Oct. 14, 2025

082: What the Mountain Teaches, the Valley Proves: Nurturing Brave Voices with Craig Aarons-Martin

082: What the Mountain Teaches, the Valley Proves: Nurturing Brave Voices with Craig Aarons-Martin
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The first breath of the conversation is gratitude, and from there it builds into a grounded, courageous blueprint for how belonging becomes real. We sit down with Craig Aarons-Martin, CEO of CCM Education Group, to unpack the craft of creating brave spaces in schools and communities, not as a slogan, but as a daily practice shaped by rituals, reciprocal relationships, and stories that center joy without denying the weight of the moment.

Craig shares how his morning rhythm shapes the way he leads culture, equity, and SEL work across classrooms and organizations. He names the mountain and the valley: the mountaintop for its vantage point, the valley for its lessons. That frame powers his new book on brave spaces for LGBTQ+ youth, including the breakthrough chapter on advocacy that documents resilience, tactics, and light. We explore what it means to give “a cup of courage,” how to tell stories that invite action, and why the most effective change starts with regulating our nervous systems so we can co-regulate with students.

If you’re building cultures of belonging, leading SEL initiatives, or searching for practical ways to champion LGBTQ+ and Black boys’ brilliance, this conversation is your map and your spark. 

EPISODE RESOURCES:

00:00 - Welcome & Network Intro

00:44 - Craig’s Work and Season of Growth

02:00 - Gratitude, Valleys, and Peaks

04:42 - Morning Rituals and Reframing Success

07:36 - Writing the Book: Finding Light

10:49 - Brave Voices: Courage in Practice

11:21 - A Student’s Light: Javon’s Story

13:46 - Developmental Relationships That Shape Us

15:10 - Black Boy Joy Summit: Purpose & Expansion

18:12 - Architect of Change: From Classroom to Radio

21:37 - Authenticity, Business, and Identity

25:56 - The Writing Process and Chapter Eight

30:02 - Advocacy, Witness, and Renewal

33:10 - Support, Friendship, and Choosing Each Other

WEBVTT

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Welcome to SEL and EDU, the podcast where we explore how educators bring social emotional learning to life by sharing stories, strategies, and sparks of inspiration.

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I'm your host, Dr.

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Krista Lay, owner of Resonance Education.

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Thank you for joining us on this SEL journey.

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I'm Brian Carpenter, host of Fresh Air at Five, part of the Education Podcast Network, just like the show you're listening to now.

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Shows on the network are individually owned and opinions expressed may not reflect others.

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Find other interesting education podcasts at edupodcastnetwork.com.

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Craig Ahrens Martin proudly serves as the CEO of CCM Education Group, an education consulting agency and progressive think tank dedicated to co-creating solutions in leadership, cultures of belonging, change management, and equity.

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His work extends beyond pre-K through 12 education to include partnerships with companies and other organizations driving transformative change through culture, inclusion, and belonging.

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How's it going?

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What is going on, SEL and EDU family?

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I know you've all been wondering where's Craig.

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And I actually had somebody ask me, are things good?

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I'm like, we're cool, we're very good.

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I said I've been trying to get on Craig's schedule for the last year to do this episode so we could figure out where he went because you are rocking the world, and I'm so proud of you, my friend.

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And I can't wait for the world to hear that you have exploded in your consulting work.

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You have a book coming out, you have a podcast, and you're doing all of these multi-day in-person workshops that are just lighting the world on fire.

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So where do we start?

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How about how's your day?

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That's your normally how we start.

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Yeah.

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I think about where my heart is at this time.

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It's gratitude.

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I recognize how bold and beautiful and serendipitous my village is in regards to the folks who I get to spend time with who in their own ways foster the right kinds of pollination of ideas and sage, and also call me when I'm out of bounds in regards to just taking care of myself or saying something reckless and be like, Craig, did you really say that like I'm human, I'm an adult.

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But it's been an incredible season, a mid-season of that, because I definitely have experienced some valley moments as well as some mountain moments.

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We may talk about today.

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When I was young, I always thought, oh, when I turn double digits, life's gonna be awesome.

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Like 10.

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That was my nine-year-old self.

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And then, oh, when I'm 13, when I'm 16, when I'm 18, when I'm out of school, and I kept thinking it was gonna be like this uphill, and I don't know what put that crazy idea into my head that there weren't going to be valleys or deep gorges.

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And so that's actually something I have always told my boys is that's life, the ups and downs, and that's part of the ride.

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It makes the beautiful points even more beautiful.

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And when you out of those valleys, it makes you realize your strength.

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I appreciate that.

