Wearing many hats comes easily to Brandon resident Rebecca McDonagh. She is a mom with two teenagers and a rescue dog, Foxy. She has been teaching for 18 years with Hillsborough County Schools and loves to travel, but it’s what she does in her off time that has made her a social media influencer. On Instagram, she is @mathwithmissmcd, and her reels are hysterical.
“I actually started making content hoping to create a little side hustle; you may have heard teachers aren’t exactly the highest-paid profession,” McDonagh said. “It sort of slowly evolved into making silly videos instead of a serious business, which is great because this is way more fun.”
The inspiration for her reels and videos comes from her real life.
“Luckily, real life gives me all the inspiration I need,” she said. “My own interactions with my students, my kids and other people’s stories give me plenty of material. My Teacher Hotline videos are what initially took off, and people still send me names to use all the time. I love how there’s a part of so many people’s experiences in my videos.”
Making her videos and reel is cathartic to McDonagh.
“It’s honestly just really fun and kind of takes the edge off what can sometimes be a stressful profession,” she said. “I love hearing from my fellow teachers and moms about how something made them laugh or eased the chaos of the day,”
Being called a social media influencer is something that McDonagh takes in stride.
“I have a feeling that is a huge overstatement,” McDonagh said with a laugh. “I’m not really an influencer (unless it’s influencing people to drink Diet Coke, and then I absolutely am) or a celebrity, but it is the best when people come up and introduce themselves and say they like something on my channel. I’ve met people in different states and even different countries who’ve seen one of the videos, and it’s a blast chatting and hearing about their own experiences.”
McDonagh loves her followers and loves how the community supports her as both a teacher and a social media personality.
“I’m so proud of how our community rallies around teachers,” she said. “I’ve always felt so supported here working in our local schools and I’m proud to call this home. I recently published two math workbooks for fourth and fifth graders called Math to the Music, and it’s been amazing hearing such great feedback from everyone.”
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