Featured Guest:

Kristi Hemmer, Founder & President, Academy for Women’s Empowerment (AWE)

When Kristi Hemmer, M.Ed. was eight years old, she declared she would be President, start her own school, write a book like Judy Blume, and circumnavigate the world like Magellan. Today, Kristi is President-of her own company. After 20 years as an educator, she started her own school-Academy for Women’s Empowerment. Kristi published Quit Being So Good: Stories of an Unapologetic Woman on International Women’s Day, 2021. And indeed she has circumnavigated the world-Kristi has traveled to 76 countries solo-including the Strait of Magellan.

As a teacher, counselor, and principal for 20 plus years, her big question is, Why do girls and women shrink in a classroom, a boardroom, a conversation? The expectation for women to be less than, made her mad enough to quit her six-figure job in Tokyo in 2010 and travel the world (living on $20 a day) to figure out what do about it. In Nicaragua, she learned about social entrepreneurship and was inspired to start her social business (AWE) in 2013.
Her MOXIEmission is to put more women in power, because when women lead retention, morale, innovation, engagement, revenue, and belonging go up. When women are in power, the world is a safer and more equitable space for all.

Kristi has influenced thousands around the world to take up space, unapologetically. Now she wonders, What would be different if YOU took up space, unapologetically? Find out now!

Episode Transcript

0:02 Welcome to Social Currency, powered by Sunrise Banks, a podcast about the most innovative change makers in finance, technology, and social impact, and how they, our guests, are dismantling barriers, reshaping their industries, and perhaps even ours too.

0:16 I’m your host, Tyler Seydel.

0:19 And I’m Eric Schurr.

0:20 Here we speak to those driving positive change through social entrepreneurship, from cutting edge technology to creative grassroots efforts.

0:29 Each episode seeks to reveal the stories behind the revolution that is propelling us toward a world of financial inclusivity.

0:37 I’m Eric Schurr.

0:39 And I’m Maria Wilkison.

0:41 Today, we’re going to talk about equity and leadership and how one woman is driving change both in business and in her communities.

0:48 Kristi Hemmer joins us today. Kristi is the president and founder of the Academy for Women’s Empowerment, a social enterprise that unleashes the superstar in each woman and girl by disrupting the status quo.

1:01 Before starting the academy, she spent years as an educator, counselor, and principal from pre-K to college.

1:08 She’s also the author of Quit Being So Good Stories of an Unapologetic Woman.

1:13 Kristi, welcome to Social currency.

1:15 Thank you.

1:16 Thanks for having me.

1:16 It’s so great to be here.

1:18 I’d love to hear, Kristi, to kick us off.

1:19 I’d love to hear about your journey, beginning as an educator, to the moment when you decided to change course, to ultimately become a social entrepreneur, an author, and advocate.

1:29 Do you want to share your story with us, please?

1:31 Sure.

1:32 So, I, I mean I’m a teacher counsel principal for 20 years, and I started in Houston.

1:38 I went from Iowa, so I went to University of Northern Iowa for my early childhood elementary, got my master’s in counseling at the University of Houston, which is where Brené Brown got her master’s as well.

1:47 And, for me, my journey from education, I was a principal of an all girls school when I was 31, I believe it was.

1:54 So, but when To international schools also.

1:57 So, inner city schools in Houston, charter schools in New York, international schools in Japan and in Indonesia.

2:06 And for me, what my, how it started was with a big question, which is what a lot of social entrepreneurs start with.

2:12 My big question was, why do girls and women shrink in a classroom, in a boardroom, in a conversation.

2:19 And I was teaching 8th grade at the time and it was the middle school counselor as well.

2:24 And for me, who’s someone who’s been to 76 countries by myself right now, it didn’t matter if I was working with, you know, the three sisters in living in the garbage dumps of El Salvador and working with their daughters and working with them, or if I was working with the millionaires in Japan, we still have the same.

2:39 The same thing, barriers for women and girls.

2:42 And so that was my big question.

2:43 And I started, you know, I was a future problem solver of America when I was in junior high, and I dropped out of it because it wasn’t cool or I thought, you know, people were saying, oh, if you’re too smart, boys won’t like you.

