Feb. 25, 2026

From Courtroom to Classroom with Teri Thompson: How A Judge Uses Storytelling to Build Character

Send a text What if the first place we prevent harm isn’t a policy or a program, but a sentence a child says to themselves: I am enough. We sit down with Judge and author Teri Thompson to unpack how early identity, steady mentorship, and practical storytelling can change a life’s arc long before a courtroom is ever involved. Teri draws on 32 years in law to reveal the patterns she kept seeing—lost self-respect, borrowed identities, and decisions made from empty places—and how that led her to ...

Send a text

What if the first place we prevent harm isn’t a policy or a program, but a sentence a child says to themselves: I am enough. We sit down with Judge and author Teri Thompson to unpack how early identity, steady mentorship, and practical storytelling can change a life’s arc long before a courtroom is ever involved. Teri draws on 32 years in law to reveal the patterns she kept seeing—lost self-respect, borrowed identities, and decisions made from empty places—and how that led her to write books that put power back in kids’ hands.

We walk through the heart of Girls Who Rise, an evolving movement that includes a core book, mentor-friendly workbooks, and new volumes that amplify young voices. Teri makes a simple, radical case: confidence is infrastructure. With it, kids resist peer pressure, choose growth, and lead—whether that means launching a business, pursuing college, or serving their community. Without it, even high achievers can burn out chasing approval. Along the way, we talk about practical tools you can use today: daily affirmations that stick, consistent check-ins that build trust, and the small rituals that help belief move from words to posture.

One story from a Ghana classroom captures the magic: a single coloring page—“I am beautiful just the way I am”—sparked a roomful of kids to claim their worth out loud. That’s the blueprint Teri brings to her Confidence Lab workshops in Alabama and Atlanta and to her online community at We Are Girls Who Rise. If you’re a parent, educator, mentor, or community leader, you’ll leave with concrete ways to show up, speak life, and help the next generation lead with integrity and joy.

If this conversation resonates, subscribe, share it with a friend who mentors youth, and leave a review so more listeners can find it. Your support helps more kids hear the words that can change everything.

Connect with Teri Thompson and make sure you follow her and support her children's books.

website: girlswhorise.com

Buy the Book - Girls Who Rise: GIRLS WHO RISE: EMPOWERING GIRLS TO BECOME LEADERS

Email: teri@zellapublishing.com

Instagram: @wearegirlswhorise

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/teri.thompson.792

Stay tuned for the next episode of Ready Set Collaborate with Wanda Pearson. Subscribe - Follow and Like Ready Set Collaborate with Wanda Pearson

00:00 - Welcome And Purpose

00:30 - Meet Judge And Author Terry Thompson

03:24 - From Law To Storytelling

05:01 - Why Write For Children

09:05 - Breaking Cycles And Finding Why

12:12 - Inferiority, Identity, And Divine Purpose

16:35 - Affirmations And Everyday Mentoring

21:00 - Girls Who Rise Vision And Volumes

25:01 - Confidence As A Superpower

29:10 - Leadership Beyond Titles And School

33:20 - Self-Esteem, Peer Pressure, And Choice

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Welcome to Ready Set Collaborate with Wanda Pearson.

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This is where ideas spark, connections grow, and collaborations fuse success.

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Tune in for inspiring stories, expert insights, and game-changing conversations.

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Let's build, connect, and thrive together.

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Remember, collaboration is the key to success.

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Welcome to another inspired episode of ReadySet Collaborate with Wanda Pearson, where collaboration is the key to success, and purpose meets impact.

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Today's guest is someone who brings together justice, leadership, and power of storytelling in a truly unique way.

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I'm honored to welcome Terry Thompson, a judge and author of award-winning books, children's book series dedicated to shaping young minds and building strong character in the next generation.

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Through her work in the courtroom and her stories for children, Terry is helping plant seeds of integrity, confidence, and responsibility.

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Values are families and communities need more now than ever.

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You got that right, girl.

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I tell you, I do mentoring.

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We really need it these days here.

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Together, we're going to talk about leadership, education, purpose, and how stories can shape lives long before children realize they're being shaped.

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This is going to be a powerful, uplifting conversation for parents, leaders, educators, and anyone who cares about the future.

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Welcome, Terry.

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I say hello to the audience, Terry.

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Hello, everybody.

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I'm so excited to be here.

