Haley, tell me about your vision.
Yes.
OK.
So happy to be here.
Thank you for having me.
So the vision really started with my son,
who will be six in November and set to go into kindergarten.
So this is going to be a long answer because it's all about,
ever since having him, I've been a very intentional parent.
Our world is not the same one that I grew up
with in 80s, 90s.
And so there are a lot of things that I feel that I need to shield him from.
And I did not have the opportunity, I don't have the opportunity,
to be a homeschooler.
And so I was just kind of grasping on, like, what can I do to protect him
and keep him out of traditional schooling?
And there's a lot to unpack just in that one statement.
But really, I would say that I found an opportunity with Apogee Strong, which
was founded by Tim Kennedy and Matt Baudreau.
And they made a call for affiliates.
So Tim Kennedy founded a school in Cedar Park.
And what they do perfectly aligns with my vision for my son.
And throughout all these things that are happening, I kept asking myself,
gosh, what can I do?
What can I do outside of vote?
And who knows if that's really effective anymore these days.
So I kept asking myself.
And when this opportunity arose, I thought, man, this is what I can do,
not only for my son, but for my community and for other children.
Provide a better way to educate them.
So ultimately, that's my idea.
Yeah.
So you talked about escaping like average schools, essentially,
because they're not up to snuff.
Or what exactly are you afraid of?
I just want to hear your bullet points on it.
What's worth getting your kid away from?
Yeah.
Well, school in general is really not intended
to build upon the intelligence of a child.
Every child really has an inherent intelligence.
And schools really were developed to create conveyor belts, basically
create conveyor belt children, children who could go into the workforce.
It was for the Industrial Revolution.
And so it's all about blind following.
And I don't want that for him, right?
Not to mention just general skills that you need to be a successful adult.
So emotional intelligence, financial literacy, entrepreneurship,
all these things that are a lot more relevant to our world
these days that kids need to learn.
And so not only that, but there's also a physical component as well, right?
Like my child, I mean, every boy, every kid is active.
They want to go outside.
They want to play.
They learn through playing.
Yet when they turn five, we expect them to go sit at a desk for hours on end.
Lately, we've been cutting out even outdoor play, even PE and all of the things.
I can't even sit down for multiple hours in a day.
And that goes crazy.
How could we expect our children who have twice the energy that we have to do that?
So one of the great things about Apogee is we have the autonomy.
We're taking that back for our kids.
We're allowing them to learn through project-based learning,
play-based learning.
We're bringing back the art of discussions, the art of debate
through Socratic discussions, allowing the kids to really internalize
and understand, well, OK, here's how I think about a topic, but why?
Why do I think that way?
And then, oh, OK, I'm going to listen to what you think about this topic.
Wow, I never considered that.
And so at this point, at the end of the Socratic discussion,
they have the opportunity to reflect on here's what I think and here's why.
Here's what you think.
Here's why.
Maybe they've never considered that.
And now they have an opportunity to potentially change their viewpoint.
But if they don't, they're also learning the skill of active listening,
whether they agree or disagree.
And these are things you just do not get in school.
Unfortunately not, yeah.
Not in the average school, at least.
So I'm curious, aside from your son, who you got into this with,
what's your why?
What gets you out of bed?
And what keeps you going on this path, on this vision you have?
Well, I feel like that's morphed over time.
So like we said, it started with a desire for my son.
That was the initial flame.
And as I have fanned that flame, I have learned more and more.
I mean, A, I am a person of very strong faith.
And I feel that throughout this journey, I've
had multiple confirmations that I am on God's path.
And so I feel like it is a divine path for me.
Throughout my life, my passions have always been kids and animals.
I'm currently in medical device.
So I mean, yeah, of course, I've worked in pediatric orthopedics before
and so able to somewhat align my passion with my work.
But that's really been the ultimate goal.
And so I've always asked, what can I do where I can make a decent living
and still combine my passion?
Can't necessarily say that this will make me a decent living.
But I am very excited.
And this is what continues my drive.
And to get me out of bed is I can protect my son.
I can do the right things for my son and provide him
with the foundation that he needs.
But I also get to align my work with my passion, which is providing that
for other kids as well.
Yeah, that's a great dream, a great passion to follow.
Because a lot of people will just blatantly follow their nine to five.
Even though they have passions elsewhere, they don't want to do anything
or change anything.
And that kind of leads me into my next question, which is,
why do you think leaders hide from funding their vision?
And then part B to this is how can leaders lean into the funding
of their vision?
From funding it, wow, yeah.
OK, so a lot of these questions, again, I'm just
going to fall back on my faith.
I think a lot of them hide from it because it is hard.
There's a lot of things.
There's a lot of unknowns.
There's challenges.
It can become overwhelming.
How do I fill in the blank?
And so I think that's the primary thing.
A lot of it has to do with fear.
For me, I have, first of all, this primary goal.
It's such a strong driving force that that was the first thing
to overcome the fear.
So have this strong driver and pay attention to it
because there are things that are placed inside of us
that are there for a reason.
So you need to pay attention to what your passion is
and what's calling you.
Then the fear really sets in.
And you're sitting there saying, what do I do?
And it's really a matter of you just one thing at a time.
That's all you can do one day at a time, one thing at a time.
I don't know how anyone can do it without faith.
That has really been my driving force and my ability
to continue to face it head on.
So yeah, it's really just getting over that fear
and figuring out how you can do it.
For me, it's my faith.
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.
I 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
and becoming a Vision Pro yourself.