The Power of One: Teacher | S2E8

In this powerful Tools For Success episode, Cathy Tooley shares a personal story about the power of one teacher and how a single moment can change the trajectory of a life.

For years, she was told she talked too much. It was something she was corrected for again and again.

Until one teacher saw it differently.

Instead of trying to silence her, that teacher spoke life into her and told her that her voice was a gift meant for something bigger.

That moment became a turning point.

Years later, the very thing she was once corrected for became the foundation of her purpose and impact.

This episode is for educators, leaders, and anyone who has ever questioned their voice, their value, or their direction. You will hear honest insight on identity, self awareness, personal growth, faith, and the role we each play in shaping the lives of others.

If you have ever wondered whether what makes you different could actually be your gift, this episode will speak directly to you.

Watch, share, and follow Tools For Success for more conversations on education, leadership, purpose, and meaningful impact.

Step into growth and purpose. Discover books, tools, and resources designed to help you lead, learn, and live with impact.

✨ Click here: https://t-sml.mtrbio.com/public/smartlink/toolsforsuccess

About

Cathy Tooley is the Founder and CEO of Tools for Success and a seasoned educator with over 40 years of experience in K–12 classrooms and school leadership. From teacher to principal, she has dedicated her career to supporting educators and strengthening schools.

In 2014, she founded Tools for Success to provide practical, in-person instructional coaching that goes beyond traditional professional development. She is the author of The Education System Is Broken, a national speaker, and a passionate advocate for teachers and students.

Through this podcast, she highlights the ripple effect of great teaching and the lasting impact educators have on every life they touch.

🔗 Website | YouTube | Facebook | LinkedIn

Step into growth and purpose! Discover my books and resources designed to help you lead, learn, and live with impact.

✨ Click here: https://t-sml.mtrbio.com/public/smartlink/toolsforsuccess

//About

Cathy Tooley is the Founder & CEO of Tools for Success and a seasoned educator with over 40 years in K–12 classrooms and school leadership. From high school teacher to principal, Cathy has dedicated her life to supporting educators. In 2014, she launched Tools for Success to provide real, in-person instructional coaching—not just “PD in a box.” She’s the author of The Education System Is Broken, a national speaker, and a fierce advocate for teachers. Through this podcast, she’s spotlighting the ripple effect of great teaching.
🔗 Website | YouTube | Facebook | LinkedIn

Transcript

Escaping The Social Media Spiral

Cathy Tooley 0:00

Last night I found myself going down a rabbit hole of social media, of of watching it over and over and over and over. And it came to me this verse from Romans 1, 2, which says, and do not be conformed of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is good and acceptable and perfect to God. And as I found myself like, you know, those bathtubs I'm talking about where they, you know, how they just I felt myself there. I was watching video after video and YouTube after YouTube of this nastiness and negativity that was around my me. And I I literally had to feel myself going, no, no. It was sucking me in. No, I will not be transformed of this world. I will be conformed by Jesus Christ. Hi

The Power Of One Teacher

Cathy Tooley 1:14

everybody. Welcome to another episode of our series that we're doing called The Power of One. This one is called The Power of One Teacher. Now, I know. Some of you are watching this thinking, well, of course, she's talking about a teacher. That's what her company does. Well, I think I want to be a little surprised that you, I haven't had a podcast yet where I have just personally spoken about a teacher. So there we go. Yes, I want to talk about the power of one teacher, which for me are actually two. Sister Margaret Mary in my elementary school, third grade, and Sherry Spencer in high school. And they really did the exact same thing for me, but at two very profound moments in my life. Because you think about who you are as a third and fourth grader, and you're just kind of almost starting to, you know, figure your way, you're bouncing around this thing called life. You certainly don't have it all together. And then at high school, you're completely different in that you're older and supposed to have it together, and you're even more confused than what you were before because you're running out of time to figure it out. They're going to hand you a cap and a gown and a diploma and send you out into the real world. And both of these women spoke into me in the exact same way at very pivotal times in my life. And I'd like to ground this podcast in Timothy 2.2, and it says, And what you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses, entrust to faithful men who will be able to teach others also. And also Proverbs 12:18, the words of the reckless pierce like swords, but the tongue of the wise brings healing. So

