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EdSales Edge Show
EdSales Edge is the strategy podcast for education founders, consultants, operators, and leaders selling into education.
For years, this show was known as Breaking the Grade, a space to challenge the status quo in education and think differently about how change actually happens. That mission hasn’t changed.
But the work has.
Over time, one thing became clear:
Education founders don’t just need inspiration.
They need clarity.
They need real strategies for selling into schools.
They need predictable ways to generate leads.
And they need to understand how trust is built in a system that doesn’t move fast, and doesn’t give many second chances.
EdSales Edge was rebuilt to match that reality.
Hosted by Josh Chernikoff, a two-time education founder who’s built and exited companies in this space, the show breaks down how selling into education actually works—across B2C, B2B, B2B2C, and B2E—always through the lens of how education institutions really make decisions.
This is not a show about hacks, shortcuts, or quick wins.
Education doesn’t work that way.
On EdSales Edge, you’ll hear:
- Real strategy for selling into education systems
- Conversations with education decision-makers who explain how buying actually happens from the inside
- Stories from founders, CEOs, and operators who’ve built real traction selling into schools—what worked, what didn’t, and what actually moved deals forward
- Teachings from the EdSales Elevation Experience, the system used to help education founders move from unclear and invisible to trusted and in demand
You’ll learn how to:
- Define your Perfect Client
- Pull the right credibility lever
- Move from being hidden… to trusted… to building a real lead engine
Josh is joined by his good friend and mentor, John Gamba—Director of Innovative Programs and Entrepreneur-in-Residence at Penn GSE, and a former education founder who’s led companies through real growth and successful exits. John brings the institutional lens, shaped by years inside districts, universities, and education systems, seeing how decisions get made when the doors are closed and what earns trust over time.
Together, they sit on both sides of the table, the builder side and the system side, so the show stays grounded in reality, not sales theory.
If you sell into education and you’re tired of guessing,
guessing who to talk to,
guessing how decisions get made,
guessing why interest doesn’t convert—
this show is built for you.
EdSales Edge
Clarity. Credibility. Real traction.
If you sell into education, this is where you earn your edge.
EdSales Edge Show
The Gratitude Episode: 22 Guests, 63 Countries, and a Community That Turned 2025 Into Our Most Meaningful Year Yet
Most founders rush to the next metric, the next meeting, the next milestone.
But the truth is: you can’t scale what you don’t stop to appreciate.
This episode is different.
It’s the last show of 2025.
It’s the Thanksgiving episode.
And it’s the moment we zoom out, breathe, look at the year we built together, and acknowledge every founder, leader, innovator, and listener who carried this show to its biggest year yet.
This isn’t a highlight reel.
It’s a gratitude letter.
To 22 guests.
To thousands of listeners across 63 countries.
To the founders who shared their stories, their vulnerability, their setbacks, and their victories, and left fingerprints on this community.
In this episode, I walk through the people who shaped the year, the episodes that shifted perspectives, the conversations that changed founders’ confidence, and the personal moments that defined 2025, including the support this community gave me after my father passed in June.
This is the season wrap.
The celebration.
The thank-you we all need before stepping into 2026.
If you’ve ever been part of this community, on the mic, on a LinkedIn Live, or in the comments, this episode is a tribute to you.
5 Big Takeaways for Education Founders
1️⃣ Your Community Is Your Credibility
You don’t grow because you post more.
You grow because people trust you, share your work, and bring others into the room.
This year proved that: every guest, every comment, every share expanded our reach.
2️⃣ Gratitude Builds Momentum
Education founders underestimate the power of reflection.
When you acknowledge how far you’ve come — your pipeline, your progress, your resilience — you move forward with clarity and energy instead of fear and pressure.
3️⃣ Every Story Strengthens the Ecosystem
From Ernie Delgado to Dr. Tamara Minott, every guest brought a perspective that made another education founder feel understood, inspired, or equipped to take the next step.
When one founder grows, the whole community levels up.
4️⃣ Clarity Grows When You Slow Down
This episode is a reminder: pause.
Look back.
Identify what worked.
Those insights build stronger frameworks, better decisions, and clearer offers in the year ahead.
5️⃣ You Can’t Scale Alone
2025 proved it — collaboration, mentorship, community guidance, and shared experience are the multipliers.
No founder wins in isolation.
The people around you shape your breakthroughs.
🙏 If you listened, shared, commented, DM’d, or showed up this year — thank you.
This show is stronger because of you.
This community is growing because of you.
And 2026 will be bigger because of the foundation you helped build in 2025.
📩 If this episode resonated, send me a message. I’d love to hear what you’re grateful for as we wrap 2025.
📤 Know a founder who needs encouragement going into the new year?
Send them this episode — it might be exactly what they need.
✍️ Love the show?
Subscribe on Apple Podcasts and Spotify so more founders can turn clarity into action, and gratitude into fuel for their next breakthrough.
#EdSales #BreakingTheGrade #EducationFounders #Gratitude #Leadership #FounderMindset #CommunityGrowth #ClarityConverts #JoshChernikoff
