Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Natasha Wilkerson. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Hi Natasha, thanks for joining us today. We’d love to have you retell us the story behind how you came up with the idea for your business, I think our audience would really enjoy hearing the backstory.

As a kid, I struggled with math and science. I couldn’t connect with the content, and I spent many nights crying at the kitchen table trying to figure it out. I was desperate to just get the right answer, and I didn’t really care if I understood it—because what was the point? Why did I need this stuff anyway?

Fast forward to an 8th-grade summer camp where I launched a model rocket, and my world changed. Now this was something exciting I could get behind! And if I needed math and science to make it happen? Count me in. That moment set me on a path that led to studying aerospace engineering in college.

After graduation, I worked as an engineer at the Department of Defense, doing some incredible work—traveling the country to test Navy equipment and conducting materials research that even led to a patent on metamaterials. But something kept pulling me back to education. While volunteering at a local middle school, I saw students struggling with STEM the same way I had. They couldn’t see the real-world applications, and without that connection, the excitement wasn’t there.

So I started relating their homework to the engineering projects I was working on, and suddenly, their curiosity was sparked. Without realizing it, I was discovering the power of STEM education. Around the same time, STEM was becoming a buzzword in schools, and educators were being encouraged to integrate engineering concepts—but they lacked the resources and confidence to do so.

This is where my co-founder, Claire, and I saw an opportunity. As former aerospace engineering classmates, we shared the same passion for making STEM education more engaging and accessible. We kept asking ourselves, What if we could bridge this gap? What if we could help teachers bring the excitement of engineering into their classrooms?
And just like that, Vivify was born. The name Vivify means “to enliven,” and that perfectly captures our mission—to bring STEM education to life. We want students to experience the excitement, creativity, and real-world impact of STEM, not just read about it in a textbook. Through hands-on exploration and meaningful learning experiences, we strive to ignite curiosity, empower educators, and inspire the next generation of problem-solvers and innovators.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

Vivify STEM was founded from a shared passion to make science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) education exciting, accessible, and meaningful for all students. As aerospace engineers, Claire and I saw firsthand how engineering is more than just equations and theories. It’s about creativity, innovation, and solving real-world problems. But too often, traditional STEM education failed to capture that magic. We wanted to change that.

Teachers are eager to introduce engineering into their classrooms, but they lacked the resources, confidence, and training to do so. In fact, only 6% of K-12 teachers in the United States have taken engineering coursework. That’s where we saw an opportunity to help.

What started as a side project quickly grew into a full-fledged company. Today, Vivify STEM offers over 200 engaging, hands-on engineering lessons that empower educators and inspire students. Our resources are designed to break down the intimidation around STEM by making learning fun, relevant, and accessible. We focus on topics that spark student imagination—such as designing a habitat on Mars—and break them down into accessible lessons that use affordable materials available in any classroom. We also offer a grade-by-grade curriculum map for STEM educators looking for a low-prep year-long program as well as a membership with access to on-demand training resources.

A big differentiator is our approach to STEM. It doesn’t have to be expensive or require high-tech robotics. While a simple Google search will provide millions of “STEM” activities, from tower challenges to catapults, what’s often missing are the clear learning goals of these lessons and a pathway for building progressive STEM learning experiences. Our solution? The 3 Stages of STEM, a structured approach that ensures students develop foundational STEM learning in a way that builds confidence, introduces engineering foundations, and promotes critical thinking and collaboration skills.

Another key focus is engineering literacy. We live in an engineered world—almost everything we touch has been thoughtfully designed to make our lives easier, healthier, and more enjoyable. Whether it’s driving a car, riding a roller coaster, or using a smartphone, these innovations exist because of engineers. By helping students understand how these technologies work and their impact, we give them the tools to engage more meaningfully with the world around them.

Our goal isn’t just to prepare students for engineering careers. We aim to help all students develop a deeper understanding of how the human-made world works. Just as science education fosters curiosity about the natural world, engineering education helps students make sense of the technologies that shape our daily lives. Engineering-literate students become
At Vivify STEM, we believe that STEM is for everyone, and through our work, we aim to ignite curiosity, break down barriers, and empower every student to see themselves as problem-solvers, innovators, and future changemakers, while equipping them with the skills and knowledge to pursue any future pathway as informed citizens who contribute to a better world.

How’d you build such a strong reputation within your market?

At Vivify STEM, authenticity is at the core of everything we do. We are not just curriculum developers—we are engineers and educators who have been in the classroom, tested our lessons with real students, and experienced firsthand what makes STEM learning truly engaging. Our reputation has been built on this authenticity, ensuring that every resource we create is grounded in real-world applications and meaningful learning experiences.

