Tell me about your vision. So my vision has a
couple of pieces to it. Yes, I love it. Obviously,
as a social worker, we're raised or trained in
a sort of broader system approach. Yes. And despite
the fact that obviously each person is important
and you can do a lot of one on one work, that's
amazing. it's harder to think on a macro scale.
And yet you want to have the most impact that
you can, right? And so for me, it's been a certain
process right now of transitioning from running
a business and doing a lot of individual work
to expanding to a greater audience. And so that's
one of the reasons I'm on the podcast. You know,
I'm releasing a book, I'm speaking, I'm trying
to reach a broader audience. And my audience
in particular actually isn't teens. My audience
is parents. Absolutely. Because that's really
where the change is going to happen. And parents
are very much uneducated and very much inexperienced.
So for me, my vision is to bring that experience
to the masses. An example, just like a small
example, like you mentioned, when you talk about
Palm Pilots and the Nokias, like parents aren't
up to date. And as much as you try to get up
to date, you're still years behind, right? If
you talk about proxy servers today, parents still
don't know what that is, but that's right from
2010. And so now there's a dark web. There's
a million things you have to catch up on, and
you'll never catch up. But as much education
as you can provide to parents as to how to go
about it, I think is really where you can make
much broader change than on an individual level.
And so that's what my approach has been. That's
my vision. I love that. And that was my next
question. What's your goal for being on the podcast,
on the show today? And I understand that. And
I realize that we're now able to use this tool
that we were forced to use in COVID as a tool
to get on a macro scale. I truly, truly love
the fact that you said, I'm not talking to the
teens right now. See, so I don't have to have
you in my office. I don't have to. Tell the teenager
I'm going to bring your parents in. I could talk
to you on a way bigger scale right now. I'm telling
the world about this. And I get goosebumps because
at the end of the day, I want our teenagers to
accidentally turn on this podcast. I want them
to accidentally run across Mindy Barron. You
know, I want them to do those kinds of things
because as they keep going and as they keep scrolling,
I want them to accidentally begin to focus that
there is a reason to live. There is a reason
to survive. There is a reason why we go through
the hard things in life. And that's because I
know that that and I would call it something
different. But there is often said what doesn't
kill us makes us stronger. But with that being
said, nothing really has to kill us, but everything
should make us stronger. You know, so I go ahead.
Go ahead. No, you're 100 percent right about
that. And that's what our kids are lacking today
when you talk about. you know making you stronger
you have to have a goal like you said vision
our kids don't have that vision um back in the
day you're going to work somewhere you're an
apprentice you in the military you work for family
you worked whatever it was you weren't sitting
around there wasn't social media and you kind
of knew where you were headed even when you went
to college you kind of knew where you were headed
our kids are going to college with no idea what
they want to do and they're coming back home
and moving back in after wasting two three years
and so if you don't have a goal if you don't
have a passion if you don't have a focus i mean
what is there right and so part of working with
teens is help them find their passions something
i tell parents like find what they like and drill
in because you know if you like what you do you
never work a day in your life right that's you
really want to capture that so you're 100 correct
so when with that being said because we are vision
pros live and we're talking about vision i heard
yours how or what question could a teen ask themselves
to see if they even have a vision. So if somebody
was a fly on the wall right now, a listener who
was a teenager, that's like, I don't know if
I want to go to college. I don't know what I
want to do in life. I don't even know what vision
means. What would you want them to hear to figure
that out? The one thing that I always preach
is don't fear failure. So you should be willing
to try a number of things. A lot of kids' fear
is like, if I embrace this and I'm not sure what
it is, then that's it, right? If I go to college
for veterinary medicine because I was intrigued
and I don't like it, well, now I'm in trouble,
right? But the idea is it's okay to try a bunch
of different things. In fact, there's so much
we don't know, right? You only know 10 jobs.
You know there's like a million more jobs out
there. that one or two of them may click with
you or what you're doing now you don't think
could be a career but here's how it could be
a career right so so it's really that fear of
like taking the next step because i might fail
i might get stuck in it and there's embarrassment
my parents will be upset if you don't fear failure
and you focus forward then you can try something
until it works if you fear failure you try it
it doesn't work you're toast um and so that's
really what it's about and the second thing is
how do i find what i want to do well Google's
a powerful tool. And there are hundreds, if not
thousands of jobs out there that they have not
seen. And Google it. Okay, cool. This job, I
didn't know that existed. Maybe I can go visit
and ask them some questions or intern here or
check this out. There's just things that people
don't know. Some really cool jobs that people
have no idea about. So it's really about not
fearing failure and being willing to try. I love
that. I love that. And if you're listening. Do
not feel failure. I tell you, Google that too.
How many people that are successful that failed?
How many times have they failed? Of course, I
cannot tell you who it is, but I'm telling you
that it'll come up like crazy. And then they
would definitely really see like it takes failure
to reach a level of success that you desire to.
And so with being aware of your time and truly
appreciating you being on here, I always have
one favorite question. What are the greatest
joys of what you do? Okay, so that's also, you
have a lot of good questions. I mean, the joy
of what I do is a couple pieces. One, obviously,
like I mentioned, seeing the results. Two is
seeing parents and that sense of relief when
they have guidance, right? That sense of shame
and guilt that they have coming in and then walking
away empowered. It's really, really, it drives
a lot of satisfaction. And third is the challenge.
I mean, part of this for therapists, a lot of
them get into it because they have their own
issues to work through. And a lot of times they
get too attached and they burn out. But if you're
able to really be well trained and keep boundaries,
it's a challenge. Navigate family pieces and
make things work and come up with ideas and really
strategize. That in and of itself is rewarding.
um and really helps you keep a long career right
if it's intellectually stimulating and if you
know if it isn't rote and you're not just listening
to people talk right if you're really doing work
it is truly stimulating so those are kind of
three of the joys of what i do 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 and becoming a vision pro yourself.