Personal and professional mentors. With gripe water and a Winnebago. (Ep.20)
Show notes and sneak peek
There are more than a few interjections of cute kiddo voices this episode, friends - including a baby voice flashback. Brace yourself for cuteness! In Episode 20, Kori, Laura, and Keith reflect on pivotal mentors in their lives - from academic influences to professionals who championed them to friends who’ve helped them through tough stages. You’ll meet Kori’s grandma (yes the fat phobic one); former teachers Ms. Fisher and Miss Milleris, and Mr. Williams; Professor Hirsch and Father Kemp, colleagues Elaine Mulligan, Vanessa Coleman, and Beverly Brooks; auntie sister cousin Pam; and mama/friend mentors Jaunelle, Lanaya, her sister, Christian, Tyranny, Camila, Randy. Laura introduces you to Dr. Schleef, Dr. Linda Underwood, Dr. Jonas, and Dr. Allan, and Keith tells the story of how Jimmy Rose and Tim Burke changed his life and his path in dramatic fashion. Beyond mentorship, you’ll hear us mention how Kori’s son uses chapstick, Laura’s husband’s teary takeaway from Episode 19, and a shoutout to the Buddy Hollies trivia team in St. Petersburg, Florida for last week’s win. Laura and Kori are tempted to snowbird at Keith’s place when he describes the plethora of dog friendly bars with mini golf courses in his city. We’ll close out the episode with more kid cuteness - and a new acronym: DAFBFF! What can we say - IYKYK, and if you don’t know, listen and find out. Visit our new home on the web: www.pushingpastpolitepodcast.com. Follow us on social media, as we want to hear from YOU! @pushingpastpolite on Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, and YouTube. Why not send this to a mentor or mentee of yours and let them know how much you appreciate them?
Resources
Cam and Gloria cooking together in the kitchen on Modern Family
Gripe water for newborns and babies from Whattoexpect.com
Kaboost instead of high chairs (thanks, Jaunelle!)
Mercy Watson book series by Kate DiCamillo
Transcript
Episode 20 Full Episode
[00:00:00] Kori: He's working on putting this pin back together. He was trying to
[00:00:02] Laura: put it back together. All I heard was, what the hell? That's what I thought.
[00:00:06] Kori: He said, Mama, how
[00:00:07] Laura: can we put this? Mama, how can we? Okay, got it. Um, if I have a little friend who wants to say hello too, how do we do that? Do we, do I take my headphones off?
[00:00:16] Well, we can pick them up in the mic. No, I know, but she can't hear you.
[00:00:20] Kori: Ellen, can you hear me, girl?
[00:00:22] Ellie: Yeah.
[00:00:23] Laura: She can't. So, oh, you're, oh, what flavor gum is that?
[00:00:26] Ellie: Oh, watermelon.
[00:00:27] Laura: Watermelon, it smells really good. See,
[00:00:29] Ellie: it's like the only one we have right now.
[00:00:30] Laura: Yeah, watermelon gum, it's tasty.
[00:00:32] Kori: Um, so
[00:00:33] Little Dude: Who are you?
[00:00:36] Kori: It's Ellie.
[00:00:38] Laura: Gee, it's
[00:00:40] Ellie.
[00:00:41] Kori: Ellie is her little girl name, but when she's her little old soul, she's Ellen. We call her Ellen. When she's, when she's being a boss or a book club lady, she's Ellen.
[00:00:48] Laura: She has her own book club. She cleaned the kitchen. Okay. I love you. Thanks for coming in. Bye. Keith says bye. See you in a little bit.
[00:01:03] Did he say I have to do something with my schedule?
[00:01:05] Kori: Yes, he
[00:01:05] did.
[00:01:20] Laura: All right, you ready?
[00:01:22] Kori: Wait, do you see the difference in my face, Laura? I went upstairs while Brittany was editing and I did five minute face. I do.
[00:01:28] Laura: You look glowy.
[00:01:29] Kori: And I put some, uh, mascaras on.
[00:01:32] Laura: You look lovely. You look lovely. I love it.
[00:01:36] Kori: And some lips. Some lips. What other boys? Oh my gosh. Lips. Lips. And now, now Jay walks around.
[00:01:46] with like lips on chapstick, a tube of chapstick on his finger. How does he do that? He like, so he, well, we were pulling, we were twirling the stuff all the way down so that he couldn't get to the end.
[00:02:01] Laura: And then he puts it in the hole.
[00:02:03] Kori: And then he scrapes it out.
[00:02:06] Laura: You have created a chapstick addict.
[00:02:09] Literally. Um, my middle one got, went to a birthday party and for favors they got a little lip balm that like opens up, it looks like a little compact. And And so on both halves it has some balm, and you know what she did? She thought this is how you put it on. She thought you like stamp your face and I couldn't stamp that!
[00:02:27] I was like, you are gonna die of the flu. Like do not, do not. Your fingers are not that much
[00:02:32] Kori: better, but no. Why are they so kook a looky? Look, look.
[00:02:37] Laura: What did I say? He's very happy with his chapstick. His finger on it. Oh my god.
[00:02:43] Kori: Oh my god. And he like just walks around. He does all sorts of, you know how kids can just chit chat with the PASI like hanging off their lip?
[00:02:50] Yeah. He does all kinds of activities with that
[00:02:53] Laura: chest and on his finger. Hey ma, hey ma, let me take
[00:02:55] Kori: care of that, uh, that little. Let me fix you something.
[00:02:58] Laura: Fix your drywall while I get this thing on my finger. You want an egg? I'll scramble it. Literally. That's so cute. It's like his little comfort thing.
[00:03:07] Yeah. It fits on his finger like a little, remember those things where you put your fingers in both ends so that he can't pull them out? And they lock? Yeah. Yeah. Mm hmm. I love it. I love it. Well, welcome to Pushing Past Polite, where we talk about what matters. And make the world more just. I'm Laura.
[00:03:22] Kori: And I'm Kori.
[00:03:24] We're so glad you're here. Oh,
[00:03:25] Laura: friend. So I wanted to tell you that, so my husband normally listens to our podcast the morning that they come out. And some mornings I'll hear him like giggling in the bathroom when he's getting ready. It's really cute.
Kori:That's so sweet.
[00:03:39] Laura: And some mornings I have to ask him like, Did you listen?
Because you haven't said anything yet. But he, after the last one, was teary. And, um, I was not expecting that. He goes, there's something I really took away from the last one that I hadn't really thought of before. And he mentioned it was about, it stemmed from Keith sharing about how friendships change over time.
[00:03:56] And then Kori, you added on and said that some people in our life only know us from a certain period of time and don't grow with us. And he, and we all kind of said that we feel to greater or lesser degrees like that could be the case with some family members, where they remember us as little kid and not as now, and he got all teary and he goes, I want to carry that with me.