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I'm curious for you, what are you learning about yourself at this point?

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You've had a summer as well.

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You two have grown and blossomed in ways that like I'm most inspired, Bob.

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How have things been on your side?

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They're good.

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I've been in a super creative mode.

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I've been writing, not for dissertation type of stuff, but actually four months of weekly blogging and newsletters, feeling inspired and still seeing SEL in the world all around us, but writing more from my own family experiences, from my own classroom experience, my friends' experiences, interactions with people.

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Trying out things, taking risks, like things that I'm like, this might not work, but I'm patient and I'm not expecting it to be a big pill right away.

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I can wait this out and see how it goes.

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So I feel that I'm in this creative time of my life, but also this patient time where I'm nurturing things.

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So I feel like we're on similar paths in that way.

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I would agree.

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I think one of the things that I am spending some time just kind of holding for myself, really at this point, is even in the midst of some of the stormiest moments, and we're just in a really interesting time in our country and in our world, what I find is that for me, waking up and knowing that I have another opportunity, another chance, whether or not I'm at the valley level or I'm actually at the peak, I have the opportunity to embrace that the valley is the teacher.

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And so I know that for me, in those moments that feel tough, I get the opportunity to try it again, do something new again, find renewal, fire rejuvenation.

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This summer has been a challenge for me to start my mornings off with a devotional and guiding my energy.

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I'll light some incense.

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So I like to set the mood.

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I've set a whole morning date for myself.

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So, you know, I'll get the incense going, got the candles going, I got my cup of coffee, I sit and do my meditation, do my devotional, do my prayer, and just hope that the divine really sets me forward in a way that honors how I can be in relationship and in community with folks and hopefully add value and lighten their lives.

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But I can tell you that I've also experienced some really great highs as well.

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But one of the things that I'm holding is like the view isn't the win, right?

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The mountaintop isn't necessarily the victory, it's like the vantage point.

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I actually have the opportunity to see from a 30,000-foot perspective, like, yes, humans are going through many different things, but at times you get an opportunity to just zone in and see that moment of joy.

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You actually get to see that hand being held.

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You actually get to see that person have that aha.

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You can see that person actually has that shift from depression or shift from it was a storm today, and it was a horrible day yesterday, but today is a little bit better.

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I'm really grateful that one of the big things that I'm seeing in my devotionals and my awakenings is that both the mountain and the valley have been teachers for me.

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I'm gonna continue to not only embrace and love that those peak moments of the mountain, but I also um appreciate that the valley moments are really showing me resilience and showing me where I am foundationally connected to the roots of the system I was supposed to be, and am I actually living into that in a beautiful way?

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Knowing some of the projects that you're working on, how has this renewal and its foundation and this vantage point shown up in the book that you just submitted today?

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Yes.

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For your podcast.

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Yeah.

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I had one of those moments where I was sitting by the water and some of the ideas just flow from me.

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Anytime I'm sitting by the water, sitting next to the water that gives a sense of perspective, and I think about just the waves going in and out.

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What I have uncovered is there are people who are shared with me now who didn't share with me before.

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They are watching my journey, watching me in a very real way.

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People who I don't even know who later will share, like Craig, I found myself inspired by X or Y, and I'm hearing about this thing.

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This year I've challenged myself that in Bravely, being a big theme for this year, that I'm gonna try some stuff that I, as Oprah would say, cause just a little P to run down your leg.

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That might have been a Yall of Valley.

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Go a little bit bigger this year.

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Try some things, see what happens, what sticks.

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And I knew I had book Creating Brave Spaces for LGBTQ, which has been a two-year love affair to get that book done.

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And even in this environment, I'll be honest, yeah.

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I've had two writing days in the last week where I'm like, we're we're done.

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Like I'm to the end.

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But I can be honest and say, I got to a point where it was very ugly to have to read and try to figure out like, how am I going to shape a story that will be a legacy after I'm gone?

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That someone will hold this and say, this is a touch point.

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And this touch point is absent of the light that's necessary.

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Because what I struggled with was where are the stories of resilience?

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Where are the stories where people have dared bravely, even if this environment for queer folks, anyone who doesn't happen to be cis, gender, white, evangelical, uh will actually thrive in this environment.

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How do I find this story?

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And I was just up against the wall.

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And so I fought with myself back and forth about it until I found the stories.

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I was like, Craig, you do know these stories.

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You've read about them, you've talked about them.

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So bring them back.

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It was really great for me to have that moment of I'm up against the wall.

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I don't know if I can do this.

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This is gonna be the crux of me either moving forward and getting this book done or not.

