Videos

Kelly Mitchell's journey through education is a crash course in recognizing when systems are working exactly as designed...not for us. From stumbling into teaching via Craigslist after the 2009 recession, to middle school math teacher, to high school dean managing 350 students, to state workforce development, Kelly kept asking, "Who can fix this?" only to realize the system kept saying, "Not us." Kelly's revelation: education's recruitment problem isn't about signing bonuses, it's asking Black people to return to systems that actively harmed them their entire childhood. The retention problem? Leaders who laugh off racism when test scores are good, colleagues who outsource racial incidents to the "Black representative," and the invisible tax of carrying everyone else's learning curve. Now running Inclusive Design Group and pursuing her PhD, Kelly's done the full bingo card: classroom, admin, state, nonprofit. Her conclusion? The answer was never in climbing higher within broken systems…

Kai Hamer's journey from aspiring rapper to special education teacher to parent engagement director is a love letter to the Bronx. Starting in shelters and after-school programs, she spent 10+ years teaching in her own neighborhood, collecting kids from behind soda machines, visiting grandmothers who couldn't leave home, and fighting for students whose gifts didn't show up on standardized tests. But when colleagues went to the principal instead of coming to her about her social media post on police brutality, she realized some teachers couldn't truly love the Black children they taught. She left the classroom to train educators in what she never got: real support for building authentic relationships with families. Her mission now? Help teachers get free, because you can't pour into kids when your own cup is dry.

Kelly Mitchell's journey through education is a crash course in recognizing when systems are working exactly as designed...not for us. From stumbling into teaching via Craigslist after the 2009 recession, to middle school math teacher, to high school dean managing 350 students, to state workforce development, Kelly kept asking, "Who can fix this?" only to realize the system kept saying, "Not us." Kelly's revelation: education's recruitment problem isn't about signing bonuses, it's asking Black people to return to systems that actively harmed them their entire childhood. The retention problem? Leaders who laugh off racism when test scores are good, colleagues who outsource racial incidents to the "Black representative," and the invisible tax of carrying everyone else's learning curve. Now running Inclusive Design Group and pursuing her PhD, Kelly's done the full bingo card: classroom, admin, state, nonprofit. Her conclusion? The answer was never in climbing higher within broken systems…

Check out the podcast's website: https://www.exitinterviewpodcast.com/ Instagram: @hellodrasia LinkedIn : https://www.linkedin.com/in/asia-lyons/ Learn more about combatting racial battle fatigue: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1d7KXbRlf6Dpnl4PffXHvuIlLE0CKUEa8/view?usp=sharing #teachers #educators #wellness #retention #education #healing #storytime #Podcast #BlackVoices #StorytellingPodcast #Shorts (for YouTube Shorts) #ViralPodcast #MustWatch #EducatorTalk #TalkThatTalk #RealTalk #PodcastLife #YouTubePodcasts #NewPodcastAlert #ListenNow #SubscribeNow

Kai Hamer's journey from aspiring rapper to special education teacher to parent engagement director is a love letter to the Bronx. Starting in shelters and after-school programs, she spent 10+ years teaching in her own neighborhood, collecting kids from behind soda machines, visiting grandmothers who couldn't leave home, and fighting for students whose gifts didn't show up on standardized tests. But when colleagues went to the principal instead of coming to her about her social media post on police brutality, she realized some teachers couldn't truly love the Black children they taught. She left the classroom to train educators in what she never got: real support for building authentic relationships with families. Her mission now? Help teachers get free, because you can't pour into kids when your own cup is dry.

Check out the podcast's website: https://www.exitinterviewpodcast.com/ Instagram: @hellodrasia LinkedIn : https://www.linkedin.com/in/asia-lyons/ Learn more about combatting racial battle fatigue: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1d7KXbRlf6Dpnl4PffXHvuIlLE0CKUEa8/view?usp=sharing #teachers #educators #wellness #retention #education #healing #storytime #Podcast #BlackVoices #StorytellingPodcast #Shorts (for YouTube Shorts) #ViralPodcast #MustWatch #EducatorTalk #TalkThatTalk #RealTalk #PodcastLife #YouTubePodcasts #NewPodcastAlert #ListenNow #SubscribeNow

