Know Dumb Questions
Know Dumb Questions
KNOW DUMB QUESTIONS FT Miss Marianna: Revolutionizing Education Through Mentorship, Community, and Self-Care
What if the future of education isn't in the classroom at all? This episode challenges everything you thought you knew about schooling. Join us as we welcome an inspiring guest Miss Marianna who champions mentorship, real-world experiences, and the Ubuntu spirit to revolutionize the way we nurture young minds. Discover how community engagement and a multi-faceted approach can offer more meaningful development for today's youth compared to traditional educational systems. We dive into the value of integrating diverse educational roles like therapists and coaches to better serve students' holistic growth.
Meet the unsung heroes of our schools—paraprofessionals, security officers, behavior techs, secretaries, and coaches—who often go unnoticed yet play crucial roles in creating a nurturing and inclusive environment for students. Our guest sheds light on how these individuals connect deeply with marginalized students, fostering a sense of belonging and love. We also explore the disillusionment many educators face within rigid school structures and how some find greater satisfaction and effectiveness in more flexible and autonomous roles.
Lastly, we tackle the pressing issue of educator burnout and its link to the school-to-prison pipeline, particularly for Black boys. Our discussion emphasizes the importance of personal development for educators, encouraging them to remain lifelong learners to better connect with their students. We also highlight innovative approaches to engaging students beyond the classroom, including leveraging their interests and using social media effectively. Finally, we follow the inspiring journey of an edutainment specialist dedicated to global education and self-care, sharing practical strategies to maintain energy and effectiveness while making a significant impact. Tune in for a treasure trove of insights and tools for anyone passionate about transforming education.
I'm doing wonderful today. I was on the Google link. I thought I was supposed to meet you over there in that porthole. Now I'm straight.
Speaker 2:If you're over the Google link, you're over there by your entire self. How you doing, sis? I'm feeling wonderful. How you doing. At the time of my life I was just saying I had to pull over to truck stop on my way back from the Bronx, headed back up to the crib, because we have professional development this week and you know, which is cool and fun. But I want to talk to you about you. Yeah, let's do it, I know right, that's why we're here. So what I find intriguing is you have an approach to. I'm gonna just talk mostly about the kids and then we'll work our way. I know you work with the other group. You have an approach with children that feels both timely and, what I would say, out of place, because now everyone seems to be telling every child that they're the best thing since children have been created yeah, you don't seem to be really interested in that approach no, no, no, uh.
Speaker 1:You know, everything about what I've gotten into when it comes to education and community engagement has been classified as non-traditional, and I had to really quickly stop saying non-traditional and just maybe say uncommon.
Speaker 1:Even my route to obtaining my education and the experiences that I've had were very uncommon in the sense that it was really through that Ubuntu spirit, through that community cultivation, through that it takes a village spirit which really really shows in my approach when I'm working with young people, and not just young people, folks of all ages, especially the educators who we place our children in their hands.
Speaker 1:And so I think that when most folks are looking to a motivational speaker and an educator, they have this framework of what that looks like, what that feels like, whether they're from the 60s, 70s, 80s, 90s. And I've done just a lot of work to obtain my autonomy and use that Harriet Tubman spirit to go my way and take the journey that I know is best for me to best connect with children, and for me that means I can't be owned by the school. I need to be that auntie right that comes in with all of the pedagogy skills and techniques to show the youth that there are people who care about them and their human growth and development, but also, in those magical moments with young people, display to educators, right, that I'm about it. About it, and you might need to take notes, because that outdated degree ain't working and ain't hitting yet.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and you take it to them yeah. I mean you take it to the kids. Yes, I mean straight up, take it to them. Yes, Sugar mean straight up take it to them. Yes, Sugar coated. Yes, you know you tell them to get out their feelings. Where's that?
Speaker 1:from Right Right. I've had a rich experience with a lot of mentors and apprenticeship processes throughout my human growth and development that weren't necessarily in the structures of what you know the trajectory of school systems impose is the only way to get there and having that faith in my ability to find learning experiences. For example, when I was 18, I joined an organization, the Progressive Investing Institute for Focused Learning. It sounds fly right.