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But when I was able to find those stories that I think will elevate and amplify the beautifulness of humanity, especially in defiance of this foolishness that we're dealing with, it also spoke to the fact that if I stay the journey, I will find the light.

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And doing not only this book, but also the conversations I've been able to have with Brave Voices in Education, which for me, the goal is just how do we give the next person a cup of courage?

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I need those doses regularly.

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People think, oh, Craig is just over the top, he's all these things, he's got all this energy.

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But there are moments where I'm just like, yo, humans, y'all are a lot for me today.

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And I just don't know.

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And so I could tell you that in making a decision to really dig in and go more broadly in the work of what it means to be brave in this America has been gratifying based on conversations I get to have, but also very terrifying because that bravery, that courage, that resilience is moment by moment.

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And it's what patterns or themes are you noticing?

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There was a beautiful soul I had who I've had an opportunity over the last couple of years to get to know.

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He's now a college freshman.

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His name is Javon.

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I don't think that he'll mind that I share his name.

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He is someone who I've had an opportunity over the last, I would say now three years to actually see him rise as a brilliant mind who has made a decision to stand ten toes deep in all of his truth as a young black queer band.

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I had an opportunity to hear him speak at the State House because I met him at an amplified GSA event where he was one of the speakers and got an opportunity to really speak truth to power on the Celtics floor here in Boston.

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And elevating the truths that were necessary for other folks to experience his light.

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People may try to diminish and try to extinguish his light, but he was born for something greater.

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And that he made a decision also to join me on my journey when I did the Black Boy Joy Summit this past year to be one of the Hughes speakers.

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And then I had an opportunity to see him on Sunday where he is helping me to shape here's the lineup for folks.

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In my journey growing up as a black, queer young person, I didn't have that.

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I didn't have someone who I could look to and hold on to to figure out how to shape my journey.

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I just that I was trapped in this dogma of being out and being someone loves education, loves young people.

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I was also fearful that me being all of myself will cost me everything.

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And to see that this is not the case, because 20 plus years into it, I've done okay.

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But I also appreciate the fact that part of my lived experience and my legacy is I have young people like Devon, who I get to actually be in community with, who helps to shape whether or not I'm still on tap.

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Because if he desires to be in community with me, then maybe there is some parts of who I am that's showing up that also are inspiring to him, as well as I'm finding myself inspired by his journey as well.

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And I think that's the work is that we can find human connection that creates these electric sparks that are absolutely necessary, especially in moments where it feels like we are we could be living in some dark times, depending on your view.

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What you've described with the relationship that you had is what the search institute would call a developmental relationship.

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And that is what the research is showing us that all young people want from adults.

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Yes, get to know me, believe in me, support me, stretch me, challenge me, help me grow, and let me see what else is out there.

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Um the biggest part that people miss, in my opinion, is that it's bi-directional, that we learn from young people at the same time that they get to learn from us.

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It's a reciprocal relationship.

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That's what you just described.

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When I think about who you are and how you show up in the world, you are always pouring into other people and learning from them at the same time.

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That's one of the pieces I really admire about you, and especially the work that your heart has led you to doing this now.

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I know these things have all been incredibly important for you, and finding your voice and your pathways to demonstrate that to the world has been inspiring.

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You also mentioned Black Boy Joy Summit.

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Yeah.

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If people are listening to this and they're like, oh my gosh, I would like to come.

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Like maybe there's another young man who's I would like to be a part of this, but I don't live in Boston.

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Yeah.

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Connect, become part of the community.

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Black Boy Joy Summit is an opportunity to amplify black and brown male genius and heart and be a connective hub and tissue to other resources, human and otherwise, that young people can tap into.

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What I realized is in a village that I was nurtured and nourished in, I did a lot of work to find micro-mentors in my life that could actually pour into me in some way align the right people, the right magic, so that I could be here.

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The Blackboard Joy Summit is an opportunity to find inspiration with young people speaking to each other about what's important to them, actually carrying their own hero story, their own thing that they have deep in their heart that they want to see for themselves.

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Because for them, it might be going to college, it might be having the six or seven-figure job, it might be curing cancer, it could be a host of things, but your hero story is your personal thing.

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My job, being an architect of that space, is one, to make sure it feels affirmative and loving, two, that you have the right people who you can plug into and tap in that moment to get the kind of source and support you need.

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And thirdly, that you come away with a few more ideas that may spark the kind of innovation or connection or mean making that's absolutely possible.

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We do workshops, we feed them.

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This year we're expanding.

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Last year was just a one-day event.

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Now we actually are building up the ecosystem to have masterclasses.

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So we're gonna do mostly masterclasses.

