a TBT millionaire, I can't go to the advanced conference because a lot of it is luck, yes, you know, and timing.

SPEAKER_02 11:46

I mean, yes, there's a lot of expertise that goes into making money online, but you can't just that's not all of it, you know. That's not like that's not people who make millions or whatever. Yes, they had they were in the right place at the right time and they knew the right information, you know, and they they were they knew what they were doing in that niche or whatever in that time period. I don't know. I just think they all the stars have to align.

SPEAKER_01 12:19

The there's also there is a lot about like I feel in the business of generational poverty because and I I kind of have this argument with some of my coworkers. So a couple of my coworkers, they're teachers and they're millionaires, they're flat out, like, yeah, we're millionaires, and it's because their parents were millionaires, their parents are millionaires and they're millionaires. It's easier to build the business when it they're so expensive to build when you already are coming from a place of like wealth and privilege where, like, you know, oh, it's three or four thousand dollars to build my dream website. That's no problem. Like, I had that when I was a baby, you know, like it's I don't know, like there are some things that can set people ahead a little bit, hiring virtual assistants, being able to have money for all your business expenses, being able to have money to build a killer website, you know, having the free time at home to blog and write, maybe all these years while your spouse was off making money or you were just living on your your um uh what do they call that? What do they call it when rich kids have a trust fund, right? So, like, I don't know, like there is a lot that goes into TPT to make someone successful as well that has to do with their background. Some people literally get lucky and work their butts off from ground zero, but some people are starting at a higher elevation than other people too. All right, I want to go back to the list. I don't want to talk about my my poor Hannah blah blah blahs. Uh okay, next one your AI advisory board. Now, this is the first page that's mentioned AI, and I think that's on everybody's um radar right now, but it's more about talking about the nine AI consultants who will help you with planning, data, and more. And then, yeah, I don't understand what that's all about, but it does sound really cool. And if you want to be kind of cutting edge with your business, I think going to AI sessions is smart because it's not going anywhere. So you might as well like I don't know. That one seems kind of cool. And this lady's been on a bunch of TV shows, she's their keynote speaker. So, like the keynote speaker is not only giving her keynote, she's also doing a session, and she's super famous, and she has a TV, a TPT store. So I think that this is kind of interesting. All right, I'm gonna say her name. Oh, I just skipped the page. I don't know her name. AO Jones. Is that how you say it? I don't know. I didn't want to say it and get it wrong, Amanda.

SPEAKER_02 14:51

Oh sorry, it's A Y O Jones, and I'm sure, yeah, I just searched her and yeah, she looks cool.

SPEAKER_01 15:00

Yeah, she's been on a bunch of TV shows, and she's a TPT seller, so yeah. Yeah. Cool. Okay, the next page. I'm on page nine now. Um, they're gonna talk about ads, ads that convert, and then the next one is unlocking sales with creating problem solving. That's interesting. People are always complaining about needing to sell more. Now I'm on page 10. Beyond the first purchase, creating a loyal super fan. Uh, show don't tell social media that sells. Oh, that could be cool, depending on what social media they talk about. Bloggers boot camp. Is your blog feeling a little lackluster? Well, it's time to turn that around. Learn from my blog statistics and how I arrange my page page views and sessions by 167% in just 15 days. That's actually kind of cool to have a fact like that in.

SPEAKER_02 15:53

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 15:54

Store audits that sell, refine what you already have. Now I'm on page 12. Beyond basics, creating resources for all learners, getting it right from the start, proven advice from TPT sellers, blueprint to bundles, turning standards into product lines, stepping into CEO mode, systems productivity, and outsourcing. There's a lot. Take your best selling resource and make it grow. That's a good one. That's I've always heard that your best-selling resource is your best chance at making more money. Like you're better off like bundling that or making it more expensive, or or you know, like it's gonna sell more if you focus on the top, you know, five percent of your store. Yeah, product partner is a new way to scale your TPT store. What's a product partner? What's that? We are product partners, a powerful way to market your TPT store by hiring teachers from your own audience. These partners will then showcase your resources and help expand your reach. With three years of privatis, I'll share what works best, how to find the right partners, set clear expectations, manage submissions, and make the most of their contributions. That sounds interesting. That is, but that involves like hiring people, and it sounds like a real pain. Uh relationships are the real out algorithm. Sure. Small team, small budget. Big brand, small team, small budget, big brand. That's kind of cool. Small team, small budget, big brand. Yeah, I like it. That's not bad. Um, what's the next one? TV TBT templates create high-quality thumbnails and previews fast. Yeah, because I hate creating thumbnails like so bad. I hate them. And I feel like no matter what I do now, they're kind of blurry and weird, and everyone has these workaround methods for it. And I tried it and it doesn't work. Free resources that actually sell. Okay, pocket to profit, do-it-yourself smartphone photos that will sell, and that's it. That's everything. So I don't know. I'm gonna see what the date looks like. Like, how long are all these sessions? So each session is one hour long. Um, then they have a snack breaks built in between each session. There's a 10-minute snack break.

SPEAKER_02 18:25

I really want you to go. Are they gonna have snacks? Did this convince you to go?

