Julie Scali spent years as a deputy principal watching the gap between research and classroom practice get wider. She knew what good literacy teaching looked like. She had the knowledge, the track record, and the drive to create something bigger. What she needed was the right container for it.
“I absolutely love my business and jump out of bed in the morning to get stuck into it.
Lydia, in a short period of time you have helped transform me from a school leader with a passion for making a difference in literacy and learning difficulties. Your knowledge, guidance and support has helped me to develop clarity, processes and systems; that have led to wonderful feedback and outcomes for other teachers and school leaders, as a result of my work supporting them. I frequently rave about you to other people and your amazing gifts.”
Julie Scali
The Starting Point
Julie came to this work as someone who had already spent years inside the education system, studying it, leading within it, and hitting the ceiling of what was possible from inside it. She knew the research. She knew what teachers needed. And she had a clear sense of what she wanted to build.
What she didn’t have yet was a way to turn that depth of expertise into a consulting practice that could actually reach the people she wanted to reach.
“I realized I didn’t have it in my mental toolkit about how to make that happen because university hadn’t taught me what is best practice and how children learn to read.”
The Challenge
The knowledge Julie had accumulated over years of teaching and school leadership was largely trapped, behind academic paywalls, inside institutions, in her own head. The traditional system wasn’t built to distribute it at the scale she wanted.
And working within it meant accepting constraints on both her time and her impact.
The Journey
Julie didn’t start by creating something new. She started by sharing what she already understood, writing practical content on LinkedIn about effective reading instruction and vocabulary instruction, the kind of practical, evidence-based stuff teachers were hungry for but couldn’t easily find.
One workshop drew 640 educators.
Julie hosted her first webinar with an epic turnout
The webinar was a milestone, but the real foundation was what she’d been doing consistently before it.
“LinkedIn was very good for me. Being a professional platform, I posted content about what effective reading instruction looks like, tips for teaching vocabulary instruction – things educators want to know. I was only posting once a week because I’m not a big social media fanatic. That raised credibility and validation around my knowledge.”
What She Built
Julie now runs Literacy Impact, working with schools across Australia through professional development programs, leadership team coaching, online learning modules, and speaking engagements.
She was invited to join Learning Difficulties Australia’s council, a recognition of the depth of expertise she’d been sitting on for years. Most importantly, she’s creating systemic change while maintaining flexibility for her family and life outside work.
And she finished the book.
In May 2021 I had a dream and a coach named Lydia. And now a year later, I’m not just consulting – I’m finishing my first book. It’s been a bucket list moment my whole life.
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