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We're gonna actually do live at fives, we're gonna do some weekly conversations on a range of things.

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And we're inviting parents in.

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This will also be an opportunity that it's not just youth-only spaces, but we actually are going to embrace our wonderful adults who stand in the gap because they'll be like, hey, Craig, Mr.

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Martin, what about me?

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And this is her.

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So we have a virtual conference coming up in February, and we also have our lives, and we have our master classes.

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So if folks are interested, Kristen, you have all my information, people can find me and we'll connect episode notes, resources.

00:17:32.799 --> 00:17:54.000
So I was also really excited that you said the word architect when we were designing this, because I don't know if you remember, but I remember really quite clearly 13 years ago, we were in Virginia meeting together as the FLAS of ASCD emerging leaders, and you were in my group.

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We got into circles and we all had to introduce ourselves.

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I remember you said you were an architect of change.

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Yeah.

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I was like, damn.

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Amazing.

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All these years later, you've made this happen.

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Like begun it.

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I love to have been able to see that journey because there were a couple years where you disappeared for a little bit, but you disappeared because you were doing it, right?

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You were in the classrooms, welcoming the students into the buildings, checking in on the teachers, doing all the things.

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Then you popped up at a conference, and I'm like, that's my people, and you like ran off and rehugged.

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And like you've been not just talking it, but walking the walk with that idea of an architect of change in mind, and with your summits, with your podcast, with your book.

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I know you're in this season of kind of creativity and putting this out there.

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What do you see as the next step for yourself serving other?

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Because I know it's not for you, it's for in service of other people.

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Good lord.

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That's a big question, Krista.

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So a couple of things that I think about like I'm still like really relishing what you share in regards to building that gosh 15 plus year relationship.

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And in that moment, if I'm being honest, I didn't understand what it meant to be in the space I was in.

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I didn't know who I was building relationships with and how that would play out.

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I didn't have that future forward thinking.

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And I think that we know that we sometimes are in a season where we're in the ecosystem for a moment, just for that moment, and that it may take many more seasons before you come back to that person, that situation, that opportunity, what have you, because you needed to go through things in order to have an appreciation for the very thing that you may have taken for granted.

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It was seed planting, but you didn't know that a harvest would be growing behind your back.

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And so when I think about where I was then as a teacher who love, love, love the incredible ferocity of teaching, the call on my life to be in front of young people and work with them to have their own aha, their own insights, to wrestle with them about all the idiosyncrasies that go on in being a young person and the craziness of it all, then eventually having to develop that same love and adoration for the adults who all the many times mirrored the behaviors of said souls.

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I where I'm at this season, what I believe there's a lot of seed planting happening right now.

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So I didn't want this to be that season, but what I can tell you, you're getting some exclusives right now.

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Good lord.

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So, one, Brave Voices in Education, very much I was inspired by our journey together and being able to have some brilliant conversations with folks over three years.

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And we've had an opportunity to have cross-pollinated some wonderful voices from SEL to EDU to Brave Voices and Ed.

00:21:18.240 --> 00:21:22.079
I didn't know how powerful that would be.

00:21:22.240 --> 00:21:43.440
I'm having conversations that are ministering to that early career educator, that early career leader who decided he needed to go figure out who he was in life and to step back out of community to be able to do the work, figure some things out, wrestle, fail forward often, cry, apologize, run, hit the wall, and come back to it.

00:21:43.599 --> 00:21:51.920
So this season has been like, okay, right now I'm finishing The Perkins Miracle, which is that's I'm calling it that book right now.

00:21:52.000 --> 00:21:54.640
It's gonna be a short book that's gonna be self-published.

00:21:54.880 --> 00:22:01.200
I can't let go of the stories that actually moved us to a community that was supposed to be closed by the state.

00:22:01.359 --> 00:22:07.200
And actually, we grew tremendously to become one of the best in the city, and then we reversed the achievement gap.

00:22:07.279 --> 00:22:10.240
And we did that without state and city intervention.

00:22:10.559 --> 00:22:12.960
It was like one of our PL and EDU guests, Dr.

00:22:13.039 --> 00:22:14.799
David Adams, who sat me down.

00:22:14.880 --> 00:22:17.279
He was like, Craig, do you realize what you did?

00:22:17.599 --> 00:22:19.039
Have you ever told that story?

00:22:19.119 --> 00:22:20.160
And I'm like, No.

00:22:20.319 --> 00:22:21.759
And Epiphany grew.

00:22:21.839 --> 00:22:22.960
So, okay, this has to happen.

00:22:23.119 --> 00:22:25.839
So that story is being written now.

