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September 27, 2021 39 mins
Dr. Steve Perry- Author, Educator, and Founder of five Capital Preparatory Schools, In 2020, Dr. Steve Perry opened his fifth school campus in the Bronx, NY. In all schools, students are admitted to the schools by random lottery to ensure equal access to all students regardless of socioeconomic status or academic history. 
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Speaker 1 (00:03):
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(01:55):
Welcome to Money Making Conversation. I am your host, ra
Sean McDonald. Every week I tell every by this time
to stop reading other people's success stories and start writing
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(02:18):
what I like to call industry decision makers. My next
guest is truly an industry decision makers. Dr Steve Perry,
Doctor PARR, is a national leader in the education revolution,
a change agent who is tireless in his fights for
providing equal and competitive opportunities for children who otherwise will
not have a voice. His mission is to provide high
quality education with college bound opportunities for children in poverty.

(02:42):
In Dr Steve Perry opened his fifth school campus in Bronx,
New York, and all students are admitted to the schools
by random lottery in order to ensure equal access to
all students regardless of socio economic status academic history. Dr
Steve Perry's mission is to provide historically disadvantaged students with

(03:02):
the college and career readiness skills needed to become responsible,
engage citizens for social justice and offering a rigorous college
prof curriculum and the collective variety of athletic programs, project
based learning, and multi prong faculty support. Please work with
the money making conversation. Dear friend by man, Dr Steve Perry,

(03:24):
how are you doing, sir? Having the time of my life? Brother?
Really genuinely, I am and forgive me. I am in
Harlem so you will hear the sounds of the city.
I have no control over that, well, the sounds of
the city. If you're New York. I always tell people
like I think basically seven million people living New York
proper in Manhattan proper, and on a given day, seven

(03:45):
to eight million will enter New York. So you can
look at from Twitter to fifteen million people on that island.
So when you say noise in New York, I say, okay, right,
I have to say that everybody as familiar with our
home as as you are, so, uh, you you know
from your time here at the Apollo that this is

(04:10):
allowed little place we know. It's like Steve Erry, it's
really interesting that you know New York. I moved to
New York like an eight first time I went up
to New York and lived there, and it was in transition.
I remember I couldn't catch a cab if I was
in Lower New York to come to If you say
you're going across the hundred fiftree, they wasn't gonna you
might were not even getting the cab because they weren't

(04:32):
gonna take you. And then we went through this, you know,
the Central Park Joger, you know situation where the five
being were convicted and and then we then we transitioned
into they pick you up and take you up there.
And then you look at New York a hundred street
and white people at two am are walking their dogs.
And so this morning trip tripping me out, like it's

(04:54):
just really tripping me out. And so would you in there? Now?
What is why is it important? Because we're talking a
different hall of now, not the hall of my new
not the hall of you reading the newspaper? What hall
of are you working in? Now? What's the environment of
hall that you're tied to? Now? That's that's interesting, Um,
I am Our school is currently located on a hundred

(05:16):
and fourth and fifth Avenue, which, if you know anything
about New York, is right across the street from Central Park.
I mean I can see the botanical garden right outside
my window. And um, excuse me. We are on what's
called a museum mile, which is just what you just
aptly named. Behind me is the African American Museum. Beneath

(05:39):
me is a musel all the way down to the
Museum of Natural History. So this area is a gorgeous
area as areas go. Similarly, um, you are seeing a
conversion of the Brownstones purchased by mainly. Uh, we can't
just be middle class, you gotta be upper middle as

(06:00):
to wealthy folks, many of whom appear to be white, um.
And for them, Harlem is a place of a cultural experience.
They come, many of them come to be immersed in
what they believed to be the culture of Harlem. But
there's still that group right over there in the Union

(06:22):
housing projects, which is on the other block. So again,
if you're not from New York, what I'm explaining to
you would seem unconscionable that so much happens in in
so few square feet. But in the h two yards
that this block is. On one side you have some

(06:43):
of the wealthiest real estate arguably in America, and then
just two yards on the other side you have a
couple of housing projects, um. And then then the other
high you have a new high rise. So butchers between these,

(07:05):
uh are stuck between these two pretty expensive pieces of property,
you have housing projects and rant controlled places. One of
my colleagues lives in approximately, I want to be polite, ex.
Seven hundred square feet. It feels like five d seven

