1 Year at OpenEd: From Intern to Coordinator
Hello readers!
Exciting news. As of today, I am making the jump from a 1099 contractor to a full-time Marketing Coordinator at OpenEd. It’s been a goal I’ve been working toward for a while, and I’m genuinely thrilled that it’s finally official.
Rather than just announcing it and moving on, I thought this would be a good moment to pull back the curtain on what I actually do. A marketing coordinator can mean a lot of things depending on the company. So here’s some of what it means at OpenEd.
Podcast & Content
I’m sure everyone reading has listened to a podcast, but have you ever wondered how it was made?
Once the guest is booked and the episode is recorded, that’s where I step in. First, I run the transcript through an agent we built that handles keyword research, polishes the transcript by removing filler words, and flags spots that need extra attention in editing.
Then comes the actual editing, which is more than just cutting things out. It’s building the intro, adding music, introduction cards, and a dozen small details most listeners never consciously notice.
Once the editing is done, that keyword research comes back into play. It’s what determines the YouTube title, the blog title, and which angles to lean into. If a guest touches on both homeschooling and unschooling, I can look up which term people actually search for and make sure we’re using it in the blog post, thumbnails, and supporting assets.
Site Health & Maintenance
This one sounds less fun, but it’s vital to our marketing strategy.
Fixing SEO errors keeps our website healthy — and for anyone unfamiliar, site health directly affects how high you appear in Google search results. Broken links, duplicate descriptions, slow-loading pages — Google notices all of it, and penalizes you for it. My job is to keep the site clean, make sure everything works the way it’s supposed to, and fix it when it doesn’t.
The bigger goal is to show up in front of anyone searching for alternative education. When someone Googles “homeschool resources” or “open education,” we want OpenEd to be what they find. Good site health improves our chances of that.
State Growth
OpenEd is currently live in 12 states — and every time we move into a new one, it’s the marketing team’s responsibility to make that launch happen.
My main piece in that is building the new state landing page. It’s similar to our main website but tailored to that specific state, since every state operates a little differently. Some of it is straightforward — swapping out copy and state-specific details. But there’s more to it than most people would guess. Things like creating the animations that bring the page to life: images that move as you scroll to them, FAQ sections that expand and collapse. The small interactions that make a page feel polished rather than static.
Bonus Project: Eddy Awards
This was our first year hosting the Eddy Awards — a celebration of the parents, tools, communicators, students, and innovators advancing open education.
I got to assemble the judging panel, create the trophies, connect with the nominees, and create the social media announcements.
In case you’re wondering what the horse is about — that’s our mascot, Ed the Horse.
Thanks for reading!