00:22:26.079 --> 00:22:27.599
That's gonna come out soon.

00:22:27.839 --> 00:22:28.720
So you got that.

00:22:28.880 --> 00:22:30.160
The podcast is going.

00:22:30.319 --> 00:22:40.720
I'm grateful this podcast is something that's not only on the airwaves right now via all of the podcast streaming opportunities, but it's in radio now as well.

00:22:40.880 --> 00:22:42.880
I never imagined being in radio.

00:22:42.960 --> 00:22:45.200
Like I did, but not like this.

00:22:45.599 --> 00:22:48.960
Time out because you were made for radio.

00:22:50.160 --> 00:22:55.039
Always talked about that and how one not only just sorry, I interrupted you.

00:22:55.519 --> 00:22:56.000
Be fine.

00:22:56.400 --> 00:23:04.079
Your voice, your inflection, your ideas, the way you present things is yes, just pull up a chair, and you know what it is?

00:23:04.160 --> 00:23:09.440
It's a nice worm cup of hot chocolate while you're sitting in the fire.

00:23:09.680 --> 00:23:10.720
You're like, yes, please.

00:23:13.440 --> 00:23:17.759
I sometimes like it into a good old-fashioned Golden Girls episode.

00:23:17.920 --> 00:23:20.400
Like we basking in the warmth of it all.

00:23:20.480 --> 00:23:22.559
And who am I today?

00:23:22.720 --> 00:23:23.599
Am I Blanche?

00:23:23.759 --> 00:23:26.880
Am I giving off that blow bold ferocity?

00:23:27.039 --> 00:23:30.960
Am I Dorothy who's got that little sarcastic edge to it?

00:23:31.119 --> 00:23:31.920
Or Rose?

00:23:32.400 --> 00:23:37.359
All right, I'm always turning upside down and flipping around and making all beautiful and things.

00:23:37.519 --> 00:23:41.039
Or maybe I am Sophia, and I'm just telling it like it is.

00:23:41.200 --> 00:23:48.240
When I think about the journey, good lord, I feel like, yes, it's crazy.

00:23:48.319 --> 00:23:49.200
I'll think about this now.

00:23:49.359 --> 00:23:51.920
I'm like, with Golden Girl in my today.

00:23:52.640 --> 00:23:56.079
The beauty of that is that you can be all of them.

00:23:56.480 --> 00:23:56.799
Sure.

00:23:57.440 --> 00:24:07.519
Some of the things that I've been really processing over these last not just year but year and a half is what does it mean to have a business?

00:24:07.680 --> 00:24:09.599
What does it mean to have a business and education?

00:24:09.759 --> 00:24:16.160
What does it mean to be the one responsible for making it move forward and being sustainable?

00:24:16.319 --> 00:24:20.400
And then what are people's perceptions of what you're supposed to be like?

00:24:20.559 --> 00:24:23.200
And show up as me.

00:24:23.839 --> 00:24:29.440
The parts that someone might say is good, plus the ones that I'm like, yeah, that was super embarrassing.

00:24:29.599 --> 00:24:31.599
Going back to this idea of who are you?

00:24:31.759 --> 00:24:35.920
It can be all in one, packaged with a nice little crank bow.

00:24:38.160 --> 00:24:39.200
Sounds cool.

00:24:40.960 --> 00:24:42.400
Until you open the box.

00:24:43.759 --> 00:24:46.720
I know there's a little old adage too, but I'm like, get what you get with it.

00:24:46.880 --> 00:24:47.359
Oh, we'll see.

00:24:47.599 --> 00:24:51.759
It goes back to that idea of being authentic as a whole person.

00:24:52.160 --> 00:25:04.559
Because I think back to my first couple years of teaching, and I felt two separate people, like who I was at home, and then who I had to be when I was showing up as a person at 21, 22 teaching school.

00:25:04.880 --> 00:25:05.839
And that was hard.

00:25:05.920 --> 00:25:07.920
And then I felt like I had that again.

00:25:08.079 --> 00:25:10.880
Who am I as a person trying to run a business?

00:25:10.960 --> 00:25:12.400
And then who am I as me?

00:25:12.559 --> 00:25:14.400
They're finally coming together again.

00:25:14.559 --> 00:25:17.599
So again, that just reminds me of your golden girls.

00:25:17.759 --> 00:25:18.559
Like it's authentic.

00:25:18.640 --> 00:25:28.000
We're all of those pieces, and that's what makes us the right person for our group of people.

00:25:30.960 --> 00:25:56.000
So I have a couple more questions about the last couple of times I've been talking with people, it's been about books that they've written, and I'm very intrigued by this because books take such a long time, especially when you're talking personally and you're putting your whole heart out there because you're illuminating a way for other people to have those bits of hope and to see what they're keeping hold for them.

