Take the Elevator
This podcast is purely about elevating people through individual life stories and experiences in the Elevator. In the Elevator, what's key is maybe changing your perspective; having self-actualization; embracing your purpose; and acting on it as we grow from one another. There is a whole different point of view when you look up to elevate.
Take the Elevator
386th Floor: Year-End Reset from Early Childhood Tips to Big Girl Energy
The best leadership lesson we learned this year wasn’t about getting it right—it was about knowing when to pause, own the mess, and rebuild with care. On the next episode of Take the Elevator, Gen and Kory sit down with Tamara and Danya—early childhood educators, professors, and the duo behind Talk Early To Me and TD Growth Unboxed—to close the year with an honest conversation about rest, resilience, and continuing when the plan falls apart.
From 2 a.m. creativity vs. shower breakthroughs to imposter syndrome in classrooms, meetings, and living rooms, the laughs quickly give way to real talk. You’ll hear how stopping mid-course can become a master lesson, why “keep going” sometimes means baby steps back to joy, and how confidence can be something you quietly wear into any room.
They also share what they unboxed this year—launching a podcast, formalizing the business, aligning a shared vision—and name what’s next: a first book, deeper belonging, and finishing their PhDs. Saying it out loud matters.
You’ll walk away with practical tools for families before preschool—turning everyday moments into learning labs that build confidence, self-regulation, and executive function—plus an open invite for educators and teams ready to elevate with humor, presence, and purpose.
If this conversation sparks something, subscribe, share, and leave a review with your next baby step.
Look up—and let’s elevate.
To contact Tamara and Danya:
IG: @tamara_danya_ece
https://talkearlytome.buzzsprout.com/
Every day. Elevate. Every day. Elevate. Every day.
SPEAKER_01:Hey, it's Jen the Builder.
SPEAKER_04:And Corey.
SPEAKER_01:And welcome everyone to Take the Elevator. This is our last episode of 2025. What?
SPEAKER_04:Oh my god. What what episode is this, Jen?
SPEAKER_01:Oh.
SPEAKER_04:386. Is it 386? Flipping.
SPEAKER_01:You better than me on that. I've lost track.
SPEAKER_04:That's alright.
SPEAKER_01:I just wonder what it's gonna be like when we get to four. No, four. Well, let's get to four zero zero first.
SPEAKER_04:Done. So, Jen, you know, this is our last episode of the year, and we planned something pretty phenomenal to happen, and we did it strategically because we had such a bang with uh the last uh guest that we had. And so before we jump into that, I just wanted to ask you, how has your year come to an end?
SPEAKER_01:Come to an end, it's been pretty phenomenal because we're um we have days off.
SPEAKER_04:Yeah, that's what that's exactly what I'm getting at.
SPEAKER_01:So we've taken what two and a half weeks almost. 16 days. Yeah, 16 days. And so I feel like I've recalibrated. I feel so much closer to you. I feel that there's been a connection just outside of the elevator, outside of being co-authors and just intermarriage. Yeah. Um, and so going into the new year, I want to be really intentional about making space for all the different hats we wear, including me being a wife and you being my husband.
SPEAKER_04:Yeah. I I wanted to share that same sentiment, actually. That's kind of why I brought it up, because it's nice not to be co-workers, it's not it's nice not to be uh podcast co-host, it's nice not to be co-authors and just be Jen and Corey and be a couple. Yes, go to dinner and not worry about having a conversation about all the other stuff.
SPEAKER_01:Right. That's been good.
SPEAKER_04:But here's the 2026.
SPEAKER_01:Cheers to 2026, it's gonna be good. Yeah, boy. I can feel it.
SPEAKER_04:Uh-huh. So we got these two amazing individuals, two amazing people that did some really good work the last time that they were here and moved the needle quite tremendously, actually. Uh I see you smiling, so I know you're happy about them being.
SPEAKER_01:No, I I am happy. I'm I'm almost um laughing because um when you introduce them, I'm just thinking about the mistake I made. If you all follow us very closely, we release a new episode every Monday.
SPEAKER_04:Oh my gosh.
SPEAKER_01:And this was such a miss on my part. There was a week recently where it did not come out on a Monday, and it's because of these beautiful people that I realized we didn't put anything out, and we had something.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah.
SPEAKER_01:Um, but you learn from your mistakes, and I'm just I really appreciate y'all being easy on that. But go ahead and introduce them as well.
SPEAKER_04:Yeah, we're just gonna jump right into it and introduce and well, reintroduce uh Tamara and Dania and their early childhood development uh and and professors and and then business owners. It's just so many, and I I don't know if I'm gonna miss something, so I'm I'm not gonna go too much further into that, but let me just tell you this: incredible hearts, incredible minds, incredible people. I wouldn't mind spending time with these people, and I don't spend my time with just anyone. So this is this is a really good atmosphere to have Jen, Tamara, Dania, and us just collaborating and having a good conversation. Welcome to the show. Welcome back to the show. Thank you.
SPEAKER_00:What a great, what a great intro. That's a great intro, right? I felt like I am somebody. You are somebody.
SPEAKER_02:Thank you. Yeah, we're we're happy to be back, and thank you for inviting us back and having us back and you know, walking into this conversation again and just going. Yeah, and open and let's let's have an elevator talk. Uh-huh.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, let's go from the bottom floor way to the top, all the way to the top, and then back down.
SPEAKER_01:There you go. So let's start at the bottom with just some good warm-up questions. Uh, would you rather?
SPEAKER_00:Oh, I love would you rather Corey?
SPEAKER_01:When Take the Elevator started, about a hundred episodes in, because you know you got to change it up. This is how we changed it up is we started with Would You Rather? I actually had a book, lost it, but we don't need that. So we ready? Ready for Would You Rather? We'll start off a little slow and soft. So here is the first question. Would you rather? Because I'm speaking to a room full of creatives, would you rather have a breakthrough in the shower or at 2 a.m. when you can't sleep?
