258: In Order to Succeed, Help Others Succeed First: Josie Manternach on Teaching, Military Life, and Making a Difference in Rural Iowa

258: In Order to Succeed, Help Others Succeed First: Josie Manternach on Teaching, Military Life, and Making a Difference in Rural Iowa

From The Found Podcast with Molly Knuth by Molly Knuth

June 24, 2026 · 43 min

About this episode

Josie Manternach shares her journey from educator to community impact leader, navigating life changes and challenges along the way.

I've known Josie Manternach since she was roughly in first grade, and I still learned things about her in this conversation that I didn't know. Josie is an educator by trade, a military spouse, a mom, and now a community impact leader at the Community Foundation of Greater Dubuque. But the path that got her there? It's the kind of story that is going to hit differently depending on where you are right now, whether you're holding tightly to a plan that's starting to unravel, or you're on the other side of a pivot wondering how all the pieces are going to fit together. She grew up in Cascade, fell in love with the ag room at Cascade High School, went to Iowa State to become an ag teacher, and had what she thought was her whole life figured out. Then came a retirement, a once-in-a-lifetime job offer, a Navy JAG program acceptance, a cross-country move, a pandemic, a baby, a thesis, and eventually... a path back home that looked different from the one she'd imagined. Every single step of it makes sense when you hear her tell it. What You'll Hear in This Episode: How the ag room at Cascade High School shaped Josie's entire career trajectory (and why belonging matters more than we…

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