S03E10 - From Classroom Teacher to CEO | Tammy Laughner

In this episode of Build Momentum, Sarah and Katie are joined by Tammy Laughner. Tammy is a retired primary/intermediate school teacher who served for almost 30 years in Indianapolis Public Schools. She is also the co-founder and CEO of Vimme Learning, an online math curriculum made by teachers for teachers to be used by students in grades K-8

Some Questions We Ask:

• Please tell us about yourself. (1:06)
• How and where did you start your journey? (2:03)
• What has the business world been like for you? (4:31)
• What’s your approach to reaching your target goal? (8:38)
• Tell us more about your company and why you intend to stay small. (10:46)
• What are your final thoughts and philosophies? (17:09)

In This Episode, You Will Learn:

• All about Tammy Laughner (1:13)
• How Vimme started (2:10)
• Tammy’s experiences in shifting to the business world (5:12)
• Her approach to impacting how students are taught math (8:42)
• About her company versus the larger companies in Indiana (11:02)
• Tammy’s thoughts on the power of being a classroom teacher (17:27)

Quotes:

“I'm in a world with big players like textbook companies—huge, huge players in the space. I'm not looking to see how many people I could get onto Vimme Learning. That's not what we're about. My goal is to impact as many students and how they’re taught math as we can.”

“With manufacturing leaving many medium- and small-sized towns, it's really decimated downtown areas. Math is so important because so many jobs that are not being filled have technical skills, and I'm super excited about the STEM push that's going on. I feel like we're really poised to make sure Indiana students are ready for any direction they want to go.”

"I'm born and raised in Indiana. My state is unique. It jumped off the Common Core bandwagon, so our standards are unique to Indiana. The big players go after the big fish, right? That's Common Core. And I just want to do well by the residents of Indiana. That's important to me.”

“There's something about seeing content when it hits the desks of a range of learners and how they interact with that curriculum. There's a lot of information there. It's a really powerful space, and I hope teachers understand the role they play and the information that they can see.”


Connect with us:
Tammy Laughner LinkedIn
Vimme Learning Website

Stay in touch with Sarah Williamson:
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SWPR GROUP Website
LinkedIn

Stay in touch with Chad Bolser:
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About "The Secret to Transformational Leadership," which Sarah co-authored with Dr. Quintin Shepherd:
Transformational Leadership Secret website
Purchase the print or ebook

Transcript

Sarah Williamson: 0:04

Hello, and welcome to build momentum, a show where we explore thought leadership and education. I'm Sarah Williamson, the founder of SWPR group.

Katie Lash: 0:14

And I'm Katie lash, the director of the East Central Educational Service Center.

Sarah Williamson: 0:18

Together, we explore how to leverage key partners, your constituencies, and the media to authentically impact your organizations and the leaders who champion them. We can't wait to get started. So let's dive into today's show.

Katie Lash: 0:32

Hi, everyone, on a previous episode, we talked with Juliana and Haley, hopefully you heard that one we landed talking about female leadership and my mind went immediately to somebody that I really admire to bring on the show. And in that same episode, we started talking about how Juliana loves to be a connector to people. And so I got to kind of play that role today. So I'm excited for Sarah to meet my friend, Tammy today. So thanks, ladies.

Tammy Laughner: 1:00

Thank you.

Sarah Williamson: 1:01

Thanks, Katie. Tammy, it's so nice to meet you. Welcome.

Tammy Laughner: 1:04

Thank you. I'm excited to be here.

Sarah Williamson: 1:06

Yeah. So Katie shared so much about you. And I would just love for you to share a little bit more with the audience. So tell us who you are and what you do.

Tammy Laughner: 1:13

Sure. My name is Tammy Laughner. I am a retired elementary classroom teacher, I spent the bulk of my career in second and fifth grade. So I kind of tapped into both the primary and intermediate side of it. And then there the end of the right career, I started Edtech company software company. It's called me learning. We're in our seventh year. And it's an online math curriculum for students in grades kindergarten

Katie Lash: 1:38

Yeah. And I think what I love talking to you, through eighth. Tammy is your story is just so truly organic. So you were a teacher, you decided you have an idea, and you went and did that. Like, I just think it's the neatest thing. So I'm always telling Sarah, like, hey, if I have an idea, like, I want to start a company, and Sarah's just like oh, gosh, what now? So that's probably

Sarah Williamson: 2:00

no, I always say you should do it. That's what I'd say.

Katie Lash: 2:03

Yeah. But it sounds a lot harder than just I mean, it's easy to have the idea. And then that's a whole different thing to do it. So where did you start, Tammy?