[00:04:18] I want to make sure that we grow with our kids. Yeah. Um, it was so sweet and I was like, you're right. You're right. I mean, it'd be foolish of me to think it couldn't happen to us, right? So yeah, being aware of that and being mindful of that so we do grow with them as they get older is something we're going to try to do.
[00:04:35] So thank you.
[00:04:35] Kori: Yeah. Because what? It's like you spend 75 percent of your time with your kids before they turn 17. And then that's it. Yeah. And then that's it. Great. And then it's much more infrequent that the time you have with them. Yes, or in
[00:04:47] Laura: informal situations, right, versus living situations. Exactly.
[00:04:51] Kori: Right. So it's like you have this intense amount of time for this fixed period of time, and then it becomes more sporadic unless you, it just, it always is going to be less because they're just, yeah, unless they're living with you. Um, and so you, you get. Stunted. You have, you have the potential to get stunted.
[00:05:10] Laura: You know, and I hadn't thought about that as the reason why you're so stuck in that frame. It's not just nostalgia, right? That's the, right. That is the time you've invested. That's who you know and how. Right.
[00:05:19] Kori: People go off to college and go to get jobs and go to the military and, you know, they do all these things.
[00:05:25] And
[00:05:25] Laura: mom and dad are not a part of that in the same way.
[00:05:27] Kori: Right. In the same way. And then they find their own people. And start creating their own families and, you know, someone else picks up that role. Yeah. Well,
[00:05:38] Laura: we're going to grow with our kiddos. It's our hope.
[00:05:41] Kori: If they'll let us. Well, when, like when Daniel and I chose each other, you know, like decided, one of the things that I told him and we talked about, it's like, I want the person that I'm with to be like, that's my main witness, right?
[00:05:57] To my life, to my adult life. There's like always somebody who you're the person who is my. My primary witness, and as parents, we are the primary witness to our kids lives for that period. And how do you continue to be a witness of their accomplishments, their hardships, all of their growth, their changes, right?
[00:06:22] Because a lot of people stop being that witness to their kids.
[00:06:26] Laura: Oh, that's beautiful. Well, and then he becomes, when you choose a partner, that's, that's your person. That's the one who's carrying the history from your adulthood on. I love, that's one of the things I actually like the most about being married, is not having to give a lot of context and backstory.
[00:06:44] I can just give an update on something that happened. And they know the whole history of why that really made me feel a certain kind of way, you know, it is kind of wonderful.
[00:06:54] Kori: And having close friends and networks over like extended periods of time. You know, like I feel that with my bestie Stan, I've known since college.
[00:07:04] And so we have like 20 years of history and context. And another one of my couple of my friends who I've known since I was a child. And we have like all of this historical relationship. That has grown together. And so I feel so fortunate to be able to have all of these witnesses who can tell stories about who I am and who I was and how I've changed and And I can do that for them, too.
[00:07:34] Yes You know, that's so, that's just such a gift. Mm. Agreed. Agreed. Mm hmm. And now I get to be that with you, too. Yes,
[00:07:43] Laura: yes, that's right. Your history starts somewhere, right? Yeah, exactly. You know, even from these, gosh, but these last few years have been so full of so much. So full of so much that it feels like when I remember on the calendar that we're approaching what maybe four years of friendship It feels like a lot more than that.
[00:07:59] Kori: It feels like a lot more than that.
[00:08:01] Laura: Yeah, you've done warm me out
[00:08:02] Kori: Yes,
[00:08:11] Laura: I love it That's so funny. Oh, um, oh, and we have to celebrate a fun victory and personalize. Keith, can you tell everybody about the Buddy Hollies, your trivia team? What? Well,
[00:08:24] Keith: we win a lot.
[00:08:28] Kori: We're winners. What do we want me to
[00:08:30] Laura: tell? You tagged me in a post where they won and had some kind of trophy and I thought this was some like cumulative summative end of season big moment.
[00:08:38] No, this is just another Tuesday. It
[00:08:41] Keith: was Thursday. We do Monday and
[00:08:43] Laura: Thursday. What are the entry fees? What are the entry fees for these trophies? I was literally about to say Manic Monday. No,
[00:08:49] Keith: it's free. You just buy drinks when you're there. It's sort of like a bar game, but it gets pretty serious. There's a lot of established long term teams.
[00:08:59] I sent you the picture last night because I brought my dog. I don't usually bring my dog because he hates crowded areas like that, but he actually had a good time. There were a couple other dogs on our team. So yeah, the photo is just a bunch of us posing, holding up a medium sized dog than mine. That's all.
[00:09:18] Laura: I thought it was cute. So there has to be some outside component, right? They're not just letting you bring the dogs inside. Or are they?
[00:09:26] Keith: St. Pete is one of the most dog friendly cities I've ever experienced in my life. Um, a lot of restaurants down here have dog menus. So you can order for you and then they have a little menu where you can get like scrambled eggs or like a tiny little burger or something like actually order for your dog.
[00:09:42] Um, yeah, it's cool. That's really cool. A lot of the bars down here, if they don't serve food, you can bring your dog in.
[00:09:49] Laura: So fun. Okay. Well, no wonder Woodstock is happy down there.
[00:09:52] Kori: Thank you for saying that part out loud, Keith. If they don't serve food, I was like, ooh, I don't know if I'm ever eating at St. Pete.
[00:09:58] Laura: Please tell me it's a patio. Please tell me it's a patio. But then I said, how would the trivia be connected? You need the monitors and the screens.
[00:10:06] Kori: But if they don't serve food, if they're just serving alcohol, that makes a lot more sense. Yeah.
[00:10:09] Keith: The places that have food, you can have your dog usually outside.
[00:10:12] Outside, yeah. But a lot of the bars down here Down here, like inside is kind of quasi outside. A lot of places don't have like doors
[00:10:19] Kori: because the weather is so great.
[00:10:20] Keith: Yeah. You have a roof over your head, but it's not really indoors. Right, right, right. The place that we went to last night is called, um, I don't want to say the name, but they have a, like a mini golf course outside.
[00:10:36] It's really cool. So if you go there on a normal night, you can like drink and play mini golf.
[00:10:41] Kori: Maybe you need to host next time.
[00:10:44] Laura: We were just talking about our next retreat. We've, we've been together all in the same place once for about three hours, maybe three hours. So he said, where's the next retreat?
[00:10:53] But apparently it's St. Pete with a dog and a pup cup on a golf course.