00:25:56.319 --> 00:25:58.480
What was the best part for you in writing that book?

00:25:59.039 --> 00:26:04.160
So my process was I wrote a first draft and I submitted it.

00:26:04.319 --> 00:26:07.119
I did a proposal first and it was accepted.

00:26:07.279 --> 00:26:16.799
And then I wrote the second one, like the full edition, and sent it out, and then there was some sensitivity reads of that manuscript.

00:26:16.880 --> 00:26:18.079
I got feedback back.

00:26:18.319 --> 00:26:21.200
And I was like, okay, cool, got it.

00:26:21.440 --> 00:26:24.480
It took me months to figure out like what does this all mean?

00:26:24.640 --> 00:26:29.039
I got some really great feedback from folks that I really revere in the work.

00:26:29.519 --> 00:26:34.799
How am I going to tell these stories, but in a way that will be received?

00:26:35.039 --> 00:26:53.359
And it took me car rides down to North Carolina, talking to myself, doing tons of voice notes until some things made sense, being able to map out the different ideas to ways, okay, what is the framework for how am I going to tell this story?

00:26:53.599 --> 00:27:08.480
Because generally I just start talking, but I don't always have this is the roadmap of how I want people to experience it and hear the pause points along the way that would be important for people to be like, oh, all right, here's some questions.

00:27:08.640 --> 00:27:16.319
We're all sitting here in the pasture, a number green on both sides, and we're sitting here, and he stopped to look at this one daffodil.

00:27:16.480 --> 00:27:17.920
Why is he looking at this daffodil?

00:27:18.079 --> 00:27:22.079
I had to figure out what is the roadmap, what is the journey I wanted people to have.

00:27:22.240 --> 00:27:27.680
I if I'm being like completely honest, the aha came this morning.

00:27:28.240 --> 00:27:30.799
It was like, oh, this is what this was all for.

00:27:31.039 --> 00:27:33.359
Because I didn't know whether or not I was ever.

00:27:33.680 --> 00:27:38.480
My book is 10 chapters, and I got to chapter eight.

00:27:38.559 --> 00:27:42.160
I've written all the chapters, but chapter eight was one that talked about advocacy.

00:27:42.400 --> 00:27:45.759
What are the ways people are Darren Greatly in their own right?

00:27:45.920 --> 00:27:51.759
As a queer person who the young people look to, I figure I have to have an answer.

00:27:51.920 --> 00:27:56.079
Because every time I turned, I'm looking for these gems, I'm looking for these moments of light.

00:27:56.160 --> 00:27:58.640
I'm looking for the lights in the air when dies.

00:27:59.119 --> 00:28:00.799
I'm like, where are these at?

00:28:00.880 --> 00:28:02.480
Because it does not feel good right now.

00:28:02.640 --> 00:28:06.400
I feel like the death eaters are at us right now in this environment.

00:28:06.640 --> 00:28:10.400
And then it was like, Craig, and I said this earlier, you've been there.

00:28:10.559 --> 00:28:13.359
So I'm like, oh, the No Kings protest.

00:28:13.680 --> 00:28:14.640
I was there.

00:28:14.960 --> 00:28:16.079
I need to speak about it.

00:28:16.160 --> 00:28:18.160
All of a sudden, it was like, I was there for this.

00:28:18.319 --> 00:28:19.279
I was there for that.

00:28:19.440 --> 00:28:21.279
I bear witness to this.

00:28:21.519 --> 00:28:23.119
Oh, I read about this.

00:28:23.279 --> 00:28:24.880
And I was able to pull those things in.

00:28:24.960 --> 00:28:34.079
And it was important to me that, like, how can I represent as someone whom for a whole week still punch in the gut because I'm like, I can't find these stories.

00:28:34.160 --> 00:28:36.480
And these stories are the reason why this book exists.

00:28:36.640 --> 00:28:38.960
It's not about the other chapters, but it is about this.

00:28:39.039 --> 00:28:49.359
This is the chapter that for those people who are not necessarily part of the LGBTQ community, but you have a loved one, you have a student, and you're like, Craig, it's dangerous out here.

00:28:49.440 --> 00:28:50.079
It's scary.

00:28:50.240 --> 00:28:52.480
Who else out here is doing this work?

00:28:52.720 --> 00:28:56.319
I need to find those stories because that's what people are gonna look for.

00:28:56.400 --> 00:28:59.680
They're gonna be looking to say, okay, I might dare bravely one more.

