Episode 182 is a special episode, in which Todd Bloomer, Dominic Armano, and your regular host, Darrin Peppard, dedicate an entire episode to new principal Candace Pearson. We are excited for Candace to take on her first principalship, and so we decided to share our insights, experience, and expertise to help set her, and anyone else new to the role, up for success.

Are you feeling overwhelmed and struggling to prioritize your time as a school leader? In this episode, I share some exciting news about my upcoming digital course, Take Control of Your Leadership:. This course is designed to help you overcome overwhelm, focus on what truly matters, and lead with clarity, and it's LIVE - go to theprincipalacademy.com and check out Take Control of Your Leadership.

Got a question for us? Submit it here or hit us up on social media

Todd Bloomer was born and raised in New York, Todd Bloomer got to Texas as soon as he could to start his educational career. As a teacher and coach, Todd fell in love (literally) in Texas with public education, high school football, and his wife, Sharon. After moving to San Antonio, Texas, Todd transitioned to the assistant principalship at a middle school in 2007. In 2010, he became a high school assistant principal and in 2014 Todd was named a middle school principal. In 2019, Todd was named a high school principal. In 2020, Todd was name the Texas Region 20 Secondary Principal of the year, During his journey as an administrator, Todd benefited from strong mentors and developed a blueprint to being successful. Through trial and error, and some luck, Todd has developed into a widely respected administrator in the state of Texas. Todd also served as a high school principal during and after COVID. Learning a school of 2,500 students during uncertainty has made his voice, his insight, and his advice all the more relevant. Through humor, storytelling, and being vulnerable, Todd shares his soul on what has worked and what hasn’t. Todd and his wife Sharon have been married for 24 years. They have five wonderful children. Todd and his wife reside in beautiful San Antonio, Texas. Todd is very active on social media. You can follow him @bloomer_sa on Twitter and Todd Bloomer on LinkedIn. Todd is also very active as an advocate at the state level with elected officials as he works to defend the profession he loves.

Dominic Armano is a loving husband and father, a proud educator, an innovative principal a speaker and author. Over the course of his career, Dominic has served as an elementary and middle school teacher, assistant principal and currently he is serving as an elementary school principal. In all of these roles, he has made it his priority to promote a positive culture for students, staff, and the community.

Dominic has an undergraduate degree in elementary education and graduate degrees in both special education and school district leadership. Through his years in education, Dominic has become passionate about social-emotional learning and has developed programs that encourage education through a whole child approach. This pathway strengthens the core of instruction and helps to build a community of eager, enthusiastic, and passionate learners. In addition to his work as an educator, Dominic is a motivational speaker and blogger. He is the President of the Education Chapter of the Dowling College Alumni Association. In 2019, he was inducted into the New York Academy of Public Education, and he is a member of the New York City Elementary School Principals Association.

He has previously served with the Long Island Coalition Against Bullying as both a member of the Board of Trustees and as the Chair of the Education Committee.

Dominic has been featured on several podcasts and in articles about school leadership. At his core, he is nothing more than a devoted Yankees fan who loves spending time with his family and closest friends.

Get the books Todd referenced in the episode here:

Road to Awesome: The Journey of a Leader

The Blueprint: Survive and Thrive as a School Administrator

All right, everybody. Welcome into episode 182 of the Leaning Into Leadership podcast. man. I'll tell you what. I'm so excited. Here we are. It's December. I've got my dudes with me. I got Dom Armando. I got Todd Bloomer. And man, we've got something kind of fun and special planned for you tonight. just just lay it on the line, I am going to step out of the way. I am going to be a guest on the show. And we are going to hand the keys.

to the Leaning Into Leadership podcast over to my man, Todd Bloomer in San Antonio. So Todd, episode 182 is yours to pilot. Let's go.

Let's go. feel honored that I got the keys tonight to the car. promise I'll have it back in the morning, not a dent on it. I'll fill it back up with gas. We'll be ready to rock. No, thank you so much. We talk each month about what we're going to talk about on the episode tonight. I was sharing with Darren the great news that one of my assistant principals, Candice Pearson,

Don't mess up, Todd. Don't mess up.

