Lindsay Dawson and uThrive Academy

She's worked in finance, served the CIA, represented the United States abroad, and now she's fighting for the most vulnerable in her own backyard. In this episode of the Ashley B. Cash Show, Ashley sits down with Lindsay Dawson for a conversation that covers it all.

Lindsay's journey is anything but ordinary. She launched her career in finance with ConocoPhillips, was recruited by the CIA as a Middle East Economic Analyst, and went on to serve as a U.S. diplomat at the American Embassy in Abu Dhabi. But it was after nearly a decade of public service that Lindsay found her deepest calling — fighting human trafficking, walking alongside survivors, and working hand in hand with local law enforcement to make a difference on the ground.

In 2023, she founded uThrive Academy, an organization dedicated to empowering vulnerable women through financial literacy and life skills. And in November 2024, she added yet another chapter to her remarkable story, winning a seat on the Conroe ISD Board of Trustees — where she now oversees a $760 million budget and advocates fiercely for students, parents, and teachers.

This is a story about courage, purpose, and what happens when a woman refuses to put a ceiling on what she can accomplish. You do not want to miss this one. Tune in!

About The Ashley B. Cash Show: The Ashley B. Cash Show features conversations with education leaders, policy experts, parents, teachers and reform advocates who are working to transform K-12 education. Host Ashley B. Cash brings her perspective as both a parent and business owner to explore systemic education issues and practical solutions for creating better outcomes for students, families, and communities.

About Ashley:  As both a mother and business owner, Ashley brings a unique dual perspective to education reform advocacy, driven by her desire for better educational outcomes for future generations and informed by her firsthand experience with the skills gap facing employers today. Her passion for transforming K-12 education stems from witnessing the real-world consequences of educational failures and recognizing the critical need for a system that prepares students for diverse career pathways, not just college. Through this podcast, Ashley champions solutions including aptitude-based education tracks, expanded school choice, practical skills integration, and alternative career pathways that align with students' individual strengths and interests.

Follow @AshleyBCashOfficial on Instagram & @Ashley Bowes Cash on Facebook.

Visit www.AshleyBCashOfficial.com for more content and features. 

Transcript

SPEAKER_03 0:00

Hello, and welcome back to the show, the Ashley B. Cash Podcast. I'm Ashley. And today I'm super excited because I am going to welcome a friend and guest, Lindsay Dawson. Lindsay is a native Texan wife-mompted of two and one of the most incredible career stories you will ever hear. She started in finance with Conico Phillips, was recruited by the CIA as a Middle East economic analyst, and then served as a U.S. diplomat at the embassy in Abu Dhabi. After nearly a decade of public service, she turned her focus to fighting human trafficking, working with survivors and local law enforcement and founding Youth Thrive Academy in 2023 to empower vulnerable young people through financial literacy and life skills. In November 2024, she was elected to the Condo ISD Board of Trustees, overseeing a $760 million budget and fighting for students, parents, and teachers. Lindsay Dawson, welcome to the show.

SPEAKER_00 1:02

I'm exhausted just hearing that. You've lived it.

SPEAKER_03 1:06

I know.

SPEAKER_00 1:07

Thank you for having me on the show.

SPEAKER_03 1:09

Well, thank you for all you've done. Thank you for serving our country. And now you're serving vulnerable young people with financial literacy and life skills and students in Conroe Conroe ISD. So thank you so much.

SPEAKER_00 1:21

It's it's an absolute pleasure. It really is. It's a calling on my life to do what I'm doing. And I I I love it. I love what I do. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 1:30

So well, you know, I kind of hit the highlights, but I want to learn more about your backstory because it really, really relates to why you're doing Youth Drive Academy now, right? So talk a little bit about your start.

SPEAKER_00 1:43

Tell people a little bit more about your well, so I'm an only child and I come from a divorced household. Um, we really didn't have much growing up, you know, single mom, jumping from apartment to apartment. And um, you know, life was was challenging at times. In high school, my mom got cancer. And um, so I really in ways had to grow up and raise myself, you know, starting at age 13. And so, you know, I really I realized back then that, you know, if I'm gonna break this cycle that we're in, I was the first one to graduate college in my family. I'm like, if I'm gonna break this, I need to take my education seriously. And so, you know, that's what I did. I was Salutatorian in high school and you know, went on, like you said, I have a um a bachelor's in finance in international business, and my language was Arabic, which we're gonna have to explain how you jumped there. Um, you know, I wanted to be a missionary. Um, you know, I love the Lord and and you know, I I took a missions class, actually my freshman year, and they were talking about the 1040 region and the unreached people groups and the Middle East is, you know, square in the middle of that. And there was also, you know, a boy that I liked.

SPEAKER_03 3:06

There seems to always be a boy.