[00:10:57] Keith: You guys are welcome to come snowbird it
[00:11:00] Laura: anytime you want. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Awesome. Well, congratulations to the Buddy Hollies. Even if this was not a cumulative major trophy, steady winners are just winners. You're winners.
[00:11:12] You can still be congratulated.
[00:11:14] Kori: Yep. Small victory. Even if you're, even if you're a consistent
[00:11:16] Laura: winner. That's right. I appreciate it. Short. Short. Um, so something we wanted to talk about that we have not discussed together, I don't think ever, maybe informally little pieces of this. Um, and we
[00:11:29] Kori: do it together, even though we don't, you know, always
[00:11:33] Laura: think about it in this way.
[00:11:34] Yeah. Yeah. Yes. Now people are like, what are they doing that we don't think about? What topic? Um, we've been thinking about snorkeling. It's snorkeling. Yeah. It's definitely snorkeling. Definitely. Um. People who are influential in our path and who are in either formal or informal mentorship roles. People who act as sponsors or speak up for us or give us some great life lessons that we, in turn, try to emulate.
[00:12:05] So, I wanted to ask, who have your mentors been across your lifespan and what kind of gifts have they given to you? Like, there's so many. I know. I jotted down and then had to trim and even then, I have a list, but tell me, so tell me, like, Uh, earliest mentor that you are cognizant of, maybe other than your parents, unless you really want to talk about your mom and dad.
[00:12:24] They're great
[00:12:24] Kori: too. Yeah, they are great. Um, my grandmother for sure. My mom's mom. There were a couple of teachers that like stand out for sure. Uh, Marjorie Fisher was my fifth grade teacher. Miss Milleris was my first grade teacher.
[00:12:42] Laura: Milleris, M I L L E R I S. You know, I don't know. Great question. She was a great spelling teacher.
[00:12:48] Yeah. The best.
[00:12:49] Kori: Um, but she like, I went to this like French immersion school at one point. And, um, parle vou frances? Oui, oui. Oui, oui. Non, non. Um, um, and so like there's some teachers, um, There are some teachers. I had a couple in high school stand out too. So I would say, and they're all women, for suresies.
[00:13:14] There was a, there were a couple of men, like I missed out on Mr. Williams being my fourth grade teacher because we moved and I was like heartbroken and devastated. Oh my God, I was devastated. But then in terms of like professional spaces, it's one of those things I feel like oftentimes my mentors are people that we end up adopting each other.
[00:13:36] Laura: As opposed to being assigned to each other, right? Yes.
[00:13:39] Kori: And then they end up kind of sticking around. So, Elaine Mulligan is a really great example. Um, you know, I met her during my doctoral studies in Arizona. And, uh, like we, we shared a cubicle at one point and we almost shared a brain. Like, we've talked about this.
[00:14:01] Seriously, we used to say that all the time, that we shared a brain. And you and I have talked about this before, that scene from Modern Family with Cam. and, um, Gloria and the Kitchen and Gloria. And that's what Elaine and I were like, it was just like, we shared this cubicle and we would be moving in the cubicle, like in concert with each other.
[00:14:22] Laura: Yeah, like, and we, she's grabbing papers, you're passing the stapler, open a new drawer, close the drawer.
[00:14:27] Kori: It was, it wasn't quite as dramatic as that, but yes, it was like that. And we talked about how we shared a brain. And so that's really cute. She, I worked with her in three different. And organizations. So I, I worked with her in organizations.
[00:14:42] Yeah. So I worked with her in Arizona at the Equity Alliance at a SU, and then she wrote a job for me at FHI to come to dc. Then she invited me and, and connected me with, she basically brought me to the. Three of the last four jobs that I've had.
[00:15:02] Laura: And your geography changed significantly too over that time.
[00:15:05] And my geography
[00:15:06] Kori: changed. So I was in Arizona and then I was in D. C. She brought me out to D. C. And she, she had come out for a project director role and she was like, I need your help. Would you mind moving to D. C.? I need the other half of my brain. Yeah. And I was like, sure. I love D. C. You know, I went to college here.
[00:15:24] I love that city. And so, um, yeah, and so then she left that role and went to, to another organization. I went to a different organization and then she was like, Hey, how you doing? Uh, I could need your help again. And so I came over with her
[00:15:42] Laura: to the last place where I met you. So I have a lot to thank Elaine for
[00:15:45] Kori: where I met
[00:15:46] Laura: you.
[00:15:47] Kori: Well,
[00:15:47] Laura: that you wouldn't, I mean, maybe you would've, but the, like you met Daniel on the east coast.
[00:15:53] Kori: You met your husband. Yeah, yeah, I met him. I moved here, like, the end of January 2012, and I met him in June of 2012, and the interesting thing is, like, he had moved here of June of 2011, so it's like, he had just, he was kind of new to the area too, um.
[00:16:14] When we met. Mm hmm. Let's be new together. But I met him day drinking at the waterfront.
[00:16:20] Laura: Life is good. Life is good. Life is good. But Elaine has a big part to do then in your personal life, too. A huge. Mm
[00:16:27] Kori: hmm. Oh, yeah. Oh, for sure. That's
[00:16:30] Laura: very cool. Yeah. And she knows, clearly, she knows what a, what a big role she's played. You guys are still in touch.
[00:16:35] Kori: Influencing role she's played. Yeah. Yeah, yeah. Like, you know, she was one of the first people, or one of the people that, like, I allowed to meet my new baby during the pandemic.
[00:16:44] Laura: That's a badge of honor for sure. I trust you know what I'm
[00:16:48] Kori: saying? Yeah. Yeah. And so I was also there when she met her husband and was at her wedding and she was at mine, you know, just so she's been super, super influential in mentoring and, you know, just like pulling me along.
[00:17:06] I was. Watching an interview recently, it's an older interview that Tina Knowles did with Zendaya, the actress, you know, Tina Knowles is Beyonce's mom, and she interviewed Zendaya and her mom. Okay. And Zendaya's mom was telling the story about her, it's just talking about how You know, she really pushes the envelope in the industry, right?
[00:17:31] And she has clout and credibility and she leverages that for people of color. And so her motto or her mindset is like, I don't just want to like go and. She's like, I want to go and open the door and hold the door and help them get through it. And that's kind of how Elaine has been, right? It's like, as she moved up and around, she was always inviting me to join her.
[00:17:57] Laura: I've heard the phrase and I've even used the phrase, and I don't know which of my mentors it came from now. But it's the idea of I want to be an opener of doors for the women that follow me. Uh, and it's, it's that same idea. It's not just for yourself and, you know, on the backs of someone else, it's a, my people with me.