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I so enjoy you, Wanda.

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Yes.

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I've been trying to get this lady on this podcast for two, what was it, two, three months?

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For real.

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Yeah.

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We went to a mastermind together.

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She said, I want to be on your podcast.

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Okay, let me know when you want to be on.

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So it's been November.

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November?

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I want to say November, right?

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And here we are in February.

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Yeah, yeah.

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No, oh no, it may have been September, Terry.

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Almost.

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You know what?

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That mastermind was September.

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I want to say it might have been August.

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Yeah.

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So yeah, but we just connected at that mastermind with the Book Prophets Club.

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And I'm so happy that I met you.

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And to really be and just a down-the-earth person.

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That's what I love about you, Terry.

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So thank you so much for coming on the podcast.

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But let me tell you a little about a bit about her bio.

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So Terry and Bot is a match multifaceted career spanning law, literature, and advocacy.

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With over 32 years as a trial attorney, Terry's career has been nothing short of remarkable.

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She is the author of the award-winning children's book series, Adventures of Kai, which focuses on self-esteem.

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Her latest publication, Girls Who Rise, Empowering Girls to Become Leaders, is a powerful guide designed to ignite confidence and purpose in young girls.

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It is more than a book, it is a movement that helps girls discover their voice and step boldly into leadership.

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I love that, Terry, because I do mentoring at the middle school.

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And I'm gonna want you to be one of our guests because we actually I would love that.

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That's my passion.

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Yes, yes.

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I really want to bring you on to be a guest that we do a career day.

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So I'm definitely gonna bring it.

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So I yeah, we'll talk about that.

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But yeah, I definitely would love to have you on.

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So thank you so much for being on here.

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So let's get into the meat of the grind here.

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So after working so many years inside the courtroom, what led you to begin the journey as an author?

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You know what?

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It was such a natural progress or process for me because in law, we're always doing research and we're learning and we're learning about our clients and what the whole issue is.

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And for me, meeting so many different clients, and I did criminal defense work, um, I always wanted to know their story.

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How did they get to be my client?

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How did they get to be in a courtroom?

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What led up to that?

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So that was always nagging in the back of my head.

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And I just always prayed to be able to use that inquisitive nature that I had for good.

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And so that's what led me on this journey to say, you know what?

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Let's pause and question how did we get here?

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And that's really for all of us, those that of us, those of us that are successful, and those of us who've made mistakes along the way and you might end up in a courtroom.

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How did we get here?

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And that's really what started it, Wanda.

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Yeah, I love it.

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I love it as far as what you do.

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I was a social worker when I was 10 years old.

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I said, I want to be a social worker, no, not knowing that's what God was gonna have me be.

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And I love how we are helping in the community.

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Not only you, what you're doing, I was in at IBM in corporate, and you're a judge.

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So I'm just excited I can get a judge on my podcast, girl.

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I tell you.

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This is exciting here.

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So, what inspired you to start writing for children?

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And I think you said it touched on that a little bit.

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But yes, but let me expand on that.

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What really led me to target that audience, children, is because within every person that I would see in the courtroom as my client, and even those times where I'm not sitting as where I'm not actually representing someone in court, but I'm in the courtroom, it was always the most common theme was lack of self-respect, lack of self-love.

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And I could see it in the eyes of my clients, most definitely.

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And every single time when I'm going through someone's criminal history or looking at their present criminal charges, and again, like I said before, I always wanted to know how did we get here?

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How did we get in this particular juncture in our lives?

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So much judging them, not that at all, but wanting to know why.

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Because if we don't know why, we can't fix it.

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And then we just keep going from case to case.

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If we're not sitting down, pausing, and saying, wait a minute, what happened right here?

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And like I said before, most of it is a time in their lives where they've forgotten who they are.

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And I truly believe, and this isn't just to take us down a road of philosophy or Christianity or anything like that, but I truly believe that every one of us is here on purpose.

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We have a divine calling.

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Now, whether or not we honor that calling is a different story, but we all have a divine calling on our lives.

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And my desire was to just tap into, for each person, just tap into what that is.

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And I think once we take the time to do that and to encourage everyone, especially children, when they're so impressionable, when they're so young, when they're so inquisitive, to say, hey, let's take a look at who you are and accept who you are, the way you are, the way you look, and love who you are.

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We could go so much further.

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I love that.

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And that it really makes a big difference.

