Latest / Chatting with The Experts with Paula Okonneh / Building A Strong Staff

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Building A Strong Staff · Chatting with The Experts with Paula Okonneh

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  Hello and welcome to Chatting With The Experts, the podcast, the
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  live podcast where I speak with fantastic women from Africa, from
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  the Caribbean, and in the diaspora.
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  Our topic today is called Building or Rebuilding Your Team, and my guest, who
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  is an educational excellence speaker and author at Jay Limited LLC, who
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  helps empower and encourage educational leadership in school districts and
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  faith-based communities to lead with purpose and excellence without frustration
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  and burnout, will be joining me.
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  Her career began over 35 years ago as a elementary teacher and advocate
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  in Minneapolis, Minnesota, and since then, she's taught in public, private,
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  charter, and home school settings.
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  She says administrators and educators are always faced with challenges such
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  as absenteeism, budget deficits, and mental wellbeing for staff and students.
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  But in order to ensure success of school years, she says it is necessary
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  to build or rebuild your team.
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  And with that, I welcome to Chatting With The Experts, Dr. Josiah Jackson
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  Dr. Josiah.
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  Thank you.
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  Hello, hello.
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  Thank you so much for joining us today.
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  Thank you for having me.
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  Absolutely.
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  I know you're a passionate speaker to educators, and you've spoken in
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  schools across the country as well.
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  So the floor is yours.
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  Thank you for joining us.
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  Thank you again for having me, and I'm excited about sharing
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  what goes on in the school system.
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  Some people may not be aware of all the different happenings, from
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  concerns and challenges and issues we see today are still happening.
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  And I always say to people, "Come in." you have to find time to stop what
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  you're doing and show up, to volunteer, or to just see what's really going on.
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  And so I always invite… as a teacher and, I've worked at leadership as
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  well, I've always invited people, "Come see what we're doing,"
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  Oh, don't just look at the news.
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  Look behind the scenes and, wonder.
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  because I sometimes thinks people think it is all roses.
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  All roses.
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  And, sometimes it could be, maybe a day or two, but no.
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  We are teaching and training the next generation.
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  And, with so many, challenges that have happened, within these past few
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  years, as you mentioned, the budget cuts, challenges of schools closing.
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  Depending on what region or, what region of the United States you're in or even
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  country as well, many schools are closing.
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  Some countries don't have schools.
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  And some countries are still dealing with the lack of funds to fund children.
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  And, the biggest issue is… And I think, even as I say this, it's about public
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  education, and it's almost getting to the point where it's beyond being in the
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  building, and that's what happened really five years ago, the hybrid or distance
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  learning, which actually had been there for years, so it wasn't anything new.
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  Maybe more so new for education at that time.
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  But, again, with all of those challenges, it is a challenge for administrators to
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  have a great staff that either stays with them, because sometimes when you have
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  what's called revolving staff, it's a little hard to stay consistent on what
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  you're doing, as far as a successful year.
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  And as we're gonna talk about today, it's really building.
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  How do you build these teams when there's that inconsistency, where there's those
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  challenges, where you made the cuts?
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  because within the last few years, many teachers have been laid off,
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  as well as teachers walking out.
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  education just doesn't seem to be one of those, areas we focus on,
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  and I wouldn't say focus on anymore.
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  We do, or we say we do, but, who's fighting for us?
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  sometimes I wanna say that.
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  Who's fighting for us?
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  Because we are educating, children from preschool to college, and, we
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  often hear, if you chose that, then that's the road you've taken, and
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  you deal with everything that comes."
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  And we are.
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  We are dealing with everything that comes.
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  today we're really gonna talk about how do we build a team through all
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  of those challenges, those, moments where you show up, and you're expecting
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  to have, the fairytale classroom.
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  Every student says yes.
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  they come neat.
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  And I laugh sometimes 'cause, yeah, in some places, yes, that could
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  actually happen, and it does happen.