(07:26):
hundred s graare feet efficiency and she pays twenty seven
that's my right, that's right. So you're not scaring me
with those numbers. See I that was in the five
hundred square feet and I was happy. I was happy.
But but but so that's what it looks like. But
what I worked with, I worked with some of the

(07:47):
poorest kids in America. I worked with some, um, some
of the most talented, beautiful, awesome, poor black Latin children.
UM who wow around them? There is uh call it renaissance.
I don't know as you call it a renaissance. We're

(08:08):
not going backwards, um, but it is a a resetting
on I don't know if you remember what the path
mark used to be that place, Yeah, so the path
mark used which is just which is just a block
away from, um, the train station. That building was just
torn down. They're about to build They're about to be

(08:31):
excuse me, a very very very nice uh set up there. However,
on the ground level, it's like the Land of the Dead.
Bunch of zombie people walking up and down looked, it's rough.
I don't know if they're homeless, I don't I wouldn't
know what they do at night, so I can only
see what they do during the day. Um. But people

(08:53):
who most would consider or believed to be homeless, are
walking um and stacked. Uh just in the shadow of this.
You know, the thing about it is that to make
people understand the relatability of what he's saying, is that
because I lived in New York three times, and what
always threw me off was that you can't walk from

(09:14):
wealthy to poverty in a block. I mean, you can
walk on the same block. Is the same way whereas
in if you're a traditional city, you drive to it.
You drive, you drive to a housing project in New
York City, you walk past it. You know, you you
walk past the doorman who secured building, and you go
to the next block, and you're like, okay, where's my security.

(09:37):
Where's my doorman to get me through this block? So
there's a right there, that building right there as a security.
I think that the condos in there and they have
to start in the load ones millions like right there
and right there, separated by two hundred uh two in

(09:59):
the yards is public housing that just separates. Just that's
what it is. And so it is a tale of
two nations that we're in. And what's interesting to me
is how the midst obvious wealth, how the systemic barriers

(10:20):
of racism are so effective as to allow for them
the coexistence of two vastly different groups of people, and
they they never seem to understand one another. And my
children don't often understand. I have explained it, like do

(10:44):
you know who we are? I mean, they're right here.
Do you know people call this? No, it's the museum mile,
like this is one of the wealth. Like this stretch
right here, it's like the wealth like it doesn't again,
I'll put it this way so on the other side
of the park, just for people to understand. Just over
there it's Trump Tower. So I'm here, I can almost

(11:09):
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So we're talking about the kind of wealth that's jaw
dropping ship right there, and the kind of poverty that's
equally jaw dropping. And here we are in the middle

(13:23):
attempting to carve a new door. Because, as you know,
Carter G. Wilson said that if you send a man
to the back door now and there is no back door,
when he gets there, he will cut one for himself.
M hmmm. So we're trying to teach our children to
go through a different door, really, the children and parents simultaneously.

(13:44):
We've been doing this for a long time. Do you
ever get what what frustrates you about the process of
what you're trying to do. What really frustrates me, uh
and really trips me out is that I thought we'd
be done by now. Honestly, I thought when I thought

(14:05):
when charter school started to open and we were able
to show that you could take the same Black children,
same Latin children, in the same address, from the same
families and put them in a different school and those
children would be able to read on grade level, right

(14:25):
on grade level, do math on grade level, go to
college at the rates anywhere from ninety upon graduation. Again,
I told you you canna hear us um it is.
I figured this country, and for what it's worth, the

(14:46):
president who got us started down that road was President
Bush too, but the person who really kicked it into
um full gear was President Obama. So I figured, as
soon as we show that you can take children from
wherever they come and help them ascend to the highest

(15:08):
highs that I mean both sides of our I figured
maybe the Republicans of triped because they're not as committed
to black and brown people as the Democrats say they are,
so maybe there'll be some rub there. But other than that,
we should be cool because their freedom loving people, and
they want the freedom of school choice. That's what I thought.

(15:31):
I could not be more wrong. The Democrats have been
the most ardent opponents of the very escape route that
we need to use to get out of the poverty
that in many cases there policies have plunged us into. Sadly,
the Republicans are so uh in apt around issues of
class and race that anything that comes out of their

(15:52):
mouths people think is racist, even when they're making headway
and policies of school choice. So what frustrates me is
that I find myself with these lying politicians all the time.
I mean, they get on my nerves. I'm not even
replying to you. Just some of them are people who
I know, like friends, people in my house. It is.

