Natalie began her work in special education as a paraprofessional. After the school year ended, the principal called her and asked her to think about working as an inclusion specialist, which is like a traditional special educator role, because their current one was moving. Natalie loved working with her co-workers and the kids, and she was familiar with the campus. So she decided to try it.
Her first year of teaching, Natalie had an emergency credential. She then enrolled in a credential program, which was two years. She would teach until 4:10 pm and then attend night classes afterwards. Natalie also ended up tacking on a Master’s in Special Education degree because she already had most of the credits.
She went on to teach K–5 for ten years. Natalie served as an inclusion specialist, managing a caseload of 28 students and co-teaching several core content areas for the grade levels she primarily supported. She also collaborated with general education teachers and paraprofessionals on a regular basis to ensure they were implementing inclusive practices and lesson planning with a UDL-centered focus.
Most recently, Natalie lectured on inclusive practices in a course centered around high-leverage practices at her alma mater, San Jose State University. She enjoyed being a thought partner with student teachers in the credential program, discussing unique educational settings like Pre-K to non-public settings.
In this Q&A, Natalie shares about how her work on the Customer Success team supports special educators and advances Goalbook’s mission.
1. What inspired you to go into education?
I was the first in my family to go to college, so there was not a whole lot of guidance around possible careers. My mom was just like, “You need to go to college, and that will fix everything.”
I went to college but didn’t have a vision for myself. I really loved writing and storytelling, so I studied journalism. When I graduated, I realized I had only a couple options: 1) I could either work for free as a newspaper or magazine intern or freelance to build my portfolio, or 2) find a different passion.
As a college job, I was an after-school leader, so I had my own classroom Monday through Friday from 2:00 pm to 6:00 pm. This is when I first started working with kids. It’s also when I realized I had a knack for it, and it had become a passion.
So, upon graduating from college, I had to ask myself: do I pursue my writing passion for free, or lean into the skills I was building through working with children and actually be able to afford a decent living.
I reflected on my time as an after-school leader and realized I could have a positive impact on students and that education could be something I’m really good at. It also offered some stability since it’s essential work. So I became a paraprofessional.
I had very little experience working with students with disabilities at the time. My first student was an adorable second grader who was on the autism spectrum. He had so many amazing strengths, and his mother was a true champion for inclusion. I like to think they both inspired me to continue my career in special education. It felt like we grew alongside one another those first few years. I recently saw him after his high school graduation. It was such a full-circle moment!
2. What attracted you to Goalbook’s mission?
Goalbook Toolkit was provided to us as teachers in my first and second years of teaching. I remember sitting in a Goalbook Toolkit training and feeling so overwhelmed as a first-year teacher. I wasn’t in a credential program yet, so I was having to write IEPs, and I had no guidance other than from my program specialist at the time, and she did her best.
When I had access to Goalbook Toolkit, I was blown away. I then knew what an actual IEP goal was and what an IEP should look like to ensure that we were choosing appropriate goals for the students. I looked at Goalbook Toolkit as helping me be able to do my job better because I was already drowning.
Later, when I was working as an inclusion specialist, I thought back to how amazing Goalbook Toolkit is not only as a resource for educators, but also as a support for accessibility in an inclusion space because it helps make sure students are able to access skills.
That’s how I think my work supports Goalbook’s mission: helping teachers get better at their instructional practice so they can support their students better.
3. In your eyes, how does your work support Goalbook’s mission?
After ten years in the classroom, I felt acutely aware of the obstacles teachers face as they juggle all of the unique demands in education.
Now, I’m able to listen to district leaders and educators, identify their needs, and tailor my support. In the classroom, I was able to impact my students, but now I have the opportunity to support student success across California.
Goalbook Toolkit helps teach teachers best practices. After some trainings I’ve led, I’ve received feedback from veteran teachers that they learned something new. I also love working with new teachers. But when veteran teachers tell me that the professional development was super impactful, it assures me I’m in the right place.