Feeling Misfit And Too Much

Cathy Tooley 3:09

I was very, very blessed to be raised by two stable parents, blue-collar working parents. I never had to worry about where I was sleeping at night. I know that I was blessed. But I struggled a lot. I never seemed to fit the mold of what people expected me to be. And I don't even know that I know what the mold was because my parents never expected me, but I either talked too much in school or I didn't talk enough, or I was either too loud or I wasn't loud enough, or I either did my homework too much or I didn't do it enough. It always felt like in my life I was in this constant battle inside of me of what do you want of me? And how can I perform, behave, be what you want me to be? From as far back as I could possibly remember, I have been a talker. My mother used to say that if you would, matter of fact, she used to say this until the day she died, if you put Kathy in a round room and attempt to name quarters that don't even exist, she'll carry on conversations with them. That's not true. I got detentions when I was in high school for talking. I know those of you on the other end of the podcast are laughing, but seriously, I like I never shut up. And I mean never shut up. I have learned now as an adult that the way that I process through things is I talk. It's like it's like it's if I talk it, like I could even be talking to myself and then go, uh uh, there it is. But it's like I have to get it out of here here. Well, as you all know, um talking gets you in trouble. Because we in schools teach kids when to talk, how to talk, what to talk about, when to talk about what to talk about, and what to talk about that's appropriate, not appropriate. And I don't know, I just struggled with that, except for Sister Mary Margaret and Sherry Spencer. So,

Third Grade Teacher Who Saw A Gift

Cathy Tooley 5:05

what's the common thing they told me? Sister Mary Margaret, third grade, I was a precocious little three-year-old who or a third grader who talked all the time. And I can remember, do you remember the lines you'd get in elementary school? Everybody gets a line to go to the bathroom and uh get a line to go to the gym or get in line to whatever. And I struggled with lines because that meant I had to, you know, you think about a line. Can I talk to anybody?

unknown 5:29

No.

Cathy Tooley 5:30

So I'm always turning around to talk to the person behind me or poke at the person in front of me to try. I hated lines, you can't talk. Which I understand. Elementary teachers, please don't put hateful comments. I get that's the point of a line. I know that. I hated lines. So what Sister Mary did was she put me in the front of the line where I had to walk backwards so I could talk to everybody and tell them how to come. Back now. Like I just thought that everybody did that. I I I am really still good to this day. I can walk backwards for hours and never fall. I mean that, Sister Mary Margaret. And then she would put me in, you know, like if it was time to leave for the cafeteria, she would always put me in the front where I got to call everyone to me. And I remember her saying to me, I would say, I know I should be quiet. And she said, No, no, no, no, no, no, my darling. The Lord gave you a voice. You're gonna use it for big things someday. I just don't know where. Remember an impressionable third grade? I'm what, eight, nine years old? And she was a nun. And when you're a Catholic and she's a nun, they're like right next to God. They're like on the right hand of God.

High School Detention And A Lesson

Cathy Tooley 6:43

Fast forward where I'm sitting in a high school, and I was getting in trouble. Um, you know, I was uh a heavyset gal through high school. I was never ever one of the popular kids. I never fit in. I had my own group of friends and I had my own group. I was academically very strong. I did well in school. I liked school, but I don't know, I just never seemed to fit into the click. But you know, and when you're a girl, that matters so much. Guys, I don't know if it matters to you, but boy, it does as a girl. Do you dress like the cool girls? And do you act like the cool girls? And do you talk like the cool girls? And and are you popular like the cool girls? That stuff matters. Gosh, I would love to sit here and tell you on this other side of this podcast when I'm so much older, oh, that just doesn't matter because it's just not true, it does. Or at least it did for me. And it wasn't because my parents made me feel like it was less, I was just hungry. I just wanted to be a part of it. And I will never forget I got a detention for talking. One of many, I would like to say, as we got on into high school. Um, and Sherry Spencer was in charge of the detention. Remember, some of you that are teachers, they can't afford to have anybody sit a detention, so teachers got assigned to them. And this happened to be her particular night, and I was there yet again. I I don't think I know how many detentions I served in high school, let's just say a lot. But they were always for talking when I was supposed to be quiet. And the detention had ended, and I liked Sherry Spencer. She was my homech teacher back in the day. I know we can't say home anymore. Now it's family and consumer science. But back then it was homeek, and I loved her. I just I just thought she was just a great person. I could listen to her talk. She was so loving and so kind, and I just learned from her. Not only necessarily the content, but just she was just a warm being, and I liked her. And we also had a group called FHA, future homemakers of America. I know I'm dating myself, but she was in charge of the club. And we traveled, and I just had so much respect for that woman. And one day, after one of probably what was a million detentions that I was serving, you know, you know how the detentions are over, and she and I are, I'm helping her gather her papers and you know, put the desk back the way they do, because I just like Miss Spencer, and I just want to hang out for a few more minutes with Miss Spencer. And she sat down in the chair, and I was across the other side of her desk, and she said to me, You're serving lots of detentions. I said, I know, Miss Spencer, I know, but I swear this time I wasn't talking or, you know, I'd give whatever story a 15 or a 16-year-old gives. And she leaned forward and said words that I will never ever forget. And she said, Don't ever apologize for your voice. But learn that there is a time and a place where what you have to say may or may not be ready to be heard. And I remember thinking to myself, those are some pretty wise words, but I don't know what to do with that at 15 years old. But I never forgot them.