Tammy Laughner: 2:10

Truth be told, I stumbled into this. I was a frustrated classroom teacher with some colleagues who are frustrated as well. And the frustration was from the fact that I thought I was a pretty good educator. And my students would take the state assessment, and it just did not match up. And I would watch them take the state assessment, I would cringe. And I knew I was missing the mark, I knew something was wrong. I was teaching in the state of Indiana at one of the largest school districts, I was continually being trained on new curriculums, they would call me in for an entire week, I would get the training, I'd come home with a box of content. And I would try it, but we were just not getting anywhere year after year after year. And then we were passing our students on to middle school and they were floundering. And so we got together as teachers and said, How are we missing the mark, and we came up with some ideas. And I kind of laugh at it. Now I look back at it, we put it in this PowerPoint that is so juvenile is absolutely hilarious to look at it now. And we gave it to our principal. And she immediately picked up the phone and called her boss. Now keep in mind, I worked in a district that there were like six levels between me and the superintendent. And before I knew it, we were pitching to a couple layers below the superintendent. And you gotta keep in mind, this was a time when they couldn't figure out how to turn the ship around. And they were extremely frustrated. They were throwing millions of dollars at this, and nothing was sticking. So like why not? Why not let these guys try it. And they let us do it. And that's where the story took off.

Sarah Williamson: 3:37

That is incredible.

Tammy Laughner: 3:39

It's kind of a crazy story. If you think about it. Yeah,

Sarah Williamson: 3:42

It really is. I mean, that Takes a lot of hoops to really just get together with your fellow teachers and take control. That's pretty awesome.

Tammy Laughner: 3:50

Sometimes I'll tell the story. And I have to pinch myself to think that you got to think back then that we were just so frustrated and super focused on helping these kids and really felt we had an idea and a come to find out we did you know it worked. I was hugely successful. It got better every year and our success and it just started to get the attention. People not only in our state, but then with that with outside of the state of Indiana and it kind of went from there. And from there. It stumbled into tech. I wasn't looking to start a tech company. I wasn't like you Katie. I'm like, I didn't really think about like a business. It kind of just landed in my lap. I know that sounds crazy. But honestly, that's what happened.

Sarah Williamson: 4:31

That's incredible. Well, so last episode, Katie already mentioned this, but we had Haley speaker of our from iTutor on the show. And she was talking about the gender reality that we face with from a predominantly female workforce with teachers. Yeah. And then all the superintendents are almost all male. This is so fascinating. So Tammy, you really took a different turn there when you entered The business world that really has a different look to it. So share with us how it's been for you. Any reflections on that transition from all female workforce to now you're in the real world?

Tammy Laughner: 5:12

Yeah, it was quite a shift. I'm not gonna lie. But you know, I honestly think a better way to describe it in my case that really resonates with me is it just had a super strong feeling of imposter syndrome. This idea that I am now in a world where I didn't go to an Ivy League, I didn't get an MBA, I didn't go to business school, yet. I'm among people who walk this walk and talk this talk. And there was a long period of time where I'm like, What in the world am I doing? Like, I'm in a space, I don't know. And I was fortunate, I had a ton of people, not a ton, several people who were like, a few years ahead of me in the Ed tech space that I could call, I could text. And then teachers started outside of where I taught, were using the product and having the same gut feelings we were having as teachers like, Man, this is working, and it makes sense. And now I feel like I have a formula, a strategy to really do right by kids in math. And from that, I just started building confidence, you know, so to me, it was more like a feeling of like, wow, and then over my, you know,

Sarah Williamson: 6:20

yeah,

Tammy Laughner: 6:20

but the more I got around those people you described, I realized, I have some expertise. And I've got something to bring to the table. And so it just felt confidence. And you know, the more I started to understand the business side, the better got for me.

Sarah Williamson: 6:34

Yeah, yeah. And I think the more you're around those people, you realize, oh, we're all imposters we all we don't really know all we're doing every day.

Tammy Laughner: 6:46

Yeah. Isn't that the truth? Yeah, it really came back down to the core to me for teaching. It's about relationships, you know? Yes. This is really about relationships, especially like in the classroom with kids. So some real synergy there. Yeah.

Sarah Williamson: 7:05

Yeah, for sure.

Katie Lash: 7:06

Wow. He like made a perfect segue into what I want to say ask you next because I think Tammy, I've said this to you. Really, Sarah and I met I don't know if you know, there's like we met at an event where I didn't really know Sarah that well, and I'm up there telling me like, Sarah, this company was totally offending me by how they said this, or they're too aggressive. They need to back away, like calm down. And so anyway, like our first conversations, Sarah and I were having this like, I've never been in sales, but like, I had opinions. And so anyway, Sarah is earliest perception of me is probably that I like picked everybody apart. But I will tell you, I never picked you apart ever. I was so impressed by you. Yeah, well, and the interesting part, so a district that I was at did in fact, adopt Tammy's product, they did math and so but it was an interesting, I mean, it was very slow. I mean, it was this was over the course of probably a couple of years. When you say to me, it was a long time before it was before it came to fruition. And so never once was she like closing the sale. Or, like she, honestly, she became a friend because I'd pick up the phone and brainstorm with her. And like that, to me. That's a whole different episode. You know, Sarah, the whole partnership thing, but like that, truly was thought leadership, like I could call her pick her brain about math. And then guess why actually, she did sell me something in the end. But that's not what it was. So anyway, I say all of that, to me, just like I've even heard Tammy say like, I don't think I'm a fit for them. And that's okay. So tell us your approach. Tammy. It's thought leadership to the tee.

