Episode Transcript
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SPEAKER_00 (00:03):
Awesome.
Ladies and gentlemen, welcomeback.
This is the part two of Rice andthe Ashes.
I am stoked.
Shamanda, we spoke on the firstpart about your experience with
as a mother and going throughbullying and watching your son
go through it.
But more importantly, we spokeabout the happiness that you've
(00:23):
created, not just for otherpeople, but a completely
different directive.
And calling the BS out in a lotof these places.
You've got a lot going on in theworld of you at the moment,
projects over here, left andover all over the place.
What is your main focus at thispresent moment in time?
(00:47):
And how can people get hold ofyou, understand more of what's
in your world?
SPEAKER_01 (00:54):
Okay, so thank you.
Thank you for having me back on.
We are building an ecosystem foryouth mental wellness.
That's the best way that I candescribe it and simplify it,
because it's actually three, ifnot four, things.
We're looking to support youthin the ways that they need to be
(01:17):
supported by first buildingstigma-free programs, enrichment
programs, after school programs,so that we get kids right there
where they are and give themthose tools before they
encounter the bullying, beforethey encounter whatever it is
that's going to go on.
Can we always do it before?
Of course not.
But we have programs in schools,counselors in schools, although
(01:40):
there's not enough, but there'snot a lot of focus on preventive
measures, which means we have alot of kids that fall through
the cracks.
And if we can get thatpreventive piece in, then I
think we won't be bottleneckingso much at the crisis point.
And it also provides some relieffor the counselors and teachers
(02:00):
and parents that are dealingwith the critical problems or
the critical situation.
So that's first thing is havingthis after school program as a
baseline program to provide it.
And that's scalable.
We are doing it here inCharlotte, but we can come
anywhere you need us to be.
We need a facility, a space, andabout 25 laptops.
(02:22):
There you go.
The second piece of that iswithin that after school
program, we empower youth to betheir own champions so that they
can actually have something tosay in shaping what that looks
(02:42):
like.
So in our afterschool program,the kids are running their own
podcast station, their own radiostation.
We have our own radio network,we have our own podcasts, and we
are in the midst of developingour app, which will allow it to
be more accessible to kids.
So now we are making it fun.
(03:03):
It's addressing it where theyare with what they want to.
How many kids want to be on apodcast or they're on social
media and they're doing theTikTok videos?
We're just putting what theyneed in a way that resonates
with them.
Then you go from there in thisecosystem, is the ability to
reinforce it because I can saysomething to my son, but if you
(03:26):
say it to him, it just hitsdifferent.
You know what I'm saying?
Because it's not mama saying it.
So that's where this is.
It's kids cheering on kids andbeing supportive and teaching
that empathy and that kindnessand that network, having them
understand how to build asupportive peer network.
Because sometimes you don't getit from home.
(03:47):
How do I build a circle aroundmyself to protect myself?
And that's what we need to know,even as adults.
So we are helping them learn howto build that.
And then the other part is weare empowering them, and that's
where a lot of programs that Idon't call them competitors
because they're not, they'rejust not fair for us to call
(04:10):
them that.
So I won't do that to them.
But we build it so that we areigniting them for the future.
Think about it this way, and Iknow we're gonna have a little
bit of time, but there are twostudies that show when people
have careers that they findpurpose in and that they are
(04:31):
proud of themselves for being inthat career, we find that there
is a dramatic reduction insuicidiation and mental illness
and things of that naturebecause of that pride point and
that sense of purpose in theirlives when people don't have a
sense of purpose, more instancesof depression and things of that
nature.
So getting kids into what wecall a future focus, getting
(04:55):
that mindset on building theirfuture.
Now they are replacing thissouthern ideation behavior with
a future focus where they'rebuilding and envisioning their
future, which means it's allit's I can't say it's
impossible, but it's very hardto have this sousa idea ideation
(05:18):
mentality when you're constantlydriving yourself forward and
building a bright future.
So, what we do is a couple ofdifferent things.
We have these hands-on projectsthat they can actually work on
together collaboratively thathelp other kids themselves, but
(05:39):
then we're building that inthese projects, they're getting
certified in things like webdevelopment.
There, we have a group of kidsnow working on an album.
We have another group of kidsthat is building a video game
that addresses mental health, sothey're learning these things.