SPEAKER_00 3:09

Let's just be honest. And so yeah, I'm like, oh, I'm taking Arabic too, just like you are. But, you know, it's funny because he ended up dropping. I stood with it, you know, and have a minor in Arabic, studied, you know, in Jordan for a summer, lived over there for a year. So yeah, that's kind of what um, you know, how it all started, but really, you know, looking at what is my calling? Like what, why am I here on this planet? And I really feel like it's to empower and to protect our young people, especially the most vulnerable, the, you know, the at-risk populations. And I think I, you know, it's because I came from that, right? I didn't grow up with a silver spoon in my mouth. Um, I didn't have anyone teaching me. My dad was there, he did teach me some of those things um, you know, remotely, but you know, I had to figure it out on my own. And um, and so yeah, that's what I started doing mostly, you know, with the with the CIA as an economic analyst, looking at the youth, right? Started focusing on youth workforce development. Um, a lot of, especially with our government, we give a lot of foreign aid to that region. And humanitarian assistance is great and all, but they're gonna come back the next day. Really, what they need is development, right? They need sustainable solutions in place to really help them. And so started working working with USAID and putting together youth programming for them, uh, got my master's at GW in economic development. So I really, and I thought I was going to be focusing on the Middle East for my career. Um, but we were living abroad, we were living in the Middle East, and uh my husband also worked with me as well. Um, we had our daughter there, and we're like, you know, we can't, this is a hard lifestyle to live with kids. And so we wanted to come back to Texas, uh, raise our family in a conservative, wholesome environment. And so we we landed here in in the woodlands. And, you know, if you would have told me I would have run for school board, I never saw that coming. But, you know, God just slowly revealed it over time that this was the next step I was supposed to take, you know, also having made um You Thrive Academy. Sorry, I'm kind of like jumping around a lot, but um it's tracking. Yeah. So um, so when we moved to Houston, you know, I had done some anti-trafficking work for the government. I wanted to work more directly with these vulnerable populations. And so I moved into the nonprofit world and um worked with women that have been trafficked, trying to rehabilitate them and get them the life skills, the practical skills that they need to stay out of that life. Yeah. And um, on average, most people don't know this, but they go back to, they call it the life, they go back to re-exploitation on average seven times. And I I believe part of it's because they don't have the career skills, right? The financial literacy. No one has taught them how to take care of themselves. And so their exploiter does does some of that, right? And so they they go back. Um, and the curriculum at the time that we were using was not very engaging to these women, and they were sleeping, and I mean they've been through a lot of trauma as well. But um, you know, I just thought if these women really, if they took this curriculum seriously, it could change their life. Yeah. Right. And but the it the curriculum wasn't worth taking seriously, you know what I mean? Oh, yeah. So at that point, that's when I'm like, I'm I'm actually gonna do this full time. I'm going to, I spent two years developing this curriculum, something that they can take seriously that can actually change their life. So that's kind of where Youth Rive started is went working with um with traffic survivors. That's awesome.

SPEAKER_03 7:32

You and I, when the first time we talked, we bonded over many things that are similar in our lives. Um, having to be adults when we were very young in our own homes. And both of us having worked on human trafficking, and then both of us being crazy passionate about financial literacy and making sure that young people have this knowledge so that they can make the best potential life for themselves. Absolutely. And so, I mean, I left that conversation. I was like, man, I met another me before. I know.

SPEAKER_00 8:04

I was so excited when I met you. I really, because I mean, personal financial literacy, that's I mean, that is what my course is. It it's a life-changing concept for young people, right?

SPEAKER_03 8:18

A hundred percent. I mean, I remember at the end of the 88th legislative session when I went up to then Representative Burroughs, who's now Speaker Burroughs at the Texas House, and I said, Can you explain to me why we force every child to take chemistry, biology and physics, algebra and trigonometry, and yet we don't make any of them take financial literacy, where they would learn how to budget, how to save money, how to invest money, how to pay taxes, the things that they're all gonna have to do when they turn 18. Yep. Right. And he was like, I never thought of it that way. And HB 27 in the 89th legislative session was birthed out of that conversation. And um I'm so grateful that we're now going, the state is now gonna require a semester of personal financial literacy for every student to graduate high school starting in 2030. Yes. Um, but there are all these people for the last 20 years that have not had any kind of financial literacy that we also have to get educated. And so, like, I love your you thrive. We've you know looked at it and and it's a great model program. And I love that you have actually not only teaching how to budget and how to save and how to start investing, but you're also adding life skills in with it. So it's practical application.

SPEAKER_00 9:36

Right. I I call it a crash course in adulting, right? Because that's that's basically what it is. It's what all of us have to go through, but no one's teaching us in a systematic way, right? We're relying on parents to do that. But what if parents haven't received that either, right? I mean, half of just Texans are living paycheck to paycheck right now. So if our adults are struggling, our young people are going to struggle as well.

SPEAKER_03 10:06

Because that's what's been modeled for them. Exactly. And without some intervention, hopefully with this financial literacy class, but still then we have to go back and bring those older people forward as well.

SPEAKER_00 10:20

Right. And that's, I mean, that's been a big part of what we've been doing. We actually are partnering with um corporate America and and helping to uh train up their employees to be productive employees. And I mean, how many times do we bring in our personal stuff to work, right?

SPEAKER_04 10:38

Oh, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 10:38

Um, and it's these employers end up having to be psychiatrists, loan officers, you know, so many other things. They just need them to get work done, right? But because they're struggling in their personal lives, they don't have financial literacy skills. These employers are kind of having to train them on the job, so to speak. And so been partnering with private sector as well to help um kind of get them at different levels, right? As adults, again, you know, the women I worked with, they're all adults. I mean, some of them were in their 30s. Yeah. Some of them are around my age, actually. Um, and and I remember one of them asked me, what is a loan? I mean, she just like a very basic question. Um, she had grew up in a hotel.

SPEAKER_03 11:27

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 11:27

Literally. That's all she knew.

SPEAKER_03 11:29

Well, I love that you're because it does talk about that, your program, because you go through budgeting and you go through how to save, but you also talk about how to rent an apartment, how to buy a car, how to try to buy a house, how much you need to save, what the loan documents look like. I mean, you you go in depth.

SPEAKER_00 11:48

It's very comprehensive. It is, it really is. I mean, it can be a little overwhelming, but that's why we've put it into a semester-long course, right? You're taking it every day. So, you know, I like to tell my clients, it's it's eating an elephant one bite at a time, right? Because these are things you and I have learned over decades, right? And they're learning it in a semester. So I understand it can be overwhelming, but I try to put it into bite-sized chunks so they can relate to it, right? I I want, it's not just about having content because we Texas, they have, you know, there's multiple vendors out there for this, but it's about engaging the young person, right? They need to be able to relate to you. And I think with people like, you know, I'll just say Dave Ramsey, it's a little bit harder to relate to someone like him, right? Um, and he's and he a lot of times is talking to adults that have made really poor financial decisions. Um, this is meant for a young person with a zero baseline understanding, right? Like we want to get them before they start making bad financial decisions. Absolutely. And and I love that.

SPEAKER_03 13:01

And that's why I sought to go after the the school, because I want to get them just like you before they've gotten themselves in debt, before they've built up the credit card debt. Yes. But your program would also help them get out of that absolutely if they found themselves there.

