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I promise you an episode that's brimming with wisdom, inspiration and a raw, insightful look into the world of education, trauma and entrepreneurship. Our guest, Tiana Batiste-Waddell, enlightens us with her journey from growing up as an army brat to becoming a driven entrepreneur, raising three sons amidst social challenges, and navigating the impact of unseen trauma on her parenting style. She's candid, she's real, and she's here to share her personal growth story with you.
Our conversation takes an interesting turn towards the crisis in education, specifically focusing on the scarcity of science teachers. We navigate through innovative intervention strategies for students grappling in the virtual learning space and discuss the pivotal role of adults in fostering student success. You'll discover how town halls can be powerful tools in uniting students towards a common objective. Tiana, with her passion for addressing disparities in education and advocating for social-emotional wellness, offers intriguing insights into these issues. Get ready to question, reflect and learn from my compelling discourse with Tiana Batiste-Waldale.
Welcome back to another episode of Lets Just Talk About it podcast. I'm your host, chuck, and if you're here for the first time, this platform was created to give genuine people just like you an opportunity to share a portion of your life's journey. So, with that being said, I have Tiana Batiste-Waddell along with me, where we have a great dialogue about education, trauma and what she's up to now as an entrepreneur and podcast host. So, you don't want to miss this amazing and inspiring conversation. As a matter of fact, do me a favor go and grab your husband, your wife, your children, or even call a friend and gather around to listen to my conversation with Tiana or Lets Just Talk About it podcast. Hey, let's jump right in. Today, I'm excited to have special guest Tiana Batiste-Waddell on with me to share a piece of her journey, her story and life. So, welcome you, and I thank you, Tiana, for accepting the invitation to be a guest on let's Just Talk About it podcast.
Tiana:Thank you so much. Great to be here, Chuck. Super excited to be a part of your show.
Chuck:I appreciate it. How's your day going so far?
Tiana:You know I'm doing well. It's the start of the holiday season, so I'm on my first day of vacation and I'm just going to take it in and take this time to relax Absolutely, Absolutely, Tiana.
Chuck:I love to jump right into my interviews, you know, to have those genuine conversations with genuine people just like yourself, to share a portion of your life's journey, because I believe we all have been through something in life that could possibly help someone else navigate through their life's ups and downs. So, first of all, where are you from, Tiana?
Tiana:Thank you so much, so you know my story. I'm an Army brat. So where am I from? I was born on the East Coast in Delaware, lived there for about two years of my life, then moved to Texas for a year, then moved to Germany for three years, then back to Texas, then Virginia and finally called South Bend Indiana my home when I was eight years old. So where am I from? I think I'm from a little bit of everywhere.
Chuck:I want to ask you how was it growing up? So you probably could take something from everywhere.
Tiana:Oh yeah. So you know, growing up, you know that's a really good question. You know being an Army brat and moving is difficult and I know that there's lots of people out there that have had to move a lot in their youth and it was hard. You know establishing new friendships, new relationships, new communities. So how that's manifested in my adulthood. I make sure that I'm inclusive. I do my best to make sure I include people because I don't ever want anybody to be excluded, because that's how I felt growing up. Yep.
Chuck:Wow.
Tiana:That's how that has manifested for me, wow.
Chuck:That's major, I love that. So you say you want people to feel included because you went. That's dope.
Tiana:I love that yeah because I was excluded, I wasn't a part. You know I was bullied or I was not a part of the group or you know that whole relational thing. And so, like I said, I've realized, as I've grown through that and into my adulthood again, I do my best to be as inclusive as I can be to people that are different than me, just because of how it felt being different.
Chuck:That is so powerful because I just heard this conversation, this episode I listened to on a podcast and the lady was talking about unseen trauma, unseen trauma yeah, so that reminds me of what you just said unseen trauma it is.
Tiana:You know we all have. We all have trauma. There's actually three types. I'm an educator, didn't get to say that yet, but there's three types of trauma Personal trauma, vicarious trauma and over realm. And that personal trauma comes from our childhood and you know, those are things you know people might not have ever addressed and if you don't, you carry that forward. So, yeah, my unseen trauma was being an army brat, but I'm thankful that I'm able to overcome those feelings of exclusion because you know it can still impact you. You know there's triggers, you know, and so yeah, yeah, I'm definitely thankful that I'm able to be reflective and see that in myself and then try to, like I said, be more inclusive to people that I'm around in my environment Amazing.
Chuck:Amazing.
