Skot Waldron:
Hey everybody, welcome to another episode here. Today, I have a special guest that doesn't come from your typical corporate background. She is an educator, and helping to empower our young people and develop cultures from high school, starting to develop people and cultures from high school so that we can spread good things later on. So, Ava Gencheva, got it?
Ava Gencheva:
Yes.
SKOT WALDRON:
I got it, nice.
AVA GENCHEVA:
Perfect.
SKOT WALDRON:
Okay. So I wanted to go ahead and talk to you a little bit about this, but let me introduce you first. So you're an educator, you've been in education for almost 20 years now. You have been an all walks of life, as far as education is concerned, working as a teacher, working as a director, and now, running your own company as the boss, right? Of what you're doing, and the leader.
And so, you've seen it from the inside, you've seen leadership, you are a leader now running it from the outside, and being who you are. Now, what I would like to do is give you a second. I just want to hear a quick introduction for the audience. Just give us the core of what you do, how you do it, why you do it, just introduce us to that idea.
AVA GENCHEVA:
Yes. Well, hi, Skot. Thank you for having me today. And I have to say, we met in LinkedIn. So hey, LinkedIn is great. A little promotion here. Yes, I've been in education for about 20 years. I stopped counting after some time, because it just becomes irrelevant.
It is my calling, it's always something I've wanted to do, and I feel very fortunate to actually live my passion. I started working at a public school in various roles, and then I was a teacher for a while, and then I stepped into a directorship position for about seven years.
What was interesting to see at that time is how... And I live in the Bay Area, in San Francisco Bay Area, quite rigorous, very driven parents, very academic environment. We have some failing schools, I got to say, but other than that, there's some really good private and public schools that have very driven parents and students.
So yes, I have seen how schools operate in two levels, sort of like what is probably seeing that corporate cultures in very big companies where you have about two, 300 employees on one campus. And that is, the school that I was employed at had multiple campuses in multiple states. So at the end of the day, this was a huge community of teachers, a huge community of leaders that led those teachers who in turn, led the students in the classrooms.
So I have seen how schools work as on a corporate level, and then on educational level, and how all that translates. That entire culture [inaudible 00:03:15] translates into sort of mini units into the classrooms, through the teachers. So it has been a very interesting experience.
After a while, I simply felt that I could be more effective by following my own passion, and sort of calling the shots a little bit, you should say, and I started doing this independently. I've been very happy. I feel very successful so far for a small startup.
And I continue to pursue this, and I plan to continue. At this point in time, I don't [inaudible 00:03:51]. I do have a small team of people that I work with. So you could say, the she boss kind of feel. But I do work with teachers, I do work with editors. I work with parents and students on multiple levels at this point in time, so it's been great.
SKOT WALDRON:
Great. Yeah, that's awesome. That sounds fantastic. And might I say, your English is amazing. You're Bulgarian, and your English is really good. So, [crosstalk 00:04:17].
AVA GENCHEVA:
Yeah, I've lived here for many years, then I teach English.
SKOT WALDRON:
Yeah, so that's good then.
AVA GENCHEVA:
It's supposed to be.
SKOT WALDRON:
Yeah, that's good. Now, [crosstalk 00:04:27]. It's really good. Mastering a second language is, I think something that's taken for granted. So, well done. Let's talk about a little bit about culture. Okay, so I want you to talk about from two standpoints.
Let's talk about... So first of all, what you do for the kids you teach, right? You teach mostly kids going into high school, but also high school and middle school aged kids.
AVA GENCHEVA:
Mm-hmm (affirmative).
SKOT WALDRON:
And what is it about that that's so important for you that you see, you needed to intervene, you needed to do something, because you want to make their lives better for the future. And in turn, what's going to happen is ultimately our culture, our workplace culture will get better. If they're trained early on, they'll be better equipped later on, right? To do-
AVA GENCHEVA:
Yes, I firmly believe that. As a director, and as a professional, I obviously had to attend lots of conferences and training and workshops and take leadership classes and read the books and the whole motivational stuff and courses, and you name it, right? And then at the end of the day, when you just kind of put the line and you look at, "Okay, what is the benefit of all this?" There's improvement, definitely on at this age as a professional, for all I believe.
But at the end of the day, the improvement is really slow because we have... We're jaded in our mindset, and it takes much longer to internalize some truths and to begin that process of change. Now, when we look at students, and how nimble and how fast and how absorbent their psyche is, and how easy it is to impress upon them, the importance of leadership for one, the importance of managing a balance sheet and learning how to write a check, the importance of thinking as entrepreneurs, the importance of not being scared in a classroom where they're not allowed to speak, or they're scared to ask a question, the importance to not feel subdued and stifled and scared and insignificant and always controlled, unable to make a decision.
So when I think of how easy it is to influence our children at young age to become leaders, and to think like entrepreneurs, and to think independently, to learn how to think, first of all, how to think, not what to think, how to think. So when I realized that the power of that is when I sort of stepped out and decided, okay, this is school, it's not just about testing. And school is not just about the bottom line, and the drive to get the A, and to stay up late, and to do whatever it takes, including cheating, just to be ahead, and to enter that fantastic school that you've been dreaming to go into, you know, the Stanfords of the world.