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  But, many of our public schools that are going through these challenges
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  are some of our city schools.
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  So here in the United States, a lot of our city schools are
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  going through these challenges.
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  And then when you go to other countries, they have the challenges of children
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  getting to a certain age where they don't have the funding, after a
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  certain age, maybe 10, 11, and 12, and those children can't go to school.
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  And so they have to have parents, or someone support them.
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  Again, just honing in on the team, from administrator to teacher.
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  again, some schools in other countries may not have, you know, we call,
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  the administrator a principal, where some other countries, the
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  main person's the master teacher or teacher, even the term teacher.
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  And you know, whether you're in the United States or out of
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  the United States, school…
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  And not just school, it's education.
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  That is really the importance of where we have to encourage each
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  other, the importance of education.
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  So I wanna say sometimes there's that, going to that rough side of the mountain.
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  And how that is for many schools.
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  How do you start your school year, and then get to the mid-year to
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  getting to the end of the year?
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  As we were talking earlier, there's what's called honeymoon stage.
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  I love that.
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  And, we have honeymoons for couples.
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  we hear that all the time.
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  couples get married, they go on a honeymoon.
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  And, I remember the first time I heard it.
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  "Honeymoon? What are we talking about?" And so in education, the
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  honeymoon period's the beginning of the school year when children come in.
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  And it's that three weeks.
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  And I tell you, it runs smooth just like that.
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  In three weeks, you will get a new student.
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  You may be a new teacher, a new person to them, and after that three weeks,
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  as we say, just everything falls apart.
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  Well- … not all the time now.
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  Not all the time.
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  But most of the time you may have some child who, because
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  they're checking you out.
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  They're wondering what can they… And here's what's interesting.
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  During that stage, or, it's really three weeks, and it's,
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  I've seen it go for three weeks.
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  and I don't know if we just say it and we have it in our minds, and we
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  make sure it ends in three weeks, but that child is checking you out.
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  They wanna know what they can get away with.
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  And so sometimes they're nice, sometimes all their signs won't show.
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  And when I say signs, sometimes they come in, with behaviors that won't show until
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  after they realize, "What can I get away with? How can I get away with this?"
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  And so they're watching you, and you're watching them to ensure,
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  "Are you following my expectations?" Because that's what's going on
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  within this beginning stage.
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  However, at this time of the year, yes, you'll probably have some
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  students, depending on the size of your class, which is interesting
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  'cause sizes can run from 15 to about 20, 28 kids in a classroom, and we're
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  starting to see that happen again.
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  And so after you develop those expectations with your students, and then
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  others who work with your class, you want to have a smooth year, smooth transition.
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  And, again, this is that time of year where you've passed the beginning.
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  you're not quite in the middle yet, but you're getting there.
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  But even in all of that, you're trying to remain excited as a teacher and as
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  an administrator because administrators at the same time going through so much.
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  A lot.
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  From how to, communicate with each other, from, there are those
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  professional development days, meetings.
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  There's the school board meetings.
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  There's conferences.
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  So a lot is still going on.
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  And through all of that, you want to try to keep your composure and keep going.
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  But some people call it like a slope.
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  you come in, you're excited.
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  "Yay, new year!"
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  And then it starts sliding a little- Oh … because you've been there for so long.
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  You're like Okay, where are we going with this?
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  hoping to still have a great year.
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  But anyway, how does, administrator communicate with their team, on
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  how to let's make it through.
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  I've been, I wanna say blessed, yeah, yeah, blessed to have administrators
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  that know how to keep the team together.
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  Because meetings, what, but I guess a lot of people don't
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  know, we have several meetings.
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  And, in those meetings, how do you keep grade level teams together, and
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  the whole team, staff team together?
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  One, it's communicating.
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  How do we communicate?
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  Because I had been, I wanna say, I think I had at least one principal one
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  time have, or at least I worked for one that, didn't do well with managing
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  the team, but I have seen it work well.
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  And the way it works well is you have to gather your team members,
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  everyone, try to encourage them.
