So, you’ve been seriously considering becoming a Master IEP Coach®. That’s amazing! Maybe you’re a parent who’s been through the IEP trenches, a teacher who’s sat at the table for years, or even a therapist looking to use your expertise in a new way.

But there’s a hang-up, right? That one little, nagging voice that asks: “What if I don’t know enough about special education?”

I hear this fear all the time. It doesn’t matter if you have 20 years of experience or just 5—everyone who dreams of this role quietly wonders the same thing.

Let’s get one thing straight, right here at the start…

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You Are Not Supposed to Know Everything in Special Education.

Seriously. Full stop.

I’ve been in this special education world for over 30 years. Do I know everything? Absolutely not. And that has never been the goal for me, and it shouldn’t be for you either.

The truth is, being a Master IEP Coach® isn’t about having every single law, service code, or strategy memorized. It’s not a trivia contest!

What matters is this:

• You have lived experience inside the IEP system that someone else desperately needs.
• That experience—the struggles, the problem-solving, the hard-won solutions, the quiet wins—is exactly what another parent or educator needs to feel less overwhelmed and more capable.

Your role is to be a guide. It’s about making someone else’s journey easier because you’ve already walked a version of it.

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Think Niche, Not Special Education Know-It-All

This is the secret sauce to being an effective and joyful Master IEP Coach®. You don’t have to be a generalized special education expert. You just need to be excellent at one piece of the puzzle.

Here’s a perfect example from our Master IEP Coach® Community:

We have a high school special education teacher who loves working with families of AAC users (Augmentative and Alternative Communication). That is her jam. She is brilliant and naturally thrives in that space.

• She’s not trying to help families with Dyslexia.
• She’s not trying to solve executive function struggles for ADHD.

She stays in the area she knows, she cares about, and where she’s already solving challenges every single day in her school role.

What happens when she focuses like this?

1. Her energy stays high.
2. She finds real joy in the work because it feels doable and aligned.
3. She’s incredibly effective because her solutions are fresh, creative, and specific.

She simply took the piece she loves and is excellent at, and built her coaching business from there. And, there is no shortage of families looking for that exact focused expertise.

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Don’t Forget: You’re Not Solving Special Education Struggles Alone

This is the part people forget when they’re stuck in the “What if I get asked a question I don’t know?” loop.

If you ever take on a client or project that stretches beyond your specific comfort zone, you have the entire Master IEP Coach® Community right there with you.

We share resources, problem-solve tough cases together, and ask the tricky questions. We support each other so that no one has to pretend to “know it all” in isolation. You get to tap into a collective brain of hundreds of coaches!

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Here’s the Truth to Silence That Voice

So, if that little voice in your head keeps whispering:

• “What if I get stuck?”
• “What if I’m not the expert?”

Here’s your counter-argument:

You don’t need to be an expert in everything in Special Education. You just need to be willing to use what you do know to help someone else take their next step.

Your lived IEP experience is gold. Your perspective matters. And families are actively looking for your exact expertise right now.

Ready to leverage the experience you already have?

Watch this FREE WORKSHOP to find out 4 ways you can get paid as a Master IEP Coach®