In this episode, our guest Darye Henry discusses after-school programming from an entrepreneur's perspective. Darye shares his experience of watching his mom start an after-school program and how his involvement prepared him for his role as a CEO and Founder of After School HQ. We dive into the challenges of attracting and retaining students, maximizing effectiveness, and reporting impact to funders. Daria also highlights the importance of storytelling and finding a co-founder or partner with the same passion and energy. Tune in to equip yourself with the necessary tools and tips that will help your program flourish.
Guest Bio:
Darye Henry, Co-founder and CEO of AfterSchool HQ, has dedicated his life to fostering youth development. After experiencing burnout from being overextended as a program provider, he created AfterSchool HQ to empower youth program providers with tools to manage and expand their organizations efficiently. Previously, Darye served 8 years as Chairman of the Felege Hiywot Center, a youth-led urban farm championing leadership and STEM education.
A Purdue University alumnus, Darye's commitment to mentoring has spanned over 6 years in youth ministry, and he continues this noble endeavor today. Beyond his professional pursuits, he cherishes his family life, celebrating two decades of marriage and being a devoted father to three children.
Resource(s)
Afterschool HQ Website - https://go.afterschoolhq.com/
Connect With Us
Website: www.schoolafterhours.net
Newsletter: Afterschool Culture
Facebook - @schoolafterhours
Instagram - @schoolafterhours
LinkedIn - school-after-hours-podcast
Darye: How are you going to find the organization or locations
00:00:02
you partner with?
00:00:03
And then sometimes you know in the viewer you're wondering can
00:00:06
we keep the lights on?
00:00:07
You know that's a standard.
00:00:08
That was an ongoing interview or question Can we do this
00:00:12
another year?
00:00:13
And so I think that really showed me the experience One of
00:00:19
I could see my mom being very passionate about it, like she's
00:00:23
going to do it no matter what.
00:00:24
But then on the flip side, how do you really help not only
00:00:30
people who are like her, which is pretty much everyone in after
00:00:33
school programs, but who are really trying to make an impact,
00:00:36
and so how do we invest in them ?
00:00:39
How do we make it easier so that they don't burn out?
00:00:46
J. Lee: Hello, hello everyone.
00:00:48
Welcome to School After Artists podcast, where we talk about
00:00:50
all things related to after school time programming and
00:00:53
education.
00:00:53
I am your host, jay Lee, and today we are going to talk about
00:00:57
after school programming from an entrepreneur's point of view.
00:01:00
Our guest for this episode was shared with us his experience of
00:01:03
watching his mom start her own after school program and how it
00:01:07
prepared him for his role as a CEO and founder.
00:01:10
Joining us today is Mr Darjeh Henry, the CEO and founder of
00:01:15
After School HQ, a platform designed to empower youth
00:01:18
program providers with the tools and resources they need to
00:01:22
efficiently manage and expand their organizations.
00:01:25
In this episode we'll talk about the challenges of starting
00:01:28
a new after school program, why he created After School HQ and
00:01:33
how he convinced school districts to try his After
00:01:36
School HQ platform to capture their after school program data.
00:01:40
But before we get into all the juicy details, let's go ahead
00:01:44
and jump into our community corner.
00:01:46
Community Corner is a segment of the show that allows guests on
00:01:49
myself to share tips, advice or information on a specific topic
00:01:54
with young people, families or community members.
00:01:57
Without further ado, let's go ahead and get into our community
00:02:01
corner conversation.
00:02:02
All right, everybody, we've made it to our community corner
00:02:05
section of the show.
00:02:05
So this is where we go ahead and ask questions that you know
00:02:09
the community may have, but also parents may have as well, to
00:02:12
give you some background information.
00:02:14
So, with that being said, daria , I have this question for you.
00:02:17
So my question is why is data collection important in after
00:02:23
school programming, but also what type of data should be
00:02:27
collected from families and why?
00:02:28
Darye: Yeah, that's a really good question.
00:02:31
I think in give a little background.