Check out the podcast's website: https://www.exitinterviewpodcast.com/ Instagram: @hellodrasia LinkedIn : https://www.linkedin.com/in/asia-lyons/ Learn more about combatting racial battle fatigue: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1d7KXbRlf6Dpnl4PffXHvuIlLE0CKUEa8/view?usp=sharing #teachers #educators #wellness #retention #education #healing #storytime #Podcast #BlackVoices #StorytellingPodcast #Shorts (for YouTube Shorts) #ViralPodcast #MustWatch #EducatorTalk #TalkThatTalk #RealTalk #PodcastLife #YouTubePodcasts #NewPodcastAlert #ListenNow #SubscribeNow

This conversation is a testament to how classroom teaching can birth movements that extend far beyond what we could ever imagine. In this episode, Dr. Asia sits down with Latoya Turner, M.A. (https://www.linkedin.com/in/latoya-turner-m-a-a94957201/) , a Detroit-born educator, author, and filmmaker who spent 13 years in the classroom before pivoting to create Brown Hands Literacy, a nonprofit dedicated to educating children about HBCUs through books, films, and community events. LaToya shares her journey from a high school cadet teaching program to teaching across Detroit, Maryland, and Cincinnati, where she discovered her passion for literacy and began writing children's books during lunch breaks and planning periods. She opens up about the pull of family that moved her from city to city, the birth of her son August (now a published author himself), and how she coached 90 Black men ages 18-24 through the Leading Men Fellowship program, planting seeds of literacy that will impact gener…

This conversation is a testament to how classroom teaching can birth movements that extend far beyond what we could ever imagine. In this episode, Dr. Asia sits down with Latoya Turner, M.A., a Detroit-born educator, author, and filmmaker who spent 13 years in the classroom before pivoting to create Brown Hands Literacy, a nonprofit dedicated to educating children about HBCUs through books, films, and community events. LaToya shares her journey from a high school cadet teaching program to teaching across Detroit, Maryland, and Cincinnati, where she discovered her passion for literacy and began writing children's books during lunch breaks and planning periods. She opens up about the pull of family that moved her from city to city, the birth of her son August (now a published author himself), and how she coached 90 Black men ages 18-24 through the Leading Men Fellowship program, planting seeds of literacy that will impact generations. From turning her book "Brown Hands, Black Schools: H…

Check out the podcast's website: https://www.exitinterviewpodcast.com/ Instagram: @hellodrasia LinkedIn : https://www.linkedin.com/in/asia-lyons/ Learn more about combatting racial battle fatigue: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1d7KXbRlf6Dpnl4PffXHvuIlLE0CKUEa8/view?usp=sharing #teachers #educators #wellness #retention #education #healing #storytime #Podcast #BlackVoices #StorytellingPodcast #Shorts (for YouTube Shorts) #ViralPodcast #MustWatch #EducatorTalk #TalkThatTalk #RealTalk #PodcastLife #YouTubePodcasts #NewPodcastAlert #ListenNow #SubscribeNow

Check out the podcast's website: https://www.exitinterviewpodcast.com/ Instagram: @hellodrasia LinkedIn : https://www.linkedin.com/in/asia-lyons/ Learn more about combatting racial battle fatigue: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1d7KXbRlf6Dpnl4PffXHvuIlLE0CKUEa8/view?usp=sharing #teachers #educators #wellness #retention #education #healing #storytime #Podcast #BlackVoices #StorytellingPodcast #Shorts (for YouTube Shorts) #ViralPodcast #MustWatch #EducatorTalk #TalkThatTalk #RealTalk #PodcastLife #YouTubePodcasts #NewPodcastAlert #ListenNow #SubscribeNow

This was a first for me. "Why would you go to your grave hating on someone you barely knew. She barely knew me!" Thank you, Monika Robinson, M.Ed., for sharing this story on The Exit Interview. Check out the podcast's website: https://www.exitinterviewpodcast.com/ Instagram: @hellodrasia LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/asia-lyons/ Learn more about combatting racial battle fatigue: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1d7KXbRlf6Dpnl4PffXHvuIlLE0CKUEa8/view?usp=sharing #teachers #educators #wellness #retention #education #healing #storytime #Podcast #blackvoices #storytellingpodcast #shorts (for YouTube Shorts) #viralpodcast #MustWatch #educatortalk #TalkThatTalk #realtalk #PodcastLife #YouTubePodcasts #NewPodcastAlert #ListenNow #subscribenow

What does it mean to be the only Black teacher at the table year after year? In this powerful episode of The Exit Interview: A Podcast for Black Educators, Dr. Asia Lyons sits down with Monika Robinson, M.Ed., a former public school teacher, instructional coach, nonprofit leader, and founder of Reparations Ed, to unpack the quiet isolation many Black educators experience in predominantly white and suburban school systems. For six years, Monika was the only Black teacher in her building. While she describes her experience as “not bad,” she also names the subtle but persistent exclusion of being left out of informal gatherings, navigating leadership roles without support, and carrying the weight of representation alone. Her story highlights how school isolation is often normalized, minimized, or dismissed even when it impacts retention and wellness.

