We recently connected with Karen Mayer Cunningham and have shared our conversation below.

Karen, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Let’s kick things off with a hypothetical question – if it were up to you, what would you change about the school or education system to better prepare students for a more fulfilling life and career?

As a special education advocate, I see daily that public schools don’t fully prepare those students for gainful employment, independent living, and further education as outlined in the law. Pediatrician would say as many has 25% of students have an educational disability.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

As a parent of a child with a disability, I fought tirelessly for him to receive the services he was allowed to have under federal and state law. Along the way, I began to support and advocate for other families on the same journey. In that process, I came to realize the most marginalized population in school, also received the staff that had little or no training of their federal obligations to this population.

As the founder of Special Education Academy, we provide the leading training nationally for school districts, agencies, educators, and families, s they may successfully navigate and negotiate successful student outcomes.

Additionally, there are countless pieces of training on all social media platforms for anyone who works with children with disabilities in schools.

All children can learn and progress when given the right tools and supports, all children are due equal access and inclusion opportunities, and our team will continue to fight for those to be implemented nationwide, till it is the norm and not the exception.

What are we most proud of, when our kids are included and celebrated and progress, it happens when the staff are trained and equipped with the tools to help all children learn and succeed. we are most proud when we receive an email that someone used our processes to access the most appropriate service for their child with a disability and that that child is flourishing. It is truy an honor to equip these families.

We want families to know that their child is just as amazing and valued as any other child in the school and that staff are excited to teach them all.

How did you build your audience on social media?

We built our online business during the first week of the pandemic. We had to immediately pivot from getting parents resources in fliers, mailers, blog posts, and conference and community presentations. That was all gone in an instant. I started at 9 pm on weeknights in the bedroom corner at my desk, going live on FB, just talking to families and giving them updates and essential information as it came out daily from our State Education Agency and the Secretary of Education, it was scary and exciting all at once, no borders, and no one to follow. People were so grateful for us to help them sort out real regulations and silly propaganda about their rights. We were instantly moved from serving families in our local districts to teaching and training school-based members and parents from coast to coast. Additionally, we moved from in-person school meetings to online line Zooms and Google meets!!! Coast to coast, while sitting at your desk. We had been putting content on FB< IG, and Linked In, but in March of 2021, we started out TikTok page, Special Education Boss, and it exploded!!!! We now have had millions of views and over 325k followers, as of Aug 2023. We go live weekly and have grown to a monthly subscription, Special Education Academy, 2-day intensive trainings and weeks-long mastermind courses, and Professional Development for school districts. My advice is simple COMMIT. It’s all about speed and volume. Get as many at-bats as you can, and post content your audience is asking for.

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

I think people misunderstand this. Be who you portray online, keep your word, over deliver, and make sure as the Jerry Magurie movie says, let your word be like oak.

If you are a t-shirt and jeans guy, then be that online, if your headshot makes you look like your 30 , but you’re really 60, fix that, people crave and are loyal to authenticity, stick to your specific topic, and don’t be all over the place, if people can hire you or have you come train them, show up, and deliver EXACTLY what you promised online. Serve and equip others, It’s not about you, it’s about serving those who need your products or services.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.SpecialEducationAcademy.com
• Instagram: Special Education Boss
• Facebook: Special Education Boss
• Linkedin: Karen Mayer Cunningham
• Twitter: SpecialEdBoss
• Youtube: Special Education Academy
• Other: all inquiries [email protected]