00:02:34
Sometimes it's like, hey, I'm doing the work, isn't that
00:02:36
enough?
00:02:36
Like I'm clearly making an impact, right.
00:02:38
But when you think about data collection, it really comes down
00:02:43
to measuring the return on investment and not to make that
00:02:47
just a pure financial question.
00:02:50
But the question is are you making an impact on the students
00:02:53
that you're working with and how do you measure that?
00:02:55
And so data collection can be quantitative and qualitative,
00:02:59
and so quantitative, you'll want and diving into some of the
00:03:03
details of information you want.
00:03:05
If I'm a foundation and I said, hey, here's $50 to do
00:03:11
whatever it may be, I'd be interested like who are the
00:03:14
young people?
00:03:15
Right?
00:03:15
Who are they?
00:03:16
Where are they from, what zip codes, what is you know their
00:03:20
income levels of their families?
00:03:22
What grades are they getting in school?
00:03:25
And so when you think about measuring all that, at the end
00:03:28
of the day your organization could be responsible for a
00:03:32
thousand students getting 50 hours of education and science,
00:03:37
which could produce maybe 500 students who end up going to
00:03:42
college for STEM related programs or majors or careers or
00:03:48
whatever it may be right.
00:03:49
And so having that data, it's just like credentials, it's like
00:03:53
saying I got this degree, I did this.
00:03:57
This area of work that we're doing is underappreciated, and
00:04:02
when you have data to say I've done all of this, I have all
00:04:06
these students who have done this who said they weren't going
00:04:08
to college.
00:04:09
Now they are going to college.
00:04:10
That's important not just for the impact that you're making,
00:04:14
but it's important for the story you're telling, when you get to
00:04:17
tell these organizations how much you're really doing,
00:04:21
because you don't want to be overlooked.
00:04:22
The truth is, you know, out of school time, organizations are
00:04:26
overlooked way too much and they're like, they're a backbone
00:04:28
for our education system, right , so that's why it's so
00:04:32
important.
00:04:33
So there's quantitative, but there's also qualitative
00:04:37
information, like students say they love this organization and
00:04:40
give you feedback in that regard .
00:04:42
Or this student it was the first time they went to the zoo,
00:04:46
or on a field trip to this museum, or out of town, like
00:04:50
those are very important experiences to track and
00:04:54
understand, and so there's both sides of it.
00:04:57
But ultimately, what it does, again, you're telling the story
00:05:00
of what is happening in your area, in your community, and
00:05:05
what you're doing, and that helps you get more funding at
00:05:07
the end of the day, especially when you have and organizations
00:05:11
give you large sums of money like they want to see these
00:05:14
receipts.
00:05:14
J. Lee: They want to see what you did, yeah.
00:05:16
Darye: Well, and let's be real too they get donors too, who
00:05:20
donate to some of these, you know funds as well, and they
00:05:23
want to see their stories, and so sometimes they have to go
00:05:26
tell your story to other people to get money in the door.
00:05:29
So, yeah, it's the way it works as part of the process, but
00:05:33
it's a good thing to do for sure .
00:05:35
J. Lee: Right, right, very true.
00:05:36
Well, thank you for sharing with us, daria, and we're going
00:05:39
to go ahead and jump into our main interview.
00:05:41
Hello, mr Henry, how are you?
00:05:49
Darye: Doing good.
00:05:49
How are you doing?
00:05:50
J. Lee: I'm doing all right.
00:05:51
So thank you for being here today on the show.
00:05:53
I'm so happy to have you because we're gonna be diving
00:05:55
into some things as far as app school programming goes, but
00:05:59
from a more of an entrepreneur perspective.
00:06:01
But you also have an experience of being in Afterschool
00:06:05
programming because you started out this process with your mom,
00:06:08
who did her own afterschool programming.
00:06:10
So I know that leads into a whole bunch of different things.
00:06:14
So I'm gonna give you the floor because I don't know the
00:06:17
details to go ahead and tell all the juicy stuff in the story,
00:06:19
but go ahead and give us you know.