SPEAKER_04:Let's start with Tamar's.
SPEAKER_02:No, no, I'll go first. Yeah. I my breakthroughs come in the shower or on the toilet.
SPEAKER_00:There's a story about the toilet.
SPEAKER_02:That's why she said that. I definitely have breakthroughs in those two places.
SPEAKER_00:Those are the thought times. So I always joke and say, you know, when you're sitting and get a chance to think.
SPEAKER_03:There you go. Those are the times that you're doing.
SPEAKER_00:Incredible choice of you. Well, you know, that's normally the only time when there's nothing really else to do but sit and wait. Right. You know? So that's what we're doing. Mine, mine come to me. I think I get the more of the 2 a.m. And then I would rather hope to remember it or jerk up and write it down real fast. Or I don't fully make it into bed yet because I remembered or because I thought, and I have to go and scurry to do something. So yeah.
SPEAKER_01:So 2 a.m., you in the bathroom. Yep.
SPEAKER_04:I'm here you.
SPEAKER_01:I'll I'll go. I'm I'm the same as Dania. I in the bathroom, I'm not thinking. I don't know what I'm doing. I feel like there's not a thinking moment. I feel like I'm just there, you know, enjoying the space, I guess. Um, but yeah, the breakthrough and because I'm up anyways, let's be real. I'm in a puzzle. So I'm gonna be up anyways at weird hours in the night. So let's just go ahead and my have my breakthrough moments now. So it feels like it's worth something.
SPEAKER_04:Like at the minimum.
SPEAKER_01:Right.
SPEAKER_04:I I just feel like it can happen at any given moment. Um, I hate to be the well, I'm not gonna go there. Uh, in the shower or in in the bed or when I wake up at two o'clock, because I wake up at two o'clock all the time anyway. So yeah.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, I think menopause has become contagious. I don't even want to go there.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah.
SPEAKER_03:Okay.
SPEAKER_00:I'm waiting for her to enter in.
SPEAKER_02:Oh, I would like yes, the parry is uh I don't even want to be here. This might not have been the best question, J. It's a good question, but ooh, take away the emotions and the this is worse. I would rather have hot flashes than cry every second. Over something I'd rather just be hot. Okay. That's fair.
SPEAKER_01:This is where we are. Let's try to change it to that little bit. We're going, we're going to the next floor. Here we go. So, would you rather learn the lesson once very painfully or ten times the gentle way?
SPEAKER_00:One and done. Yeah.
SPEAKER_01:One and one. One and done for sure. We all agree on that one. That one's good. Okay, here's one for you both.
SPEAKER_00:Okay.
SPEAKER_01:Would you rather have kids repeat your best advice or quote your most sarcastic comment?
SPEAKER_02:Quote my best sarcastic comment any day. Any day. Ooh, that's the best. I teach I and my nieces and nephews. Just, I mean, I've I've got some saying some stuff. I want to come back to that.
SPEAKER_04:We'll go to uh Daniel, but I I got a question for about that.
SPEAKER_00:I I love if God, I can't even with you. Um, I'd love. Um, I'd love for them to repeat my best advice because that means they're following you. So I like to see that go over and over generation to generation. Um, if if you've spent less than 10 minutes in my family, you know that sarcasm is our love language anyway. So that would just be normal talk if you're just repeating my sarcasm to you. So repeating my best advice is yeah, that's that's that touches the heart.
SPEAKER_01:Last time you were on the elevator, you all talked about your differences. So, people, if you have not listened to their first episode with us, please do. But just know that one of the highlights was how different you both are, and you all are just proving our point with the first two questions.
SPEAKER_04:Yeah, yeah. And and I'll pay you back off of that. I do hear the differences, but I see how it can work so well together.
SPEAKER_02:It's funny. No, you know, I think you know, you want them to learn from you, and I'm definitely with the sarcasm, I think that the silliness and how you are with children is is what they remember too. I mean, I'm just thinking, you know, with the silliness, you I think something like one of my nieces, I was we were just saying macaronian cheese is the bomb. And so she would be like walking around, and every time I would get messages from from her from her mom, uh you know, she's saying macaroni and cheese is the bomb. So like her whole childhood, she would sing that. Um just be like, um, what was one of my nephews? He was like, Hey, baby, you know, just things like that that I would teach them, and they would just repeat. So things that are just, you know, maybe not sarcasm, but just things that would be yeah, just fun. And and sometimes sarcasm, I mean, it it it hits them and they're like, they don't understand, but then that when they do, they're like, Hey, you know, so it's just fun, nice, just having fun, I think, goes a long way too. Yeah, but definitely I want them to to remember the lessons that we teach, but mostly in how we interact. Definitely.
SPEAKER_01:Did you want to ask you?
SPEAKER_04:No, she she wrapped it really nice with a pretty vote.
SPEAKER_01:Got it. Okay. Next floor, and we're gonna end the would you rather with this? Is would you rather fake confidence for a year or own your mess out loud?
SPEAKER_04:I'll jump in.
SPEAKER_01:Okay.
SPEAKER_04:I I'm gonna own my mess. I I hate faking anything. It really bothers me. Like, I can't sleep when I'm thinking that I'm not being authentic.
SPEAKER_02:No, I don't want to come behind him. Because you want to say fake it till you make it. Right? There's that. The one in Done for Mirror that fake it till you make it. I mean, I was like, I don't, I want to say I want to own my mess, but I'm gonna fake it till I make it because you're not gonna know. I'm gonna own it in my own, but um, you're not gonna know it. Right, right.
SPEAKER_00:Well, in the I don't know, honestly, it's hard to say in the arena that we are in, kids know they know I mean you put your mess out there, you'll never live that down. It's not it's not pretty. So you you want to uh have that confidence whether you truly feel it or not, especially in the classroom, you want to have that because they can smell fear and it's ad when they get a whiff. Um but there are some times I know as professionals that imposter syndrome is a real thing. And it's like, you know, you're like this in front of everybody, and you know, you everybody just thinks, oh, what a wonderful leader you are. And then you go home and go, Oh my god, I can't even do this anymore. Why did they hire me? You know, kind of thing. So you know, it just goes back and forth, I think.
