The Great Mouse Detective and Leading Without Ego | Marianne Johansen on Authentic Leadership

WEBVTT

00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:02.540
I will tell you, I got tricked into going into

00:00:02.540 --> 00:00:04.980
administration. It was never in my game plan.

00:00:05.280 --> 00:00:07.900
You got tricked? Who tricked you? A week later,

00:00:07.980 --> 00:00:11.699
the world shut down and I was a first year principal

00:00:11.699 --> 00:00:15.199
trying to figure out how to like make people

00:00:15.199 --> 00:00:18.019
wear masks and do contact tracing. And it was,

00:00:18.019 --> 00:00:23.300
it was crazy. It was crazy. And I was also pregnant

00:00:23.300 --> 00:00:25.660
with my first child. Dr. Watson and Sherlock

00:00:25.660 --> 00:00:28.140
Holmes do find this way to really counterbalance.

00:00:28.199 --> 00:00:30.850
Everybody sees. Columns is a brilliant guy, but

00:00:30.850 --> 00:00:32.969
in reality, he had to have the grounding nature

00:00:32.969 --> 00:00:34.950
of Dr. Watson to really be able to make it work.

00:00:35.250 --> 00:00:37.670
I think ego gets in the way and we try to call

00:00:37.670 --> 00:00:40.210
ourselves a mouse when we're a rat. If you're

00:00:40.210 --> 00:00:42.270
a rat, it's okay to be a rat, right? It just

00:00:42.270 --> 00:00:44.789
is. But sometimes that's hard. Sometimes it's

00:00:44.789 --> 00:00:47.490
hard to accept our shortcomings. Sometimes it's

00:00:47.490 --> 00:00:50.530
hard to accept who we are. I wasn't prepared

00:00:50.530 --> 00:00:57.090
for the level of which parents would push back.

00:00:57.659 --> 00:00:59.479
When I felt like I was trying to help their kid,

00:00:59.679 --> 00:01:03.520
our scores have increased beyond anything I ever

00:01:03.520 --> 00:01:05.900
even thought possible. I wouldn't treat them

00:01:05.900 --> 00:01:10.739
for anything. Welcome to Yes and Land, where

00:01:10.739 --> 00:01:13.879
we say yes to the reality of yesterday and today.

00:01:14.219 --> 00:01:18.459
And we say and to the possibility, growth, and

00:01:18.459 --> 00:01:27.680
imagination of tomorrow. Welcome, everybody,

00:01:27.819 --> 00:01:30.560
to another episode of Yes, Anlan. We are very

00:01:30.560 --> 00:01:35.079
excited today to be joined by a bit of a star,

00:01:35.439 --> 00:01:38.180
I'm going to say, in Jordan School District,

00:01:38.379 --> 00:01:40.959
amongst the principals in Jordan School District.

00:01:42.780 --> 00:01:46.819
Marianne is well known for her skills in entertainment

00:01:46.819 --> 00:01:51.519
with students in the past, with, well, really

00:01:51.519 --> 00:01:54.260
still the students, but in a much broader scale

00:01:54.260 --> 00:01:57.480
because now she's a principal. And we will hopefully

00:01:57.480 --> 00:02:00.299
get to hear a little bit of that a little bit

00:02:00.299 --> 00:02:02.939
later, which is some freestyle rapping. Very

00:02:02.939 --> 00:02:05.980
excited about this, right? Because Lin -Manuel

00:02:05.980 --> 00:02:08.419
Miranda is one of my favorites. And boy, that

00:02:08.419 --> 00:02:11.400
guy can do a freestyle rap. Amen. Like he is

00:02:11.400 --> 00:02:13.919
incredible at it. So we're very excited to hear

00:02:13.919 --> 00:02:16.280
a little bit more about Marianne's story of kind

00:02:16.280 --> 00:02:21.740
of how she got into teaching and education. a

00:02:21.740 --> 00:02:23.699
story of how she got into administration and

00:02:23.699 --> 00:02:25.680
to being a principal and we're going to look

00:02:25.680 --> 00:02:28.039
at a lot of this stuff through the lens of the

00:02:28.039 --> 00:02:32.659
great mouth detective yes which is um boy it's

00:02:32.659 --> 00:02:36.039
a little known gem because as i was going back

00:02:36.039 --> 00:02:38.939
in the annals of my brain i don't think i ever

00:02:38.939 --> 00:02:41.639
actually watched it before no i don't think i

00:02:41.639 --> 00:02:43.759
did because like it came out and i would have

00:02:43.759 --> 00:02:46.580
been relatively young and it didn't do amazing

00:02:46.580 --> 00:02:49.449
in the box office And so I've actually watched

00:02:49.449 --> 00:02:51.870
it twice since we first talked. Okay. Because

00:02:51.870 --> 00:02:53.610
I watched it the first time and I was like, I

00:02:53.610 --> 00:02:54.909
don't think I saw this. And I was like, okay,

00:02:54.949 --> 00:02:57.009
now I watch it with my kids now. So now I watch

00:02:57.009 --> 00:02:58.169
it and I'm like, I actually really like this

00:02:58.169 --> 00:03:00.030
little flick here. This is a good little gem.

00:03:00.270 --> 00:03:02.189
Yeah. So we're going to be talking about that.

00:03:02.330 --> 00:03:04.909
And we're going to look at just some life lessons

00:03:04.909 --> 00:03:07.710
that we can pull from it. Where maybe it'll be

00:03:07.710 --> 00:03:10.159
lit where you stand. maybe it'll be something

00:03:10.159 --> 00:03:11.599
different. That's our topic today. We're going

00:03:11.599 --> 00:03:13.280
to kind of see. We want to kind of see how this

00:03:13.280 --> 00:03:15.479
plays out, Marianne. So I'm very excited. I'm

00:03:15.479 --> 00:03:17.819
excited to see how this conversation organically

00:03:17.819 --> 00:03:21.400
evolves to fit. And I might have to take my notes

00:03:21.400 --> 00:03:23.219
and just throw them right out. And that's okay.

00:03:23.400 --> 00:03:26.000
Because we can freestyle the conversation as

00:03:26.000 --> 00:03:28.840
well. And the rap. And the rap. The rap freestyle

00:03:28.840 --> 00:03:31.479
probably won't come from me. But it can come

00:03:31.479 --> 00:03:34.439
from you. As long as I don't have to sing, then

00:03:34.439 --> 00:03:36.520
maybe it's okay, right? I can, you know, I guess

00:03:36.520 --> 00:03:38.819
I can rap. I can talk. Yeah. Yeah. That's why

00:03:38.819 --> 00:03:41.560
I like some of Lin -Manuel's stuff that he's

00:03:41.560 --> 00:03:43.800
done with Disney, because you're welcome. You

00:03:43.800 --> 00:03:45.379
don't really have to sing to sing that song,

00:03:45.500 --> 00:03:47.400
because you can just rap it. And it's just totally

00:03:47.400 --> 00:03:50.099
fine. I intentionally, when I write my raps that

00:03:50.099 --> 00:03:53.199
I perform for my kids, I intentionally choose

00:03:53.199 --> 00:03:55.659
songs where I don't have to worry about the pitch.

00:03:55.860 --> 00:03:58.919
Because although I have a vocal background, it's

00:03:58.919 --> 00:04:01.360
too much. But I'm trying to spit out all the

00:04:01.360 --> 00:04:04.120
words, and I usually finish writing it at 1 a

00:04:04.120 --> 00:04:07.030
.m. the night before. I just thought... that's

00:04:07.030 --> 00:04:09.689
a component that i don't need to work in and

00:04:09.689 --> 00:04:12.889
so i intentionally choose songs that are pretty

00:04:12.889 --> 00:04:17.230
like vocally flat that totally makes sense yeah

00:04:17.230 --> 00:04:22.649
i uh a number of years ago at a prior job i had

00:04:22.649 --> 00:04:26.129
tried to write rewrite words that were for this

00:04:26.129 --> 00:04:28.649
meeting for some of my teammates okay uh with

00:04:28.649 --> 00:04:31.829
uh a song from tangled and now now the name's

00:04:31.829 --> 00:04:33.470
escaping me what's the one that she's in the

00:04:33.470 --> 00:04:37.009
snuggly duckling I've got a dream. I've got a

00:04:37.009 --> 00:04:38.889
dream. That's what it was. Because, you know,

00:04:38.910 --> 00:04:41.750
in that one, like, you don't really have to sing,

00:04:41.769 --> 00:04:43.550
have to sing. Like, you can kind of talk, sing

00:04:43.550 --> 00:04:45.129
it, you know? So I was like, you know, I could

00:04:45.129 --> 00:04:47.449
probably make this one happen, right? I'm going

00:04:47.449 --> 00:04:49.149
to have kind of the gruff voice, right? Yeah.

00:04:49.689 --> 00:04:52.389
So, yeah. So, I mean, I'm with you there. Okay.

00:04:53.430 --> 00:04:55.350
Parodies are such a great way to, like, teach

00:04:55.350 --> 00:04:57.170
and get your message across, you know? See, I

00:04:57.170 --> 00:05:01.629
love this. You're so right. And I've been talking

00:05:01.629 --> 00:05:04.050
with a number of people recently about how we

00:05:04.050 --> 00:05:06.480
learn. and how we can make learning more fun

00:05:06.480 --> 00:05:12.019
and more entertaining. We should. And, you know,

00:05:12.060 --> 00:05:15.480
we should connect you with too is Dr. Disneyland.

00:05:16.439 --> 00:05:21.139
Dr. Disneyland, his name is Jeff Barnes. He originated

00:05:21.139 --> 00:05:24.360
and taught the only course at the collegiate

00:05:24.360 --> 00:05:27.639
level on the history of Disneyland. And he's

00:05:27.639 --> 00:05:31.579
all about like finding entertainment in the way

00:05:31.579 --> 00:05:34.329
that you teach. It's phenomenal. Get connected

00:05:34.329 --> 00:05:37.730
with him. And I am all for it. I think that there

00:05:37.730 --> 00:05:39.790
are so many ways that we can make learning more

00:05:39.790 --> 00:05:43.410
fun. If I had a tagline that I wanted to live

00:05:43.410 --> 00:05:46.170
and die by, that I would want people to remember

00:05:46.170 --> 00:05:50.389
me by, it would be that rigor should be fun and

00:05:50.389 --> 00:05:53.269
fun should be rigorous. And that's kind of the

00:05:53.269 --> 00:05:58.709
mantra that I embrace at my school is that, you

00:05:58.709 --> 00:06:02.540
know. Einstein actually said, creativity is intelligence

00:06:02.540 --> 00:06:05.939
having fun. My favorite Einstein quote. That's

00:06:05.939 --> 00:06:08.259
a good one. So it's a good one. Yeah. But yes,

00:06:08.319 --> 00:06:11.339
when kids are engaged and having fun, they are

00:06:11.339 --> 00:06:14.439
learning more and at higher levels. What's your

00:06:14.439 --> 00:06:16.860
opinion about, which I think we're going to vary.

00:06:17.000 --> 00:06:20.600
I know, we're already. So what's your opinion

00:06:20.600 --> 00:06:24.740
about attention span? A lot of people are saying

00:06:24.740 --> 00:06:28.110
right now that kids have. worse attention spans

00:06:28.110 --> 00:06:31.189
that's what they're saying people think it and

00:06:31.189 --> 00:06:32.790
some of the studies aren't necessarily backing

00:06:32.790 --> 00:06:34.610
that up but i want to see i want to hear what

00:06:34.610 --> 00:06:36.189
your opinion is about kids attention because

00:06:36.189 --> 00:06:38.790
you're seeing kids yeah every single day and

00:06:38.790 --> 00:06:42.089
how how that attention span plays into their

00:06:42.089 --> 00:06:43.750
ability to learn in school right what's your

00:06:43.750 --> 00:06:48.430
what's your take um again it's are you prepared

00:06:48.430 --> 00:06:53.259
and is your content interesting to kids. Kids

00:06:53.259 --> 00:06:56.100
can pay attention. I think this gets blamed on

00:06:56.100 --> 00:07:00.319
video games and YouTube. But if you think about

00:07:00.319 --> 00:07:03.040
it, kids will play the same video game for hours

00:07:03.040 --> 00:07:05.920
and hours and hours. It's not the attention span

00:07:05.920 --> 00:07:09.540
that's the issue. It's what they're interested

00:07:09.540 --> 00:07:14.959
in is shifting. I have a lot of areas that I

00:07:14.959 --> 00:07:18.540
could grow professionally and in every area of

00:07:18.540 --> 00:07:24.790
my life, but I I can command a group of 350 kids

00:07:24.790 --> 00:07:30.250
for 45 minutes without any problem. It's an entertainment

00:07:30.250 --> 00:07:32.970
component, right? I'm sticking it in front of

00:07:32.970 --> 00:07:34.629
adults and it's an entirely different story.

00:07:34.810 --> 00:07:38.410
But if you want me to entertain kids, we had

00:07:38.410 --> 00:07:42.810
the national chair of the art council visit my

00:07:42.810 --> 00:07:45.550
school from Washington, D .C. this year. And

00:07:45.550 --> 00:07:49.069
we had, it was kind of a last minute thing. We

00:07:49.069 --> 00:07:52.629
prepped this whole assembly. And she was at an

00:07:52.629 --> 00:07:56.610
event up at the Capitol and wound up being delayed

00:07:56.610 --> 00:07:58.970
by, like, 25 minutes. We had to postpone the

00:07:58.970 --> 00:08:01.889
assembly. The kids were sitting there. They were

00:08:01.889 --> 00:08:05.990
waiting. It was packed. It was May. It was the

00:08:05.990 --> 00:08:07.350
end of the year. You know what I mean? Like,

00:08:07.370 --> 00:08:14.029
it was zero issues. Like, you know, I stood up.

00:08:14.029 --> 00:08:15.870
I told some jokes. We, like, talked a little

00:08:15.870 --> 00:08:19.610
bit. Like, kids can do it. They can do it. You

00:08:19.610 --> 00:08:21.970
have to make them want to. Yeah. Which that I

00:08:21.970 --> 00:08:23.610
think has been a little bit of a mind shift,

00:08:23.790 --> 00:08:25.810
right? I think there was a time where you were

00:08:25.810 --> 00:08:27.790
just expected to sit in your desk and be quiet.

00:08:27.850 --> 00:08:30.509
And those days are definitely gone. For sure.

00:08:30.649 --> 00:08:36.970
But you can get kids' attention for a long time

00:08:36.970 --> 00:08:38.730
if you do it the right way. That's exactly right.