has been named a principal in our district at a middle school. And we're so proud of her. It's going to hurt to see her go. when you're in leadership, you work with people and you hope that they get jobs to be able to go on and do the principalship. And Candice's first day will be on Thursday before the Christmas break, the day after this episode releases. And so Candice, this episode is dedicated to you. And tonight with my buddies, Dom, who's a current elementary school

principal in the greater New York City area and Dr. Darren Peppered who likes to refer to himself as a recovering high school principal, superintendent, author, speaker, coach, and Denver Bronco fan in the house. We're gonna rock and roll tonight. We're gonna rock and roll tonight. And so Candice, this is really all dedicated to you and really to anybody that's transitioning at the break, because you know there'll be a lot of people out there that...

yeah. Let's go. Got the next fix.

transitioning into their either their first principalship or another role from there. So we're just gonna jump right in. Dom, you don't know Candice. Candice is stepping into a middle school. You've led two schools now. Dom, what's your what's your first thing that comes to mind? What advice are you giving Candice for her to have a successful year knowing she's starting in January? What do you got?

You know, I would say first off I want to say congratulations to her. feel like jumping into that role is absolutely amazing, especially after being an assistant principal. I will say though that, and I've said this before, transitioning from an AP to a principal, some may think it's an easy transition, but the reality is it's not. I've often said that it's like jumping over the Grand Canyon and trying to land on both feet, but kind of just barely grabbing on and kind of pulling yourself up.

But don't be afraid Candice, you'll be fine. I would say the biggest advice I have stepping into that role for the first time is to listen, listen, and listen. Talk to people, but talk to people in a sense of listening. Some of the things that I did, obviously I was an AP that became a principal in the building that I was in for 16 years. So that was a different transition from my current role in the new school that I'm in.

The first thing I did was I sat down and I made one-to-one meetings with my staff members and I asked them three or four questions really just kind of to get to know them. It was an opportunity for me to talk to them to get to know them but an opportunity for them to get to know me but also to kind of listen to see what they wanted you know listen to see what the culture was listen to get a feeling of of of the community and I think that's the biggest thing I think you know

The biggest advice I can give her is to just maybe go on a listening tour. Write down three or four questions that you want to ask them, whether it's tell me what you feel passionate about, why do you love the school you're in, what would you like to see, and then just take those notes and just get out there and listen. That's the biggest piece of advice I have.

Listen, listen, listen, Candice, we talked about that. hearing it from New York and coming from there. Darren, kind of the same question to you, but a different role. Currently, right now, you're working as a coach, you're working as a consultant. Candice gets in there, turns the lights on, sits in that first big chair. What advice are you giving her from the lens that you're working with principals now and seeing them throughout the year? What advice are you giving from your lenses where you're coming from now?

Yeah, no, I think that's, that's an outstanding question. And I'll echo what Dom said, you know, Candace, congratulations on taking this step. you know, I've, I've talked about it here on the show a lot, but man, for me, you know, I, made that transition from AP to principal in the same building. And, know, Dom, you did this too. And for me, it was 40 feet literally down the hallway from one office to the other. And it might as well have been 4,000 miles because the difference between the two, Dom did a really nice job of capturing, you know, just the difference.

between being an AP and a principal, it's not a simple transition. But I think a couple of things as a coach that I would say to Candace, first and foremost, is that it's a blessing that you're doing this in a different building than where you were an AP. Even though it was a short period of time that you were at Churchill, I think moving to this new campus, moving to this middle school campus is definitely a positive for you because you

You are in essence, you are an unknown, even though you've been in this community for a while. You know, this isn't a school, as I understand it, it's not a school that you used to be at. So you're not just like coming back home. This is you are somebody new. And Dawn really hit it on the head with the listening tour and be that person who's really listening. But I would tell you the additional thing, not knowing the history of the school you're going into, how many times, you know, the administrator has turned over.

whether that person's been there a long time or you're the third person in four years or whatever, I would tell you the staff, especially mid-year, they want to know and they want to feel a sense of hope. Like we're going to be okay. And you're getting the opportunity to step in a day or so before you go into the holiday break. So they get a little taste of who you are and

providing them with a feeling of hope that, we're going to either continue to do well or we're going to continue to get better or we're going to turn the corner, just depending on kind of where things are in that particular building, be that stabilizing force. It sounds like in what Todd has shared about you in your previous role and your role at Churchill that you are very much

a very strong, talented administrator. Don't bring that strong, talented administrator out in a real strong way. Bring that person, that human being who's going to be there to help build hope and to build that feeling of, yeah, we're going to be okay. Especially going into this break, man, they just need those couple of days to feel like...

Okay, I can breathe. I don't have to be worried through the course of my entire break because I know that Candice is going to kind of help provide us with that feeling of hope.

