It's a suicide.
So one of his dreams was to take what we do here back home.
And so we're going to do it on his behalf.
That's amazing.
My goodness.
So Ghana, Australia, and I'm going
to put my name in the hat for let's move this
to South America and Spanish.
And our team is a resource to you.
We would love to see what you're doing in Central and South
America.
Just take off.
So any plans for that yet?
Of course.
We need to actively come in and make it happen.
I'm open to whatever is going to help people have a better life,
particularly young people.
So whether or not we're doing that in Ghana or Australia
or South America, we're all for it.
And then we have two of our lead program managers, one of which
is from Ecuador.
And so she spends a good amount of time there.
So we have natural open doors into that realm.
But I'm always looking for more avenues, 100%.
Well, that's huge.
Well, our invitation is to connect her
to Cynthia, who's actually doing post-production for us
right now.
But she runs our show for the Latino podcast
called Opportunities.
We're always looking for great Latino leaders
to be involved in that.
And you never know where people or great people
will take things from there.
People always take wonderful things, amazing places.
So I'll be able to help.
I agree with that.
Congratulations, mom, on your son.
Yay!
And I'm excited for your college coming back.
That's going to be awesome, too.
I'm excited to just envision that celebration,
because my kids, they're still younger.
But when they get to that stage, I
can already see how important that day is going to be.
So it gives me all the good feels.
All right, so with that, 880,000 youth
have gone through your program.
You've worked to help them build out amazing lives,
get involved in creative arts, dance.
I'm honestly super intimidated by this conversation.
I'm very excited.
So for myself and the visionaries and leaders
that are following in your footsteps,
what three resources do you recommend
that we put on our agenda?
Books, movies, you name it, three sources.
Let's see.
Three sources.
Number one, I always suggest that people,
you don't always know the vast amount of potential
that you have inside of you.
And I think that sometimes people will limit themselves
in what they have the capacity to do.
And resource-wise, do the things that help you know you better.
That includes putting yourself in situations and circumstances
that even cause you to be uncomfortable, afraid,
intimidated, overwhelmed.
Because what that does is unearth unused, untapped
potential.
So resource-wise, I don't know if there's a specific thing
that I reference for that kind of development.
But anything by way of leadership development,
anything by way of discover you development,
I spend a great deal of time in spiritual growth books
like the Bible or materials that are faith-based.
And those are very, very strong discovery tools for me.
Another resource I would offer is
I spend an absurd amount of time around kids in a positive way.
And because they're not limited in their thinking most often,
they become a resource for growth for me
as far as what's new, what's now, what's trending,
what's going to trend.
They're very good gauges for what's popular
and what's not going to be popular.
And then they keep me on the edge as far as technology.
So my kids are a resource.
And then the third thing, what I do,
is make sure that I'm allowing myself
to delve deeply into things that are very creative.
So resource-wise, anything where I can,
I'm a dancer, so anywhere I can dance or learn something new,
learn something challenging.
And then also adding that media aspect of things,
picking up a camera and just shooting, walking, family,
friends, our young people, inanimate objects.
Any way that I could create, I find that most often those
are resources that help me to continue to evolve creatively
and innovatively.
That was one of the most fun and colorful answers
we've had to the resources section.
And I loved it.
I heard the Bible and then the Good Book.
I heard your own intuition that's in there.
But magnified by a relationship with kids,
I always very authentically say my kids have raised me well.
That part.
You know, like, you let the laugh,
but there's so much truth in that.
And then there's the third aspect that you said.
And that's the creativity.
The dance camera is using those, like creating something.
It's amazing how inspired we can be
as we create our own resources.
So those are fantastic.
We're going to come right back.
We're going to dive into Misty's vision.
And we'll be off to the races, everybody.
We'll see you on the next side.
All right.
Welcome in to Vision Pros Live.
With Jackson Calame, I'm your show host.
We'll be doing interviews for visionary entrepreneurs
and guest leaders who are building
fantastic visions out there.
Hey, what's up, everybody?
Welcome in to the episode of Vision Pros Live.
I'm your show host, Jackson Calame, founder and CEO
of First Class Business.
And I am over-thrilled to have Tamaira Misty Sandifer
on our stage today.
We're talking about an individual who is leading
and leading in massive ways.