SPEAKER_00 13:18

Well, and it's, you know, because I I started it with um with at-risk populations, there's a lot of parts that are trauma-informed as well. Um, that that speak to the, you know, second chance banking, for example. Let's say you've wrecked your credit, right? And you can't even apply to get a bank account. What are second chance opportunities or uh even interviewing if you have a criminal record? How do you answer those questions uh in a way that's honest, but also, you know, trying to have a second chance? Yeah, or let you have an option opportunity. Yes. And so, you know, we get into all of those things, but I I want it to be practical for them. I don't want it to just be another check the box exercise, you know. I I really want, I want them to like I wish I would have had these skills. Even having a finance degree, they don't teach personal finance at the university level.

SPEAKER_03 14:18

I say that all the time. I mean, I have a business degree and they didn't teach me any kind of financial literacy. They didn't teach me how to be a business owner, they taught me to do one specific thing, marketing, for a business, for someone else's business, right?

SPEAKER_00 14:33

And or how to invest in the stock market, things like that.

SPEAKER_03 14:37

None of that.

SPEAKER_00 14:38

Yeah. Um it's kind of it's kind of crazy. It's very crazy.

SPEAKER_03 14:41

It really is. I mean, when you sit back and look at it when you're unfortunately decades down the road, and you look back at your education, you're like, wow, they weren't pres they weren't preparing me to be independent and to be a business owner. They were preparing me to be an employee and work for someone else. Right. Right. And I think that I want us to give these kids, and I think your program does that, the skills they need to take hold of their life and be in charge of it. Yes. Yes.

SPEAKER_00 15:10

That's what I want for I don't want to recreate the will. I mean, like we're building it. Here's just here's how it works. Yes. You know? Um, so that that's really what we're trying to do. And and also we talk about relationships. I mean, that's one thing you don't normally see in a personal financial literacy course, right? Like we're just talking about one person, but what happens when you bring someone else into the relationship? They have, you know, their own views of money grew up, you know, differently, most likely, right? Yes. How do you deal with finances and a relationship? Uh, and so I think that's another practical thing that this that this talks about.

SPEAKER_03 15:52

It absolutely is. I tell my my own children all the time, I said, the most important decision you're ever gonna make is to follow God. The second most important decision you're ever gonna make is who you choose to be your life partner, you're gonna marry. Yes. Um, because they can make you or break you, they can build you up or they can tear you down. And but absolutely um who you marry, making sure that you're on the same page with your finances, like that is the number one reason that marriages break up and that relationships fall apart is finances. And so being able to discuss that openly, honestly, is really important.

SPEAKER_00 16:27

And and not just that, but red flags of what to look out for if there's financial abuse happening, right? Because we know if there's domestic abuse, there's financial abuse. So what does it look like for someone to be controlling, you know, your access, your access to finances or things like that? So we go through that as well. Because again, I mean, when you look at the Texas demographic, most of our kids are economically disadvantaged. Yes, unfortunately. And are more likely to get into situations like that, right? Of exploitation or abuse or things like that. So we need to equip them with skills of kind of the street smarts, right? Like how do I deal with practically with big decisions in my life?

SPEAKER_03 17:20

So and how do you hopefully avoid like as you said, having talking about the red flags? Like we need to normalize talking about the red flags. So that people can avoid bad relationships and abuse.

SPEAKER_00 17:35

Yes.

SPEAKER_03 17:35

Um, for sure. And and I'm glad that you brought that up because it's amazing to me how many people don't realize that there is such a thing as financial abuse. Absolutely. Just because there aren't bruises and marks doesn't mean that somebody's not being abused. And that's it's a real thing, and we need to address it head on. I'm so glad that you bring that up.

SPEAKER_00 17:54

Yeah. Well, I I noticed it a lot going back to the ladies that I worked with. Um, all of them had had their identity stolen from them. And I talk about identity theft as well in the course. Um, you know, they gave away, and this is so important for young people to understand, you can't give away your tell people your social security number, right? Your bank accounts, sensitive information, because people can then use that to hurt you. And I would argue financial abuse has much longer lasting effects, even than physical abuse does, right? And so, I mean, these these men, and this is an extreme, right? But it it can happen in any relationship. They were going and getting credit cards and these ladies' names, running up the bill, knowing they couldn't pay it off, destroying their credit and making them completely dependent on them for their livelihoods. I mean, it's pretty twisted. It's very twisted. It's amazing.

SPEAKER_03 18:53

I I was having a conversation with somebody else today, and I said, I think when you are really trying to live your life in a good, moral, ethical way, it's hard to realize that there are people out there living the exact opposite way and how evil potential people can be. Absolutely. And it's scary when you come across it and you start to realize that it really does exist and it's out there.

SPEAKER_00 19:19

They get they get real crafty with how they exploit people. I mean, human trafficking is more um uh profitable than even drug trafficking, right? Because you can keep using them over and over and over multiple times a day. Um, and so yeah, these, I mean, they they've learned how to, you know, create a billion-dollar business based off of this. But, you know, it's not just for for for these survivors. I mean, there's a pipeline, right? Most uh I don't know the percentage, but a good amount come from like foster group homes. And that's another demographic that we've been trying to to reach out to, right? And um to help these vulnerable children that are very likely to, you know, come in into contact with someone who's going to exploit them in some way. Yeah. So uh we've been we've been hitting it in multiple different different angles, but you know, with Texas schools and with HB 27 passing, thank you so much for for being a part of that and helping to see that through. I, you know, I don't get super emotional very often, but when that passed, I I I was very emotional about it. Because I think out of and there's been a there was a lot of good quality education bills passed this last session. Um I think cell phones was a great one, for example. Caroline Fairly. Yes, yes, but like this one is gonna have a long-lasting impact, not just at the micro level, right? And I mean, these kids can then talk to their parents, right?

SPEAKER_03 21:05

Well, hopefully the parents will be seeing it, be active in parents, be engaged and be seeing the curriculum along the way and learning with their child. But if not, the child can then help their parents with the practical skills they learn.