It's, you know, really kudos to my district for allowing her to come in before break just for what you talked about, DP, in allowing the people to get to know her, her to get to know them, giving her an idea as we're kind of going from there for what you have. know, Darren, I'm going to pick the next question. I'm going to go back to you. You talk a lot in your writings and your speakings about being a fireman.

in your first year running around the campus and doing everything but leading the campus. And I think every one of us has that same story that we tell. And I think you eloquently describe it as being a fireman. So I'm going to go to you and then Dom, I'm going to come right back, maybe spitball some ideas back of things to avoid. So you guys gave great advice. Let's be a listener. Let's go in and really value the teacher's input and student input, parent input. Now, what are things, Candice?

OK, you're in there. Don't do this. Here's things to avoid so you can be successful. And Dr. Peppered, we'll kick it over to you, DP.

Yeah, yeah, don't run with everything that they tell you. I'll tell you just real quick, like when I stepped into my superintendent role, you know, because in this case, I was into a new location. And the first people in your door are the ones who hope that you will do something that everybody else has said no to. Don't chase it. Just listen. Like Dom said, listen and get to know them.

Ask them good questions, really help them to feel heard. But remember, getting your way and being heard are not the same thing. So don't chase whatever the first thing is that comes through your door, because odds are somebody has said no to it six or seven times.

What would you say to void? What pitfalls or quicksand? What quicksand should she stay out of? 100%. 100%.

You guys are laughing because you know I am dead on with this one.

Yeah, 100%. I would say that the biggest thing for me is go slow to go fast. And what I mean by that is kind of echoing what Darren said, right? So people are going to come to you and they're going to come to you with a problem or something that they feel needs to be fixed. And you may think you have the answer to do that, right? Because you have all this experience.

And you may want to just jump right in and fix the problem. But my advice is take it slow. Don't fix all the problems in one shot as a new person coming in. Because there's something that you're missing. There's something that you don't see. There's a bigger picture. There's a reason why the person before you or the person before that couldn't get it done. It doesn't mean you can't get it done, but just slow down a bit. It's okay to be confident. And believe me, I'll be the first to admit it, I made that mistake.

hundreds of times in my new building where I came in with all this confidence and I knew I was gonna fix it and I was gonna do it and I was gonna be Superman, I was gonna fix the problem and then I wound up going back and having to refix what I fixed because there were other things I didn't know. So go slow to go fast. It's okay, get a pad, write down the steps you wanna take to address the problem, write it down and then revisit it again and then talk to more people and revisit it again. And then eventually you're have to pull the trigger and do it but make sure you have

you know, that background and that aspect of listening and, you know, just go slow to go fast. That's all I could say. Go slow to go fast.

Darren, can I come back with another one to avoid?

Absolutely, absolutely. And I think I want to build off of what Dominic just said. And in a way, I want to shift away from what Dominic said. So it's kind of a two for one here. Don't think you have to come in and solve problems. When we jump into a new role, yes, like I said earlier, somebody is going to be in your door right away. And like Dominic said, people are going to want, hey, solve this, solve this, solve this. Your job.

as the building principle isn't as much to solve problems as it is to empower others to learn to solve their own problems. allow yourself, this is the two for one, to fill your calendar with priorities that you feel are going to be important. Getting to know people, spend a lot of time with your secretary. You know, that's going to be the thing. All the triage stuff, all the...

you know, this is a crisis, that's a crisis. Don't let everybody else's crisis be your crisis. Figure out some priorities early, fill your calendar. Even in just those first two days, don't feel like you have to be accessible to literally everyone because first and foremost, that's what they want. They want to get a piece of you. They want to come to you with, hey, do this, do this, do this. That's not your role, especially in these first two days.

know, Dom is, we're kind of talking as she's transitioning, you know, first couple of days into the new year. Can you share some wisdom with her about ways you've connected with parent groups and how that has benefited your transition as a leader and the importance or how you use parents to help disseminate information to the community or to be someone you value their input on. Can you talk to her just about the importance of PTA, PTOs,

and parent organizations.

Yeah, of course. mean, I think that should be part of the listening tour. know, prior to, I mean, obviously she's going in like what? Like this week, Like Thursday's her first day? Yeah.

She's been, yeah, Thursday's her first day. She's been back and forth, so she's able to kind of get over there. But first full day, where there's no principle down the hallway, is Thursday. She's got the keys and she's the last door on the hallway, as one of my friends said it.