(16:14):
It is a peculiar paradox that I find myself in
because I you know, I just didn't walk through and
one of our schools here in Harlem and had to,
you know, tighten up some kids about not being a
uniform the way that's supposed to be doing that very
micro thing. But then from there I have to have
a macro conversation with the legislator about something that's just

(16:36):
it's just foolish, man. I don't even it sickens me
that we're still having these conversations. It is. And I
might add where I really, really, really really really was
wrong was I felt like if I, as a black
man committed to the black community, came to members of
the black community and I'm being completely transparent because you're

(16:58):
my god, I felt like I would be able to
get from black legislators, um, black wealthy people the kind
of support that our children need and let me be clear,
they're not putting any money in my pocket. They're not
increasing my salary. They don't make my house bigger at all. Actually,

(17:22):
when they give money to us, when they create legislation
that creates more opportunities for schools like ours to open,
my salary does not move, you know, despite my wife's
interest and son's interest in my salary moving. In fact,
one of my sons, one of my sons, goes to
school with a person who runs a large charter network

(17:45):
and she makes a considerable amount more than I do.
And he said, he said, see me all time. Do
you ever get frustrated by that? I don't. I didn't
get into this that I got in because I feel
so blessed to be a part of our children's lives.
I can't believe that God wakes me up all the

(18:05):
people others. I'm telling you, I can't and you know this,
and this is what we talked about. When there's no
cameras on, nobody watching, there's no bs anything, I can't
believe that God wakes this to uh it part of
like I just like in this way, it's just the

(18:27):
most awesome experience. So, I mean, do I enjoy earning
a living. I do, but I want to make it clear.
And and and if I made sixty billion dollars doing
it because I help kids, would that be a bad thing?
Be people who do great things? But that's not what happens.
What actually happens is when they give money, when they

(18:50):
create legislation, it presents opportunities for us to be able
to serve more children. What that means is I can
hire more peak, but who can create more classrooms so
that we can have more children? That's it, Dr Perry.
When we talk about the five schools that you have,
this is from my audience who's listening and who also
are watching, And basically, what is the attendance size of

(19:13):
the school? What is the age rain of the curriculum
schacle the new one that you have and in the bronx,
how does that work? Because we know about the lottery
system to get in. Are they all located in the
New York Connecticut area? Where they located these five schools
they are? Thank you so much for asking a u
thoughtful question like that, because most people don't um. So

(19:34):
we have we have two sites in Connecticut and Bridgeport.
We actually three, So I went in Hartford. I'm not
affiliated with that one anymore. I'll explain to you at
a moment um that was the first school. And then um,
we have two sites in Bridgeport, Connecticut and they're about

(19:55):
four hundred apiece. And then we have uh in horror
Um we have one that will be about eight hundred,
and then we have one in the Bronx that will
be about eight hun So the one we did in
Hartford is what was around eight hundreds, so, and then
some of them are broken into multiple sites. So that's

(20:17):
where the numbers are. Roughly three thousand m look and
so when you when you reach them, there's a's three
thousand students that because you you can the hard student,
poverty driven students, so three thousand students that you're given
a different way of life. They wouldn't have that different
way of life academically if you didn't have a vision
or feel blessed to get up. It's not about the money.

(20:38):
It's about providing an opportunity and escape to a better life.
Basically what you're doing with these students and their families too,
because the kids benefait they they do the things they're
supposed to go to college, hopefully can pay it forward
and co pick their family and move them forward as well.
That's your dream, politicians. People who think they are undertones

(20:58):
of greed tied to this, what do you what do
you do want out of it? Those those frustrating lanes.
But then you see the results, the students who have
left your school. How does that make you feel? Again?
So this weekend, great question? Great question. So this weekend
I went to two graduation parties, college graduation parties and

(21:21):
they have have those parents one one graduation I went
to UM then Way to graduated from Cton Hall and
UM to have the parents who are no longer together
actually recently divorced, to have them each separately come over