00:06:21
Just start off with your credentials and let the people
00:06:23
know who you are and what you do .
00:06:25
Darye: Yeah, for sure.
00:06:25
Thank you for having me for one .
00:06:28
So yeah, my name is Daria Henry .
00:06:29
I'm co-founder and CEO of afterschool HQ really a platform
00:06:34
.
00:06:34
Our goal is to help youth program providers run their
00:06:37
organizations, so typically dealing with the stress of a lot
00:06:41
of work to do and not a lot of support.
00:06:43
So that's really what our software does and our team
00:06:46
really works to do.
00:06:48
My background really there's a few things Did a lot in
00:06:52
afterschool programs, like participated in them a lot
00:06:55
growing up, but then also ran some afterschool programs.
00:06:58
Was chairman of the board of now a much larger organization
00:07:02
that that's grown a lot, which was actually ran by my mom.
00:07:05
She still runs it, so did a lot with that.
00:07:08
I've also an entrepreneur, so I started Initially during that
00:07:12
time.
00:07:12
Early like 2008, I started my first organization, which really
00:07:16
is a software consulting firm.
00:07:17
So I spent a lot of time solving problems for businesses
00:07:22
and other Entrepreneurs and that's how this software really
00:07:25
came about.
00:07:26
I started it in that previous organization, but then I really
00:07:29
wanted to pursue that this full time where my 100% of my
00:07:32
attention is on helping youth program providers.
00:07:35
So that's where I am now, without your school HQ.
00:07:38
J. Lee: Yeah, this stuff.
00:07:39
So, as you were sharing with us , you were with your mom when
00:07:42
she started her own afterschool program in her organization.
00:07:45
So how did that experience kind of prepared you for what you're
00:07:49
doing now, like with your software and with your
00:07:51
organization?
00:07:53
Darye: Yeah, I think the main thing is, you know, starting
00:07:56
there I got to see one at the ground floor the joy of starting
00:08:00
the program, but also the struggles right there's behind
00:08:03
the scenes, where you know you don't know how you're gonna get
00:08:07
going, how you're gonna find students.
00:08:09
You know how are you gonna find the organization or locations
00:08:12
you partner with.
00:08:13
And then sometimes you know, end of year You're wondering,
00:08:16
you know, can we keep the lights on?
00:08:18
You know that's a standard, that was an ongoing End of year
00:08:22
question Can we do this another year?
00:08:24
And so I think that really Showed me the experience one of.
00:08:30
I could see my mom being very passionate about it, like she's
00:08:34
gonna do it no matter what.
00:08:35
But then, on the flip side, how do you really help Not only
00:08:41
people you know, not only my mom , but obviously people who are
00:08:43
like her, which is pretty much everyone in afterschool programs
00:08:46
, but who are really trying to make an impact?
00:08:49
And so how do we invest in them ?
00:08:51
How do we make it easier so that they don't burn out,
00:08:54
because a the vast majority of people, there's a lot of like
00:08:58
50% of employees and team members and leaders who work
00:09:02
each program to actually Burn out or are in the process of
00:09:07
burning out, and so that's kind of where, you know, I like the
00:09:11
folks are teaching, but how could we help, how can we make a
00:09:12
difference?
00:09:15
J. Lee: And putting that concept together.
00:09:17
I know your mom was kind of the foundation of that right.
00:09:19
So when you started building out that process, what were some
00:09:22
of the important things for you to have?
00:09:24
Like these were your key things that you Needed to have in your
00:09:27
program and in your software yeah.
00:09:30
Darye: So the way I kind of break that down is you feel like
00:09:33
you need to be able to think about what's important to
00:09:36
sustain an organization that's serving young people.
00:09:39
You need to be able to attract and retain students, right?
00:09:43
That's a big part of it.
00:09:44
Sounds simple, it's not right?
00:09:47
You got to be able to bring them in, let them know about it.
00:09:49
That's a real challenge.
00:09:51
And then the other part is how do you maximize your
00:09:53
effectiveness?