We're talking about changing the lives of 880,000 youth
through the transformation effects of dance
and the creative arts, empowering kids
to get off the streets, get into a place where they can be
nurtured, where they can learn to have self-confidence
and esteem.
I've been super impressed with what she does.
Your mind's going to be blown away.
If you have not heard of who she is
and you have not seen what she has done,
this is an amazing opportunity to really see
a source of strength that this world needs far more of.
So before we dive into that, though,
and before I put a very special clip of her on,
we're going to talk about a few resources for you directly
as leaders and as visionaries.
One is Melissa Gray with The Lost Spot.
Melissa Gray came on the show, also blew my mind.
Why?
Because, well, she's an attorney.
And I was honestly going to cancel her show because I
didn't want an attorney on my show.
I've never met one that I really liked that much.
They usually are fairly pretentious, condescending.
They make you feel awkward.
Their supply and demand is in their favor,
so they don't really need you.
Well, when Melissa came on board,
I met a nurturing mom, somebody who really
cared about her audience, somebody
who understands the need to bridge
the gap between your traditional retainers
and the legal Zoom, where you can go and get
free and cheap documents for your legal protection.
Well, as somebody went through a $20,000 trademark lawsuit
for a brand name that we owned in Restaurant Connect,
we won.
But did we?
We lost $20,000 as a startup protecting our own name.
Why did that happen?
We didn't have proper legal counsel
ready to go in-house and somebody that we trusted.
So I highly recommend protecting yourself in advance,
seeing what she has to offer, and maybe going and interviewing
a few other resources as well.
But be smart, be wise, protect your assets.
In addition to that, we've got Andrew Sosin of Recovery
Unplugged on here.
He's not a client and a strategic partner.
Melissa is.
He's just somebody whose program that I was super impressed
with when he came on the show.
And his leadership was so centered around how well he
cares for and treats his team that I was like, man,
I don't see that a lot in entrepreneurship.
He has an addiction recovery program
in more than four states.
And COVID forced him to go online.
That was one of the greatest silver lining blessings
for our generation because the way he incorporates
music and music therapy into healing
is something that often goes overlooked in society.
We all know people who are struggling,
and we don't necessarily know the depth.
But if you know somebody who loves to say,
when you ask, how are they doing, and they say, I'm fine,
they're probably not.
And they're probably dealing with something heavy.
It's not uncommon for great leaders to go and find
external help for how to help your team or your family.
So I highly recommend using this hotline,
giving them a call, seeing what type of resources
they can give you.
I hope that this leads to changing at least one life
out there.
And if you're a fan of Tony Robbins,
then you'll really love this.
If you're not, you might not.
And I'm OK with that.
But Andrew's been to the Tony Robbins events 22 years
in a row, and he's brought over 1,000 people into those.
So if that's an alignment, you're like, man,
I love the type of stuff Tony gives me.
And you'll be super aligned with what you find at Recovery
Unplugged.
And again, I hope that helps a few of you out there.
In addition, we're going to talk about the water project.
Why?
Because none of us that are listening right now,
I highly doubt there's very many people who have ever
had to wonder where they're going to get their next source
of water from.
I have not.
So I choose to talk about it because there's
millions of people out there who don't have access
to clean drinking water.
In fact, their kids are leaving school.
They're often having to walk three to five miles just
to find a source of water and bringing it back
to their community.
It affects their education.
There are parents out there who have
to leave work to go get water for their family.
It's dangerous.
It's backbreaking, literally.
It's devastating.
And we have the opportunity to step up and do something
about it.
My ask is that you share this with somebody, not our podcast.
You share the water project with somebody.
What's cool about the water project
is it's like a crowdfunding project.
You actually get to see what you're investing in.
And when you give that $5 or $500,000, wherever you can,
you get to then see the outcome because the water project
documents it.
You get to see the results of where your money went.
And I think it's one of the most amazing projects
that I've ever come across.
So if you're not in a position to give back,
then again, forward the information.
If there's another cause that's calling your heart,
and you're like, man, Jackson, I wish you'd talk about this.
Just drop that cause in the comments.
It's not a competition.
We've got 8 billion people in the world
who need a lot of help.
And it's my responsibility to use this microphone
to facilitate that.
So if you have a cause, drop it in the comments.
We'll be happy to support you.
Without further ado, let me give an absolute proper introduction
to Misty and prepare for an episode
from a leader who's going to help us understand leadership
from a new dynamic who's made amazing impacts on so
many youth already.