(21:43):
to me and thank me. I don't feel worthy. Um,
it's what I honestly feel when dad came over to
me and he said, you know, she couldn't have done
around you as a brother. Come on, I'm just a
spectator and this and like, no, you know, school, and
I appreciate it, and I'm gonna I'm gonna thank you

(22:04):
for the flowers that you're giving me while I'm still
up here, and I'm gonna appreciate that. But I current,
come on, this is this no person can do this,
This is not what people can do. This is God.
So um but what you know, Dr Parry, Dr Perry,
I can stop you right there because I know it
a long time, because you are and I've always criticized

(22:26):
you for your humbleness. You know, you know you are
a vessel. It is God's work. But you get up.
I know your wife, I know your boys. They sacrifice. Okay,
it's at a time you're going the road to speak
to kids that you don't know. I've seen it. You
go to camps hot in the summer talking to boys

(22:46):
you don't know, trying to just give them a nugget
of information that would change their life. And so I
got the humbleness. But they are right, you're that blessing.
You're that You're You're the kid, You're the kid who
grew up become a man and say no, somebody want
to make a difference, and that difference has to be
in other people. So what triggered that? That's what I

(23:06):
need to know. What triggered that? I appreciate that I
as you know, I'm I'm wickedly competitive. I understand somebody
has to lose. It just never has to be made.
So um, so for me, I want to be the
when this thing is done, when when the box is

(23:28):
mine and the dirt drums on top of it, I
want to be the best who's ever done. I don't.
I don't. I want to. That will be evidence that
I took what a little bit that I came into
the game with and and I flipped it. You know,
I look at cats who who are comparably positioned in

(23:50):
their industries, who do things differently different than I do.
Who earned you know, who do something different than I do,
Because you mean, I see where they are, and I
think I want to be even them. Yes, but but
the beating part is less about ego and more about service,

(24:11):
meaning that when I win, we win. But one of
the things I've always appreciated about you, Jean, is that
you are committed to extending blessings to other people, to
give and give opportunities to other cats, and identify talented
individuals and help them build whatever it is that they

(24:32):
have and and have that turn into something meaningful. Um.
When when you are that kind of person, you build
a team of people who will always be there for you.
And so to your point, um My farewell wells comments

(24:55):
to the first school that we were at, the school
that we founded. Uh, when I left, what I said,
my sons attend my schools, and um, what I said
was thank you to them for all of the nights
that you went to bed and I wasn't there, all

(25:15):
the morning that you woke up and I wasn't there.
And that my hope and prayer is that one day,
when you feel like I'm the worst human being on earth,
you would come across somebody who will take the time
to say thank you for the time that you contributed
to my life by allowing your father to help us

(25:38):
to build the schools in our community. I mean, one
of the things that tripped me Irishun is I don't
understand how people do. When I don't how people do,
what I do could ever be seen as controversial. I
don't know what's controversial about black people open up schools
in the black community, except for the fact that it's
black people open up schools in the black community, which
means sensibly self determination. It means that when not waiting

(26:02):
for him, I'm not asking I'm not asking anybody permission.
I don't ask who we're writing curriculum model, say, do
you think it's gonna offend people out as anybody not
that's not my problem, doesn't offend me. They don't go
send your child in my school. Did you know? Amazon
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(26:46):
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(27:08):
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States Forest Service and the ad Council, and we're live
here outside the Perez family home, just waiting for the
And there they go, almost on time. This morning, Mom

(27:28):
is coming out the front door, strong with a double
armed kid carry. Looks like dad has the bags. Daughter
is bringing up the rear. Oh but the diaper bag
wasn't closed. Diapers and toys are everywhere. Oh but mom
has just nailed the perfect car seat buckle for the toddler.
And now the eldest daughter, who looks to be about

(27:48):
nine or ten, has secured herself and the booster seat.
Dad zips the bag clothes and they're off. Ah, but
looks like Mom doesn't realize her coffee cup is still
on the roof of the car and goes That's a
shame that mug was a fan favorite. Don't sweat the
small stuff. Just nailed the big stuff, like making sure
your kids are buckled correctly in the right seat for

(28:09):
their agent's eyes. Learn more than n h t s
A dot gov slash the right Seat visits n h
s A dot gov slash the Right Seat brought to
you by NITZA and the AD Council. Well, you know
the beauty of you, Dr Steve Berry, When of the
leading voices. Uh, you know when he says that by
his sons, I remember it was a run dad. Every year.
I watched them grow, you know. I watched them grow everything,

