September 4, 2025 • 8 mins
What drives someone to leave a successful business career and dive into the challenging world of education? Dr. Karen Phillips, Assistant Principal at Houston County Schools, joins host Devin Pintozzi at the 2025 Gale Conference to share her remarkable journey of transformation and purpose.
Website: spotlight4success.com
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:06):
Welcome to Spotlight for Success by American Book
Company.
I am Devin Pintosi, your host.
We are here in sunny JekyllIsland, georgia, in the 2025
Gale Conference.
So excited to be here with ourspecial guest, karen Phillips.
Yes, karen Phillips joins us.
She is the assistant principalat two schools within Houston
(00:28):
County Schools Correct, allright.
So, karen, tell us a bit aboutyour journey.
What brings you here to Gale?
Speaker 2 (00:36):
Well, I came to Gale because I am an assistant
principal of discipline andcoming to Gale lets you meet
other people from other counties, from other parts of the state
to see different ways ofthinking about the same thing.
When you get stuck in yourlittle area and you don't talk
to other people.
You think you know what youknow, but you don't realize
(00:58):
there's more out there until youget out there and explore and
research.
Speaker 1 (01:04):
That is so true.
And so, when you got intoeducation, what brought you in
to say I want to be in the fieldof education?
Speaker 2 (01:14):
Well, I actually got my first degree in business Okay
, and I went to work.
My degree was in businessmanagement and I went to work in
the business world as a manager.
And I went to work in thebusiness world as a manager and
instead of working in that field, I felt like I wasn't really
giving to my community what Ihad inside and I really wanted
(01:34):
to be able to grow my community,to make a difference where I
live, Because the world is sobig that you only have the
opportunity to really changewhere you're at.
And I said I want to be thatchange agent.
So I went back to school, gotmy degree in education, because
back then they didn't have TAP,they didn't have other ways of
(01:56):
venturing from one degree toanother.
I had to go back and get awhole other undergraduate degree
and then I became a teacher sothat I could impact my classroom
.
Because I always felt like if Icould change a child's world,
it would not only change theirworld but it changes their
parents, it changes where theirparents work, it changes you
(02:18):
know who the kids interact with,so it changes the whole
community.
Speaker 1 (02:23):
Oh, that is so wonderful and uh.
So what brought you into?
Uh, the school leadership?
Speaker 2 (02:30):
the same thing I really saw as a teacher.
Where there were, there was needfor mentors okay, and I, I am
the assistant principal ofdiscipline at my school, which I
a lot of people would think youdon't like that, but I love
that because discipline is justanother way when children act
out, I should say, is anotherway for them to communicate.
They're trying to tell yousomething and so if you can take
(02:53):
that discipline and you canalter it, you can harness it,
you can morph it into somethingpositive and it helps that child
, it helps that classroom, ithelps that family and you never
know sometimes that disciplineis coming from a broken home and
if you can do something to helpthat home life for that child,
(03:14):
then you're helping all thechildren in the family, you're
helping the parents, you'rehelping the grandparents.
And that mentorship when Ibecame first I became a teacher
leader and I mentored teachersand then I became an assistant
principal and then again I canmentor teachers but also other
assistant principals, and so Ifind myself doing discipline, if
(03:37):
you will, but I mentor all daylong.
Speaker 1 (03:40):
Oh, that's wonderful.
That's a great, great give backthat lasts for generations.
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (03:46):
Thank you for watching Spotlight for Success.
I am Devin Pintosi, chiefOperating Officer of American
Book Company.
We are located here in ourheadquarters in Woodstock,
georgia.
All of our materials areprinted in USA are printed in
(04:10):
USA.
We have course books, e-booksand online testing in grades K
through 12 in mathematics, ela,science and social studies.
These materials are alldesigned to help students
achieve higher scores on theirstate-specific high-stakes
assessments.
We guarantee score improvement.
You can get free samples of ourmaterials either in print or in
electronic formats atabck12.com.
(04:34):
We look forward to hearing fromyou.
Speaker 1 (04:37):
That's so awesome.
Speaker 2 (04:39):
And that's what I wanted in life.
I don't want to leave thisearth have had a career or have
earned a certain dollar amount.
I want to leave.
When I leave here, knowing thatI made a difference.
Yeah, that is so awesome.
Speaker 1 (04:51):
That is so awesome, karen, and can you tell us a bit
about what you'd like to share?
Oh, I understand you also havewritten some books, Is that
right?
Speaker 2 (05:03):
I have, I've written two children's books, Well three
.
The third one is getting readyfor publication right now.
Speaker 1 (05:09):
Okay.
Speaker 2 (05:10):
They're written under Dr Karen Phillips.
All right, they're available atBarnes, noble and Amazon.
The first one is called Look Upat the Moon, and it was my
mother when I was a little girl.
I come from a big family.
I have all brothers, a bigfamily.
I have four sons.
But when I was a little girl mymother would go out and look at
the full moon and the shadow inthe moon.
