Business Innovators Radio - The Inspired Impact Podcast with Judy Carlson-Interview with Amy Mays, Executive Director, The Happy Crew

Episode Date: April 8, 2025

For over thirty years, Amy Mays has worked alongside teens, helping them navigate life’s challenges. As a youth director and counselor, she learned something crucial: teens need more than programs. They need places where they feel they truly belong, where getting support doesn’t feel like a big deal.That’s why she started Happy Crew in 2007. It began with weekly meetings where teens could be themselves, find their voice, and know they matter. What started with just a few students grew steadily. In the 2024-2025 school year, Happy Crew will host a total of 23 weekly meetings that bring together an average of 75 students each time. Already, 183 different teens have found community through Happy Crew this year alone—and we’re on track to connect with over 200 students before summer. But we need to do more.https://thehappycrew.org/https://www.happycrewcoffeehouse.com/*************************************************************Judy is the CEO & Founder of the Judy Carlson Financial Group. She helps her clients design, build, and implement fully integrated and coordinated financial plans from today through life expectancy and legacy.She is an Independent Fiduciary and Comprehensive Financial Planner who specializes in Wealth Decumulation Strategies. Judy is a CPA, Investment Advisor Representative, Life and Health Insurance Licensed, and Long-Term Care Certified.Judy’s mission is to educate and empower her clients with an all-inclusive financial plan that encourages and motivates them to pursue their lifetime financial goals and dreams.Learn More: https://judycarlson.com/Investment Adviser Representative of and advisory services offered through Royal Fund Management, LLC, an SEC Registered Adviser.The Inspired Impact Podcasthttps://businessinnovatorsradio.com/the-inspired-impact-podcast/Source: https://businessinnovatorsradio.com/the-inspired-impact-podcast-with-judy-carlson-interview-with-amy-mays-executive-director-the-happy-crew

Welcome to the Inspired Impact Podcast, where dedicated female professionals share how they inspire impact every day. Authentic stories, passionate commitment, lives transformed. I'm your host, Judy Carlson. Welcome to today's episode of the Inspired Impact Podcast. I can't wait to introduce you to today's guest. She has been working alongside teens, helping them navigate life's challenges for over 30 years. Amy Mays, welcome to the podcast. Thank you.

Thank you, Judy. Thank you so much for having me. Yeah. I'm so excited for everybody to be able to hear your story. So where do you want to start telling us about your journey? Is it in grade school, high school, college, after college? Tell me where it started. I want to know.

I love that. I think it probably did start early. You know, like in grade school, I had teachers who just were so inspiring to me. And then in high school, I had a teacher who just really, really helped me see a bigger picture. She loved being with us. And she loved the essays that we wrote. And she loved us and she let us know. And I'm telling you what, that whole class was just.

enamored. Really? Because she believed in us. Oh my gosh. What a gift. And she was just enthusiastic. Yeah. She made to believe in ourselves.

So that was super fun. Her name is Mrs. Broughton, Emmy Broughton. And she was one of my early inspirers. And then I went to college. I got married and moved. Well, I was in Phoenix for a year, which was not the best time in my life, except I got to meet my husband and be with him. That was fantastic, but I am not an Arizona desert pearl in any way, shape, with form.

So we came back here and I started volunteering at my church for the youth group. And after just, it seemed like minutes to me, but it was probably just a few weeks. The youth director said, hey, Amy, I want to take a different position in the church. So will you be the new director? And I was like, okay. And it felt like the first time that I just was like, yes. Oh, this is it. This is what I get to do.

So I spent 10 years there working with kids, had a blast. Oh my gosh, we just had a blast. We painted our youth room and we put our handprints on the walls and we did all those things. So mattering and belonging and forming community has always been the platform. Then after 10 years of that, my husband said, let's have kids of our own. And I said, okay. Yes, again. Knowing myself and knowing that I don't think I could do the youth department justice

and be raising kids, I said, okay, you know, you guys are going through a fantastic transition. We had gotten a new pastor, a couple of other. new staff members. So it was a great time for me to go and to say to them, you know, you're going to create some cool stuff here. So I moved out to Hyland's Ranch and had my kids and kids that I worked with at my church just followed me. They followed us. They were in the delivery, not in the delivery room, but in the waiting room, 15 of them when Cole was born. And they were all back when Meg was born. They were at our house constantly. They helped me. They helped us raise our kids. And they, you know, like they would say, hey, do you need to take a nap? We'll take the kids to the

park. Yes. Thank you so much. So they have always been an essential part of our lives. And then we, they, you know, they, and they're driving around, they would say, hey, Amy, there are too many kids just hanging out at gas stations and on the street corner. That's just not, can't we do something better? So we read a book by Michael W. Smith called This Is Your Time. And he had just built Rocket Town in Nashville. It was a fantastic dream that we were very intrigued by. A big indoor skate park, like huge couple of big stages.

This is in Nashville, Tennessee. So the music made sense. Of course. And all these creative things. So we visited them a lot of times. And we tried to get them to come to Denver and it just never worked out. And that's okay. So in that time period, we were fortunate to meet Isaac Slade from the Frey, the

band of the Frey. And he wanted to build something in Northland. I wanted to build something in Highlands Ranch. And so we never, you know, we just said, what can we do right now? Yeah. And the fray was just starting and they were gaining traction and it was so fun to watch their journey. And we held seven summers of Battle of the Bands. So we auditioned kids at Wahoo's Fish Taco every Tuesday and Thursday night for seven summers to have them make tapes.

of their songs. And then Isaac would choose the top five. And then we would go to the Gothic theater and have spare parts. And we had a skateboard competition during the day and a graffiti contest during the day. And then we had this big fun concert at night. They would crown the winner and the whole thing. Isaac even convinced Ryan Tudder to come and be a judge one night. So it's kind of fun.