Yeah, no, I mean, I think parents should be part of the listening tour, you know, I would say schedule a meeting with your PTA, you know, your executive board, your president, your vice president, you know, get to know them, have conversations with them. You know, that's a really good piece in terms of how you can communicate with families because they'll give you a good amount of input in terms of what they would like to see in terms of communication.

And then a much larger conversation. I hold Coffee with the Principal where we just kind of have a forum for parents to come in, ask questions, get to know you. That was one of the first things I did too, was schedule that first Coffee with the Principal. It was less about me telling the community what's going on in the building and more about just getting to know me. It's an opportunity for those parents to ask you questions.

What are your passions? Why do you do what you do? And that builds on that transparent communication piece, right? Where you want your families to know that you're gonna be transparent with them. And I would keep that going for as long as possible, whether it's maybe it's newsletters, maybe it's social media. I mean, these are the things that obviously you have to feel comfortable with that in terms of how you communicate.

But I know for me it's multiple communication methods. I send out a weekly memo to my parents and my staff. I'm always on social media. I have coffee with the principal events. I'm always speaking to my PTA. But again, that should definitely be part of the tour. you're going into a middle school. So even the students, I know, think Todd spoke about it before, Darren spoke about it before. Student round table conversations, all of that. Really just...

can't stress it enough, these first couple days, even after the break, in the new year, in January, the best thing you could possibly do is just communicate with everyone. Really listen, but let them know who you are as a person. Let them know what your values are. Let them know what you're gonna hang your hat on. Don't be afraid to say, is what I'm passionate about. This is why I do what I do, and this is how I'm gonna support you. I think that's a big piece of that as well.

That's excellent. was going to kick it to Darren, but I think you summed up that really well. So I'll go a different question to you, sir. You kind of referenced your secretary. And Candice and I have had real good conversations about empowering a secretary. And while I like to think I made that idea up myself, I got a lot of that from you and other people that have been before. Can you give her good guidance and feedback on how you empowered your secretary?

and maybe share some of the roles that they were able to do and how that benefited you as far as like time goes. Like, because Candice, we mentioned, Candice, everybody's going to tap you on the shoulder and say, can I have 10 minutes of your time? Can I have 15 minutes of your time? Can I, can I, can I? And maybe how, Darren, did you massage that?

Yeah.

man, I'll tell you what, my first year I did a terrible job with it. I really did. And you know, then when I had the opportunity to work with my coach and he was even kind of like, why are you and your secretary not doing more of this or more of this? You know, why doesn't she have access to this, this and this? I would tell you that executive secretary building secretary, principal secretary, whatever their title might be, is going to be one of the most important people for you.

You

And I would tell you first and foremost, schedule regular meetings with that person. And I'm not talking weekly. I'm talking daily. You need to meet with that person. I met with my secretary at least three times a day and it didn't have to be long, five, 10, 15 minutes, just depending on what it is that you needed to get through, but ensure that they have all of the information that they need because they're the one that's going to answer the phone.

They're the one that staff's going to have to go through to get to you. They're the one that parents have to go through to get to you and so forth, right? So I would tell you, have that conversation and especially early on here, Candace, you've got to build a relationship with this person, find out, you know, how much you feel you can trust them, how much they're going to trust you. mean, the key to your relationship is that word right there, trust. And so start really investing in

building that relationship with that person. Eventually, if that trust exists, you can get to the place where that person has full control of your calendar and they should. That person has full control of your email and they should. That person schedules meetings for you. That person schedules observations, post-evaluation conferences, all of that stuff. And that person can become

the one who, when teachers need to see you, when kids need to see you, that they just know that's who they go to, that person gets you, it gets them on your calendar and ensures that you are having those meetings. Now, at the next level, and this is over a period of time, but that person,

can be the one, and this is who my secretary was for me, that knows your priorities so well, who knows your vision of where the school is going, that they can pull you in and say, you know, hey, Darren, you're not working on your priorities right now. I need you to get refocused. whether that's, you you look at that person as like another mother type of figure or a right hand or...

a partner, start investing in that relationship with that person now because there's so many important people on your campus, but that person, and I can make a strong argument that that is the most important person on your campus in terms of you accomplishing what you want to accomplish.

Darren, my secretary, Terry's been out three days with pneumonia. Hopefully she's back. people come and tell her stuff without coming to tell you stuff. But they want you to know, so they tell your secretary. And so as Darren brought up, having that secretary, that trusted confidant is just so key. And all the things Darren said is things that we do and implement from there. OK, so.