2:53 If you’re too this, you know, it’s too much, it’s, which is what my book is about is being, being, you know, being more of you.

3:00 And so my big question got me thinking, and that’s what I learned about social entrepreneurship from Janie, who is a Brit who was living in Nicaragua and got connected with Ashoka and Youth Ventures in Minneapolis and from there started my business.

3:16 You talk about that a little in your book about, the fact that girls’ confidence peaks at 9 years old.

3:23 And they start dropping out of activities at 14.

3:26 And when I read that, I thought, Wow, that is so young.

3:28 And then I kind of thought back to like my own life.

3:30 I’m like, OK, when do I kind of remember thinking, oh, you don’t look that way, or you don’t talk this way?

3:35 And I’m like, yeah, I was probably around, probably around 9.

3:38 And then, you know, dropping of activities, I absolutely did, like my sophomore year, I was like, yeah, not anymore, right?

3:43 So I just thought that was crazy because you don’t even living it, I didn’t internalize that that was what was happening until I read your book.

3:49 It’s very interesting.

3:51 As a teacher, that’s very exciting because you know, I love teachers love when you can learn something and apply it to yourself and then the social entrepreneur me like, now you’re going to change it.

3:58 Now that you know better, what are you going to do?

3:59 Absolutely, yeah.

4:02 So how will you do better?

4:03 Like, how will you be different by knowing that now, Maria?

4:06 you know, I think.

4:10 So in your book too, it talks about how mothers or, you know, parents that kind of tell girls, don’t, you don’t have to push that hard, or it’s OK if you don’t do it, or, you know, you’re fine just the way you are and like as a mom, I thought, well, that’s great because I’m teaching them it’s OK if you don’t win or lose or whatever it is.

4:27 But then, you know, after reading I’m like, I kind of reflected back up, why don’t we?

4:31 Why can’t you push it?

4:32 People to do something and I pushing my son’s different than my daughter, and I only have sisters, so I didn’t have a, you know, brother to, compare that to.

4:43 But definitely, I think, as a parent, realizing that it’s, you know, pushing and not giving up and ensuring that I do that the same for my daughter.

4:54 And maybe watching out for it as she’s getting closer to the age, right?

4:57 Make sure I let her know it’s not how other people see you, it’s how you see you.

5:01 And, you know, when she wants to drop out of things a sophomore, tell her it’s not happening.

5:06 Yeah, or ask why, right?

5:08 What is it?

5:08 Is it, you know, this, yeah, I love that chapter of Don’t let girls quit.

5:11 And there’s so Much research.

5:13 And usually we come from a good place or we think it’s a good place.

5:16 But really it’s societal and to really explore why.

5:19 So that’s exciting to me that you’re looking at how, how, you know, what are those reasons.

5:23 So, again, the teacher and author of me is very excited that it can, that the learning can move on and moxie on there.

5:29 So.

5:30 Absolutely.

5:31 Yeah.

5:31 It was very, a very eye opening.

5:33 Did you know that, Eric?

5:34 It’s kind of interesting, right?

5:35 I, I did not.

5:37 No, this is no this is eye opening to me.

5:40 See now my daughter wasn’t that way.

5:42 My daughter actually gained, she gained confidence over time.

5:46 She had the appearance of being made of glass.

5:49 That if somebody hit too hard, she would shatter, and she, but what I found out she’s really made more like leather, where she can take the impacts and bounce back stronger.

6:01 Most definitely, and we all are, and oftentimes, you know, women will ask me like, how, how do I change?

6:05 How do I do this?

6:06 How do I become and to me, my, my favorite compliment my work is, you know, I don’t want to change who you are.

6:12 I want you to be more of who you are.

6:14 And then when women struggle and say, what do you you think mean by that?

6:16 I said, think back to when you’re Little girl.

6:18 Whether that’s 6, whether that’s 8, whether that’s 15.

6:21 Think back to that moment, you know, when I would watch my girls and boys as an early childhood, at recess, you know, the moxie, the guts may look different.

