Join Nikki C and Educational Consultant Lynn Teatro, as we go through the ups and downs of Lynn's life that led her to discover her passion to help introverted and shy students find their voice.

Guest BIO

Lynn Teatro had a varied career as a front-line social service worker. She worked in shelters for abused women and their children, with seniors, with sex offenders in prison and helping the homeless in an outreach center. 

Now as a quasi-retiree, Lynn has made it her mission to help dropouts and other struggling students find their zone of genius. She helps them boost their confidence with workshops, 1:1 counseling, and group coaching. She is also building a professional roster of like-minded people to help her help struggling students fly the nest and on to success.

Guest Social Media Links

Website: MyVoiceCounts2.com

Email: Lynn@MyVoiceCounts2.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MyVoiceCounts2

Hashtag: #MVC2

Guest Resources

LIFE GOT IN THE WAY

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Website: https://linktr.ee/lgitw_podcast

© Life Got in the Way, 2022. All rights reserved.

Nikki C and Lynn

[00:00:00] Nikki C: Hello, Lynn. Welcome to the show. Thank

[00:00:05] Nikki C: Thank you so much for joining us.

[00:00:19] OK.

[00:00:27] Lynn: on how that, that got. Well, things went along pretty smoothly until my third brother was, or my second brother was born because that's when my dad got sick. Oh, okay.

[00:01:02] And, my mom went into a deep depression. My uncle had to come and look after us and she finally decided to move back to where her parents posted her parents. Her parents were farmers. And, uh, things went, no things. Didn't go. Okay. I was telling my grandmother got sick with cancer and it was in her throat.

[00:01:44] And then my mom remarried and her and my stepfather had a little girl who was born with hydrocephalus and that's water on the brain. And what happens is the cerebral spinal fluid that goes around your brain and Daniel spinal column got blocked and it caused [00:02:00] the, the, the fluid to build up around her brain.

[00:02:27] So my mom had to go to back to work. And so I was put in charge of this. Well, it was like a living. She never cried. She couldn't suck. She couldn't, you know, she had to be spoon fed and, um, it was big responsibility. So yeah, I had had Carrie for two, two years. And, uh, how, how old were you at that time? I was 11 when Carrie was, um, Or no, I was 12 when Carrie was born, just, just had just turned 12.

[00:03:02] Lynn: 12 year old. Yeah. And my mom had toxemia, so she had to bedrest for the last three months. So I had the meals to, to prepare the, the housekeeping to do the laundry, to do all those other responsibilities. So it's it. Yeah. It's been tough and, um, ended up marrying and, and.

[00:03:47] And then she would look after my kids while I worked. And we worked at a restaurant. I had the money accumulated. I applied to college. I was accepted. And the night that I was the night before I was to go down to OWA [00:04:00] and sign up for my course, my husband and I had a huge argument. He didn't want me to go. He said that we didn't have enough money.

[00:04:29] His spine was crushed just below the collarbone mm-hmm and it was a, what they call a three, four break with a two, three disability, and he was able to talk and eat and do all those things. But as far as the rest of his body, he could just shrug his shoulders and rehabilitation. How, how old was

[00:04:50] But at that time was he,

[00:04:56] Nikki C: wow. Yes.

[00:05:21] That's the name of the hospital? It was really hard. He, his first reaction was that he didn't wanna live. And I, yeah, he was a very vital man, very active. He actually played hockey with one of the, the Buka booms who, who won the Stanley cup with Wayne Greski years ago. Yes. Yes. And so, um, that had to be, yeah.

[00:06:03] That is really cool. Yeah. And nothings huge. it is, it was huge and so, yeah. They. Said that he would have, maybe three or four years to live. He lived for 19 and got to see his, his, his son was just an infant. He was like six weeks old when Dale had his accident and Aaron was the same, well, 10 days older than my, my younger daughter.