And she's got so far to go.
One thing I learned a long time ago, I will never quit.
Her name is Tamaira Stamberg.
She's a political entrepreneur who's
just landed on the Forbes magazine.
Typically, when you get on a Forbes list,
it's about how much money you make.
They're specifically pointing out
50 different business owners who are also philanthropists.
There's no such thing as I can.
This is just stuff that it took me years to learn.
But if you can learn it now, you'll
be able to manage a class and pull excellence out
of anybody that you're working with,
and that's what you want.
Well, we have a lot of leaders making a lot of money,
but we don't have a lot of leaders making any impact.
It's the out of the box thinking and creativity
that doesn't just build innovation that
keeps people off the streets.
But it's the necessity going forward.
Nothing will ever be the same.
But you want to be responsible with your money.
You tell your money what to do.
You make your money work for you.
Yes.
Why not go to Bisle?com on Twitter to learn about that.
Without further ado, it is my honor to bring Miss T. Sandifur on my stage.
This is a woman who has blessed the lives of over 880,000 overlooked youth.
And I'm going to do everything I can not to cry.
I'm sorry, I'm already there. I'm there too. I'm like, oh my god.
Wow. I'm just floored with how much you've been able to do for people.
And I'm going to lead in right with the first question to make you talk instead of me.
What is your vision, Miss T, for those that you serve?
That they can live out the best possible lives and lifestyles that they can.
I don't, you know, some people have to live a certain way.
And I think that we live in a time and in a place where there's enough for us all to live good lives.
And so my vision for those that I serve is that they can live the lives that they dream about,
not have to fight through the ones that they dread.
And for a lot of young people, that's an everyday task.
That is a lot of truth to that. Some of us haven't been through it.
But recognizing that that exists out there is our opportunity.
What's your vision for you? We're going to shift gears completely.
Your personal vision.
My personal vision. You know, I just turned 50 and that, you know, all by itself.
That's not fair. I look 50 and you just turned 50.
Well, and I tell people I got to turn 50. You know, there's a, I could go down the list of moments,
experiences in my upbringing that should have, you know, I shouldn't be here, but I am here.
So my personal vision is to enjoy the fact that I got to turn 50.
My personal vision is to enjoy the family that, you know, I have been gifted to create.
I have children and I love a time with them.
My personal vision is to continue to expand and scale the work that I've been doing.
It's not really work. It's just, you know, it's my purpose and I know why I'm here.
So just being able to do it at a higher degree of excellence.
So it's not just evolving an organization and the people in it, but it's also evolving me in the process.
Yeah. Very good.
You know, before we dive into the worst leadership experience ever that you've ever had,
we're going to dive in a little bit to some stories.
So we got a story about Kiki and a story about Miss Hannah.
And I'm going to make sure that these stories get connected to the vision itself.
We don't have the videos preloaded, but those of you who are listening in, go to Studio T-Arts.
Go watch these stories. Go see what these youth have been able to accomplish
and where they've come from and what they've overcome.
And it is, there's just so much evidence to the diversity of your program and what you're doing and how you're building it.
And just like, I just hope that everybody goes in and watches those and then learns what action to take.
In fact, momentary pause, something we ask for at the end usually.
If somebody wants to get involved and help out with Studio T-Arts, what can they do and where do they go?
Oh, three very important ways. And that's a great question.
One is you go to StudioT-Arts.org. You can reach us through the email. You can call us.
I'm older, but I'm not, I still like phone calls.
So if you ping me on social media, I might get it. But if you call me, I'll definitely get that.
But you can always call us, email us from there and just let us know where your interests lie.
Another way is through advocacy. If you see something that we're doing that you think would be valuable in communities where you are,
let us know. We want to make sure that we're not leaving anybody out of the benefits of what we've built here.
So just being an advocate by way of telling people about what we're doing and how we can be valuable to different communities.
And then the third way is, you know, the most helpful support for us, especially as we're scaling very quickly, is financial support.
A lot of times people are looking for places to put their charity dollars.
And so $10 will give us a month's worth of investment in one kid. And for some people, that doesn't sound like a lot,
but we can really, really make a dollar stretch.
So just being able to support what we're doing by way of building out our new facilities in different cities,
but also being able to service our kids, especially over the summer. That's when we have a lot of time with our kids.
So investing in that way is very helpful.