00:09:55
So that's individually, because there's again, there's so many
00:09:58
things you got to pay attention to as a founder of an
00:10:00
organization where you're pretty much doing every job, right,
00:10:03
you're the janitor, you're the executive, you know all of that,
00:10:06
right.
00:10:07
And so how do you maximize your effectiveness?
00:10:09
And if you have a team, how do you help maximize theirs?
00:10:11
And then the last part is how do you report back to funders
00:10:15
your impact, right?
00:10:17
So you think about the foundations they give you.
00:10:20
If you get that grant, now they're going to say, well, how
00:10:22
do you measure your impact, which is not always easy, right?
00:10:25
In some cases it could be, oh, their grades improve.
00:10:29
In other cases, it could be they got a bank account or
00:10:34
they're not as angry as they used to be.
00:10:35
You know those are sometimes different ways to measure it,
00:10:38
but how do you report that back?
00:10:40
J. Lee: Because if you can report that back, well, now you
00:10:43
got a chance to get more funding , and so those are kind of the
00:10:46
three areas that I saw that were especially challenging at the
00:10:52
organization we were with and as you were building out this
00:10:56
process and you finally got it your baby off the ground, right
00:11:00
yeah, what were some of the things that was a challenge for
00:11:03
you as far as shopping around to make sure that you had the
00:11:06
right people to support you, but also the right investors at the
00:11:09
same time you know again similar founder stories, which
00:11:15
is what I like, whether it's for profit or nonprofit.
00:11:19
Darye: But one of the big challenges was getting my head
00:11:22
above water, in a way, and being able to look up and look
00:11:27
forward and not just looking at the details and the work that I
00:11:30
had in front of me.
00:11:31
Because, as you're doing something you're passionate
00:11:35
about, a lot of times your hands are on the work because you
00:11:38
have to keep that moving.
00:11:39
But I had to learn that I have to have conversations like this
00:11:42
conversation we're having right now.
00:11:43
I get to tell my story right, and that's a big part of
00:11:48
creating community or creating a tribe or whatever you want to
00:11:51
call it.
00:11:52
But getting that story out, because now you can get
00:11:55
supporters and investors behind you.
00:11:57
I'd say that's been the biggest help is being able to practice
00:12:02
telling that story over and over again, getting the reps in
00:12:05
opportunities, but then also realizing that a lot of people
00:12:10
don't feel you, they don't have the same experiences that you
00:12:14
have right, so they're not as passionate about it or they
00:12:16
don't see the need or whatever it may be.
00:12:19
But you still have to maintain that passion for it, because
00:12:22
there are people like you out there who are going to say oh, I
00:12:27
love what you're doing, how can I support?
00:12:29
But the challenge is getting over that discouragement of
00:12:32
hearing a lot of no's, you know, and that's difficult, just to
00:12:37
add to it.
00:12:38
The other thing too is getting, I say, a co-founder or another
00:12:42
person who has the same passion as you, have the same energy
00:12:46
level.
00:12:46
That helped me up tremendously as well.
00:12:49
You know, I've done things on my own and like, when you're
00:12:53
down, you need somebody else to be up.
00:12:55
You know what I'm saying.
00:12:56
Or you need somebody to sometimes laugh with, take a
00:12:58
break with, and then, when you're moving, have someone you
00:13:02
can rely on as well.
00:13:03
I'd say that's another thing.
00:13:04
A lot of times, as a solo founder, it can be very
00:13:06
difficult to go through the ups and downs.
00:13:11
J. Lee: Well, hold that thought y'all.
00:13:12
We're going to go ahead and take a quick break and we'll be
00:13:14
right back.
00:13:14
You know, go ahead, stretch your legs, get your snack, do
00:13:17
all those wonderful things, but don't go too far.
00:13:19
See you in a minute.
00:13:20
Are you a program director or thinking of starting a program?
00:13:24
Maybe you need new curriculum that focuses on character
00:13:28
development or technical skills, or you need help establishing
00:13:32
effective program logistics to have an impactful program
00:13:35
culture.