6:29 The girls might be on the monkey bars, the boys might be in the field or vice versa.

6:33 But the courage was there.

6:35 And the, the, and you will watch it if you watch your younger, you know, family members or even on a playground.

6:42 You can definitely see when girls turn 8 or 9.

6:45 And actually they even say now 6 is the age that girls start separating from their dream.

6:49 It’s called the dream gap, and Barbie is doing a lot of good work on trying to bridge that piece as well.

6:55 I can see that.

6:55 Do you think, I mean, even the cartoons that my daughter watches are so different now.

7:02 And some are in a good way, and some, you know, they’re, I’m like, oh, that’s not how I want you to identify as a woman and what a woman is.

7:10 And it’s very interesting, because it’s not like you don’t sit down and watch shows with your children anymore.

7:17 That’s just not, I mean, I grew up, there’s one TV, you’re all watching what you’re watching.

7:21 Now everybody’s got a different screen and a different opportunity to watch whatever they want to watch and.

7:27 I think it’s important as a parent to try to make sure you’re always at least understand what they’re watching.

7:34 I also understand the storylines, you know, like I used to teach Cinderella and I was, you know, I was looked at different points of view.

7:41 I love busting echo chambers, so I do a Cinderella from Russia or Cinderella from Egypt or Cinderella from China, but they all have the same messages.

7:50 There’s nothing Cinderella does in any of those stories that shape her destiny.

7:54 It’s all done to her or for her.

7:57 Even the mouse and even bibbidi-bobbidi-boo has more control over Cinderella’s life, and a man, of course, as we learned, and her stepsisters than she does.

8:05 There’s nothing she does in that entire story that gives her agency, and that’s what we’re continuing to teach women that and girls should have things done to them or for them.

8:17 So in your book, you talk about, we kind of talked about, you talk about take up space, be first and find helpers.

8:24 And throughout the book, it just kind of brings back how those three things are how you what you know, models you’ve used to kind of navigate through life, and I’d love everybody to hear more about that here.

8:36 what part would you love to hear more about, because I can go on and on and on, you know, I mean, you know, what the three are, why they’re important, and how we can all kind of adopt them.

8:46 Yeah, for me, to me it was more about how to be unapologetic, you know one keeps asking me like, how, how are you, how do you take up space and how do you, how does this, how you’re different, of course, you know, like when I stand on stage and there’s 1000 people on the stage and they’re like, how do you do this?

8:59 I’m like, oh, I come up there every day and like I’m fearful or this or that, you know, but for me this the three steps would came down to and because I’m a you know, a coach and an educator and a world traveler, it was the 3 things to me was number one, take up space.

9:14 you know, that came from my first question is why do women and girls shrink?

9:18 So that came from my big question.

9:19 And it was like, how do I take up space and where do I need to take up more space?

9:23 Physically, even sometimes physically in line, right?

9:25 I love like, if someone’s getting too close to me, I’m like, oh, and I’ll just, you know, put my legs, spread my legs a little bit, and it’s people will move, as well as airspace, you know, having space to speak, space, leadership space, having a spot at the table, having a, you know, visibility, whatever take up space means.

9:43 For you.

9:44 And then the second one is be first.

9:46 And this one is really about like, where do you need to be what she can see.

9:50 And, you know, we know the research shows that when you we can see what others do, we can be it.

9:55 But my question is, where do you need to be where she can see?

9:58 And for me, it’s, you know, really being that social entrepreneur.

10:01 And you, I’m sure both of you have had experiences where people are watching you and you have no idea, and there’s something you say or do that, changes their lives.

10:09 And so that that be first.

10:12 Be the first to publish a book or be the first to speak up, right?

10:15 And then along with that one, I do also share be a first follower.

10:19 So, you know, when you’re Kristi Hemmer and you’re Academy for Women’s Empowerment and you’re at a family reunion, everyone expects me when something unkind to be said, they all look at me to expect for Kristi Hemmer to say, well, that’s unkind or that’s sexist or that’s racist, and they’re like, there goes Kristi Hemmer again.

