What happens when leadership arrives at the hardest possible moment in your life? In this episode of The School Podcast, Cameron Parker sits down with Rachel Johnson, CEO of The PiXL Club, for an incredibly open conversation about leadership, loss, legacy, education and choosing hope when fear would be the easier option.
Watch the full interview on YouTube →
From the Classroom to The PiXL Club
Before becoming CEO of The PiXL Club, Rachel spent 14 years working in education. Her journey began in alternative provision, working with young people who had often experienced failure and had been told they couldn’t succeed. She later trained as an English teacher, became Head of English and worked on raising achievement across English and maths. Those experiences continue to shape the way Rachel views education and leadership today.
For Rachel, underneath the data, results and performance measures are human beings. She believes that when people genuinely feel like they matter, when they know they add value and are valued, it can unlock something incredibly powerful.
Leadership, Loss and the Legacy of Sir John Rowling
A significant part of Rachel’s story is the influence of her father, Sir John Rowling, who founded what would become The PiXL Club and had a huge impact on education and school leadership. Rachel speaks openly about losing her dad and the extraordinary circumstances in which she stepped into leadership. Just three days after his death, Rachel stood in front of thousands of school leaders at a PiXL conference. She announced that her father had died, revealed to many in the room that she was his daughter and told them she would be taking over.
It was a moment of enormous grief, vulnerability and responsibility. Rachel describes having plenty that she could fear, getting it wrong, people leaving or failing to live up to the legacy she had inherited. Instead, she made a choice:
“I choose not to fear. I choose to hope.”
That decision became a defining part of her approach to leadership.
Finding Her Own Voice
Taking over wasn’t about trying to become her father. Rachel talks about the importance of finding her own voice and leading in a way that was authentic to her. Her father’s advice before he died was powerful. Rather than placing the burden of his legacy onto Rachel, he gave her the freedom to make her own decision about what came next. That freedom allowed Rachel to build on what had come before while developing her own approach to leading The PiXL Club.
People Pleasing, Self-Worth and Productivity
The conversation also moves into an area that will resonate with many teachers and school leaders: people pleasing and productivity. Rachel openly discusses her own experience of people pleasing and the danger of outsourcing our self-worth to other people’s opinions. Cameron also shares his own struggle with measuring his self-esteem against how productive he has been something Rachel believes many people working in education will recognise.
They discuss the difficulty of switching off, constantly feeling there is more to do and the pressure leaders can place on themselves to keep going. Rachel’s message is that education needs more honest conversations about these challenges. Sometimes, someone has to go first and admit that leadership isn’t always as polished as it might appear from the outside.
What Does It Mean to Be “Ruthlessly Kind”?
One of Rachel’s most interesting leadership principles is the idea of being “ruthlessly kind.” For Rachel, kindness doesn’t mean avoiding difficult decisions. It means being willing to do the hard thing while still treating people with dignity, empathy and compassion. She explains that leaders can make difficult decisions without people pleasing, while still doing everything possible to leave people in the best position they can. Kindness and accountability don’t have to compete with each other.
Making People Matter
Perhaps the biggest message running throughout the episode is the importance of making people feel like they matter. Rachel believes that while outcomes, attainment and performance measures are important, education can never lose sight of the human connection underneath them. Teachers can say something to a young person at 15 that they still remember at 45. Leadership can have an impact long after the data has stopped being measured. And sometimes simply helping someone know that they are valued can change what they believe is possible.
Watch The Full Rachel Johnson Podcast
This is a conversation about much more than Rachel Johnson and The PiXL Club. It’s about grief, leadership, self-worth, people pleasing, difficult decisions, kindness and carrying a legacy while still finding your own voice. Most importantly, it’s about what we choose to do when fear is present.
“I Choose Hope” Leadership, Loss & Legacy with Rachel Johnson is available now on The School Podcast.