(05:31):
She would say look like arabbit.
So I called it Look Up at theMoon.
And what it is?
It's a book about how childrenfrom around the world look up at
the moon and when they lookback they wonder does the moon
see me, or the Eiffel Tower Me,or the Grand Canyon Me, or
Christ the Redeemer?
Because it shows how we're allso much alike.
(05:53):
Oh, wow, there are differencesamong us but ultimately at the
core we're all very much alike.
And then the other book is abook for Christopher, my oldest
son, and it talks about sportsballs and it starts at a ping
pong ball and goes down to abasketball and it's a
measurement book.
Being a teacher, I loveteaching math, but it's a
measurement book.
(06:13):
But it also talks about sportsand it's got adjectives and
descriptions and all that andthen in the end he's really
looking for his football.
K-u-g-a.
He's really looking for afootball.
Speaker 1 (06:26):
That's a good plug.
Speaker 2 (06:28):
And the really neat thing about it is my illustrator
.
I found her on Fiverr and she'sa Ukrainian refugee in Poland,
and so in June my brother is theUS liaison to Poland.
I got to go meet her.
Oh wow, which is really cool.
Speaker 1 (06:44):
That is awesome.
Wow, what a small world we have.
Speaker 2 (06:48):
So again, mentoring is helping people make the world
a better place.
Speaker 3 (06:51):
Wow by adding to.
Speaker 2 (06:53):
You know, who knew that I would have impact on this
young lady's life in Poland?
Wow, so she'll have means totake care of herself.
Speaker 1 (07:02):
That is so amazing.
So, Dr Karen Phillips, wherecan people find these children's
books?
Speaker 2 (07:10):
Amazon and Barnes Noble.
Well, there's lots of otherlittle ones, but those are the
two big ones.
Speaker 1 (07:15):
Okay, that is so awesome.
It's great.
Children's books are soengaging for the little ones and
such a great thing to do.
Speaker 2 (07:21):
Yes, and Juliana's.
Her illustrations are amazing,they're amazing, oh wonderful.
Speaker 1 (07:28):
And do you have anything you'd like to share
with the Gale community at largeduring this conference?
Speaker 2 (07:35):
I would just say make sure that you come with an open
heart and don't just come tohave fun.
I know this is a fun place tocome, but come actually learning
something and being able totake that back to your school to
make a difference.
Speaker 1 (07:48):
Oh, that's so awesome .
Again, thank you for joining us.
Dr Karen Phillips, AssistantPrincipal with Houston County
Schools, it's great to see youtoday.
Speaker 2 (07:56):
Thank you, I appreciate it.
Y'all have a great day.
Welcome to Spotlight for Success by American Book
Company.
I am Devin Pintosi, your host.
We are here in sunny JekyllIsland, georgia, in the 2025
Gale Conference.
So excited to be here with ourspecial guest, karen Phillips.
Yes, karen Phillips joins us.
She is the assistant principalat two schools within Houston
(00:28):
County Schools Correct, allright.
So, karen, tell us a bit aboutyour journey.
What brings you here to Gale?
Speaker 2 (00:36):
Well, I came to Gale because I am an assistant
principal of discipline andcoming to Gale lets you meet
other people from other counties, from other parts of the state
to see different ways ofthinking about the same thing.
When you get stuck in yourlittle area and you don't talk
to other people.
You think you know what youknow, but you don't realize
(00:58):
there's more out there until youget out there and explore and
research.
Speaker 1 (01:04):
That is so true.
And so, when you got intoeducation, what brought you in
to say I want to be in the fieldof education?
Speaker 2 (01:14):
Well, I actually got my first degree in business Okay
, and I went to work.
My degree was in businessmanagement and I went to work in
the business world as a manager.
And I went to work in thebusiness world as a manager and
instead of working in that field, I felt like I wasn't really
giving to my community what Ihad inside and I really wanted
(01:34):
to be able to grow my community,to make a difference where I
live, Because the world is sobig that you only have the
opportunity to really changewhere you're at.
And I said I want to be thatchange agent.
So I went back to school, gotmy degree in education, because
back then they didn't have TAP,they didn't have other ways of
(01:56):
venturing from one degree toanother.
I had to go back and get awhole other undergraduate degree
and then I became a teacher sothat I could impact my classroom
.
Because I always felt like if Icould change a child's world,
it would not only change theirworld but it changes their
parents, it changes where theirparents work, it changes you
(02:18):
know who the kids interact with,so it changes the whole
community.
Speaker 1 (02:23):
Oh, that is so wonderful and uh.
So what brought you into?
Uh, the school leadership?
Speaker 2 (02:30):
the same thing I really saw as a teacher.
Where there were, there was needfor mentors okay, and I, I am
the assistant principal ofdiscipline at my school, which I
a lot of people would think youdon't like that, but I love
that because discipline is justanother way when children act
out, I should say, is anotherway for them to communicate.