Speaker 2:It sounds like an acronym. What is this thing?
Speaker 1:Yes, yes, the Slaytons, Mr and Mrs Dr Slayton, and they saw in me that I didn't necessarily have to go their route, but they didn't withhold from me the cultivation process I needed because they knew that I was a valuable intern there and that the high level community and family engagement that they were teaching me was going to make it do what it do in the long term. And I think we're looking at systems, constantly trying to measure right folks and classify them in ways that I would be considered a paraprofessional right, because I didn't go the traditional way. I have an AA degree, but I have what I would consider a doctorate in community engagement and there's no way to measure that according to the school system. So when I say I had that Harriet Tubman spirit, I've been channeling that for a long time, meaning not only do I need to get there my way, but I need to model what that looks like in order to not necessarily break the system, but show the system that your one way, linear form and fashion, is not what is saving our babies. It has to be a communal, multi, integrated approach and it needs to be educators in the system, educators outside of the system, and it needs to be educators in the system, educators outside of the system. It needs to be therapists, it needs to be coaches. It needs to be that community village experience and so I think the only there's lots of educators like me out there. There's lots of aunties out there that have been pouring into our babies in youth from what is considered non-traditional.
Speaker 1:I'm eradicating that theme. I'm gonna say it might not be the common approach that you're accustomed to but again, I'm gonna make it do what it do and the results are showing. The in-person and live engagement is forcing educators to kind of look at like they don't respond to me this way and I've had people challenge me and say like well, you know you're a pop-up, so they're going to act better behavior with you. In the moment, children are young, people are honest. If they're not feeling you, you're not going to get the engagement and the connectivity that I see in real time. So I just really pride myself on the mentorships, the apprenticeship programs and the community engagement experiences that I've been in through being an artist, being a mentor myself, being an activist, being a leader and just really understanding the power of the culmination of all those things coming together.
Speaker 2:You mentioned a couple times the non-traditional route. I'm going to stay there because you're talking about something that people see every day but they're not giving life to, and I'll tell you where I'm going with this and we'll come back because I want to get your reaction to this. Sure, many traditional neighborhood schools are run by what you're referring to as paraprofessionals.
Speaker 2:These are mostly sisters who don't have a bachelor's degree and or security officers, who are brothers, who themselves may not have a bachelor's degree. But these schools, where the majority of the faculty are white women and the majority of the children are black and Latin, are run by an intersection, and I'm not saying this in a throwaway line. Secretary, that lunch lady, that groundsman, that coach, many of whom don't have a bachelor's degree but who are 100% in charge when things go left, yeah, yeah. They call Ms Mari.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:They call Mr Tyrell Right. They call the lunch lady, that's right. They call to lunch, that's right. Who speak the community's Language? That's it. They speak the community's language and the children recognize that you speak what they speak Before you speak.
Speaker 1:Yes, yes, you know what's interesting Is it's even deeper than language before you speak. Yes, yes, talk about that. You know what's interesting is it's even deeper than language. It really is about energetic posturing, and so what I've noticed is there's a lot of folks who are educators, right, who want to go and learn the language, and then they go in and they start hitting kids with slang and they start showing them. They know all the hot songs and they try to do the little dance moves and that might be effective to a certain point, but that becomes performative. There's a difference between us learning, teaching and cultivating in the same community and then you gentrifying and then you're trying to catch up, to make impact in a community that you've never been involved in and it's out of context.
Speaker 2:It's inappropriate for the age group, because when they see you, they know that if you speak their language, you're an auntie. Yes, they don't want you singing sexy rap. No, they don't want that. No.
Speaker 1:Actually they actually know deep down inside they know that that's not what they're auntie, they want their auntie, sisters, cousins or mothers doing right.
Speaker 1:So I think the difference between the language is not only the language, the authenticity in the language to where it's not performative number one.
