Founder Spotlight: VerbaVista Founder Turns a Global Teaching Career Into an EdTech Startup Built in Rochester
- Connected Know
- Jan 13
- 4 min read
BROCKPORT, N.Y. — After spending more than a decade teaching English to students around the world, found herself ready for a new challenge. Today, she is the founder of VerbaVista, an early-stage EdTech company launched in 2025 that aims to help English-language educators plan lessons more effectively using technology built by teachers, for teachers.
LaScala-Lodato’s path to entrepreneurship was anything but conventional. A native of Port Jefferson, New York, she earned a bachelor’s degree in Sociology and Women’s Studies from SUNY New Paltz before rejecting what she saw as the default post-graduation trajectory. “I absolutely refused the typical path of commuting to New York City for an entry-level job,” she said. Instead, she applied to a Teaching English as a Foreign Language (TEFL) certification program in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil and within a month, relocated there.
She stayed for four years, becoming fluent in Portuguese and teaching English full time. When it came time to find a school for her son, she moved to Rochester to be closer to family and continued teaching English online for another decade. “I loved teaching,” she said, “but I could feel my own learning stagnating. I knew I needed to challenge myself again.”
That next challenge came unexpectedly through a local news article. After reading about NextCorps’ Embark program in the Rochester Beacon, LaScala-Lodato applied, despite not fully understanding what no-code software development entailed. “I knew my dad was a software engineer,” she said. “I wanted to understand how his mind worked—and maybe make him proud.”
Within months, she was fully immersed. As part of Embark, she began learning no-code development on Bubble.io, quickly discovering an aptitude for high-level software concepts. “I realized I was absorbing it all like a sponge,” she said. The program’s final phase required participants to build a minimum viable product, prompting LaScala-Lodato to reconnect with former teaching colleagues to conduct user interviews.
That process marked a turning point. “I deeply wanted to create a tool I would have needed as an online ESOL teacher,” she said. “That’s when I started to see myself as a founder.”
The road to VerbaVista, however, was not linear. Her first MVP, a learning management system, was never launched. She describes the experience as a valuable early lesson. “I put the cart before the horse,” she said. “I hadn’t validated demand before building.” After stepping back, she pivoted to AI-powered lesson planning, restarted customer discovery, and focused on building a stronger business foundation before writing a single line of product logic.
That recalibration paid off. On Dec. 19, LaScala-Lodato officially shipped VerbaVista’s first product an achievement she describes as her proudest milestone to date.
In 2025, she became a NextCorps incubator client and later completed an accelerator program, crediting both experiences with helping her develop execution discipline. “The entrepreneurs in residence held me accountable,” she said. “And the lunch-and-learns helped me focus on the right things for the stage I’m in.” She also completed Bubble.io’s Immerse accelerator, where tight deadlines and advanced technical training pushed her development skills further. “I learned that I’m a social learner,” she said. “I need people to bounce ideas off of.”
As a solo founder, the most difficult challenge has been isolation. “You’re playing every role,” she said. “Your biggest battle is with yourself, and that can be hard to sit with.” Her guiding advice, both given and received, reflects that reality: Don’t wait until it’s perfect. Ship it.
“Nobody is ever truly ready,” she said. “If you wait too long, you waste time, the most valuable resource you have.”
LaScala-Lodato chose to build VerbaVista in Rochester not just because of family ties, but because of the region’s culture. “Rochester is a hidden gem,” she said. “The startup scene is growing, but it’s collaborative, not cutthroat. You’d never get that feeling in New York City.”
Outside of work, she spends time in Brockport, where VerbaVista is headquartered. Her favorite restaurant is Bad Apples Bistro in Spencerport, and she cites Lift Bridge Book Shop as a cornerstone of the local community. Each August, her family marks the end of summer at the Brockport Arts Festival, a tradition that coincides with her son’s birthday.
When meeting other founders, she gravitates toward Grinds Café in Brockport or Rococo in downtown Rochester’s Sibley Building.
As VerbaVista continues to evolve, LaScala-Lodato represents a growing segment of Rochester’s startup ecosystem: educators-turned-founders applying lived experience, technical curiosity, and persistence to build tools that solve real problems.
Fast Facts
Category | Detail |
Founder | Stephanie LaScala-Lodato |
Company | VerbaVista |
Founded | 2025 |
Headquarters | Brockport, NY |
Industry | EdTech |
Website | VerbaVista |
Education | SUNY New Paltz (BA Sociology & Women’s Studies) |
Hometown | Port Jefferson, NY |
Favorite Restaurant | |
Favorite Local Business | |
Favorite Rochester Event | |
Coffee / Founder Meetups | |
About the Founder Spotlight
The Connected Know Founder Spotlight is a weekly feature highlighting the entrepreneurs, investors, and business leaders shaping Rochester’s startup and business ecosystem. Each profile offers insight into the people behind local companies driving innovation, growth, and long-term economic momentum.
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