Podcast Summary

We Are For Good Podcast: Episode 656

Title: Start Before You’re Ready: Building Good Natured Learning from the Ground Up - Becca Katz
Date: November 3, 2025
Host(s): Jon McCoy (A), Becky Endicott (D)
Guest: Becca Katz (E), Executive Director & Co-founder of Good Natured Learning

Main Theme

This episode explores the journey of starting something impactful before you feel fully "ready." Becca Katz, calling in from Nairobi, Kenya, reflects on creating Good Natured Learning — a nonprofit that fosters well-being, learning, and nature-connectedness in schools. The conversation centers around overcoming imposter syndrome, building sustainable educational programs, and the value of community-centered, humble leadership in making a difference globally.

Detailed Breakdown

1. Introduction & Guest Arrival

• [00:36-02:31]
  • Hosts Jon and Becky warmly set the stage, expressing how special and relatable Becca's story is.
  • Becca is welcomed as a long-time listener and member of the We Are For Good community.
  • The episode is framed around “starting before you’re ready,” leading with audacity and humility, and acting on vision now rather than waiting for perfection.

2. Becca’s Early Connection with Nature

• [03:10-04:43]
  • Becca shares her upbringing in Wisconsin, noting formative experiences in her family’s backyard, gardening, building snow forts, and immersive canoe trips at Camp Manitouish.
  • She highlighted transformational adventures, including leading 50-day canoe expeditions in the Canadian Arctic.
    • “It makes you feel small but not unimportant.” – Becca Katz [04:19]

3. The Founder’s Journey & Community-Driven Change

• [04:43-11:51]
  • Becca narrates her path from a nature-based educator in Colorado to initiating programs for underserved students who, paradoxically, lived near nature yet remained disconnected from it.
  • She describes leading a collaborative community coalition, securing a $3M grant, and launching Get Outdoors Leadville.
  • A shift occurs when Becca realizes traditional models (like field trips) are unsustainable. She emphasizes embedding “bite-sized nature connections” into daily school life.
    • Examples: Teachers taking students outside for lessons, observing immediate benefits to student happiness and learning.
    • Covid-19 and relocation to Kenya: Becca’s family moves due to her husband’s work, leading to discussions about how or whether to adapt her work to a new country.

4. Serendipity and Starting Good Natured Learning in Kenya

• [11:51-14:09]
  • Becca details how a funder supporting both Colorado and Kenya enabled her to conduct “discovery” with Kenyan educators.
  • Quick developments: A Kenyan partner offers to begin a cohort, and within weeks, Becca is committing to launch despite uncertainty about funding or logistics.
    • “You just say yes.” – Becca Katz [13:23]
    • “We’re not in discovery anymore. We are just launching.” – Becca Katz [13:53]

5. Addressing Imposter Syndrome

• [14:09-18:51]
  • Open conversation about imposter syndrome: rejection from early funders, feeling like “accidental founders,” and reframing struggle.
    • “We didn’t get rejected, we got prejected.” – Becca Katz [15:22]
    • She differentiates environmental education from broader educational goals and insists on connecting every educator, regardless of specialty, to nature.
    • On feeling “enough”: Becca references Annie Lamott's “Bird by Bird” and a new perspective learned from a friend:
      • “Being enough was going to have to be an inside job.” – Becca Katz [17:49]
      • “Together, we are enough”—value of community and teamwork over individual perfection.

6. Mindset: Pragmatic Optimism & Co-Building with Educators

• [21:51-24:27]
  • Becca rejects “fake it till you make it”; instead, she advocates, “You don’t fake it till you make it. You just try stuff and then you make it.” [21:54]
  • She emphasizes practical, asset-based solutions, working with the resources at hand and continuous innovation.
  • Partnership with teachers is fundamental: Every educator is seen as the “deepest expert” of their own context.
    • “The innovations are infinite...there are as many innovations as there are educators.” – Becca Katz [23:45]

7. Community-Centered Philanthropy & Memorable Moments

• [25:19-27:39]
  • Becca’s most memorable philanthropy story: A community member in Colorado, an immigrant from Mexico who became integral to both her professional and personal life, chose to support Good Natured Learning with a recurring donation—despite limited means.
    • “You and your organization, what you’re doing, you deserve it.” – Recurring donor, via Becca Katz [26:32]
    • Reflections on accepting generosity and its transformative power.