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  Try to look for, 'cause sometimes you'll have what's called the
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  weakest or the weakest link, and then those who are, at the top, vibrant,
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  busy, who can encourage others.
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  And so you have to really keep a balance there.
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  How do you do that?
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  You know, encourage your team all the time, of those coming in, or if they're
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  weak, then you're encouraging them by, some administrators I've seen do games.
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  You know, have these games do something fun, what they call, the breaking ice
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  moments, just to break up the, you know, depending on what the day was or, Because
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  everyone, and it's amazing ' cause even at this part of the year, everyone gets
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  tired, just from working with children who are not listening, who, because
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  a lot, they have a lot of transition.
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  What most people probably still don't know either is, when you have a class full of
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  at least 20 different minds, that's a lot.
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  So you're taking care of already a lot as the teacher.
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  Then as the principal or administrator, another 500 minds.
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  So that's a lot.
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  And so how do you keep your composure?
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  How do you stay abreast?
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  How do you stay up, in communicating and making sure that everybody is
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  doing well to get through the year?
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  Because again, you know, we often say to each other, "The main thing
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  is survive. Get through the day, survive." if you can survive the day,
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  you come back, you do the next thing.
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  Surviving is the moment, right?
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  the talk of the day, surviving.
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  So quick question
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  … so I would just say… Go ahead.
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  A very quick question for you, from me.
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  So I'll say it looks like your job is to keep the educators, encouraged.
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  In other words, your job is to keep the team.
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  Either you're building a team of educators and keeping them encouraged and together
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  and cohesive or rebuilding a team that has collapsed or, in some ways become,
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  I don't wanna use the word dysfunctional in some ways, or, become discouraged.
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  I rather that word, discouraged, and your job is to go in there and rebuild
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  them so that they are encouraged to continue in doing the job as educators.
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  Is that correct?
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  Am I summarizing what your job is?
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  Oh, yeah.
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  Absolutely.
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  Yes.
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  Yes.
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  Yes.
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  and you said it, you said the word dysfunctional, but in a way it is that,
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  because you have people who have been there, for years, then you have people
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  just coming in, and so sometimes they clash because… especially those who,
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  they feel like they own the place.
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  It's kinda like working in corporate where you've had people been there for
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  years, and they have this moment of, "I've been here. I kinda have the privilege."
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  So yeah, school works the same way.
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  some of the school, not all of them, but just depends on who the
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  main team, who is guiding everyone and how are we guiding ourselves.
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  Who is the leader of the team guiding us together.
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  Because you will have some teams that work well.
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  And that's just within different grade levels.
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  You have some grade levels where they just don't work well.
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  They don't gel.
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  And so how do you push them together even for that year to
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  say, "Hey, we're all here together.
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  Whether you know each other or not, we're going to, make it through." so absolutely.
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  but one way is to do what we call those, those, break the
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  ice moments or icebreakers.
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  Just to get to know everyone, because you never know what people are going
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  through, and so you don't want, you come in as if we're all new here,
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  Okay.
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  Even if you've been here for years or you just came in…
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  Ah
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  … you know what?
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  We are all here together.
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  Okay.
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  And you act as if, oh, I'm, this is my first time, too.
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  there's no, as we, hear the phrase, no big I's, little you's.
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  And so we all have to work together, using each gift that we have or
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  ability that we have to come together.
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  So that's how you build those teams even when they're… and I wanna say when
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  it's a fresh team, because sometimes you go into a school where there's
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  only one or two people that are new.
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  And everyone else may know each other, but everyone acts as if, we have to get along.
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  We have to be here for a whole year.
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  Is one of the tools therefore, as we mentioned, you come in there to build
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  or rebuild a team, is one of the tools that you employ being one of listening?
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  Because as you said, there are multiple, personalities there, and I know listening
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  can be tactic or a tool or one can you where you're listening to understand
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  or you're listening to respond.