[00:06:54] He was very into computers. Mm-hmm I can relate to that. Yes. Yes. Me [00:07:00] too. So, David, um, Dale bought him a computer and, and David became a bit of a whiz on computers. And now he does animations along with his hot dog stand in Alberta. Okay. And Aaron is, in Alberta as well up north. But yeah, so, and my kids learned a lot from him.

[00:07:31] Um, yeah, he lived in the hospital those 19 years in the local hospital. He was moved to a local hospital.

[00:07:54] Lynn: In another word I realized how short life can be [00:08:00] and how quick it can change.

[00:08:25] And he says, well, you know, we're in the semester system now, why don't you come back to school? Start tomorrow. And you can upgrade and complete your grade 13. Now this. 37 years ago when we had grade 13 in, in Canadian schools, that was, you were on the university track. If you took grade 13, you were taking the, the, the more difficult courses.

[00:09:11] But no, I, I passed, I think it was 73% or something. Okay. Yeah, that's passing. , that's passing, that's passing. Just happened that the student behind me got a hundred, 5% in that, in that course. And she went on to be a, a gerontologist in OWA, but her wow. Her father was the math teacher that I had before.

[00:09:38] Nikki C: Oh, yeah. Yeah. She had a built in support system with that.

[00:09:59] Oh,

[00:10:09] Lynn: when I, when it was getting to the end of that first year, I thought I'm on a roll and there there's summer schools. So why don't I take the summer school? So I did that. The people across the road looked after my daughters in the morning when I went to class and then I picked them up in the afternoon and did my homework and they played with their friends.

[00:10:34] Nikki C: So you had two kids. Go back and forth. You finished your schooling instead of three years. You got it done in two. That is amazing. Yes, that is so awesome. And how was, how did you balance it all?

[00:11:00] No, that's right.

[00:11:04] Lynn: Yeah, no, it was a small crappy apartment, so I didn't feel, you know, didn't feel like I had to have everything company ready. Because I had two kids, I made sure that I took courses that, that fell within that window, that my kids were in school. That's very smart.

[00:11:47] So I had a very structured life at that time. And when I did my homework at home, it was kind of cool. Cuz my kids would sit at the table and do their homework too. And their, their [00:12:00] marks kind of went up at that time. Cuz you know, if they had questions, if they were struggling with something, I was there to help them.

[00:12:37] So it was sort of a. A moving meditation for me, you know, it was just me in the water and, and counting. And I think that that was one of the, the secrets was, um, doing that exercise, cuz I know that exercise improves not only your body, but your brain. And it also cut me off from, from you know, thinking about [00:13:00] anything.

[00:13:03] Nikki C: Yeah. That's like the greatest meditation you can have is to just do something where you don't have to necessarily focus on it. Mm-hmm because you do it all the time. Yeah. And that back and forth and back and forth, I'm sure you got a lot of, thoughts out and maybe creativity and, and, and different ways to do things.

[00:13:39] Lynn: yep. Yeah. I'm I'm very much an introvert. So yeah, swimming was, was my favorite exercise and my second favorite is walking, but I don't like to walk on city streets.

[00:14:07] Nikki C: I understand that. So let's, let's fast forward a little bit. So you have, um, you've taken, you've gotten the, your, degrees now.

[00:14:33] What did you take your degree and what did you, um, what did it lead you into?

[00:15:03] My son was born in October and the same day that he was born, my beloved grandmother, had a stroke cuz I got this. I always had this habit. I soon, as soon as the baby was born and everybody cleared outta the way I got on the phone and, and told my grandmother that, you know, she had a new, great grand.

[00:15:44] She didn't know who I was. And then, uh, a friend of her said, can you, can you come and help your grandmother? She's she's not right. She needs help. And it's like, I'm sitting there with a, a newborn baby on my lap, in the hospital, just [00:16:00] giving birth and I couldn't do anything. It just broke my heart. And, um, yeah, she died about 10 days later.