Speaker 1:And then number two, the energetic posturing, because somebody could speak your language and the energy still come off as being a superior, and that's where the disconnect is. These children have survival instincts that go beyond this measurable, quantifiable efforts that everybody's trying to come up with when they're trying to sit down and understand the plight of young black and brown youth right. And so for me I don't have to go through that extra dialogue. I know because it is my nephew, it is my niece, it is the people that I'm actually working with, whether or not I'm a transplant and doing it here in California, to Atlanta, to Dallas, to New York, we might have a slightly different accent and a few different tribes, because of our area, but you know a universal auntie spirit when you see one and that's why, when even me, understanding the value right, I could go around and I could flex all the letters behind my name and that might work in the environment with those that I'm trying to convince that need me.
Speaker 1:But that has that doesn't hold zero weight when I walk into a room full of 30, 40, 300, 400 young adults or even adults who call me auntie. That's all the doctorate I need, Because what that says is you trust me. And for majority of us who have issues when we're dealing with our healing and our inner child work and our broken child experiences. A lot of us have issues with our mama and our daddy but most of us trust that auntie.
Speaker 2:But what they're expecting when they see you is. They're expecting a sense of responsibility. They're expecting you to check them Absolutely. They're expecting you Talk about how, what their expectations are, because the universality of the language is not just that. You said the energetic posture, but when you walk in the room, they're not expecting you to try and come to their level, they're expecting you to elevate them. Talk about how you elevate them.
Speaker 1:Because let's talk about respect. We're getting into what respect feels like, not what it looks like, based off of language and body and body language, right Verbal and physical language. We're really, really talking about respect and I think when I come in the room I am not walking around with a reverence, that and a command you know a lot of educators you're going to respect me. It's a forceful thing. Now you're aligning yourself with a local police officer where you're demanding respect. I really come on a on a ground level and I'm giving them respect before I'm asking and commanding it for them. So one of the recent viral videos that most people are kind of buzzing off of right now is this moment where I was pouring in this individualized, this very direct moment full of respect and adoration and appreciation for this young black man who in two years, is going to be out in the world being told he's a man, and they don't hear that enough. So it's not my job to first command respect and enforce it.
Speaker 1:The moment you give respect, most human beings that want some care give it. It's not something that I have to fight for and so I think by them being seen and having me come in joyful and playful and willing to pour in them. The second thing is I get respect because I'm instantly helping them go through an emotional decompression process, whether they realize that's what I'm doing or not, the moment someone can decompress, they disconnect from this idea that you're going to do to them with their other people and positions of authority is done. Wow, she cares about how I feel. Now I can feel a little bit more comfortable. Of course. I respect this lady because she actually wants to know how I feel and what I think about it, and if it's shitty they'll tell me. And I don't, because I don't belong to the system. They're allowed to get loose with me in that way. I always tell them all the time they can't fire me after this, you know. So get off what you feel and get what you need in this moment.
Speaker 2:Well, one of the things I think also comes through. And again, going back to the energetic posture, and you come from a long line of people who are going to be the only reason why certain schools don't blow up in a couple weeks. It is that paraprofessional. It is that security officer. Yes, it is that behavior tech, it is that. It is that secretary yes, it is that coach? You come from there? There are, and you understand, this is the compliment there are tens of thousands of sisters and brothers out there, like you, who just look at a little boy and just look at him and a whole bunch of that.
Speaker 2:He understands what the look means. Yes, yes, he saw. You see him when he was over there on his phone when you were talking to him. It's just talk us through what is happening in those moments with each of those folks who, in the letters system, in the traditional system, don't receive the same level of respect that they deserve for being the reason why that school didn't blow up.
Speaker 1:Well, they're taking that superiority and that hierarchy into the room with them and young people don't need that or require that. Young people need love. So when I walk into that room to take you through those steps that particular circumstance of the referring to, he was the only young black man in that room, the only. Now there were different kids of different backgrounds, binaries, everything, and they've got a lot of things specially geared for them. But when I walked into that room, I saw my two community nephews, I saw Sirius, I saw Puma, right when they're in the corner right and they're wondering.
Speaker 2:They want to see if you spoke their language.