We'll have a great honeymoon phase, Candice. Life will be great. And then you'll make a decision 30 days, 45 days in. And Dom, I'm going to kick this to you. And you've upset or angered some key people. Maybe you knew about it. Maybe you didn't know about it. Dom, what do you do when you got to make a tough decision and you know it may not be the most popular with whether it be staff members, whether it be students, whether it be community?

What's your best advice when a decision has to be made? Because at the end of the day, we're the decision maker on the campus. What's your advice to her on maybe making that decision or what she does after she makes that decision?

I mean this is a great question because I feel like we all need some, I don't know what's the word I'm looking for here. We all need an opportunity to kind of reflect on this answer.

I think it goes back to what Darren said about knowing your priorities, right? Knowing your focus, knowing what you're passionate about. Because if the decision is made with what your priorities are in mind, right? So like one of the big things for me, Candice, is I always remember to ask, how is this good for children? So if I have to make a decision that maybe people don't like,

because maybe it's upsetting to faculty and staff about something or maybe it's upsetting to parents because maybe their child's on the receiving end of a consequence they don't like. I know that I'm okay with sticking to my guns and standing behind that decision because I know that that decision was made in the eyes of and in the forefront of how is this good for children.

That's something that's my number one focus or my number one priority is everything I do, every decision I make circles back to how is this good for all children? So I think it's gonna happen. I think what Todd says is gonna happen. It happens to all of us. Just this week I made a decision that half the people didn't agree with. But the reality is I stuck to it because I knew that the decision I made was right by the kids that I made it for.

Right? And I think that's a big piece that we often forget as school leaders, because we may get caught in the bureaucracy of things, right? The politics of things. You know, whether it's an upper administrator telling us we have to do something because it's a school board initiative or it's parents that are maybe trying to sway us one way because of political pressures or things that are happening in the community. you're there for the staff. This is true. And you're there.

for your community, this is true. But you're also there for those kids. So I think if you could hang your hat on something that you feel confident about and you feel comfortable with, and you make sure that's your priority and you make those decisions based off of that priority, you're fine. So.

Hey, Dom, that's well said. If you can lay your head on the pillow at night knowing you did right by kids, it all works out. So Darren, one of the things, and I think it's part of how we've connected just as first as social media and then the book, but now as friends. Can you tell Candice or just share some things for Candice about how important it is because she's going to make that decision?

Mm-hmm.

And Dominic, that decision might be made over in assistant principal's head and she's gonna go home. What does she do? Who does she reach out to? What is the importance of having a coach, a mentor, maybe someone in district, out of district? Run with that, Darren.

Yeah, that's, I'm glad you didn't ask me to try and build on what Dominic said, because I don't think it can be said better than how Dom just said it. I mean, in all seriousness, that was perfect, Dom. And so I would tell you the importance of having that coach from the outside or that mentor who's not directly connected to the situation, especially in this type of a scenario where

Yeah.

was perfect, right? Facts.

no matter how crystal clear you are on what Dominic just said, it's still going to play in your mind. And I'm sure that the decision that Dominic is talking about from earlier this week, he was crystal clear. I'm basing this on what I believe at my core and still on his drive home, he was questioning it and you know, kicking himself a little bit or playing in his mind, the phone call when

you know, Ralph down the street who loves to complain is going to call me or this is going to be, you know, in the online garage sale on Facebook for our community or whatever, whatever, whatever they use in your community to go and complain. And in the district where I was a superintendent, it was literally the online garage sale. I'm like, really? This is where we're going to complain the online garage sale. But anyway, when, when you have that,

like playing in your head, one of two things can happen. You can lay your head down and let it continue to play in your head, or you can have that outside person that they don't have skin in the game. They're not your evaluator. They're not directly connected to the decision. They can just simply allow you to unload that, to download that to them.

and ask you a couple of questions. And usually, I mean, for me, I know when I get these phone calls from people that I work with, you know, it's, you know, hey, just tell me, you know, let's say it was Dom that called me, know, Dom, did you make this decision based on what you believe is best for kids? Yeah, absolutely. And then he would tell me a little bit about why this is what's best for kids.

You know, I don't need to know the situation. I don't need to know the players in the game to know that I can hear you and listen to you and give you that space. And I think that's for me when, when I had the opportunity to start working with a coach, just simply to be able to just unload and you know, I mean, you can come home and talk to your spouse and I came home and talk to Jess all the time.