[00:16:29] Yeah. So, so yeah, the first, uh, couple years I, after Tony was born, I worked with my husband. He was a paralegal and I would go in and help close housing deals. And I could take my son with. So that was one of the saving graces is I never, ever had to leave my baby with somebody else and go back to work.

[00:17:07] Nikki C: uh, the U.S. Is like, we give you eight weeks.

[00:17:10] Lynn: be enough. oh yeah.

[00:17:13] Lynn: eight weeks.

[00:17:26] Lynn: Both parents.

[00:17:35] Nikki C: I mean, that's, that's what, 52 weeks. that's

[00:17:49] And so it's, it's amazing and things have changed so much in the world now. I had to shame my brothers-in-law to attend the births of their children. Hmm. [00:18:00] My, my husband had agreed to do that, but, but they had to be shamed into it. And we, we, the three, three brothers had babies around the same time. I, they were all born in the same year.

[00:18:31] Mm-hmm definitely. So, yeah. And so, yeah, I worked with my husband for a while and then I applied for a job at a. At the community resort center in a, low income housing area and came in as working with the children in the, in the health program. So I did, it was sort of babysitting, but it was also giving nutritious snacks and, um, you know, just sort of keeping an ear out for, you know, there's always issues around parenting and things [00:19:00] like that.

[00:19:20] So that was, that was fun, but I, what was your

[00:19:25] Lynn: playing with them? Yeah, my, my, I, you know, I, I tell people that, you know, young people can't feel. but old people can't can feel young. I mean, I can, I know what it's like to be a 67 year old cuz I'm 67, but I also let loose my inner two year old and have a tantrum tander but my default is, is the four year old.

[00:19:54] Nikki C: that was my favorite age group to work with. I had opportunity to work with four year olds [00:20:00] and I dunno, five year olds are cool too, but four year olds, it's just that, something about that age. They're a little bit older than three mm-hmm and then they're not quite five, so they're not as independent, but they're trying to be.

[00:20:17] Lynn: no ,

[00:20:21] Lynn: Yeah. It drives some people crazy, all those questions, but I love them.

[00:20:41] Yeah.

[00:21:00] It's pretty cool.

[00:21:28] Nikki C: a lot.

[00:21:53] And did my St in prison, I did, my nine months in prison was working in the sexual behavior [00:22:00] clinic at work. Okay. Okay. I worked, worked for senior citizens, so I did work with victims and perpetrators and the young and the old. And, um, I'm one of these people that likes to learn. So if I sort of, if I'm not learning anymore, I get restless.

[00:22:29] Nikki C: independent. Okay. Tell us a little bit about your legacy

[00:22:43] And some of the students that I was with then went to the same university and I was. I found out that first year in psychology, that 30% of the students dropped out in their first year. [00:23:00] That's a large number. That is a large number. And now it's 35% and it's 40% in the, the, the stem programs, the science technology, those math engineering and, and math.

[00:23:17] So, yeah, I wanted to find out why, why were, why were students dropping out mm-hmm so I've identified nine different things and one of them is, the, the lack of engaging. And what I call is classroom confidence. You know, being ready to answer questions from the teacher, asking questions of the teacher, advocating for themselves.

[00:24:07] And that change the concept of the back of the class changes big time when you're going from a 30. Person classroom to a 300 person theater.

[00:24:32] Sure. I get my seat early, so I know what's going on. So that is definitely so

[00:24:53] She just graduated in psychology and in women's studies at, uh, the same all mater that I went to. [00:25:00] And during COVID I got to sit in on the lectures cuz they were done by zoom and there was a lot of students that. Didn't say anything, their cameras were off, they were not engaging.

[00:25:32] Mm-hmm that they were, they were making themselves physically. Yeah. So that's the problems that I want to address, but there's other ones, some of them don't have life skills.

[00:26:01] Or, or their ability, some to even function mm-hmm in the way that is healthy for them, you know, BA having, even just simple time management

[00:26:12] Nikki C: know, those are, you know, those, the simplest things and it, it can really affect them and it's, you know, go in high school, going into college.