00:08:38.809 --> 00:08:40.870
You know, it's interesting that you've keyed

00:08:40.870 --> 00:08:43.929
off on that. I was just listening to some material

00:08:43.929 --> 00:08:47.350
by Adam Grant. I love it. okay he's amazing right

00:08:47.350 --> 00:08:49.730
he's very research -based like he's going to

00:08:49.730 --> 00:08:51.370
pull in studies and pull in research and he has

00:08:51.370 --> 00:08:54.090
very strong opinions about this and uh what his

00:08:54.090 --> 00:08:56.789
opinions are based in the research is that when

00:08:56.789 --> 00:09:00.049
you look at adults and children's attention spans

00:09:00.049 --> 00:09:02.210
from 30 years ago 20 years ago 10 years ago and

00:09:02.210 --> 00:09:06.690
now it's not actually any different it hasn't

00:09:06.690 --> 00:09:09.750
gotten worse it's just what keeps them entertained

00:09:09.750 --> 00:09:12.549
for longer Because he brought exactly the thing

00:09:12.549 --> 00:09:14.509
that you did. If a kid can sit there and play

00:09:14.509 --> 00:09:16.950
a video game for 14 hours straight, we don't

00:09:16.950 --> 00:09:18.669
have an attention span problem. That's not the

00:09:18.669 --> 00:09:22.950
problem. If a kid can binge a season of Netflix

00:09:22.950 --> 00:09:25.070
that's 10 episodes long and watch the entire

00:09:25.070 --> 00:09:26.690
thing in one sitting, we don't have an attention

00:09:26.690 --> 00:09:28.590
span problem. We have an entertainment problem.

00:09:29.370 --> 00:09:31.690
What's going to keep their attention? And that

00:09:31.690 --> 00:09:33.730
does up the ante a little bit. It may be a little

00:09:33.730 --> 00:09:36.159
bit harder to keep their attention. But I like

00:09:36.159 --> 00:09:38.139
what you said, right? Like it's fun is rigorous.

00:09:38.299 --> 00:09:40.019
Rigorous is fun and fun is rigorous. Fun should

00:09:40.019 --> 00:09:42.539
be rigor and rigor should be fun. Yeah. And so

00:09:42.539 --> 00:09:46.100
it takes effort to get there. But it's, I mean,

00:09:46.120 --> 00:09:49.100
it isn't easy. You definitely have clearly a

00:09:49.100 --> 00:09:50.960
natural ability, right? To entertain kids for

00:09:50.960 --> 00:09:52.620
that long. Some people have to work at it a little

00:09:52.620 --> 00:09:54.740
bit more like, but they should. Yes. Because

00:09:54.740 --> 00:09:56.960
we need to keep their attention. I love this.

00:09:57.019 --> 00:09:58.919
And they deserve that. They do. They deserve

00:09:58.919 --> 00:10:01.059
to be taught in a way that they can learn. Yeah.

00:10:01.299 --> 00:10:04.470
Yeah. So interesting. Okay. Okay. So that was

00:10:04.470 --> 00:10:06.409
a fun detour. That was. You might take a few

00:10:06.409 --> 00:10:07.850
more though. We used to do a whole different

00:10:07.850 --> 00:10:12.190
podcast just on my philosophy of like arts and

00:10:12.190 --> 00:10:14.190
education and how we can help kids learn. Well,

00:10:14.190 --> 00:10:15.929
I think we're going to pull something into that.

00:10:16.090 --> 00:10:19.149
Okay. I think we are. I would love that. So let's

00:10:19.149 --> 00:10:25.429
go to your background. Yeah. So you get into

00:10:25.429 --> 00:10:27.909
education. Was that something that you always

00:10:27.909 --> 00:10:30.669
wanted to do? Was it something you fell into?

00:10:30.769 --> 00:10:32.450
Like, tell me about that journey to getting to

00:10:32.450 --> 00:10:36.990
be an educator. It was something I always wanted

00:10:36.990 --> 00:10:40.870
to do. I dabbled in some other ideas. I was like,

00:10:40.929 --> 00:10:42.909
maybe child psychology. There was marine biologists

00:10:42.909 --> 00:10:44.610
for a little bit. I think every kid goes through

00:10:44.610 --> 00:10:46.889
that. If you go to SeaWorld. A little George

00:10:46.889 --> 00:10:51.210
Costanza? Yeah. And then there was architecture.

00:10:53.190 --> 00:10:56.289
Art Mandalay. All right, here we go. We're aging

00:10:56.289 --> 00:10:59.690
ourselves a little bit. We're 90s kids, clearly.

00:11:00.789 --> 00:11:05.470
No, I think. I just don't ever know that I thought

00:11:05.470 --> 00:11:08.110
there was a different option. I think I thought,

00:11:08.250 --> 00:11:10.929
well, I can be a teacher. I can be a nurse. My

00:11:10.929 --> 00:11:13.990
mom was a nurse, is a nurse. Which is a noble

00:11:13.990 --> 00:11:16.590
profession. And she's amazing at it. She's very

00:11:16.590 --> 00:11:20.789
good at it. I didn't like blood and was more

00:11:20.789 --> 00:11:23.409
on the queasy side. So I was like, that's not

00:11:23.409 --> 00:11:27.370
for me. That's not my thing. And so, yeah, I

00:11:27.370 --> 00:11:30.330
think too, I just, and this is kind of where

00:11:30.330 --> 00:11:33.720
I think. I really started to connect with this

00:11:33.720 --> 00:11:35.259
movie on a different level when I was watching

00:11:35.259 --> 00:11:39.539
it again through this lens is that our things

00:11:39.539 --> 00:11:41.500
don't always work out the way that they're supposed

00:11:41.500 --> 00:11:43.860
to, but you lift where you stand and you do what

00:11:43.860 --> 00:11:46.360
you can with the resources that you have and

00:11:46.360 --> 00:11:49.799
you connect with your people and things work

00:11:49.799 --> 00:11:54.220
out for the best. And so I, I think in my head,

00:11:54.299 --> 00:11:59.259
I mean, I grew up in Magna and I think in my

00:11:59.259 --> 00:12:04.610
very naive brain I was like yeah you know we'll

00:12:04.610 --> 00:12:07.110
graduate from college and then I'll teach for

00:12:07.110 --> 00:12:08.950
a couple of years and then I'm like gonna stay

00:12:08.950 --> 00:12:12.350
home and and get married and have seven kids

00:12:12.350 --> 00:12:15.929
and like raise all of them to be amazing humans

00:12:15.929 --> 00:12:19.230
and that's gonna be my life and so I don't think

00:12:19.230 --> 00:12:21.929
I ever considered it as a long -term profession

00:12:21.929 --> 00:12:25.830
I never saw myself being in this career for a

00:12:25.830 --> 00:12:29.379
long period of time and so Yeah, after I had

00:12:29.379 --> 00:12:32.080
been teaching for a couple of years, I started

00:12:32.080 --> 00:12:34.639
to think, well, there's a whole world of opportunity

00:12:34.639 --> 00:12:37.240
out there. I don't know why I never explored

00:12:37.240 --> 00:12:39.799
it before, but I want to explore it now. And

00:12:39.799 --> 00:12:43.039
so I did. I decided I was going to go to law

00:12:43.039 --> 00:12:46.279
school and went down that path. And that didn't

00:12:46.279 --> 00:12:49.379
work out. And, you know, I didn't meet my husband

00:12:49.379 --> 00:12:54.039
until I was 29. And I could not be more grateful

00:12:54.039 --> 00:12:56.980
that my life has turned out the way it has. Which

00:12:56.980 --> 00:12:58.950
is very normal. Very normal. Except in Utah,

00:12:59.350 --> 00:13:02.809
not as normal. But actually, I met my wife when

00:13:02.809 --> 00:13:04.450
she was 29, and she had never been married. Oh,

00:13:04.450 --> 00:13:07.470
really? Oh, that's fun. Absolutely. Okay. I know,

00:13:07.549 --> 00:13:09.409
right? I know. You guys need to, like, get connected,

00:13:09.470 --> 00:13:12.809
right? Yeah, we need to be friends. Yeah. So

00:13:12.809 --> 00:13:14.990
when you were originally kind of deciding this

00:13:14.990 --> 00:13:18.389
education thing, was it that you knew you wanted

00:13:18.389 --> 00:13:20.590
to do elementary? You did elementary school?

00:13:20.730 --> 00:13:23.009
Or did you do something else? I did elementary

00:13:23.009 --> 00:13:25.110
school, although when I first decided I was going

00:13:25.110 --> 00:13:28.809
to go into teaching, My first declared major

00:13:28.809 --> 00:13:30.730
was actually a math teacher, a high school math

00:13:30.730 --> 00:13:34.549
teacher. Oh, you like math? No, I don't. Oh,

00:13:34.610 --> 00:13:36.509
well, actually, maybe that helps. Yeah, math

00:13:36.509 --> 00:13:38.110
was difficult for me. Yeah, so that's probably

00:13:38.110 --> 00:13:40.049
why you'd be a good teacher. And yes, and that

00:13:40.049 --> 00:13:42.909
is what my AP statistics teacher told me when

00:13:42.909 --> 00:13:46.179
she was convincing me to. become a math teacher

00:13:46.179 --> 00:13:48.940
is you know i said i'm not good at this this

00:13:48.940 --> 00:13:50.539
is a struggle for me and she said that's why

00:13:50.539 --> 00:13:52.000
you'd be good at teaching it because you get

00:13:52.000 --> 00:13:54.960
why kids don't get it um and so that's kind of

00:13:54.960 --> 00:13:57.799
where i started and then where did you do your

00:13:57.799 --> 00:14:01.159
undergrad uh utah state oh like the place to

00:14:01.159 --> 00:14:04.419
go for uh education especially elementary education

00:14:04.419 --> 00:14:07.179
where my sister went oh and it's like good for

00:14:07.179 --> 00:14:12.059
her super it is yes it's i mean like top west

00:14:12.059 --> 00:14:15.500
of the mississippi even um so yeah in fact i

00:14:15.500 --> 00:14:19.340
also did my my graduate degree there so i double

00:14:19.340 --> 00:14:23.080
dipped what was your graduate degree in uh uh

00:14:23.080 --> 00:14:26.200
educational leadership okay yeah amazing yes

00:14:26.200 --> 00:14:29.299
and that in and of itself like i will tell i

00:14:29.299 --> 00:14:32.320
will tell you i got tricked into going to into

00:14:32.320 --> 00:14:35.000
administration it was never in my game plan you

00:14:35.000 --> 00:14:42.720
got tricked who tricked you yes which is kind

00:14:42.720 --> 00:14:45.500
of part of the story that is um thinking about

00:14:45.500 --> 00:14:48.539
jumping into today so i so so let's let's take

00:14:48.539 --> 00:14:51.860
a pause yeah okay give us the synopsis of the

00:14:51.860 --> 00:14:54.419
great mouse detective because i'm guessing we're

00:14:54.419 --> 00:14:58.399
going to layer in some stuff and because the

00:14:58.399 --> 00:14:59.720
great mouse detective came out a little while

00:14:59.720 --> 00:15:02.620
ago and maybe not everybody's seen it no we're

00:15:02.620 --> 00:15:04.799
going to rely on the synopsis so i am okay buckled

00:15:04.799 --> 00:15:06.639
up i'm ready to go yeah it's a very fringe disney

00:15:06.639 --> 00:15:10.070
movie yes um but my kids love it which is kind

00:15:10.070 --> 00:15:13.549
of why we decided on this show because it's it's

00:15:13.549 --> 00:15:15.710
lesser known and my five and three -year -old

00:15:15.710 --> 00:15:17.809
are obsessed with it and it deserves some attention

00:15:17.809 --> 00:15:22.389
100 it does um so it's basically disney's spin

00:15:22.389 --> 00:15:30.440
on um sherlock holmes and so it's placed in 1886

00:15:30.440 --> 00:15:34.940
england and you have a toy maker and his daughter

00:15:34.940 --> 00:15:37.759
who are just hoping to celebrate her birthday

00:15:37.759 --> 00:15:41.519
quietly in their little toy shop and they are

00:15:41.519 --> 00:15:45.019
interrupted by um the antagonist or i guess the

00:15:45.019 --> 00:15:51.639
antagonist uh page boy who uh comes to kidnap

00:15:51.639 --> 00:15:56.190
the toy maker for some nefarious plans that uh

00:15:56.190 --> 00:16:00.029
radigan is the the moriarty of the story and

00:16:00.029 --> 00:16:04.230
he has some various plans that he is putting

00:16:04.230 --> 00:16:08.590
into motion and this very astute and tenacious

00:16:08.590 --> 00:16:11.789
daughter who was left behind in this toy shop

00:16:11.789 --> 00:16:17.570
um finds an article about this detective basil

00:16:17.570 --> 00:16:20.610
of baker street right solves all the mysteries

00:16:20.610 --> 00:16:24.090
and he's brilliant and so this little you know

00:16:24.090 --> 00:16:26.960
she can't be more than five or six um this little

00:16:26.960 --> 00:16:30.879
girl just takes off and and goes in search and

00:16:30.879 --> 00:16:33.240
i mean she's a mouse right so the great mouse

00:16:33.240 --> 00:16:35.799
detective so they're all they're all mice and

00:16:35.799 --> 00:16:39.120
rodents in the movie um and they're all most

00:16:39.120 --> 00:16:41.799
of them in this are mice the little page boy

00:16:41.799 --> 00:16:44.940
meaning he's like a bat right and then rat again

00:16:44.940 --> 00:16:50.039
is a rat and that's a thing He's mad about being

00:16:50.039 --> 00:16:51.519
a mouse. He wants to be a mouse. That's right.

00:16:51.700 --> 00:16:53.259
He has a complex about being a mouse. Totally

00:16:53.259 --> 00:16:55.120
has this complex. It makes everybody lie about

00:16:55.120 --> 00:16:57.980
it. Yes. Makes everyone call him a mouse. Yes.

00:16:59.100 --> 00:17:02.980
And then she finds Basil of Baker Street and

00:17:02.980 --> 00:17:06.579
on the way meets Dr. Watson. She actually gets

00:17:06.579 --> 00:17:09.359
lost and is unsuccessful in finding and tracking

00:17:09.359 --> 00:17:12.599
down Basil of Baker Street. Runs into Dr. Watson

00:17:12.599 --> 00:17:19.319
and he helps her and they find him. you know,

00:17:19.359 --> 00:17:21.599
convince him is a strong word. He doesn't want

00:17:21.599 --> 00:17:23.140
to help. He doesn't want to help at all, right?

00:17:23.220 --> 00:17:25.700
No. In fact, he's like very much trying to brush

00:17:25.700 --> 00:17:28.380
her off and is not interested in her lost father.

00:17:29.220 --> 00:17:33.160
Until she mentions the bat. Yeah. And then he

00:17:33.160 --> 00:17:35.539
all of a sudden realizes that, oh, this could

00:17:35.539 --> 00:17:39.779
be an avenue in which I can finally beat Rattigan.