So now when you think about froma community standpoint, we have
(06:00):
a pipeline of mental resilient,technology savvy future leaders
of their community becausethey're learning how to do it
now.
They're learning how to put theevents on, they're helping us
plan the event that we havecoming up.
We have an event coming up inMay, May 23rd and 24th at the
Olympic Center.
It will be the largest youthmental health summit in US
(06:21):
history.
It will be live streamed fromthe Olympic Center, televised on
gaming platforms, which againwhere kids are, and music
platforms.
And it's where they're playing agame, but in the midst of those
games, when it's not their turnto play, they're doing these
wellness challenges all across.
(06:42):
So by the time we finish, we'vegot kids that are ready to take
on whatever those challengesmight be.
So this is proactive andpreventive, but it's also fun.
That's stigma free.
That's how we make sure that thenext school shooting doesn't
necessarily have to happen.
The next child that isconsidering suicide, their
(07:03):
friend next to them can say, youknow what, that's probably not a
good idea.
Let me help you get to someonethat can help talk you through
this.
Those are the conversations thatwe need to have, that we need
our children and our peershaving with each other because
that's who they share it with.
They're saying it online.
How many stories have you seenof kids unaliving themselves on
(07:27):
social media?
It's not the social media'sfault, it just happens to be
that's where they are.
And if we don't put theintervention there, then we're
not doing enough.
SPEAKER_00 (07:38):
What you're speaking
into now is incredible.
And I want to add to that, if Imay, when and um I I try to
unalive myself a few times veryunsuccessfully for many
different reasons.
But it's also in my ownexperience going through that
myself.
(07:58):
I always cry for help.
And my memory of it was thereason I was wanting the
attention is I didn't know whereto look, I didn't know how to
ask, I didn't know how to havethem conversations.
I wasn't certainly back thenemotionally intelligent enough
to even address it.
I didn't even know that I had aproblem, I just thought this was
(08:20):
a normal thing.
But I can never imagine whatthese children are going through
in that capacity.
And why would they even?
I know why, but the mentality ofgoing to that level within
themselves and thinking they'renot worthy to be around, they're
not loved.
That's just fucking wrong.
(08:42):
And I'm that this is I can sayit because it is what it is.
It is wrong on so many levels.
But you're addressing it at itscore.
Not only have you got thesupport of some very influential
people in the background,brands, individuals, music
companies, etc., etc.
(09:02):
Entrepreneurs have a skill setthat most others don't.
And that's they find the driveand willpower when there is
none.
And it is a driving skill setthat the normal society of
people who are go out on the 9to 5 or the shift work, take the
(09:23):
train, take the car, come home,whatever time they come home,
six, seven, and spend the nightwith their family and really,
really miserable, just call itwhat it is, because they don't
have that the drive, they don'thave the forward look.
But you've uncovered somethinghere that is very remarkable and
next level.
Top of that, you now use it toimpact potentially billions of
(09:49):
people, and that's a realnumber.
If you're thinking now billionsof people, yes, I'm saying it
billions of people, because it'snot just the US.
We're talking Europe, we'retalking Australia, Asia,
different cultures, samechallenges.
It's the same thing, but do init in the in these in different
(10:11):
environments, different and theymanifest in different ways, but
the core the root cause of itisn't changed.
And you're attacking the rootcause and getting in with the
people that actually matter.
And Olympic Stadium, that's apretty big achievement.
(10:32):
That's something to kind ofshout from the rooftops about,
and that's next level shit.
I was like, say that what?
SPEAKER_01 (10:40):
Yeah, it's a problem
that so many people identify
with.
60% of the US population knowssomeone that was directly
impacted by suicide.
That's US Surgeon Generalreport.
So if 60% of us know someonethat either tried it or was
(11:00):
successful at it, that's huge.
SPEAKER_00 (11:03):
Yeah, I know both.
SPEAKER_01 (11:06):
We have to
understand the magnitude of
that.
The other thing is like with ourevery 11 minutes campaign, this
is ingenious.
This is what I was talking aboutwith not me in genius, but the
kids.
We have this after schoolprogram, the kids are doing the
little podcast, and they pick upthe topics and all that kind of
stuff.
So it's really relatable withthem.
But we in order for them toparticipate, we have we do QPR
(11:29):
with them.