SPEAKER_00 21:16

Yes, absolutely. Um, and so it it helps at the nuclear family level, but it also on a macroeconomic scale, right? When when people are able to save and invest and grow their wealth, that that only helps Texas out, right? So it's good for everyone. No, there's really not a downside.

SPEAKER_03 21:37

No, and especially, you know, as we look at our social security system, um, knowing that, you know, it's not always going to be there. And so it's even more important that we're teaching these skills so that people actually can be saving for their future so that they can have their best life and not just living on a in a welfare state, yes, or living a and living paycheck to paycheck and And always having that anxiety and that nervousness about am I going to be able to make my bills this month? Like that's not a fun way to live.

SPEAKER_00 22:06

No. And as you said, and we I grew up that way.

SPEAKER_03 22:09

And it impacts every part of their life. It truly does. And then that trickles out. And we've got to stop. You know, there is the cycle of abuse that happens from one generation to another generation. But I think we've also been seeing the cycle of financial illiteracy, right? And so to now be able to step in with children and with young people and with middle-aged people and say, here is this course. You can now take control of your life. Right. If you are in debt, you can get out of it. If you're not, here's the better way to start. Right. And how to actually take care of yourself and your and your family and hopefully build generational wealth. Right.

SPEAKER_00 22:49

And this is not, you know, I don't try to shame anyone. No, we should ever. I know like talking about money, it can be a sensitive thing, right? Um, people have different, different views of it. But um, you know, if if you didn't if you didn't have those tools in in your toolkit, it's okay. You know, we're here to help you now. It's never too late. No, you know.

SPEAKER_03 23:11

And I don't want anyone to ever think that I'm shaming them. I I personally believe that our system has failed people for decades. Absolutely. And that it is a system failure. Yes. And that it's not really the fault of any person because you you can't do something that you don't know about. You don't know what you don't know. And so this is an opportunity to help, right? Right. And to hopefully help them get the knowledge that they need to then move ahead. So I don't want ever want anyone to think I'm shaming them because it was an employer.

SPEAKER_00 23:45

No, no, no, no. I know.

SPEAKER_03 23:46

I just wanted to clarify. Um, but I I love what you've put together. Um, would you tell everybody where to find it? Because like I I have recently bought your system for my own kids because I have a 16, 17, 20, and 24-year-old who have not had financial literacy. And as well as I might try to do at home, there are people who have the knowledge, like myself, who are still busy people. And sometimes we don't impart it or impart it in a way that our kids understand it. Yeah. And then time is always an issue, right? We're all living busy lives. And so I'm like, I've bought your program for my kids to take because and also sometimes they take information better from other people than they do their own parents.

SPEAKER_00 24:30

I actually say that quite a bit when I because it's things parents are saying, right? This isn't, you know, you don't have to be a rocket scientist to get it, but yeah, it's just someone else needs to tell your kids what you've been telling them.

SPEAKER_03 24:45

And you you have done it in a way that is very engaging, but is also very step-by-step matter of fact, and along the way you're teaching those practical skills that go along with it.

SPEAKER_00 24:55

Exactly. So um you can find it at U Thrive, and it's the letter U, Uthrive.academy is our website. And the way that it's it's broken down, it's in six modules. Uh, it's a it's a hybrid online course, right? So we have engaging videos that they can listen. And and I did this on purpose because, first of all, I want there to be consistency, especially in our schools. And we were talking about this earlier. We want them to have a consistent experience with a subject matter expert, right? And so, you know, I've recorded these videos professionally produced, um, and they're short because I also know kids have a short attention span, especially today with social media and AI, yes. Yes, but it's also because I I want it to be asynchronous as well, right? So people have busy schedules, they can hop on whenever they want and watch it, right? Now, if it's in a school setting, they're, you know, they have their their time. Yes. But it is, I I have two models, right? Like people can just go on my website and buy it right now and take it, or they can, you know, it's set up for a classroom as well. And so it's a hybrid between video and then we have a workbook as well, because I also know, you know, being on the school board, I talk about this a lot too. I I want us to be careful about technology. I don't want us to become overly reliant on it, right? It's a tool, but I don't want it to replace learning. And so um we we have it piloted into um ISDs right now. And they're actually the kids are loving having the physical workbook with them. Um, I think because there is so much on a computer, right? And so they're they're kind of over that. I I still read actual books. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 26:50

Um, and I usually have something on my audible on my phone for when I don't have my book with me, but I would much prefer to have a book.

SPEAKER_00 26:57

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 26:57

Something the texture, the tactile. And and there's so many studies showing that that tactile, even just writing things out, helps you learn it better.

SPEAKER_00 27:06

It does. And that's actually, you know, what blue bonnet talks about as well. I mean, that's another subject, but but yeah, and so I want them to write it down. There's resources that follow every video so they can go more in depth on a topic. There's exercises for them to apply what they're learning, right? We have questions, they can engage with one another in class. Of course, there's assessments throughout it, so you can measure how much are these kids learning throughout the course. And so, um, but so it's broken out into six modules, and it's actually based on the national standards as well for personal financial literacy. So the first part is the income. And we were talking about this earlier. When you talk about personal financial literacy, you tend to think about just more of the management side, which is very important, but you have to actually have money first to manage it, right? And so I spend a third of my course just talking about career, how to get on the right career path, understanding what your interests, abilities are, understanding what the occupational landscape is. And the goal is to marry those two, right? For them to find something that they're passionate about, but it's also in demand. Yes, right. We we need them to make a livable wage. If if your passion is underwater basket weaving, you can know if I'm not gonna support you. I don't even know what you would do. Uh so it, you know, we need to be realistic, right? It needs to be in a growing industry, but I help them to uh figure out how how to actually put together a career plan with using smart goals, right? And then the second half of that is the nuts and bolts. And this is really where I think our school system needs to be improved quite a bit, is on the soft skills. Yes. So how to write a resume, how to interview, how to talk to people just like this. It's amazing how hard it is for our young people to do that nowadays. Um, how to negotiate and accept a job. And then a big one is how do you keep your job? Yes, right? Right. How do you show up on time, get ready, not use your phone while you're at work? Yes, actually have a video on that. Communicate with people, the customers and your boss. Conflict resolutions. It's it's the soft skills that um, like right now, we have graduation. It's graduation season and Connor I see and been watching 5,400 grads walk across the stage shaking their hands. And it's amazing. A lot of them, not a lot. Some a good amount won't look you in the eye and they they won't give you a good firm handshake. Right. And I think there's anxiety there, right? I mean, a lot of our young people are experiencing anxiety, but like, why aren't we teaching them these basic Oh I know. I mean, actually was just telling our superintendent. I mean, we talk about character education, things like that. That's one thing we're gonna add, right? Not just personal financial literacy, but how do we just engage with people, right? Because that's the first impression. Yes. You can know biology and all these other subjects, but if you can't do this, it's it's hard to get past the first round.