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And you can see the compassion in what you do as far as uh working with that.

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So, what inspired you when inspired you start writing for children?

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Yeah.

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And it was really just seeing the looks of those I encountered and the worst parts of their lives.

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When someone gets arrested and they're charged with a crime, that is the worst part, I believe, of their lives.

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To be incarcerated, to be separated, to lose your home, your family, your job, or what have you.

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That can be the most, I would think, a very defining moment.

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Either you're going to rise from it and be better, or you could go down even a deeper, lonelier road.

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And so whenever I would see someone, I just wanted to be able to not shape who they are, but get to know why they are or where they are, and to address what happened many years ago, because things don't just happen the day, your worst day.

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It didn't happen that day.

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It happened, it preceded, something preceded that event.

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And so my desire was to learn that person's journey, not so much to just be nosy about it, but to see what we can do for the next child.

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Because the cycle has to stop.

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It has to stop.

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We can't just incarcerate everybody, it has to stop, and we have to do something at some point.

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Yeah, I love that because actually I did a podcast with Brittany about generational curses, how you got to break that generational curse and not go down the same thing.

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And I know I didn't want to keep going.

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I didn't know I didn't want to be like the way my generation curse was going down with everything that was happening in my life.

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So I love that.

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And a lot of judges don't take time to do that.

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So you are definitely a special person to do that because of the compassion that you have for and help.

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And I'm glad you saw that happening here.

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Yeah.

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How does the work in the legal system influence the stories you tell?

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And I think you were talking about that a little bit.

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Yes, yes, because it all starts when we're young.

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Everything starts if we take the time to peel back the layers and just try to see how we can serve those, I think, that are young.

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And honestly, it wasn't even, it had to, this happened long before I became a judge.

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It was just my encounters in law, period, just as a lawyer, just seeing so many individuals who you know deep down that they that had they had the right encouragement, had they had the right push.

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We can all be entrepreneurs, we can all be successful, and we can all be in corporate America, we can all be the next president.

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All of that is there.

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It's just a matter of peeling back those layers and giving each person the push that they need.

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And it's all inside of us.

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And that's another thing, too, because sometimes many people may say, I don't have someone to push me along the way.

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I didn't have a mom, a dad, a mentor, a coach, a teacher.

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And that can be reality.

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But deep down, again, and this was why I wrote my books, Adventures with Kai, because it's about the story of a little girl who just feels inferior.

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And I tried to use that book, that platform, because there are hundreds and thousands of kids that feel inferior just because of how they think they look.

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And then I wanted to use my other platform, Girls Who Rise, because again, inside of each person, whether you have that resource to push you along the way or not.

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Because, like I said, there are many gunnors that may say, I don't have a mentor, I don't have a Wanda Pearson to remind me of who I am, I don't have a Terry Thompson to tell me who I am.

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But my materials will tell you that you have it in you.

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Every person has it within themselves, whether you have a teacher or a parent or a coach to push you along the way.

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Why?

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Because we're divinely made.

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And within each of us, there is that spark of hope that we can just flourish and just take over the world.

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And that's what I see in every person that I encounter as a lawyer.

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I see it all the time that, hey, deep within you, aside from the mistakes, you can push forward.

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There's a tomorrow, there's a better day.

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So yeah, I'm excited.

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I'm excited about the future for everybody.

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I love that.

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And I love what you're doing as towards that because I am about, in fact, with the mentor and I do affirmations.

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Yes.

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Every time those girls, when they walk out, they say, Miss Wanda's gonna tell you affirmation.

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I want you to do it with my grandson.

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Here's the affirmation, read it to me, say it back, believe it, and high five.

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And before you walk out the door, give me a smile.

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That's how I do the girls here, so I love it.

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Yeah.

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That's so powerful.

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It really is because affirmations is so important because that's something that you start believing.

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Because I see these girls, we have from sixth to eighth grade.

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I have seen them grow from sixth grade, just coming in.

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Remember, they're coming out of grade school to middle school, and then they're going to high school.

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I've seen them grow from that sixth grade till they got into eighth grade, and then to see the girls come back to help us with the we have it's a storage program that really, and I one of the girls, she just really went into them, and she it's just amazing to see how they grow from that.

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So I want you to tell us about Girls Who Rise, Empowering Girls to Become Leaders.

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What is it all about?

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And I want to get a book, I want to get a copy.