SPEAKER_02:This year, this year I had to own with my class, I had a I had a class that I've never taught this before. Um, and we were going through the class, and we got about five weeks in, and I realized that they weren't really grasping what they needed to know. And I and I stepped up and I said, and we stopped. And I said, This is this is on me because I was trying to go too fast. I was trying to get through what we needed to get through. Um, and I realized you you you're not getting it. We need to rewind, we need to stop, we need to go back. Um but I wasn't scaffolding it for you all where you are. I was trying to get you to be up here where you could be. So that was, you know, that was something like that was something that I was not doing correctly at that moment, but I needed to know, and I knew and I recognized. So we stopped and we went back. Yeah, that's like owning your mess. Like that's my mess. I made it, I had to stop and go back on it. And they were, and then and it was a lesson for them too. As as teachers, future teachers, you need to know, hey, if I'm not doing this right for children, I need to stop. Go back, change it up, and it's okay. Because I stopped. I didn't try to keep going and saying, hey, catch up.
SPEAKER_00:Right. You gotta do this.
SPEAKER_02:Spray and pray teaching. Right? We don't do that. You've gotta catch up. This is what you need to know. If you don't know it, I'm sorry. Yeah, this is what you need to know when you when you go on. If you don't know it, then you're not gonna make it. But that's not my problem. You just don't know it. Good luck. No, that's not where that's not where I'm sending you. Yeah.
SPEAKER_00:So it was a it was a uh emotional mess-owning situation, though.
SPEAKER_02:It was it was a tough situation.
SPEAKER_00:It was it was rough. It was I felt, I felt her pain, and I I felt there with her, and you know, the the phone calls and the text messages, and then you know, the stairwell, if you will, it was just like, okay, okay, before you go into this class, okay, we're gonna you're gonna do this, you're gonna, you're gonna do this, you're gonna make it. You it didn't make her a bad teacher. It actually made her a more in-tune teacher. But in that moment, you feel like, what am I doing? Is this my spot? And this is my place? What am I doing? I don't even and and then conversely, she would coach me back into, no, you you have your position for a reason, you know, because I would I would call her on my way home and be like, I don't mind, you know, and she's going, okay, okay, okay. Okay, chill.
SPEAKER_02:In in all that we do, we're always questioning, is this where we belong? Is this are we doing what's right? And we know in our hearts that we are, but there's always those moments we're like, how do we miss that? How do we make that better? Yeah. But that's what makes us who we are because we know, wait, that wasn't right, but we can fix it. It's not going back and fixing it that's the problem, right? Just moving on.
SPEAKER_04:And that's kind of where where I was coming from when I said what I said, because it there are certain arenas you can't get away with certain things, like in music. If you hit a bad note on a guitar, you're not gonna fix it.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah, everybody's like, what? Yeah.
SPEAKER_04:Um, if you're writing a book and it wasn't edited properly, everyone's gonna know. So you gotta go back and fix that and then own that you know you did that. But I do understand where you guys are coming from because there are moments when you can get through the and and prime example is if you're speaking and someone asks you a question that maybe wasn't on the agenda, and so you're not prepared for that question, so you just kind of get through it, and then you have to, you know, just get through it.
SPEAKER_02:And then you go back and think, did I say what I meant to say or did, you know, and without saying, Did I answer your question? You know, right, you you have to just put it out there.
SPEAKER_01:Yes. Whenever I've had a leader, uh teacher, or someone who has mentoring me, and they've c done what you did and said full stop, it didn't go as I planned, and I'm having to now say that, and now we're gonna recalibrate and figure out what you need. Um that have has always stood out to me, even to now. Like I can think of people in my life where they did that and they just admitted to I made a mistake or what didn't go as planned, my apologies, let's figure this out. And it's those moments I think that you can go back on and say, Oh, I remember when Tamara did that, and I'm having that moment now, and that's how she showed up. And we it I think it's those things when we come out of being perfect or we come out of the itinerary or agenda, and we really connect with the frailty and the flaws of being human, that it becomes really special. Right. So, yeah, that and that just happened recently. This semester. This semester.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, after nine years of teaching, yeah, and it was a new class, and and you know, and you go into a class and you teach it a way um that you've been asked to teach it as well. So you there's a lot of factors, um, and there were a lot of things that went into it and it didn't go as planned. Yeah, and think that happens, and that's okay, and you just rework it. Yeah, and it it it sounds good in words to just go ahead and rework it. I mean, there were a lot more emotions to it, but um, but it it is something, and we do it as we do it as preschool educators, we do it as adult educators. Um, it's all the same, yeah. Um, and and it's lessons learned, and it definitely was a a teaching, teachable moment for me and for the students I was teaching.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, definitely. So let's stay in that vein because we I got a lot of feedback from people that heard your episode. And so I wanted to give some space on um some of the things that they brought up. One of the things that you mentioned in the last episode was I think it was you, Dinya, who you when you said keep going. I know it's tough, but parents, this is my love note to you, keep going. What advice do you have for parents or professionals, anybody, when the when it is tough? How do you keep going? Because I think we as a society or people, we have these great one-liners and they hit home, they sound good, but when you really sit down and take that, and I'm like in the lowest point of my life, or I'm whatever that is, how does someone keep going? What do y'all think? And this is open to you too, Corey.
