Jan 6

Connection Across CONTINENTS

There are many faces that you actually GET to see in the SELebrate Good Times and Teaching Inside Out world, but there’s also a face that is completely behind the scenes.

Back in 2019 I inherited three incredible humans that were hired as my Behavior Support Team when I was working for my former school district. I had BIG dreams of getting into classrooms on the daily, supporting teachers on the ground WITH their students, and helping them put out all those little spot fires one classroom, one school, at a time.

But what I quickly learned, was that when you have 18 elementary schools, 7 middle schools, and 4 high schools to support…there are spot fires EVERYWHERE, all the time, and some a ROARING!!!!

I couldn’t possibly get to everyone that needed help, especially those educators and administrators who were in crisis mode. And trust me, more often than not, EVERYONE was in need for support IMMEDIATELY.

The days when a phone wasn’t ringing, or we weren’t getting texts from principals asking for someone to come as quickly as possible were slim to none. It soon became a thing…like “it’s too quiet…why haven’t we gotten an SOS phone call yet?”

Showing school districts how to SKIP this phase of chaos is what I love to do. You don’t have to run around from teacher to teacher, or school to school, just to end the day feeling like all you did was put out fires or play whack-a-mole all day long. But having the right PEOPLE, with the right mindset, to help support this work? THAT is what starts the transformation immediately.

My team was THE best of THE best. Three incredible humans who soaked in every ounce of ACTIONABLE STRATEGIES to support teachers and students. They built POSITIVE STUDENT BEHAVIOR SYSTEMS alongside our educators, and because of THIS, helped to create LASTING CULTURAL CHANGE WITHIN the SCHOOLS they worked alongside.

The work was TOUGH. At one point, we had to create a system for when behaviors moved from an SOS, to an “I don’t feel safe here”. But WE, as a TEAM, were thriving.

It’s the kind of unity that you dream of.

And then Covid hit.

Now my team wasn’t working alongside teachers in person. And I needed to find a way to get their knowledge and support to the teachers in a new way…which brought me to the realization that we needed to go digital.

I had no idea JUST how creative this team of mine was. They were inventive, and they had ideas that I had never thought of, and you know what else???? They were up to date with all things tech in the digital world.

This was like being catapulted into a whole new world immediately. I was a coach. I was a teacher. I was a dance instructor, a performer, and a master on my feet with humans in real life. I had no idea how to create things that teachers and parents would want…but these humans? They did!

Fast forward to the end of that crazy school year, and my family and I picked up our bags and moved to Texas. And I remember so vividly one day as we were driving around searching for houses in a city that was oh so foreign to me. My phone rang, and it was one of my Behavior Support Team members. She said…I have to tell you something…I’m moving…

All I could think of was, SHIT! The district NEEDS you. You’re the best. You’re incredible. You’re the one that needs to LEAD the team!

And then she told me where she was moving…to Texas!!!

Drop the freaking mic, y’all! To Texas???? I hadn’t told a SOUL in the district that I was moving at this time. I had kept it to myself just in case it didn’t work out. Maybe we wouldn’t find a house just yet, maybe something would happen in California. But at that moment, it was like the sky had opened up, the angels were singing, and I knew that I wasn’t alone.

Samantha, Sammy to literally everyone else but me…was moving to Texas. And I literally burst into tears.

Now THAT phone call quickly turned from a “I have to tell you something that you’re not gonna like” to a “holy crap, we’ve got some BIG ideas and let’s get to WERK!” conversation.

I told Samantha that I wanted to take SELebrate Good Times to a whole new level. I wanted a website, materials for educators and parents, I wanted my entire brain and experience available to people across the nation. And you know what she said! She said she wanted to be part of it! SHE could create a website, she could re-create and brand everything we had done before and make it even better, more intentional, more effective, and are you ready for THIS? She had decided that because of the work that she had been doing with me and the team, she wanted to go back to school to become a Board Certified Behavior Analyst. Yes, you guys! So freaking rad!

So in 2020, she helped me create SELebrate Good Times. She knew how to create pretty emails, link things that I never knew I needed, she literally gave me the outline of how to start running SELebrate Good Times as a business.

Now to know Samantha, is to love her. We never ACTUALLY got to see one another the two years she lived in Austin (3 hours away from me in Dallas), and then she moved BACK to California. Fast forward to NOW in 2024, and this girl is a BCBA living in GERMANY with her sweet boyfriend, traveling all over Europe…AND has helped me build not just one, but TWO websites, our Pinterest site, Amazon storefront, SELebrate Good Times blog, weekly emails, brag tags, printables, book recs, and so much more!

She’s been working behind the scenes doing all of that for two of my businesses since the very beginning of it all, and still to this very day. But here’s the catch…we have not seen one another IN PERSON in FOUR AND A HALF, yes almost FIVE freaking years!!!

Did your jaw just drop? I’m sure it did.

Can you even believe that?

How can you have someone living in GERMANY be such an integral part of your business, and you haven’t even held them in your arms or seen them face to face in almost five years? If you know me…and if you’ve seen any footage of me when I see my educators and administrators that I work with, you know that our events and speaking engagements and coaching sessions always start with gigantic hugs. Because you know what? It’s the hugs that do it for me! It’s the connection, and the safety, and the trust that comes with a hug that truly starts that transformation and magic in classrooms, schools, and homes.

Well, my friends, that FINALLY changed! Yup! Samantha was HERE, in Dallas, for the holidays and I was able to finally see her IN THE FLESH! It was a truly special reunion and I am so thankful for the time that we got together!

Hang on tight everyone. It sure was a cry fest…at least for ME! Because relationships and connections are at the core of my business. And THIS one, THIS one is special to me.

Check out the pics below from our time together, and be sure to see our emotional reunion on Instagram!