00:17:39.940 --> 00:17:43.400
Yes. And so then he's all in. and he's like fully

00:17:43.400 --> 00:17:45.480
committed but he doesn't want the girl to come

00:17:45.480 --> 00:17:49.779
so he tries to leave her behind and she is not

00:17:49.779 --> 00:17:54.000
one to be waylaid by intelligent detectives so

00:17:54.000 --> 00:17:58.279
she um insists on accompanying him and he gives

00:17:58.279 --> 00:18:02.759
in um but then they go on this adventure where

00:18:02.759 --> 00:18:07.099
they're trying to like track down this rat and

00:18:08.240 --> 00:18:10.680
they're essentially just trying to interrupt

00:18:10.680 --> 00:18:14.019
his plans or um ultimately you find out later

00:18:14.019 --> 00:18:17.319
in the movie um kidnapping the queen of england

00:18:17.319 --> 00:18:20.079
who i mean the time period and everything it's

00:18:20.079 --> 00:18:22.559
supposed to be queen victoria right and it's

00:18:22.559 --> 00:18:25.119
her diamond jubilee and so they're kidnapping

00:18:25.119 --> 00:18:29.509
her and replacing her with a toy version hence

00:18:29.509 --> 00:18:31.670
the reason he needs the toy maker i mean spoiler

00:18:31.670 --> 00:18:40.130
alerts we don't we're not worried about so to

00:18:40.130 --> 00:18:44.890
create this toy it's an animatronic toy essentially

00:18:44.890 --> 00:18:49.150
that he can use to make it sound like the queen

00:18:49.150 --> 00:18:51.990
of england is giving all of her power and signing

00:18:51.990 --> 00:18:55.710
over her job to him and letting him run the country

00:18:55.710 --> 00:19:00.029
and he has all of these um evil ideas you know

00:19:00.029 --> 00:19:02.809
or how he would run the country but he just he's

00:19:02.809 --> 00:19:04.589
power hungry and he just wants to be in charge

00:19:04.589 --> 00:19:09.789
and so um it's just kind of how they eventually

00:19:09.789 --> 00:19:14.869
you know succeed in this plan and of course they

00:19:14.869 --> 00:19:16.809
all live happily ever after because it's a disney

00:19:16.809 --> 00:19:18.670
of course that's that's the way it has to work

00:19:18.670 --> 00:19:21.589
right which is good it's a great synopsis and

00:19:21.589 --> 00:19:24.589
as we as we go there's a couple of quotes from

00:19:24.589 --> 00:19:28.480
it that that i'll plot at times uh to ask you

00:19:28.480 --> 00:19:29.859
about because there's some really interesting

00:19:29.859 --> 00:19:32.720
things that happen along that path that i think

00:19:32.720 --> 00:19:36.380
play into this this idea that we're going to

00:19:36.380 --> 00:19:39.819
talk about lifting where you stand um playing

00:19:39.819 --> 00:19:42.259
your roles but also accepting when other people

00:19:42.259 --> 00:19:45.240
are and what that means so it'll be fun okay

00:19:45.240 --> 00:19:48.180
it'll be fun okay so now back to your story yes

00:19:48.180 --> 00:19:53.079
so you go to utah state you end up also doing

00:19:53.079 --> 00:19:56.460
graduate degree and then you get tricked and

00:19:56.460 --> 00:19:59.119
to become an administrator. So tell me more about

00:19:59.119 --> 00:20:02.900
that. So I had been teaching, I taught fifth

00:20:02.900 --> 00:20:05.180
and sixth grade. My first teaching job, oddly

00:20:05.180 --> 00:20:10.279
enough, was PE, which I graduated from college

00:20:10.279 --> 00:20:12.259
and then I actually served an LDS mission in

00:20:12.259 --> 00:20:14.819
Taiwan. And when I came back, it was January.

00:20:14.880 --> 00:20:16.299
It was the middle of the school year. The only

00:20:16.299 --> 00:20:20.960
teaching job available is PE. So I'm like, I

00:20:20.960 --> 00:20:24.559
can do that. And again, it was never my plan.

00:20:25.019 --> 00:20:28.220
but that's where i taught that's where i learned

00:20:28.220 --> 00:20:31.579
to entertain kids that's where i learned to master

00:20:31.579 --> 00:20:34.059
my classroom management and it's really where

00:20:34.059 --> 00:20:37.480
i learned to integrate um because i really wanted

00:20:37.480 --> 00:20:39.420
i was at a title in school so a very low income

00:20:39.420 --> 00:20:43.160
school and i just really wanted to help i wanted

00:20:43.160 --> 00:20:46.420
to feel like i was helping with the academic

00:20:46.420 --> 00:20:50.630
components and so um they would come to me and

00:20:50.630 --> 00:20:53.130
it was it was also a win -win right we would

00:20:53.130 --> 00:20:55.210
play you know you get out those little scooters

00:20:55.210 --> 00:20:58.130
and they'd have like this the squishy foam balls

00:20:58.130 --> 00:21:00.509
or whatever and i put up goals and and we'd play

00:21:00.509 --> 00:21:04.049
these games but you want to work on passing and

00:21:04.049 --> 00:21:05.470
you want to work on teamwork and you want to

00:21:05.470 --> 00:21:07.890
work on sportsmanship and so i would shoot the

00:21:07.890 --> 00:21:13.289
rules of the game to okay it's five points when

00:21:13.289 --> 00:21:16.390
you score a goal but you get three points every

00:21:16.390 --> 00:21:18.750
time you pass the ball before you score so every

00:21:18.750 --> 00:21:21.609
like continual so if you pass it five times and

00:21:21.609 --> 00:21:23.890
then you score a goal your team just earned 20

00:21:23.890 --> 00:21:27.730
points right and so then they were more inclined

00:21:27.730 --> 00:21:29.950
to pass the ball but i also made them keep track

00:21:29.950 --> 00:21:32.349
of points while they were passing so then you

00:21:32.349 --> 00:21:34.029
know i have third graders who are counting by

00:21:34.029 --> 00:21:35.750
threes which is part of their curriculum and

00:21:35.750 --> 00:21:38.829
so um i just really wanted to maximize their

00:21:38.829 --> 00:21:40.569
time with me and make sure that we were using

00:21:40.569 --> 00:21:43.890
it well and uh you know it was never my plan

00:21:44.329 --> 00:21:49.029
but it really kind of jump -started my teaching

00:21:49.029 --> 00:21:52.869
career into what it evolved into. So then I taught

00:21:52.869 --> 00:21:54.670
fifth and sixth grade for a few years, and then

00:21:54.670 --> 00:21:56.890
my school district started this program where

00:21:56.890 --> 00:22:00.869
they wanted to have teachers go and teach art,

00:22:00.990 --> 00:22:05.250
music, dance, drama to kids throughout the district.

00:22:05.450 --> 00:22:10.269
And so I got really excited. i'm a pianist i've

00:22:10.269 --> 00:22:12.529
taken piano lessons since i was five i took them

00:22:12.529 --> 00:22:15.490
until i became an administrator and so um my

00:22:15.490 --> 00:22:17.930
piano teacher is my second mom so shout out to

00:22:17.930 --> 00:22:20.210
cindy lambert she will always be cindy lambert

00:22:20.210 --> 00:22:24.269
so near and dear to my heart um and and like

00:22:24.269 --> 00:22:26.890
i said i also have some vocal training and so

00:22:26.890 --> 00:22:31.049
i applied for this job and was hired and i just

00:22:31.049 --> 00:22:33.359
fell in love with it it was like all of the best

00:22:33.359 --> 00:22:35.720
parts of teaching and none of the bad parts of

00:22:35.720 --> 00:22:38.339
teaching. And so I would go, I had four different

00:22:38.339 --> 00:22:40.640
schools and each day of the week I'd show up

00:22:40.640 --> 00:22:42.960
at my school and I'd have kids for 45 minutes

00:22:42.960 --> 00:22:45.950
and I would do these lessons where again. I wanted

00:22:45.950 --> 00:22:48.509
to feel like I was contributing to their academic

00:22:48.509 --> 00:22:52.009
success. And so everything I taught was integrated.

00:22:52.230 --> 00:22:55.190
And we, you know, it might be math, it might

00:22:55.190 --> 00:22:57.549
be language arts, it might be whatever, science,

00:22:57.809 --> 00:23:00.730
but it was all integrated. And I did that for

00:23:00.730 --> 00:23:05.650
a year. And after my first year, our supervisor

00:23:05.650 --> 00:23:10.730
asked if I would take over leading that charge.

00:23:10.890 --> 00:23:14.859
And so essentially managing the program. And

00:23:14.859 --> 00:23:19.420
so I, of course, agreed. And I moved into my

00:23:19.420 --> 00:23:22.619
little district office cubicle. And I still got

00:23:22.619 --> 00:23:25.200
to teach three days a week. And then I had two

00:23:25.200 --> 00:23:28.980
days at the district office to mentor and coach

00:23:28.980 --> 00:23:31.160
and run the program. And so I would set up our

00:23:31.160 --> 00:23:32.960
master schedule. And when teachers were struggling,

00:23:33.079 --> 00:23:35.240
I would go out and help with them. And every

00:23:35.240 --> 00:23:37.599
Friday, I had to put together a three -hour professional

00:23:37.599 --> 00:23:40.640
development to help make sure that my teachers

00:23:40.640 --> 00:23:44.490
were doing the best job that they could do. um

00:23:44.490 --> 00:23:49.769
i loved it it was like so fun and so after about

00:23:49.769 --> 00:23:53.710
a year of this my boss said people who work in

00:23:53.710 --> 00:23:56.410
my department have master's degrees and i said

00:23:56.410 --> 00:23:58.309
it's always been on my radar i just can't decide

00:23:58.309 --> 00:24:01.690
on which one i want and she said you need to

00:24:01.690 --> 00:24:04.829
get an administration because it opens the most

00:24:04.829 --> 00:24:08.569
doors and i said okay like that that makes sense

00:24:08.569 --> 00:24:12.670
it does um and she said plus like i think i think

00:24:12.670 --> 00:24:14.049
it would be good for what you're doing right

00:24:14.049 --> 00:24:15.789
like you're essentially she kept telling me you're

00:24:15.789 --> 00:24:17.869
just you're already doing the job you're already

00:24:17.869 --> 00:24:21.130
doing that gotcha and so i was like yeah i love

00:24:21.130 --> 00:24:23.349
this so i went into administration and she just

00:24:23.349 --> 00:24:25.569
kept saying like you're doing it you're doing

00:24:25.569 --> 00:24:28.410
it you're doing it and so she convinced me to

00:24:28.410 --> 00:24:36.109
apply to the admin pool and i was hired keeping

00:24:36.109 --> 00:24:39.549
in mind my entire experience was elementary And

00:24:39.549 --> 00:24:42.230
I was hired to be an assistant principal at junior

00:24:42.230 --> 00:24:46.390
high. And you're the living daylights out of

00:24:46.390 --> 00:24:48.569
me. It's challenging. Like I can do this. Yeah.

00:24:48.609 --> 00:24:54.089
No, I love this. I love it. And like the first

00:24:54.089 --> 00:24:58.490
week of that job, I was like, why have I done?

00:25:00.190 --> 00:25:04.609
This is so hard. And I hated it. It was so difficult.

00:25:05.589 --> 00:25:08.940
My boss, oddly enough, retired. the same time

00:25:08.940 --> 00:25:11.339
that I left the district office to go out and

00:25:11.339 --> 00:25:14.700
do admin work. And she called me like in October

00:25:14.700 --> 00:25:18.519
and she said, so how's it going? And I said,

00:25:18.579 --> 00:25:20.420
it's really hard. I mean, I didn't want to be

00:25:20.420 --> 00:25:22.819
a total baby about it. So I just said, you know,

00:25:22.819 --> 00:25:25.880
it's really, really hard. And she said, oh, I

00:25:25.880 --> 00:25:27.299
know I hated being a principal. It was the worst

00:25:27.299 --> 00:25:31.440
job I ever had. And I said, what, why did you

00:25:31.440 --> 00:25:33.980
do it? do it and she just laughed and she said

00:25:33.980 --> 00:25:35.799
oh I knew it would be good for you and I knew

00:25:35.799 --> 00:25:37.920
you'd be good at it you needed to do this and

00:25:37.920 --> 00:25:40.940
I was so mad at her I was so mad at her I was

00:25:40.940 --> 00:25:43.599
like I had this job that I loved it was the perfect

00:25:43.599 --> 00:25:45.640
fit for me I was doing everything I possibly

00:25:45.640 --> 00:25:48.740
could have wanted and you convinced me to come

00:25:48.740 --> 00:25:51.250
do this thing that is awful like all i do is

00:25:51.250 --> 00:25:53.150
like break up fights and take away marijuana

00:25:53.150 --> 00:25:55.769
and call angry parents and like deal with teachers

00:25:55.769 --> 00:25:57.829
who are annoyed like there is nothing fun about

00:25:57.829 --> 00:26:03.569
this so um but we powered through and i did that

00:26:03.569 --> 00:26:08.349
job for three years and i cried at least once

00:26:08.349 --> 00:26:11.509
a week bless my husband's heart i mean we were

00:26:11.509 --> 00:26:16.049
fairly newlywed at that point um during that

00:26:16.049 --> 00:26:19.829
during that time what was what was the hardest

00:26:20.349 --> 00:26:26.250
thing the conflict okay i tend to be like a very

00:26:26.250 --> 00:26:32.990
positive person i don't like conflicts um i wasn't

00:26:32.990 --> 00:26:42.470
prepared for the level of like the minutes which

00:26:42.470 --> 00:26:45.710
parents would push back when i felt like i was

00:26:45.710 --> 00:26:48.349
trying to help their kid Um, the first time I

00:26:48.349 --> 00:26:51.769
called a parent because I found marijuana in

00:26:51.769 --> 00:26:54.890
her child's backpack, um, and had talked to him

00:26:54.890 --> 00:26:57.069
and he had broken down and told me that he was

00:26:57.069 --> 00:26:58.890
feeling depressed. And that was the only thing

00:26:58.890 --> 00:27:02.049
that helped. And, you know, um, and I called

00:27:02.049 --> 00:27:03.690
the mom and just said, Hey, you just found marijuana

00:27:03.690 --> 00:27:05.730
in your son's backpack. And she immediately was

00:27:05.730 --> 00:27:07.809
just like, how do you know it's his, you don't

00:27:07.809 --> 00:27:09.309
know that it's, I mean, she's got very defensive.

00:27:09.869 --> 00:27:11.950
And I said, he admitted to me that it was his.

00:27:13.050 --> 00:27:14.990
really struggling with depression and like really

00:27:14.990 --> 00:27:17.210
has a hard time. And I said, I need you to come

00:27:17.210 --> 00:27:18.809
down and give him. And she was like, I'm at work.