Tiana:Yeah, you never know who's listening.
Chuck:You never know who's listening, right that? What you're talking about right now is speaking to somebody. You know what I mean, right? Yeah, yeah, wow.
Tiana:That's awesome.
Chuck:Yeah, you mentioned you mentioned that you have three sons, right? Yes, that you're raising. Yeah, how is that for you, in a world of different influences that young men, especially our young black men, have to navigate through? How is that as a mother raising three sons?
Tiana:Right, yeah, I will say the journey of I have three. My oldest is 20, my youngest is 13. I would say, initially, in my parenting, you know I was doing the things to make sure my kids basically assimilated to our American culture. Yeah, because I want them to survive. Yeah, However, in my life's journey, I become more quote unquote woke, and so now I teach them differently. I teach them to be proud of who they are, that they have a right to be proud of who they are as Black men. I do still, though, obviously, teach them what they need to know to survive in this society. So they're in school. They know they got to go to school. You know you got to get or find a way to find your niche and start a business or get your skill. You know I'm making sure I'm lining my kids up for success. However, my boys that have watched their mother grow up and, like I say, become more woke, and the way that I talk and how I see the oppression that we face in our society. They are very understanding of that oppression and they know that I have my strong beliefs about that oppression. But they also know that they have to know how to navigate this society to survive. You know, I always use the metaphor or I say things like we're just like in muddy. We're in muddy waters, we're just you know, we're just in a very tough time because we know that there's issues that we are facing that are oppressive to the people, and especially to us as Black folks, and we, in my opinion, have a right to be upset about a lot of stuff, but yet we still have to survive in this society. So then we still have to, like I said, assimilate to make it. So it's a tough thing. And how is it raising three boys? My boys are the gamers. They like the computer.
Chuck:I tried to watch you know, I tried to watch their phones.
Tiana:I tried to check in with them and ask about girls and you know how you're doing. But when we have a real talk, they know, they know the oppression. My youngest son, he, has goals that he wants to become something because he wants to fight against this oppression. So they know, they know, they know. That's really how I can say that they know.
Chuck:I love that you have those conversations with them. You ask those questions.
Tiana:Yeah.
Chuck:I like that.
Tiana:Yes, we are very close. Me and my three sons are very close and, just so you know, I'm divorced, but in my marriage I also raised seven other children that were not my biological kids. So I've been, and then I'm an educator, so I've just been around.
Chuck:Yeah, you can talk about it. Yeah, you got something to say.
Tiana:Yeah, I'm an educator for real.
Chuck:So it's all about communication.
Tiana:Yes, yes, and honesty and transparency. You know, being honest like this is the truth and unfortunately I will tell you. You know, my oldest son is 20, so he was conditioned. You know, he was conditioned in our American society. So when I woke up, when he was about 14 years old, we struggled, we bet, we butted heads because I was saying different things. Yeah, you know I was talking differently and he couldn't understand that because he had been conditioned to believe a certain you know, for 14 years. Now he's 20, he gets it, you know he understands, and now he will speak to it. My son, he actually has his own TikTok. Jay Jaylin got a nice little following. He's all about marvel with characters and old cartoons and he critiques them. But I've heard him in his, on his platform, sometimes talk about oppression and I'm like, yeah, my baby's learning, you know so. But yeah, it's been a challenge, you know, because I have to worry about them. They're black males, you know. I have to worry about you, yeah, you know, and so I just I'm trying to line up my children so they can be successful, but I still want them to know that we are fighting a tough fight.
Chuck:Yeah.
Tiana:And you need to continue to fight that fight, because it's not right that we are oppressed.
Chuck:Yeah, so yeah, wow, amazing, amazing, amazing, shout out to you.
Tiana:Thank you.
Chuck:So, Tiana, we came in contact through Instagram and to me, that is the power and positive side of social media, because I saw a post that you posted of you talking with young children about their grades becoming better.
Tiana:And it got my attention, you know.
Chuck:So I reached out to you and you responded. So here we are. So let's talk about that. What was that all about, when you posted that?