10:34 But when my mom, who does not like to go first, when Linda Hemmer says, I agree with Kristi as a First follower, then the family reassesses what’s happening.

10:45 So there’s a lot of power in being the first follower too.

10:48 And not only just the first follower of a person, but of a group.

10:51 We don’t have to keep reinventing.

10:52 We know as social entrepreneurs, we don’t need to keep reinventing.

10:55 Get behind someone else.

10:56 I, I always hear women who we, I talk about like when I speak up and I have guts in a meeting or wherever I was in the world, even traveling.

11:03 And then you have like 3 or 4 people who come running up to you afterwards and go, Yeah, that’s what I thought too.

11:08 That’s what I thought.

11:08 I’m like, you know, That means nothing to me right now.

11:12 Like if you needed to say that when I was in that moment, because the outcome would be very different if you had said what you’re saying to me right now in the space wherever I said it.

11:21 And so to me that idea of being a first follower is very important too.

11:26 And then the third one, you know, the look for the helpers, you know, and that came from Mr.

11:30 Rogers and that’s so even in times like now.

11:33 You know, when he says when bad things happen and you know, look for the helpers.

11:37 There’s always people helping and like even like in our current, you know, situation and stuff too.

11:42 I’m always like, OK, what is Gloria Steinem do?

11:44 What does Maya Angelou do?

11:46 You know, this history, you know, continues on as a humanities teacher and it says.

11:50 Those who don’t know history can, you know, repeat itself.

11:53 Well, we repeat history a lot through our lives.

11:55 And so to me, I, I look for those helpers, whether they’re in past like role models or people around me or, other places.

12:03 So that’s like the, and I say look for the helpers because as women, we know how to be helpers.

12:08 I’m not saying don’t be a helper.

12:10 I’m saying we need help.

12:11 We need practice on looking for the helpers.

12:14 And, you know, that, that to me is an important piece because it’s like my students, you know, they’d say, when they didn’t do well on a test, like, well, what did you study?

12:22 Well, they, they study the things they knew because it made them feel good.

12:25 They didn’t study the things they didn’t know, and that’s why they had the same results.

12:29 So for me it’s getting women and, you know, girls to look for the helpers, which to me means also knowing you need help.

12:37 Knowing who to ask, asking for the help, and this is what I’m still working on, accepting the help.

12:43 I can know usually a lot of those different steps.

12:46I’m still working on then accepting the help, like, oh, I might be inconveniencing her or him, or, you know, what if you know this or that, and so for me it’s about my part of that is accepting the help now.

12:57 You know, Chris, do you bring up a great point, especially at the end, I, I have found that most days I can be useful by helping others.

13:06 There are days though that my role is to allow the graces to be helped by others.

13:12 Yeah.

13:12 And, and as long as I remember that, I can accept that help with a little more grace and with, it was certainly with a lot of gratitude.

13:21 Yeah.

13:22 I really have to pause for a minute and make sure that I am truly listening.

13:29 And I’ll use perfect example is my wife.

13:32 I, she, she has such wisdom, and if I just listen to it more than, more than half the time, I would be much more successful.

13:40 and so I challenge myself all the time to, to, you know, she is saying something that is important to me, and I need to consider it, I, I, with the same, you know, respect as I would with somebody who has Who has deep experience in, in, in an issue.

13:56 And, you know, I have to be, I have to be honest.

13:59 Her, her exposure, not being, not being in the business world, has, is, she’s one of my most valuable business partners because she has that, that, that, that perspective of being herself.

14:12 When you’re busting an echo chamber, right?

14:13 She’s not in the business world.

14:14 So that way, to me, like my sweet spot is being the educator, being a social entrepreneur.

14:19 Being an author and, you know, traveling to 76 countries by myself.

14:22 Like my sweet spot is all those intersections.

14:25 And it reminds me of Rayon has this, it’s a, a social business as well in Des Moines, R A Y G U N.

14:31 And, they have a t-shirt that came out that Tim Walz, I guess, said, surround yourself with, smart women and then listen to them.

14:39 And there’s a t-shirt that they created.