SPEAKER_03 30:30

No, I I tell my kids all the time that you never have a second chance to make a first impression. And every time you leave my house, you need to be dressed appropriately and you need to be happy, at least portraying that you're happy, even if you aren't feeling that way. And and and able to say hello to people, shake people's hands, be monitoring the way that you're acting in public because people are always watching. Exactly. But you know, but people need to have these conversations with young people because unfortunately I see kids out in public all the time and I'm like, oh my, I would my kids, they'd be in so much trouble, you know. Oh and so not everybody gets that at home. And and yeah, but it is in their best interest for them to get it in schools.

SPEAKER_00 31:21

Absolutely.

SPEAKER_03 31:22

And and my kids could use a second or third helping of that as well from other people, including school.

SPEAKER_00 31:28

I know, yeah. And so, you know, again, that's in the course. It's personal financial literacy, but again, it's the life skills, right? Because I mean, one of the reasons I ran for a school board, I want our kids to be ready for the real world. Yes, right. We talk about CCMR college, um, career military ready. Um, this is a part, this is a big part of it, right? Um, and then we see a lot of them are, you know, they go to college, right? And they're unemployed afterwards. What is happening? And this is what I was looking at a lot in the Middle East. I thought it was just a developing world problem, but it's not. It's pervasive. It's happening here as well. Um, and it starts with our systems, right? And so that that was a big reason why I ran. You know, I wanted to get rid of some of the liberal ideology that's starting to creep up.

SPEAKER_03 32:24

The low expectations and the woke, be nice to everybody, don't make it hard for anybody, kind of things.

SPEAKER_00 32:33

Yeah. Yeah. That's, I mean, you know, I call it the era of higher expectations for Conroe, ISD. And it and it starts early, you know. I'm like, I don't want these kids to go on a stage and freak out because they've never had to do that before. They need we need to start them at like elementary, honestly.

SPEAKER_03 32:52

I I say pre-K in kindergarten.

SPEAKER_00 32:54

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 32:54

Really. Like, I think all of them should be standing in front of the classroom speaking. Maybe just about what they just did over in that play center or about what they just read with their teacher, like just to get them up in front of the class and start speaking. Because you know, kids aren't afraid of public speaking, but it is the number one fear amongst adults is public speaking. But maybe if we started it when they were kids, that communication, right? Building those skills and taking it all the way through school, even to include debate in high school, where they would learn to speak in front of people, but they'd also learn the skills of doing so, how to do their own research, how to be an effective listener, an active listener versus just starting to yell at people when they disagree, right? And to be able to have salient points based on research to then be able to counter an opposing viewpoint. Yeah. Right.

SPEAKER_00 33:49

How to think critically, right? Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 33:51

So I think you're absolutely right. We have to start those those communication skills, speaking skills early.

SPEAKER_00 33:57

Yes. Yeah, before they're scared. Exactly. So that way by the time they're walking and getting their diploma, they're confident, right? And not just that, I want them to have hope. And and I look in their eyes and I can see with some of them, there's not a lot of motivation and there's not a lot of hope. They don't think they have an exit strategy. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 34:23

From wherever they are.

SPEAKER_00 34:24

And that that breaks my heart. I mean, that that gets me up every morning wanting to work hard and figure out how do I show these kids that they have a purpose. Right. And and I think that's part of what my course tries to get across is you do have a purpose. Everyone has a purpose. And we sometimes we need help trying to figure out what that is. I mean, in high school, did you know exactly what your your strengths and weaknesses were?

SPEAKER_03 34:52

Absolutely not. I didn't. I didn't. I didn't. And what I thought I wanted to do in high school, which was, and I say this of everyone, all of us have a microcosm that we live in. That is the things we have been exposed to, the life we have lived to date, the people we've been surrounded by. And that forms all of our decisions. But we all have one thing in common. We don't know what we don't know. And until kids are exposed to what opportunities are out there, like their microcosm is what has taught them everything about life to date. Unless they're seeing something on social media, which is I think why all kids want to be um influencers. Right. That's the thing.

SPEAKER_00 35:37

Most think that that's like a career pattern. I know.

SPEAKER_03 35:40

But and and the reality is most people who try that are not successful. So you've got to give them other options. Right. And um I think that your course not only does it teach them the financial literacy part, but it does give them so many of the things they're currently missing from our education system. Right. And um I know that you're on the Conroe ISD Board of Trustees, but you're here today speaking in your own personal capacity. Yes. Yes. And um I I love that you have such a passion for this and you know, are taking your own life knowledge and and and looking at the greater picture and trying to think, how do I help these kids?

SPEAKER_00 36:27

Yeah. I I mean, I was afforded that opportunity, right? I mean, like I said, didn't grow up with anything. My worldview was very small. Um, it really wasn't until I mean college definitely expanded it. Um, but it wasn't until I worked for the CIA that my whole world exploded. Yes. I mean, the the kinds of things that you see working there, um, you know, not a lot of people get to experience that. And so it it greatly expanded my my view of the world and our education system and kind of some of the macro problems that we have in this country.

SPEAKER_01 37:07

Right.