That's huge. Awesome. Well, we'll make sure to put all of those links in the action steps in the show notes.
That way people can access what they can do next after they see this.
And we're going to dive into that dark subject now. So what's the worst leadership experience that you've ever had in life?
Well, I work with kids. And then I work with kids in trauma-informed communities, you know, across the country.
So things that, you know, shouldn't happen to young people, they're happening to them.
And most often people love the work that positions the kid on a dance stage for a recital or in a music video.
But the, you know, the worst aspects of that is some of the not-so-cool stuff that happens to our young people.
So that's anywhere from, you know, dealing with kids that we've groomed for years and then they end up getting trafficked
and we don't know where they are now, working with kids in the juvenile detention facility.
And then, you know, they get out, but then they end up back in, in worse condition because we can't invest in them every day.
They have to go home or they have to go to the communities that will receive them foster care.
Or even hearing some of the trauma stories from some of the things that our young people have to endure in foster care.
Every kid doesn't go to a good foster home. Sometimes they go places that are even worse than the homes that they were born into.
And then losing them. I think one of the worst leadership experiences ever in the world is, is losing a kid.
And, you know, suicide has been such a dark predator over the past eight years, particularly with young people, you know,
that experience, they're experiencing hopelessness. And so when they decide that, you know, not living is better than living,
as a leader, you're left with questions like, did I miss the signs? What could I have done differently? Did I not do something right?
And so there's a whole process of, you know, fear around the decisions you've made and how you show up in a kid's life
that cause you to question your efficacy as a leader. So I think, you know, worst leadership experiences is when, you know,
you can't keep the kids in the net until they grow, you know, strong enough to be able to survive on their own.
And then they have some negative outcomes, some, you know, really, really bad.
Absolutely. A couple of years ago, I was 28, so it's been about eight years, I took in a homeless guy.
And, you know, he had nowhere else to go. And we set some pretty important rules up for the sake of the family.
And then he finally got to the point where he could get, he got his own apartment, got his own bike.
He ended up getting a job traveling, selling photography. And a few years later, he came back.
And I was kind of joked with him lightly, you know, like it's like having a 30-year-old teenager.
You know, at that point, he comes back more combative, you know, more he's got his own now.
He knows how to do certain things. And so there's a process.
But you go through that process. And I think of Kiki's story and how her mom left and then came back and left again.
And I was bawling to watch this. I was like, Oh, my gosh, this is so, and you've, you were able to help her
and nurture her towards sharing her story. The way that you did that. And it was just like, wow.
How do you how do you maintain the positive vibe, the energy that you do, the creativity?
And it seems to it seems to some, somehow you channel all of that, all the trials and traumas and everything else
and show up as your best for people. How do you do that?
It's not an option. Some people can choose to have a bad day.
Some people can choose to show up in a moment sad. Some people can choose to, you know, dance with, you know, hopelessness.
Those are not options for me. I recognize that there's so many different lives that are attached to me living this life,
that it keeps me motivated and very intentional in a way that I have to show up right.
And it's not that I'm putting unnecessary pressure on myself. It's just a choice I made a very long time ago.
I know what I signed up for. And so when I'm when I'm being privileged to be, you know, a leader or a mentor in a kid's life,
I make sure that I show up right. And again, not not not leaving any wiggle room for I feel grumpy today or I feel hangry.
So, you know, I'm going to demonstrate that in your atmosphere.
No, some of these kids, they only get to have a moment with me for an hour once a week based on school schedules or how often I can get to a community.
I'm not going to waste a minute of that moment with them by doing anything selfish that could potentially cause them harm.
My bad day has nothing to do with the fact that they are in life and death situations most often.
And they have plenty of bad days. I'm the mature one in the equation.
So I show up positive. I show up full of hope because then I can deposit that in them and then they can go into the world and share that with somebody else.
But it starts like the kid who, you know, the guy who's having a bad day. So he yells at his wife. Wife is upset.
Now she's takes it out on the kids. Kids upset. So he kicks the cat. There's a ripple effect.
And I recognize through bad experiences that there's a ripple effect.
Every action is a seed. Every word that I express is a seed. It's going to produce something.
I get to choose what that produces. Something for the good or something for the not good.
But ultimately, it's always a choice. So I just made the choice a long time ago. So I don't have to keep deciding. I've decided.
Wow. That's I've got to level up and apply that. I get the chance and the opportunity to do that. So, so powerful and helpful.