(28:32):
pop up your annual sophomore year, you know, you know,
and go to the camps and Steve Harvey and then
go to the Dreams Academy. So at least twice I
watched them grow up, you know. And the beauty of
that is that respect. They understood their dad, They understood
the small Then they knew the value of effort. They

(28:52):
knew the value of making a difference. And when I
look at you and I look at the progress that
you made as a person, I have to honestly made
it is that you know, we we the television round
has been made available to you. You just did the
Fix My Life episode series, Uh last season? Where is
that in your life? Is being on television a need priority?

(29:14):
Or what's going on in your life from a television perspective?
Dr Stephen, You know, television for me is a vehicle
to tell the story of the work that we're doing
in the community, as you know, and what your viewers
are getting access to is the kind of conversation that
you and I have had two or three hundred times.
It's the same conversation where you know you've seen people

(29:37):
present me with TV projects and I've never I don't
turn them down. It's not my thing, but my focus
is primarily on running the schools. I know that's crazy
for some people who whose air is to be seen
by people, but I know that there's another side to that,
and there's a cost to that as well as you
well know. And you can't undring that bell. Uh So,

(30:02):
I am so grateful to uh Ayana and Oprah for
the opportunity and the opportunities. You also know this. You
never know what's gonna happen with televisions. So the conversation
is I'll put it this way, and you know you
understand this as well. I'll be as specific as I

(30:22):
can without getting myself jammed up. Um. There is fevered
conversation between a number of entities as to what to
do because there's there's been a there's been a long
interest from our backs when we did save my son,

(30:46):
of extending that work. There are people who are still
very interested in that. Some of those people in positions
of power networks, some of them are at streaming services,
and I think that they wanted to see how how
the most recent you know, I don't want to see
if I still got it, but they they wanted to

(31:10):
see it again in person, so they got to see
that again. And UM, I think that I think that
the open win Free Network, among others. I'm gonna be
really frank with you, I think that the Oprah Win
Free Network, among others. UM. I saw the Universal University

(31:34):
positive reaction to the work. I think that people were
I think I'll just tell you what people said. The
internet was a buzz with very very very high positive
and you know how hard that is to achieve this,
you know, because we know where we're going. Everybody sees
you serious. You are a fun guy. You know we

(31:56):
were realisted. You smile, you know, you like you know,
you know what the party is. So so I know
that you you gotta keep in looping this because I'm
telling you, man, I cannot let them not see the
three the full three sixty of you. You know, yes,
your passionate, yes you're driven to change, but man, come on, now,
can we see you smile on TV? Dry Can we

(32:19):
see that? Can see that? You know when it's just
that you know what it is is it's hard to smile.
What I'm trying to save the kids, and that's usually
what you get to see me do. Um. But they
don't get to see They don't get to see uh
us in hot ass Texas, just sitting back cooking meat

(32:41):
and laughing for hours, literally trying not to get eaten
by every on earth. Um. They don't see that because
it's just not an opportunity. But listen to me when
I say that. When I say that, the reason I'm
dropping that into your conversation because that's you, Because see
what happened, what happens with producers see things a certain

(33:02):
way because that's their mind. I'm telling you you change
lives on the different levels. You can smile and change
a child's life. I've seen you do that on a
regular basis. I've seen you at Disney, I've seen you
at Camp. I've seen you an others speaking opportunities. We smile,
we walked in the room, we make a decision. I'm
just telling you, if that television opportunity presents herself, please

(33:25):
be you at all levels. And I appreciate you saying that.
One of the challenges, So again, let's just have a
real conversation. So one of the reasons why the TV
one thing didn't work out is because I couldn't do
what I think they wanted me to do, which is
to get up in boys chests and and set your

(33:49):
ass down. Love. I don't talk to kids like that.
I don't. I don't talk to kids like that. I'll
talk to mine like that sometimes, but not everybody else's.
And I can take liberties of mine because the mind,
but I don't and take I'll try to avoid take
them even with them, because nobody responds really well to that.
I say all that to say, one of the challenges

(34:09):
there is about capturing that part of the nuances of
my personality. They wanted something I didn't have. Similarly, when Fox,
when I was doing the daytime piece with Fox, then
they it's it's like the pole. They either won the
the you know, like I'll bush kind of uh Joe
Clarkey guy. The other one they want is this goofy