A pivotal moment in my journey came when I decided to leave my engineering job to pursue education full-time. I joined a nonprofit focused on supporting students at risk of dropping out, hoping to inspire them the same way I was once inspired—through a rocket launch. I grabbed a rocket and a few quadcopters, set up an after-school session, and invited students to join me. To my amazement, 60 kids packed into a portable classroom, eager to learn about space exploration. And they kept coming back. Week after week, we explored astronaut training, built robotic rovers, and designed colonies on the Moon. At the end of the year, we raised money to visit NASA. I’ll never forget the girl who told me she cleaned houses with her mom to save money for the gift shop or the boy who shared that he had never traveled outside his neighborhood.

That was the launch of Space Club. For six years, I traveled to underserved communities, my car packed to the brim with rocket launchers and robots, determined to bring space and engineering to students who had never seen themselves in these fields. My motto became: Kids can’t be what they can’t see. So I showed them. I brought in local engineers and scientists, took them on field trips to research labs, launched hundreds of rockets, and even sent a payload to the edge of the stratosphere.

We didn’t just keep these experiences to ourselves. We shared them. I wrote blog posts about launching a weather balloon and conducting space colony competitions, bringing educators into the process with us. We built a community by showing the work we were putting in, sharing our strategies and tips, and empowering others to do the same. Through social media, we took our audience behind the scenes, offering real insights into what worked, what didn’t, and how they could replicate these STEM experiences in their own classrooms.

We also deeply care about the work we do. To ensure our resources are grounded in research-based teaching practices, I recently earned a Ph.D. in Curriculum and Instruction. Learning and growing is an ongoing process, and we bring that same mindset to our company. I believe our audience appreciates that we don’t just create STEM lessons—we study, refine, and continuously improve them.

Beyond our lessons, we also share our stories through our podcast, where we discuss our experiences, interview STEM educators, and provide practical advice for bringing engineering into the classroom. This has allowed us to further connect with our audience, strengthening our reputation as both experts and passionate advocates for STEM education.

More than a decade later, we have built a STEM curriculum company that reaches over 35,000 educators every year, helping teachers bring engineering to life in their classrooms. Our reputation has been built on authenticity, transparency, and a deep commitment to making STEM accessible for all students. We don’t just talk about STEM—we live it, and we bring that passion into every resource we create.

Can you tell us the story behind how you met your business partner?

Freshman year of college, I met Claire, and from that moment on, we were inseparable. We were classmates, study partners, roommates, and best friends, earning the nickname “Clasha” because we did just about everything together. In a male-dominated aerospace engineering program, we were two of only four women in our graduating class, and the strength of our friendship played a huge role in keeping us motivated.

Beyond the late-night study sessions and engineering problem sets, we found something even more meaningful that bonded us—our shared passion for inspiring the next generation. One of our first big projects together was organizing an Engineers Week event at a local elementary school, where we had kids launching stomp rockets and testing hoop gliders. Seeing their excitement made us realize the impact we could have, and despite our heavy course load, we made time to serve as leaders in various organizations. One initiative we were particularly proud of was a mentoring program we developed to support freshmen and combat the high dropout rate in aerospace engineering.

After graduation, our careers took us in different directions. Claire went to Air Tractor, designing and performing analyses on agricultural and firefighting aircraft, while I worked at the Department of Defense on the other side of the country. But no matter the distance, one thing remained the same: our passion for education. We constantly shared stories about our outreach experiences—me working with students struggling in math and science, and Claire conducting hands-on STEM activities in her local community. She loved bringing her experience with aircraft and her previous work with NASA’s space shuttle missions to life through rocket launches, rover-building, catapults, and other engaging lessons.

And despite being across the country, we decided it was time to go all-in on STEM education. We started by creating one lesson at a time based on our experiences with students and figuring out what worked and was most motivating for them – and most engaging in bringing math and science to life through our real-world engineering experiences. We kept our engineering jobs for a while, but eventually took the plunge into education full-time. I moved back to Texas and launched Space Club at a non-profit in San Antonio, and Claire became a classroom teacher and STEM coordinator for PreK – 8th grade. So despite never being in the same place, we continue to grow this business together and

One pivotal moment solidified our mission. During a STEM activity, a seven-year-old girl asked Claire if girls could really be scientists and engineers. That question hit hard. It was a stark reminder of why representation and exposure mattered. Claire was determined to show every student, especially those who had never imagined themselves in these fields, that they belonged in STEM if they wanted to and that they deserved every opportunity to explore it.

Despite living across the country, we decided it was time to go all in on STEM education. We started small, creating one lesson at a time based on what truly engaged and motivated students, connecting math and science to real-world engineering experiences. For a while, we balanced our engineering jobs with this growing passion project. But eventually, we took the plunge into education full time. I moved back to Texas and launched Space Club at a nonprofit in San Antonio, while Claire became a classroom teacher and STEM coordinator for PreK-8th grade.

Even today, despite never being in the same place, we continue to build Vivify together, driven by the same mission that first brought us to that elementary school with a box of stomp rockets.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.vivifystem.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/vivifystem
• Facebook: http://facebook.com/vivifystem
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/natashawilkerson/
• Twitter: http://x.com/vivifystem
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@VivifySTEM

Image Credits

Vivify STEM