So they're trained on what theycan say, what they can't say,
and what the differentstrategies are so they
understand what to do and say aswell.
So, long story short, we'redoing the QPR training and we're
training them about how manypeople attempt suicide every
year and how many lives arelost.
So there are 1.7 million suicideattempts every year just in the
(11:51):
US.
1.7 million.
That's insane.
That should be said more oftenbecause what the stat that you
will see a lot of times in printand media and news is that
51,000 people die a year fromsuicide.
And that number is 11 every 11minutes, one person has passed
(12:16):
away due to this thing.
But one in four of those arechildren, 18 and under.
So that's why it's so important.
But when we were talking to thekids and we're saying, hey,
every 11 minutes someone isdying from this.
And if you think about it, weactually put that in context for
them.
We said, Okay, watch this littleshort YouTube video, and we
(12:39):
played a little video for them,and every 11 minutes we had a
little alarm or delg law so theycould see how often that is
because you have to make it makesense for kids, right?
So one of the kids said if every11 minutes we're losing someone,
why don't we just do somethingevery 11 minutes to tell them
(13:02):
don't do that?
It's oversimplified.
But that's what kids think.
So if every 11 minutes we canhave another kid telling a kid
or another adult or someone thatthey in the influencer, someone
that they game with, it's ahigh-powered person of influence
and they see other kids doing itbecause now it doesn't look like
(13:23):
I'm the oddball out, we'reremoving the stigma.
If we can put that in the gamingplatform, in the music outlet,
in Spotify, in Apple Music, inwhatever, wherever they're
hanging out, if every 11 minuteswe just had an 11-second video
that said, you know what, you'renot by yourself, you're not
(13:45):
alone.
Other people going through ittoo, and hang on and play one
more day.
So that's where we came up withthe tagline is play and stay
live.
So alive, live, live, energetic,stay and play live.
So we are challenging kids to do11-second videos, and we're
(14:08):
challenging businesses andinfluencers and celebrities and
whoever else they might look upto reinforce that because when
they see the person that theyemulate and that they look up to
saying the same thing, it hitsdifferent than mom's saying it.
unknown (14:26):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_00 (14:27):
I'm just blown away
by this conversation for many
different reasons.
I want to wrap it up, but youare so inspirational.
I am true when I say this, Ireally mean it, and every time I
say it, I do mean it, especiallywhen I say it's now.
It is a privilege and an honorto spend time with somebody that
(14:51):
knows, understands, and I'mgonna say an in an innerstanding
of what this is.
For those people who heard mesay that phrase before, you
under you know what it means.
Understanding is a concept ofintelligence.
Yeah, I get that.
And in a standing is somethingthat is much deeper and it's
(15:14):
soul resonation because you'velived the journey yourself, and
this is why I love this podcast.
I love interviewing people,having these conversations, and
sharing your message.
Thank you.
Where can people find you?
As in obviously on LinkedIn,because that's where we hang out
mostly.
Is there a website people go to?
(15:35):
What's the easiest way to get intouch?
SPEAKER_01 (15:38):
Okay, so it's info
at flourish.foundation, and
that's the email address.
And the website isflourish.foundation, that's a
nonprofit, to join the every11minutes campaign.
It's every thenumber11minutes.org.
And you can actually make avideo, encourage some kids when
you submit your video.
(15:59):
You are doing so, understandthat we're gonna put it where it
needs to be to help save a life.
And you'll see other kids'videos and all those kind of
things.
But Flourish Foundation Projectis the name of our business.
Flourish.foundation is thewebsite, and our campaign is
every11minutes.org.
SPEAKER_00 (16:20):
And just to
reiterate, all the links are
going to be below.
I really do suggest and Iencourage anybody who's
listening to this.
Firstly, share the message, bothepisodes, because they're
awesome.
Shandra's awesome, and get thismessage out there to prevent
other people's going, otherpeople going through the same
tragedies as Shanda had to goand endure.
(16:43):
And many millions of other, manythousands, certainly hundreds of
thousands, if not millions, ofother people have to go through
every single year.
I'm Baz Porter.
Shanda, thank you so much foryour time.
This is Rice from the AshesPodcast.
Remember, you are the miracle.
Go and make it happen withsomeone else today.
See you soon.