00:27:18.849 --> 00:27:20.869
I can't come get him, call somebody else. And

00:27:20.869 --> 00:27:23.569
I was just like, and I'm sitting there thinking

00:27:23.569 --> 00:27:25.910
if someone had called my mom when I was in junior

00:27:25.910 --> 00:27:27.509
high and told her that they found marijuana in

00:27:27.509 --> 00:27:29.890
my backpack, it would have been a very different

00:27:29.890 --> 00:27:33.150
experience. Right. Um, but I was, I was dealing

00:27:33.150 --> 00:27:36.630
with, um, people who were carrying things that

00:27:36.630 --> 00:27:39.490
I knew nothing about and I was not prepared for

00:27:39.490 --> 00:27:43.720
the level of emotion and anger. that came with

00:27:43.720 --> 00:27:48.059
that um and i was also wholly unprepared for

00:27:48.059 --> 00:27:52.440
the awful things that kids both experience and

00:27:52.440 --> 00:27:56.480
get into at that age um and it was very eye -opening

00:27:56.480 --> 00:28:02.559
yeah yeah what was what was the the way through

00:28:02.559 --> 00:28:04.519
what got you through that when you're experiencing

00:28:04.519 --> 00:28:07.900
these really hard things um i mean there would

00:28:07.900 --> 00:28:11.000
be these fleeting moments right where i would

00:28:11.000 --> 00:28:13.039
build these relationships with kids and that

00:28:13.039 --> 00:28:18.140
was the one part i did like about it um is i

00:28:18.140 --> 00:28:21.460
would see kids in the hallway crying or i would

00:28:21.460 --> 00:28:23.119
just know that they were having these struggles

00:28:23.119 --> 00:28:28.859
and i did to some degree have the time to like

00:28:28.859 --> 00:28:31.079
bring them in my office and have a real conversation

00:28:31.079 --> 00:28:32.759
about it you don't have that luxury when you're

00:28:32.759 --> 00:28:34.859
a teacher right there are 30 other kids who need

00:28:34.859 --> 00:28:39.119
your attention right then and so um i remember

00:28:39.119 --> 00:28:41.160
it was the first day of school and i was walking

00:28:41.160 --> 00:28:42.900
down the hall and i just saw this poor little

00:28:42.900 --> 00:28:44.900
seventh grader with like tears streaming down

00:28:44.900 --> 00:28:48.460
his cheeks and i just said we went into my office

00:28:48.460 --> 00:28:50.619
and he just cried and he was like i'm so scared

00:28:50.619 --> 00:28:53.599
i miss elementary school you know and i was like

00:28:53.599 --> 00:28:58.420
oh i can i can really kind of dig down and and

00:28:58.420 --> 00:29:00.680
help kids on a different level and in a different

00:29:00.680 --> 00:29:02.539
way than i was trying to help them when i was

00:29:02.539 --> 00:29:05.539
a classroom teacher yeah what do you what do

00:29:05.539 --> 00:29:09.150
you feel like your your biggest takeaways were

00:29:09.150 --> 00:29:14.029
in growth that you experienced in that that provided

00:29:14.029 --> 00:29:16.549
you a better baseline for when you became a principal

00:29:16.549 --> 00:29:22.950
yeah um i just think realizing i think teenagers

00:29:22.950 --> 00:29:28.710
get a bad rap yeah and i think that um i went

00:29:28.710 --> 00:29:31.809
in there thinking like they're all they're all

00:29:31.809 --> 00:29:34.109
just kind of like jerks and they all do whatever

00:29:34.109 --> 00:29:37.380
they want and i learned that they're such babies

00:29:37.380 --> 00:29:41.400
like they're so little and they're putting on

00:29:41.400 --> 00:29:43.799
these like tough fronts but really they just

00:29:43.799 --> 00:29:46.460
they just want to be loved and most of the kids

00:29:46.460 --> 00:29:49.579
that are causing them really hard things don't

00:29:49.579 --> 00:29:54.019
feel loved um or have had life experiences that

00:29:54.019 --> 00:29:57.880
have really kicked them into survival mode and

00:29:57.880 --> 00:30:03.039
they don't know what else to do um and so i just

00:30:03.039 --> 00:30:07.359
learned to listen and not jump to conclusions

00:30:07.359 --> 00:30:12.720
um and to just really love them in a different

00:30:12.720 --> 00:30:15.880
way and at a different level and now when i see

00:30:15.880 --> 00:30:18.220
teenagers like you know on the streets or at

00:30:18.220 --> 00:30:21.839
the movies like i'm just like hey what's up and

00:30:21.839 --> 00:30:24.299
usually they're very friendly like they can look

00:30:24.299 --> 00:30:26.599
really tough but they're usually very friendly

00:30:27.710 --> 00:30:31.250
I love them. I think a lot of it too is just

00:30:31.250 --> 00:30:33.509
if you bring the assumption that they're going

00:30:33.509 --> 00:30:35.150
to be terrible and bad and you bring that to

00:30:35.150 --> 00:30:38.190
the interaction, it's going to be in part of

00:30:38.190 --> 00:30:40.210
self -fulfilling prophecy because you're going

00:30:40.210 --> 00:30:41.650
to bring that kind of energy to the conversation

00:30:41.650 --> 00:30:45.069
as well. So you did that for three years. And

00:30:45.069 --> 00:30:46.950
then what was the next step? And then I was appointed

00:30:46.950 --> 00:30:50.490
to be a principal. I got appointed at a board

00:30:50.490 --> 00:30:53.410
meeting on like March, I don't know, 7th, 8th,

00:30:53.410 --> 00:30:59.019
somewhere in there of 2020. Oh, no way. Yeah.

00:30:59.279 --> 00:31:02.339
Holy Toledo. We were just starting to hit it

00:31:02.339 --> 00:31:05.000
at that point. It was like a week before the

00:31:05.000 --> 00:31:09.500
world shut down. And so, I mean, right, you finish

00:31:09.500 --> 00:31:11.559
out your year. So I was finishing the year at

00:31:11.559 --> 00:31:13.980
the junior high before I really jumped into this.

00:31:14.240 --> 00:31:17.240
And yeah, a week later, the world shut down.

00:31:17.380 --> 00:31:21.380
And I was a first year principal trying to figure

00:31:21.380 --> 00:31:23.920
out how to like make people wear masks and do

00:31:23.920 --> 00:31:27.960
contact tracing. And it was. it was crazy. It

00:31:27.960 --> 00:31:31.059
was crazy. Where was that first gig? Um, and

00:31:31.059 --> 00:31:36.660
I was also pregnant with my first child. Oh man.

00:31:36.819 --> 00:31:43.740
So yeah, that is complex. Yes. Which again, back

00:31:43.740 --> 00:31:47.480
to my best laid plans. Right. So, okay. The plan

00:31:47.480 --> 00:31:49.119
was to like get married and have a million kids.

00:31:49.259 --> 00:31:53.220
And then I got married at 29 and I'm sorry. I

00:31:53.220 --> 00:31:57.720
got married at 31. We met at 29. And, um, after

00:31:57.720 --> 00:32:00.440
I did my first year at the junior high, which

00:32:00.440 --> 00:32:02.599
was really an intern year, right. I was like,

00:32:02.660 --> 00:32:05.519
okay, I get through this. Like we're going to

00:32:05.519 --> 00:32:08.579
have baby I'll quit. And then like, we didn't

00:32:08.579 --> 00:32:12.140
have baby. And again, looking back, like the

00:32:12.140 --> 00:32:16.420
junior high was not the right time for me. Like

00:32:16.420 --> 00:32:20.119
I've, I've rarely ate. There's just too much

00:32:20.119 --> 00:32:23.099
going on. Um, I think trying to like successfully

00:32:23.099 --> 00:32:25.829
complete a pregnancy. being a junior high assistant

00:32:25.829 --> 00:32:27.690
principal like shout out to anyone that's done

00:32:27.690 --> 00:32:29.369
it i don't know how you could possibly like the

00:32:29.369 --> 00:32:31.470
level of stress the level of everything else

00:32:31.470 --> 00:32:37.269
so um it was again not my plan but it that's

00:32:37.269 --> 00:32:39.029
how that's how the cookie crumbled and it all

00:32:39.029 --> 00:32:41.430
worked out um so yeah i was pregnant with my

00:32:41.430 --> 00:32:43.849
first child and was sick the entire nine months

00:32:44.609 --> 00:32:47.130
um and i'm like a first year principal trying

00:32:47.130 --> 00:32:49.849
to figure this out there was only one other person

00:32:49.849 --> 00:32:51.890
in my entire district that was a first year principal

00:32:51.890 --> 00:32:54.849
that same year and so i mean we really kind of

00:32:54.849 --> 00:32:58.009
leaned happily on each other um but that was

00:32:58.009 --> 00:33:01.130
i mean it was wild yeah it was wild because there's

00:33:01.130 --> 00:33:03.430
not nobody could prepare you for that because

00:33:03.430 --> 00:33:05.930
no one had ever experienced that before so it's

00:33:05.930 --> 00:33:07.930
not like you could go lean on somebody else that

00:33:07.930 --> 00:33:09.750
could help you navigate it they're just trying

00:33:09.750 --> 00:33:13.319
to figure it out too it's so hard yeah And I

00:33:13.319 --> 00:33:15.559
mean, everybody had different ideas. It was just,

00:33:15.680 --> 00:33:18.619
it was a very, it was crazy. How long did you

00:33:18.619 --> 00:33:20.420
need to be in that school? Just that one year.

00:33:20.500 --> 00:33:24.740
Just that one year. So again, like your best

00:33:24.740 --> 00:33:26.940
laid plans, which is funny because at the very

00:33:26.940 --> 00:33:29.119
beginning of the movie, like I said, as I was

00:33:29.119 --> 00:33:31.900
watching it through this lens, Dr. Watson, when

00:33:31.900 --> 00:33:34.940
it introduces him, he's like riding, he's like

00:33:34.940 --> 00:33:36.940
basically riding the rails, but in a carriage,

00:33:37.099 --> 00:33:39.779
right? Because he's a mouse. you see like the

00:33:39.779 --> 00:33:41.640
people that are driving in the people carriage

00:33:41.640 --> 00:33:45.019
and he's like on some little i don't know something

00:33:45.019 --> 00:33:47.880
that swings underneath the carriage and he's

00:33:47.880 --> 00:33:50.920
he's narrating the movie right and so he's like

00:33:50.920 --> 00:33:54.480
i just finished you know service and this and

00:33:54.480 --> 00:33:57.859
the her majesty 66th regimen and i was just coming

00:33:57.859 --> 00:33:59.940
back and he doesn't use the word deployment but

00:33:59.940 --> 00:34:02.200
essentially that's what he's coming yeah and

00:34:02.200 --> 00:34:05.920
he's like i'm just looking to find some quiet

00:34:07.069 --> 00:34:10.429
and a peaceful place where i can just you know

00:34:10.429 --> 00:34:13.710
do my own thing and he had these these plans

00:34:13.710 --> 00:34:15.670
and then he runs into this little girl and gets

00:34:15.670 --> 00:34:17.250
thrown into this adventure like he didn't mean

00:34:17.250 --> 00:34:21.869
to and so i again remember i hate administration

00:34:21.869 --> 00:34:27.789
like it's not it's not fun and so when i um found

00:34:27.789 --> 00:34:30.010
out i was pregnant with my daughter i was like

00:34:30.010 --> 00:34:33.090
sweet this might take it out of dodge like nobody

00:34:33.090 --> 00:34:35.170
is going to judge me if i walk away from this

00:34:35.170 --> 00:34:38.650
profession to raise my baby Um, and that was

00:34:38.650 --> 00:34:42.130
like, I was just like, no, I'm going to quit.

00:34:42.250 --> 00:34:46.809
And this is how I get out. Um, and then I started

00:34:46.809 --> 00:34:50.610
talking and I was like, I mean, I already have

00:34:50.610 --> 00:34:55.289
like, you know, 12 years in a profession that

00:34:55.289 --> 00:34:59.789
offers pensions. Um, and so I said, I just want

00:34:59.789 --> 00:35:01.429
to be able to at least keep my foot in the door.

00:35:01.889 --> 00:35:04.840
Maybe I should look at a halftime. contract somewhere

00:35:04.840 --> 00:35:07.340
well the school district i was in at the time

00:35:07.340 --> 00:35:10.019
didn't offer half -time administrative contracts

00:35:10.019 --> 00:35:13.300
but the neighboring school district did and so

00:35:13.300 --> 00:35:16.099
i submitted an application there really kind

00:35:16.099 --> 00:35:17.559
of thinking i was still just going to quit and

00:35:17.559 --> 00:35:20.320
stay home but i thought well like it'll be an

00:35:20.320 --> 00:35:23.079
option i just like to keep all the options open

00:35:23.079 --> 00:35:28.119
so i submitted my application and had my first

00:35:28.119 --> 00:35:31.519
interview and found out in said interview that

00:35:31.519 --> 00:35:34.840
they were opening an art integration magnet school

00:35:34.840 --> 00:35:39.480
and in in my in the district i was currently

00:35:39.480 --> 00:35:42.960
working in they have administrators for those

00:35:42.960 --> 00:35:45.280
types of schools slated out a year or two in

00:35:45.280 --> 00:35:48.739
advance and so i had zero expectation that there

00:35:48.739 --> 00:35:50.719
would be an administrative position available

00:35:50.719 --> 00:35:54.039
at this school um but i thought if maybe i got

00:35:54.039 --> 00:35:56.079
really really lucky i could be like a half -time

00:35:56.079 --> 00:35:58.340
assistant principal to supplement something there

00:35:58.340 --> 00:36:03.289
you know be involved in some way And what I didn't

00:36:03.289 --> 00:36:05.829
know behind the scenes is that one of my mentors,

00:36:05.929 --> 00:36:08.210
one of my main mentors, who had also oddly enough

00:36:08.210 --> 00:36:11.030
been my eighth grade history teacher in administration,

00:36:11.210 --> 00:36:15.530
was good friends with the superintendent. And

00:36:15.530 --> 00:36:18.150
I had no idea of any of this, but the superintendent

00:36:18.150 --> 00:36:21.110
called his friend and was like, hey, we just

00:36:21.110 --> 00:36:22.750
interviewed somebody from your school district

00:36:22.750 --> 00:36:26.530
who has an arts background. So tell me more about

00:36:26.530 --> 00:36:28.269
this connection. What are the names of these

00:36:28.269 --> 00:36:31.719
folks? Okay, so Bill Kenley. Okay. um was my

00:36:31.719 --> 00:36:33.679
eighth grade history teacher and then in the

00:36:33.679 --> 00:36:37.099
school district i was in um his his entire job

00:36:37.099 --> 00:36:39.340
he was the director of talent development so

00:36:39.340 --> 00:36:42.869
he recruited Potential administrators. Got it.