SPEAKER_00:Well, I I guess I'll start that one off. I said it was my one liner. I I think I'm learning, I'm ever evolving in my learning of what keep going looks like. Okay. As a mom, keep going looks like wake up every morning and greet my child like he is the gift that he is. Okay. Regardless of what happened. And move on with the day from there, regardless of what happened. In my professional life, show up as I can. Okay. Um I'm learning that I'm allowed to have limits. Everyone is allowed to have some sort of limit. And it doesn't take away from your potency to be able to have some self-care. Now, don't quote me on what self-care looks like because this is a lesson that I am still learning. My parents instilled a ridiculous work ethic in me, and and that is it's just what I know and it's what I strive to. So sometimes I have to be told to calm down and sit down and and and rest and relax. And rest and relax doesn't look like everybody else's rest and relax. And that's okay too. Um but keep going means that I didn't stop and give up. That I know that tomorrow is another day that I'm able to do something, even if it's baby steps. Um Tamra's teaching me some baby steps right now through an issue that I was having with the holiday season. Um it's it has changed over the years for me. And so she's like, We're gonna baby step you back into holiday season and what the holiday season looks and feels like. And it's like, okay, are you sure? Really? And it started with buying a silly ornament. She found a silly ornament, and I was I it was just too silly for me to not have joy at that moment about it, you know. And so it showing waking up and knowing today I can do one more baby step. No matter what that baby step has to look like in that situation, I can do one more baby step because that will lead to another baby step. And at some point that stride will get bigger and I'll be right back into the groove again.
SPEAKER_01:That is so appreciated because what I hear you saying is it's up to the individual to define what keep going looks like. And that it's so practical to take these little steps towards the goal or towards what you need. I mean, in your last episode, you also mentioned talking to children about what they need instead of us defining what we think they need. And so that was beautifully presented that way. Um, and I know that's really gonna hit home with our people as we're so focused on elevating, but sometimes just that one step into the elevator, that's the move forward. Right. So thank you. Thank you for elaborating on that.
SPEAKER_00:My mom used to say, How do you eat elephant? One bite at a time. That's it. And there are days when she still calls and tells me that. So I'm still working on that elephant, you know.
SPEAKER_02:It's a lot of food. It's a lot, a lot of food. I think going to what Daniel was talking about, getting, you know, going, getting back to the season, I think, and as the support system for anyone who is going or trying to find their way, um, recognizing that it's not about what we would like them to do or what how we would like them to get back to what what you think the season should be in this case. Yeah. Um, but allowing them to find what's right for them to. Yeah. I think that's hard because we have ideas about what we would love the season to be, or what we would love for them to experience, right? Um, but that experience isn't the same for them. So having conversations and and talking about what should it look like or what could it look like. Um I think that's where um I think self-care is communication. You know, it's it's talking, it's figuring things out, but also um time for reflection.
SPEAKER_01:And so you just answered our next question, because the another highlight, beautiful highlight you gave as a gift to people listen to Take the Elevator was relax. What does relaxation and self-care look like? And um I think that's so important. And I feel like just this peace right now, almost this chilled sense in this room. Because I I mean, I don't know the backstory to the holidays, but I think people right now, we just went through this mad rush of the holidays. Gotta get this gift, gotta make this dish, have people over clean, clean up. And it's just that now, Corey and I intentionally do not participate in all the holiday activities like that um for more than one reason. But I'm just gonna welcome everybody right now, just as you said that I felt like there's a need for a reset, you know, and really think about why we do what we do or what are we doing. Well, here's a story.
SPEAKER_00:Oh, should I be worried?
SPEAKER_01:Well, I know I love your face when she said that too.
SPEAKER_02:This is when you need the the the recording, right? Okay, so here's a story on reflection. Okay, so sometimes well, sometimes I'll I'll I'll go away and I'll reflect on on a lot of things and I'll I'll come back with a set of notes, a full set of notes on my phone, because I usually take notes on my phone. Um, and then I'll I'll I'll tell you I need to talk to you. And I'll say, and I got notes.
SPEAKER_01:That is a core through and settle in.
SPEAKER_00:Well, she didn't know before she started doing that with me that that my mom and I did that to each other. We would just take little notes to remind us of if you don't mind the the phrase, all the cheese may we had to tell each other about what happened whenever. So we take notes. Go ahead. I'm sorry.
SPEAKER_02:Okay, so I pull out my notes and I'm I'm and we sit down. Um, something that we both needed to realize um was that in my thinking was something that we both needed to realize is that we were both moving forward in jobs that we we were going to do what we were going to do, no matter what was going on around us, and no matter who was supporting us, and no matter what support we had, we had support in each other, but what outside of that, no matter what we had, we were gonna do. And so I decided that we both needed to put on our big girl panties. Um and so I had taken two pairs of underwear, literally, and I wrote big girl on the panties on the back butt side, on the back side of the butt, and I had mine on, and I pulled it out of the bag, a pair for her, and I gave them to her, and I said, We're both putting on our big girl panties, and we're just gonna move on. And we're gonna rock this. This is our mindset. We are rocking this. I love it. I love it. From now on, we have on our big girl panties, and we can't let this get us down. Wow, and we are moving forward no matter what. It was a moment, but it was after reflection on everything that was going on around us, everything that was happening, and we needed to just move forward. It was a big girl moment, it was a big girl moment, a literal put on your big girl panty moment.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, and I think that's so key is that um we have something tangible and that we can see that reminds us of that moment and keeps us going. Speaking of keeping going, keep going. Um, there's this exercise that I do with some leaders who I have not met, and that's bring something of meaning from home or in your office as to why you do the work that you do. And it's amazing how people can connect things like um, and they may not forget to bring something, but they can see something and they can connect this to why they do what they do. And I think that's so important and that's so fun. And um, what did you do with the panties?
SPEAKER_04:Hold on, hold on, hold on.
SPEAKER_01:Hold on, hold on.
SPEAKER_04:We're not going there quite yet.
SPEAKER_02:That is the stairwell chorus. Or he still had questions.
SPEAKER_04:That too.
SPEAKER_02:Oh, go ahead. He wants his big girl panties.
SPEAKER_04:No, I'm I'm glad. See, this is so great because when you're with people that think like Pew, um act out things like Pew. So all my life I've worn hats, like no matter what. And this stems back to childhood being in elementary school, put on your thinking cap.
SPEAKER_00:Oh, okay.