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I need to get those for my grandchildren.

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Yes, I'm so excited.

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That is my newest book.

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It's available for pre-order, it should be done very soon.

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I'm so excited about that book because it's a book.

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The name of the book is called Girls Who Rise, Empowering Girls to Become Leaders.

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So the reason I wrote the book again, because of everything I already said, and that's because I want to inspire the next generation.

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It's time that the people that we see, that we embrace, that we run into every day, that they can in fact be leaders.

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It's not a matter of complacency anymore.

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The time is to empower our girls to become leaders.

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And so it's actually volume one.

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Volume two, I'm also excited, is called Girls Who Rise.

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And this one is more of an anthology.

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I am having young girls write a chapter, and it is so unbelievable.

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And it's called Girls Who Rise, Volume Two, Our Voices, Our Victories.

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And then Volume Three of Girls Who Rise is going to take on kids, younger girls who are from Ghana.

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So I'm excited about that too.

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I'm doing that in conjunction with Terea Avant.

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And so we are just so excited.

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I always tell people, Girls Who Rise, the book, is not just a book.

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It's also going to be a workbook for young girls.

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It's going to include a workbook for mentors, teachers to give all of us adults some ideas on how to encounter each child that we meet and to give them some inspiration too, because there's always going to be hiccups along the way.

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So I want to empower not just our girls, but the adults as well, whether it's the mom, the girl dad, the coach, the mentor, the teacher.

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So those resources will be there for them too.

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And so I'm so excited about it because, like I always say, it's more than a book, it's a movement.

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I love it.

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And the different volumes that you have, you're going from step to step.

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So the lesson years can be difficult time for young girls.

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I know I have a nine-year-old, 11-year-old granddaughters, and then an eight-year-old one just turned six.

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And then I have two grandsons.

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So from relationships to school to home life, what do you hope to achieve with this book?

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What I really hope to achieve is confidence building.

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Because let me tell you something.

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A girl and even take gender out of it.

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Girl, boy, take gender out.

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But a child who is confident is completely unstoppable when it comes to their dreams.

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Once I believe in myself, it doesn't matter who says no.

00:15:27.279 --> 00:15:33.919
It doesn't matter if the job says, I'm not going to give you a promotion, because I am confident.

00:15:34.399 --> 00:15:36.399
That just means not now.

00:15:36.559 --> 00:15:39.039
What I take every no as not now.

00:15:39.200 --> 00:15:41.120
Or maybe it's not with you.

00:15:41.519 --> 00:15:45.360
But a person who is confident can go anywhere.

00:15:45.519 --> 00:15:47.120
They can get into any school.

00:15:47.279 --> 00:15:51.039
They can get into any job or any type of position because why?

00:15:51.200 --> 00:15:52.559
They believe in themselves.

00:15:52.720 --> 00:15:57.600
And that's the key to really to all of my books, my children's books, and of course, Girls Who Rise.

00:15:57.759 --> 00:16:07.039
And it's building that confidence to believe that I can do in spite of my circumstances.

00:16:07.279 --> 00:16:12.000
Because oftentimes, and I'm sure you've seen this, sometimes we just look at our circumstances.

00:16:12.080 --> 00:16:13.679
And it's, oh, I don't have the money.

00:16:13.840 --> 00:16:14.799
Oh, I don't have the car.

00:16:14.879 --> 00:16:15.759
I don't have the job.

00:16:15.919 --> 00:16:23.039
And we get, we find ourselves getting stuck in what we see, not believing that, hey, wait a minute.

00:16:23.279 --> 00:16:25.600
I have within me everything I need.

00:16:25.840 --> 00:16:33.120
And so that's really what I want to teach and enforce in our young people that I have everything I need already.

00:16:33.279 --> 00:16:34.720
I don't have to go and get something.

00:16:34.879 --> 00:16:36.240
I don't have to look a certain way.

00:16:36.399 --> 00:16:39.039
I don't have to change my hair, my nose, my eyes.

00:16:39.200 --> 00:16:42.000
I'm good enough the way I am.

00:16:42.240 --> 00:16:42.799
That's right.

00:16:42.879 --> 00:16:43.120
Yeah.

00:16:43.279 --> 00:16:43.759
I love it.

00:16:44.240 --> 00:16:47.840
God, that really because it speaks to me because I know I've been there.