00:13:35
Or, overall, you just need a program evaluation.
00:13:39
Well, school after hours consulting case.
00:13:42
Here.
00:13:43
To help, contact us at schoolafterhourscom and our
00:13:48
contact information is in the show notes.
00:13:50
Hope to hear from you soon.
00:13:52
Hello everyone, welcome back to the second part of our show.
00:13:55
We have the CEO of After School HQ here with us, mr Darje Henry
00:14:00
, and he's giving us his story of how he started an app school
00:14:03
program, but also how that led to him making his own software
00:14:07
to help programs be not just efficient in collecting their
00:14:12
data, but also giving them ways and giving them access to report
00:14:16
out, to help get funding.
00:14:19
You know, share the impact, give their stories, all those
00:14:22
wonderful things.
00:14:23
What we left off is, you know, giving a little bit more
00:14:26
information about app school HQ as a business.
00:14:31
So, darje, here's my question for you how did you get
00:14:35
organizations to buy into the concept of after school HQ and
00:14:40
use the platform at the same time?
00:14:42
Because when you're going to organizations and you're like
00:14:45
here, here's this wonderful thing that could help you out in
00:14:48
this, this, this way, some people will get you like, now,
00:14:52
you like.
00:14:52
So how did you then get them?
00:14:56
You know that buy-in, that's important.
00:14:59
Darye: Yeah, for me it felt like the first thing you had to do
00:15:02
was get a few wins right.
00:15:03
You got to get your first group or first few organizations to
00:15:08
say, okay, you're new, but I'll believe in you, if that makes
00:15:12
sense.
00:15:12
Now the good thing is obviously my mom runs her organization,
00:15:15
so she's obviously one of the first people using the platform
00:15:20
and what she was doing.
00:15:21
So that's a perfect test bed.
00:15:23
It's a perfect way to understand how the organizations
00:15:26
use it.
00:15:27
But we also started working with Indianapolis Public Schools
00:15:30
.
00:15:31
Actually, my co-founder and COO of Afterschool HQ his students
00:15:36
were going to IPS School 70, so it's Indianapolis Public Schools
00:15:40
here and he was like, hey, we have some software that can help
00:15:44
you with your afterschool programs.
00:15:46
Would you give us a chance to try it out here?
00:15:48
And so they were like, yes, because he was an involved
00:15:52
parent and his children were in afterschool programs.
00:15:55
So they gave an opportunity there just to start with.
00:15:58
And that actually spread right where we were able to have
00:16:00
conversations with other schools and the youth programs that
00:16:03
were providing those afterschool programs for the young people.
00:16:07
So we had conversations with them, got to have feedback.
00:16:09
So we worked really closely with organizations to help
00:16:13
design and develop what the software was.
00:16:15
J. Lee: Cool, Because working in the public school sector is a
00:16:19
challenge.
00:16:19
You can't just walk up to them and be like, hey, so try this
00:16:23
because it's great.
00:16:23
So how did you begin to go through that process of being
00:16:27
visible as a brand but also using those stories that you've
00:16:32
had before to test things out?
00:16:36
Darye: Yeah.
00:16:36
So the biggest thing was, once you have a few organizations
00:16:40
using it already.
00:16:40
Now you have something you can demo, you have testimonials, you
00:16:44
have stories that you can tell, and that was a big thing.
00:16:49
And we can't forget relationships are a huge part of
00:16:52
it.
00:16:52
You have to spend time just talking to people building those
00:16:57
relationships.
00:16:57
The other part is, I'd say the biggest thing is persistence.
00:17:01
People are busy, they have a lot going on.
00:17:05
The other part is they're trying to see are you going to
00:17:08
be around?
00:17:09
You know what I'm saying Is your organization going to be
00:17:13
around for a long enough period?
00:17:14
And if you drop off in six months, then they're probably
00:17:18
like, well, that's probably better.
00:17:19
I didn't engage.
00:17:20
So I think for us it definitely was persistence.