14:41 So it reminds me of what you said, Eric, so in that way.

14:44 So, speaking of that, I think In your book, you kind of like feminism is not for women, feminism is for everybody.

14:54 And I think that is something that people don’t think like feminism has such a stigma to the name, right?

15:02 It does.

15:02 And as a language person, it’s so important that we change the words if we need to then, right.

15:08 So, you know, you say, when people ask me, oh, who are you interviewing and it’s like Christian, what is, what does she do?

15:13 What’s sure about?

15:14 And it’s like, you’re trying to be quick and you’re like.

15:16 Well, she’s just like strong feminist, and they’re like, what is that?

15:20 What do you mean, you know, I’m like, well, I said it in one word to just keep walking, you know what I mean, not to like keep a conversation, but, you know what I’ve told him is like, you know, feminist isn’t really about being for women, although you are, it’s really for mankind, like it’s about not feminism, it means believing there’s equal rights for women and men.

15:40 That is the definition.

15:41 And in all the ways that that betters all of us, right, to Eric’s point, like it it betters everybody can be a little more compassionate and listen a little more to to somebody else.

15:52 Well, and then men don’t have to work as hard because there’s a lot of pressure on men, you know, to perform and to provide the financials, and when women have that capacity, which we do now, it’s 50 years ago we didn’t as much.

16:03 You know, to have that capacity, then they, they, they have more space in their life.

16:07 They can have more space in their life too.

16:10 And so I know as you know, sometimes when I get hired they’re like, wait, your academy from its empowerment.

16:14 Do you know how to work with men?

16:15 And I’m like, I’m a teacher.

16:16 I love my girls and I love my boys.

16:19 And I’m like, so and I’m a systems person, so, you know, bringing in, I know Eric you mentioned about how it takes a lot of courage to do the work, you know, when women to speak up, it does, but in some ways I would say it’s just as brave for men to speak up.

16:30 you know, to be that first follower because it carries so much power and it gives so much space for other men to say, I believe that too.

16:41 I believe that too.

16:42 And again, I would not be in business if, if there were was not really change makers, women and men who believe in the wellness and and and the equality and equity in the world.

16:59 Can you talk a little bit about the characteristics that you see from organizations that hire you?

17:04 Like, what are the things that, what are the common elements of organizations that bring you on and what’s the type of work they’re asking you to perform?

17:14 Yeah, so, you know, it, it changed.

17:15 Obviously, you know, my business has been around since, you know, HR used to hire me before Me Too, when Me Too happened, then it was, it was DEI now with working across the country, DEI is not probably the ones that’s gonna be hiring me as much.

17:29 I would say that the companies that hire me definitely have courage.

17:33 They definitely have, A leadership That is, you know, not afraid of being wrong.

17:46 I think, you know, I, I, I just applied for a TED talk to apply and one of the things I said about traveling is one of the things I learned was the joy of being wrong.

17:54 So I think, you know, corporations that hire me or in universities that hire me, they, there’s one that I just interviewed this morning and one of their values was courage and one of their other values was care and I’m like, that’s me, you know, like I I have, I will be as brave and I will, you know, have as much moxie and I have the care part as well.

18:10 And so I think that helps to bust down the fear, you know, to build that trust, to build that, that connection.

18:16 So I’d say the companies, corporations that hire me, and you know, they have to have guts, you know, and they have to deeply care.

18:24 And I, the, the most popular session I’m doing right now is the one I have on the difference between sponsorship and men mentorship, which is I call it, the power, power of sponsorship bring bringing others along in your success.

18:38 Because I feel like that statement, all of us can lean into and if we can’t lean into it, then we’re really that that company probably doesn’t want to keep us anyway.

18:47 So that that’s a session that I do and that one’s a really popular one and really trending.

18:51 so it just depends, you know, my teacher, so I have like 15 different sessions, but my newest one also is the power of Change.

18:59 So that’s how I pivoted, right?

19:00 So that I can be more where, people feel like, oh yeah, Kristi can work with us as women and men.

19:06 I’m, I created a session on the power of change.

19:08 And I’m very excited for that one.