SPEAKER_04:And so I relate to that that you did because everything I do has some kind of physical motion that helps me get deeper into it. So thank you for that.
SPEAKER_00:Thanks. Now you want to know what I did.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, I was like, can we know now? Can we know now?
SPEAKER_00:Absolutely. Um, I laughed until tears came out of my eyes, and that made her laugh because in the moment it was still it was still kind of a serious moment because we really had gone through some professional struggle. And so there was growth can hurt, you know, it's the stretching, and it does. And and it it it it's wonderful in the end, but in the interim, you know, you feel it. Yeah, and so um there had been some tears before she went into her bag. I was like, wow. She pulled them out, and you know, my first thought was, why are they so wide? Why did she get all of those letters right there? I mean, those real thoughts like that, you know, and she, you know, strings them up like this. And I honestly what marker did you use? Yeah, what marker did you use and what's gonna bleed when I wash them? And all those all those momies and goes. Um, I went into the room and I put them on. And and now where are they? And I well I Aaron's. Do you still wear them?
SPEAKER_04:See, this is what I was afraid of. Yeah. What if she said I have them on the link? Then we gotta deal with this.
SPEAKER_03:I'm like, can I see?
SPEAKER_00:Have you worn them? I have worn them. I have worn them. Did they still say it? Or did it wash it? Yeah, no, no, it didn't wash them out. Oh, but they are worn them out. And I'm sure that um in the laundry does the laundry. He did not say anything. Oh, okay. So I mean, I'm sure as he was folding, he had questions, but he didn't answer them because he knows our he didn't ask for an answer because he knows it's such a it's probably it probably came from Tamra, and I'm just going alone. He's he's very wise, and I just don't ask a lot of questions when it comes to the tourism because anything could happen.
SPEAKER_02:Maybe you just got a nice branded pair of underwear, you know.
SPEAKER_00:So yes, that I mean, and I although that they right now are folded in the drawer, I'm I'm imagining that they were new underwear, in case anybody is wondering, that would be the question.
SPEAKER_02:They were brand new underwear. I was just gonna let it go. Yeah, brand new underwear.
SPEAKER_01:You know, honestly, I think you just might have created something pretty brilliant, right? For women. They're gonna be out there. And I I need to feel empowered. You don't need to know what's happening underneath the stuff, but I'm going into that meeting. Speaking of, would you rather fake it? You know, imposter syndrome. Uh today I need my big girl panties. And it's my big girl panties. Well, you might want to hold on to that and do something. Well, I'm serious. It's our merch. Part of our merch. All this crazy fucking merch.
SPEAKER_00:Well, you know, I have a I have a cricket machine and I know TV, and let's do this.
SPEAKER_01:And when you do have it, I'll be the first to buy it.
SPEAKER_02:I probably would not have to buy any.
SPEAKER_01:We're gonna send it to the gift set. That's a gift set.
SPEAKER_00:His and her pair. Uh his and hers pair. Oh boxers, yeah, please. Boxers, boxers, boxers. I love how we're ending 2021 with the culinator.
SPEAKER_04:I told you it was gonna be a box.
SPEAKER_01:There we go. Well, um, I do want to ask you this question, and I think it still goes in line with this. Is you all are called again TD Growth Unboxed. And so I'm wondering, what did you unbox in 2025? What was the biggest gift or surprise that you unboxed?
SPEAKER_00:I think as in reflection, and this goes back to my faith base, the the strength to have done what we did, period. I just, I mean, people as they ask us, what do you do? And then we start the list. You know, we might as well have a scroll that just rolls across the the room towards you. Um, and they're like, How? I just spoke with someone yesterday, they're like, How do you get the time to do where how do you hold all of that? You know, and they're just amazed. And I think it comes, it number one comes from my faith, it comes from my my strength source. Um but when you're called to do it, it's not a job. It's it's what you're supposed to do. You know, it's just what you're supposed to do. So the fact that we went ahead and unboxed a podcast and we unboxed actually, you know, creating a legitimate business. I mean, you got to be registered with the state of California and pay those tax and pay the taxes and you know, all that good stuff. And and um, we both grew professionally and we unboxed we unboxed the vision of what the trajectory is gonna look like. And and just that vision alone was a gift because we didn't have to coerce. We we were two people who think differently but the same. We have a symbiosis that opening up that gift and seeing that vision the same, that was it. That was the unboxing that we needed, and we're excited to go forward with it. And you know, it's not like okay, come on, we're gonna do this again. You know, it's it's a look at what else we're gonna do. And we're gonna do this and we're gonna do this, and we're gonna do this, you know. And we lined up um all of our our our spring tour, we call it, um, of of of speaking engagements and things like that, and what will branch off of that and and the people that we meet from those things. I mean, that's how we met you guys, you know, and it's just like, you know, all of those things as they come, the blessings that keep rolling in are just amazing, just amazing unboxed gifts.
SPEAKER_01:Beautiful unboxing. Real quick, can you put a plug-in for your podcast?
SPEAKER_00:Oh, watch, listen, subscribe. I don't know.
SPEAKER_02:Talk early to me. Talk early to me is our podcast. And you know, it was it was funny that you it came out of uh an idea that I just wanted to start a podcast. And Dany and I had been working together for um just under a year, I think. Yeah, a little oh maybe just over a year. It came in our second year of working together, and I was like, Dang it, do you want to do a podcast? She said, sure. And uh and then I I started throwing out names, and she was like, mmm, maybe not that one. And I was like, Well, I'm gonna ask some people, and and so I started asking people, and she started asking people, and they're like, that's a great name. Talk early to me. Talk early to me. And she and everybody would love the name, and so we went with it, and we bought a tiny machine that was probably like four by four. She gave it to me for my birthday. Um, and we did it. We started talk early to me and put our first podcast. We're yeah, we put our first podcast out in October of 2024. And here we are. We're talking to you, and we're trying different things on our podcast and asking questions. And it's exciting and and new, and we love it. We just enjoy, I mean, we love to talk, obviously. And so never been a problem. And you know, and people are are asking the best thing is when we're in classes and the students are like, we listen to your podcast, or anytime you're talking to somebody, or somebody will say, How is Nancy? And I'm like, How do you know my mom? Right. And they listen to you know the podcast. I'm like, Wow, that's it's amazing. It's it's great, it's fun.