And what would the world be like if we all chose to level up that way?
You know, like it's like there's there's we don't need a scientific experiment to understand the value that would create for the whole world.
If we all chose to do that. Thank you.
Well, Miss Hannah to me represents one of the best leadership experiences that I've seen.
Same thing with Kiki. Yeah. What is the best leadership experience that you've ever had?
I know what it's like to to to grow up with challenge. I know what it's like to grow up with difficulty.
I know it's what it's like to grow up poor. I know what it's like to go to bed hungry.
I know what it's like to live a life that you didn't pick, but you got to deal with.
And I would say as a leader, when engaging with young people, I've learned some things over time.
And because they allow me to invest in them, one of the greatest things is watching the outcome of the investment prove itself true and prove itself working in their lives.
And you brought up Hannah. Hannah came to me when she was 12 years old. She didn't talk. She's violently shy.
I grew up very shy and she had she had challenges at home, you know.
And so we couldn't get her to talk, but we could get her to move and she would express herself through movement.
So dance routine or a certain song playing, we could we could get her active and communicative in that way.
But over time, you know, we watched I've watched her take, you know, not constructive criticism, but take the lessons that I would give her and then actually use them.
And she didn't say much, but she was a strong doer and she still is a strong doer today.
And so watching the outcome of her life, knowing that, you know, when we met, she was already, you know, doing things like drinking and going in the wrong direction at a young age.
But seeing her go from here to here, she's a college graduate with two degrees.
She has a full time job that she absolutely loves and celebrated her 10th anniversary as an employee with the company, which is our company.
She's been working with Studio T for 10 years, and she also has her own business, her own company that she built, you know, through the lessons and entrepreneurial things that she learned through Studio T.
Watching, you know, the fact that, you know, she's not into drugs. She's not, you know, she didn't participate in teen pregnancy and a number of different things.
She's just a good, strong kid. And now she's leading hundreds of thousands of kids herself.
She's our national program director. So sometimes I'm on a plane going to one city and state, and she's on a plane going to another city and state.
And so everything by way of program installing in some of the largest school districts in the state of California, she's in charge of executing.
But this was a shy kid at 12 years old from a very challenged, broken home with, with, with drugs and the whole bit.
And she's changing the world. And she could have been one of the kids that were, you know, having to pick up and dust off, but she's doing that.
So one of my best leadership experiences is watching the outcome, you know, in her life and seeing that, you know, because someone like a T showed up in her life,
she was able to avoid some of the landmines that I stepped on. And that for me is always the goal as a leader is like, look, I already did that.
I don't, you, you, you, I did that. Why don't we get some bigger problems? We get some different problems because I already dealt with those problems.
Why don't we get some problems like Ms. T I made a million dollars. Who do I give it to? Let's have some big problems like that.
But we don't need more problems like Ms. T. I don't know how to get off this, you know, this addiction problem.
Like I already did that. So just watching them take the lessons and live the lessons and their lives being better for it.
I think that for me is the best leadership experience to see it working.
Huge. Ms. Hannah is how old now?
She's 27.
27 national director, you know, so you spit fire now as they look out.
Here she comes. Absolutely.
All right. So if this was the absolute last chance you had to share a powerful lesson with the world, what powerful lesson can other visionaries learn from your experience?
Love never fails. Never fails. Even when it's hard, even when people are ugly.
You know, sometimes people will not only stab you in the back, they'll stab you in the chest.
That's that's that's the nature of business sometimes. But love never fails and never repay an evil with evil.
I always repay an evil with kindness.
Somebody does something bad. A kid doesn't necessarily respond.
A contract doesn't go the way you want. Somebody sues you. Somebody steals your stuff.
Love never fails. And everything you do is a seed.
So just know you always get what you give.
So if you make a mistake, how would you how do you want somebody to respond? How do you want somebody to treat you?
How do you want somebody to receive you, understand you and handle you when you error?
What no matter why you error. And I think that that's something that was very hard to learn.
Very. But I see it working in a way that, you know, one, it keeps me in a peaceful space,
which allows me to continue to be creative and showing up in, you know, right in people's lives.
But also it gives people a demonstration on how they can they can be different and how they can grow.
And I think that sometimes, you know, action always speaks louder.
And when you show somebody love in exchange for their bad moment or their tough moment, it helps them.