It’s not like educators don’t want support and help. They want guidance. They want to talk through best practices and problem-solve around students on their caseload. During professional development, we get into some deep conversations. That’s how I think my work supports Goalbook’s mission: helping teachers get better at their instructional practice so they can support their students better.
It’s such an honor!
4. Was there a specific moment when you first considered transitioning to the private sector?
I battled with this so much. I think my identity was so intertwined with who I was as an educator that it was really hard for me to think beyond the classroom and district setting.
The pivotal moment for me was when I started lecturing at San Jose State University, where I had gotten my teaching credential and Master’s. In the conversations with those teachers, I realized I had a strong passion for supporting educators on a larger scale.
The teachers wanted guidance and support. They wanted to talk through behavior plans and what to do in certain scenarios. It’s when I realized I would love to be able to support teachers in that way. But it took me a while to commit to possibly leaving.
I took some online courses about customer success to learn about the role and what it could mean. During that time, I realized customer success is something I could do and still have a meaningful impact without it feeling like I was selling my soul. It took some time for me to get some confidence in myself and not feel the teacher guilt about walking away from a space and occupation I had become.
5. Outside of your role, what are one or two things you love here?
Something that I was missing and that I love about Goalbook so much is that I can talk to almost anybody and nerd out on special education and best practices, and that’s not a weird thing! It feels really good to be able to have that space here at Goalbook to be able to talk really deeply about those things.
Another thing I think has been so amazing is talking to team members who are in different areas of the country. Being able to compare similarities or talk about differences between districts or cities has been so interesting. Education is so similar across the country, but then in so many ways, so different. I think being able to see it from that scope has been so cool.
6. What team activity has been your favorite?
During our Summer 2025 Team Week, Goalbook had planned a lot of really fantastic activities, and those were great.
But some of my teammates and I ended up sneaking off to Zara in the Great Mall of America. We wanted to shop. Vests are back in right now, so we decided to all get a cute vest and wear it to dinner.
We all wore vests to dinner that night, and it is a core memory for me because it wasn’t anything planned, but it was fun and so nice. Sometimes I miss the camaraderie of being in a building with people, so being able to have that time together during Summer week was great.
7. What’s something at Goalbook that has made you laugh?
The names of our team meetings are off the wall and so ridiculous. I remember my manager explaining to me the names of the meetings, and I genuinely laughed.
I can appreciate it now because it holds some of Goalbook’s personality. It shows Goalbook doesn’t take itself too seriously and that it’s been able to keep its essence with these silly meeting names.
It’s also really funny to casually mention to people outside of Goalbook and watch for their reactions.
8. What are you currently reading/watching/listening to?
Reading: I appreciate work travel because it gives me lots of time to read. I’ve never read The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho. For some reason, it wasn’t part of my high school reading, but I’m reading it now. I’m only a couple chapters in, but I’m excited because it started really well.
Watching: I watch a lot of really bad reality dating shows. So I’m watching “Married at First Sight” right now. There’s something about the social experiment—it just fascinates me that people are willing to sign up for these shows. I love it.
Listening to: I’ve been listening to a lot of power ballads. Lately, I’m obsessed with Mariah Carey. I’ve been going through a phase when I just want to listen to all of her top hits. So a lot of Mariah Carey. I always love listening to Mariah.
9. Early bird or night owl?
Definitely a night owl. Morning is just not my time of day.
I love sleeping, especially sleeping in. I need my sleep.
I’m extremely grateful to Goalbook for allowing space for me to be able to make such a big transition.
10. Anything you’d like to add?
One thing I’d like to add is that I’m extremely grateful to Goalbook for allowing space for me to be able to make such a big transition.
I appreciate being able to come into this role, that I’ve been given the space to learn and be guided, and even given some confidence. Especially during my first couple months, I was definitely intimidated and scared and felt like maybe this wasn’t the right transition for me.
But I truly, truly appreciate my manager, who has helped me through the process and has made sure that I believe in myself because I am definitely more than capable. I just needed a little bit of a push and some cheerleading on the side. I appreciate Goalbook for giving me that space.
