Her Story
About Kathryn
Kathryn King brings 15 years of experience in the education and EdTech sectors. She spent nine years in the classroom teaching third grade before transitioning to EdTech, where she has spent the past six years. After earning her Master's in Elementary Education from North Carolina State University around 2009 or 2010, she began her teaching career. Her undergraduate degree is a Bachelor's in Merchandising with a minor in Business Administration from East Carolina University. At her current startup, which focuses exclusively on writing and grammar instruction, Kathryn works with executive leadership in large Texas districts to analyze assessment data, demonstrate product impact, and navigate contract negotiations amid funding challenges. She attributes her success to her inherent motivation and competitiveness, and values integrity and authenticity in her sales role, emphasizing honest partnerships over aggressive selling. Kathryn advises young women entering the field to bring their classroom skills into EdTech while maintaining empathy for teachers' daily experiences.
Her Interview
Ten minutes with Kathryn
01What do you attribute your success to?
I think it's just who I am as a person. I've always been very motivated, competitive. I will always, if my name is on something, I want it to be my best work. So I think it inherently, like, at the core who I am.
02What’s the best career advice you’ve ever received?
I just think to be yourself and ask questions and be curious, never stop learning, and just being curious about what you're doing, but also everything out there. Being curious about how AI could impact things, and asking a lot of questions has been really powerful for me.
03What advice would you give to young women entering your industry?
We are actually pretty heavily a female industry, just teaching education, and then those who move on from the classroom often go to EdTech. I would just say continue bringing your skill set out of the classroom and into EdTech, and understanding and really empathizing with what these district leaders are going through, and never forgetting at the core what a teacher's day looks like.
04What are the biggest challenges or opportunities in your field right now?
A big challenge across the country right now is funding. It's just been really difficult, cut especially in Texas where they're seeing declining enrollment. An opportunity would be with writing on the state test, how can we really impact students and teachers in best practices to understand how to better teach writing, and how our product will really help to do that.
05What values are most important to you in your work and personal life?
I think integrity, for sure. Being in this role, it's classified as a sales role, and I think we think of the sleazy car salesman sometimes. For me, that's never going to be how I maneuver contracts and negotiations. I will always be honest and transparent, and I think that authenticity comes through, and people can see when you're trying to sell them something versus when you're trying to partner with them and really try to help them solve a problem.
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