(High School Classroom)

From Classroom to Fortune: Teacher Earns $4 Million from Educational Project

Kevin Corey, a 41-year-old American teacher, doesn't just teach business concepts in the classroom. He also gives his students a firsthand experience of the ups and downs of the entrepreneurial world, based on a side project that earns him millions of dollars annually.

Corey teaches business at Uniondale High School in New York and is also the co-CEO and founder of Stall Mates, a brand specializing in biodegradable toilet paper. According to documents reviewed by CNBC Make It, the company's revenue exceeded $3.8 million in 2025.

The unique aspect of Corey's experience is that his students closely follow every success and challenge the project faces. He said, "Every peak and every dip, including the current impact of tariffs, is a lesson I can directly transfer to the classroom." He added that explaining the reasons for the price increases becomes easier when he can show the students actual invoices.

Stall Mates launched in 2013 in nearby Islip, with an initial investment of $14,000 to produce 100,000 packs of wipes. Corey stored them in his home, and it took nine months to bring them to market. Just a year later, Corey began teaching at his high school, making the company's growth part of his students' informal curriculum.

Today, Stall Mates sells approximately 250,000 units annually, including small, disposable packs and larger ones, through platforms like Amazon and e-commerce retailers such as Walmart and Groove Co-operative. The company has been profitable since 2015, and the founders each receive an annual salary of $100,000, with the majority of profits reinvested within the company.

Corey dedicates about 20 hours a week to managing the project, mostly in the evenings and on weekends, compared to 40 hours of teaching. Despite his openness with his students, he is careful not to disclose the detailed cost of each product to maintain a profitability model, a practice common among entrepreneurs. According to Corey, his "business math" classes demonstrate to students that achieving millions of dollars in sales doesn't necessarily mean a life of luxury, but rather requires consistency and long-term development.

From Pool Cleaning to a Million-Dollar Idea

Before founding Stallmates, Corey and his partner, Greg Schipf, worked cleaning pools on Long Island, where they encountered a recurring problem in public restrooms. It was there that the idea was born: portable wipes. Despite the competition, the duo decided to enter the market with a product that was category-neutral.

The project faced a rocky start, including a failed crowdfunding campaign and limited online sales, before deciding to launch the product on Amazon in 2014. The gamble paid off, especially with the simultaneous launch of the Amazon Sellers app, leading the company to record nearly $300,000 in sales in 2015.

Failure as a Learning Material

For 12 years, Corey's students witnessed the company's expansion and its setbacks. In 2020, the founders attempted to expand further with new products like Bodymates and Pawmates, but the venture failed after an investment of approximately $75,000 and was discontinued in 2023. Corey didn't hide this loss from his students; instead, he turned it into a practical lesson: "I tell them how much failure cost me, and then I explain why we must persevere and listen to our customers."

Despite fierce competition from major brands generating hundreds of millions of dollars, Corey focuses on sustainable and rational growth, emphasizing that the most important message for his students is not to be afraid of failure. He said: "Even when you fail, you take a step forward and learn a lesson. This is a rule that can be applied at work... and in life."