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  And with these educators dealing with children from,
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  I'm assuming from all levels.
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  If it's in the United States, it's probably from,
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  elementary through high school.
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  Yeah.
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  other parts of the world, I'm not that, I'm not that familiar with
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  other parts of the world any longer.
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  I used to be.
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  So you may be able to help out with that.
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  But of course, there are different age levels and different grade
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  levels to deal with that.
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  So I guess you'll be listening to see where, as you said, as far as you're
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  concerned, whether these personalities have been there for 30 years or one month.
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  As far as you're concerned, everybody's new.
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  What tools do you use to get to listen to see where is the problem?
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  Because you want success.
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  The success of the team is the success of the school and the
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  success of the students, correct?
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  Exactly.
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  and so when you say the tools, sometimes it is those, I don't know if you've
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  been in a, a meeting or at a group where they would, have this sheet of paper
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  with a list of things and they say, "Go find someone who has a sister or a
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  brother or a pet or a favorite color."
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  And that gets this group talking.
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  and again, as in anything, you're gonna always have the few that may not have
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  any commonality with someone-… or whether at least one, I'd say at least
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  one thing, and even if it's not that, but that's how that communication be, you
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  know, how it gets them together to talk.
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  Then there's just the, how is everyone doing?
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  Having those moments, and you talk about listening, absolutely, because there's
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  some people who are just listeners.
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  There are some who are the communicators.
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  They'll do all the talking.
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  but yeah, it's, when you're in a group like that, you, everyone… and
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  again, not everyone, 'cause I, I say everyone, you're gonna have someone
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  who's just gonna be the listener.
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  They just remain quiet, and that's fine, but they're listening.
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  And I often tell people, "Don't assume just because they're not
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  participating or talking, who knows what they were going through?"
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  And so that's why we always have to remind ourselves, if they
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  choose not to talk, that's okay.
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  But again, that's how we come.
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  So one tool is, having these, activity games, get to know you type games.
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  Or a conversation where you bring up a scenario.
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  What can, what, we, you bring up a scenario and then say, "Get in your group.
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  How would you solve this?" And you bring up scenarios that will, certainly have
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  everyone talking, or something that will get them to come up with a solution.
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  So that's one way that you will… So I would say activities that, that bring on
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  a scenario and solution to, at fun games of, what people like, that would help.
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  Or sometimes a potluck.
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  Sometimes food is always a big kicker.
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  Brings the world- Try some food.
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  and when you talk about different countries, I work, I love it when
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  the staff has come from other places 'cause you get to try new food.
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  Yeah.
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  And you get to try, not only new food, but, a tradition, and learn
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  about that culture, that family.
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  And so again, you talk about people, educators in a school.
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  Hopefully there's others on the team from other places, where you get to learn from
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  their culture, and then it helps you do a better job with teaching the children.
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  I absolutely love that.
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  So another question I have is that, so as you said, learning from different
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  people, different cultures, and food.
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  You can't go wrong with food.
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  How about celebrating this stuff?
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  of course, there's, there are times when, there are crises in schools.
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  yeah.
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  Schools are made up of students.
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  Students these days are they have access to so much more than my generation did,
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  and it's right there at their fingertips.
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  So they're probably presenting in ways that are faster or, you know,
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  they're being exposed to so much.
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  Some is good, some's good, but some probably is not that good, and you
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  gonna have to be thinking all the time.
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  How do you celebrate the staff who have to be on, you know … they
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  gotta be quick-thinking as well.
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  Absolutely.
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  It's interesting you say that because, I have been in some schools where
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  we had what's called Culture Day.
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  And that's where staff, families, parents, everyone is involved.
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  And I tell you, the minute… because interestingly, even the length of
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  time that I've been teaching, when I start to see what's called Culture Day.
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  I'm amazed.
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  Everybody gets on board.
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  And it's so interesting because everybody wants to share.
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  And so as we were just talking about how you get people talking in just
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  a regular staff meeting, oh, people like to talk when they… because one,
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  they're talking about their culture.