Speaker 1:They were waiting to see, they want to see, and I got a 30 second window to be authentic, to be pure in my intentions. Or they're checking out and they're back on that phone talking to their boo thing or the closest person that will give it to them without marking them wrong or bad for having an attitude. Even I am great at getting young people to put their attitude aside because they know love when they feel it, and I think that that is just. That is the difference between me and most educators is that I lead with love. I lead from the nature of nurturing education, which, again, what is nurturing? We don't hear that a lot.
Speaker 2:But you want to be there though. Yeah, it's also that, though. Absolutely, you're talking about something not being owned, and I'm going to say also not being bought when you, just because they pay you, they didn't buy you, they didn't even rent you. Yeah, yeah, and for you to be there. You're there cause you want to be there, so you start with that. There are a lot of folks who are, who are dreading like damn, it's August 1st. I got to go back to this. Talk about the difference. Talk about the difference.
Speaker 1:I think that teachers, educators much like police officers. They go into it for the right reasons, they go into it basing it off of their experience 10, 15, 20, 50, 11 years ago. And I have to tell people all the time number one, you're right, I want to be there. Number two I'm not owned by anybody. So if I'm not mistreated, hey, it's an education party. If I'm not mistreated, right, I can leave and I never have to come back.
Speaker 1:I think there are a lot of people that have gone into education in the system that didn't need to go that route, and that's what I'm here for is to be that example.
Speaker 1:I am a high quality educator, but am I a school teacher? No, A lot of school teachers are resentful because the impact they want to make and the route they decided to take are not in alignment. They assumed that by going to work for the school district. Now, I'm not saying one is more important than the other, we need the whole village, but there are a lot of people that really need flexibility and autonomy to show up the way they want and to charge what they want, Right.
Speaker 1:And so you have people stuck in a system who went in saying I want to help the youth. They thought that that meant they were just going to be a teacher they're going to come and go and they didn't realize what you signed up for was to be a social worker. I am very clear when I walk in the room I am an educator, but I also know that there's a silent contract that means I'm a social worker, and a lot of teachers are burned out because they're joining based off of what they think a school teacher is 30 years ago or what the syllabus said when they signed up to become a teacher, instead of really thinking about the target population that they're actually working with.
Speaker 2:A lot of, a lot of also will those who are not enjoying themselves. It's just like any relationship. I don't know anybody who starts a relationship not liking the person. I mean you start off loving them, but there's a point in which, when it goes left, you feel like you got no options, it just really, really goes left.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and the same is true, professionally when a person is recognized, that you know what. This ain't really for me anymore, but I'm in too deep. We got kids together, we bought a house. I can't really leave. It's that imprisonment that makes them resentful, and the same is true in an education setting. But you are not bound by such circumstances.
Speaker 1:I'm not and you know that speaks so much when we talk about a school to prison pipeline, when an educator themselves feel imprisoned and do not empower themselves to know that it's time for me to retire, it's time for me to research my second career and go elsewhere, that you are so locked in with your security, your seniority and what becomes superiority you're miserable, you don't like your job becomes superiority. You're miserable, you don't like your job. And now you wonder why your attitude and your energetic posturing shows up as hating the children. And then you wonder why they don't respect you, on top of the fact that you don't want to admit you have to partially be a social worker.
Speaker 1:All of that we're surprised we have a. We're surprised we have a school to prison pipeline when the educators and the people themselves aren't bold enough to say this system or this relationship is no longer working. I've expired and given the best of myself, but I need to check out because now I'm giving my worst and this is now poisoning the children that I signed up here to help and that's where we have to be forthcoming about that. And when those relationships you know what happens when a relationship is ragged and you hold on it gets destructive and a lot of these educators don't want to admit that they're not helping our youth, that they are destroying the zest for learning because they don't even have the zest and excitement to be there to give the education.
Speaker 2:The group that's destroyed most Black boys, because so many of our black boys because so many of our black boys don't have the emotional language to speak up for themselves when they're hurt.