They're trying to tell yousomething and so if you can take
(02:53):
that discipline and you canalter it, you can harness it,
you can morph it into somethingpositive and it helps that child
, it helps that classroom, ithelps that family and you never
know sometimes that disciplineis coming from a broken home and
if you can do something to helpthat home life for that child,
(03:14):
then you're helping all thechildren in the family, you're
helping the parents, you'rehelping the grandparents.
And that mentorship when Ibecame first I became a teacher
leader and I mentored teachersand then I became an assistant
principal and then again I canmentor teachers but also other
assistant principals, and so Ifind myself doing discipline, if
(03:37):
you will, but I mentor all daylong.
Speaker 1 (03:40):
Oh, that's wonderful.
That's a great, great give backthat lasts for generations.
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (03:46):
Thank you for watching Spotlight for Success.
I am Devin Pintosi, chiefOperating Officer of American
Book Company.
We are located here in ourheadquarters in Woodstock,
georgia.
All of our materials areprinted in USA are printed in
(04:10):
USA.
We have course books, e-booksand online testing in grades K
through 12 in mathematics, ela,science and social studies.
These materials are alldesigned to help students
achieve higher scores on theirstate-specific high-stakes
assessments.
We guarantee score improvement.
You can get free samples of ourmaterials either in print or in
electronic formats atabck12.com.
(04:34):
We look forward to hearing fromyou.
Speaker 1 (04:37):
That's so awesome.
Speaker 2 (04:39):
And that's what I wanted in life.
I don't want to leave thisearth have had a career or have
earned a certain dollar amount.
I want to leave.
When I leave here, knowing thatI made a difference.
Yeah, that is so awesome.
Speaker 1 (04:51):
That is so awesome, karen, and can you tell us a bit
about what you'd like to share?
Oh, I understand you also havewritten some books, Is that
right?
Speaker 2 (05:03):
I have, I've written two children's books, Well three
.
The third one is getting readyfor publication right now.
Speaker 1 (05:09):
Okay.
Speaker 2 (05:10):
They're written under Dr Karen Phillips.
All right, they're available atBarnes, noble and Amazon.
The first one is called Look Upat the Moon, and it was my
mother when I was a little girl.
I come from a big family.
I have all brothers, a bigfamily.
I have four sons.
But when I was a little girl mymother would go out and look at
the full moon and the shadow inthe moon.
(05:31):
She would say look like arabbit.
So I called it Look Up at theMoon.
And what it is?
It's a book about how childrenfrom around the world look up at
the moon and when they lookback they wonder does the moon
see me, or the Eiffel Tower Me,or the Grand Canyon Me, or
Christ the Redeemer?
Because it shows how we're allso much alike.
(05:53):
Oh, wow, there are differencesamong us but ultimately at the
core we're all very much alike.
And then the other book is abook for Christopher, my oldest
son, and it talks about sportsballs and it starts at a ping
pong ball and goes down to abasketball and it's a
measurement book.
Being a teacher, I loveteaching math, but it's a
measurement book.
(06:13):
But it also talks about sportsand it's got adjectives and
descriptions and all that andthen in the end he's really
looking for his football.
K-u-g-a.
He's really looking for afootball.
Speaker 1 (06:26):
That's a good plug.
Speaker 2 (06:28):
And the really neat thing about it is my illustrator
.
I found her on Fiverr and she'sa Ukrainian refugee in Poland,
and so in June my brother is theUS liaison to Poland.
I got to go meet her.
Oh wow, which is really cool.
Speaker 1 (06:44):
That is awesome.
Wow, what a small world we have.
Speaker 2 (06:48):
So again, mentoring is helping people make the world
a better place.
Speaker 3 (06:51):
Wow by adding to.
Speaker 2 (06:53):
You know, who knew that I would have impact on this
young lady's life in Poland?
Wow, so she'll have means totake care of herself.
Speaker 1 (07:02):
That is so amazing.
So, Dr Karen Phillips, wherecan people find these children's
books?
Speaker 2 (07:10):
Amazon and Barnes Noble.
Well, there's lots of otherlittle ones, but those are the
two big ones.
Speaker 1 (07:15):
Okay, that is so awesome.
It's great.
Children's books are soengaging for the little ones and
such a great thing to do.
Speaker 2 (07:21):
Yes, and Juliana's.
Her illustrations are amazing,they're amazing, oh wonderful.
Speaker 1 (07:28):
And do you have anything you'd like to share
with the Gale community at largeduring this conference?
Speaker 2 (07:35):
I would just say make sure that you come with an open
heart and don't just come tohave fun.
I know this is a fun place tocome, but come actually learning
something and being able totake that back to your school to
make a difference.
Speaker 1 (07:48):
Oh, that's so awesome .
Again, thank you for joining us.
Dr Karen Phillips, AssistantPrincipal with Houston County
Schools, it's great to see youtoday.
Speaker 2 (07:56):
Thank you, I appreciate it.
Y'all have a great day.
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