You know, just worked in the school system. She understood it. Heck, she was the principal secretary in the building where I was a teacher at a high school. I mean, she, she got it, but there was still some connection there with my coach. I could pick up the phone and call Tom and just say, all right, Tom, here's what I'm dealing with. And this is what I'm going through. And he could ask me a couple of questions and I felt a lot better about it just because I was able to.

share that with somebody else who had walked in a similar path to where I had walked. And again, if that's a coach, great. mean, I'll be honest with you, had two phenomenal mentors that I also was able to call. My first principal, Betsy, I called her all the time. And Mike, the HR assistant superintendent who was part of hiring me as a principal when he retired, I called him all the time.

You need somebody to listen, to ask you some good questions, and honestly to tell you, yeah, you're okay here. You made the right choice. And by the way, you're going to hear a couple of nasty things. I heard these when I was in that role. And then you feel like, okay, I'm going to be all right.

I think once we come to realize that we don't know all the answers and we're willing to reach out and say, know, either, and Candice, maybe it's a case where before you make that tough decision, you call someone and say, hey, this is how I'm going to say it. What do you think? Is the tone right? How would you recommend that? I do that all the time. Darren and I have a tech street going where I check in every single day with him. And I check in on Mondays. I check in on Mondays and tell Darren it's my favorite day because he knows.

I spend time in classrooms and I like to brag to him about things that I do. And today, we both sent each other pictures of our vests that we were wearing. so, it is important to check it. Vest day, best day. It's important to realize. And Candace, you know that I'm always there for you. You've never met Dahmer, never met Darren. I will offer and say, if you ever had a crazy question, you could call and ask them the question. Everybody's seen it before and you never need to feel judged about that.

Very best, yes.

One of the things is is Candice has two beautiful children One is at Baylor University here in Texas and one is a high school student in a different high school Her husband is a librarian So what advice and I'll start with you Dom. What advice would you give her? While we know there's no balance of work-life balance What have you learned the hard way to be able to tell her? How do you make sure that you're still a great wife and a great mother a great daughter?

when you're home, knowing that when that phone rings, you have to answer it. Because if that's the superintendent or somebody, you've got to answer that. So balance indicates 50-50. What's your advice, And I'm going to come to you after that, Darren, unless Dom hits it out of the park again and takes the best answer. So no pressure there, Dom. Yeah, he's been one solo tonight, right?

He might kind of want Soto in this thing today.

It's just because I've learned from my mistakes. No, mean, those that have listened, I mean, this question hits me right here in my heart because I think those that listen to the show know that I made a terrible mistake as a new principal, you know, to paraphrase it, to summarize it, my son was born, I brought my wife and my son home from the hospital on a Sunday and I was at the first day of school on Monday. Terrible mistake, terrible, terrible mistake.

Now of course, it's what we've all done.

you know, I think you have to, I think you have to prioritize, let's put it this way. It's okay to prioritize your family sometimes. You could still prioritize your family, be a mother, be a wife, and also be a good principal. You know, and I learned that the hard way because in that moment, in those whatever, a couple months where,

I chose my job over my family. I was prioritizing just my job. And I was doing great at what I was doing. I was being a fantastic principal. was hitting it out of the park, but I was striking out at home. So I guess the biggest piece of advice is it's okay to put the work aside and be there for your family when your family needs them. Then when the phone call does happen,

or you have to step away, your family knows that and they're okay with it. And like I said, I learned that the hard way, right? And now I feel like I do prioritize both and it is okay when I take the call and have to go away, because my wife knows I have to go away in that moment. My kids know, they know daddy's working, they know that daddy has to go take that call. But yeah, just be there for them. They're probably the most important thing in your life. The job is great.

You're gonna be there for community, you're gonna do a great job, but your family's your family. So it's okay to prioritize them, and it's okay to step away for a moment. It's okay to be mom when you walk in the door. It's okay to do all of that. Just know that, and do that.

Yeah, think, again, Dom just continues to crush it. You know, I was told at one point in time, and I'm sure you guys have all heard this, you know, as well, but, you know, if you died tomorrow, they would name an interim before your obituary hit the paper. And that's not designed to be morbid, but rather to be a reality check of

at a point in time, you will no longer be the principal of that school. Whenever that is. Maybe that's you retire, maybe that's you take a different job, whatever it might be. But you will always be your kid's mom. And if you keep that in mind, you avoid the mistakes that Dominic made and then I made.