00:17:24
If they don't call us back, we call them anyway saying, hey,
00:17:28
we're still here.
00:17:29
So all of that went into it.
00:17:31
And then again we did have to work on things like pitch decks,
00:17:35
where you get to share your vision.
00:17:37
You had to organize it.
00:17:39
You got to put your strategy together, your short-term plan,
00:17:43
long-term plan, how you will continue to support the
00:17:47
organization and the schools, and so I think putting that all
00:17:51
together, really showing your serious, being persistent, all
00:17:54
that matters when building these relationships.
00:17:57
J. Lee: And once you made that move into public schools public
00:18:02
school districts are not small at all At all.
00:18:07
So at that point, when you did make that relationship and it
00:18:10
did start to happen to you, when did you start to say to
00:18:12
yourself OK, I may need to add additional help to the business
00:18:17
because we're in the space of expansion.
00:18:19
Darye: Yeah, that man.
00:18:20
That really speaks to a pain point.
00:18:22
So I know the exact time period when that happened.
00:18:25
What's interesting?
00:18:27
Initially we worked with NM's public schools.
00:18:29
We offered it our platform for free.
00:18:31
We just said, hey, we're just going to start, we're going to
00:18:34
serve and we're going to be helpful.
00:18:36
So that's how we got in the door and of course, it was a
00:18:40
persistence all that, but we had to say, hey, we're going to try
00:18:42
this out.
00:18:43
But really, let me know, I need some help and we need to get
00:18:48
investors and we need to build a team.
00:18:50
Was the pandemic Right?
00:18:53
When that happened, it was like, first of all, the stress of the
00:18:57
pandemic just existed.
00:18:59
You know what I'm saying?
00:18:59
It's just over your head.
00:19:01
Like, oh, what's going to happen to me economically?
00:19:03
I mean, you know what's going to happen.
00:19:05
All those questions, a lot of our customers.
00:19:09
They weren't publishing activities anymore because
00:19:14
obviously they couldn't have in person.
00:19:15
We had to process a whole bunch of refunds just because all the
00:19:20
classes they got canceled, and so we had to make a lot of
00:19:23
changes to the platform during the time and I was really
00:19:26
overworked.
00:19:26
You know, I was doing working.
00:19:29
I could say 24, seven, but it felt like that for a time.
00:19:33
Yeah, and that's where I actually had a conversation with
00:19:37
my co-founder, said like, hey, we need some investors If we're
00:19:41
going to continue doing this.
00:19:43
We need some help and we're going to figure out how to get
00:19:47
that.
00:19:47
Another thing, too, behind that was I didn't want to give up.
00:19:50
You know there's, there are people I've seen in my life who
00:19:54
have made it through the valley, essentially right, and they got
00:19:58
to the other side and they've succeeded.
00:20:00
And sometimes that takes a lot of hard work, sometimes that
00:20:03
takes a lot of years, and I wanted to see this through and
00:20:07
say, hey, we put in this work, we built up something.
00:20:10
Let's do the next step, let's figure out how we can get people
00:20:14
on board to help us.
00:20:15
And so that's what we both agreed on and said, hey, we're
00:20:19
not going to give up.
00:20:19
Even, like I said, pandemic was rough and it was rough for
00:20:21
everybody, especially in education.
00:20:23
It was very difficult time, and so that was probably the key
00:20:27
point that made me realize that you know, let's get some help.
00:20:31
J. Lee: And in that experience did you have ways that were more
00:20:36
innovative to what you were doing as far as your software or
00:20:40
servicing at school programs period.
00:20:42
Darye: Yeah, I think one thing we learned so this was
00:20:44
interesting because it's funny that we didn't really focus on
00:20:50
changing too much.
00:20:50
We thought about going virtual and trying to focus on that.
00:20:54
But one thing we realized because I got three kids was
00:20:57
that virtual for young people is just terrible.
00:21:00
You know what I'm saying.
00:21:01
Like it was terrible, even though you had to do it.