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  How often do adults really get to talk about their culture in different settings?
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  And so what's interesting is, for the ones who may not talk a lot, you bring up,
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  we're gonna try to have just a culture day just a meeting itself where, just everyone
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  brings in a food of that culture or, and certainly those who are from that culture.
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  So absolutely, it's amazing how many people love, not on- And not
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  just for the food, but they wanna know more, and it gets them excited,
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  and they get to talk about this.
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  So interestingly, you talk about building teams, just I almost wanna
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  say, just have Culture Day every day.
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  You'll have people talking 'cause now we add food to that.
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  Now they will bring food too.
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  But it's amazing, because I think about here in America how I don't
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  know if it really sparked as much in years before than it's sparking
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  now with so many cultures here.
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  And they're excited when, they can say, "Hey, we're gonna talk about my day.
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  We're gonna talk about where I come from." And so I love, I
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  certainly love those moments.
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  I know off-camera you talked about some of the countries you've visited.
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  I know you visited Tanzania.
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  Yes.
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  Ethiopia?
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  Tanzania.
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  yeah.
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  Okay.
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  I've been to Tanzania.
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  Ethiopia, yes.
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  Malawi had some friends that, we didn't go to Malawi, but we had friends coming
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  from Malawi, and, so working with them.
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  Been to San Juan, Costa Rica.
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  Okay
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  . And, Dominican Republic.
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  And so there's just some places… and so this is what I love in being an
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  educator, having to see children come through, whether you work with, I'm
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  working with, adults and/or children.
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  It's great to go to these countries and see where they are.
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  And so I believe in the opening that was one reason I mentioned the
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  difference of what we do here in America, having school settings for
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  children at certain ages because I know in a lot of the countries, children,
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  are not in what we call junior high.
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  Or high school.
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  They can go, but they have to pay, where here, it's free public education.
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  So yeah, I, and so it's great to share with them what we do, and then how they
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  can extend, helping those teachers, in those countries, help with their
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  children and how they can succeed, because they have some of the same
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  issues, it's just, I don't think I, even when I went to those country, I
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  didn't think they were any different.
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  But it was, it's always good to go, when I go to those countries, to
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  go to the, to see what school is like for children, for the teacher.
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  I love, in some of the country, I think it was in Tanzania, where
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  the children would go to class and then go home for lunch, and 'cause
• 19:42
  they're in the area of their classes.
• 19:44
  And then go back.
• 19:45
  And so just exciting to, when you go to another country, to see how
• 19:49
  education is growing in other places.
• 19:52
  That's neat.
• 19:53
  Yes, yes.
• 19:54
  I lived in a country for some time where we used to go home for lunch
• 19:57
  between 12:00 and 1:00, and then go back to school and continue.
• 20:02
  And then my parents moved us to a country where we went to
• 20:06
  school from I think 7:30 to 1:30.
• 20:11
  And that was so different, Yeah.
• 20:14
  But learning, the transition was … I remember we used to talk about it.
• 20:18
  How do you know you don't stop for lunch?
• 20:21
  Yeah.
• 20:23
  Yeah.
• 20:24
  Exciting.
• 20:24
  Exciting to see.
• 20:26
  It was.
• 20:26
  It was.
• 20:27
  Now, you, I know you, I've failed to mention in your bio
• 20:30
  that you authored two books.
• 20:32
  One was called Come Get These Kids.
• 20:35
  Interesting title.
• 20:37
  It almost was like, "All right, I'm done. Come get your kids."
• 20:40
  That's how I looked at it.
• 20:43
  And the other one was Show Up With Excellence.
• 20:45
  Let's talk about that.
• 20:46
  Why did you name, these two books, I haven't read them.
• 20:49
  I wish I had.
• 20:51
  Tell me about that.
• 20:52
  Come Get These Kids.
• 20:53
  so Come Get These Kids, it was written during 2020 when- Oh
• 20:57
  the schools shut down.