And I know Todd did this as well, right? I think we are, this is one of the things I really enjoy seeing honestly now in education. I think we're heavily influenced by this next generation. Kids like Candice's kid who's attending Baylor, my daughter who's 24, Todd, your kids who are now, you know,

out of college, in college, that type of thing, right? Where they prioritize things just a little bit differently. And I think we're in a space now where understanding that you don't have to be the first person in the parking lot, the last person out of the parking lot. You know, I certainly fell into that trap and I know you guys did too. Be okay.

with knowing that you are a whole person and not just defined as the principal of that school. I think that's one of the biggest mistakes I made was I allowed myself to be defined as the principal of Rock Springs High School, not Liz's dad, Jess's husband, that type of thing. if you continue to...

to carry that title of principal, be damn proud of that title, but don't let it be your only title.

really well said. Shameless plug for my book, the Blueprint. Chapter 6 is probably my favorite chapter, Candice, because it's what I would do differently. And the first thing is what Darren just said. I was there at 6.30 AM, and I left at 6.30 PM. And as Dominic brought up, I miss kids' events because I thought that I needed to miss kids' events. And you can never get that back. And while your kids are a little bit older, your son is an outstanding member of the choir of the high school that he attends.

And you need to make sure you're able to attend those events. You have assistant principals that can cover duty for nighttime events. Just pre-plan that and be able to get there. But shameless plug, pick up chapter six of my book and start with that over the break. Because I think that gives some really things of what I would do differently if I could do it all over again for what we have. Why don't we do this as we're got? Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Don't photocopy Steve Berg's copy of the book.

You might buy the whole book. Don't just buy chapter six, buy the whole book.

Actually, if Bloomer's not giving you one on the way out the door, there's something wrong.

Yeah. I like an autograph. She's already got a copy. She got a copy. So she's a rock star. She's good. So why don't we do this as we get to the end of our deal here, our ode to Candice. We know she's going to be successful in what she does. She's coming into a good school. It's got a lot of tradition. This is really a great place for her. The advice I've shared, Candice, is the same stuff that my two buddies are sharing with you.

It should also be autographed by the way.

It really should be, yeah. There you go. Yeah. There you go. Nice.

know that at the end of the day, we're here to help in any way, shape, or form. And it's not just for Candace, because there's Candaces out there in Nebraska, New York, Texas, that might be listening tonight and think, hey, can you go a little bit deeper on something that you talked about? And I know if you reached out to any of us, we'd be more than happy to expand a little bit deeper for what we have. Darren's got a book, Road to Awesome. You could pick that up. That's got some great blueprint of his success as a principal and a superintendent, where he really decided.

to make it a difference as a principal. And it's a cool moment where he decided to go from dinging kids to really investing in kids. And I think that's a cool. I have a book out called The Blueprint. The Blueprint is Survive and Thrive as a School Administrator. It's basically my failures. Everything these guys talked about is my failures. And I know Dom's book is coming out soon and it is leading through SWAG. And SWAG is an acronym for

Dom, what is SWAG an acronym for?

Setting the tone, working together as a team, acknowledging everyone and going above and beyond for your community. It's promoting a positive school culture.

That's awesome. And that's everything from Road to Awesome that Darren has fully invested. How about we give her some closing, either words of encouragement, or how about we give Candace or all the Candaces out there something that you would last bit of advice for her as we wrap this up tonight. And Darren, I might throw that to you. I'll start off with you on that. What's something you'd wrap up? And it can be something we've already talked about and you want to expand on. It can be something totally different.

Yeah, I would just say this, yeah, in a little bit different direction. You know, there are so many things that are part of being a building principle. And when you look at the job description, it's all encompassing. But don't get caught up in that. You know, don't allow yourself to worry so much about, I'm going to do this and do this and do this. Remember that our job, our job as educators,

is to take a little person and make them a better little person in nine months. So just enjoy being with kids, especially at middle school. my God, it's the goofiest stinking time in the world. Enjoy being with your kids. Make sure you set time aside in your day to go and just build relationships with kids and enjoy kids. That's...

the joy of that. I mean, that's like the best part of the job. Just go sink yourself into that.

And Darren, you regularly scheduled that in your calendar. Time with kids.

I did. Absolutely. Absolutely. Well, just like you do, Bloomer. mean, heck, you've got a bench earmarked for here's where I'm going to be, whether it's kids, adults, whatever. For me, it was benches all over the campus. Just, yeah, make sure you are intentional with being with your kids because that's also something you can't get back. There's plenty of time to answer email, plenty of time to deal with all that other stuff. But enjoy the kids.