00:16:47.919 --> 00:16:48.960
I've been there, done that.

00:16:49.039 --> 00:16:52.720
And when you have somebody that believes in you, that confidence makes a big difference.

00:16:53.039 --> 00:16:55.519
Does with how you but you got to believe it.

00:16:55.679 --> 00:16:58.879
And that's why I say you, that's why the affirmations are so important, Miss Royd.

00:16:58.960 --> 00:17:00.399
You got to believe about yourself.

00:17:00.480 --> 00:17:01.600
So that's so right.

00:17:01.840 --> 00:17:04.640
So why is leadership so important to young girls?

00:17:04.799 --> 00:17:05.279
Or anyone?

00:17:05.519 --> 00:17:11.039
I think leadership is important because it allows them to dream big.

00:17:11.279 --> 00:17:21.839
Because if I believe I can be a leader, if I believe I am a leader, that means that I can choose whatever field I want to go into.

00:17:22.400 --> 00:17:30.960
And let me pause here because a lot of times as adults, once we get our own titles, yes, I did go to college, yes, I did go to law school.

00:17:31.279 --> 00:17:36.880
But a lot of our young people may have no desire to go to college or law school or med school.

00:17:37.039 --> 00:17:42.640
And I want every young person within the sound of my voice and every adult to believe that's okay.

00:17:42.799 --> 00:17:44.240
That's perfectly fine.

00:17:44.559 --> 00:17:49.359
I chose graduate school and professional school because that's what I wanted to do.

00:17:49.519 --> 00:18:00.079
But I believe every young person can still be unstoppable because another thing that I teach and I strongly encourage in my programs is entrepreneurial skills.

00:18:00.720 --> 00:18:05.279
Because not everybody is designed to go to dental school and medical school and law school.

00:18:05.440 --> 00:18:07.279
That may not be what they want to do.

00:18:07.359 --> 00:18:08.880
And that's perfectly fine.

00:18:09.200 --> 00:18:11.759
But everybody can be a leader.

00:18:12.079 --> 00:18:19.279
And being a leader means I can run my own business, which means I can run my own income.

00:18:19.599 --> 00:18:20.640
Hey, hallelujah.

00:18:20.799 --> 00:18:28.640
Because it really, when I left corporate, I actually, and COVID happened, I actually started doing with our services, helping people.

00:18:29.039 --> 00:18:30.160
What is your passion?

00:18:30.319 --> 00:18:31.519
What do you want to do?

00:18:31.680 --> 00:18:35.599
You don't have to get stuck in that space where you have to go work for somebody else.

00:18:35.680 --> 00:18:36.480
You can work for yourself.

00:18:36.640 --> 00:18:41.599
We have an entrepreneur family, and I love what you're doing as far as giving them that vision.

00:18:41.759 --> 00:18:42.480
It's a vision.

00:18:42.640 --> 00:18:44.079
Yes, it is a vision.

00:18:44.319 --> 00:18:46.640
Yeah, how they can actually do they can do the same thing.

00:18:46.880 --> 00:18:48.160
You don't have to say, Well, I can't do this.

00:18:48.319 --> 00:18:51.839
And just like the president, you can become president, it's within you.

00:18:51.920 --> 00:18:53.200
So it's within you.

00:18:53.440 --> 00:18:53.920
Yeah, yeah.

00:18:54.000 --> 00:18:54.400
I love it.

00:18:54.480 --> 00:18:57.680
So what I was gonna ask you real quick, what are the what is the relationship between self-esteem?

00:18:57.759 --> 00:19:00.160
And we and that actually goes with what we're talking about here.

00:19:00.319 --> 00:19:04.079
Yes, self-esteem in kids and truth to that that you've seen.

00:19:04.480 --> 00:19:09.359
You know, what I've seen is I've seen both sides of the coin, so to speak.

00:19:09.599 --> 00:19:23.200
I've seen, because I did a lot of work in juvenile court as an attorney, and I would see so many kids just follow behind the next person, peer pressure, and doing whatever the group wanted to do.

00:19:23.519 --> 00:19:41.759
And I would always, whether it was a client that I was representing directly in juvenile court or and I always did volunteer work with other organizations, I would always try to encourage that one child, one-on-one, to believe in yourself.

00:19:42.160 --> 00:19:47.680
Because all this other extra stuff, extra people, is it's really it's just a diversion.

