Success Story: Marjorie Stahl, Teacher to Customer Success Manager

As Customer Success Manager for Skill Struck, Marjorie Stahl is living out her dream of impacting schools across the country. As a Classroom to Boardroom graduate, she embodies the successful transition that our course prepares its students to achieve. 

Stahl's current position assisting schools in implementing Skill Struck's comprehensive K-12 coding curriculum is the culmination of 10 years of teaching and a year and a half of intentionally moving away from the classroom and into an EdTech career.

Making an Impact

"Toward the end of my career in teaching, I realized I wanted to have a bigger impact and affect more students than just my 20," she says. 

Stahl's new position allows her to do just that. As Customer Success Manager, she walks with schools throughout the entire process of turning the Skill Struck curriculum into a core part of the educational experience they offer their students. 

From onboarding to ongoing support, Stahl is helping schools transform students' education and lives all over the country, from California to New Jersey, and everywhere in between. 

In addition, Stahl is ensuring that Skill Struck continues to improve its curriculum and its customer support. A quarterly customer advisory board created by Stahl gives customers a voice in how to improve the platform for schools and students alike. 

Contract Work & Online Courses

Stahl's success in the EdTech field, and her countrywide impact on education, began with two contract positions creating curriculum, including a pivotal job with Code VA building a cross-curricular series of lessons that integrated social studies and technology.  

At the same time, Stahl began what turned into a life-changing course: The Classroom to Boardroom course. Designed to support educators as they move into EdTech, this course provides content, lessons, coaching, and a supportive community to help educators turn their classroom experience into a successful new career. 

Stahl already had a head start on some of the steps that Classroom to Boardroom recommends educators take to prepare themselves for an EdTech career, such as taking advantage of any part-time or contract jobs they find that can help them build experience in the EdTech field. Her contract with Code VA, for example, gave her technology experience that made her a valuable candidate for Skill Struck.

However, Classroom to Boardroom prepared Stahl in other ways, in particular by helping her to understand and evaluate the various EdTech positions available. This ability made it easier for her to identify the best fit for her skills.

"If you are applying to roles, it is good to know what you are getting into," she says. “[Classroom to Boardroom] did a great job explaining each role. When you go through these you can think to yourself 'Is this a good match for my skill set? And from there you can make the best choice for you."

Classroom to Boardroom's links to the EdTech industry also benefited Stahl by connecting her with the Skill Struck job opening. Job postings and networking connections occur frequently in Classroom to Boardroom, making it easier for students to find the types of jobs they need to transition into the next part of their careers. 

What other skills helped Stahl move from the classroom to her successful position in customer success? Soft skills, which Stahl calls essential skills, that she had developed in the classroom. These include abilities such as empathy, communication, problem-solving, flexibility, and decisiveness that all teachers must have to succeed in a classroom. 

"I think there's a lot of similarities between teaching and making that transition into customer success," Stahl says. "You need all your real essential skills from teaching. For me, empathy is the biggest piece and being able to relate to your customers. Teachers, you are already miles and miles ahead."

Tips for Transitioning Educators

For making that transition, Stahl highly recommends Classroom to Boardroom because of its ability to take educators, hone those soft skills, prep them for the new skills they will face, and plug them into a community where they can gain support and new job opportunities to make their EdTech dreams come true. 

"I just think it's great for anyone who really wants a new start in education, someone who wants to have a larger impact or really just make a difference. It really changed my life."