It helps them with them. Yeah.
I'm a I'm a big fan of that concept and striving for it.
You know, I love never fails.
Sometimes we fail to love, you know, and we have an opportunity to look at that.
So, OK, how can I lean into that power at all times?
Well, I think it's easy what like when you're in business, it's easy to become all business, though.
You know, it's easy to make it about the numbers. It's easy to now.
It's easy to make it about the influence and the followers and things like that.
But I think that there's some core things that if you just hang on to them, they always produce well.
And love, love has produced programs that are servicing people across the country.
Love has landed me on a Forbes list.
It's all the love that I have for, you know, not what I'm doing, but who who I'm doing what I'm doing for.
Whether they receive it, whether they like it, whether they're angry, whether they're happy.
You know, I've had I've had families come in like, oh, my gosh, we love this is so great and leave like, oh, we did it.
We're calling the media. So you have moments where everybody is not happy with you.
But it doesn't mean that their moment of unhappiness with you has to change who you are.
And I just committed that I'm not going to let any situation, circumstances or any human being change who I am.
And so I just show up in life as who I am.
And, you know, love's a big part of that. I don't lose grip on my why.
My why is I'm in this for a reason and to the very, very end.
And that's to make sure that people are well loved, well seen, well supported so that they can have better.
And I don't change that.
I love that. We we have our foundational value at first class business as love.
That is and it's we have a neat poster, but the poster is not the commitment.
Right. The poster is just a reflection or a reminder of what we aim for.
And our rally cry, if you will, is a full appreciation of family and personal well-being in the workplace.
And as we stay aligned with that and committed to that, it is amazing to see the results that can be driven.
And it also keeps me in check, as you mentioned, when there are less than fortunate circumstances that come out or somebody's upset or somebody says, oh, you know, publicly, you guys should be doing this better.
You know, like, thank you. You are you are probably right.
We can and feel free to apply. Come join us.
But without any sarcasm, right, without any malice with complete love and conviction of like, OK, you know, we can we can make a better impact and feel centered in our best self when we choose that route.
But even if let's say, for instance, you didn't have you didn't have that response, which comes from a good place.
So even if someone's upset and they're giving you a criticism, as long as you come from that place, you can at least look at the criticism and do something strengthening for you, your organization.
But if you're not coming from that place, you could even reject something that's packaged in criticism, but really is a key for your growth.
And so, again, most most most people will sometimes forget in business that, you know, yes, it's a business, but we're always dealing with people.
So you can't check things at the door of your business like family, like love, like relationship, like with support, like, you know, the things that make you who you are, because then you're going to be working with a bunch of people that are having an identity crisis because they can't be the fullness of themselves in your company.
And so, again, as a as a leader and as a visionary leader, you got to number one know that, you know, we're not AI, we're people.
You're dealing with people.
And so as long as you recognize that, yes, you're showing up in their lives to lead them, but they're also showing up in your life to teach you.
And you may not like them ripping the bandaid off of your owie, but it doesn't change the fact that you've got to get the bandaid off in order for it to get the air it needs in order for you to heal and grow.
And so sometimes lessons are they come through some of the most challenging people, but they still come.
And as long as you maintain, you know, the fullness of who you are, then other people can show up in your world as who they are.
And I think that's when you get the biggest best value out of experiences is when everybody in these experiences authentically them good, bad, and you speak our language so well on this.
I got to grab our poster. This is a big shout out and credit to Patrick Lencioni, who wrote the book, Five Dysfunctions of a Team.
This, you know, he's got the credit at the bottom there with our brand, but this poster is all about building trust and how the next step after building trust is creating healthy conflict.
Yeah, championship level behaviors, those team members who are willing to engage in that healthy conflict because they trust each other enough to know they're safe to do that.
And that's what's going to drive the ultimate result is a brilliant book, super helpful concept.
It's, you know, it would be it would be prudent for our world to learn the communication skills necessary to create that type of environment and passion that often requires making room for error.
There you go. Yep. There you go. Let's start a little bit to these. So let's go back to the original story to you mentioned a boombox.
And having five dollars, but I don't know if everybody listening knows the story. How did you get this started and what did it start as?
Well, OK, I'll go back to the fact that I grew up in the Bay Area in a very poor community.
I had six siblings and most often we were trying to find positive things to do because we didn't have money for programs.