SPEAKER_00 37:07

Um, and it gave me the confidence. I mean, you know, we had to do a four-month training on how to communicate with people in written form and verbal, right? I mean, we were had to brief all the way up to the president. I didn't get to do that personally, but um But maybe one day one day. I mean, definitely the National Security Council, right? Like I was in there briefing them um on, you know, as the Middle East was imploding. I mean, I worked there in um during the uh the Arab Spring. Oh. So it was a very intense time. But you know, you learn through fire. I mean, a trial by fire. And um I think it's given me some of the the strength that I have today, right? Is just going through those experiences. And so yeah, I want to bring that back here, you know, to my hometown and and show these kids that their potential that they have as well.

SPEAKER_03 38:06

Well, and I think um one of the things that I always want to impart to people is that you and I I I did a speech about this one time and it was part of my story. And I said, um, your past can either be your anchor and it can pull you backwards and keep you where you are, or you can let the lessons that you've learned through those bad experiences be the engine that propels you forward. Absolutely. And I just want everyone to know that there is hope. And I think one of the greatest things that we can do is make sure that everybody has the education to be able to pull themselves out of whatever they find themselves in.

SPEAKER_00 38:40

Absolutely.

SPEAKER_03 38:41

And I think that your You Thrive Academy absolutely is a foundational part of that. So thank you for that. Yes. Now, a minute ago, you mentioned a little thing called Blue Bonnet. Would you tell the viewers what you were talking about?

SPEAKER_00 38:56

Yeah. So again, thank you. I, you know, I am on the board. I am operating, I am speaking from my own capacity, right? I'm not representing the board right now. Um, and so another let me just back up for a second. So another reason why I ran, there is a lot of reasons why I ran for the board. Um, one of them was our literacy, right? The basic skills. Yes. And this is particularly pertinent to me right now because my kids are in kindergarten and second grade and they're learning how to read right now as we speak. Um, but I I found before I ran for the board that um around 42% of our third graders were not on grade level for reading. That's a lot of kids. That's a lot of kids. Um, we're the seventh largest in the state. So I think we have 38,000 elementary age kids. Wow. So just do the math on that.

SPEAKER_02 39:53

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 39:53

And not all of them were economically disadvantaged. And so, you know, that was one one of our one of my first priorities getting on the board was um we were coming up to the point where we had to adopt a high quality instructional material for reading because what we had before, there are elements of Lucy Copkins in there, which are now banned. So it's the three-cueing method, right? And she didn't teach phonics and basic reading skills, right? And so um our board adopted Blue Bonnet Reading, which is a state, you know, it's an OER open education resource um that TEA owns now. And um, we were one of the first, we're one of the early adopters of Blue Bonnet. And I think still to this day, we're the largest district that has implemented Blue Bonnet. Um, now we're we're waiting for our star scores to come out. This is our first year implementing it, first full year. Um, but with our um, we have map diagnostic testing, and with our middle of year, we were seeing amazing growth from our from it's K through five um uh reading materials. And so we're seeing huge improvement. And um, you know, one of the criticisms of Blue Bonnet, there, you know, there's a few criticisms always are with anything new.

SPEAKER_03 41:28

I mean, sometimes it's just people are reluctant to change, but right there are always criticisms of everything.

SPEAKER_00 41:34

So we needed a curriculum and we had two options, and we picked blue bonnet. Okay. Um, but one of the criticisms is that it's too hard. It's too rigorous that the kids aren't gonna get it. And you know, I was just we had TEA come into town um a few weeks ago and we had a teacher panel and we were going over, we were having a very frank, honest discussion. I loved it. Uh, and the teachers were not holding back. I mean, they're they were not happy when we first adopted this. I I know that. Um, and one of the things they said is it's too hard, you know, keeping these kids attention for that long. It's gonna be really hard. And it was, I think in the beginning the kids were not really wanting to pay attention. But here's the thing you got to grow that skill, yeah, right. And now they're at a point where they are absorbing that material and they are staying focused the whole time. I mean, these teachers were blown away. And so really, I think what this has been is a um a lesson in for adults of we need to not hold back our kids. Yeah. Because one thing I learned in my my training was um I think they said I don't know the exact number, it was very low. I think 20% of our lessons are on grade level. That's it. Yeah. And so I think that was their hesitation and the rigor, right? Because the the lessons are on grade level. Yeah. Um but to see kids rise up and meet that challenge, it's been really amazing to see.

SPEAKER_03 43:16

I think that's been one of the worst things that we've done to our students is to lower our expectations. My grandmother used to have a saying, she said, children will either live up to or down to your expectations. And I think that's totally true. And I think our society wanted to be nice, right? And we didn't want to hold anybody back, and we didn't want to make anybody feel like they were they were different. But in in in the lowering the expectations and watering down the curriculum, we've actually hurt the students, not helped them. And I think having uh higher expectations, uh um, these kids, as you're seeing, will rise to that, right? As long as it's done. With love and a good curriculum and a little push. And obviously, parents, we need to be pushing at home to help the teachers. Right. We need to be partners with our teachers in this education system.

SPEAKER_00 44:14

Right. And as our superintendent says all the time, written, taught, and tested. So it's not just the curriculum, right? Like, you know, the teachers, there's a lot of training that's going on to help give them the tools, right? And I think it's especially great for new teachers. That's what I'm hearing. Those are the groups that are loving it the most, right? Because it's it is scripted and it's meant to be. Um, so you know, helping the teachers, right? But then also with Blue Bonnet, every week or month, I forget the it's it's routinely, um things are sent home to the parents so they can ask their kids, hey, what were you just learning about in the war of 1812? You know, I mean, my second grader was just talking to me about the war of 1812 the other day, you know. So it's cool as a and I get to see it as a parent, how how Blue Bonnet is working out. And to see like my kindergartner, he went from not reading at all to he's reading full paragraphs and things now. Wow. Um, and so that's been really cool to see that. So I'm I mean, is it perfect? No, is any curriculum perfect? You know, I will say youth ride's not even perfect. Yeah, it's not perfect.