[00:18:15] Yeah. Mm hmm. Make it easier for the next person as opposed to, well, I did it and you have to as well. Yeah. It's like I did
[00:18:22] Kori: it so you can see
[00:18:23] Laura: I did it. Yeah, yeah, yeah. That's not helpful. Right. You want you want more than a road map. You want someone to show you the to really guide you on the way. That's
[00:18:30] fantastic.
[00:18:31] Laura: Yeah, yeah, yeah. Love it. What about you? Um, when I thought about this question, I was thinking about different phases of my life. Uh, definitely high school. Not so much. And please, high school teachers, don't be sad. There are many of you I'm still in touch with and really care about, but I feel like I was one of those kids who was.
[00:18:49] In the middle of the smart kids, not where I didn't really need much support, and so I didn't really get much support. I've kind of coasted through. Guidance counselor was not particularly helpful. Same. College was a hot mess, that choice. My first mentor of my own that was outside of, you know, I guess after being 18, was probably Dr. Schleef, um, from Mary Washington, who was one of my sociology professors. We are still in touch. Um, loved her classes, loved, loved, loved. First time I ever really worked with data. Um, even as an undergrad, it was this chance to You know, make phone calls and record on a protocol and clean the data and manipulate the data and code.
[00:19:29] And it was so cool. And she also let me babysit her kids. So I was in her home and, you know, it was really a special, um, yeah. And I've seen her walk through some. Some harder challenges in life. And she's been there for me. She's come visit visited me and my babies, which is really special. Yeah, she's the first one for sure.
[00:19:47] Um, in my professional role, like my first real big girl job for sure. Um, my Linda, Dr. Underwood. Yeah, we call her Nana to the kiddos. Nana. Oh, my God. We, and, and we met in this, I was first year teacher, had been hired in the school district. I came in to get fingerprinted, which is just part of the protocol, you know, for your background check.
[00:20:07] Yeah, yeah, yeah. And this woman meets me in the hallway. Uh, you know, she's in the same hallway I'm in and she's heading down to the HR office too. We start talking, have this great conversation. She drops me off. I never think I'm going to see her again. First day of work, new teacher training. She's running the training.
[00:20:23] And I'm like, Oh my God, what did I say? Did I say anything dumb? Huh? You know, um, who is this person? I had, how did I not know? She was the assistant superintendent. I had no idea. Um, and she was brand new to the area. She didn't know anyone. And so she would come check on me. That was her way of like pulse checking how things were going in the district was like, Oh, how's this new teacher doing?
[00:20:43] I know her. I have a personal connection now. Right. And same thing. She, uh, not only checked on me, but again, gave me opportunities to stretch talents that I didn't even think I had. And, um, was a great champion for me in, in lots of different spaces, encouraging me to go to grad school and finding ways for me to stay on part time and still contribute to the district, but pursue, you know, my family and time with Bernie and all that.
[00:21:10] So that's super special. Um, and she's part of our family now, which is wonderful.
[00:21:15] Kori: Yeah. I was going to say, like, in college, college, it was, like, all men. Hmm. Interestingly, right? Like, uh, Professor Hirsch was one of my favorites. He is, like, one of the reasons I entered into the education field. And between him and my grandmother, who was, like, a teacher, administrator, all that stuff, running programs in school districts.
[00:21:38] But he was running a, um, tutoring program for kids in D. C., and so he was one of the people who, uh, encouraged that part of, like, connecting with people and watching people grow and giving back. And there were a couple of other, Father Kemp, he really started introducing me to that, like, critical thinking of, like, he had these two classes called, one was Church and the Poor, he was a Father Kemp priest, but he was honest AF, you know, he, it wasn't like this weird or, it was a Jesuit university and so, It The, the priests were just real about how stuff was and really had a strong connection to serving people.
[00:22:24] Laura: The Jesuits tend to, that's a group that's known for that.
[00:22:28] Kori: Yes. And so he was just like, he was so authentic and real. He was the person who actually encouraged me to go pursue my doctorate. And that's like when I started applying for graduate school and all that kind of stuff. So in undergrad, it was much more like male mentors who were seeing something in me and encouraging me to pursue some of that.
[00:22:53] And they both had me like come back and guest lecture in their classes when I moved back, you know, like. That sort of thing. That's awesome.
[00:23:01] Laura: Are you still in touch with either of them?
[00:23:04] Kori: Over like LinkedIn. We don't, I don't see them very much, but yeah, occasionally I will run into Father Kemp. He lived when I lived in the other, in DC on the other side of town.
[00:23:14] He was my neighbor. Oh, I love it. So I saw him. I saw him often, uh, at the grocery store, at the local restaurants, you know, I, I saw him very often. Um. That's awesome. And Professor Hirsch actually didn't live very far either. And so I would sometimes run into him at the ice cream shop or, um, somewhere. So, but now that I live in suburban land,
[00:23:34] Laura: welcome to the suburbs,
[00:23:35] Kori: I'm not in the city as much.So I just kind of like, I have not been as engaged in the university as I would like to be. And that's one of the, and I have the littles, um, but one of the things I'm intending on doing is just. Reengaging. Reconnecting. It's our 20 year this year. And
[00:23:53] Laura: so that blows my mind coming back. We were this far out of high school.
[00:23:58] Okay. I believe that. But when I heard that number for college, I know mine was technically last year. Mine was 2003 was when I graduated. So 23 and I missed it. I should have gone. I should have gone.
[00:24:13] Kori: Mm hmm. Now, I'm glad you're saying that because I'm like, one of my, one of my friends texted and was like, are you gonna go?
[00:24:19] I was like, it's 20 years
[00:24:21] Laura: already? It blew my mind. It was a blink.
[00:24:24] Kori: I was like, are you gonna go? Clearly I haven't thought about this.
[00:24:28] Laura: Yeah, and I didn't have a really large, like same group of friends in college. I had friends from different parts of my college life. And so for me to like, go, the gang's getting back together.
[00:24:38] It didn't have that feel for me. I'd have to really know that I was going with one or two people that I knew well. Yeah, same. And that just didn't coalesce. Uh, I missed it. I guess I can go to homecoming any old year and just, you know, pretend I'm in that tent for the homecoming year, the, the reunion folks, but yeah, I.
[00:24:57] Also, I've been thinking about more recently in professional line of things, Deborah, who was both a mentor, I would probably mentor, right? Mentor and supervisor for you. Yeah, yeah, for sure. Um, she, again, we met because I was at a Panera at the right time, struck up conversation like I do because I can't help myself.
[00:25:21] And she was an incredible champion for me. The biggest thing of my takeaway of my friendship and relationship with her, which is still ongoing. She came for lunch today and I served her random things from my fridge. Sorry, Debra. Um, is she gave me language to describe my talents in, in terms that
[00:25:37] Kori: I never thought about.