Tiana:Yeah, so I'm a chief academic officer in Southwest Michigan and it's my job to ensure that teaching and learning is happening in my district. I've been in this district for a couple of years now Actually a year and a half to be exact because I don't want to give too much space there because we're working. You know we're trying to turn things around. And so what you saw was me talking to a class of students at one of our sites that are currently struggling in one of their courses, now this particular course. We in education I'm sure you've heard this we have a shortage of teachers. We don't have teachers, and so last year we didn't have any science teachers. This year we don't have science teachers. So, we've had to place our kids on a virtual platform just because they got to still get credit. You know, it's not their fault that we don't have teachers. We still got to provide the education so they can do what they need to graduate. So because they're online, it's a different platform. You know, kids are already academically behind, so it makes it it's more of a challenge for kids to learn virtually when they're academically behind. And so, in looking at the data just a couple of weeks ago, our kids aren't doing well, and so I'm trying intervention plan. I'm trying to figure out what we could do differently for that set of kids because we want them to be successful. At this point they're doing nothing, they're just going in the class, doing nothing. And so what you saw was me telling them look, this is going to be our plan, these are going to be the expectations, and so right, what you saw was me going over our goal. Our goal is between that day when I announced it, which was last Friday, to. December 25th, right before we go home for the holiday break. Our goal is to increase that failing rate by 10%. So we're going to start, you know, with small smart goals so that we can see growth over time. Right and then other things that I, you know, shared with them. There's going to be incentives for those that do end up successful by the end of the year. You know, I started off the town hall doing a roll call okay, where's class of 2027? Okay, where's class 2026? Where's 25? Where's 24? Well, based on what I'm seeing, y'all are all a year behind, and that just shut it down. They're like wait a minute, what, what? Wait, what's going on, you know, so you got to capture their attention. So, that was a town hall, I was doing a town hall. I rapped to them, I switched some lyrics on the song cut it, your grades are way too low, you need to cut it, you know. So I talked to them about their grades, I rapped, I performed for them and then I went into what the plan was. And then, right when you saw me was going over the goals, and then we ended with some candy and they left. And then, guess what, I went to the classroom the next two days. They all got their computers on. They all were focused on kids were helping each other, like they're taking this seriously, you know. So so we just you know we have to be intentional, that's right. And so it was a team of us that came together and we were being more intentional with this particular class, because we've got to be more successful for our students. And it's not like I told the kids this is your responsibility, but we all have a role in what's going to happen in this plan? Yeah, and I went over that with them too in that town hall. So, yeah, so it was just us trying to intervene and help the babies, because they need us to you know it's the adults in their life, it's not kids. Kids learn from the adults in their life. So how are we, as the educators, going to do something different to make this set of kids more successful? We can't just expect them just to come in there and know if they're being disrupted. There's a reason, you know, somebody's not strong enough, or whatever it might be, you know. So I always have that strong belief that children learn from the adults. So what can I do as an adult to make this space better so that we can get more success out of these kids I love it. Yeah, yep, I love it. So that's what that was.
Chuck:I love that. You know what I like that, because we're all faced with challenges, but that doesn't mean we can't do something different. And it always reminds me about that little insect called the ant that when they see an obstacle they don't turn around. They either go around it, over it or under it, but they keep on moving. They switch it up a bit, but they keep moving. So you remind me of that. You know you didn't let any no challenges, you know stop you from helping those children. So I'd like you.
Tiana:For that you know I appreciate that. Thank you so much and again, I think my team that came together and brainstorm and you know everybody's playing a role and we can't you know we can't let them just fail. It just can't, that can't happen. There's more that we can do and, like I've told them, unfortunately you're not going to impact everybody, but we're going to impact somebody. You know what I'm saying You're going to change somebody. Somebody's grade is going to go up because of the efforts that we put in place.
Chuck:And it's nothing wrong with changing things around to get things done. You know what I mean.
Tiana:I love it Exactly. Yep, so that's what that was. So, yeah, I love my job. I've been in education for 23 years and I think you probably saw that I probably posted on their best part of my job as motivating students yeah. I was a principal prior to being a chief academic officer and I always did town halls at the start of every quarter and you know I would put the presentation back together and have the kids come up and help me or do volunteer stuff. You know, just fun stuff, just recapturing our mission. That's what the point of that is. You have to continue to go back to why you are here, with the purposes of why you are here. Wow, you know, and so I always like doing town halls. Those things are fun.
Chuck:Like rallying the people together. Yeah, yeah, for a reason you know and those things would work.
Tiana:Those things work. Those kids really kids really do care about how they perform and how they are successful. They just need us to care a little bit more too.
Chuck:Yeah, that's true, I like it yeah.
Tiana:Yeah.
Chuck:You have a nonprofit right Called Parent and Child Advocacy. How did that come about?