(34:32):
Wayne Brady character. And I'm not disan Wayne Brady, but
you understand what I'm saying, Like it's just this goofy
uh amorphous you know, you can tell he's African American,
but you're not gonna hear anything about his cultural underpinnings
as they relate to him come through. They wanted me
to be something that almost was Kelly Clarkson slash l

(34:54):
ensk And sure we can have those kinds of conversations,
no doubt that's what you w I would do. We
have those kinds of conversations. But I'm not silly. You
understand what I'm saying, Like, I'm not a silly person.
That's I'm just not, never have been, never will be. Um,
there are different ways in which we can laugh and
be relatable that are still respectful of who we are

(35:15):
a man. You're not a silly I don't anybody want
to say rashan silly like that? Just ridiculous. You know
if you laugh, you joke any are you silly? Serious cat?
It's been a lot of time in making people laugh
for a living, but it's serious about your business absolutely.
You know. The thing about it we're gonna wrap up

(35:36):
here is that because I want to talk to some
stuff offline as well about this, because you're right, that's
my life. My life is about shaping people's opportunities. My
life is about giving you some stuff that may not
even benefit me. And when I look at you, you've
always been a benefit not only to me, but the
people around me and the people that I invited you
into the world to make a change. Like to Steve Perry,

(35:58):
You're a blessing. Brother, family's a blessing, and the fact
you have five schools is going to be more. And
when you leave this earth, you will be that game changer.
You will be that competitive guy that said I made
a difference. And then people will show up and show
you as they line up and walk past that casket
and tell you thank you and cry and and remember
that he made a difference in my life, my children's life,

(36:19):
and my grandparents life and made created a nixt lefigacy
of growth and the opportunity for kids who didn't have it.
And just seeing you, man, I'm just telling your brother,
you're special. You've always been special to me. Man, And
we don't talk enough. I will tell you that I
will be I will be remissing not saying that, and
we need to start talking more. Let's do it. And Okay,

(36:41):
it's gonna happen as soon as I hang up this
this call here, my brother with you, this video show.
We're gonna talk some more. I'm gonna thank you for
coming on money Making Conversations. Okay, alright, pleasure. If you
want to hear or see any of my money making conversations,
please go to money Making Conversation dot com. I'm with
Sean McDonald. I am your host. In this season of giving,

(37:03):
Coals has gifts for all your loved ones. For those
who like to keep it cozy, find fleeces, sweaters, loungeware,
blankets and throws, or support minority owned or founded brands
by giving gifts from Human Nation and Shame Moisture and
in the spirit of giving, Coals Cares is donating eight
million dollars to local nonprofits nationwide. Give with all your

(37:25):
heart this season with great gifts from Coals or Coals
dot Com. I'm Tanya sam Post of the Money Moves
Podcast powered by Greenwood. This daily podcast will help give
you the keys to the Kingdom of financial stability, wealth
and abundance with celebrity guests like Rick Ross, Amanda Sells,
Angela Ye, Roland Martin, JB. Smooth, and Terrell Owens. Tune
in to learn how to turn liabilities into assets and

(37:47):
make your money moves good. Subscribe to the Money Moves
podcast powered by green One on the I Heart Radio
app or wherever you get your podcasts, and make sure
you leave a review. Whence the last time you took
a time out? I'm Ev Rodsky, author of the New
York Times bestseller fair Play and Find Your Unicorn Space,

(38:08):
activists on the gender division of labor, attorney and family mediator.
And I'm doctor Addina Rukar, a Harvard physician and medical
correspondent with an expertise in the science of stress, resilience,
mental health, and burnout. We're so excited to share our podcast,
Time Out, a production of I Heart Podcasts and Hello Sunshine,
repealing back the layers around why society makes it so

(38:30):
easy to guard men's time like it's diamonds and treat
women's time like it's infinite, like sand. And So, whether
you're partnered with or without children, or in a career
where you want more boundaries, this is a place for you,
for people of all family structures. So take this time
out with us to learn, get inspired, and most importantly,

(38:50):
reclaim your time. Listen to Time Out, a fair Play
podcast on the I Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts or
wherever you get your podcast,
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