SPEAKER_01:It's one of the I have to say, it's one of the best feelings, wouldn't you say, when people come up to us, yeah, same thing. They're like, Oh, how's this going? I'm like, What where did this come from? You gotta remember, do I meet you?
SPEAKER_00:Did I say right?
SPEAKER_01:Like almost 400 episodes in. I feel like if you listen to all our episodes, you could pin me and Corey down pretty well for who we are and what what turns us on. Yeah.
SPEAKER_04:Uh the funniest thing for me with that whole somebody listen to the podcast is when they come up to you, they they're already laughing and they're telling you this story, and you're like, put it together, Corey. How is this what is happening right now? Right. And then they'll drop that one little scene. I'm like, oh, okay, yeah, I get, yeah. But um, yeah, that that's very exciting. And if it feels weird because I know when I say weird, weird's probably not the best uh word to describe it, but it feels good sitting in this circle. I know you guys have your rock star moments. You know we've had our rock star moments, and then we're able to have this conversation and enjoy what each other has felt.
SPEAKER_03:Right.
SPEAKER_04:So many times we're in rooms with people that we don't know what they're thinking or what they're feeling, but this we can all relate to and really enjoy. Uh, I know one of the questions that Jim was gonna ask you, Tamara, was um, what is your what? A lot of people know their why. Um that that's been asked thoroughly for a long time, right? But your what is your what? And when you brought that up, I I just went like spiraling out of control.
SPEAKER_01:I'm like, I think Corey and I were internally clubbing when you were. On the episode, when on the podcast, because you all just said so much. And when we replayed it, it was even more profound to us. Like I was like, ooh, that was good. You know, that kind of way when you have to hear it again. And we were in the car literally, and we're just like, oh, pause. And then we start elaborating on it. Um, and I think that's important. And so, yeah, we are going to go to that question, but I do want to say that this is so important, guys. Anyone listening, I highly recommend and suggest these kind of moments just throughout life period. But if you have a moment to reflect on 2025 and just really talk about and recognize the people that are in your lives and just understand the gift that they are. You two are a gift to each other. It's so clear. It's a special friendship. I think women need this. The uplifting and the ability to be yourself and to have fun and have those serious moments and be able to experience all the emotions that we go through and where it's allowed and it's safe. It's it's so it's so amazing to see.
SPEAKER_00:That part, the safe part. The safe part. Yeah. Yeah. That's the that's the key word right there. The the key word. It's I know that I could call her or I could go over to her place, or she can come over to my place, and I could holler at her for a good clean 45 minutes about everything, and then she'll go, uh-huh. You okay? All right. And now, you know, no judgment. Right. And and she can do the same. It's like she, you know, fall off of that cliff and land on your friend. Yeah. I love that. Land on your friend. And then, you know, we both bounce back up. You're not gonna break, I'm not gonna break, we're not gonna break each other. Because the world will break you by themselves. You know, you don't need someone close to you to break you. Right. And um, we won't break each other and we'll bounce right back up and and keep on going.
SPEAKER_01:That's right. So, first from Corey and I, congratulations on 2025 and just in 24, the beginning of your podcast and everything that you're doing, where we just know that doors are gonna open for you. So let's talk about 2026 and what y'all want to see happen. What's the what? What's the what?
SPEAKER_02:What's the why?
SPEAKER_00:Well, I'm gonna look at my idea person. Okay. Because she's the one who says something, and then I go, okay. And then I figure out how it happens.
SPEAKER_02:What's the what? Um, I think what's the what? I mean, there's what's the what's for TD. There's what's the what. Um for what's the what for TD. I think, you know, it's putting uh self-publishing our first book. Woo woo!
SPEAKER_03:Right? Do it!
SPEAKER_02:We are ready to to purchase purchase an ISBN number and do whatever we need to do to get that ready and get it out there.
SPEAKER_00:And there's people that actually already want to read it. That's the crazy part.
SPEAKER_02:I'm like, oh my gosh. That's so exciting. Um, continue to go out and uh speak and uh just share knowledge and and ideas um and continue to do that and continue to work with children and show up and be present. I think um I think what's the what is to find a sense of belonging and show up fully. That is in in just that is where it is show up fully and find a sense of belonging.
SPEAKER_01:We support it and we are like so here for it, yeah, and are excited that all all these good things are gonna happen for TD and everyone who gets to be on the receiving end of the work that you do in a service you provide.
SPEAKER_02:And one more thing both of us are going to finish our PhDs in 2026.
SPEAKER_04:Wow.
SPEAKER_02:I'm putting it out there. It's in the world.
SPEAKER_00:Why are you looking at me? It's a mincing list.
SPEAKER_02:It's in the world, so uh we have 2026. Tamra and Dania will both have PhDs. It's in the world, yeah.
SPEAKER_00:It's out there, it's out there, so then disimplations happen kicking me down, but both of us.
SPEAKER_02:So yeah, it's spoken out loud on this, on this, so it has to get done. So two rays around it.
SPEAKER_04:Let me say this real quick because if you don't catch them in a bookstore, if you don't catch them at a seminar, if you don't catch them on a podcast, you're just not looking for them. You're just you're avoiding them. They're everywhere. We're trying to be everywhere. We're trying. They're in a school close to you or in a college close to you. They're they're everywhere.
SPEAKER_00:So uh man, I'm as a unit mostly, too. You'll catch us uh separately every now and again.
SPEAKER_02:You know, I think there was one question we didn't get to talk about was um, we didn't get to talk about those early years and connecting, you know, with with our families that aren't yet in preschools with you know, early. Yeah, you want to touch that room.