[00:25:39] Yeah. Like I'm a people person.
[00:25:41] Laura: And she's like, no, you, you build community. And I'm like, oh yeah, I do. Or you're, you know, I, yeah, I support teachers. And she's like, you're, you provide technical assistance. Wait, what? What does that mean? What does that
[00:25:51] Kori: mean? That's one of her superpowers. Helping people to be able to better articulate what their own strengths are.
[00:26:00] In ways that are also monetizable, right? So we can put this language into a proposal. We can put it on your CV. It means something in the industry. It has, you know, it has value in this community that you're working in.
[00:26:16] Laura: Or even potential to transfer between. Between fields because this skill applies here and here and here and I never saw that before.
[00:26:24] I thought when you get an education degree, you teach and then you go back to school and you become a principal if you want to, and then you retire. There was no vertical, there was definitely no horizontal thinking for any of the different things I could try. With this skillset. That is an enduring gift she has given me for sure.
[00:26:43] Mm-Hmm.
[00:26:44] Kori: for sure. Yeah,
[00:26:45] Laura: definitely. Um, and then I feel like I've also had mommy mentors, like people who are just a few years beyond where my kids are. And I could see, first of all, hope of, you know, light at the end of the tunnel, but also too, like getting strategies and ideas on what to try when I didn't know.
[00:27:01] And that was. That's been incredibly
[00:27:03] Kori: helpful. Yeah. Yeah. One of my other really important mentors, I would say, is my, I call her my auntie sister cousin again.
[00:27:13] Laura: Can you please draw the family tree and the branch for that? Yeah. Right. Auntie
[00:27:17] Kori: sister cousin. I love it. Auntie sister cousin. And she, her name's Pam and now we live around the corner from each other, which is kind of hilarious.
[00:27:25] Laura: You traded in father Ken for Pam. That's all right. You got your mentor.
[00:27:28] Kori: Neighborhood mentor. When I left the job Elaine brought me out to D. C. for, I went and worked with Pam at this other organization, and she interviewed me. And she was like, we were doing a phone interview and we talked for like two hours.
[00:27:44] Laura: Dang. That's a, that's a connection. This is before you knew her. This was your first meeting? Yeah. Was a
[00:27:49] Kori: phone conversation for two hours? This was like, was our phone, this was my interview, an interview conversation. Wow. And it turned into a two hour long conversation. You're sharing everything. And then? We, yeah, yeah.
[00:27:59] This kid in seventh grade was really mean. What? Exactly. And so when I got hired, the, and I walked into the office on the first day, She came, grabbed my hand and gave me a hug and said in my ear, we did it. Huh. How did
[00:28:16] Laura: you, how did you interpret that? What did you think she meant?
[00:28:19] Kori: Like, just the idea of, you know, the, the interview process was kind of arduous.
[00:28:24] Mm hmm. They ended up hiring two people. We started on the same day. And so I interpreted it
[00:28:29] Laura: as like, you know. We navigated the gauntlet and got you here.
[00:28:31] Kori: Mm hmm. And got here. Mm hmm. And so, um. I am not in touch with a lot of people from that organization anymore, but I am in touch with her. Pam's your girl.
[00:28:42] Like, mm hmm, mm hmm.
[00:28:45] Laura: Auntie's sister cousin. Yep. May I ask a question to clarify? Is Pam a woman of color?
[00:28:50] Kori: Yes. Okay. She's a Black, she's a Black
[00:28:52] Laura: woman. Maybe it was the auntie's sister cousin that did it for me that gave me a little clue. But I was curious about, given the, uh, not that you didn't deserve to be in any room you were in anyway, but I wondered if the we did it had some of this, like Um, we navigated this, we kind of won, even though these, maybe this interview process was not necessarily designed to be the easiest or the
[00:29:12] Kori: friendliest, but yeah, and, and I hadn't been in that space in a while, you know, I had kind of ebbed into a different area of expertise in education.
[00:29:25] And so I was trying to come back. I had had this when I was working at the organization that Elaine brought me to in DC, I was part of this rising stars thing that they were doing internally. And I remember it like it was like a project management type of class that they were trying to prepare people to be project directors and project leaders and whatever, right?
[00:29:44] And so I remember being in this class and someone saying, like, you're known for what you're known for. And I was like, Ooh. That's true. It's like, once you have a reputation at a certain point in your career, you're known for what you're known for, and it's hard to break out of that thing that you're known for, those things that you are known for.
[00:30:06] And I was getting really deep into disability space. And I didn't want to be
[00:30:11] Laura: known for that. You didn't want to be pigeonholed and have your career only defined that way. Mm
[00:30:16] Kori: hmm. Mm hmm. And so that's what led me to shift to a different organization that had more of an equity focus. But I hadn't been there.
[00:30:25] I had come from one, but I had had this, you know, three or four
[00:30:28] Laura: years. Interim experience. Yeah. Interim
[00:30:30] Kori: experience. And so I think that was also part of the, we did it. Because There was some justification required for why I might be a good fit for that
[00:30:41] Laura: role. Because you look like what you're known for.
[00:30:43] You're showing up as this disability expert as opposed to equity expert. Mm hmm. Mm hmm.
[00:30:49] Kori: Thanks, Pam. Way to go. Yeah, thanks. Exactly. Yeah. And then even out of that, um, in that role, I met Vanessa. And so she has been, so there has been an interesting shift in my relationships and mentor relationships, peer mentors and people who are older, much more gravitating towards other Black women.
[00:31:13] Yeah, Black women. Mm hmm. Mm hmm. There, that, if, within the last decade, I would say, I have substantively increased the number of Black women who I would call mentors, both who are older than me and have been in, have more experience because they've been doing this work a lot longer, but also my peer mentors who are my friends and mentors, you know.
[00:31:44] And we collaborate and we work together, you know, starting businesses and someone's taking this class and someone's doing this course and encouraging you to do this. I did this thing. You should try it so that you can, you know, that kind of community building and partnership and support. And then, like you said, the mamas.
[00:32:02] Yeah, the mamas are everything. The mamas. You're one of those for sure. You, Jonnell, my sister, my cousin Lanaya. I don't know how I would have made it through some of the things without you all. Because, you know, between just like being in the house all the time with a pandemic baby. Yeah. I didn't even know where to get it.
[00:32:27] It felt like you're just, it feels like when you have a baby, you're just supposed to know so many things, right? You get the download at the
[00:32:34] Laura: hospital. It doesn't work that
[00:32:35] Kori: way. Yeah, but there isn't, yeah, but you don't even get a download. You think you're going to, right? They're like, no. Bye. Good luck.
[00:32:44] Laura: The buckle is firm on the child.
[00:32:46] You're okay. The car seat passed the test. See ya.