What does it mean to be the only Black teacher at the table year after year? In this powerful episode of The Exit Interview: A Podcast for Black Educators, Dr. Asia Lyons sits down with Monika Robinson, a former public school teacher, instructional coach, nonprofit leader, and founder of Reparations Ed, to unpack the quiet isolation many Black educators experience in predominantly white and suburban school systems. For six years, Monika was the only Black teacher in her building. While she describes her experience as not bad, she also names the subtle but persistent exclusion of being left out of informal gatherings, navigating leadership roles without support, and carrying the weight of representation alone. Her story highlights how school isolation is often normalized, minimized, or dismissed even when it impacts retention and wellness.

Check out the podcast's website: https://www.exitinterviewpodcast.com/ Instagram: @hellodrasia LinkedIn : https://www.linkedin.com/in/asia-lyons/ Learn more about combatting racial battle fatigue: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1d7KXbRlf6Dpnl4PffXHvuIlLE0CKUEa8/view?usp=sharing #teachers #educators #wellness #retention #education #healing #storytime #Podcast #BlackVoices #StorytellingPodcast #Shorts (for YouTube Shorts) #ViralPodcast #MustWatch #EducatorTalk #TalkThatTalk #RealTalk #PodcastLife #YouTubePodcasts #NewPodcastAlert #ListenNow #SubscribeNow

How many of us have received perfect attendance awards growing up? How is that not serving us now that we are adults? Thank you, Whitney Tolliver, for sharing a part of your journey. #BlackEducatorsBeWell #healing #rest Check out the podcast's website: https://www.exitinterviewpodcast.com/ Instagram: @hellodrasia LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/asia-lyons/ Learn more about combatting racial battle fatigue: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1d7KXbRlf6Dpnl4PffXHvuIlLE0CKUEa8/view?usp=sharing #teachers #educators #wellness #retention #education #healing #storytime #Podcast #BlackVoices #StorytellingPodcast #Shorts (for YouTube Shorts) #ViralPodcast #MustWatch #EducatorTalk #TalkThatTalk #RealTalk #PodcastLife #YouTubePodcasts #NewPodcastAlert #ListenNow #SubscribeNow

This episode with Whitney Tolliver is essential listening for educators at any stage of their career, administrators who wonder why they can't retain staff, and anyone who's ever sacrificed their well-being for a job that demands perfection over presence. In this powerful episode of the Exit interview, Whitney shares her journey from enthusiastic first-grade teacher to assistant principal and ultimately, to leaving education altogether to prioritize her wellness. Whitney opens up about the toxic workplace culture she encountered early in her career, including a principal who demanded perfect attendance even after losing both parents, and how that mentality permeated her entire educational experience. Now the founder of The Teacher Retreat, a nonprofit dedicated to educator wellness, and All Things Well Collective, Whitney is on a mission to help educators understand that self-care isn't just spa days and massages, it's moisturizing your whole body, drinking water, and learning to rest…

This episode with Whitney Tolliver (https://www.linkedin.com/in/whitney-tolliver-a9978924b/) is essential listening for educators at any stage of their career, administrators who wonder why they can't retain staff, and anyone who's ever sacrificed their well-being for a job that demands perfection over presence. In this powerful episode of the Exit interview, Whitney (https://www.linkedin.com/in/whitney-tolliver-a9978924b/) shares her journey from enthusiastic first-grade teacher to assistant principal and ultimately, to leaving education altogether to prioritize her wellness. Whitney opens up about the toxic workplace culture she encountered early in her career, including a principal who demanded perfect attendance even after losing both parents, and how that mentality permeated her entire educational experience. Now the founder of The Teacher Retreat, a nonprofit dedicated to educator wellness, and All Things Well Collective, Whitney is on a mission to help educators understand th…