Tiana:Yeah, so I have actually two businesses. My nonprofit is Jack's Fire Foundation, and Jack's is actually my three sons name Jaylin, andre and Alex. And you know part of my journey too as a black educator. You face adversity, especially in leadership. The more and more you move up in leadership, the more you face the isms racism, sexism, all the isms. Stop saying things, you know. And so Jack's Aspire came about because I was going through some professional difficulties at one of my corporations that I worked in and really, really did face some adversity to the point where I knew I was no longer going to be working for the district but I still wanted to support the families that were in this community because I know the district. And so that's how Jack's Aspire got started. I wanted to be an advocate for the parents and the students and even the teachers. You know it's an advocacy, it's for anybody that wants somebody to come in and help solve a problem. And so I started Jack's Aspire again to be an advocate for kids in this system that I live in this community, because I know what happens to kids here and I know that parents are faced with adversity themselves and they don't know what to do. They don't know how to navigate the system, and so I actually, one of my first clients for the foundation, I saved him from being expelled. You know he was having difficulties at school. He had a special plan because of his needs and the parent knew that what was going on wasn't fair, but she didn't know how to navigate it.
Chuck:Right, right.
Tiana:So simply went in, simply helped with the conversation, brought tools that that school could use, you know, to help this kid, and they took some of the ideas. They ended up being that that child got the support he needed and he ended up making it the rest of that school year.
Chuck:Wow.
Tiana:Didn't face that expulsion. Wow, you know. So. Parents, they don't always know what to do, and so there's advocacy groups out there, and so mine is just another advocacy group. And then my second business my first business I got to talk about that with you is Lea'sia Consulting, and that's a diversity, equity and inclusion consulting business. I'm a intercultural development inventory qualifier, and what that is is a tool that can be used to gather data on how someone navigates cultural differences, and then you take this inventory. It places you on a continuum of mindsets and then it gives you a plan on how you can grow to become more culturally competent. And so my DEI business. I can do workshops, I can do the IDI. There's other things I can do, but I also do that as well. So those are my two businesses.
Chuck:I hear when you talk about that you come alive. Yeah, I know I love it.
Tiana:That part I love, yes, and I noticed back when I was a classroom teacher, third grade teacher, and I saw the disparities the first year and that's when my business, my Leisure Consulting DEI business, started back in 2006, 2006. You know, and I could see the disparities and so whenever I do get to do the workshops and the professional learning, I do light up. I like that.
Chuck:Yeah, amazing, amazing. Yeah, I do like that part of it. It's amazing, yeah. So, Tiana, moving on, this time of year people struggle more mentally than any other time of the year. You know what are your thoughts about the word depression. You know what I mean Anxiety when you hit it.
Tiana:Yeah, so you know, earlier we were talking about trauma. Trauma is real. Everybody has trauma and so I have empathy and compassion for those that are struggling. You know, even as an adult, even kids, anybody that's struggling, I feel bad because it's trauma that's not healed. And our society, our society, even our school systems, we could do a better job of teaching people how to navigate our socially emotional being. You know, Because we don't do that, when do you learn that at? If you don't have parents that teach you, like, how do you learn how to deal with your emotions, you know. So I, as an educator, I do my best to try to help, you know, restore our humanity with kids, so that they can know how to deal with all the sufferings that we're going to deal with in life. That's just a part of life, they're inevitable. So part time of the year, you know, one thing I would do is be mindful. Try maybe, practice mindfulness moments. Just be as present as you can be. You know One thing I got that was a really cool tool somebody that I've heard they always say if you can't figure out how to be mindful, do the five senses, listen. What can you hear, you know, what can you smell? What can you try to stay present in the moment. Wow, and not because the anxiety comes because of worry. We're worrying about something. So, you know you have to be really aware of your mind and be. You know your mindfulness, so maybe practice the five senses, but it's hard. You know trauma If you have trauma. How do you deal with it? You know, go to therapy, go to therapy.
Chuck:It's okay to go to therapy you know, you hear that a lot.
Tiana:You know, if you have that as a resource, but not everybody does.
Chuck:Talk about it.
Tiana:Yeah, so it's difficult, it's difficult. So stay off of Facebook, you know if you're feeling down don't be on. Facebook scrolling, Because that just makes you. Yeah, there's a difference in your life, you know, just try to practice mindfulness, and so the mental health thing. It's so deep, it's so deep.
Chuck:It is, it really is, it really is. Wow, thank you for sharing that. Thank you for sharing that yes. So, tiana, I love to ask this question If you could go back in time to share some advice or wisdom with your younger self, let's say the 13-year-old Tiana. What?