19:10 I have a couple companies already looking at that one.

19:12 It’s I just released that one.

19:13 And that came from being a social entrepreneur when you have, you You know, your business to be on the chopping block.

19:19 I mean, legally my business is Inc.

19:22 A W E I N C.

19:23 So if, if things start getting scrubbed for women, the word women, and my business will still be here because federally I’m Inc.

19:30 And so for me, pivoting is always, you know, turning those challenges and opportunities.

19:35 It goes back to when I was a little girl and I was in the Future Problem Solvers of America, right?

19:38 Still a future problem solver of America.

19:40 Actually, future problem solver of the world.

19:42 So.

19:43 I think those are the kinds of companies and universities and organizations that reach out to me.

19:48 Are you still continue?

19:49 Actually I’ve actually found more support right now like some people were like, hey, can we give you a deposit for our session in September because in the back of their head I’m thinking they’re thinking, I might not have this money then.

20:01 And so it’s been really interesting.

20:03 I just read this quote that I love.

20:05 It’s my new favorite quote, and it says, wherever women gather together, failure is impossible.

20:14 And it’s Susan B.

20:14 Anthony, and I didn’t say it correctly, but the essence I think you capture, and that’s what I’ve been doing is gathering small groups of women and change maker men as well.

20:23 And so I think it’s those change makers again that hire me.

20:29 And then they’ll always be there.

20:31 And that’s what I tell myself when I have fear that sometimes comes in or doubt or you see something on the news or hear something or you lose a contract because of because of the work I do.

20:41 And of course that’s been happening since affirmative action got overturned in 2023.

20:46 I’ve lost contracts consistently since then.

20:48 So for me it’s that idea of change makers will always be there.

20:53 Look for the helpers.

20:55 Do you still do quite a bit internationally?

20:58 I do when I travel, yeah, I do, and then I that’s the other factor I’d say right now is those companies that are hugely international.

21:08 They’re not afraid.

21:09 Mhm.

21:10 I had a session two weeks ago.

21:12 I did a power sponsorship.

21:13 We had 924 virtually tuned in and we did 14 watch parties.

21:18 And so that was probably one of the biggest audiences for a virtual session to have and huge big international company.

21:26 So I think that’s the other factor going forward for me, my strategic mind, my business mind, my advisory team’s mind is like go for those international companies that aren’t going to be impacted as much from the day to day.

21:39 Chaos in the United States.

21:41 I think you, there’s a part in your book, and I don’t.

21:44 Have it with me, where you talk about like incorporating some of the feminine or feminine characteristic characteristics in your management and how that really can create like a community within your business and it helps your retention go up by like 50% and engagement and just people’s like workplace happiness and efficiencies.

22:09 Yeah, all the statistics show when women lead, all the all the health indicators of a business go up.

22:15 retention, innovation, engagement, collaboration, recruitment, financial, when women lead.

22:22 And so it’s a it’s an investment for our businesses to have more women in leadership.

22:27 And then to me, leadership not only means leadership, it means decision making power because there’s some women I work with who technically have a role of a leader, but then when we’re going along and negotiating, they’re like, oh, I have to go check with this person.

22:39 And so they don’t have the decision making power, which I talk a little bit about my book about the difference between responsibility and decision making power because women always are like, oh, I’ll take that on, or they’re expected to, and I’m like, great.

22:50 And again, the power and what decision making power or what are you going to get out of it?

22:55 What when are you going to get out of it as well?

22:59 So that piece of it too, but yes, this, I mean, actually the UN says when you invest a dollar in a woman.

23:06 90% or 90+ cents of that dollar goes back to her community compared to 33 cents for men.

23:13 So when you invest a dollar in a woman, and you know I was I was in a C-suite, it was all C-suite and they’re like, what do you mean?

23:19 How is this true?

23:20 And the one brave woman in the C-suite spoke up and said yes.

23:24 When I get money I spend it on my son’s tutoring, his soccer, and then they’re like, what was your husband spend it on?

23:31 And she’s like, golf.

23:33 Happy Hour.