00:28:59.759 --> 00:29:05.119
The cup of courage came from this one section, this one line is gonna make.

00:29:05.359 --> 00:29:08.960
I think I might make because of this one line, and it came today.

00:29:09.119 --> 00:29:10.880
This is what this was all for.

00:29:11.359 --> 00:29:13.680
And I know everybody has their own writing process.

00:29:13.759 --> 00:29:24.559
I know you shared a little bit about your writing journey, but I can tell you that now that it is submitted, it's a completely different book from the one I started with.

00:29:24.799 --> 00:29:30.559
And it's giving me so much ferocity that right now two other books are happening at the same time.

00:29:30.799 --> 00:29:35.119
But there's other spin-off stories that I'm like, oh, this needs to be told too.

00:29:35.359 --> 00:29:37.519
So I'm grateful that's happening.

00:29:37.680 --> 00:29:45.680
But I wasn't always in season where I was in a garden where all of these different things were actually I could see them, I could pick them up, or I could smell them.

00:29:45.759 --> 00:29:53.839
I I didn't know that I knew that they might be in the garden with me, but I could not, for the life of me, see and appreciate.

00:29:54.400 --> 00:29:58.000
As soon as I get your book, I need to skim chapter eight.

00:30:00.559 --> 00:30:06.000
To digest and pick it up because very rarely do I read a book straight from the beginning to the end.

00:30:06.160 --> 00:30:13.119
So note yourself and note to the listeners out there, go to chapter eight and so back to chapter one.

00:30:14.400 --> 00:30:14.960
Yes.

00:30:16.799 --> 00:30:25.359
I'm seeing all the amazing ways of light that you're putting out into the world for people to advocate, to be a part of it.

00:30:25.599 --> 00:30:47.279
And speaking of advocating, I know that there are ways to support Black Boy Joy Summit when they follow you, that you can send money to sponsor people, that you can listen to brave voices, that can pass your book on to our young people who need those lights and want to be in community with you.

00:30:49.440 --> 00:30:51.599
And it's inspiring.

00:30:51.839 --> 00:30:58.480
And I'm just so proud to be your friend and to see you and to hear this journey on for you.

00:30:58.720 --> 00:31:09.680
And I miss having you as a co-host, and you're where you need to be doing what you need to be doing for the world right now.

00:31:10.000 --> 00:31:13.200
And I'm just so joyful for you for that.

00:31:20.000 --> 00:31:23.680
I don't know if I would be here if we had not had our time together.

00:31:23.839 --> 00:31:28.640
And I can only see things continue to get, you know, even better and greater over time.

00:31:29.119 --> 00:31:37.759
One of the beautiful things about our journey is that we constantly chose each other in moments where it was absolutely tough.

00:31:37.920 --> 00:31:43.440
And we chose to be there in moments of absolute bliss and joy and everything in between.

00:31:43.599 --> 00:32:00.559
And getting to see and reflect back on how we're experiencing different parts of the world, the different experiences and moments have been critical to, I know, my journey as a human and as someone who needed these conversations, needed to be a community with you.

00:32:01.119 --> 00:32:05.440
Needed to be sitting across from you having crab fries at that wonderful place.

00:32:06.799 --> 00:32:08.079
I think it was in Philly, right?

00:32:08.160 --> 00:32:09.519
I'm like, yeah, we had crab fries.

00:32:09.680 --> 00:32:11.839
We needed those things, needed those moments.

00:32:12.079 --> 00:32:18.319
I know that we many sometimes I'll speak for myself, but hold on to this is the roughest edges of life.

00:32:18.400 --> 00:32:21.359
And I'm experiencing all these hardships and things like this.

00:32:21.519 --> 00:32:24.559
But I also recognize that we get the gift of choice.

00:32:24.720 --> 00:32:31.839
We get to choose how do we want to hold the world up or how do we want to hold ourselves up in the world.

00:32:32.000 --> 00:32:34.079
And that's about living the great story.

00:32:34.319 --> 00:32:38.319
Living the great story is that you and I can sit in any space and any time.

00:32:38.400 --> 00:32:42.240
It could be months on end before we actually talk and we pick up like normal, right?

00:32:42.400 --> 00:32:43.920
And I think that's beautiful.

00:32:44.160 --> 00:32:46.559
We have that relationship that happened.

00:32:46.720 --> 00:33:09.119
And I just want to continue to build more moments that as I get older, I can pull these crazy wack-a-doodle stories of eating crab fries or sliding down a slide that I had no business sliding down and skinning up all my backside because I was trying to relive being a four-year-old in my 40 plus body.