SPEAKER_01:Sure. So thank you for bringing that up. And we definitely want to make time for that on this elevator ride. People gave us feedback and said, hey, that was really a really good episode. What can we do in the meantime before preschool or before kindergarten? What does early childhood development look like for them?
SPEAKER_00:Family members.
SPEAKER_02:I mean, we both have the same idea, so you start it and I'll jump in on it. No, you go ahead. Yes.
SPEAKER_01:You go ahead. Which PhD person is gonna go first?
SPEAKER_02:Come on, doctor You know, the people that ask that question are already doing it. Yeah, they are already interacting with their grandchildren, with their children, they are already taking them out to places, they are already taking them to museums, they're taking them out into the world and parks and having them play and engage with other children and just have interactions, they're talking to them, they are playing with play-doh, they are playing their coloring, they're drawing, they are dictating what they're doing when they're doing it. They are reading, they're reading, they're talking, they are singing, they're present, they're present in their lives, and they are just engaging with them and not just sitting and watching TV, and which is good too, at just being present and you know, having dinner together and talking about the meal and trying different foods and all of the things that are just what we would do in a normal life that isn't always engaged in technology, you know, that's what it is.
SPEAKER_00:That's exactly what it is. It's it's there isn't a I mean, there are people who will try to sell you a set curriculum for what to do at home beforehand. But if a child can walk into a classroom and recognize that the place is safe and know that those are scissors and I can only use those on certain things at certain times, and I'm good with that, and I'm allowed to touch this, and I have to be careful about that. And oh, there's the color yellow, and that all comes from having them in the real world with you and explaining to them what's going on. Um, we narrate so much, and I think that's what one of the keys is, especially for um grandparents who are now raising another generation um or helping to raise another generation or just any other um outside family influence that comes in. What I always recommend is narrating your day. You tell them everything that's going on and what's and what we're doing. Oh, we're gonna drive to the store and then we're going when we get to the store, we're gonna look for green lettuce and we're gonna look for a red onion, and it's really kind of purple, but and then we're gonna do this and we're gonna do that. And you know, allowing them to go up and down the aisles and pick out something that really interests them, and you talk about it because you can let a toddler walk down a grocery store aisle, they will stop in front of what interests them. You don't have to drag them to anything, you don't have to, they will show you what they want to see and being able to talk about that and look at what numbers are under that. I used to tell my preschool parents um they would dread taking the children to the grocery store and and you know, somebody was always gonna fall out because they want a Snicker bar and you know, or whatever. And it was like, no, no, they need to earn it. If they want that cereal, they need to tell you one of the letters on that box, or they need to tell you how much that costs, what are the numbers there, or they need to be able to tell you the colors and they need to what shape is here and da-da-da-da. And and oh, you preaching now.
SPEAKER_04:Going to do the thing, girl. I don't like it.
SPEAKER_00:Going to anything outside of your home is a learning experience. Period. Period. And when you envelop them in it, it doesn't become this place where I can just run amok and just go wild. Right. It becomes a place of learning. Do they know that they're learning? Absolutely not. They just know that I'm gonna go that place. My mom used to draw a little list, and it was my job to find those things on that list. And so she would draw a little head of lettuce, and she would draw a can of peas, and she would draw a little those kinds of things. If you, I mean, there's technology that parents have at the Canva. At oh yeah, yeah, at the at the tip. If they want to give them the phone, the phone needs to have pictures of stuff that we need to look for at the grocery store. So they can have the phone if they're I mean, if they're really attached and and we haven't made that disconnect yet from that technology, use that technology for your own good. You know, make it work for you and and still have that moment, those moments of education, those moments of learning in any of these places. You can walk out to your front yard and have those moments, walk out to the backyard and have those moments, you know. They happen everywhere. I'm not telling you now all of a sudden we can't go into Stater Brothers at 10 a.m. because there's a bunch of toddlers running around. But I'm just saying and they're learning, but they're learning, they're learning. And me, I would walk in and go, they're learning. Other people go, Oh my God, it's been taken over.
SPEAKER_03:Don't go at 10 o'clock. Crazy.
SPEAKER_00:But it must be on a field trip. Yeah. I mean, I I took my nephews to the grocery store when they were seven and eight and seven, eight, and nine-ish, when I was back in the day, extreme couponing when you could do that. And they helped, you know, and count out this. And what does that mean the discount will be? And da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da. And people walked by me. I've had people walk by me and go, good, teach them that, teach them that, good, you know, like that, because it became a learning thing. And then afterwards, yeah, we trickle on over to Mickey D's. And, you know, how was that? And we would debrief, you know, narrate and debrief, narrate and debrief. What color is that at the stop sign? What shape is that? What letters are right there? What does that mean? It means I have to stop, I have to take my turn, I have to all of it.
SPEAKER_02:The delayed gratification, that those executive function skills, waiting your turn. Just wait those short amount of waiting periods, those are the hardest times. Going into a restaurant and not having technology in front of you just for short amount of times, being able to sit and and wait and attend without having something to keep your attention. That's what we need to work on. Those are the skills that that they're going to need when they get to preschool, just even if it's a short amount of times. If we're going to a fast food restaurant, because that's gonna be quicker. But we're only we're gonna sit here and we're gonna have this meal and then we can go. But it's gonna be faster than sitting and waiting for someone to deliver our meal, or but then we work our way to that. But we're all gonna sit and we're gonna talk. And but they we need to engage, everybody needs to engage and keep each other busy. Otherwise, why should I sit here? Right. Even taking a game to the table, playing a game while you're waiting for your food. But you're engaged in some way, that's okay. We're not on our technology, we're engaging with each other. So those are the skills that we would say would be great for if you're staying, if you're working your way to preschool. Because when they get to preschool, they'll be like, Oh, I can sit at this table and have uh have a meal. I don't need to walk around. I can sit and listen to the teacher read a book because I I've been doing that. So these are the skills that they need.
SPEAKER_01:That's it.