Tiana:would you say?
Chuck:to correct or give her some advice to prepare her for right now.
Tiana:Yeah, it's actually funny because the same question was asked. I just competed in the Fab Over 40 Contest for the National Friends Foundation and that same question was asked and I said you know, I think what I said. I still feel I'm okay just as I am. I think it took me a long time to realize my worth and be proud of who I was as a person. So you know fully understand who I am. So I would say to my 13-year-old self that you have everything you need. You're courageous, you're a determined person. You have everything you need to be to be proud of who you are as an adult. I love it. Yeah, that's what I would say to myself I love it.
Chuck:So who are three influential people in your life that have made a positive impact in your life to now?
Tiana:Yeah, first is my mom, for sure. Yeah, dalba Smith, she is a phenomenal woman.
Chuck:Shout out to her.
Tiana:Yeah, she is also an educator, but her life story, her journey, she's just powerful. So for sure. My mother has definitely influenced me. Two other people, I would say my father also and I know these are my parents, but I didn't grow up with my dad. You, know, what I'm saying. My parents divorced, so after I was 10, he wasn't in my household anymore. So for him to still be committed to his daughter and we were thousands of miles away and him teaching me about the history of my family and all those kind of things, it makes me proud to be a Batiste. So I would say my father is number two. And then a third influence is my stepdad. Ok, all right, you know also. Yeah, those three, those are the three influential people in my life. I don't have anybody else. Amazing. My family, my family is who I have. Yeah, so Wow, wow. Yep.
Chuck:I really enjoy this conversation. Is there anybody you want to shout out? Give a shout out to Sure.
Tiana:Let me give a shout out to my three sons, jaylin, andre and Alex. Love you all to death. You know that. Shout out to my ex-husband we are still very, very close, ok, and best friends will shout out to him and his family Got you. And shout out to my parents and shout out to all my supporters you know who you are, mm-hmm.
Chuck:Wow, Wow, Wow. So you have any social media you want to give out. In case somebody wanted to add Nick, would you yeah?
Tiana:I actually have a podcast that I just started. It just is me talking about my life's journey through education, so you could check that out on YouTube, spotify and Apple podcasts. It's writing the good fight 45. My website, if you want to know more about you know what I can do as far as services. It's Le Asia consulting my middle name is L E A J A and then consulting dot com. You can find me there. And then again I'm also on YouTube for fighting the good fight 45. My Instagram is T BAT Ooh, tbat Ooh. And then my TikTok is at T BAT, why, why. And then I actually have a Facebook page too that I highlight my professional career on it C A O, chief academic officer. C A O, t, but T Swaddle on Facebook. You can find all kinds of happenings on there Amazing.
Chuck:So yeah, thank you for that. Appreciate that. Yeah, that, any final words. You want to encourage somebody with that. You would like to leave with a listening audience. You know, as we close out this episode.
Tiana:Just want to just continue to encourage people to not give up in your own life's journey. Whatever you do, you know life is always going to be about obstacles and sufferings, but we have everything we need to get through them. We cannot give up, and that's something that I have definitely been living by these last couple of months not giving up and fighting the good fight. Whatever your fight is, keep fighting it Amazing.
Chuck:So yeah, that's all. I would say Thank you, Amazing Again. Thank you so much, Tiana. I really enjoyed our conversation and what you're doing with those young kids and helping them prepare them for today. Yeah, that really means a lot.
Tiana:Yes, Thank you.
Chuck:Love kids yeah absolutely, they are future. So, yes, that being said, talk to you soon, and I really appreciate you being on.
Tiana:Thank you so much. Talk to you soon, Chuck. Thank you.
Chuck:Absolutely Wow. What an amazing conversation. Shout out to my friend, tiana, for having this dialogue with me. You know, one of the things that stuck out to me about this conversation, amongst many of the things, was Tiana's passion for children and seeing them get the proper education they deserve to prepare them for now and the future. That often we as adults have to set the example by being intentional in the lives of the youth, by showing concern for their well-being. So shout out to Tiana for the work she's put in to make sure our children get what they need, as always. Thank you so much for tuning in to let's Just Talk About it podcast and please check out my website. Just Google let's Just Talk About it podcastcom and then hit that subscribe button to receive all the new episodes every Friday. You can also find me on Facebook. Just type in Chuck LJTAI, which means let's Just Talk About it. So, as always, until next time, don't hold it in, but let's just talk about it. Talk to you soon.