00:33:09.279 --> 00:33:10.720
What are you trying to do today?

00:33:10.799 --> 00:33:13.920
It's like, look, I'm just reading cards every once in a while.

00:33:14.240 --> 00:33:15.039
Got a godson.

00:33:15.359 --> 00:33:17.279
He needs somebody to slide down the slide.

00:33:20.559 --> 00:33:23.680
I know you have a plane to catch pretty soon.

00:33:24.160 --> 00:33:26.160
So how do people get a hold of you?

00:33:26.480 --> 00:33:27.200
Good question.

00:33:27.519 --> 00:33:27.839
I don't know.

00:33:27.920 --> 00:33:28.960
I'm here in these streets.

00:33:29.039 --> 00:33:30.960
So I'm like, Craig, Aaron's Martin.

00:33:31.200 --> 00:33:34.559
If you put Craig C Martin on LinkedIn, you're gonna find me.

00:33:34.799 --> 00:33:38.079
And uh Craig at CCMeducationroot.co.

00:33:38.720 --> 00:33:39.599
That's my company.

00:33:39.680 --> 00:33:40.880
You can do that too.

00:33:41.039 --> 00:33:42.319
But I'm like, I'm outside.

00:33:42.400 --> 00:33:43.039
You'll see me.

00:33:43.119 --> 00:33:45.680
And I'm like, if you put Craig and Krista, guess what?

00:33:45.759 --> 00:33:46.880
You're gonna find me.

00:33:47.200 --> 00:33:48.720
Yes, very true.

00:33:50.160 --> 00:33:51.359
And here's another one.

00:33:51.599 --> 00:33:54.720
What is on repeat on your playlist right now?

00:33:56.720 --> 00:34:00.079
My playlist is insane right now.

00:34:00.400 --> 00:34:01.119
Insane.

00:34:01.519 --> 00:34:04.799
So from a writing perspective, there's this group called SALT.

00:34:04.960 --> 00:34:06.240
S-A-U-L-T.

00:34:06.799 --> 00:34:18.880
I and it's like soulful, beautiful instrumentation, funky, eclectic, but wholesome music that I've enjoyed.

00:34:19.039 --> 00:34:22.800
Definitely have had the Cowboy Carter album or repeat.

00:34:23.360 --> 00:34:26.400
I'm loving and living for St.

00:34:26.719 --> 00:34:31.360
Harrison, just genius beyond measure, loving him.

00:34:31.440 --> 00:34:35.199
And then I think about who was I listening to today.

00:34:36.480 --> 00:34:39.440
I'm listening to a lot of lo-fi music.

00:34:39.599 --> 00:34:42.559
And so a lot of that just plays in the background.

00:34:42.719 --> 00:34:49.840
I have this hankering for five DJs on YouTube, and I have the YouTube premium, and I'm like, this is gonna be the DJ for the day.

00:34:50.079 --> 00:34:52.079
And they play a number of sets.

00:34:52.320 --> 00:34:53.280
We see what happens.

00:34:53.440 --> 00:34:54.320
Never know with me.

00:34:54.880 --> 00:34:57.199
Can you close it up like you used to?

00:34:58.880 --> 00:35:00.559
Okay, I'll try.

00:35:00.800 --> 00:35:02.800
I'm like, it's been a while.

00:35:03.039 --> 00:35:07.760
So first and foremost, I just want to thank you so much for inviting me to be back on the podcast.

00:35:08.079 --> 00:35:09.679
I've been planning this one for a while.

00:35:09.920 --> 00:35:11.760
I know, so I'm super excited.

00:35:12.000 --> 00:35:15.199
All right, you wonderful SEL and EDU family.

00:35:15.360 --> 00:35:18.000
It has been an incredible conversation.

00:35:18.400 --> 00:35:19.599
My heart is full.

00:35:19.679 --> 00:35:22.559
I hope it's been for you as well.

00:35:23.440 --> 00:35:29.599
We hope that something today in our conversation stirs something in your soul.

00:35:29.840 --> 00:35:35.519
We ask that you continue to hold someone you love here real tight.

00:35:35.679 --> 00:35:40.800
And we ask you to continue to lean and love and hold on to the light.

00:35:40.960 --> 00:35:42.079
Y'all take care.

00:35:45.119 --> 00:35:49.519
Thank you again for tuning in to this episode of SEL in EDU.

00:35:49.679 --> 00:36:01.199
At Residence Education, we equip educators with knowledge, skills, and resources to design learning experiences that foster students' academic, social, and emotional growth.

00:36:01.440 --> 00:36:08.239
We believe that every small action to foster connections and growth creates ripples shaping the future.