[00:32:48] Kori: Yeah, yeah. Like I remember being on the phone. With my sister and I had gotten out of the house and I was just like, so stressed because Gee, I feel like wouldn't what is grape
[00:33:03] Laura: water for? Oh, that's for upset tummy like colicky kind of stuff
[00:33:07] Kori: Yes, it was crying and not knowing why yes Yes, gassy crying.
[00:33:14] I had tried all the hold positions and the massage Yeah, yeah, and that the bouncer and the chair I have like video of me like this
[00:33:27] Laura: I remember that feeling of, Oh shit. What now?
[00:33:31] Kori: Yeah. And I called my sister like almost in tears. And she was like, you need to go get this, I'm like, how am I, how, why don't, how, how was I supposed to know about this? How'd you
[00:33:43] Laura: know that? How'd you even figure that out? Yeah, yeah. First of all. Second of all, who is marketing gripe water?
[00:33:48] Because what the heck is gripe water? Gripe is like complaining. Complaining water?
[00:33:53] Kori: Right. Well, the baby sounds like they're complaining, right? So that may be.
[00:33:56] Laura: So a negative in a negative makes a positive, and then if you put it in there. Makes a positive.
[00:33:59] Kori: Fixed. And then you put me on to the saline. For the nosies.
[00:34:03] For the, for the nosies and all that congestion. Cause I was in there like rubbing and humidifying and. But they were too little to blow, and they didn't like the suction, and it wasn't always wet enough for it to suction out anyway, and you know, so like Just flapping in there, it's not good. Yeah, it's not good.
[00:34:22] So you totally saved my life with the saline
[00:34:26] Laura: situation. I'm
[00:34:27] Kori: glad I could help. That we still use to this day. I mean, they're just, I, I could keep recounting. Jaunelle, like Even right now, in my house right now, she's still putting me on with, I have these lifts for my breakfast room chairs. Genius. Come on
[00:34:48] Laura: now.
[00:34:48] Can you describe that? Genius. When I came over, I'm like, what is that? Why didn't we have that? Yeah. Right. So instead of a high
[00:34:54] Kori: chair. Instead of a high chair, they are these lifts that you can put underneath a breakfast chair. They're like tension, four tension things. So you can put them underneath your chair and there's two depths.
[00:35:06] So that it brings the chair closer to the table. It's
[00:35:09] Laura: wonderful. Although, when we said lifts, I was thinking Ron DeSantis shoes. That's all I could think of. Well, that's basically what they are.
[00:35:15] Kori: Basically, for your chair. They make the chair taller, like, yeah,
[00:35:17] Laura: for your chair. Yeah, for the record, not a fan of Ron DeSantis, thus making fun of his lifts.
[00:35:21] No.
[00:35:22] Kori: Battle. But
[00:35:22] Laura: his lifts. His lifts. Yeah. Yeah. Listen, short man syndrome. to
[00:35:26] Kori: do. Exactly. You got to do what you got to do. My, my toddlers have short man syndrome. True.
[00:35:32] Laura: Get them higher. Wouldn't you please get them higher? No, having people who have paved the way who I can, and yes, for the gadgets, for sure, but also to, and the way you talk to your children, the way your children, uh, respond to you, you know, the Nourdeen family that I nannied for, my God, that mom was, she still is incredible.
[00:35:50] Um, the way that, the, the kind of feeling that she, and atmosphere she created in her home. It's like, that's what I want. I didn't grow up with that. I want that. I want to recreate that. Um, so having those, having those models is so powerful.
[00:36:04] Kori: Yeah. And also knowing you're not
[00:36:06] Laura: alone. Yes, you're absolutely right.
[00:36:10] Yeah, this is not new. There's nothing new under the sun. Someone else has dealt with this or is dealing with this and can help me figure it out. Um, I, as I look back too, I'm trying to think, there's, I've had a, um, one male mentor, Mark, Mark Allan, if you're listening. He was wonderful in a workplace and really helped support me and still does, but is a great friend as well.
[00:36:29] But for the most part, for me, it's always been women. Um, and I think that's interesting too, you shifting from, Men in college to Black women. Is that an intentional move on your part? Uh, no. I was curious. I wasn't sure if it was like a psychological safety and people who, like, on a different level can understand and relate.
[00:36:49] Kori: It may be have something to do with that, but it's also just the spaces that I'm in. You know, like I met my friend Tyranny, who I consider a peer mentor, five months pregnant. Randomly, we were facilitating training again, Elaine, Elaine was helping this, literally, Elaine was helping this woman, Deshaunna, put together this workshop series and Deshaunna knew Tyranny and I knew Elaine, Elaine was helping Deshaunna with the marketing.
[00:37:19] And so she was like, Ooh, you should talk to Kori And she did. And so me and Tyranny co facilitated, never met, co facilitated, uh, training on culturally responsive practice together. In person here in Maryland, we've never let each
[00:37:33] Laura: other go. I love that. And was she one of your people that came on your 40th birthday weekend?
[00:37:38] Mm hmm. See? Your people.
[00:37:41] Kori: Mm hmm. The spaces you're in and who you keep close. Yeah. Camila. Same. Who was on my 40th birthday. She was in one of my workshops that I did in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania at some point. And she was like, Oh, I like this sis. She's great. She's good. And Oh, Randy Ross. She's definitely one of my mentors too.
[00:38:00] This is like
[00:38:00] Laura: our, our, um, our Grammy speech. I just want to thank the Academy and Randy Ross and Tyranny and Elaine.
[00:38:07] Kori: And Pam and
[00:38:09] Laura: Elaine. And Linda. Yes. Oh my gosh. So cute. Yeah. And Debra.
[00:38:16] Kori: Vanessa, we love you. Yes. Yes. Yeah. No,
[00:38:19] Laura: but that brings up a good point. It's like, do these people know, do they all know that they've been so pivotal in your life?
[00:38:25] I think, as I think back to that list, I like to think most of them do know, but I may need
[00:38:29] Kori: to be a bit more intentional. I think most of them do know. I think most of them do know, and I think they know by how we, I continue to show up for them. Like we continue to show up for each other. But I also like to do this for other people.
[00:38:44] Right. Like when, before I, when I was working at large organizations, even I remember Beverly Brooks, another great example, Beverly, she, Beverly,
[00:38:55] Laura: love Beverly
[00:38:56] Kori: too. Yes. She was, you know. at the place where that Elaine brought me to. She was one of the few Black women in that area, and she's like the same age as my sister, and we just hit it off and totally connected.