[00:26:39] Lynn: you know?

[00:26:56] Right. And it's a lot cheaper to learn those things when they're in high school [00:27:00] than it is when they're on their own in college or university. Yes.

[00:27:15] I just didn't go. I was like, but you're paying for it still. you probably to this day, still paying for it. Mm-hmm

[00:27:38] So they didn't monitor when they went to bed, they didn't check on their report cards and they learned to be responsible for themselves, you know, after a few days of not going to bed on time and, you know, getting up and going to school, they, uh, they learned and, you know, and she had. Six of them. So it wasn't like she just had one or two.

[00:28:15] So when the summertime came, I put on short. And didn't wear stockings underneath, but they still came down to the knee. And I was asked to go to the principal's office because I was wearing shorts to school 13 years old. And I was hauled into the principal's office because I was wearing shorts to school.

[00:28:53] Nikki C: Isn't that crazy? That's

[00:29:02] Mm-hmm . Now the, the, the, um, clothes are very different now, you know, the schools have relaxed on that bit, thankfully, but there's still that kind of mentality. You know, you didn't hang your hand, your report in on time. Is there something wrong? And so if the tri, uh, the student is. Shy or awkward or anxious, they were be waiting for the, the teacher to remind them that they need to get it handed in or to give them an excuse as to why it isn't hand handed in mm-hmm whereas that doesn't happen in college university.

[00:30:00] You know, you've lost, you've lost a ton of marks here just because you didn't hand something in on time or didn't hand it in at all. Mm-hmm , that's true. So there's, uh, some parenting issues. There's some school issues. Um, the, they, the exercise thing, they, they talk about the freshman 15. I didn't get the freshman 15, cuz I was, I was already preparing meals, healthy meals for my family and I was getting my exercise in every day.

[00:30:34] Nikki C: Yeah. I didn't get the freshman 15 until after college.

[00:30:47] Just the success of being a, a college student mm-hmm . So, overall, what is, what is it that you are looking to accomplish with your legacy project

[00:31:05] And giving, helping parents understand that all these things play a factor in their child's future education. So they have expectations for their children to, to go on to tertiary education or even, you know, go into, become a journeyman in something or journey woman. Now mm-hmm they have to start treating their kids like adults and they have to teach them the life skills that is their, their job isn't to bear babies and raise babies.

[00:32:03] And the other part is them not knowing themselves. A lot of people, they only see the world through their parents' eyes. They don't get, get a chance to explore and see the find out what they might be interested in and passionate about.

[00:32:35] It is mm-hmm , it is a challenge. So what, what can parents do to kind of encourage and just kind of support students in that journey

[00:32:54] What's not so good about their job and the things that they they're learning along the way. [00:33:00] If they, if there's social circle, isn't, isn't varied. Then a lot of people you just say, Hey, can you talk to my kid about the job you're doing?

[00:33:20] Cause they're like, oh, that's what their mom does. That's what dad does. But when someone else comes in and says, Hey, I do this, then all of a sudden there's another interest because I. This person is completely different from the parents. They're, you know, and they, they can tell you, you know, they're not gonna sugar coat it in a way that maybe you, you think your parents are because they're your parents, but just having those different, like you said, those varied, uh, people with different backgrounds coming in and just giving that, um, Just telling about their experiences is very, I think, beneficial for, for kids to have that.

[00:34:05] Lynn: Mm-hmm, so many others because there are options mm-hmm and yeah, the, the trades are just as fulfilling as what, um, education is or business is, or. It's adults now, or young adults now recognize that jobs.

[00:34:47] So accessible now COVID if nothing else has given me the gift of being a global citizen.