SPEAKER_04:Master class, I tell you.
SPEAKER_01:Master class. She had the message going and she passed it on the floor. Good stuff. Thank you. Thank you for gifting that to everyone. Can I tell a quick story? As you all were saying, we have um one of our godchildren, Jojo, when he was younger. Do you know the story I'm gonna tell? We were at what's a restaurant, any Ontario More. No, the the one that has the animals, the wild. Oh, I know what you're talking about.
SPEAKER_02:Oh, I'm blanking out so long since I've been there.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, but that restaurant. Okay. Rainforest cafe at the same time. So we're sitting there and he's waiting for his meal. And it's taken a while, and and he's patiently waiting, and we're talking, right? And you know, he did so good with waiting. The food gets there. In our family tradition, is we we pray over the meal. Well, he wasn't waiting, he was just like, I'm having at these fries, I'm just gonna have a good time eating it. Corey said, Um, hold on a second, let's say Grace. And he he wasn't he wasn't having it. So Corey said, Oh, we can go to the bathroom real quick, you know. And he was so cute. Jojo did like this. We were all sitting at the table, he heard Corey just the tone and the change of location. Corey, it did, uh he said, Let's pray, God dad. And he puts his hands out, he's like, Let's just do the thing. Love it. It just reminded me of that. That was how long ago, Corey.
SPEAKER_04:Oh man, that was probably 12, 13, or 10. Quite a while ago, yeah.
SPEAKER_01:Just good memories. Just thinking about that. Yeah. Well, this has been great. Is there anything else that we did not cover that we said we were gonna talk about?
SPEAKER_02:I don't I think we covered everything you mentioned. I mean, there's always more, but that's right. What we talked about, we covered.
SPEAKER_04:We got the the podcast. Uh is there a website? Is there uh email? Is there anything that you want to put out there so that people can get in touch with you or be able to keep up with you in any other way?
SPEAKER_02:We're on Instagram. Okay. Uh what is our Instagram? Uh we are T D E C E. Oh, actually we're Tamra Dania. Tamra underscore Dania underscore E C E on Instagram. Okay. Um, and then our our website is is long because it's on it's our Buzz Sprout website. So um talk early to me. Okay. Um our podcast is probably the best way, and we'll link maybe through through you. Yeah. And then we can we can start to connect with with anyone who'd like to connect with us.
SPEAKER_00:I know that um we wanted to make ourselves available for um professional development. Um, the way that we speak our speaking here, ten times more in person. And and uh there's always an activity and fun. And um what was that?
SPEAKER_02:We had a student tell us they came in and they saw us, and we were kind of going bickering back and forth on the very first day, and they're like, What did we get ourselves into? I was like, Oh my gosh, how they told us, and then she was pleasantly pleasantly surprised and happy that she had taken the class and she had learned so much, and it was the best class. And you know, they always ask, What else are you guys teaching?
SPEAKER_00:And it's so funny because technically on our on our professional development, we are co-teaching and we are presenting and doing all that kind of stuff, but in our classes, we just kind of show up in each other's classes and some just keeping it. If we're available, show up and you know help out or not, or just be there and students will and and we tag, we tag if we're in the room with each other, there's a tag team going on at some if if even if it's not one uh speaking versus the other speaking, I still be in the back swording papers, and when she says something, I'm ready to pass them out, and I'm ready to, you know, I'm you know, stuff like that.
SPEAKER_02:So we are available for professional developments for um early education, early educators, um, early educators to be um any of any of the um administrators, social workers from the from the network conference where we met you, um, social workers reached out to us to see if we would come and speak because we talked about social emotional development and humor. Um, and they wanted us to come and speak. So that was kind of cool.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, we're able to kind of uh you give us the topic you need and we can make it happen. So yeah, we're not boxed at in any way. We're not we're TD unboxed.
SPEAKER_01:TD in a box. I love it. Um, so I'm what I'm gonna do is put all your information on the notes on the show. Thank you. We are also because I was waiting for this second episode, um, we have quite uh big, I don't want to say following, but connections on LinkedIn. I think you all are gonna be able to provide so much to other um organizations. And so we'll make sure that that write-up is there and that everyone has access to you both, and they're gonna have such a great time with you. We just know they will.
SPEAKER_00:We are I'm I'm so pleasantly pleased to be able to say that my colleague right here, my bestie, my girl, there's my girl right there. Um, she we both have knowledge beyond ECE. So there's that interpersonal knowledge, there's that other knowledge on how to be a coworker, how to be how to be a leader, how to be how to build a team, how to co-facilitate, how to have synergy.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, sky's the limit. I don't I love the unbox. It truly is that. Pick one. What do you want from them? They can do it.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, I'm excited about that. We also are sharing because we can share your your books as authors and everything. I mean, there's the collaboration, who knows how far it can go.
SPEAKER_01:And I'm I'm gonna I'm gonna manifest that for 2026. That it's just gonna be a continued partnership, um, more collaborative uh collaborations and hopefully a growing friendship. Yeah, because I want you know, I want some big girl panties, I want, I want some of that energy. Oh, I'm already it's you know it's already in my head, right?
SPEAKER_00:You already know that's already in the cricket, it's already early in the cricket maker right now. I see glitter, I see limited inventories.
unknown:Oh boy.
SPEAKER_04:You know what? I'm getting though. Whatever you can come up with, you know, and don't don't do nothing real strange. Whatever.
SPEAKER_02:I love it.
SPEAKER_01:All right, all right. All right, well, this is great. Um amazing year, everyone, 2025. Thank you for everyone. Who has been on the elevator and keeps encouraging us? Yes. And thank you just for keeping us alive for these many episodes. And we plan to keep going. We don't have a stop sign to this. It's something that brings us joy and hopefully brings you joy. Because you know us to take the elevator. We say, look up and let's elevate.
unknown:Elevate every day.
SPEAKER_01:Elevate every day. We're out. Bye bye, twenty twenty five, and hello twenty twenty six.