Speaker 2:Yes, so with the and you used a term I think it's really important because, whether we like it or not, most of our children are going to go back to a traditional school setting. Much as I don't want that to be the case, it's going to happen and in that traditional school setting, the paras, the social workers, the security officers, the coaches these are going to be the only people who make these children feel heard. Help the teachers who do want to do it right, because I want people to make sure that. This is the point and I think you would agree with this Just because somebody is black, it doesn't mean the kids are gonna listen, because they could look at you and just be like you're just as phony as anybody.
Speaker 2:If you don't have that energy, if you don't have energetic posture like man please you know, don't tell me you're from, because I see where you're at. Not even like that, they didn't even do it. And the same thing is from a white person. A white person can be the whitest, whitest, whitest, but they come in with a certain energy and the kids are like she gets me, I'm gonna be all right with her.
Speaker 1:I'm gonna be safe with her.
Speaker 2:Yes, talk educators through. What it is that you've learned are some of the biggest errors that they make when trying to connect to our kids.
Speaker 1:So I have a workbook called own your shit, and the acronym for shit is some healing in there. I think a lot of educators go into the system and they they focus on getting whatever credentials they need to get in the classroom, but they fail to do the continued education of personal development. I think that that's one of the biggest things, and I work with people of all sectors, not just educators. When I'm working with people in a variety of sectors, what I try to tell them is stop going to these dry PDs and thinking that doing that as a requirement is enough. If you are not actively willing to do the personal development work, that'll keep you from having certain bias, certain triggers, certain meltdowns, certain perceptions of yourself, not even the kids, but of yourself.
Speaker 1:This is going to be what's going to show up with your children and with the youth that you serve, and so a lot of the times there are educators that I see that do everything to check off the boxes of requirements by the system. But what about the system of your own self, personal development, your continued personal development, when young people see that you are actively working on something and it's not you, again, in this space of superiority, looking down and telling them what they need to do when they see like, oh, ms Mariana, you said you wanted to start jogging your mile every morning and I noticed you said you've been doing it. There's a respect full circle to the beginning of our conversation. Young people respect teachers and educators who are still willing to be students, especially when they're willing to let students be their educators in real time. That's the difference and that's pedagogy, because that's a collective experience.
Speaker 2:You mentioned in a video that I saw of yours that I don't know if it was your daughter as a young lady, who looked very similar to you as your best teacher. Yes, is that your daughter?
Speaker 1:She stole my face. You know it?
Speaker 2:Yes, I got one face. You got one face, man. Man, sorry for the brother he gave it. He gave his best effort, but it's all you yeah, um, talk about how a teacher would present themselves authentically as a student to the children that they serve I love allowing them actual time to teach them something.
Speaker 2:anything Can you be specific about that, because I think that people might miss something Like I'll give you, for instance, that I've seen, and I think I hear you saying like I have a colleague, and so she was going, she was taking them on a college, to a college trip Not even a college trip, it was actually a college fair and she's not from the city, from New York City, and the kids were like oh, miss, we'll take you on the train, we'll show you how to take the train. And so they did. And there's certain neighbors that didn't walk through because they were like nah, normally we would go through here, miss, but not with you, you're going to go the other way. So is that what you mean by show?
Speaker 1:I would say have them teach you about areas that you're competing for their attention with. So, for example, if I know that they're enamored by Sexy Red and Cardi B, I could come in and I can diss them, I can disrespect them, I can attack what it is that I don't know about or understand, or I can make a lesson about it. If this is an area where I know your attention is and I'm trying to get your attention, teach me about it and in that teaching process, without judgment, allowing them to do some critical thinking and observation, because oftentimes, when you're in a position, what I would say, let me say this regard your young adult that you're teaching as an expert An expert, whatever it is their focus and attention is at and allow them actually create time in your lesson plan to do that and, if it's not appropriate, figure out the appropriate methods to do that. So, for example, one of the videos that's out that's gotten a lot of response is I asked a group of young males hey, who? Who are you watching? Who are you paying attention to? And they named off all the female rappers. I didn't attack them. I said well, what are they talking about? What are they doing? Right, okay, now, who else has attention in your home and in your life? Well, who influences you? My mama.