23:35 You know, that kind of thing, but golf especially, so to me it’s, you know, the numbers are there.

23:41 Yeah, I think you also say like in America, 85% of financial decisions in the households are made by women, which is totally true in my house.

23:50 Like my, I’ve, if my, if I disappeared, I think most of our bills would go unpaid, not because he couldn’t, but he just like, what, there’s a login for this, or like my children’s lunch would never happen.

24:03 Exactly.

24:03 Well, and the cool thing too about that, you know, well, this is not cool, but pay equity is gonna be 300 years, right?

24:08 And actually the company I just worked with this morning, their goal is not even pay equity, it’s wealth equity and I thought equality.

24:13 I’m like, oh, interesting, because we talk about wealth being like long term, right?

24:17 So now I’m like, you know the learner means like, OK, how do I incorporate this, but my partner is the one that pays all the bills.

24:22 He manages all that partly because I’m out of the country all the time.

24:25 So I’m like, I don’t know, can I get into this?

24:26 Can I do that?

24:27 But I choose where we spend our money.

24:30 You know, when I take our nieces out for dinner, I go to the women owned restaurants.

24:35 When I buy gifts, I shop at Athletic because it’s a B Corp.

24:38 I shop at, you know, a local, like, you know, when I buy my my stuff, you know, like flip the steam like buy zinc with, you know, being women owned, so I’d make their choices even though they’re his nieces, technically they’re mine now too I make all the decisions of where we go.

24:55 Except for maybe his birthday and his car, his car.

24:58 I don’t make any decisions on that.

24:59 I wouldn’t spend that kind of money on a car, however, he does, and it’s, it’s great for him because that’s his office.

25:04 He’s, you know, he’s in his car all the time.

25:06 That’s his office, so.

25:10 So how can people find you or the Academy of Women’s Empowerment if they are like, hey, we really would love to find out more about how you work with the businesses or work with schools or all the work you’re doing.

25:23 Well, I really appreciate that question.

25:24 That comes from sponsorship.

25:26 So thank you.

25:27 Thank you for that trust and for that risk to put that out there.

25:29 Kristi Hemmer.com is where you can find me, and that’s where it’s the best place where you can see some of my workshops.

25:34 I am redoing my website.

25:36 It’s been in a process.

25:37 I rebranded this summer, so, but all the contents there, and LinkedIn is probably the next best place to find me.

25:43 I’m a Gen Xer.

25:45 I travel a lot, so Facebook and Instagram, I’m not as active in, and I’m not gonna apologize for that because I’m unapologetic, right?

25:52 But if you want to find me, LinkedIn and my website are the two best spots to find me and to connect.

25:58 And of course, I always love to, you know, sponsor back too.

26:01 Great.

26:02 Is there anything else you want to make sure we hit on before we go?

26:06 I would say that I think my favorite compliment in my work, and this is what I would say to you all, is not to change who you are, and society always wants us to change and conform, but to be more of who you are as an early childhood educator.

26:20 Who would do a lot of recess duty, you know, my girls and my boys were out there playing and and they had the same level of moxie.

26:27 They had the same level of courage and to go back to not changing, not shrinking, but being more of who you are, taking up more of space who you are, especially those change makers out there.

26:40 And then I guess the last would be, you know, look for those helpers, look for the history, look for those people who will, we are here, and as I’m doing more digging and finding more small groups, I go back to Margaret Meads that never doubt the power of a small group is the only thing that ever has changed history or changed things is that small group.

26:59 So those are the two things I would like to say, so thank you for that.

27:04 Absolutely.

27:04 Well, it’s been awesome talking to you.

27:06 Thank you for joining us today on Social Currency.

27:09 Thank you very much for having me.

27:10 Appreciate it, Maxi on.

27:12 Thank you.

27:16 And that engaging dialogue was powered by Sunrise Banks, member FDIC, equal housing lender.

27:23 Thanks for listening to the Social Currency podcast by Sunrise Banks.

27:26 If you’ve enjoyed this episode and you’d like to help support the podcast, click like and subscribe anywhere you get your podcast content.

27:33 We’ll see you soon.