SPEAKER_01 18:32

No, it did not. Really? No. But I just one thing I'm just I'm so worried that I'm gonna be really spent after my trip to Germany is I'm going to Germany for almost a month. Probably like, I don't know, 26 days or something, a really long time. And on when I go on these long trips, I often come back really sick. Like I've gotten COVID and influenza A or whatever, a different one. Um, I've gotten the stomach flu, and I just I'm not a great traveler. And by the end of a long trip, when I'm exhausted, I think my immune system sort of breaks down on the plane ride home, and I always get super sick. So I'm worried. I'm worried, like, so I mean, when I got COVID, I was out for six weeks. I could not like the only thing I could do is talk to you every day. Yeah. Remember, we had COVID together, remember in 2022.

SPEAKER_02 19:30

That's when we started this podcast.

SPEAKER_01 19:32

Yes, the getting COVID made me start this prog a podcast, but it was the sickest I've been in a long, long time. I think I had long COVID because I tested positive for six weeks, and that's a long time to test positive for it. So, anyway, let me see what else there is. There's a TPT social. Let me see. And how many days does this even go for? So I'm gonna go back and look at all the days. So it looks like it starts July 7th, which is Tuesday, and then it goes through Wednesday. Okay, that doesn't look bad. And then there's a collaboration time, that's always fun. And then it goes through Thursday. Okay, so it's Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday. That's interesting. That's really weird. It's probably because it was cheaper to get the building for Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday. So yeah, I don't know. I don't know how I'm gonna be feeling. I don't know if I can buy tickets that close to it, but I feel like I don't want to commit to it right now and then like have some weird illness or really need to relax. You know what I mean?

SPEAKER_02 20:40

Yeah, and I think you can decide once it's closer to the event. What time do you when do you get back from Germany? I get back like the 27th, I think. Yeah, so you could just decide like the 28th or the 29th, or whatever you want.

SPEAKER_01 20:57

Yeah, I'll see uh how I'm feeling. And if I wonder if they're gonna sell tickets at the door. They might be why wouldn't they? I don't know, or if I have to buy them like you know, way more advanced. Used to be it used to sell out, but I don't think it sells out anymore. I don't think it's that kind of conference that just oh, there's only two more seats, right? What are you doing?

SPEAKER_02 21:23

Trying to get your attention. I'm crossing my fingers that you feel super healthy and that you can go because I know a lot of your friends are going, and I really want you to give me all this the new learnings and the new gossip and all the good stuff. So I hope you go.

SPEAKER_01 21:40

I think it's well, is there any one thing that you were like, oh man, I want to know that more than anything else? Like, was there something that popped out to you?

SPEAKER_02 21:48

Yeah, I mean, there were a couple of things. Let me um I think the AI one, of course. I'm very curious about that, and also the thumbnails one. The thumbnails, thrilling. Well, I don't know. Just like you said, I don't like thumbnails are annoying and I hate creating them. And it's like, and also, what was the other the one about partners? But you didn't seem very like get uh collaborating with people who buy your products.

SPEAKER_01 22:15

Not one seem, I'm gonna see, like, okay, I'm gonna make a pretend, like I'm gonna read each day really quick and just tell you like because you there's like seven or eight sessions, and then you can only go to one of them, right? Yeah, and then you have a break, and then you gotta go to another one. So let me look at the first one. I'm just gonna kind of skim through and see um store audits, ads, free resources that actually sell things, uh getting it right from the start, small team, small budget, big brand. That one is kind of cool to me. Small team, small budget, big brand. Because like I am just a team of one. So that's kind of cool. And then the next one is let me see here. Um, secondary sellers, turning standards into product lines, store audits, show, don't tell with social media, beyond the basics, work smarter. Oh, create products and PowerPoint in Canva. I feel like I don't really know how to create a TPT product in Canva, even though I've made a million things in Canva. Like, is it any different? Like, why am I overthinking Canva?

SPEAKER_02 23:33

Yeah, you could definitely create products in Canva. Actually, a lot of the games that I've created, because Canva has templates, and so I've used a template in Canva to create games. This episode is pretty long though, Jess. Do you think we should wrap it up?

SPEAKER_01 23:50

I'm not even to this next day, though. Yeah, you already what no? I was picking the one I would go to. So I go to the Canva one, and now the next one. I might I might do this next one. I'd have to go see Ashley Bible because she's my friend. Yeah, okay, and then the next one. Let me see here. I think the bloggers boot camp. Yeah, because I feel like blogging is dead because of AI, but you don't think it is yet? No. Do you are you getting any hits on your blog right now? Yeah, well, because the next episode, can we look at the analytics on your blog?

SPEAKER_02 24:32

Sure, but Claude and um and um chat GPT, they link like I think people initially with AI were like, oh no, it's the end of blogs, but they link websites all the time, like yeah, answers. Um, and so I don't I think that chat or AI is just fancy, you know, search engine.

SPEAKER_01 24:58

Um okay, let's wrap it up. I'm getting bored. I don't want to think about CPT conference anymore.

SPEAKER_02 25:07

Ciao. Ciao.

SPEAKER_00 25:12

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