[00:39:11] And she was also going through her parenting journey in the same lock and step as my sister. So her kids and my sister's kids are around the same age. So we were having all these conversations about her kids and the, and the nieces and the nephews. And again, another person that I never let go of having those experiences with people like Elaine and Beverly and Deborah and Pam, who are shepherding and giving you context and support and checking in on you and your personhood.
[00:39:42] is something that I wanted to pay forward to people that I was working with when I was in more senior positions. And not only to people who were less senior than me, but people who were also senior to me, right? Like all of those people. Our people. I was
[00:39:59] Laura: just going to say they're all still people.
[00:40:01] Kori: Yes, they're all still people.
[00:40:03] And so, well, and you've
[00:40:04] Laura: fulfilled that charge for sure. Not that you're done, not that you're done being a person showing up for other people. But, um, not long ago, we had an occasion to pause and celebrate you right. With a room full of colleagues and over and over and over again, people talked about, she checked in on me, she checked into me, she checked in on me.
[00:40:21] And I think we all corporately had this realization, not corporate as in like corporate America, but like as a group. That, you know, we thought Kori was just our friend. I thought you just did that for me. You did that for her? You did that for her too? This, even her? You know, not that there's anything wrong with the third her, but like, it is, it's who you are.
[00:40:40] That's a part of who you are.
[00:40:42] Kori: But part of the reason that's who I am is because I had that, right? And I could recognize the importance and the value. In that and how it's made a difference in my own life. And so why not create that for somebody else to in, in, in the ways that I am able to.
[00:40:59] Laura: No, you are very generous with your time, with your talents, with your connections.
[00:41:03] Um, you, you give with an open hand, right? You're not a closed fist person about this is mine and my space. It's a, it's very, you're very, very generous. For sure.
[00:41:14] Kori: That I, I feel like I cultured that in my teacher days. Right. It's like. You beg, borrow, and steal anything you can get to do something special for your children, for your students, right?
[00:41:23] And so, why make other people do that?
[00:41:26] Laura: Yeah, exactly, exactly. If you have it, give it to them. Yes, absolutely right. That's, that's how, that's how schools run. In, in, in the best, in, in healthy situations for sure, right? That it's a hard enough job, we don't need to all struggle.
[00:41:39] Kori: Exactly, exactly. I've already, I've, I've solved this thing.
[00:41:43] Yes, I've cracked it. Yes, I've cracked it. Here it is. Oh, absolutely. Adjust it how you need
[00:41:48] Laura: it to be. Absolutely. So Keith, how about you? Can you tell me about people in your life who've been instrumental at different seasons?
[00:41:56] Keith: Yeah, I don't have like mentors in a traditional sense, but my life has kind of been defined by individuals who I've met at very important times in my life.
[00:42:06] So they may not have Stuck around or guided me for a long time, but they, they changed the course of my life just by being good people or direct people or just the right people, uh, the right time. So like, you, you guys both know that I was not born into sort of like an educated, wealthy family, you know, my, my dad did construction, neither of my parents graduated from college, that kind of thing.
[00:42:28] I wanted to be in a band when I was in high school. I thought I was going to be a rock star. So I, I barely graduated high school. I didn't put any
[00:42:35] Laura: effort
[00:42:35] Kori: in. America, fuck.
[00:42:37] Little Dude: Yeah.
[00:42:41] Keith: So we got like a Winnebago and tried going on tour. And then within like a few months, the Winnebago fell apart. We lost our savings and we were all like working at a convenience store and.
[00:42:51] Then the band broke up. And
[00:42:52] Laura: then you wrote Fast Car, working at that convenience store. Just a little bit of money.
[00:42:58] Keith: It was less than a year out of high school. Everybody was off at college and here I am, you know, still at home with nothing. So I ended up working at a liquor factory in New Jersey. That was my job.
[00:43:10] I worked on a production line. And after eight or nine months there, they put me on the palletizer. The palletizer is like this big machine that takes cases of liquor and stacks them into pallets and then pushes them out. The palletizer is like a big deal. You got to be good to get onto the palletizer.
[00:43:28] Um, so it was like a, it was like a two person job. I was being trained on it by a guy named Jimmy Rose, who was older. Um, he was probably like, In his late forties, but he, he moved around like he was in his seventies. He had, you know, his knees, his body, he was just shot. And so we had a lot of time out there and he was talking to me about what the fuck I was doing at this liquor factory.
[00:43:53] I think I was 19 at the time. And he's like. What do you, go get an education. And I was like, man, fuck school. I hate school. I'm going to find my own way. And he's like, man, you see me. I can barely get down from the palletizer every day on my body shot. If you have a chance and you do have a chance, go do something about it.
[00:44:12] Don't look at this as. As your
[00:44:15] Laura: path doesn't set,
[00:44:16] Keith: yeah, this is not an option for you. And that got me thinking and then talking to people and that was sort of the catalyst. So I was like, okay, I'll try going
[00:44:23] Laura: back. That's a beautiful story. Yeah. Jimmy Rose, Jimmy Rose, shout
[00:44:28] Kori: out
[00:44:28] Laura: to Jimmy Rose. Oh my gosh. Was he the other half of your palletizer team?
[00:44:33] Was it the two of you? Yeah, it was me. He
[00:44:34] Keith: was mentoring me up there and he gave me a talking to. So, um, I quit, I got a job at a convenience store and. Went to community college, but again, you got to remember that I, um, hated education. I was not a fan. I thought I'm just going to suffer through it, get a degree and move on.
[00:44:51] And then in my first semester there, I had a professor shout out Tim Burke, Brookdale Community College. Um, he, I, it was one of the writing 121 courses. After we submitted our first paper, he pulled me out into the hallway. And said, you need to pursue writing. You are an incredible writer. I had, I, at this point I thought I had no skills at all.
[00:45:15] I had no clue that I would be anywhere close to like a good student, let alone special in some way, him taking that two minutes to pull me out in the hallway and give me like, it changed the entire course of my life, like all of a sudden. I saw myself differently. I started applying myself. I realized that I really liked reading and writing.
[00:45:35] Literature kind of spoke to me. I had just never had a decent education prior to that, where I had teachers that presented it in a way that, that resonated with me. So yeah, years later, I worked myself through college and ended up graduating summa cum laude and the career I have today is in large part due to just two guys who took time out of their day to.
[00:45:56] Try and 19 year old kid about what the fuck he was doing with his life. One with a
[00:46:01] Laura: stop sign and a warning sign, like, do not go here, and one saying, I see a path forward for you.
[00:46:07] Keith: Awww. That's awesome. Jimmy Rose, Tim Burt.
[00:46:10] Laura: Shout out. Shout out. I love that so much. Oh, that's incredible.
[00:46:16] Keith: So you don't have to be a fixture of somebody's life to be a mentor.