00:21:05
It was one of those things that we knew as parents.
00:21:07
We couldn't wait for our kids to get back in person, because
00:21:12
as adults it's not our favorite thing and I saw them every day
00:21:15
just struggling on the computers , trying to do class and et
00:21:18
cetera.
00:21:18
So one thing we stuck with was we know this is going to come
00:21:22
back and we know that kids want to be in person.
00:21:25
And, again, we know how important this after school, out
00:21:28
of school time, is.
00:21:30
So we really just focused.
00:21:31
In a way we kind of doubled down on it because we just
00:21:33
believed it would come back.
00:21:35
J. Lee: Amazing.
00:21:35
So, unfortunately, oh, that brings us to the end of our show
00:21:40
, but before we go ahead and sign out, we have one more
00:21:43
section to get to, which is our professionals lounge.
00:21:46
Right, wonderful people, we have made it to our
00:21:52
professionals lounge section.
00:21:53
This is our wrap up.
00:21:54
So, daria, this is my question for you what advice would you
00:21:58
give youth development professionals about avoiding
00:22:02
burnout, because that's something that we mentioned in
00:22:04
the story when we talked about it a little bit.
00:22:05
But, and what, if you not to hit that wall?
00:22:07
What are some things that you would suggest, that not just
00:22:12
site directors, but also program providers, those that are
00:22:15
helping out with program and giving all of the electives and
00:22:18
the good stuff.
00:22:18
How, what are some things from your experience Would you advise
00:22:23
them?
00:22:23
Like, don't do that.
00:22:24
Darye: No, yeah, I really appreciate this question because
00:22:29
when I talked about burnout earlier, the thing I didn't
00:22:32
mention was I was a person that burned out and I was doing the
00:22:38
you know chairman of the board of organization, but I also was
00:22:41
doing youth ministry as well and I also was doing my own
00:22:45
business as an entrepreneur and I was working a lot.
00:22:51
And one of the hard things to do when you're like a can do
00:22:57
part, like you see a need, you're going to go after it and
00:23:01
try to help whoever you can.
00:23:02
You know it was very hard to say I'm just going to wait until
00:23:06
Wednesday to work with these kids, when I know Thursday,
00:23:09
friday, saturday, all through the week they're dealing with
00:23:11
all these challenges.
00:23:12
And so it really was hard for me to say no you know what I'm
00:23:18
saying to a need or to take care of myself.
00:23:20
And so I found myself in a position where I was totally
00:23:24
overworked, and when I say burned out, I mean physically.
00:23:27
My body was done Like really adrenal fatigue, all that.
00:23:31
I couldn't work for like three months, and so when you think
00:23:36
about that, it's like you're trying to work so hard that you
00:23:39
end up working yourself to a point where no one can rely on
00:23:42
you at that point anyway.
00:23:43
So the big thing for me that I had to learn was one was be a
00:23:50
little more strategic.
00:23:51
Right, take time to again.
00:23:55
You see a need, go after it, yes.
00:23:56
But you can also pause and say how do I get other people around
00:24:00
this to make this successful?
00:24:02
How do I lay out a strategy that makes this sustainable?
00:24:05
Cause it's a marathon, you know what I mean.
00:24:08
Like the one thing we know for sure.
00:24:09
In as much as I wish that I can paint away all the troubles of
00:24:14
the world in an instant, we just know that's not how it works.
00:24:19
And the hard thing I was young.
00:24:20
I was like I can do it.
00:24:21
I can do it all, whatever.
00:24:23
So I had to be humble, keep them sane and realize I need
00:24:29
help.
00:24:29
I have to learn to rely on others.
00:24:31
I have to be strategic and focus in ways where my strengths
00:24:36
are as well.
00:24:37
Like another thing I'll mention is and this sounds it's a small
00:24:43
thing, but it really sticks out to me Back then it used to be
00:24:46
like can I use technology, or can I use a service, or can I
00:24:50
pay someone to help me as a bookkeeper, or whatever that may
00:24:54
be?