And that would keep us off the streets. We grew up in a community at the height of the crack epidemic where we were losing our parents to crack cocaine.
And and so one of the things that I was do is gather my little sisters and I would teach them the dance steps that we would learn on.
You know, I would learn on shows like Fame or Soul Train or, you know, in the early 80s MTV had just came out and music videos were actually music videos.
And most often they were they were very, you know, they had dance in them. So I would teach quite a bit.
And so, you know, when I relocated to Sacramento from the Bay Area, I noticed that, you know, it's a very conservative city and they were missing some of the cultural experiences that I, you know, that my family did growing up.
You know, we just were used to it. And so I couldn't find it. And so I just started volunteering.
I would go to anywhere where they would let me do it for free churches, community centers, urban housing authorities, after school programs.
And then I noticed that, you know, the kids would show up for that. They may not stay after school for homework help, but they would show up to come and do a dance class.
And so I knew that I was on to something. And then, you know, fast forward a little bit. I had kids of my own and, you know, my my my kids, you know, they were growing up in suburbia where I grew up in the ghetto.
So they were missing some things. I just say, OK, I better start helping. I start start start teaching them some of the things that I know.
And so my daughter and a handful of her friends, you know, she said, Mom, will you can I can Rosie come can, you know, can TJ come?
I'm like, yeah, sure. So it's like my them and four kids at a park at five bucks in my pocket in a portable boom box. That's what I had.
That's how I started. And then I never marketed or advertised or anything because I didn't think it was a job.
It was just something that I was doing because the kids were responsive to it. And they, you know, one week it was, you know, four kids.
The next week it was 12. The next week it was 20. The next week it was 30. And it just kind of organically grew on its own just by word of mouth.
The kids having fun. And so we started doing things like, you know, competitions.
And then we would do these. And that was like when it was really new. And we were we were just dominating, like dominating.
And again, this is it was a different world for me. I didn't know that people did this.
I didn't even know what a choreographer was because I didn't grow up in, like, you know, institutional dance programs.
I just what we did at home to not get shot, you know, in the street somewhere.
And so, you know, I, you know, we started ace and things. I said, OK, you know what? Out of the park, you know, there's 70 kids. It's hot.
You know, we're all turning colors because it's it's 114 degrees. I said, I'd better take this seriously.
And so at the time I was a worked for the phone company and I cashed in my savings.
I cashed in, you know, my 401k. And and I said, OK, I better do this. I better do this.
And so I took, you know, what little savings I have. And I invested it and started Studio T.
And it's been one heaven of a roller coaster ride since then.
Absolutely. Has anybody ever asked you what did you do with the five dollars?
I probably took the kids and got popsicles. It was hot.
That makes sense. You know, the ice cream truck or something like that.
Yeah, absolutely. I love it. I love the I mean, there's so many of us that often focus so much on on what we want people to achieve from a cerebral standpoint.
And we forget the emotional value of something like dance, you know, and how and the effect that it can have.
And you dove right into these passions and magnifying them.
You know, did you did you get a lot of pushback in the beginning on the process?
Oh, my goodness. Absolutely. Yeah, absolutely.
Largely because people didn't they didn't understand, you know, hip hop is a huge multi billion dollar industry now, but then it wasn't.
So what I was doing was pushing against traditional the traditional discipline of dance and institutionalized dance.
Again, I'm doing it out of park with a bunch of kids.
And so that was that was a bit of a challenge.
And I was told multiple times just because, you know, what model are you following? What you know, what what book are you reading?
Who's helping you with this? I'm like, it's just me with kids.
And so some of the challenges with that was I was going so against the grain that people didn't understand it.
And I was kind of, you know, ahead of the curve.
And because I was so ahead of the curve and I didn't have the traditional training, people couldn't get, you know, what I was doing or how it could be impactful.
So I spent many years, I would say easily the first 10 or 15 years convincing people that this is working.
But I didn't have things in place that, you know, that track statistics and things like that.
I'm just I'm just able to tell the life stories of these kids.
And so, you know, fast forward to twenty twenty when the whole world shut down.
Yes, he's doing her cute little hip hop program.
But but when the whole world shut down, everybody took to social media and they were dancing for healing, for health, for wellness, for well-being.
And so I went from one company to seven company and I was established as as an expert with cultural equity
because I deal with communities in survival mode all the time in the whole world when in survival mode.