8. Becca’s “One Good Thing” – Practical Advice

• [28:30-30:03]
  • Becca shares wisdom from her mentor:
    • “You have to approach this work with the frame of reference of a lift, not a burden. Everything has to be a lift, not a burden.” – Kate Bartlett, via Becca Katz [28:38]
  • This has become a mantra and organizational value—striving to buoy teachers’ well-being and make their jobs lighter and more joyful.

9. Closing Thoughts & Connection

• [30:03-32:21]
  • The hosts reinforce the “lift, not a burden” mindset and encourage listeners to “get outside” and find inspiration in nature.
  • Becca provides ways to connect (LinkedIn, Instagram, Facebook, her Substack “Mother in Nature”, and the Good Natured Learning website).
  • Final motivation: Act “now” and discard the myth of needing to be more or “enough” before aiming for impact.
    • “Being enough is an inside job and at some point you just gotta kind of call it and try some stuff.” – Becca Katz [31:39]

Notable Quotes & Moments

• On Childhood & Nature:
  • “It makes you feel small but not unimportant.” – Becca Katz [04:19]
• On Key Decision-Making:
  • “You just say yes.” – Becca Katz [13:23]
  • “We’re not in discovery anymore. We are just launching.” – Becca Katz [13:53]
• On Imposter Syndrome:
  • “We didn’t get rejected, we got prejected.” – Becca Katz [15:22]
  • “Being enough was going to have to be an inside job.” – Becca Katz [17:49]
  • “Together, we are enough.” – Becca Katz [18:15]
• On Building Change:
  • “You don’t fake it till you make it. You just try stuff and then you make it.” – Becca Katz [21:54]
  • “The innovations are infinite...there are as many innovations as there are educators.” – Becca Katz [23:45]
• On Philanthropy & Generosity:
  • “You and your organization, what you’re doing, you deserve it.” – Donor, via Becca Katz [26:32]
• Guiding Principle:
  • “You have to approach this work with the frame of reference of a lift, not a burden.” – Kate Bartlett, via Becca Katz [28:38]
• Final Encouragement:
  • “Being enough is an inside job and at some point you just gotta kind of call it and try some stuff.” – Becca Katz [31:39]
  • “You are enough. You as you are, however you show up, that is what the world needs.” – Becky Endicott [31:58]

Key Takeaways

• Start before you feel “ready.” Real impact happens when you step forward, even in uncertainty.
• Embrace community and collaboration. Solutions are co-created; no one has to go it alone.
• Imposter syndrome is universal. Focus on internal “enoughness” as well as collective capability.
• Innovation is contextual. Teachers and educators are the best experts for their environments and needs.
• Generosity is powerful and humbling, showing up in all forms and from unexpected places.
• Prioritize “lift, not a burden.” Programs and initiatives should lighten, not weigh down, those they serve.
• Stay connected to nature and yourself. Nature offers healing, perspective, and joy for both learners and leaders.

How to Connect with Becca & Good Natured Learning

• LinkedIn: Becca Katz, Good Natured Learning
• Instagram/Facebook: @goodnaturedlearning
• Website: goodnaturedlearning.org
• Substack: “Mother in Nature” – stories about mothering and caretaking the natural world

For nonprofit leaders and changemakers, Becca’s journey is a vivid reminder: you don’t need all the answers to begin—just a willingness to act, connect, and trust in collective strength. This episode is a must-listen for inspiration on starting, persevering, and nurturing sustainable, joyful change.