00:36:43.190 --> 00:36:45.289
You went through like a year, they called it

00:36:45.289 --> 00:36:47.250
the Emerging Leader Academy. So you went through

00:36:47.250 --> 00:36:49.909
a year of like evening classes, trainings where

00:36:49.909 --> 00:36:51.989
he would kind of, you know, build you up and

00:36:51.989 --> 00:36:54.710
get you ready to apply. And then once you were

00:36:54.710 --> 00:36:58.489
in, you had monthly meetings with him and his

00:36:58.489 --> 00:37:00.789
counterpart to like make sure that you were being

00:37:00.789 --> 00:37:04.230
supported and trained. I love that. Before we

00:37:04.230 --> 00:37:07.489
jump back in, can I ask you a quick favor? If

00:37:07.489 --> 00:37:09.809
you're enjoying the journey so far, will you

00:37:09.809 --> 00:37:13.280
like, rate, and subscribe to our show. It helps

00:37:13.280 --> 00:37:16.380
us reach more people like you. We can design

00:37:16.380 --> 00:37:18.900
and create and build the most wonderful place

00:37:18.900 --> 00:37:21.780
in the world, but it takes people to make the

00:37:21.780 --> 00:37:35.530
dream a reality. and so and i had no idea that

00:37:35.530 --> 00:37:39.130
he even knew anyone in jordan district um but

00:37:39.130 --> 00:37:41.130
he and the superintendent were college roommates

00:37:41.130 --> 00:37:46.630
and so oh is this is this dr godfrey okay do

00:37:46.630 --> 00:37:49.210
you know my connection to dr godfrey no i don't

00:37:49.210 --> 00:37:52.150
he was my eighth grade english teacher stop he

00:37:52.150 --> 00:37:55.039
absolutely was Like eighth grade was a big year

00:37:55.039 --> 00:37:58.360
because I had him as an English teacher. Okay.

00:37:58.440 --> 00:38:01.199
And then my history teacher was Mr. Coyle. Okay.

00:38:01.260 --> 00:38:04.400
And he had me do a mock trial and had me assigned

00:38:04.400 --> 00:38:07.000
as an attorney. And that is the reason I became

00:38:07.000 --> 00:38:08.920
an attorney. So eighth grade was a big year for

00:38:08.920 --> 00:38:11.880
me. And I still obviously have a good relationship

00:38:11.880 --> 00:38:14.239
with Dr. Godfrey. He's amazing. He is amazing.

00:38:14.400 --> 00:38:18.599
So he connects with Bill. Calls Bill and is like,

00:38:18.659 --> 00:38:20.619
hey, I just interviewed somebody and I had told

00:38:20.619 --> 00:38:22.800
nobody. and granted that i was even interviewed

00:38:22.800 --> 00:38:26.980
because i didn't yeah you know and so was bill

00:38:26.980 --> 00:38:30.920
like what are you doing bill calls me and i'm

00:38:30.920 --> 00:38:33.400
like where's bill camden calling me at 5 30 in

00:38:33.400 --> 00:38:35.679
the evening so i pick it up you know and he's

00:38:35.679 --> 00:38:38.360
just like so i know someone in jordan who mentioned

00:38:38.360 --> 00:38:41.079
the day and i and i start panicking oh yeah because

00:38:41.079 --> 00:38:43.000
i'm like who else knows who else knows he's like

00:38:43.000 --> 00:38:44.800
i really don't think anyone else knows and he

00:38:44.800 --> 00:38:47.570
didn't mention that the friend that he knew in

00:38:47.570 --> 00:38:49.349
jordan was the super like he didn't say anything

00:38:49.349 --> 00:38:57.389
no he left that out and so he said so just tell

00:38:57.389 --> 00:38:59.369
me i'm just trying to help you figure out like

00:38:59.369 --> 00:39:02.750
what you want you know i obviously i love granite

00:39:02.750 --> 00:39:05.250
but i just want people to be happy and so i just

00:39:05.250 --> 00:39:09.150
said bill i i'm expecting a baby i'm just trying

00:39:09.150 --> 00:39:13.190
to figure out what my life looks like and um

00:39:13.190 --> 00:39:16.530
he just kind of said so would you be interested

00:39:16.530 --> 00:39:19.750
in being connected to this art school? And I

00:39:19.750 --> 00:39:22.230
said, a hundred percent. I said, I know they

00:39:22.230 --> 00:39:23.570
probably already have their principal figured

00:39:23.570 --> 00:39:25.989
out, but if there's an AP position, you know,

00:39:25.989 --> 00:39:28.449
and he just said, okay, so that would, that would

00:39:28.449 --> 00:39:31.250
be like your favorite choice. And I said, for

00:39:31.250 --> 00:39:36.090
sure. And so in my second interview, that was

00:39:36.090 --> 00:39:39.260
when I mentioned the halftime thing. And they

00:39:39.260 --> 00:39:41.159
all kind of looked surprised. And I was like,

00:39:41.159 --> 00:39:43.960
you do offer halftime contracts, right? And they

00:39:43.960 --> 00:39:48.610
all just kind of said, yeah, no, we do. and what

00:39:48.610 --> 00:39:50.789
i didn't know is that they were already talking

00:39:50.789 --> 00:39:54.050
about offering me the position as the principal

00:39:54.050 --> 00:39:58.550
um and so in talking with bill he didn't tell

00:39:58.550 --> 00:40:00.969
me anything but he was just kind of like i think

00:40:00.969 --> 00:40:02.710
you need to be honest if you're really interested

00:40:02.710 --> 00:40:04.469
in this art school i think you need to be honest

00:40:04.469 --> 00:40:09.590
and so i called um who is now my boss her name

00:40:09.590 --> 00:40:12.309
is lisa and just said you know i know i said

00:40:12.309 --> 00:40:14.110
i was looking for half time i'm really looking

00:40:14.110 --> 00:40:19.710
for the right fit and Um, I mean, long story

00:40:19.710 --> 00:40:21.829
shorter, I guess, cause it's not short at this

00:40:21.829 --> 00:40:24.170
point, but they ended up offering me this position

00:40:24.170 --> 00:40:26.369
as the principal at this arts integration magnet

00:40:26.369 --> 00:40:32.590
school. And I just felt like it merged everything

00:40:32.590 --> 00:40:36.329
that I had ever wanted. Um, when I called my

00:40:36.329 --> 00:40:39.590
husband, I said, I, I feel like this is weird

00:40:39.590 --> 00:40:41.769
because I've just, I've tried to leave education

00:40:41.769 --> 00:40:44.590
so many times. Like I've, I tried to leave when

00:40:44.590 --> 00:40:48.960
I was like, going to law school i'm trying to

00:40:48.960 --> 00:40:52.460
leave now and i just feel like it's not the right

00:40:52.460 --> 00:40:55.719
thing for me um and then i told him i said they

00:40:55.719 --> 00:40:58.960
offered me the art school and he was just like

00:40:58.960 --> 00:41:01.440
you have talked about opening an art school since

00:41:01.440 --> 00:41:04.099
i met you you would be crazy to turn this down

00:41:04.099 --> 00:41:07.860
um so you know we thought about it for a few

00:41:07.860 --> 00:41:10.519
days but he was just like you you need to do

00:41:10.519 --> 00:41:14.179
this and so we're starting our sixth year um

00:41:14.179 --> 00:41:18.789
but even after i had my baby I was wholly unprepared

00:41:18.789 --> 00:41:21.030
for how difficult it would be to leave her. And

00:41:21.030 --> 00:41:25.849
so as my starting date loomed closer and closer,

00:41:26.090 --> 00:41:29.650
I just started thinking, how can I gracefully

00:41:29.650 --> 00:41:32.130
get out of this position that I have committed

00:41:32.130 --> 00:41:34.610
to? Like, how can I not do this job? Because

00:41:34.610 --> 00:41:39.489
I loved Granite. I loved being there. I knew

00:41:39.489 --> 00:41:42.389
everybody. I was friends with everybody. And

00:41:42.389 --> 00:41:45.110
I knew no one in Jordan. I didn't know a soul.

00:41:45.349 --> 00:41:48.650
And that was a really scary leap for me. And

00:41:48.650 --> 00:41:51.869
I didn't want to. And I just kept thinking, I

00:41:51.869 --> 00:41:53.690
just want to quit. And I just want to stay home

00:41:53.690 --> 00:41:56.329
with my baby. I didn't know what I was going

00:41:56.329 --> 00:41:59.230
to do for childcare. Three weeks before I went

00:41:59.230 --> 00:42:04.210
back to work, my mom had a neighbor who had a

00:42:04.210 --> 00:42:07.630
daughter with severe disabilities. When she was

00:42:07.630 --> 00:42:09.010
born, they told her she wouldn't live past the

00:42:09.010 --> 00:42:13.340
age of two. And she died at the age of 44. And

00:42:13.340 --> 00:42:15.679
her mom had cared for her all of these years.

00:42:16.239 --> 00:42:19.380
And after she passed away, she said to my mom,

00:42:19.559 --> 00:42:21.760
what's Marianne doing with her baby? And my mom

00:42:21.760 --> 00:42:25.260
said, she doesn't know. And she said, I need

00:42:25.260 --> 00:42:28.699
somebody to take care of. And so my child care

00:42:28.699 --> 00:42:31.260
fell into place, right? And so then I was like,

00:42:31.280 --> 00:42:34.320
okay, I can't blame it on child care. So it's

00:42:34.320 --> 00:42:38.699
all of these things. And I'm a very creative

00:42:38.699 --> 00:42:41.559
person. And I could not think of a way to get

00:42:41.559 --> 00:42:44.880
out of this job. So I started it. I ended up

00:42:44.880 --> 00:42:47.920
loving it. It's still really difficult. I tell

00:42:47.920 --> 00:42:49.579
my boss all the time, if they move me, then I'll

00:42:49.579 --> 00:42:51.940
just resign because I, in fact, still don't love

00:42:51.940 --> 00:42:54.159
being principal. It's still a lot of conflict.

00:42:55.179 --> 00:42:58.639
It's still a lot of hard conversations that keep

00:42:58.639 --> 00:43:00.840
me up at night and I stress about them and I

00:43:00.840 --> 00:43:05.940
worry about them. And I would be wholly unsuccessful

00:43:05.940 --> 00:43:08.960
at this job if I didn't work with the team that

00:43:08.960 --> 00:43:12.389
I do. But it's, again, a Title I school, very

00:43:12.389 --> 00:43:17.469
low income. Our scores have increased beyond

00:43:17.469 --> 00:43:20.710
anything I ever even thought possible. Our kids

00:43:20.710 --> 00:43:22.590
are learning. Our kids are happy. They're doing

00:43:22.590 --> 00:43:28.070
well. We're not perfect. But it is so invigorating

00:43:28.070 --> 00:43:30.829
to be part of something that really feels like

00:43:30.829 --> 00:43:33.909
it matters. And to be working with people who

00:43:33.909 --> 00:43:36.750
have different skills. And just like in the movie,

00:43:36.929 --> 00:43:40.030
right? it was funny you talked about attention

00:43:40.030 --> 00:43:42.010
spans because i have never seen someone with

00:43:42.010 --> 00:43:44.489
worse adhd than basil of baker street like he

00:43:44.489 --> 00:43:47.510
is oh yeah he's all over the place yeah and that

00:43:47.510 --> 00:43:50.190
is me right like i tell people all the time like

00:43:50.190 --> 00:43:52.269
this job will give you adhd whether you had it

00:43:52.269 --> 00:43:54.250
or not before you started it will give you adhd

00:43:54.250 --> 00:43:55.750
because there are always a million problems that

00:43:55.750 --> 00:43:58.969
you're juggling um and so as i'm watching it

00:43:58.969 --> 00:44:01.849
i'm like that's that's me like i'm that guy i'm

00:44:01.849 --> 00:44:04.670
like all over the place you think i'm not paying

00:44:04.670 --> 00:44:06.809
attention but then like i'll have observations

00:44:06.809 --> 00:44:10.289
but also like nothing is organized like i rely

00:44:10.289 --> 00:44:13.090
on my team for that my team executes so many

00:44:13.090 --> 00:44:16.849
things um but yeah so when you when you think

00:44:16.849 --> 00:44:20.610
about that with um like the the moving when we

00:44:20.610 --> 00:44:23.010
look at the dynamic that they had right with

00:44:23.010 --> 00:44:25.610
basil and him kind of being over the map and

00:44:25.610 --> 00:44:31.929
him really needing um is it is it it's a take

00:44:31.929 --> 00:44:33.530
on watson right i'm trying to think what the

00:44:33.949 --> 00:44:36.829
is this his name yeah dr dawson awesome dr doctor

00:44:36.829 --> 00:44:40.510
right dr dawson doing that and then uh the little

00:44:40.510 --> 00:44:43.309
girl olivia right in in reality like the three

00:44:43.309 --> 00:44:46.010
of them together what make it happen uh basil

00:44:46.010 --> 00:44:49.110
could not have done it on his own and i do think

00:44:49.110 --> 00:44:51.210
it's a fun dynamic to see throughout all of sherlock

00:44:51.210 --> 00:44:54.130
holmes lore right that like dr watson and sherlock

00:44:54.130 --> 00:44:56.510
holmes do find this way to really counterbalance

00:44:56.510 --> 00:44:59.219
everybody sees Columns is a brilliant guy, but

00:44:59.219 --> 00:45:01.039
in reality, like he had to have the grounding

00:45:01.039 --> 00:45:03.039
nature of Dr. Watson to really be able to make

00:45:03.039 --> 00:45:05.480
it work. For you, you go, you step into this

00:45:05.480 --> 00:45:09.440
position in this, this, I mean, really kind of

00:45:09.440 --> 00:45:11.239
ideal situation, right? With being in our school.

00:45:12.760 --> 00:45:16.500
How was it difficult at all for you to find a

00:45:16.500 --> 00:45:18.320
way to trust your team to be able to offload

00:45:18.320 --> 00:45:20.340
things onto them? Did you feel like you had to

00:45:20.340 --> 00:45:22.699
hang on to things at first before you could?

00:45:23.360 --> 00:45:27.739
At first, at first, um, some things know, right.

00:45:27.840 --> 00:45:31.519
I have an instructional coach who, um, knows

00:45:31.519 --> 00:45:33.739
more about teaching kids to read than I will

00:45:33.739 --> 00:45:37.860
ever know. And so things like that, um, not at

00:45:37.860 --> 00:45:40.300
all. My other instructional coach is just, she's.