Tom.

mean, how do you follow that? I Darren, you're, you know, I mean, it's true. It's true though. No, but it's true though. Like, you know, I just, I just want to piggyback off of that. I do have something else, but I just want to piggyback off of that. You know, the, the crisis, the email, the nasty email is going to be there no matter what, whether you read it at 11 o'clock in the morning or

Yeah.

I've been following you all damn night, bro. I mean, I had to.

Yeah, yeah, yep, yep, yep.

four o'clock in the afternoon, the email's still gonna be there. Your superintendent's still gonna be CC'd on that email, it doesn't matter. It doesn't matter when you read it. But definitely, definitely find the time to be with the kids because I know even on my worst days, when I'm with those kids, they make me feel great. But the biggest piece of advice that I have to give is actually a piece of advice that the great Darren Pepper gave me just recently. You got the job.

They hired you. You know what you're doing. Be confident in that.

What is it? What is it? Imposter syndrome? Take the imposter syndrome when it's gonna hit. It's gonna hit sometimes and you're gonna be like, this, I the right person for this job? Am I doing the right thing? Do I know what you're doing? You do. You know what you're doing. Own that. Own that. You got the job. They hired you. They saw something in you. Go get it. Be proud of that. Be confident in that. Own that.

awesome. It's awesome. Candice, you know, I mean, I appreciate Darren giving us the platform tonight to be able to share some wisdom with you and not just, Candice in San Antonio, Texas, but all the Candice's out there that are transitioning either at break or over the summer because all of the advice that my buddies gave tonight is good advice that we would give anybody. And I think at the end of the day, Candice, as Dom said,

Kick your feet up Friday afternoon before you go out for break, close the door, be proud of yourself that you got that principal job. Rest over break, be with your family over break, love them over break, and really fasten on that seatbelt because the spring semester is fast and furious. As I hoped I modeled, as Gary Kummelander modeled for you the previous principal, know that on days where it's bad, go sit in the band hall, go sit in the choir room, go sit in that great math teacher's room.

Dominic does a great job on social media right now of posting who he's with. And I did a great job of that and I've kind of not done a great job of that last year. Dom does a great job and it just constantly reminds me, like go sit in that, he's at elementary school, go sit in that teacher's class and just marvel at the wonders of what you've done or what they do. Because Candice, we haven't been in a classroom in a while.

I haven't taught since 07. Dom, I don't know when the last year you taught was. Teaching's hard. Go Marvel. Build them up. Cut that red tape and be with them. And then celebrate those kids and see those kids outside of what they do. Be at all your games. Be at all your concerts. Get to know the parents and stuff outside of there. And more importantly, build up those coaches and directors that are there. And then when you see those kids the next day, tell them how great the tuba section sounded in the band, or how great the basketball team did.

Kids love that. Pretty soon you're going to be invited to everything. And that's going to be where you're really like, hey, this is an awesome job. Know that people are out there for you. Know that we're here to help, support, whether it be myself, Dom, DP, someone else in the district, know that we're always there for you. And lastly, I would encourage you to download Leading Into Leadership, the podcast. I'd encourage you to pick up some of the works that Darren has done. Because one of the things that I schedule on my calendar on Wednesdays, I have a

podcast our third period. And I stream a podcast third period in my office while I'm working to remind myself that it's important for self growth. Because just because we become a principal doesn't mean our learning stops. So whether it be books, blogs, or podcasts, pick one up. And the great, one to start is right here, Leaning into Leadership with Darren Peppered, episode 182, which is amazing to think of. so Darren, I'll kick it over to you and Dom for as we kind of end off.

It's been a great honor to be the co-pilot of the pilot tonight of such a successful podcast. I appreciate you.

Yeah, Very good stuff. Very good stuff. You've done an outstanding job of piloting this thing. I thought you were just going to go ahead land the plane for me too, man. I'd have been all right with that, you know.

Candice I can take I'll take it home Candice's eye as I end every period Candice knows I say let you know, let's get out get to get home safely Let's go chargers. Let's let's let's have a great day And so Candice I encourage you to to get out there see the people get them home safely and have a great day And at the end of the day, we're here to help but let's go Jackson Jaguars. Go Jaguars. Go Candice

Outstanding stuff folks. Thank you guys so much fellas. This was so much fun tonight I really had a great time hanging out with you guys Candice and all the Candices that are out there Everything Todd said can't can't end it any better than that. So for Dom for Todd, I'm Darren Thanks for joining us here on leaning into leadership get out there. Have a road to awesome rest of your

Merry Christmas y'all.

Happy holidays everyone, happy new year.