It's wonderful, I help them do that too. I coach them into that as well, but once they find themselves there, it's where the struggle really begins because they do not know who they are as people. They have never had anyone sit them down and question them about, "Who's your role model? And what do you really want in life? And what do you think are your primary values as a person? And if you don't have these, well, let's sit down and think of five things that really drive you today. What is your main motivation apart from earning an A or an A+?"
So, just shifting from that set of test driven education, just for the bottom line, and looking into the child as a person, and looking at them as someone who creates... Will create our future, in fact, on actual... On a national level, international level. And they will be creating jobs that do not exist today. And speaking of artificial intelligence, I mean, if we're going to put that in the hands of someone, they better be good humans. So this is why I stepped down and I decided to have this. I do have my workshops that teach entrepreneurialship and leadership skills.
And we go into in depth into studying literature that is usually not studied at school, because it just... It's not done for the A or for the 100%, like I said, or for the GPA, et cetera. So this is the primary reason why I found that as an educator, I could be way more effective if I stepped away from the chiseled sort of stifling environment. And 35 students in a classroom, all desks in a row with one teacher, that's the ultimate authority, calling the shots.
Everyone is scared because that their grade depends on it. And then stepping back in my workshops, in my classroom today, virtual classroom, currently, no one is afraid to speak, and no one is afraid to answer or ask a question, and there's no stupid question. And there's always answers, and there's always solutions as long as we're respectful, and as long as we think logically, critically, and we do our top, bottom best to understand the material, and we're serious about our improvement. So that's how I felt that I could be very much more effective.
SKOT WALDRON:
I love the idea of what you talked about, right? So teaching kids to not be scared to speak up, speaking. Teaching them how to think, not what to think. Teaching them that they can... They have good ideas. They have something of value to bring to the table, right?
AVA GENCHEVA:
Mm-hmm (affirmative).
SKOT WALDRON:
That, we aren't going to hear that value unless you speak up, and to understand that you don't need to feel stifled, you need to be empowered, right? And how can we teach this? So all of that, everything that you say about teaching young children at that age is what we need in the corporate environment, right?
It's what we need in businesses. We need them to speak up. We need them to be empowered. We need them to be confident. We need them to know how to speak, and they know how to think, not what to think all the time. This is exactly what we need in corporate America. And I think that we are getting that fully, right?
Some, we are, we're getting some great, great people and leaders and employees and staff, but there's also a gap there, right? And that leads to dysfunctional cultures. So, they can talk about that. So you worked in the corporate space in the background, right?
AVA GENCHEVA:
Yeah.
SKOT WALDRON:
What were some things there that you saw that was like, "Wow, this is a problem," even in the education space?
AVA GENCHEVA:
Yes, I do have many stories to tell. Well, first of all, I do have to say that I did see some leadership styles that I still admire even today. Sometimes, I think back to those who were leading that organization at that time, and I do admire their patience and their... Just the ability to listen, and ability to actually not just listen, but be proactive.
So that's definitely there, like you said, they are leaders. And ultimately, I really, truly hope that every organization has at least one of those leaders out there. But yes, I did see, unfortunately, the other side, which is a little more prevalent. And it was, at least in my specific case, it was more prevalent where we as directors, for example, we'll be having... We used to have a directors meeting once a month where it will be, literally, lined up in a straight line, and there will be cameras flashing in our eyes because we will be recorded.
And the session will go for like two and a half hours where it will be code, code, and questions. So like, sort of a sniper questioning kind of thing, where we would absolutely have to have the right answer in a nanosecond, produce absolutely the... Everything that was kind of scripted by the corporate world and given to us down to regurgitate and recite.
And all that information was expected to be mastered. And we were just expected to walk the talk at every given minute. And our leaders at that time were... Or leader, I should say, the person that was primarily in charge, and she had a military background. So that was kind of [inaudible 00:13:34] never understood.
And despite being extremely brilliant person, that style of you cannot make a mistake, and you have to say the right answer, and you have to be... You cannot be veering away from what's expected to be heard and done and said, and you cannot absolutely ask questions, because you will just be looked at as someone who is just definitely not understanding what's going on.
And you'll be the... Not the smart person in the room. Nobody wants to be that, right? So that culture trickle down to the classrooms. Many times, I'll walk into the classrooms and go in for observation. And I'm thinking, "These are the future. Somewhere in this classroom, there might be the future president of the United States." And they're scared. Right now, they're afraid, because sometimes, I know that I will walk in and students will just straighten up and sit straight, and I will think, "That is so unnecessary."
You have to be comfortable. You cannot be thinking if you're stressed out, and right now, I can feel the stress. I know that you are... You feel observed and watched, and you're scared, because you want to bring the good grade, and you want to make your parents proud, and your parents work all day, and they probably come talk to you that, "Okay, I'm in the same environment at work, and I know how you feel, but we just got to do this, son, and we just have to do this, okay? We have no other choice."
