About T.L. McCullough

Educator · Author · Grandmother

The Beginning

I walked into college with accounting as my declared major, confident it was a practical plan. I loved math, I was good at it, and accounting made sense. But something did not feel right. A single course designed to help students weigh their interests and strengths pointed me in a completely different direction, and I never looked back. For 32 years I taught elementary school, first through sixth grade, in classrooms that were sometimes noisy, always full, and never boring. Writing had always been part of who I was, shaped through college and years of experience as an educator. But teaching writing to older students added an entirely new dimension to how I thought about the craft. Evaluating a child's work, understanding where their thinking stalled, and guiding them to expand and organize their ideas brought a deeper awareness to the writing process that I had not expected. In the latter years of my career I began quietly contemplating writing of my own, jotting ideas down and keeping them for the future.

"The future became now."

The Entrepreneur

I have always had an expanded view of what a life can hold. Alongside teaching I carried a natural entrepreneurial mindset and a genuine love of creative pursuits, from handmade cards and decorated sugar cookies to woodworking, cooking, and the quiet satisfaction of making something beautiful from scratch. I am not someone who does one thing. I never have been.

"That same curiosity and range lives in my writing."

The Writing

My debut book, Growth Mindset Lifestyle: Grit by Design, is a practical nonfiction guide for parents and teachers who want simple five-minute tools that build confidence, emotional regulation, and resilience in the children they love. It is the book that started everything. Currently I am completing two companion activity workbooks in the Grit by Design Series, written directly for children ages 7 to 9 and 10 to 12. The series will conclude with a planner designed specifically for teens. Beyond the series, I write across the full range of what interests and inspires me, educational nonfiction, children's books, holiday and seasonal books, inspirational writing, and books rooted in the creative arts and everyday life. And on the other end of the spectrum, a fictional series of five books is quietly in development. I will say only that for now.

The Why

I write because I believe the small moments matter. The five minutes before school. The cookie that takes three hours to decorate. The book that finds the right reader at exactly the right time. Every page I write is an invitation to slow down, to notice, and to find something that helps, encourages, or simply feels like it was written just for you.