[00:35:10] What a, what a difference a zoom call could

[00:35:44] And I asked if I could use it or adapt it for, for an assessment tool for my program. and just emailed. And they said, yes, just, you know, you can ask questions and people are forgiving. Yeah. So they said, yeah, so I can use it. And they [00:36:00] said

[00:36:08] It was a resurgence of emailing. But yes, that's it's so it's so good to have everything in such a, um, just, uh, like compact way that you're able to just kind of connect with people and so easily mm-hmm so speaking of people, there's so many people that, uh, You know, help with our own personal growth.

[00:36:36] Lynn: I've had some really interesting mentors along the way, and a lot of them have been friends. My passion for going to university, particularly Trent university was that my best friend went and she was the one that inspired me and, and created that itch for me to, to go further. And she was the type of person that I could call it two o'clock in the morning.

[00:37:26] And she used it well now she's the executive director of that fair. The Y w C a that the community resource center and the shelters were run. Oh, so she full circle, full circle. Yes, yes, no. She's been doing an amazing thing, so I'm so glad that I've got her as a resource and, and an inspiration. And when I left my second husband, she was right there too, and, and helped me with it.

[00:37:51] And, you know, my grandmother, my grandmother was the one that first taught me that, you know, housekeeping, isn't the biggest thing in the world. She was a lousy housekeeper, [00:38:00] too but she taught me how to, how to cook and make cornbread and, and all those, you know, I started when I was five cooking with her.

[00:38:32] Some have, you know, expanded things have changed along the way. What is the most important lesson out of all of the experiences that you've had that you've learned over your career?

[00:38:57] And some of those weaknesses are overusing [00:39:00] my superpowers, but knowing who I am and knowing that I am a valuable human being, because there was a lot of times that I didn't feel like a valuable human being. So that knowing, knowing yourself is, is huge and, and appreciating that. So, and, and insisting that people respect that mm-hmm.

[00:39:47] What are some things that you felt over the years you had to unle.

[00:40:13] Even though I didn't follow the path that my parents expected me to do. I'm still, what I'm doing is valuable and fulfilling for me. They couldn't have lived my life, but I am, and I'm living it now to the best of my ability. So, um, yeah, and retirement, I don't have to retire the traditional way either. So, yeah, so

[00:40:42] What is the most inspiring thing that you have read or an inspiring song or a quote that you have, uh, seen recently that really resonated with you?

[00:41:16] Family. My family hid that from me cuz that's, you know, a woman going to jail. That's that's, that's shameful. That's a story right there.

[00:41:26] Lynn: a conversation, but uh, yeah, I'm thinking, yeah, she's my hero. She's my hero. But her Nellie McClung. Her quote that I love is never retract. Never refrain. Never apologize. Just get the damn thing done and let 'em how mm-hmm . So that's my favorite quote.

[00:41:51] Lynn: is the there's three of them. They all go together. After my daughter was born, I was well over 200 pounds and I gradually lost 50 of them.

[00:42:30] Wow. Those, those are my favorite three compliments. I should love how

[00:42:55] I know you probably have some projects going on. So if listeners wanted to [00:43:00] know, what's some things that you have going on, where can they go? And what are some things that you kind of have down going down the pipeline?

[00:43:18] So I am looking for young people who have been struggling in school to participate and help me create. One that's really good. And I am, I am developing a keynote address for first year students to encourage them, to show up, ask questions and be themselves as they enter university. And I've asked my Alma mater university, if they will allow me to address their first year student.

[00:43:55] Nikki C: Okay. All right. All right. And what are some of your social media [00:44:00] handles with this? If people are looking for you, where can they find you? My

[00:44:25] Nikki C: All right. All right. Well, thank you. Thank you. Thank you so much for, um, just being a part of the podcast and taking time out of your day and, um, just wanna thank the listeners for always taking time out, to listen to the podcast, subscribe to the podcast. Follow the podcast, all of those great things, um, continue to listen to the podcast and you can tune in every Thursday at 10:00 AM and a new episode will air.

[00:45:04] Lynn: We'll see if you don't hear it again. .

[00:45:11] Thanks everyone. And, um, stay positive.