The past year brought major shifts in education: tightening budgets, the rise of AI, and growing pressure on leaders to demonstrate measurable impact. For anyone leading in this space, whether in a district, a university, or an EdTech company, these changes created both urgency and uncertainty.
Leaders found themselves balancing short-term pressures with long-term vision. Educators had to adapt to new realities while keeping students at the center. And companies serving the sector faced a hard truth: traditional playbooks for marketing, sales, and growth don’t work the same way in education.
That’s why the conversations we hosted on the podcast this year resonated so strongly. They weren’t about hype or headlines. They were about insights leaders can actually use when navigating complexity with clarity, pragmatism, and purpose.
For Podcast Day, we’re spotlighting 10 of those conversations. Think of this as your curated leadership playbook, drawn from the smart people we had the privilege to learn from.
Marketing with Purpose in Education
Breaking through in education isn’t about louder campaigns or bigger budgets. It’s about understanding the unique context of schools and districts, where every decision is filtered through limited time, high stakes, and the need to serve students well. These conversations highlight what it takes to earn attention and build relationships in such a crowded, skeptical market.
Stop Sending Generic Emails: Email Marketing for the K–12 Buying Cycle
Kelly Cline, a former educator turned email strategist, explains how to make email a relationship-building tool instead of just another sales blast. She shares practical ways to align messaging with the K–12 buying cycle so your emails build trust and convert with empathy. This matters because education leaders are inundated with messages—only those rooted in relevance and respect break through.
Why Marketing in Education Isn’t Like Marketing Anywhere Else
Melissa Heyeck, Senior Director of Marketing at Education Week, peels back the facade of “one-size-fits-all” marketing to show how the education sector demands deeper strategy. She argues that teacher buy-in, research credibility, and audience-first content matter far more than flashy tactics. In education, relevance, trust, and alignment with stakeholder dynamics are what separate noise from impact.
The Role of Communication in Education and Beyond: A Conversation With Ilana Kurizki
Ilana Kurizki, VP of Communications at BrainPOP, walks us through how to embed communications across an organization so it’s never siloed. She shares how to make the case for comms, evolve a brand over time, and integrate educator voice. Communication shapes how teams move, how trust forms, and ultimately how impact is perceived.
Takeaway: Education buyers are not just another B2B segment. They need relevance, trust, and empathy.
Navigating the K–12 Buying Landscape
Selling into K–12 isn’t just about persuasion; you have to be fluent in how districts think, allocate, and move. Every stage from evaluation to procurement has hidden rhythms, influencers, and constraints. These conversations reveal what it really takes to sell, partner, and scale in education.
Demystifying the K-12 EdTech Buying Cycle
Ian McCullough unpacks the often opaque stages of K–12 procurement, using vivid metaphors to make the complexity navigable. He shows you why patience, sequencing, and expectations matter more than pushing harder. Companies that misread the cycle risk burning bridges before they even begin.
What It Takes to Build District Relationships That Last
Jacob Kantor, a former district insider turned consultant, argues successful EdTech outreach is relational, rather than transactional. He drills into how listening, curiosity, and follow-through open doors that last. Without authentic relationships, even the best products rarely make it past the first meeting.
The Secret to Sales & Marketing Success? A Shared Revenue Mindset
Dan O’Reilly describes how aligning sales and marketing around common goals (versus competing quotas) transforms friction into synergy. He offers concrete practices to sync messaging, timing, and expectations. Districts feel the disconnect instantly, and unified teams are far more effective in building credibility.
Takeaway: Success comes from understanding how districts operate—not pushing harder on sales tactics.
Leading for Systems-Level Change
True innovation in education happens when leaders focus on culture and systems, not just tools. These conversations show that sustainable change depends on aligning technology, pedagogy, and policy so schools can move forward together.
What’s Really Changing in K–12 Tech
Keith Krueger, CEO of CoSN, unpacks insights from CoSN’s 2025 district-leadership report, including how AI priorities, cybersecurity gaps, and evolving decision roles are reshaping tech in schools. He highlights where vendors often misread district pain points and where real opportunities lie. Misalignment at the system level can turn even strong tools into underutilized investments.
What Systems-Level Change Looks Like in Practice
Amos Fodchuk explores how real change happens when leaders treat innovation as a long game of culture, capacity building, and stakeholder alignment. He details what it takes to embed scalable shifts across classrooms, leadership, and policy. Systems-level change is the difference between a product that fades and a transformation that endures.
The Challenges and Priorities of a High School Principal
Henry J. Turner, principal of Newton North High School, shares what it takes to balance opportunity gaps, instructional leadership, and day-to-day realities in a large public school. He offers candid insights into the pressures principals face and the strategies that keep their focus on students. Learning from Henry is especially impactful; principals are the connective tissue of systems change, and their choices shape how policy and innovation actually reach the classroom.
Takeaway: Sustainable change in education depends on aligning technology, pedagogy, and policy, not treating innovation as a standalone solution.
Building for the Long Game
Markets shift, funding cycles tighten, and trends come and go. The leaders who endure are the ones who root their work in long-term vision and values.
Lessons From Building a Lasting EdTech Company
Bert Bower, founder of TCI, reflects on what it takes to build an education company that lasts through decades of policy swings and market change. He points to the importance of staying mission-driven, listening to educators, and holding fast to core values. This matters because in a volatile sector, persistence and purpose are what turn short-term wins into lasting impact.
Takeaway: Quick wins fade, but vision, values, and persistence are what sustain.
From practical marketing tactics to systems-level leadership, these conversations capture the breadth of what it takes to lead in education today. Each guest reminded us that progress is rarely about a single tool, campaign, or initiative. It comes from building trust, understanding how districts operate, aligning change across levels, and holding fast to long-term vision.
As you reflect on these episodes, consider one step you can take: revisit an episode that speaks to your current challenge, share one with a colleague to spark dialogue, or subscribe so you are ready for the next wave of insights. Education leadership is demanding, but the right voices and ideas can help you navigate with clarity and purpose.