00:19:48.160 --> 00:19:57.599
And it's a distraction which leaves so many kids along the wayside of not doing what they really want to do.

00:19:57.839 --> 00:20:08.720
I've never had a child, whether it was a gang, whether it was just following the wrong group of people, actually really by choice want to do that.

00:20:08.960 --> 00:20:14.480
Oftentimes, one-on-one, they would tell me, I really don't want to be there.

00:20:14.640 --> 00:20:16.480
I really don't want to be a part.

00:20:16.720 --> 00:20:25.039
And that's when I learned firsthand, Wanda, that if I continue to speak into that individual child, they figured it out.

00:20:25.200 --> 00:20:28.640
I don't need this group, I don't need the extra people.

00:20:28.960 --> 00:20:35.920
So self-esteem is one of those things that if we're not careful, we will lose the next generation.

00:20:36.079 --> 00:20:42.799
If we're not, if like I said in the beginning, if we don't stop and do something different, we will definitely lose that next generation.

00:20:43.039 --> 00:20:48.720
So self-esteem is something that's so important and it's so easy to change.

00:20:48.960 --> 00:20:57.839
Everything that I've talked about, Wanda, and I'm sure that you've seen it in your career and all of the kids that you've mentored, this isn't something that takes money to do.

00:20:58.000 --> 00:21:02.799
It isn't something that takes really a whole lot of time to do.

00:21:03.119 --> 00:21:08.960
My experience has been just one-on-one connection and follow through and being consistent.

00:21:09.200 --> 00:21:12.400
That can change the life of a child.

00:21:12.559 --> 00:21:16.720
And in turn, the self-esteem rises from zero to a hundred.

00:21:16.960 --> 00:21:17.920
Yes, yes.

00:21:18.079 --> 00:21:18.720
I love it.

00:21:18.880 --> 00:21:19.440
That is so true.

00:21:20.000 --> 00:21:22.400
I'm gonna have to have you on my show again because this is really good.

00:21:23.519 --> 00:21:28.799
So, can you share a moment when a child, a parent told you how your books had an impact on them?

00:21:29.200 --> 00:21:30.559
Oh my gosh, yes.

00:21:30.799 --> 00:21:33.119
This actually happened very recently.

00:21:33.440 --> 00:21:36.720
I donate a large number of my children's books.

00:21:37.039 --> 00:21:44.160
And we just did a conference in Accra, Ghana, and I took my children's books and donated them.

00:21:44.400 --> 00:21:48.880
And not really thinking too much about it, I just said, okay, I made a donation.

00:21:49.200 --> 00:21:54.160
Do you know I received an email because my contact information is always available?

00:21:54.400 --> 00:21:56.160
And again, didn't think about it.

00:21:56.319 --> 00:21:58.160
I opened the email, read the email.

00:21:58.400 --> 00:21:59.759
It was from a young lady.

00:22:00.720 --> 00:22:28.240
Who used my children's book and my the I have a coloring book, and in the coloring book, they she took it to her school and she sent me pictures of the kids focusing on one particular picture, and it was the picture in the coloring book of a little girl with huge Afro Puffs, and it talks about there's a little quote on each page in my coloring book, and it says, I am beautiful just the way I am.

00:22:28.480 --> 00:22:33.759
And she said she used that one page, not even the whole book, but that one page.

00:22:34.000 --> 00:22:35.920
And each child colored it.

00:22:36.000 --> 00:22:40.400
They used the crayons and colored it, and they talked about, and she sent me the video.

00:22:40.559 --> 00:22:47.279
They talked about how they themselves believed that yes, I am beautiful just the way I am.

00:22:47.440 --> 00:22:56.799
So that was that just happened about three weeks ago, and that just really warmed my heart, and it literally made it made me well up with tears.

00:22:56.960 --> 00:23:01.759
Because my goal and my dream was always to touch children.

00:23:02.160 --> 00:23:03.279
And you are doing it.

00:23:04.000 --> 00:23:05.759
And that's where the affirmation comes from.

00:23:05.839 --> 00:23:08.880
Because I said, I said, I am beautiful.

00:23:09.119 --> 00:23:15.359
I said, No, no, you are beautiful, but give me another positive affirmation because you're not so easy to say.

00:23:15.440 --> 00:23:17.119
We know you're beautiful, but what else can you give me?