SPEAKER_03 45:29

But we can always make improvements. Exactly. That's the thing that uh is always frustrating me is people want to come with, here's all the problems. That's fine. We need to identify the problems, but then we also need to identify solutions.

SPEAKER_00 45:43

Yes.

SPEAKER_03 45:44

And I think that we can take anything and we can always make it better.

SPEAKER_00 45:46

And that's what, and you know, I was going back to the TEA visit, they were writing notes furiously. Good. And um, to see the the collaboration, they want to make it it better, right? And and and we're helping, like Conris D is gonna help write a playbook for a blue bonnet for the state of Texas on how to make it better. So we're listening. I want people to understand. We we hear you, it is not perfect, but we are going to work on making it as close to perfect as we can.

SPEAKER_03 46:22

And and the reality is that it is today in the in the version that it stands today, it is so much better than what we had before.

SPEAKER_00 46:28

Yes, it absolutely is.

SPEAKER_03 46:30

I don't think a lot of people, and and I didn't even realize how we had moved away from things you and I learned. When we learned to read, we had phonics, we had specific vocabulary, we had specific um grammar, and we had specific spelling. And we had moved away from that model to what they call a whole language model, right? Where it was like, you're going to read and we're not gonna do those specific trainings. And I think some of the um reduction in our reading ability came as a result of that. Right. And I think one of the things that I particularly like about Blue Bonnet is that it does reintroduce specific phonics and specific spelling and specific vocabulary. Yes. And I think that is a large part of the reason that we are starting to see some great results from it. But again, it still needs improvement.

SPEAKER_00 47:23

Well, and and one thing too, they talk about is is the rich vocabulary. You have to introduce these kids to the words, right? And what they what they mean. Um, because you you can you can dumb it down or they can even read it, but if they don't understand, right, it's not going to help them. And so I think that's part of the rigor, right? It's just the the rich vocabulary that these kids are now being introduced to. And not to mention, this was reviewed extensively by the state board of education and the hundreds of reviewers that they brought in. I think it was thousands or thousands, even. So this has been tested by a lot of educators, community. I mean, the the whole community has had eyes on this. And it's all online for people to go look at right now if they want to.

SPEAKER_03 48:16

Um, I had a friend that was one of those reviewers and was working on it, and she came back and was just like, this is awesome. Like, this is going to be awesome. And I think that it probably is one of the best curriculums that we've had in quite a long time. Yes. Um, but again, it can it can always be improved upon.

SPEAKER_00 48:37

Well, and one thing we we didn't talk about is why does third grade matter so much? Oh, yeah, for reading. And it they they go from learning to read to to reading to learn. And if they're not on grade level at that point, um, their their studies show they're four times as likely to drop out if they're if they are not on a having a good reading proficiency. Yeah. So this is absolutely critical. We have to get this right. Absolutely. Um, because again, with math, I mean, I hear it when I talk to our administration, math, and we're struggling with math, but that's not always the problem. It's reading, it's reading the math. Yeah, you know?

SPEAKER_03 49:20

I say that all the time too. I'm like, yes, we need to improve math, but we have to start with reading because reading is a foundational part of the math. By third or fourth grade, you're starting to do word problems. So if you can't read, how are you ever going to understand the word problem? Exactly. And and or the instructions that go along with the algebra or the instructions that go along with the trigonometry, right? You have to be able to read. Um, people often ask me, Ashley, why did you get involved in education? I'm saying, if I can only fix two things, I want to fix reading. Because if you can read, you can avail yourself of all of the free education that is online and you can improve your life by yourself without the system. But if you can't read, you cannot do that. Yeah. Um, and I had a download. I was reading with my pastor's wife one day because I was kind of a little, I was like, why am I doing all this? Why am I pushing myself? I'm sacrificing for my family and my business and everything. And I was just tired, right? So I reached out to her to kind of build me back up. And I was sitting there at this lunch, and all of a sudden I had this download from God. And he basically was like, if my children cannot read, they cannot read my word, the Bible, and they cannot have a personal relationship with me, they will always be dependent on someone else telling them what I said. And I was like, Boing, okay, I have to, I have to push through, right? I guess. Um, wow. Yeah. And um, I just if I can fix reading for every child, I believe it is a right to be able to read. Like we, that is our system needs to provide that at the very least.

SPEAKER_00 50:59

It's the most basic thing our schools do. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 51:02

And then the second thing is the financial literacy, which brings us full circle.

SPEAKER_00 51:05

We're like the same person. And so which brings us from Amarillo, isn't it?

SPEAKER_03 51:13

It probably is. Yeah, we didn't even talk about that. I know. From Amarella, Texas. Uh good West Texas roots, a lot of grit, a lot of tenacity, and you can do it attitude. Yep. You know, churking it. And and that's what I want to give all these kids. And I think if they can read and if they have financial literacy, they can do it. Absolutely.

SPEAKER_00 51:34

Right.

SPEAKER_03 51:35

So we talked a little bit about financial literacy and about reading. Like we've only got a few minutes left. What would you like, what what would you like people to walk away from this knowing that we haven't already discussed? That's always a big question.

SPEAKER_00 51:50

Here's here's one thing we haven't discussed on the career front. Um, you know, one thing I talk about in in my curriculum, I want them to think occupation first, not degree first. And I'm not necessarily pushing for everyone to go get a degree. I'm not either. Um, I think the trades are they're rising in and importance.

SPEAKER_03 52:16

Well, they're needed and they pay well, and they're going to be something that AI can't do all of it. So it's going to be a career that that lasts, at least for the foreseeable future.