And most people went in survival mode for the first time. And we were just like, well, you know, we just pivot.
We just this we just that. That's because we did it every day.
So, again, you know, using hip hop as our as our flagship program, hip hop dance, it was it is still one of our most popular programs.
But now people are looking at it and studying what we do by way of a healing mechanism as a community building mechanism and also, you know,
a social emotional learning mechanism where those words didn't even exist until you had the experience of of the pandemic.
And so, again, you know, that's that's when, you know, when you have a dream, you have a goal and you know your instinct, your gut, your heart,
your spirit is pushing you in a direction. Try not to question it.
Sometimes I think leaders will question their gift and talent because there are light years ahead of the world.
And, you know, I just learned that, you know, even if you stand alone, stand alone, but stand alone for what you believe in.
Most people will bend and flex leadership wise to what's what's common, what's happening, what people will buy.
And I just didn't I didn't know to do that. So I didn't do that.
And because I didn't do that, it became a massive setup for for what the world needed when the world didn't know what they needed.
I see you. I see it. It is amazing.
And I will go back to the original comparison I made. You are the LeBron James of Youth.
And I am in love with how you have done this.
It's it's such a parallel reflection of many of the things that I've been building in my life, too.
All right. I want to have come to fruition. And, you know, there's there's so many dynamics of what you're building.
And it would be I can't imagine the amount of people in your life who've told you like, why don't you just do the one thing?
Oh, my gosh. How many people have said, Jackson, why don't you get a real job? I have a dollar for every time I heard that one statement.
I'd be a very, very wealthy woman. Why don't you get a real job?
I'm like, this is a real job. It's a real job. And it's a real hard job.
That's right. Why don't you go do something easy, you know?
And it's like that's that's not purpose. Right. That's not how this process works.
So I love the inspiration.
Again, this is so self-serving for me to have you on the show, the mentorship, the chance to see behind the curtains and just learn so much.
Those of those of you who are listening again, we're going to have those action steps below the video so you can go in the right direction.
But don't hesitate for that. If you just want to call Miss T, as she mentioned, give her a call.
If you want to go and find your own path to donate or go watch those amazing videos and get inspired, if you have use of your own that you want to inspire,
go share those videos with them rather than preaching at them.
You know, go go just see what she's up to and how it's happening.
And you'll be absolutely blown away. But thank you for the words of wisdom that you've shared directly with us.
Those of you listening in, if any of you want to share your own vision, you feel inspired to do so,
then in the top right corner, there's that button that says, Be Our Guest. We'd love to have you as well.
You know, you don't have to be at the stage where you've already blessed the lives of 880,000 people.
You may be that person who's got maybe not a boombox these days, but maybe an MP3 player or something, or you're doing something local and small.
And we want to honor that. If your goal and your vision is to serve and help those around you, then come share that with us.
You know, let us be your first stage ever. What was your first stage, Miss T?
My first stage was my living room with my mom and her friends.
You know, I should have said that better. What was your first PR stage, like interview?
Oh, my gosh. I think I did a news program with a young lady that became a very, very close friend talking about the importance of kids having access to dance
and how we were, you know, the kids were coming out of juvenile hall and embracing this and never going back.
But my very first stage was a television interview, and I was so ultra nervous, and I kept trying to put, you know, just ask the kids questions.
Ask the kids questions. They know how to talk.
But it was very nerve wracking. But it was a local news station that could see us like you could see us.
And they said, we've got to tell people about this.
See? And I would love to be that local news station. For any of you who are just getting started like that, it would be so cool to be able to reflect back in 10, 20 years and say,
Hey, look, you know, she started with us. You know, there's a discovery process that's there. That's just, yeah, it gives it gives all the feels. So Vision Pros,
thanks for joining in. We hope you got a 10 out of this. I definitely got a 10 out of it.
Got my little notepad on the right hand side here, and I'm going to be going back and watching this again.
So everybody have a fantastic rest of your day. Ms. T, thank you so much for joining me on Vision Pros Live.
Thank you. Thank you very much.
Absolutely. We'll see you guys later. Bye bye. Thank you for being here today.
I'm really happy that you tuned in to Vision Pros Live. I'm looking forward to seeing your reactions as these episodes continue to move forward.
This is going to get more and more fun. We'll have more and more engagement as well. We'll invite people to participate in the show.
And thank you for giving us your time and attention. Have an excellent time building out your vision.