00:23:17.200 --> 00:23:25.920
So the head, it shouldn't take that long to say what you're but you know what I love what you do is you make them repeat it back, yeah, and they have to believe it.

00:23:26.079 --> 00:23:28.400
Because that's the other thing you said a few minutes ago.

00:23:28.640 --> 00:23:33.279
Affirmations, yes, I love affirmations, but it's empty if you don't believe it.

00:23:33.680 --> 00:23:34.319
Exactly.

00:23:34.480 --> 00:23:35.039
Exactly.

00:23:35.279 --> 00:23:36.559
So I love what you're doing.

00:23:36.799 --> 00:23:40.240
Yeah, no, it is something I tell this is what God had me do after I left corporate.

00:23:40.319 --> 00:23:42.559
I said, okay, Lord, what do you want me to do to get back into?

00:23:42.799 --> 00:23:44.799
And it was the social work and doing what I do.

00:23:44.880 --> 00:23:50.640
And it's just so happened that one of our friends met, knew this lady that actually started the stars program.

00:23:51.279 --> 00:23:57.359
And she said, I have a person exactly that you know, that I can and she introduced her to me, uh to each other.

00:23:57.519 --> 00:23:59.119
I've been doing it for eight years now.

00:23:59.440 --> 00:23:59.920
Yes.

00:24:00.160 --> 00:24:03.119
When I left her corporate, I said, This is something I want in that message.

00:24:03.279 --> 00:24:06.799
Another young man that actually is doing mentoring in the high schools.

00:24:07.039 --> 00:24:09.119
So we're trying to get into the high schools as well.

00:24:09.359 --> 00:24:24.960
But what you're doing, and like I said, I definitely want to uh to connect, we got to connect each other because we we love what we do, and it's really we have to work on that that next generation because there's so much negativity in this world, and it's about how we can change that.

00:24:25.119 --> 00:24:29.279
But it has to be the mindset that's positive mindset, really gotta make a difference.

00:24:29.359 --> 00:24:31.119
So it's right here, it's all in the mind.

00:24:31.440 --> 00:24:31.759
Exactly.

00:24:31.839 --> 00:24:37.359
And believe in it because if you can get somebody, we can teach them that and they go home, but then that negativity is back into their brain.

00:24:37.519 --> 00:24:39.920
Oh, you're not gonna be anything, you're not gonna do this.

00:24:40.079 --> 00:24:43.279
So it's about just continuing to keep that that going here.

00:24:43.440 --> 00:24:47.599
So, what are some of the things we can do as parents, grandparents, mentors to support the girls?

00:24:47.839 --> 00:25:00.400
I think the the what we can do, which again, which again is so simple, but I acknowledge it might there might be challenges too, but something that we can do is consistently show up.

00:25:01.440 --> 00:25:04.400
Consistently show up for our kids.

00:25:04.559 --> 00:25:13.440
Like you just mentioned, too, doing affirmations and when you encounter the young girls that you encounter, it can't be a one one-day event.

00:25:13.920 --> 00:25:15.599
It has to be consistent.

00:25:15.759 --> 00:25:29.200
And we as adults, as moms, I'm a parent, I know you're a parent, but as mentors, coaches, whatever your role is, we have to number one be consistent, but we have to show up.

00:25:29.440 --> 00:25:30.160
We really do.

00:25:30.400 --> 00:25:35.119
Because our kids, they watch what we do, and we may not think about it.

00:25:35.839 --> 00:25:41.039
But if we if we're late or we don't show up, always say, you know what, let's just do this next week.

00:25:41.200 --> 00:25:50.400
They're watching that and they're internalizing that because what that says to them is, oh, I guess Terry's not, she doesn't think I'm important enough to come.

00:25:50.640 --> 00:25:53.359
No, and that's not the message we want to send.

00:25:53.519 --> 00:25:56.160
So be consistent and show up.

00:25:56.480 --> 00:25:57.680
Absolutely, absolutely.

00:25:57.759 --> 00:26:05.519
And I have two daughters, and you know what really makes me happy is that the cards that they write, and my my younger daughter, she's my graphic designer too.

00:26:05.599 --> 00:26:07.200
She's the one that created your flyer.

00:26:07.440 --> 00:26:12.160
She actually writes her own cards and how she said how she looks up to me.

00:26:12.240 --> 00:26:13.839
Because you don't know how your kids feel about you.