From Trouble For Talking To Platform

Cathy Tooley 9:54

So fast forward through life, now I become a teacher. And what do teachers get to do a lot? Talk. I got paid to talk. And then when I started this company and started getting booked for keynote speakers, people book me all the time to keynote this conference or keynote that conference because I I love to talk and I think I well, I know I am. I know I'm a great talker. I'm uh I'm one of those people that um people say about me that when Kathy talks, I just she's such a great storyteller. And I think of Sister Mary Margaret and of Sherry Spencer because the world was telling me to shut up. But those two women told me no, no, no, no, no, no, no. You use your voice. And I will never forget standing on my very first keynote. There were like 4,000 in the audience. I know how much I was being paid, which was more than probably three months of salary and teaching. And I remember standing there, and it hadn't hit me prior to that. That I was giving the speech, and it was a good speech, and couldn't tell you what it was over. I don't remember that. I do remember where I was, but somewhere along the line, the ultimate of irony came to me that the very things that this world attempted to punish me for, I was being paid for. Because see, I think, I know, that my voice is a gift. It's a gift. And I don't mean that Kathy Tooley. I mean that the Lord uses each of us as vessels to do his work. Some people he uses their hands, they're potters, they're claymakers, they're builders, they're they're they're artists, they're talented. Some people he uses their hearts, their oratory and the way that they speak. They love large, they take care of people, they're nurturers, they're nurses, they're hospice care workers. Some people they use, he uses their backs. They're strong and they build and they create and they make things that I could never do. And I could keep going on and on and on.

Renewing Your Mind Against Negativity

Cathy Tooley 12:13

But I want this podcast to not be about Kathy and her talking, but rather the power of one teacher to speak into a gift that now I have a platform where I am sitting on the other side of a camera with a microphone in front of me to speak into your gift. The power of one teacher to speak into who I am, so you can speak into who you are. And that I said to a very dear friend of mine on the phone the other day, we are bombarded with nasty, negative images created to convolute our minds and to make us think and believe that things are true that are simply not the truth. The only truth exists in the words of Jesus Christ. And just because someone can quote his words, Satan knew how to quote his words, you have to get in alignment with what you're called to be based on the gifts, your hands, your head, your heart, your back, your feet, your arms, your voice, whatever that is. Because this world was created so that each of us use our own gifts, not somebody else's gifts, to create the world that the Lord intended us to live in. You know, we live in a divisive world, a very, very divisive world. It it takes very little. I found myself, we're in the midst of some negativity happening right now, and I don't know when this will air, but might not be happening. But I promise you, some new negativity will be. If it's not the one I'm feeling in my heart today, it'll be something else by the time this airs. And last night I found myself going down a rabbit hole of social media, of watching it over and over and over and over, and it came to me this verse from Romans 1, 2, which says, and do not be conformed of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is good and acceptable and perfect to God. And as I found myself like, you know those bathtubs I'm talking about where they, you know, how they just I felt myself there. I was watching video after video and YouTube after YouTube of this nastiness and negativity that was around my me. And I I literally had to feel myself going, no, no. It was sucking me in. No, I will not be transformed of this world. I will be conformed by Jesus Christ. The media is not doing anything wrong, ladies and gentlemen. It is their jobs to sell you papers and stories that you want to believe. God didn't create that. And Sister Mary Margaret and Sherry Spencer taught me that I have a voice. And so this platform, this place, my voice, will speak conformity only to Jesus Christ. That is it. Regardless of what the media and the stories tell me, I will not be transformed by evil. And my invitation is that you not be there either. So the

Find Your Gift And Use It

Cathy Tooley 16:17

power of one teacher for me brought me sitting here today. I don't know, I never do with this podcast, who on the other side of this podcast needed to hear it. But I do know who does. Every time when I start my podcast, I pray, Lord, let my words be your words. Guide what I need to say so that those on the other side of that screen will hear. So here's my invitation. Put your social media down and talk to people in front of you. Ask the Lord. Kathy's gift was her voice. What's mine? And then ask yourself this. How do I take that gift that's been given to me and make this a world that people want to live in? Because that, ladies and gentlemen, is how we change this world. We don't change this world by divisively fighting each other. We don't change this world by violence. We don't change this world by using the Lord's words as weapons against each other. Because what the Lord taught us is everything He did, He did in love. And those two women, Mary, Sister Mary Margaret, and Sherry Spencer, taught me belief in love. And I want to give that to you. So my ask of you today is after you listen to our podcast, because that's a social media that I hope helps you, that you spend time in his word, pray for his gifts, and like they give me mine, which is my voice, that you use yours to make the world that my children and most importantly my grandchildren will live in a better one than I'll be leaving behind. Thanks, everybody. See you next time.