Speaker 1:The messaging is very different. Right, your mother is teaching you self-respect, is teaching you consistency, is teaching you manhood. Your attention over here is teaching you sex. It's teaching you drugs. Right there, they're teaching me something, right, because I don't know all the lyrics to every song. They're in a position of expertise.
Speaker 1:But then I can counter that with the auntie spirit and be like so what are these two different worlds suggesting to you, and how does that affect your human growth and development? Which one is going to help you reach your goals? So I'm taking these multiple entry points and again going beyond this linear, one-way form of education where I am the superior. I have everything you need. You need to learn it, regurgitate it, and that's the only way that you feel successful, as opposed to now. I have their attention, I have their excitement. They are now experts and I'm an expert with them. They are teaching me, but then I take that learning experience and then give it back to them. Okay, so what are we learning from this? That these people are who have your attention, are teaching you to be disrespectful. These people over here are almost battling with them. Which one do you think is going to be more effective to you and the manhood that you say you want to design?
Speaker 2:Now I can begin my lesson. Versus just coming in and just telling them that the person that they listen to is trash.
Speaker 1:Right.
Speaker 2:And also.
Speaker 1:I should probably learn from how people are getting their attention. I'm self-taught when it comes to this editing on social media right, they'd be like auntie you fire on social media. I do that and I know that that's where the children are. So if I need to make sure to put that 30 second piece on the beginning that's going to shout the names of their favorite artists and things, that's going to get their attention. I got about 30 seconds to capture their attention. The average person on social media won't watch past one, one and a half minutes. Those videos that I put are four to five minutes long. That says a lot. So I have to garner their attention, but know that that little bit of time that I have is precious. It needs to have joy, it needs to have excitement, thrill, but it also has to get them to think critically and give them this deep-seated passion for their growth and development. So I'm whipping up a whole lot of pots at the same time. Some people don't even know how to cook rice.
Speaker 2:Well, there's that. What are you working on now?
Speaker 1:So there's a few things that I'm working on. So right now I'm transitioning out of coaching one-on-one coaching to facilitating, you know, touring, working with the schools and working with organizations who want to do what I call social wellness work. So that is giving people the practical lessons, the tools whether that's in keynotes, workshops, trainings, retreats how that they can take that back to their home, school, neighborhood and workplace to increase productivity and the self care that they need. So that's the main transition right now is getting into these classrooms, getting into these educational centers and organizations and teaching larger groups. One of the biggest things that I have going on is I'm preparing to go to Ghana and in Ghana. I will be there for three weeks and there's a school, christ Vision Academy, who is in dire need of the support that I give.
Speaker 1:So for the last 10 years I've done an amazing event called Put your Money when your Mouth Is, where I galvanize community members to create care packages for unhomed. You know community members, and so this year, for the 11th year, I'll be doing that same service work over in Ghana. So right now, you know, people take to the internet all day. How can we support you, auntie? We need you in every school.
Speaker 1:That's the goal and I would say, if people want to support and contribute what I'm working on right now, I'm working on not just serving corporations, where, yeah, I can hit the corporations high because they got the budget, but some of these smaller schools, these nonprofits and organizations, they don't always have it.
Speaker 1:So I tell people, go to my website and hit that donate button so that you can contribute to me getting out to these different schools that need the workplaces that I want to be but can't always afford it. And so you know, for a minute I was a little worried about that because I was like, you know, I want to ask for money. No, it's not for me, it's for me to get to where I need to be in these circles and in these communities that need what I have to offer. So the biggest thing right now is a call to action to community. The likes and the reshares and the millions of comments are amazing, but this is real life and this is real time and if I've got 1.7 million and 2.7 people million liking it, if all y'all send a dollar, I can get to more schools and I can get to more organizations that need what I have to offer in a very culturally responsive way.
Speaker 2:You are making your way around the world. Message is resonating with people in all industries. So first, congratulations for that. You are pouring into children who you know spiritually but have never met faculty adults who again same. What do you do for you to recharge?