SPEAKER_00 52:27

Right. I mean, AI is kind of like the industrial revolution for white collar. Um, but they're not replace replacing plumbers and electricians and welders, right? And so um, you know, that is one thing I highlight in my courses two-thirds of our jobs today don't require degrees. Now, I am not, you know, anti-degree. I have two degrees. I think they're great. I just think um our young people need to really think through what what they're picking right for their degree and then what are they gonna do with it. Right. Because it's not enough to just have a degree anymore. Employers need hard skills, right? And so um that is one thing, you know, I've I've been pushing a lot is our like we have a um career technology education CTE program. Um, I just I'm really passionate about our young people in high school. You can start in high school getting practical, tangible, hard skills. Yeah, right. Um, so even if they don't end up doing that, they can at least utilize that if they need to for a job, right, while they're getting their degree to create a second or third stream of income. Exactly. Exactly. So uh, you know, I know there's a stigma around trades, and and I'm trying to get rid of that. Me too.

SPEAKER_03 53:56

It's we need to normalize it. We need to tell kids, yeah. We need to stop asking, where are you going to college? And saying instead, you're graduating high school, what do you want to do with the rest of your life? It doesn't have to be college. It should we we have to stop asking that question. We have to turn the conversation and make it great to be pursuing what you're passionate about and what God has planned for you because God didn't plan for everybody to go to college.

SPEAKER_00 54:21

No.

SPEAKER_03 54:21

And so we got to stop making feel bad people feel bad if they're not. Yeah. Because there's so many things they can do today. I mean, entrepreneurs are the ones making the most money, and many of them didn't go to college.

SPEAKER_00 54:32

Absolutely. I mean, when you look at some of the most successful CEOs today, none of them went to college or they didn't graduate from college. So I think there's just a it's a mind shift, right? We have to kind of get away from, and I mean, I understand why. I mean, that in the past there was a huge shift to go to college, right? Because people weren't necessarily doing that. And it was a huge, it's part of the American dream, right? But I think because it's kind of oversaturated at this point that young people need to figure out how they're gonna differentiate themselves from from their peers, right?

SPEAKER_02 55:08

Absolutely.

SPEAKER_00 55:09

Um, and it's entrepreneurship, the trades, um, even learning how to use AI, right? I mean, it it's gonna be the future, so we do need to understand how to use it, right?

SPEAKER_03 55:21

And not just like chat GPT, but no, but and to do it in an ethical moral way, correct. Um, where we are preserving our society and preserving jobs while still maximizing output with this. Um, yeah, that's that's the scary part.

SPEAKER_00 55:38

It I mean, it it's you know, my husband's in cybersecurity and he's already seen a good amount of the workforce laid off because of AI. Yeah. So I mean, it is it is the future, it is happening, but how do we get ahead of that? Right. Um, and even in our schools, right, we have to as systems uh figure out how to how to teach them about AI, right, in a way that's going to be enable them and not just do the work for them necessarily. Yeah, no, absolutely. So, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 56:14

Well, and you and I had previously talked, because I know that in your You Thrive Academy, your financial literacy life skills, you do actually try to do some testing of them with aptitude interest testing with the kids and provide those resources for them to use. And, you know, I'm talking with some of the legislators right now about implementing aptitude testing and interest testing for every child in junior high. And then for the first time ever lining up, why are you getting educated with what you can do with it? Opening up all the opportunities that they may not have even known were opportunities. Because I think we're missing that key point of that point of connection with why are you getting educated with what you can do with it? What can you be when you grow up? Because we've never, we've never connected those dots for kids. And I think that will go a long way toward exciting them about education, helping them pick out a career that will actually allow them to have financial freedom and be able to make enough money to be able to save and invest. And but we've got we've got to do that. Like, and I get a lot of pushback from people who are like, we need more STEM-related jobs. And I'm like, how about if we identify the kids who have STEM as an innate thing that they are good at or that they're interested in? And then we tell them all the careers they could have if they pursue that pathway. And we don't try to push everyone down that pathway to find the few that are gonna actually gonna do it.

SPEAKER_00 57:43

And um Yeah, that's literally the the first lesson of my course is helping them to identify what their interests are. Because I mean, again, when you're a young person, you don't necessarily know, but we have the wisdom, right? And the light, the experience. We can help to help help them to figure out what what that's gonna look like for them. But I don't, I don't want to push someone who is, for example, extremely introverted, uh, wants to do data and spreadsheets. I'm not gonna go tell them to be a customer sales rep. Right. No. That's probably a they're not gonna last in that job, right? And I want them to actually to keep the job.

SPEAKER_03 58:23

Well, I I would like to help kids find things that will be interesting to them, that they will like, that they want to make a career out of, and that they will enjoy going to work every day. Yeah. Because the reality is nearly every single one of us needs to go to work every day. So how about we find something that is something you can enjoy doing if you're gonna do it every day?

SPEAKER_00 58:42

Exactly. That that is literally what I mean, you just like summarized my careers think. I I want, I want to give them practical hope, right? I mean, it's one thing for me to just say, graduates, have hope. Yes, good luck. Yeah, good luck out there. There's like a million career paths, good luck trying to figure it out. I want to actually equip them with the tools, right? On how do I figure out what I want to do? And how do I get a job, right? And then how do I manage, how do I budget? How do I save? How do I invest? How do I borrow money the smart way, right? How do I use credit cards? It's not free money, you know? And how do I protect myself? That they need help, they need guardrails so that way they're more likely to have tangible hope. And that's really what what I'm trying to do at the end of the day.

SPEAKER_03 59:34

I love it. Well, thank you for sharing that. Thank you for coming on the podcast today. Yes, thanks for having me.

SPEAKER_00 59:39

I hope that you will be a frequent visitor.

SPEAKER_03 59:41

I would love to have me anytime. Well, would you please um tell everyone how to get a hold of you and how to find you thrive academy?

SPEAKER_00 59:49

Yes. So we're online, um yuthrive.academy. We're on social media, Instagram, Facebook. You can email me, Lindsay at youthrive.academy, and I um I'm around. So look me up online.

SPEAKER_03 1:00:09

Well, if you're a viewer out there, you should definitely check out youthrive academy. As I said, I've bought it for myself and my own family, and I think it's a great uh place to start with your kids and to either teach them for the first time or to reiterate the things that you've been teaching them at home. Thank you all for joining us today. Please join us next time when we talk about more ways that we can help to transform the K through 12 education system. Until next time, see you then.