Change Starts Here

Live Life in Crescendo: Your Most Important Work is Ahead of You is the new book by Cynthia Covey Haller. Haller, a teacher, and speaker outside of her writing duties, spoke with Dustin Odham about this inspirational book, guided by the wisdom of her late father and co-author of Live Life in Crescendo, Stephen R. Covey. Haller calls herself the mother hen of the Covey family; she is the eldest of...

Working within a positive culture creates optimal results in any setting, and that is especially true for those in K12 educational settings. Juan Bendaña, top youth motivational speaker, joined Host Dustin Odham to dive more into how to create and define a positive culture in the classroom. Bendaña believes the first step to understanding students is to take a step back. “The most important thing...

Cathy Quiroz Moore is the Superintendent of the Wake County Public School System, NC, the 15th largest school system in the United States. Moore came to the U.S. from Ecuador when she was two years old. That dual culture influenced who Moore is as a person and her actions as a leader. Her roots in the Wake County Public School Stem stretch back to 1988 when she entered as a French teacher. Being e...

Who takes care of the teachers? In the “Change Starts Here” podcast, host Dustin Odham chatted with author and associate at Marzano Resources and Solution Tree, Dr. Tina Boogren. As an advocate for the well-being and needs of educators, Boogren talked about a new shift towards emphasizing the wellness needs of teachers. In her prior studies of educators, Dr. Boogren came to the conclusion that the...

Facing adversity from a young age, Dr. John “Push” Gaines, a professional speaker and leadership consultant, was not sure where his life would end up - but he was sure of one thing: he would persevere. On this, Dr. Gaines speaks to host Dustin Odham about his experience in persevering and the importance of leaning into the present. “Persevere until something happens,” said Dr. Gaines. Dr. Gaines g...

In college, podcast host Dustin Odham read Rick Warren’s A Purpose Driven Life. He’s been living by a mission statement he created ever since – “to make a positive and lasting impact on every person I meet, every single day,” said Odham. He intentionally chose to create a mission statement that was not job-specific but would apply to all aspects of his life on a daily basis. The choices in Odham’s...

Throughout the second season Odham highlighted that he primarily focused on going more deeper and personal with his guests, by featuring the smaller tidbits of their lives like their hobbies, and how they contribute to their thought process. In the forthcoming season of “Change Starts Here” however, Odham plans on going a step further. He said he wants to discover how his guests beat adversity. “T...

As an author and Childhood Trauma Motivational Speaker, Clark now considers himself a “hope dealer.” But this wasn’t always the case. “I didn't grow up on love, affection, a wonderful mom and dad that just loved on me. I grew up on survival,” reflected Clark, “Over the years, I learned how to turn nothing into something.” After attempts to kill Clark failed, Clark was brought into the world wi...

From a young age, Chris McChesney fell in love with Stephen Covey’s application of principles over best practices. He wanted to be a part of Franklin Covey so much that he landed his first job with them over thirty years ago by pretending to be a newspaper reporter as a fake intern. That’s dedication. Today McChesney is a National Best-Selling Author, Keynote Speaker, and Global Practice Leader wi...

Andrew Houlihan, Superintendent of Union County Public Schools, Monroe, NC, is a Doctor of Education. His formal education took him to New York and Texas before coming back to his home roots in North Carolina. The best part of Houlihan’s day is walking into the classroom of any one of the 52 schools in his Union and watching learning take place. How does the superintendent of the 6th largest schoo...

The culture within companies is widely accepted as a critical element to success, but what is the culture within a school? Dustin Odham and Phill Boyte discuss the possibilities that open up when a school caters to a welcoming environment for students and staff. According to Boyte, connecting students fosters a healthy environment. The team has more influence, and students' success extends bey...

Dr. Kelvin Adams, Superintendent of St. Louis Public Schools, doesn’t have a magic formula for success, or why his leadership role within the St. Louis public school system has lasted for nearly fourteen years. If honesty, sincerity, and providing people with the correct information are magic, he’s happy to reveal those secrets. “At the end of the day, it’s always about keeping kids first and maki...