• 20:58
  Okay.
• 20:59
  And interestingly, growing up, I would, we, I don't know about you, I would
• 21:02
  hear the comment, "Come get these kids," and that meant, your children were not
• 21:07
  doing what they're supposed to be doing.
• 21:08
  It meant they were not obeying you or whoever they were with, and it
• 21:11
  was like, "Come get your children.
• 21:13
  Come get these kids." So in 2020 when the school system shut down, interestingly,
• 21:19
  parents, and it was really a month because everyone thought they were gonna reopen
• 21:24
  within a month or a few weeks. Yeah. We just thought, "Oh, okay, we're shut down.
• 21:27
  We're gonna be open before the end of the school year." I came across so many
• 21:30
  parents that would, they were asking, you know, whether, they knew some of us as
• 21:35
  educators. when will school be open?" and so for them, they were like, "Come get
• 21:38
  these kids. Come get these kids." Yeah.
• 21:40
  and it was interesting because on our side, those of us in education or
• 21:45
  been in the building, whether we work in a building or work in a setting
• 21:48
  in education, sometimes we say the same thing, "Come get these children.
• 21:52
  Come get these kids." because they're not listening or following directions.
• 21:56
  So it was working on both sides.
• 21:58
  so that's where the name came up from, but it really came up because I heard
• 22:01
  more parents feeling like educators.
• 22:04
  You didn't have to be a teacher, it could have been the administrator, it
• 22:06
  could have been the staff, anybody.
• 22:08
  "Come get these kids because I'm working. I don't have time to watch
• 22:12
  them." And some were working remotely or, and I think then that's when many,
• 22:16
  companies, had their, at least they were working outside the home, I should say.
• 22:19
  Then they end up working remotely.
• 22:20
  So anyway, the book wasn't written in the sense of, come
• 22:24
  get these kids in a negative way.
• 22:26
  But I will say, it was the space we were in.
• 22:29
  Distance learning, parents were now stuck with their children… And I say
• 22:34
  stuck because some were working out the home, and now they had to, work
• 22:38
  with their companies or jobs to work in the home with the children there.
• 22:42
  And so the space for a lot of parents was tight, where some
• 22:45
  parents couldn't do their jobs because their children were at home.
• 22:47
  So it was like- Oh … come get these kids, somebody.
• 22:50
  But anyway, yes.
• 22:51
  it, so that, like I said, that phrase is an older phrase, which
• 22:55
  really is meant to talk about when your children are not listening,
• 22:58
  following directions, "Somebody, come get these kids." the other book, so
• 23:01
  that was about, what, five years ago.
• 23:03
  Show Up With Excellence Though, which is almost a flip side of that, really written
• 23:07
  because now that we've been in that space, somehow we lost the essence of respect.
• 23:14
  And we see that in our social media.
• 23:16
  We lost the dignity of how do we still talk to each other, respect each other.
• 23:21
  And we still do this, but I tell you.
• 23:25
  We start to see social media being used as the site for, where you
• 23:30
  dishonor people, you talk about people.
• 23:32
  And as you're doing this, you don't care.
• 23:35
  I know there's people who still believe the golden rule.
• 23:37
  You do unto others what you want them to do to you.
• 23:40
  And so Show It With Excellence was about respect.
• 23:43
  We're teaching the next generation, and we see so many children, even, schools
• 23:48
  today, it's amazing just this school year going just to that, dress code
• 23:52
  has become an issue all of a sudden.
• 23:54
  We've seen it the last couple of years, and now I guess people are saying, "You
• 23:57
  know what? We are tired of seeing this."
• 23:59
  So Show It With Excellence, it really means respect.
• 24:02
  it's not just about clothing or what you wear on the outside, it's about respect.
• 24:06
  How do you respect adults?
• 24:08
  how do you respect yourself?
• 24:09
  How do you respect others?
• 24:11
  how do you help others?