In this episode of the Exit Interview podcast for Black educators, host Dr. Asia Lyons interviews Dr. Mary Hemphill, an accomplished educator, leader, and founder of The Limitless Leader. Dr. Hemphill shares her journey from growing up in a family of educators in New York to becoming a third and fourth-grade teacher in her hometown, and later moving into school administration and state-level leadership in North Carolina. The conversation explores Dr. Hemphill’s deep sense of calling to education, her commitment to serving her community, and the challenges she faced as a Black woman navigating various roles in education. She discusses the importance of representation, mentorship, and intentionally supporting students and families from diverse backgrounds. Dr. Hemphill recounts her experiences as a principal in turnaround schools, her unexpected transition to directing statewide computer science initiatives, and the lessons she learned about leadership, adaptability, and the value of t…

In this episode of The Exit Interview, host Dr. Asia Lyons engages in a deep conversation with Octavia Raheem about the transformative power of rest. Octavia Raheem, an accomplished author, rest restorative coach, and former public school teacher, shares her journey from traditional education to becoming a leader in wellness and restorative practices. The discussion explores the importance of rest for Black educators, the systemic challenges they face, and the necessity of self-care. Raheem passionately discusses the interplay between creativity, rest, and holistic well-being, offering practical steps for educators to integrate rest into their lives. Make sure to order her new book, Rest Is Sacred: Reclaiming Our Brilliance Through the Practice of Stillness.

In this episode of 'The Exit Interview, a podcast for Black educators,' Dr. Asia Lyons hosts Shatiera Porte'e, a school counselor, author, coach, and education consultant. Shatiera shares her experiences working tirelessly in education during the COVID pandemic, reflecting on the challenging conditions that led to burnout and her decision to leave traditional education spaces. The discussion highlights the systemic issues Black educators face, such as overwork and lack of compensation, and underscores the need for mental health support within the education system. Shatiera talks about her current role as the founder of 'School #counselors on Wheels,' where she mentors students and educators, emphasizing mental wellness in education. She also introduces her self-help book 'I Forgive Myself for Forgetting Myself,' which aims to promote self-care among service professionals. Throughout the episode, Shatiera pays tribute to influential Black educators who impacted her life, expressing gra…

In this episode of The Exit Interview: A Podcast for Black Educators, Dr. Asia Lyons interviews Kwame Sarfo-Mensah and discusses his transformative journey from aspiring professional athlete to dedicated educator. Kwame discusses his initial pivot to becoming a math teacher and the various challenges he faced in his early teaching years, including a lack of support and job security in Philadelphia charter schools. Moving to Boston, he navigated the complexities of unionized school districts, ultimately learning the importance of self-care to avoid burnout and racial battle fatigue. This episode highlights systemic issues in education, such as the exploitation of committed Black educators and the importance of acknowledging their experiences. Reflecting on his time in Philadelphia, Kwame emphasizes the need for better support systems and career pathways for Black educators. His journey extends internationally as he moves to Sierra Leone, initiating the 'Identity Talk for Educators Live…

When the school nurse has to check your blood pressure three times, you know you're in trouble. In this episode of the 'Exit Interview' podcast, I archive the story of Dr. LaShaune Stitt. Dr. Stitt recounts her journey from childhood dreams of teaching to pioneering spaces for young men of Color, and the community-centered approaches that defined her work. Amidst these achievements, she opens up about the health crises and systemic challenges that led her to leave formal education. Our discussion touches on the critical support from women in her professional community, her experiences with racial battle fatigue, and the vital importance of therapy and self-care for Black educators. We delve into the significance of culturally responsive teaching environments and Dr. Stitt's current consulting work, emphasizing the broad, impactful ways educators can contribute to their communities beyond traditional classroom roles.

In this episode of The Exit Interview, hosted by Dr. Asia Lyons, Julia Berry shares her transformative journey from wanting to be a teacher, doctor, and dancer as a child to becoming an educator focused on diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI). Julia outlines her path from excelling in math and engineering, realizing her passion for teaching, to teaching youth in correctional and treatment facilities. She discusses the challenges she faced with #leadership due to her bold approach to DEI work. Julia touches upon the impact of race and supremacy on educational settings and emphasizes the importance of leadership involvement in DEI efforts. After leaving several roles due to systemic resistance to change, she finally finds alignment with her values at a community-based organization rooted in ancient African philosophy. The conversation delves into the personal and professional grief Julia encountered, her methods of #selfcare care, and the joy she finds in her children, gardening, and…