Pollak’s interest in public speaking dated to her K12 years when she won a prize for reading a Shell Silverstein book. Next, a Rotary Club college scholarship requirement to give a series of Rotary Club speeches began a journey that has not ended. The speech requirement was four. Pollak did thirty-nine. “I realized maybe there was something about this that I’m starting to enjoy,” Pollak said. “And...

The report aligns with the mission of JFF, founded in 1983, to create a system that benefits all students and prepares them for work in a realistic way. “The work over that time has always focused on the mission of creating and scaling up solutions that can really transform our education and workforce systems so that it achieves economic advancement for all equitably,” said Vargas. After working w...

Straight A’s are not always easy to come by, but often, earning them in a traditional setting means getting to the right answer, not learning why an answer is needed or how to go about solving a problem. Sally Amoruso, Chief Partner Officer at EAB, a firm dedicated to serving educational institutions, spoke with Change Starts Here podcast host Dustin Odham to discuss how to prepare for the changes...

Garcia speaks several languages, is a speaker, a teacher, a comedian, and a world traveler who has not yet made it to Antarctica, but he’s checked all other continents off his list. His strong faith background guides him, and Garcia believes everyone is born with a purpose. And through his struggles in high school, he learned the art of simplicity. When Garcia learned how to keep things simple, he...

Mielke encourages educators to be in a space of happiness and purpose. “Every time I speak on a topic, I get to not only apply it to myself but see the shifts in people where they're not only thinking about their role as a student or a teacher, they’re looking at it through the lens of how does this impact my entire world view and it's a really and empowering thing,” he said. The challenge...

Finding this gift didn’t come quick to Lawrence, but that journey to self-discovery isn’t one he’d trade away. “I learned a lot of my lessons through sport,” Lawrence said. “I used the school system and the opportunities there to participate in sport. I had some great coaches, and I gravitated towards wrestling.” And it was there Lawrence first began to cultivate the mental toughness that would se...

Fievre published her first book as a teenager, and she credited her aunt, a grammar and literature teacher, for introducing her to the understanding and importance of editing. “She could look at my manuscript and see what it lacked on the grammar side. Also, she could help me with the developmental.” Fievre quickly realized writing and editing were two essential but different crafts. Her advice to...

Because of his experience in Japan, and his continued education in learning Japanese in college, McIntyre was offered a sales position with an international trade publisher at their Japan operation. And the more he traveled and experienced different cultures; the more McIntyre wanted to learn. Although McIntyre built himself a strong resume in international business, some project work with Frankli...

Smiling nearly the entire podcast, Covey clearly loves what he calls his purpose, which is to increase trust and inspiration in the world today. Writing his first book 16 years ago, he found his inspiration because of the absence of these qualities and a lack of reliable content on the subject. With the only constant being change, it’s clear a disruption is needed since the paradigm of how we view...

Okay. Full disclosure: Odham was away on vacation this week, but he wanted to give folks a chance to catch up on some great moments and amazing content from some genuinely inspiring educators and thought leaders. Whether this is the first exposure to these guests or a second time around, these agents of change are worth spending a few minutes with, and these hand-selected clips are some of Odham’s...

Dr. Cardenas has spent the past 13 years leading Janson Elementary. For eight of those years, the school enjoyed the status of being a Lighthouse school. And in 2022, they received the Legacy designation. The discussion opened with a look into what makes Janson different. “I think the most important thing that really helped our school was having a very clear purpose and vision,” said Dr. Cardenas....

A culture of belonging includes diversity, the presence of differences in an environment, and inclusion, or making all community members feel included. Belonging is an outcome of those; it is a sense of acceptance, support, and inclusion in community. “When students and staff and families feel like they can bring their authentic selves, 100 percent who they are to that community, that truly turbo...

Hild found her education influenced by her parents, both educators. “My dad was a U.S. history teacher, and he really instilled values of learning,” Hild said. And through her experiences and travels early in life, she recognized the importance of empowering people and giving them a platform to make a difference. Hild believes that people don’t always recognize their talents, so it is essential to...