00:45:40.670 --> 00:45:43.090
an incredible executor and so sometimes i didn't

00:45:43.090 --> 00:45:45.070
even know i was delegating things to her i would

00:45:45.070 --> 00:45:47.010
like we would be meeting and i would say wouldn't

00:45:47.010 --> 00:45:49.389
it be cool if like this happened and the next

00:45:49.389 --> 00:45:51.690
thing i know she's created wouldn't it be cool

00:45:51.690 --> 00:45:53.710
if and she's like here's the system here's how

00:45:53.710 --> 00:45:55.429
it's gonna work and i would just kind of be like

00:45:55.429 --> 00:45:59.789
the thing that's been tricky for me is to um

00:45:59.789 --> 00:46:05.170
let go early enough coming full circle uh letting

00:46:05.170 --> 00:46:07.690
go of discipline has been really difficult for

00:46:07.690 --> 00:46:09.909
me. Letting my assistant principals take over

00:46:09.909 --> 00:46:12.050
discipline is really hard for me because I got

00:46:12.050 --> 00:46:19.349
so good at it. And so while I've had amazing

00:46:19.349 --> 00:46:21.869
assistant principals, that's one that's really

00:46:21.869 --> 00:46:23.630
difficult for me, especially if I have a relationship

00:46:23.630 --> 00:46:26.429
with the kid, right? Imagine your child does

00:46:26.429 --> 00:46:29.869
something dumb, like letting your neighbor handle

00:46:29.869 --> 00:46:34.480
that. that's that's some control that's difficult

00:46:34.480 --> 00:46:37.400
to let go of it's tough how have you navigated

00:46:37.400 --> 00:46:41.579
that is it because you know i think what's interesting

00:46:41.579 --> 00:46:45.079
about um schools and school districts and administration

00:46:45.079 --> 00:46:47.639
is there's lots of parallels to just business

00:46:47.639 --> 00:46:50.480
in general because the reality is in your role

00:46:50.480 --> 00:46:52.840
where you're needing to do certain things and

00:46:52.840 --> 00:46:55.719
have a certain role and needing to delegate that

00:46:55.719 --> 00:46:58.380
to other people there's tons of similarities

00:46:58.380 --> 00:47:01.440
when i look at pretty much any business, the

00:47:01.440 --> 00:47:03.480
owner of the business versus the people they're

00:47:03.480 --> 00:47:05.119
putting in place to help run certain things in

00:47:05.119 --> 00:47:08.739
the business. How have you navigated that when

00:47:08.739 --> 00:47:13.000
you do need to just trust them to go do it, but

00:47:13.000 --> 00:47:15.119
at times knowing you need to step in and coach

00:47:15.119 --> 00:47:16.960
them more and help them. So you don't go take

00:47:16.960 --> 00:47:18.699
over, right? Because that would be bad. Right.

00:47:19.079 --> 00:47:20.960
But then to coach them and know when to coach

00:47:20.960 --> 00:47:23.079
them in the right moments, when to coach or when

00:47:23.079 --> 00:47:25.820
just to let it happen. Yeah. And that's a very

00:47:25.820 --> 00:47:27.440
nuanced thing, especially when you're dealing

00:47:27.440 --> 00:47:31.800
with people's children. Oh, right. Especially

00:47:31.800 --> 00:47:35.380
when you're dealing with parents who may know

00:47:35.380 --> 00:47:38.960
me. Right. And now all of a sudden, like my assistant

00:47:38.960 --> 00:47:41.340
principal is calling them and they're new to

00:47:41.340 --> 00:47:43.699
the building or they don't have that previous

00:47:43.699 --> 00:47:49.920
relationship. And, you know, I've had. i've had

00:47:49.920 --> 00:47:52.699
assistant principals that were brand brand new

00:47:52.699 --> 00:47:56.619
that i've trained that's a little easier because

00:47:56.619 --> 00:48:00.099
then i can model the the strategies that i like

00:48:00.099 --> 00:48:03.039
and i can model that for them and then do a slow

00:48:03.039 --> 00:48:05.760
release um when i've had people who are a little

00:48:05.760 --> 00:48:09.320
bit more seasoned and and had kind of their own

00:48:09.320 --> 00:48:13.059
styles um i've just been really fortunate that

00:48:13.059 --> 00:48:15.719
they've all been really good so while it's difficult

00:48:15.719 --> 00:48:21.179
to let go um i have been able to like sometimes

00:48:21.179 --> 00:48:23.239
i have to just like ring my finger fingers under

00:48:23.239 --> 00:48:26.739
the table so i don't jump in right um but watch

00:48:26.739 --> 00:48:30.480
and then afterwards just kind of say i maybe

00:48:30.480 --> 00:48:32.880
would have said that or i maybe you know like

00:48:32.880 --> 00:48:35.159
just just a heads up i know you don't know this

00:48:35.159 --> 00:48:37.980
background about this student but you know yeah

00:48:37.980 --> 00:48:40.099
it's interesting as you're talking about that

00:48:40.099 --> 00:48:43.760
like we've got great attorneys here very very

00:48:43.760 --> 00:48:47.420
good uh practitioners I get referrals. I've been

00:48:47.420 --> 00:48:48.820
doing this a long time. So I'll get referrals.

00:48:48.900 --> 00:48:52.099
I don't do cases anymore. So my job is to manage

00:48:52.099 --> 00:48:56.480
the firm, drive cases here, run all the business

00:48:56.480 --> 00:48:59.139
operations side of things. When I do get referrals,

00:48:59.539 --> 00:49:02.000
I have to give those to somebody else. And sometimes

00:49:02.000 --> 00:49:04.420
it's somebody that I know very, very well. And

00:49:04.420 --> 00:49:07.960
when people reach out and say like, oh, this

00:49:07.960 --> 00:49:11.599
isn't going well. it's really easy for me to

00:49:11.599 --> 00:49:13.079
be like, oh, okay, well, let me tell you exactly

00:49:13.079 --> 00:49:14.480
what is happening here. Let me tell you the advice

00:49:14.480 --> 00:49:16.059
about this case. Let me tell you how this should

00:49:16.059 --> 00:49:17.320
work. I'm going to tell you about this commissioner

00:49:17.320 --> 00:49:19.059
and I'm going to tell you about opposing counsel.

00:49:19.500 --> 00:49:23.300
But if I do that, then I've really harmed my

00:49:23.300 --> 00:49:26.420
attorney's ability to execute on their job. And

00:49:26.420 --> 00:49:27.980
I've had to learn that the hard way because I've

00:49:27.980 --> 00:49:29.920
messed up sometimes, right? Or I have like, oh,

00:49:29.940 --> 00:49:32.119
it's just so easy because I know this about this

00:49:32.119 --> 00:49:35.489
case or about this court, right? um but taking

00:49:35.489 --> 00:49:38.989
the extra time to then talk to my team and say

00:49:38.989 --> 00:49:41.929
hey help me understand what's going on here let

00:49:41.929 --> 00:49:44.429
me give you some background knowledge kind of

00:49:44.429 --> 00:49:46.750
like you just indicated it goes a long way into

00:49:46.750 --> 00:49:49.570
building my trust with my team yeah like okay

00:49:49.570 --> 00:49:51.010
ryan's gonna have him back he's not gonna cut

00:49:51.010 --> 00:49:53.269
me out uh you're not gonna cut my knees out from

00:49:53.269 --> 00:49:54.869
underneath me right with a client because that's

00:49:54.869 --> 00:49:57.050
bad he's gonna like come and talk to me about

00:49:57.050 --> 00:49:59.650
it and then allow me to do to my job and it's

00:49:59.650 --> 00:50:01.889
it's hard because it's hard to like let that

00:50:01.889 --> 00:50:05.139
go sometimes because like I know this person.

00:50:05.159 --> 00:50:06.619
I brought them in. Like, that's really hard.

00:50:07.059 --> 00:50:09.900
But it's so much better if you can do it effectively.

00:50:10.159 --> 00:50:11.719
I'm going to read you a quote, okay? You ready

00:50:11.719 --> 00:50:13.460
for this? This is not going to be a general one.

00:50:13.659 --> 00:50:15.559
Do you know who John Maxwell is? John C. Maxwell?

00:50:16.599 --> 00:50:19.519
He's an author, written a ton of books, public

00:50:19.519 --> 00:50:22.360
speaker. He's just amazing in the leadership

00:50:22.360 --> 00:50:25.659
space. Like, he is amazing. And one of the things

00:50:25.659 --> 00:50:27.599
he said, this is a very small quote from his

00:50:27.599 --> 00:50:30.820
book called The 17 Indisputable Laws of Teamwork.

00:50:31.500 --> 00:50:33.840
He said, one is too small a number to achieve

00:50:33.840 --> 00:50:38.239
greatness. And so how have you seen that be true?

00:50:38.360 --> 00:50:39.519
Because you said you love your team. How have

00:50:39.519 --> 00:50:42.000
you seen that be true for you guys to accomplish

00:50:42.000 --> 00:50:46.219
what you want to at your school? Oh, that is

00:50:46.219 --> 00:50:48.619
a really good question. And I love that you said

00:50:48.619 --> 00:50:53.239
that because sometimes, and I don't think anyone

00:50:53.239 --> 00:50:56.380
has any kind of ill intent when they do this,

00:50:56.440 --> 00:51:00.960
but because I'm the principal. people tend to

00:51:00.960 --> 00:51:02.840
bring those compliments of like, oh, your school

00:51:02.840 --> 00:51:05.019
is doing so well. You're doing such a great job.

00:51:05.280 --> 00:51:08.139
And I don't know how to diffuse that enough,

00:51:08.360 --> 00:51:10.880
right? I think people think I'm just like false

00:51:10.880 --> 00:51:12.960
humility when I'm like, no, it's my team. It

00:51:12.960 --> 00:51:16.039
is really my team. Like there, I could not go

00:51:16.039 --> 00:51:18.000
to another school and replicate what I am doing.

00:51:19.800 --> 00:51:23.920
And what's unique about my team right now is

00:51:23.920 --> 00:51:28.239
our skill sets are also very different. and um

00:51:28.239 --> 00:51:30.840
my assistant principal could not be more different

00:51:30.840 --> 00:51:35.079
from me um but we also could not be better teammates

00:51:35.079 --> 00:51:39.139
like i love her and when you're aligned on the

00:51:39.139 --> 00:51:41.699
purpose when you're aligned in the mission um

00:51:41.699 --> 00:51:46.360
then it's a lot easier to understand like hey

00:51:46.360 --> 00:51:48.679
we are we're aligned we're trying to accomplish

00:51:48.679 --> 00:51:50.880
the same thing maybe we go about different ways

00:51:50.880 --> 00:51:53.119
we may have disagreements but if we have mission

00:51:53.119 --> 00:51:55.940
alignment now it's easier to weather that storm

00:51:57.380 --> 00:52:00.920
So let's contrast that for a second with Rattigan.

00:52:01.880 --> 00:52:04.760
So tell me where you think it comes from with

00:52:04.760 --> 00:52:08.119
Rattigan to try to tell everybody that he's a

00:52:08.119 --> 00:52:11.519
mouse and that he refuses to acknowledge that

00:52:11.519 --> 00:52:13.500
he's a rat even though it's in his name, right?

00:52:13.639 --> 00:52:15.980
And then one guy who accidentally calls him a

00:52:15.980 --> 00:52:18.960
rat gets fed that they can't. Now this obviously

00:52:18.960 --> 00:52:21.119
sounds like an extreme example, right? But like

00:52:21.119 --> 00:52:23.800
in what ways is that really emblematic sometimes

00:52:23.800 --> 00:52:26.920
of mistakes that leaders make? Ooh, that's a

00:52:26.920 --> 00:52:30.300
really good point. Yeah, I need a backstory on

00:52:30.300 --> 00:52:34.320
Radigan, right? Yeah. That would be so cute.

00:52:34.920 --> 00:52:40.559
Prequel here. Because up to this point, every

00:52:40.559 --> 00:52:43.320
character, like their best laid plans have been

00:52:43.320 --> 00:52:46.460
interrupted, right? Even Flavisham, the toy maker.

00:52:47.289 --> 00:52:49.610
there's there's no mom in this story and olivia

00:52:49.610 --> 00:52:51.750
is upfront about that because basil is like just

00:52:51.750 --> 00:52:53.949
go ask your mom to find him and she's like i

00:52:53.949 --> 00:52:56.750
don't i don't have a mom right so that wasn't

00:52:56.750 --> 00:53:00.670
in their plan um basil helping this little girl

00:53:00.670 --> 00:53:02.909
like when he's not really a kid person like that

00:53:02.909 --> 00:53:05.389
wasn't in his plan dr watson getting her up into

00:53:05.389 --> 00:53:07.409
this dr dawson getting her up that wasn't in

00:53:07.409 --> 00:53:12.469
his plan um and you can tell that somewhere along

00:53:12.469 --> 00:53:16.639
the way like radigan's best laid plans also interrupted

00:53:16.639 --> 00:53:21.179
yeah like he's clearly not a happy human um and

00:53:21.179 --> 00:53:25.500
i think it speaks so much to how we respond when

00:53:25.500 --> 00:53:30.480
like controversy and adversity he even says i

00:53:30.480 --> 00:53:33.400
wrote this down um he's doing like a little monologue

00:53:33.400 --> 00:53:36.139
when he's first introduced he sings a really

00:53:36.139 --> 00:53:41.800
great song too by the way um but he he wallows

00:53:41.800 --> 00:53:45.079
in his self -described he says like i have experienced

00:53:45.079 --> 00:53:49.780
so much adversity um but this you know i overcame

00:53:49.780 --> 00:53:52.179
it and that's why i'm powerful and that's why

00:53:52.179 --> 00:53:57.320
i'm so great and so um i think it's very telling

00:53:57.320 --> 00:54:00.400
that he has this complex about being a rat he

00:54:00.400 --> 00:54:02.860
doesn't love himself he doesn't love who he is

00:54:02.860 --> 00:54:06.619
um he's chosen to take the adversity and blame

00:54:06.619 --> 00:54:09.690
it on other people i also think it's interesting

00:54:09.690 --> 00:54:11.530
when he does at the point in the movie where

00:54:11.530 --> 00:54:15.369
he captures basil and he's you know he's tricked

00:54:15.369 --> 00:54:23.250
him into his trap um he tears down basil in such

00:54:23.250 --> 00:54:27.110
a way that like it guts basil right he's and

00:54:27.110 --> 00:54:29.710
i'm just watching this and i'm watching him like

00:54:29.710 --> 00:54:33.250
berate him and cut down every part of him that

00:54:33.250 --> 00:54:38.010
he knows really matters to basil um as as a true

00:54:38.010 --> 00:54:40.989
bully would yeah and i was watching that thinking

00:54:40.989 --> 00:54:43.530
somebody did that to him yeah or he believed

00:54:43.530 --> 00:54:46.670
that about himself and he thinks the only way

00:54:46.670 --> 00:54:50.789
to fix it is to become powerful and power is

00:54:50.789 --> 00:54:55.170
never satiated and so he can't get enough um

00:54:55.880 --> 00:54:58.300
so it's interesting he's projecting yes he's

00:54:58.300 --> 00:55:01.739
projecting his own insecurities onto basil so

00:55:01.739 --> 00:55:05.000
that he can try to feel more powerful yes i tear

00:55:05.000 --> 00:55:07.360
you down because it helps me feel better about

00:55:07.360 --> 00:55:10.480
who i am and even though i'm telling you you're

00:55:10.480 --> 00:55:13.460
a fool and you're not a great detective and you're

00:55:13.460 --> 00:55:17.400
not that smart like those are my fears but i'm

00:55:17.400 --> 00:55:19.699
saying out loud but that's thinking about you

00:55:19.699 --> 00:55:23.360
and i think when when people are not in the best

00:55:23.360 --> 00:55:27.460
version of themselves when they're not self -aware

00:55:27.460 --> 00:55:30.820
of things they have, then I think ego gets in

00:55:30.820 --> 00:55:33.159
the way and we try to call ourselves a mouse

00:55:33.159 --> 00:55:37.400
when we're a rat. And it's okay to be a rat.