Speaker 1:So in the last maybe three or four years, I've come up with a formula of high level, non-negotiable discipline and self-care. I realized that I don't necessarily want to wear a cape all the time, but one of the main things that I had to learn to do is not attached to people suffering. That was number one, because you know, there's this romanticized version of being an empath right that went trending a couple of weeks, months ago, years ago. I'm an empath, okay. So you're so empathetic that you're attaching to everyone's suffering and then you feel that you can't live a good life or you feel like you can't appreciate some of the beauty that still is very present along with some of the suffering on the planet earth. So the first decision that I had to make was high level, non-negotiable disability and self-care.
Speaker 1:I treat myself very, very well. This means regular massages. This means going into nature to recharge. This means, when I'm traveling, take a break a couple days before and a couple days after, and that's non-negotiable. This means having regular dates with my mama and with my child and with my family and loved ones, so that I'm still a regular person that gets to have fun. This means getting up with my dog in the morning and us going out and having that walk, jog to stay physically active, because I'm about to be 45 and I got to be a well-oiled machine. I ain't got to be the fittest, finest young thing anymore, but this picker's got to be working well in that immune system and everything else has to be strong with all the travel that's required.
Speaker 1:So that high level discipline high level, non-negotiable discipline in self-care means I treat myself very well first and I don't feel guilty about it, and then I would say the second thing is I see a lot of struggling and pain on a regular basis Just by the coaching services that I do with helping people with their emotional hygiene and now taking groups of people. That's a lot. When you're one person in a room of 500 folks and all of them have a spiritual cord connected to you, trying to get all that divine feminine energy that they're lacking in the world, I have to charge up very, very well. So what I had to learn to do is I give 100% when I'm present and when I'm there, but when I'm done I unplug. And I am done Because, if not, I will carry the woes and the suffering with everyone.
Speaker 1:It's up to you whether or not you're willing to do the work, use the tools and follow up with the calls of action that I give, because once the clock is over, I'm headed to get that massage, I'm headed to wherever the local park or nature station is, and what you do with the information and the cultivation I give for you is none of my business. After that, those two elements tempering are tempering a balance in the lifestyle that I need to maintain to be healthy, to be happy, but then also to keep this high level energy and not be bogged down by some of the suffering that's on this earth, because I know I know through the work that I do that there are still beautiful, amazing, fulfilling things happening simultaneously on this planet too.
Speaker 2:So I am so happy for you. Thank you, I genuinely am. I appreciate the opportunity to meet you and to hear just some of what your plans are.
Speaker 1:Yes, indeed, big plans for you are what Big plans? So I'm an edutainment specialist and I realized through the power of positive social media right, there's a lot of crap out there, but there's some amazing things. Happening too is that I'm going to be syndicated somewhere teaching the teachers, enlightening the enlighteners, reminding the healers how to go about their self-healing, reminding people to own their S-H-I-T and making that a priority first. So you know, I've been trying to get a hold of Mama Iyanla, you know, because you know she's only going to be here so long, you know. I know that there are folks out there Speaking of you.
Speaker 2:she's a junior in Iyanla the entire time.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and I get that a lot. I saw her when I was about 18, 19, and she made a really big impact. I saw her speak to about about 500 people in leadership, whether that's entertainment, in the arts, whether that's athletics and sports, whether that's in the educational field, those who have large amounts of appreciators. It's not enough for me to try to get to everybody one on one, but if I can get and be that auntie, be that educator, be that guy to be that refresher for all those people in leadership and major syndication, I think that without exploiting, exploring, not exploiting them and their challenges and helping them to be accountable, I think that I think that's going to be a big part of what my purpose here on this planet are. I'm very excited for the world I'm going to get to experience you in syndication.
Speaker 2:Yes, let's stay in Texas. I really would like to. Oh, you know, it ain't nothing but a word. Let me get to your babies. Where are your kids? Let me, let me you just lay out.
Speaker 1:Let's lay out the date. Let me get to your students. I would love to work with your campuses. We're going to work something out Excellent Thank you so? Much for taking the time out. It's a joy, it's a pleasure and I'm looking forward to serving you and your collective. You take good care of yourself. All right, please Give thanks. Good energy, Good, good energy.