Tammy Laughner: 8:41

Yeah, you know, it hasn't escaped me. I'm in a world with big players, textbook companies, huge, huge players in the space. I'm not looking to see how many people I could get on them a learning that's not what we're about. My goal is I'm trying to impact as many students and how their top math as we can. So I'm looking for good fits with schools, I'm looking for... Joe Biden is a big part of what we do. And that's what Katie was referencing how long it took for her to get her school on board. Because it's a paradigm shift. I'm asking you to do something completely different. And honestly, that's why it works is because it's so different. But it takes teachers by in. And so we do a lot of piloting. That's a big thing we like to do at the beginning to see if there's a good fit, and then we'll move forward. But I've been on the receiving end having to a curriculum that I don't believe in. And if teachers don't believe in it, it doesn't work. And so I don't want to be in that space. That's not where I want to be.

Sarah Williamson: 9:40

That's great. Are you looking to build brand awareness and expand your impact as an organization, but maybe you're struggling to find the ROI with your general marketing and PR efforts, it could be time to try something a little different. At SWPR group, we approach every organization through the lens of how you can help them add the most value to the conversations that are happening in education today for one of our clients, the Institute for Education innovation, this led to the launch of Supe's Choice, an award that we co created to build incredible brand awareness and his firmly established organization as an industry leader, driving impact growth and awareness on every level. For Ed mentum. This meant the launch of thought leadership panels at education conferences, and a new webinar series featuring influencers and partners that are making a difference in education. What will your success story be? Let me know when you're ready to get started. Reach out at Sarah sarah@swpr-group.com. We look forward to hearing from you. So Tammy, you said something that was very interesting. You said, you know, a lot of larger competitors that are growing. I know you're an Indiana based company and you intend to stay small. Tell me about that. That's not something you hear every day, especially in ed tech.

Tammy Laughner: 11:02

True. Yeah, that's true. I think it is a little bit unique. I'm born and raised in Indiana. And I know it's not unique to Indiana, with the manufacturing, leaving many that you know the medium and small sized towns, but it's really kind of decimated many of the downtown areas. And then the smaller areas with a loss of jobs. And I just think math is so important right now, but so many jobs not being filled, have technical skills. And I'm super excited about the stem push that's going on. But my state is unique. It jumped off the Common Core bandwagon. And so our standards are unique to Indiana. And so the big players go after the big fish, right, that's common core. So there's my state. And I just, I want to do well, by the, you know, the residents of Indiana, that's important to me, and they're getting ready to do another shift with their standards coming up. And I just feel like we're really poised to do well. And make sure you know, Indiana students are ready for what in direction any direction they want to go. But if they want to go far and math, I hope we can set them up for a really strong foundation and they can be successful.

Sarah Williamson: 12:04

I wish you could help my son, a couple of my sons. One in particular.

Tammy Laughner: 12:12

We're not going to mention their names got

Sarah Williamson: 12:15

no names, but he is in first grade.

Katie Lash: 12:19

First grade.

Sarah Williamson: 12:20

Yep. First grade.

Katie Lash: 12:22

So Sarah and I both have first grade twins, her two boys, my two girls. And so you know, they're arranged marriages someday.

Sarah Williamson: 12:35

We may or may not have photos of them. What would you call those? Me little sketch up.

Katie Lash: 12:42

They never even met, but

Sarah Williamson: 12:46

we've paired them up.

Katie Lash: 12:48

It's all for fun. But no to me, but what you do, I think is I mean, what's so fun about me getting to know Sarah, when I get a national scale, what you do is replicable. Like, what do you do could occur in every state. And so I just think it's so interesting as a company, though, that you're Yeah, you're just a unique company to interview and I like it.

Tammy Laughner: 13:10

I appreciate it. You know, I think something else that, you know, we're talking about things that, you know, are unique. I think one thing that also sets us apart is that, you know, we're trying to get away from that can six year contract, you know, boxing people in for long periods of time, you know, we like to roll out, like I said earlier with a pilot, let's see if it's working well, we've even done pilots and just a few grades, because only those teachers believe it. And as those teachers like it, they tell other teachers, and it just organically grows, and they're just really good fits. And then we start talking about, you know, a three year contract or whatever. But I think too often, there's this old formula of like boxing schools in Yeah, and I just don't think that's right by teachers, which ends up impacting students. You know,

Sarah Williamson: 13:57

that's so smart.