00:55:38.199 --> 00:55:40.800
Right? If you're a rat, it's okay to be a rat,

00:55:40.940 --> 00:55:44.920
right? It just is. But sometimes that's hard.

00:55:44.980 --> 00:55:47.159
Sometimes it's hard to accept our shortcomings.

00:55:47.579 --> 00:55:50.119
Sometimes it's hard to accept who we are. Sometimes

00:55:50.119 --> 00:55:52.599
it's hard to find the authenticity that exists.

00:55:55.130 --> 00:55:59.090
But when you can, right, then Basil and Dr. Dawson

00:55:59.090 --> 00:56:02.570
and Olivia and Flaversham, is that? Flaversham.

00:56:02.730 --> 00:56:04.969
Flaversham. That's right. You say it with a British

00:56:04.969 --> 00:56:08.889
accent, right? When they do, then much like we're

00:56:08.889 --> 00:56:10.809
saying, then they can achieve greatness and something

00:56:10.809 --> 00:56:13.250
actually great can happen, not something horrific

00:56:13.250 --> 00:56:15.989
and horrible like Radigan's trying to do. Yeah.

00:56:15.989 --> 00:56:18.449
I think it's really interesting. I was surprised

00:56:18.449 --> 00:56:22.349
at how much I loved Olivia. Ah, yes. Which you

00:56:22.349 --> 00:56:24.809
shouldn't be, right? Because you work with little

00:56:24.809 --> 00:56:27.150
kids. Right. And you have some little kids. And

00:56:27.150 --> 00:56:28.889
you're like, wait a second. Of course I love

00:56:28.889 --> 00:56:31.750
Olivia. Yeah. But she is awesome. She really

00:56:31.750 --> 00:56:35.849
is. And she's smart. And she contributes. And

00:56:35.849 --> 00:56:39.070
I found it very funny. At one point, they go

00:56:39.070 --> 00:56:40.769
to a toy shop, right? It's not her dad's toy

00:56:40.769 --> 00:56:43.409
shop. They go to a, they're chasing the bat because

00:56:43.409 --> 00:56:44.869
they're trying to find Rattigan. And they know

00:56:44.869 --> 00:56:47.130
the bat will lead them to Rattigan. And they

00:56:47.130 --> 00:56:49.230
wind up in this toy shop. And I was watching

00:56:49.230 --> 00:56:53.199
it. And both Dr. Dawson and Basil are essentially

00:56:53.199 --> 00:56:55.159
ignoring her, right? They're letting her tag

00:56:55.159 --> 00:56:59.579
along, but they're not. And I'm thinking, she

00:56:59.579 --> 00:57:02.760
is the expert in the room right now. This five

00:57:02.760 --> 00:57:05.699
-year -old knows more about these toys than the

00:57:05.699 --> 00:57:09.300
two of you could possibly know combined. And

00:57:09.300 --> 00:57:14.159
you're overlooking her. And she, you know, I

00:57:14.159 --> 00:57:16.039
mean, she's still a kid. She plays with toys

00:57:16.039 --> 00:57:19.170
and that. causes some consternation for basil

00:57:19.170 --> 00:57:23.989
of baker street um but ultimately she contributes

00:57:23.989 --> 00:57:29.230
quite a bit to the success of the story um you

00:57:29.230 --> 00:57:32.070
know at one point they crash into big ben and

00:57:32.070 --> 00:57:37.010
um bradigan is about to push basil like down

00:57:37.010 --> 00:57:40.630
the shaft of big ben and you know she's the one

00:57:40.630 --> 00:57:46.900
that warns him and i I love her tenacity. I love

00:57:46.900 --> 00:57:49.519
her, like, I'm not going to take no for an answer.

00:57:49.900 --> 00:57:53.579
And her confidence, right? You juxtapose that

00:57:53.579 --> 00:57:57.679
with Radigan, who is so insecure. She knows who

00:57:57.679 --> 00:58:02.820
she is. She also comes from a loving home. But

00:58:02.820 --> 00:58:10.539
she has a confidence that radiates. It radiates

00:58:10.539 --> 00:58:13.980
to Dr. Dawson. It radiates to Basil. because

00:58:13.980 --> 00:58:16.780
she is not willing to give up and because she

00:58:16.780 --> 00:58:18.940
has the confidence that they can be successful

00:58:18.940 --> 00:58:23.239
they are successful um even when she's not you

00:58:23.239 --> 00:58:25.280
know big enough or strong enough and she's a

00:58:25.280 --> 00:58:28.460
little kid to help in certain ways she never

00:58:28.460 --> 00:58:32.679
stops trying which i absolutely love about her

00:58:32.679 --> 00:58:38.059
um you know and connecting that back to like

00:58:38.059 --> 00:58:41.559
not loving administration I had somebody who

00:58:41.559 --> 00:58:43.599
told me like a year and a half in just quit.

00:58:43.760 --> 00:58:46.900
Like, it doesn't matter. Just quit. And I wanted

00:58:46.900 --> 00:58:49.519
to, and I'm really, really glad that I didn't

00:58:49.519 --> 00:58:52.920
because even though it's like still a very stressful

00:58:52.920 --> 00:58:57.260
part of my life, the things I have learned and

00:58:57.260 --> 00:59:01.440
the experiences that I have had, I wouldn't trade

00:59:01.440 --> 00:59:04.519
them for anything. So I'm going to read you another

00:59:04.519 --> 00:59:09.000
quote. It's from Jim Collins. Okay. Jim Collins.

00:59:10.199 --> 00:59:13.659
wrote a book called good to great okay um and

00:59:13.659 --> 00:59:16.039
in it he talks about level five leaders which

00:59:16.039 --> 00:59:19.320
are like the ideal type of a leader right so

00:59:19.320 --> 00:59:20.940
just to give that purpose because it's the quotes

00:59:20.940 --> 00:59:23.519
about level five leaders it says level five leaders

00:59:23.519 --> 00:59:27.079
display a powerful mixture of personal humility

00:59:27.079 --> 00:59:33.059
and indomitable will okay which i think is interesting

00:59:33.059 --> 00:59:35.559
because we talk about juxtaposition right things

00:59:35.559 --> 00:59:39.860
that may seemingly be the opposite Kind of like

00:59:39.860 --> 00:59:41.099
what we're about here in yes and land, right?

00:59:41.159 --> 00:59:44.179
Yes. And yes, you can be humble and you can also

00:59:44.179 --> 00:59:49.139
have an indomitable will. How do you see that

00:59:49.139 --> 00:59:54.239
having played a role in your leadership in the

00:59:54.239 --> 00:59:56.480
school you're in? I love that. That's such a

00:59:56.480 --> 01:00:01.840
good question. When I got to my school, we were

01:00:01.840 --> 01:00:05.000
in what we call TSI, targeted school improvement.

01:00:05.799 --> 01:00:07.780
And essentially, it means that our school had

01:00:07.780 --> 01:00:09.840
been performing in the bottom 5 % of schools

01:00:09.840 --> 01:00:14.920
in the state. And if you are in TSI for more

01:00:14.920 --> 01:00:18.400
than three years, then you shift into what they

01:00:18.400 --> 01:00:20.840
call continuous school improvement, which essentially

01:00:20.840 --> 01:00:22.460
means the state comes in and takes over your

01:00:22.460 --> 01:00:24.980
building. They tell you what you can and can't

01:00:24.980 --> 01:00:29.239
do. They come in and do a full evaluation of

01:00:29.239 --> 01:00:34.340
everybody. It's intense. Nobody likes that. And

01:00:34.340 --> 01:00:38.360
after my second year there, we were staring down

01:00:38.360 --> 01:00:41.360
that barrel of like, if we can't get our scores

01:00:41.360 --> 01:00:46.980
up, we're going to be in big trouble. Now, to

01:00:46.980 --> 01:00:50.179
be clear, like half the schools in my district,

01:00:50.239 --> 01:00:53.679
you can be in TSI for any number of categories.

01:00:54.559 --> 01:00:56.820
if if your low income kids are in the bottom

01:00:56.820 --> 01:00:59.760
five percent then you can be in tsi if your um

01:00:59.760 --> 01:01:02.079
english learners are in the bottom five percent

01:01:02.079 --> 01:01:04.679
you can be in tsi if you're low in or when you

01:01:04.679 --> 01:01:07.320
said low income um if you're special ed students

01:01:07.320 --> 01:01:10.179
like so there are all of these categories so

01:01:10.179 --> 01:01:15.820
like most schools like many schools i should

01:01:15.820 --> 01:01:18.960
say will find themselves like designated in tsi

01:01:18.960 --> 01:01:22.460
at one point or another um and especially title

01:01:22.460 --> 01:01:27.179
one title one it's like very common to be in

01:01:27.179 --> 01:01:31.460
tsi um it's also very difficult to get out of

01:01:31.460 --> 01:01:38.219
tsi like it's it's a heavy heavy left um and

01:01:38.219 --> 01:01:42.440
i genuinely was like i don't know if we can do

01:01:42.440 --> 01:01:46.019
this but i also knew we didn't have any other

01:01:46.019 --> 01:01:52.639
choice and so like we rallied as a team and we

01:01:52.639 --> 01:01:56.829
accessed all of our resources we met with our

01:01:56.829 --> 01:02:02.070
district data scientists we um we signed up for

01:02:02.070 --> 01:02:07.309
every like training we possibly could um we i

01:02:07.309 --> 01:02:10.349
mean we were all in we were committed and it

01:02:10.349 --> 01:02:13.849
was a team effort so i had like 12 people on

01:02:13.849 --> 01:02:15.329
this team that we were like we're gonna make

01:02:15.329 --> 01:02:21.670
this happen um and we blew it and everyone was

01:02:21.670 --> 01:02:24.590
surprised right nobody saw that coming like not

01:02:24.590 --> 01:02:28.289
the district um i remember very distinctly the

01:02:28.289 --> 01:02:31.210
faculty meeting where i like stood up and was

01:02:31.210 --> 01:02:33.489
just crying and i was like we did it we did it

01:02:33.489 --> 01:02:36.530
we did it um the cool thing about that though

01:02:36.530 --> 01:02:40.250
is that we have stayed out like it's one thing

01:02:40.250 --> 01:02:42.289
to get out it's even more difficult to stay out

01:02:42.289 --> 01:02:50.130
um and i think that this component of like we

01:02:50.130 --> 01:02:52.309
are not going to do that again like we're not

01:02:52.309 --> 01:02:55.170
going to find ourselves in that situation um

01:02:55.170 --> 01:03:02.010
has definitely been something that has has become

01:03:02.010 --> 01:03:06.769
kind of a core value of our school yeah um i'm

01:03:06.769 --> 01:03:09.269
also very good at and that is one of my strengths

01:03:09.269 --> 01:03:11.869
on our team right i am good at not taking over

01:03:11.869 --> 01:03:14.329
an answer and finding ways to get things done

01:03:15.300 --> 01:03:18.820
um whether that be like finding funding or like

01:03:18.820 --> 01:03:22.840
i'm a good networker and so like i do think that

01:03:22.840 --> 01:03:25.000
that is a component that i bring to the table

01:03:25.000 --> 01:03:28.659
so um it's it's interesting that you say that

01:03:28.659 --> 01:03:31.619
and i have i have one dream that i have yet to

01:03:31.619 --> 01:03:35.840
achieve but i like mark my words i'm gonna make

01:03:35.840 --> 01:03:39.239
this happen well let's hear it i want to take

01:03:39.239 --> 01:03:42.019
my kids to disneyland right you haven't taken

01:03:42.019 --> 01:03:44.099
disneyland yet no no not my personal children

01:03:44.719 --> 01:03:49.780
Like my students at my school. Like a certain

01:03:49.780 --> 01:03:52.059
select number? Or like, can you tell me more?

01:03:52.239 --> 01:03:54.599
So Mike Haynes, who is our mutual connection,

01:03:54.780 --> 01:03:57.199
the director of the foundation, he and I have

01:03:57.199 --> 01:04:01.440
had many conversations about, you know, one thing

01:04:01.440 --> 01:04:05.019
that keeps kids in poverty is a lack of experiences.

01:04:05.440 --> 01:04:09.019
Most kids who grow up in the poverty cycle don't

01:04:09.019 --> 01:04:12.199
go without or like they don't leave a five mile

01:04:12.199 --> 01:04:16.840
radius of where they grow up. And so like one

01:04:16.840 --> 01:04:19.519
of my core things that I do for my kids, I really

01:04:19.519 --> 01:04:22.300
try to provide experiences for them so they know

01:04:22.300 --> 01:04:24.940
how to think outside the box, right? Like they

01:04:24.940 --> 01:04:28.179
need to know what options are out there. And

01:04:28.179 --> 01:04:30.579
having a connection, my current assistant principal

01:04:30.579 --> 01:04:32.699
grew up in extreme poverty. She grew up in Compton.

01:04:33.179 --> 01:04:38.519
And she said that when she was in eighth grade,

01:04:38.639 --> 01:04:41.400
like something, they got to go to Maui. I don't

01:04:41.400 --> 01:04:42.599
know how that happened. That must have been.