00:26:14.160 --> 00:26:23.519
I was traveling a lot with IBM and coming back, but I made sure that when they had those teacher conferences, I was there on my if I couldn't be there, my husband was there.

00:26:23.680 --> 00:26:26.480
And they look at you, like you said, they're looking at what you're doing.

00:26:26.640 --> 00:26:31.680
So you need to make sure that you're showing in a positive way to say this is what you can be as well.

00:26:31.839 --> 00:26:33.839
So I didn't know how I was gonna be.

00:26:34.160 --> 00:26:34.720
Who knows?

00:26:35.119 --> 00:26:36.319
That is so true.

00:26:36.559 --> 00:26:42.240
Even when you don't think your kids will notice, they watch what you do.

00:26:42.720 --> 00:26:45.039
Yes, yes, they do, they do.

00:26:45.200 --> 00:26:49.839
Let me ask you another couple questions, and we're gonna get into the end of that because we can just go on and on.

00:26:50.319 --> 00:26:55.920
No, so what's one lesson every child should learn early in life?

00:26:56.240 --> 00:26:58.559
Oh gosh, that's a good question.

00:26:59.680 --> 00:27:03.680
The one lesson is I am enough.

00:27:04.319 --> 00:27:06.559
Yes, I am enough.

00:27:07.519 --> 00:27:17.279
I'm enough, and I even though my kids are older, they're out on their own, they're very successful, and they're doing their own thing, I still remind them I am enough.

00:27:17.519 --> 00:27:24.720
Because here's the thing sometimes it's our high achieving kids that we have to watch too.

00:27:24.880 --> 00:27:38.640
Yeah, because a lot of times, and I've done studies on this, a lot of times, even our high achieving kids, the ones that we don't think we have to worry about, oh, I don't have to look at her homework, I don't have to check up on her, she's in her room, she's okay.

00:27:38.880 --> 00:27:41.519
And we think, oh, they're making A's, they're good kids.

00:27:41.759 --> 00:27:43.759
That's probably true, I'm sure.

00:27:44.079 --> 00:27:47.359
But sometimes they need checking up on to.

00:27:48.160 --> 00:27:52.880
And oftentimes, because I think I suffer from this as well, I don't know if others do.

00:27:53.119 --> 00:28:00.480
Sometimes when we get to be high achieving, we keep achieving because we think we still have to keep up that momentum.

00:28:01.759 --> 00:28:07.920
Only to find out that it only burns us out, and we can hit rock bottom.

00:28:08.240 --> 00:28:18.400
So one of one of one of the things that I do in Girls Who Rise is, yes, I also want to, I always want to target the child that has low self-esteem, low confidence.

00:28:18.720 --> 00:28:19.519
Absolutely.

00:28:19.759 --> 00:28:29.839
But I'm also mindful and my eye is on, and I'm always looking for that teen girl who we all think it has, she has it all together.

00:28:30.160 --> 00:28:35.119
Because a lot of times we miss cues or we misunderstand their achievements.

00:28:35.359 --> 00:28:37.519
Could it be a cry for help as well?

00:28:37.759 --> 00:28:40.079
So my program is very inclusive.

00:28:40.240 --> 00:28:43.599
It's not just the ones that we think, oh my gosh, she's at risk.

00:28:43.920 --> 00:28:48.160
I include everybody because we all have been there.

00:28:48.480 --> 00:28:51.200
We've all had highs and we've all had lows.

00:28:51.440 --> 00:28:58.400
And I just want to make sure that as adults, that we all learn, even as adults, I am enough.

00:28:58.480 --> 00:29:03.279
And as children, I am enough just the way I am.

00:29:04.240 --> 00:29:04.880
I love that.

00:29:05.039 --> 00:29:06.000
I actually have a t-shirt.

00:29:06.079 --> 00:29:08.960
I went to a conference and had I am enough.

00:29:09.519 --> 00:29:11.599
Yes, I love it.

00:29:11.759 --> 00:29:12.160
I love it.

00:29:12.400 --> 00:29:14.799
Yeah, I'm telling you, so many questions I want to ask you here.

00:29:14.880 --> 00:29:18.720
So if I'm gonna do a part two, yes, we do, we do.

00:29:18.960 --> 00:29:23.759

From Courtroom to Classroom with Teri Thompson: How A Judge Uses Storytelling to Build Character

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