• 24:12
  Because we live in a mean and, we say good and bad world, but we
• 24:15
  don't all have to be mean, and, we don't all have to be disrespectful.
• 24:19
  Okay.
• 24:19
  So Show It With Excellence really talks to that, how, we can still be respectful,
• 24:23
  have unity, talk with one another, and, have dignity about ourselves.
• 24:28
  And as we show that, others will catch on and do the same.
• 24:32
  Absolutely.
• 24:33
  Yeah.
• 24:34
  yeah.
• 24:35
  But I promised that we would speak for 30 minutes before we open up the floor
• 24:41
  to others who have joined us so that they can ask you questions, so I wanna
• 24:45
  be respectful and keep to that promise.
• 24:49
  But I also want you to share with those who are listening to this
• 24:53
  afterwards or who are viewing this on our YouTube channel, if they
• 24:58
  would like to get in touch with you, Dr. Josiah, how can they find you?
• 25:03
  Absolutely.
• 25:03
  They can find me at my website, which is drjosiahj.com, so that's my website.
• 25:10
  They can also find me on YouTube.
• 25:12
  I have a YouTube, podcast that is called Come Get These Kids.
• 25:15
  Oh.
• 25:16
  And so it's a subtitle, it's Come Get These Kids, Let's Talk Education.
• 25:20
  So look for that.
• 25:21
  It's actually under my name.
• 25:22
  I haven't really fully changed that over, but if you go to Dr. Josiah
• 25:26
  Jackson TV, you'll find me there.
• 25:28
  so that's my YouTube podcast channel where I talk to, educators and families about
• 25:32
  what they can do, with their children.
• 25:33
  You can find me on LinkedIn, under Dr. Josiah Jackson.
• 25:36
  You can also find me on Facebook, under my name as well.
• 25:39
  and by the way, you can also find me on Substack.
• 25:42
  Just started that new platform, so go to St- Substack, look for Dr. Josiah Jackson.
• 25:49
  I am- Find me there … commending you for being on Substack.
• 25:52
  Someone else told me that I need to get on Substack,
• 25:55
  Oh, wow.
• 25:55
  I, yes, it's a new platform that I like.
• 25:58
  I like it.
• 26:00
  Okay.
• 26:01
  I said that Chatting With the Experts is to educate, empower, and inspire women
• 26:07
  globally, so it has to start with me.
• 26:09
  I've gotta get on Substack.
• 26:11
  I gotta educate myself and get over this fear of another
• 26:15
  platform and get on Substack.
• 26:16
  So I'll be on Substack as well.
• 26:19
  Okay.
• 26:20
  All right.
• 26:21
  And for those of you who are listening, if you'd like to be a guest just
• 26:26
  like Dr. Josiah Jackson has been, reach out to me on my website,
• 26:30
  which is chattingwiththeexperts.com.
• 26:33
  I'm on LinkedIn.
• 26:34
  My business page there is called Chatting With the Experts on Link- LinkedIn.
• 26:39
  I'm also on Facebook.
• 26:41
  you can reach out to me there.
• 26:42
  Facebook is Chatting With the Experts, the business page there.
• 26:46
  On Instagram, my handle is @chat_experts_podcast, and we
• 26:53
  also have a YouTube channel that I'd love for you to subscribe to.
• 26:57
  It's called Chatting With the Experts, and if you go there, you will see this
• 27:03
  episode where Dr. Josiah Jackson, as well as all previous episodes with women who
• 27:11
  are experts, who have educated, empowered- Yeah … and encouraged women globally.
• 27:18
  So thank you so much, Dr. Josiah Jackson, and now we'll open up
• 27:24
  the floor to those who joined us so they can ask you questions.
• 27:27
  I'm not gonna say my normal line, which is what I'm about to say.
• 27:31
  The questions that I forgot to ask you, that's what they'll do.
• 27:34
  Thank you for being such a great guest.
• 27:36
  I appreciate you.
• 27:38
  Thank you again for having me today.