01:04:43.150 --> 01:04:46.789
a different time um but she said i remember going

01:04:46.789 --> 01:04:49.409
to maui with my school group and i thought to

01:04:49.409 --> 01:04:52.889
myself i am coming back here one day and you

01:04:52.889 --> 01:04:55.010
know she like her older brother was gang involved

01:04:55.010 --> 01:04:57.929
like she all the odds were stacked against her

01:04:57.929 --> 01:05:00.449
but because of that field trip she was like i

01:05:00.449 --> 01:05:03.539
am going to college and i'm going to have a career

01:05:03.539 --> 01:05:07.139
and i am going to be able to afford to go to

01:05:07.139 --> 01:05:10.159
maui on vacation so that's kind of my thing is

01:05:10.159 --> 01:05:12.619
like i like to provide experiences for my kids

01:05:12.619 --> 01:05:16.500
because i want them to have those things um and

01:05:16.500 --> 01:05:19.579
being an art school we have a full functioning

01:05:19.579 --> 01:05:22.940
band right they're quite good like i know you

01:05:22.940 --> 01:05:24.780
don't you wouldn't think an elementary band is

01:05:24.780 --> 01:05:26.760
like fun to listen to but they really are fun

01:05:26.760 --> 01:05:30.179
like they're good um okay Just for a little fun?

01:05:30.320 --> 01:05:33.579
Yeah. Okay. We'll do this or that. Okay. And

01:05:33.579 --> 01:05:36.880
then we'll do that. Okay. And, you know, if at

01:05:36.880 --> 01:05:38.679
some point in time during any of this you decide

01:05:38.679 --> 01:05:41.119
to bust out a rap, girl, we're over here for

01:05:41.119 --> 01:05:43.239
it. Okay. I don't know how to take it up for

01:05:43.239 --> 01:05:45.980
you well, but, like, don't be shy, okay? Okay.

01:05:46.239 --> 01:05:49.619
Okay, so here's our this or that. Basil or Dr.

01:05:49.739 --> 01:05:56.800
Dawson? Ooh. Ooh, that's so hard. I'm going to

01:05:56.800 --> 01:06:03.070
say Dr. Dawson. I love a reporter. I love somebody

01:06:03.070 --> 01:06:06.969
who doesn't need the glory. I love somebody who

01:06:06.969 --> 01:06:12.590
is just like, I am going to contribute what I

01:06:12.590 --> 01:06:14.889
know how to contribute, but I'm not going to

01:06:14.889 --> 01:06:17.670
be loud about it. Before, when I was writing

01:06:17.670 --> 01:06:21.449
this, 100 % I was Basil. And throughout this

01:06:21.449 --> 01:06:23.429
conversation, you talked about the things that

01:06:23.429 --> 01:06:25.610
he was doing, especially like... recognizing

01:06:25.610 --> 01:06:27.630
that olivia could contribute and then he's helping

01:06:27.630 --> 01:06:29.670
to make this stuff happen and then the support

01:06:29.670 --> 01:06:32.409
that he's giving my answer changed like it's

01:06:32.409 --> 01:06:35.630
dr dawson for me too uh yeah he's fantastic okay

01:06:35.630 --> 01:06:42.849
big ben or buckingham palace oh buckingham palace

01:06:42.849 --> 01:06:46.590
i mean the magical you know there's something

01:06:46.590 --> 01:06:51.329
about a palace yeah that's for sure london fog

01:06:51.329 --> 01:06:56.900
or a clear london night oh as much as i like

01:06:56.900 --> 01:07:01.960
love a good view like fog is so iconic to london

01:07:01.960 --> 01:07:06.539
and like it's so mysterious and just have such

01:07:06.539 --> 01:07:10.960
i think i have to go with fog wait um okay a

01:07:10.960 --> 01:07:15.480
detective hat otherwise known as a a deer stalker

01:07:15.480 --> 01:07:19.880
i had to look it up okay deer stalker or trucker

01:07:19.880 --> 01:07:24.789
hat oh deer stalker okay yeah Recess duty or

01:07:24.789 --> 01:07:28.110
lunch duty? Ooh, recess duty. I love to be outside

01:07:28.110 --> 01:07:30.070
with the kids. I'm sure. I was just talking about

01:07:30.070 --> 01:07:31.510
being a PE teacher. I was like, oh, this is probably

01:07:31.510 --> 01:07:34.969
an easy one for you. Field trip or surprise assembly?

01:07:35.809 --> 01:07:39.250
Ooh, that's a good one. Like, I love working

01:07:39.250 --> 01:07:41.710
in a good assembly, but I'm going to have to

01:07:41.710 --> 01:07:43.510
go with field trip because of the experience

01:07:43.510 --> 01:07:46.510
component. Like, there are things that I can't

01:07:46.510 --> 01:07:48.909
do in an assembly that a field trip can do. Yeah,

01:07:48.949 --> 01:07:52.210
totally fair. Okay, now this one might be real

01:07:52.210 --> 01:07:55.210
controversial. So let's throw this out there,

01:07:55.230 --> 01:07:57.530
all right? Everybody buckle up. Everybody has

01:07:57.530 --> 01:08:00.050
strong opinions on this one too. I know, but

01:08:00.050 --> 01:08:03.590
I've seen it. Whiteboard or chalkboard? Ooh.

01:08:05.989 --> 01:08:09.730
Okay, whiteboard is way more functional. Chalkboard

01:08:09.730 --> 01:08:12.309
is just so classic. And there's something about

01:08:12.309 --> 01:08:14.889
that feeling of like brushing the chalk off between

01:08:14.889 --> 01:08:18.470
your hands. But, you know, if I'm looking at

01:08:18.470 --> 01:08:21.220
what's best for kids. whiteboard okay whiteboard

01:08:21.220 --> 01:08:24.279
every time yeah whiteboards are way easier and

01:08:24.279 --> 01:08:26.760
better let's go into some uh we're gonna go uh

01:08:26.760 --> 01:08:29.319
general pop culture okay okay you ready for this

01:08:29.319 --> 01:08:32.979
yeah hit me up 90s hip -hop or modern hip -hop

01:08:32.979 --> 01:08:36.380
90s hip -hop no battle yeah no battle no battle

01:08:36.380 --> 01:08:42.439
um karaoke or freestyle karaoke uh morning person

01:08:42.439 --> 01:08:46.640
or night owl oh wolf I'm more of a night owl.

01:08:46.720 --> 01:08:48.579
I like to get up early. Like it's satisfying

01:08:48.579 --> 01:08:52.159
to get up and like get your day going. But I

01:08:52.159 --> 01:08:55.319
just, I love the quiet of like being the only

01:08:55.319 --> 01:08:58.000
person awake and doing whatever I want. At night?

01:08:58.539 --> 01:09:01.159
Okay. See, and what's interesting you say that

01:09:01.159 --> 01:09:02.899
is to some extent, that's actually why I like

01:09:02.899 --> 01:09:06.319
super early morning. I like getting up when like

01:09:06.319 --> 01:09:09.600
the world is not yet awake. It is all to myself.

01:09:10.329 --> 01:09:13.989
and i can go get in a workout i can go get some

01:09:13.989 --> 01:09:18.609
work done i'll start doing work um uh and i'll

01:09:18.609 --> 01:09:20.850
read and it's just like i don't know what it

01:09:20.850 --> 01:09:22.850
is when i think the rest of the world's not awake

01:09:22.850 --> 01:09:25.130
i love that time it's for me it's just like i

01:09:25.130 --> 01:09:27.810
found this early yeah it's just me yeah no which

01:09:27.810 --> 01:09:28.810
is interesting because i don't normally like

01:09:28.810 --> 01:09:33.229
being alone like solo travel for the birds I

01:09:33.229 --> 01:09:34.729
did it, like, really for the first time this

01:09:34.729 --> 01:09:37.409
last, like, a few months back. Oh, really? It

01:09:37.409 --> 01:09:39.350
was D .C. before my wife got there, this trip

01:09:39.350 --> 01:09:42.050
I was on. Okay. Oh, my goodness. No, thank you.

01:09:42.149 --> 01:09:45.909
No, thank you. It's horrible. I guess, like,

01:09:45.949 --> 01:09:47.510
maybe that's got to work out some issues. You

01:09:47.510 --> 01:09:50.390
didn't share that experience. No, I did Disneyland

01:09:50.390 --> 01:09:52.970
once by myself when I was studying for the LSAT.

01:09:53.109 --> 01:09:55.970
So I had, like, a mission, right? So I loved

01:09:55.970 --> 01:09:58.010
it because I was there by myself, but I was,

01:09:58.069 --> 01:10:00.770
like, doing something. But, yes, I'm with you

01:10:00.770 --> 01:10:03.399
there. It's more fun with people. um okay here's

01:10:03.399 --> 01:10:06.340
a rapid fire okay favorite disney movie cinderella

01:10:06.340 --> 01:10:12.680
favorite disney song oh okay animated or live

01:10:12.680 --> 01:10:17.739
action give me both okay so there is a very speaking

01:10:17.739 --> 01:10:21.960
of fringe disney movies um there is a live action

01:10:21.960 --> 01:10:24.520
it's not really live it's a it's from like the

01:10:24.520 --> 01:10:26.619
60s it's called the happiest millionaire it's

01:10:26.619 --> 01:10:30.539
leslie ann warren and i can't remember name um

01:10:30.539 --> 01:10:33.239
they actually star in two disney movies so there's

01:10:33.239 --> 01:10:35.399
that there's that one and there's the one and

01:10:35.399 --> 01:10:38.779
only genuine original family band which is probably

01:10:38.779 --> 01:10:45.000
my favorite like people disney movie um but it's

01:10:45.000 --> 01:10:48.020
called are we dancing and it's like a it's a

01:10:48.020 --> 01:10:52.739
very like romance song um but like i love it

01:10:52.739 --> 01:10:56.079
it's very just pretty and simple and well written

01:10:56.079 --> 01:11:00.359
so we're gonna have to like Put a link in the

01:11:00.359 --> 01:11:02.600
descriptions to this episode for this song for

01:11:02.600 --> 01:11:03.840
people. And I'm going to have to go listen to

01:11:03.840 --> 01:11:05.500
it right after. I have no idea what this song

01:11:05.500 --> 01:11:07.079
is. I'm just going to have to totally check it

01:11:07.079 --> 01:11:10.579
out. Very out there. I love it. Yeah. Favorite

01:11:10.579 --> 01:11:13.819
Disney princess. Cinderella. Makes sense. That's

01:11:13.819 --> 01:11:18.020
her movie. Favorite Disney hero or heroine. Mulan.

01:11:19.140 --> 01:11:21.659
I get that one a lot. And that's so for me. When

01:11:21.659 --> 01:11:23.399
I think of a favorite Disney hero, Mulan. All

01:11:23.399 --> 01:11:26.199
day long. Yeah. She's amazing. Such a good story.

01:11:26.439 --> 01:11:28.920
I love that movie, too. Totally rewatchable for

01:11:28.920 --> 01:11:33.579
me. Love it. Favorite ride at Disneyland? Teacups.

01:11:34.760 --> 01:11:37.180
Teacups? Oh, yeah. Teacups? I haven't gotten

01:11:37.180 --> 01:11:39.579
that one yet. Teacups. I love those. Is this

01:11:39.579 --> 01:11:42.260
the nostalgia of it? I think a little bit, yeah.

01:11:42.399 --> 01:11:46.520
I mean, I do love a good, like, spin. Yeah. But,

01:11:46.600 --> 01:11:49.539
like, everybody can ride them. Yeah. Yeah, it's

01:11:49.539 --> 01:11:51.460
probably nostalgia. But, like, no, I love the

01:11:51.460 --> 01:11:54.939
teacups. I, um, I... teasing my dad a little

01:11:54.939 --> 01:11:57.800
bit um but i didn't really go on teacups much

01:11:57.800 --> 01:12:00.460
as a kid because spinning doesn't do well for

01:12:00.460 --> 01:12:03.159
him makes him feel pretty sick so we didn't really

01:12:03.159 --> 01:12:05.380
go i always season we never went he's like oh

01:12:05.380 --> 01:12:07.899
ryan we sometimes went and like it's true sometimes

01:12:07.899 --> 01:12:09.899
if i was telling me never went like that i never

01:12:09.899 --> 01:12:13.399
got gone three cups now i know what i want i

01:12:13.399 --> 01:12:16.039
do enjoy it with the kiddos uh especially when

01:12:16.039 --> 01:12:18.680
they like want me to spin it real fast yeah so

01:12:18.680 --> 01:12:20.520
like sit back and it's like have dad spin it

01:12:20.520 --> 01:12:26.420
yeah it's good favorite Subject to teach. Music.

01:12:26.720 --> 01:12:28.960
Shot with a guest after a conversation. Totally

01:12:28.960 --> 01:12:32.779
makes sense. What we like to end with is three

01:12:32.779 --> 01:12:35.220
actionable takeaways. Okay. Three things that

01:12:35.220 --> 01:12:36.979
you would recommend somebody could put into effect

01:12:36.979 --> 01:12:40.399
today or this week on the topic that we're looking

01:12:40.399 --> 01:12:45.760
at. One is bring what you have to the table and

01:12:45.760 --> 01:12:48.859
be confident in what you can bring to the table.

01:12:51.239 --> 01:12:53.680
But also like you have to work at that, right?

01:12:54.739 --> 01:13:01.000
Number two, you can't do it by yourself. And

01:13:01.000 --> 01:13:03.180
you have to choose, you have to have a team.

01:13:05.260 --> 01:13:08.460
And you have to recognize that the team all pulls

01:13:08.460 --> 01:13:11.180
equal weight, right? There's not one person who

01:13:11.180 --> 01:13:13.880
gets to be more important than anybody else.

01:13:15.579 --> 01:13:18.960
And I think the third one that I would take away

01:13:18.960 --> 01:13:25.229
is, When things don't go as planned, there's

01:13:25.229 --> 01:13:26.949
a good reason for that. And it's going to make

01:13:26.949 --> 01:13:31.189
sense later on. And just trust the process. Love

01:13:31.189 --> 01:13:33.850
it. Absolutely fantastic. Well, thank you so

01:13:33.850 --> 01:13:35.770
much for joining us today. Thank you for having

01:13:35.770 --> 01:13:38.970
me. This has been a blast to talk. You've got

01:13:38.970 --> 01:13:43.289
me super inspired to think about getting majestics.

01:13:43.680 --> 01:13:46.699
and to Disneyland. That'd be so magical. It would

01:13:46.699 --> 01:13:49.520
be magical for that to happen for those kids.

01:13:49.659 --> 01:13:52.140
So stay tuned, everybody. We're gonna see what

01:13:52.140 --> 01:13:55.880
we can do. Sweet. Thanks. Thanks, guys. As you

01:13:55.880 --> 01:13:58.840
leave this conversation, remember that yes, the

01:13:58.840 --> 01:14:01.460
past can hurt and you can either run from it

01:14:01.460 --> 01:14:04.539
or you can learn from it. So here's to learning

01:14:04.539 --> 01:14:07.939
and finding joy in the journey. See you real

01:14:07.939 --> 01:14:08.159
soon.