[00:46:20] You just gotta take a little time and effort to try and help when you can.
[00:46:25] Kori: That should be on a t shirt. You don't have to be a fixture to be a mentor. Oh, I like that. Just take the time.
[00:46:33] Laura: Yeah, no, and to, you know, Kori, you were saying earlier how you feel this need to pay it forward. I also would guess, and tell me if I'm wrong, and I know I feel this way, I enjoy this.
[00:46:44] Like, I enjoy working with people who are younger or who are less More junior, right, who, you know, are still trying to figure out life or trying to figure out relationships or thinking about motherhood one day or all of those different phases that I've, that I can connect to in some way from life experience.
[00:47:02] Um, it's a joy to connect with people
[00:47:04] Kori: that way. And yeah, for
[00:47:06] Laura: sure. I wouldn't always say impart some wisdom because sometimes I don't have it to give, but just to be there for them. It's really
[00:47:13] Kori: wonderful. Yeah. And I feel like mentorship has, um, evolved in kind of how people understand it, that it doesn't traditionally always felt like somebody who was older than you, like older people were mentoring younger people.
[00:47:29] But now I think those mentor relationships come in so many different forms, right? They come in the forms of friendships. You can mentor your peers, you have peer mentors, older mentors, younger people are mentoring you. Um, uh, Pam was saying that she had given some presentation and she had listed me as one of her mentors.
[00:47:48] And, um, because as long as you're interested in learning and growing, you can find those opportunities anywhere, you know. What did you make buddy? What did you make? Show us. Is that
[00:48:02] Little Dude: Godzilla? No. Guess again.
[00:48:07] Laura: Whoa. That is, whoa. You see
[00:48:10] Kori: how I could see Godzilla? I, yes.
[00:48:12] Laura: No Dad,
[00:48:12] Little Dude: he is not Godzilla. Who is it, G?
[00:48:15] Tell
[00:48:15] Laura: me
[00:48:15] Little Dude: who is it? Uh, Bado. Bado. No Arder
[00:48:22] Kori: Batterer batter. No batter.
[00:48:25] Little Dude: Banner.
[00:48:28] Kori: Did you just make that up? Yes, he just made that up.
[00:48:34] Little Dude: That's how you
[00:48:35] Kori: spell it. That's how you spell it?
[00:48:40] Get it right
[00:48:42] Laura: y'all. That's how you spell it. I love. Um,
[00:48:46] Kori: I have
[00:48:47] Laura: a little video from years ago. We read a book series I've read with the girls called Mercy Watson. That was the main character. And one of the kids said it really fast. Mercy Watson. And I'm like, what did you
[00:49:00] Kori: say? And she's like, Musiwason! And I said, tell me how to say it?
[00:49:03] She
[00:49:03] Laura: goes, say
[00:49:04] Little Dude: it with me now. Musidy? Mu
[00:49:06] Laura: mu And then she got all confused. Musiwason! I have a clip of it on my phone. My voice notes still. It is darling. So Battlesaur might be in your list.
[00:49:16] Kori: Uh, my sister's mother in law, her grandbabies, there's like a whole set of them that call her Uppa. And it came from Twinkle Twinkle Little Star up above the world so far.
[00:49:31] And they hung on to that uppa, up above, up above, up above, up above, and so they call her Uppa. That's so cute. That's, that's her name. That's
[00:49:40] Laura: a great example of like, yeah, you can think your kids are going to call you Grandma or Mimi or Gigi. Right, right. You're Uppa. That's really sweet. Mm
[00:49:48] Kori: hmm. I call her Uppa too.
[00:49:49] Laura: Uppa Bubba. We say Uppa Bubba, we're all so high. Uppa
[00:49:55] Kori: Bubba. Uppa Bubba.
[00:49:58] Laura: Well, thank y'all for sharing. All right, friends. It's been real. Thank you for sharing. You need to go play Battlestar with somebody.
[00:50:03] Kori: Bye bye. Bye Say thanks for sharing, everybody. I don't want to. You don't want to? Okay. We won't
[00:50:09] Laura: make you.
[00:50:10] Um, Keith, I'm thankful those two people interjected in your path. Literally,
[00:50:15] Kori: because that's
[00:50:15] Laura: why we know you. And Elaine, thank you for introducing me to Kori. Yeah, all of my, all my ladies too. Yeah.
[00:50:22] Keith: And I want to thank you both. You both have had a really positive, beneficial impact on my life. And the short time that we've known each other.
[00:50:31] So
[00:50:31] Laura: both. That's really sweet. It's mutual
[00:50:35] Kori: because we're dope as fuck,
[00:50:36] Laura: bitches. We make each other better. I mean, we do. That's the kind of friendship I want. Battlesaur needs you.
[00:50:43] Kori: Battlesaur needs you. Okay. Can you, can you, can
[00:50:48] Laura: you zip it? Can you mute fast? You want to take us home or take it home dope as fuck friends
[00:50:59] Kori: Thank you that death that's it we should have t shirts da da FF I like that as fuck friends. Yeah.
[00:51:07] Laura: Yes, great up right up there with BFF PPP dance We need to work on our acronyms. They're rough. They're rough. Why the peace? Why the peace? Love you all. Thank you for being my D A F B A B F Fs, plural. And, uh, yeah, thanks for listening to Pushing Past Polite.
[00:51:26] Find someone who, uh, you can open doors for to follow after you, make it easier for them. And tell your people who've been influential, shout out your Jimmy's. Shout out your Jimmy's. Shout them out. What was the other one? Tim Burke. Shout out your Jimmy's. Shout out your Tim's. Your Linda's. Elaine's.
[00:51:42] Beverly's. Yeah. All of them. Tell them you love them. All of them. Make their day. Thanks so much. Yep. Till next time.
[00:51:48] Kori: I'm Laura. I'm Kori. We'll see you later. Bye.
[00:51:52] Little Dude: Bye. Bye.
[00:52:05] Kori: Thanks for listening to Pushing Past Polite. We encourage you to go deeper in your trusted spaces and find new space for good conversation.
[00:52:14] Laura: You'll find episodes, transcripts, and lots of other goodies at our website, pushingpastpolitepodcast.com. You can also connect with us on Instagram, Facebook, and TikTok at Pushing Past Polite.
[00:52:26] Kori: Pushing Past Polite is an independent podcast with Kori and Laura from Just Educators. Our cover
[00:52:31] Laura: art was designed by Rachel Welsh De Iga of De Iga Design, and our audio is produced by Keith at Headset Media. Until next time, don't get stuck talking about the weather. Push past polite.
[00:52:42] Kori: See you next time.
[00:52:48] Little Dude: Bye bye.
[00:52:55] Laura: Jay, you did perfect!