And that's what kind of... I realized that, yes, the corporate culture is on one side of the stage, and then the classrooms on another side of the stage. And similar scenario happens also in public schools, because there we have very heavy administration. And although they're a lot more relaxed in terms of rules and regulations on academic level, there's a lot of other rules and regulations on social level, where children feel socially inadequate and suppressed. So these young students in high school, now they come in and they look for internships. And they try to shadow executives at Google and Yahoo, and they shadow doctors, and these same professionals that were turned out by the same school environment.
Now, they're in a corporate culture, and they probably follow the same style, because this is what they've seen. This is all they know. And, you know, these young people sit there for a month and a half during summer. And they think that this is what having a great CEO job in Yahoo really means, or this is how you're supposed to lead the team, by keeping it all straight and being very stiff and being all about the bottom line.
I definitely think that there's a better way to begin teaching our young children. And by young children, I really am talking about high school students, because to me, they're still very young. Although, they don't like to hear that.
SKOT WALDRON:
Yeah.
AVA GENCHEVA:
To begin teaching them on how to ask smart questions, and how to think for themselves, and how not to be afraid, how not to be afraid to disturb the status quo, and how to come up with new ideas and be proud of their ideas, instead of thinking, "No, nobody will like it. This is probably not important." I think of something, and I think I thought of some ideas. I hear this a lot, but I don't think it really matters. So this kind of mindset, I think, it's just not supportive of what we will expect in our society very soon.
SKOT WALDRON:
Yeah, and I think that stifles innovation, right? When we don't have the voices of those individuals, that's maybe brilliance in there, right?
AVA GENCHEVA:
Yeah.
SKOT WALDRON:
And their fear, they're afraid of either getting trampled by a more dominant voice in the room, or they're afraid their ideas are imperfect, so they don't want to let it out, right?
AVA GENCHEVA:
Mm-hmm (affirmative).
SKOT WALDRON:
So that all these things, it's about being self-aware. First, teaching them about their own personal brand, teaching them about what they value, what they want, and where to go after that thing. So, that's fantastic. Let me ask you really quick about... So how do you define culture? What is culture to you?
AVA GENCHEVA:
I love that question, actually. I've thought about that for a while, and every time I think, what is culture? What would be the interpretation of culture on this particular level, when it comes to corporate and work environment, to me, it ultimately translates to having synergy and having sort of operating on the same frequency, which I understand it probably is not a easy thing to do, but it is achievable.
And maybe when we speak about synergy, and when we speak about working on the same frequence, a level of frequence, we might be thinking of small teams, because that's kind of easy to match and to get into that sync when we work together. But I do believe that the right model and the right leadership can bring that into a company, no matter what size that company is.
And with that synchronicity and synergy, comes certain level of comfort, where you know that you are respected for who you are. You're not asking people to absolutely love you and adore you, but you are accepted as an individual. And having that comfort level will definitely produce that trust enough, to feel relaxed, to be able to express your opinion and to work and to feel that you belong. So there should be some level of belonging when [inaudible 00:19:42] about culture. So yes, culture translates to me into a synergy and same level of frequency.
SKOT WALDRON:
I love that. And that is, I think difficult for a lot of companies. Just, there aren't so many personality types. And, how do we communicate well? But that doesn't mean that you have to be like me, it means that we have to learn each other's strengths and learn to work together, right?
AVA GENCHEVA:
[crosstalk 00:20:05]. Yes. Yeah. Oh, I wouldn't want anyone to be like me. The reason why I would absolutely extend respect and admiration is because they're not like me. And that's where you know that... Like you said, realizing that we are our own personal brands. I love that. Actually, I'm just going to use that if you don't mind.
SKOT WALDRON:
No, go for it.
AVA GENCHEVA:
Our own personal brands. And from that realization comes [inaudible 00:20:28] idea that, "Oh, we have thousands of personal brands here gathered," or working on a project that leads to the company propelling itself forward in one way or another. And that realization right there brings out also a bit of responsibility to have that respect for everyone.
SKOT WALDRON:
Yeah, and if every person and if every brand in the room is exactly the same, then nobody's special, right?
AVA GENCHEVA:
Nobody's special.
SKOT WALDRON:
And nobody sticks out, nobody's uniqueness comes to life. I really appreciate that. And, Ava, I really appreciate you, and the work you're doing. The company is VoicED, and the URL is... The website is voiced.academy, where they can find out more information for you. Is there anything else? How else can they get in touch with you? Or is there anything on the website they can use for access about what you're doing?
AVA GENCHEVA:
My website has my phone number, my direct phone number and a direct line to reach me, along with my email, my blog, and of course, visiting my website can just give everyone a bit of a glance as to what it is that I do, but I'm always open to new connections. And I'm always open to speaking about education and how that will really change everything that we see today.
As you said, there's some gaps and some problems. Starting early and starting in the right way, we'll definitely bring out results that we will see in not just in the corporate world, but as the humanity as a whole.
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