The summer our customers started to tell our story.

Team Letter | August 18, 2025

There is nothing more rewarding than hearing your company’s story told back to you by the very people you’re building it for.

Last week, we got to share the evolution of our company’s business model, product, and customer focus at 1 Million Cups Omaha, and we got to submit our final pitch video for the Milken Penn GSE Business Plan Competition. Big week!

Those two presentations helped me really look back not only on our evolution as a company, but on how — and who — tells our story. (Feel free to sing the Hamilton lyric right here. You know I am.)

Our company has evolved — from a direct to consumer subscription box company sold to parents, to a software-based support system for educators, sold to schools and districts.

To watch that evolution across each new video (see them linked above!) is to watch the real-time tweaking of business models, target markets, product mix, and positioning.

But this summer, something special happened in how we tell our story. Because we stopped telling our story, and let our customers tell it for us.

To create our best submission video for the competition, we knew that the teachers, principals, and district leaders who use our products could tell the story in a much better way. So we asked them to step into the spotlight - and we were blown away by the insight and joy they brought to the process. (Plus, we had so much fun doing it!)

Here’s what I learned from our customers in the process:

1. Talking about how we feel at work is vulnerable. Our educators talking about how teachers want to feel at work brought a lot of different emotions up. We changed the script on the fly, as our educators found greater comfort in some words over others. We know this is true from our surveys, but to see it evolve a bit on camera reminded me that words about how we feel are always going to create some vulnerability.

2. The celebration is key. We put a lot of focus on Alpaca Pulse and the software we use to understand and listen to teachers. But working alongside this joyful, delightful, funny team of educators reminded me — celebration and laughter really matters. I love the way this comes out in the video. That celebration can dispel nervousness, make people feel connected to one another, and create a shared experiences that make educators feel valued. Little celebrations create big impact.

3. Teachers are such pros. Educators are just amazing at getting up in front of a group and delivering knowledge and insight in such a real way. It was incredible to see this team of educators walk in the door a little nervous (being on a video shoot is not a typical Wednesday morning for most anyone!), and then go into teacher-mode, stand up, and speak with passion and joy about their profession. I could picture each of them in front of a classroom, commanding the room while also connecting personally with each student. It was really fun to see each educator in their element.

When your customers tell your story, you learn how they view your product, what’s important to them in it, and how they perceive the value you’re hoping to provide. Bottom line: when we get to work with educators — on any opportunity to tell our story — we’re going to say yes to that.

And here is the final product for the competition — enjoy!