Katie Lash: 13:59

Well, that's interesting, like, hey, this just came to me, like I've heard Sarah, you're gonna know way more about this than I know. But there's like, for real ed tech strategies that are like, there's real terms to this, like, I don't know, teacher pilot up to sales versus get to the superintendent sales, right. Like there's really a thing to this. I don't know what it's called, but it's a thing.

Sarah Williamson: 14:18

It's called bottom up. Kind of a bottom up funnel. I know that sounds demeaning but yeah

Tammy Laughner: 14:22

Yep, I know exactly what you're talking about Yeah,

Sarah Williamson: 14:23

But it is yeah,

Katie Lash: 14:25

we talked about that, Sarah, like on one of the

Tammy Laughner: 14:25

Yeah, it took me a long time to figure it out. I early episodes, because, you know, we talked about how service centers are a hidden gem like people don't know that they spent two years really trying to impact large school districts, and that's super challenging. And then I started moving into like rural areas where there's just like, one, elementary one, are like, you know, wherever their position but also like middle one high school, and those are just super good fits. And it's easier for me to get to the teachers that way, as opposed to large districts and like navigating, you know, those huge systems, school districts, those are challenging, but yeah, yeah, rural districts. I mean, I have a passion for that. But like I do hear is you know, sometimes I now recognize the labor that it goes to sell to all of these very individual schools like that. But they're quick, like if they want it, and they buy into it. Yeah. Tammy say something that you were like, excited. That but they all talk to one another. So like it just again, it's organic, like, yeah, so the assistant principal, one will become a principal and you know, next door, and that's how we've been growing. So yeah, I totally agree with that. It's much, much easier that way. Yeah, much easier.

Katie Lash: 15:34

But you're actually like implementing this approach, like completely by accident, because you weren't a teacher, you talked to other teachers about it, the teachers liked it, then, like you are doing this before you were officially doing this?

Tammy Laughner: 15:48

Yeah, I totally agree. Like my school district also gave us an MOU to allow us to beta test. I never envisioned bringing tech into the space that we were doing it made sense and automated, and sped up so many things. And there's so many things that we can make better with tech. But I wasn't thinking along those lines. What basically happened was the local columnist at our newspaper stumbled upon what we're doing, I just started hanging out at our school. And then he wrote a series of articles on the front page of the Sunday paper. And that's when it really took off.

Sarah Williamson: 16:21

Oh, look at that we are action.

Katie Lash: 16:28

To say that we did not tell her to say that. No, no.

Sarah Williamson: 16:35

And saying that was extremely impactful.

Tammy Laughner: 16:41

And from that gentleman read the stories that were written, and his wife had just passed away. And she was a longtime educator, and he wanted to honor her. And that's how we got our seed money. I mean, it just kind of wow, yeah, I didn't do a bunch of, you know, pitching. That's how we got our seed money. And from there, we've just grown the company enough and kept extending the runway and adding features and doing what teachers felt like they needed.

Sarah Williamson: 17:05

Amazing.

Katie Lash: 17:06

I think it's a cool story. Huh, Sarah.

Sarah Williamson: 17:08

Very cool story.

Katie Lash: 17:09

I think are there any last minute takeaways, Tammy? If like, what if this audience is Ed Tech and teacher like you have a very diverse audience? Don't you Sarah? It's all sorts of people. But yeah, there's yeah, there's a takeaway, I guess, to this, anything that they should know. But your your philosophies,

Tammy Laughner: 17:27

I would just like to share the power of being a classroom teacher. There's something about seeing content when it hits the desk of a student, and the range of learners and how they interact with that curriculum. There's a lot of information there. And I kept watching that over and over again, what worked, what didn't, why it was missing the mark. And I think it's a really powerful space. And I hope teachers understand the role they play, and the information that they you know, can see, it's really powerful. It's really powerful. And it's from that experience, that group of teachers were able to figure this out, to be honest.

Sarah Williamson: 18:07

Amazing. Well, thank you so much, Tammy, this has been fantastic. You're very much an inspiration to us and anyone listening.

Tammy Laughner: 18:14

Thank you. I've enjoyed the conversation. Yes, yeah, it was fun.

Sarah Williamson: 18:18

This is great. Thank you.

Tammy Laughner: 18:20

Thank you.

Sarah Williamson: 18:21

If you're looking for more of this thought, leadership goodness for your organization, you're in the right place. Visit us at swpr-group.com To learn more about how we work with education organizations and their leaders, superintendents and influencers to increase your impact. Again, that's swpr-group.com. Thanks for tuning in today and we will see you next time on Build Momentum.