00:24:55
Sometimes we're like, hey, this costs me $50 a month or whatever
00:24:59
it is, whatever that cost is, and then we'll say, I'll just do
00:25:03
that myself.
00:25:03
But when you think about our time is worth so much more than
00:25:08
that, when you think about it, right.
00:25:09
And so I really wish that.
00:25:10
There's one main thing I would have changed would have been
00:25:13
like hey, spend that 50 to save me 10 hours, 40 hours a month,
00:25:19
whatever that amount is right, just to make it easier for
00:25:22
myself, because that's where the self care comes in.
00:25:25
It's like sometimes it's just a little money but it can save
00:25:29
you a lot of headache and it can set you up right To be able to
00:25:31
get the real funding that you need.
00:25:33
So that's kind of my experience overall.
00:25:35
But, yeah, get help, get people , get resources, and if you need
00:25:42
to pay for some of that, I know that's right Because, like you
00:25:45
said, your time is the most valuable thing.
00:25:48
Yes, yes, absolutely.
00:25:52
J. Lee: Well, thank you, Dr Darae, for being here and
00:25:53
greatly appreciate you.
00:25:54
For anyone that wants to get in touch with you and know more
00:25:58
about afterschoolHQ or I know that you're doing like speaking
00:26:02
things on YouTube I'm gonna drop that in there Go ahead and give
00:26:06
them your information on how to get in touch with you.
00:26:09
Darye: Yeah, absolutely Easiest way you can get in touch with me
00:26:11
, or and the team too, is just send it to hello at
00:26:15
afterschoolHQcom.
00:26:16
So that's our email.
00:26:17
You can also find our website, which is afterschoolHQcom.
00:26:22
You can go there, find out more about our organization.
00:26:25
You can also find out about our community.
00:26:27
We do have a Facebook community where we work with youth
00:26:31
organizations and help them find resources they need.
00:26:34
We're also on YouTube as well.
00:26:36
You can find videos.
00:26:37
We do spotlights of organizations and get to tell
00:26:40
stories and their success stories, so we love doing that.
00:26:43
So definitely feel free to reach out.
00:26:45
We're on Instagram, afterschoolhq as well.
00:26:49
So, yeah, you should be able to find us anywhere you know,
00:26:52
wherever you can find that tag afterschoolHQ.
00:26:55
J. Lee: Well, everyone, that brings us to the end of our show
00:26:57
.
00:26:57
If you like what you heard and you enjoyed our conversation,
00:27:01
make sure that you're following us on YouTube, but also hit that
00:27:03
like button so we know what you are enjoying.
00:27:06
You can also find us on other podcast platforms like Apple
00:27:10
Podcasts, spotify and Google Podcasts.
00:27:14
If you wanna listen to our audio version as well, to get
00:27:17
more behind the scenes stuff, make sure that you're following
00:27:19
us on our social media accounts Instagram and Facebook at
00:27:24
schoolafterhours.
00:27:26
Well, that's all I have for today, and the words of Mr
00:27:30
Arthur Ashe start where you are, use what you have, do what you
00:27:34
can.
00:27:34
Until next time, y'all, bye-bye .
Related Episodes
S 4 EP 14: Workshop Series: Using Social Media to Demonstrate Impact
Discover how to effectively use social media to build brand awareness and market your after-school program in this episode. We've teamed up with Markia Baker and Navi Johnson from NM Legaci Marketing to bring you a playbook of strategies that blend y...
S 4 BE: The Turning Point: Success Beyond The Bell feat. Principal Monica Murray
Discover the future of after-school programs with Principal Monica Murray of John Marshall High School, as she shares the innovative approaches taken to prepare students for the world beyond academia. Take a peek behind the curtain of education's evo...
SE 3 EP 5: Empowering Young Entrepreneurs ft. Dr. Sonia Toledo
From camp counselor to founder, Dr. Sonia Toledo shares with us her career journey in afterschool programming and how she started her program, Dignity of Children. Join us as we talk about the impact of her program and how it's empowering youth to e...