Like I was in the same room as Ryan Teter. I'm sure he has absolutely no recollection of it, but it was a big deal for our kids. So then the fray was changing, and Isaac moved to Seattle, and I couldn't find any bands anymore. So my kids were in middle school, and we had been going to Wahoo's Fish Taco. So they welcomed us in every Tuesday with a bunch of middle schoolers who would meet in my cul-de-sac. And we had a van from Grace Chapel that would come and pick them up and take them to a Wahoo's fish taco. And they would play Wii games, you know, and just talked to. We had a couple of mentors there who were in their early 20s.

So I would buy drinks and french fries and kind of hang out. And the kids would just get all this, you know, intentional pouring in from these 20s. year olds. And then my kids went to high school and we had eight suicides in Douglas County, teen suicides, like all in one year. And it started, well, they were mostly in Castle Rock and Chaparral High School. And at Chaparral High School, the last life that was lost was Kobe Stevens. and he was a lacrosse player. And Kobe had it all together as far as anybody knew. You know, everybody wanted to be his friend.

He looked super successful. He was on the football team and on the news and, you know, just this gorgeous, beautiful kid. And he died by suicide. And my board member at the time, my board members said she had a son on the lacrosse team she said and we just they're wrecked and I said absolutely so I went and met with them and then that turned into meeting at Starbucks and then that turned into meeting at a pizza place and then that turned into meeting at my house

and for three semesters we had candy bars we would buy bulk snicker bars and kit cats And we put a huge sticker on them that said, you matter. And the kids would take them to school and hand them out just in the hallways, just handing out candy, letting kids know, you matter, we see you, talk to us. Well, then the candy bar has got to be a little too expensive. And so we were still meeting at the house, but we changed to stickers. So we order stickers now. And kids leave every meeting with a hand.

handful of stickers to hand out at school. And just, you know, like if you see somebody in the hall and you think, maybe they're having a bad day, it's much easier to approach them with a vehicle, like a sticker, than to just walk up to them and say, hey, I just want you to know I'm here. And if you need me, you can chat with me. Oh, yeah, I just want you to have this sticker. You matter. And, and it's very fun.

So we started meeting every Monday night at my house. And we started with about 25 kids. And then during, and those kids were mixed. They were from Rock Canyon and from Chaparral High School. And then COVID hit. And all my Chaparral kids aged out. Oh. So we lost our Chaparral connection.

All the Rock Canyon kids are in my neighborhood. So they were still, you know, checking in, hanging out. And then when we started up, again, they were here. So we went from about 20 kids a week to right in, well, December of 24, we had up to 80 or 90 kids a week. And during the summer, it's okay because I have a yard and they would, you know, set up. We have 80 orange chairs. They would set up in little circles, you know. And we have a couple of tables on our deck. And so they, you know, they made it work. and in the winter it's so hard to get that many bodies in my house.

So in 2023, we had written a grant for the ARPA funds from Douglas County. And we received a $240,000 intent to grant with the whole goal of building a coffee shop where kids could be all day long, anytime. We could have big meetings. We could have, you know, 100 kids and not be on top of each other and just really have a good space. So for two years, we tried to find a location, build a shop, open up, and expand the program.

So in late 20, 24, the Douglas County Commissioner said, hey, we love happy crew, we believe in you. But I think maybe you're going to want to expand the program while you're looking for a coffee shop. You know, it's time to get this thing out of your house. So think about using some of the funds to lease to rent some space until you get your dream operation up and running. I said, okay. So we checked some spaces. And Terry Weibold, who is an amazing connected woman.

called me one day to talk about something else and she said hey how's the coffee shop and I told her what was going on and she said have you ever been to business foundry I said no I didn't know what you're talking about she said you might want to go check with them they have space they rent there so um I I said okay so my house they're used to light they're used to being outside they're used to just used to space And so I was just praying and I'm like, you know what God? Here's what I want. I want a space that has a lot of light. I don't want them to feel downgraded when we move from here. I want them to feel like, wow, okay, this is a step up. Sure. I walked into business foundry and I went upstairs and Andrew was up there.

He's one of the business family guys and he said, I said, hey, we're looking for space to rent on Monday nights. I want to have meetings. Sometimes I get to about a hundred people. And he said, I'm pretty sure we can accommodate that. And I said, okay, I just, to be really honest with you, they're teenagers. And he said, we love teenagers. And I said, we love you. Because I cannot even tell you the number of times that we would talk to people and,

oh yeah we're interested in your building and maybe we're and we work with teenagers in mental health and they're like no no go somewhere else we don't want you here many many many many times we heard that so when he said that it was like okay okay this could be a good thing and we're up on the second floor when i was talking to him and there was a little it said rooftop cafe and they had a a little coffee maker up there and a couple of things and i said you know we're we're going to meet here until we can build a coffee shop and have space all the time for kids. And he said, we're kind of looking for somebody to build a coffee shop up here. That was my response. I was like, I think we could be best friends. And within like six weeks, we had the deal figured out.

Really? So we moved into this beautiful space. It's all for an We didn't have to do a thing except bring in our coffee maker and a few other things. And we've been running now. Our opening day was March 1st. March 1st. And we are plowing new ground. We run as a membership coffee house. Okay.

What that means is that individuals can buy a membership to be part of the coffee house community. So if you buy a membership, when you buy a membership, say $50. Okay. And that's for a month. And say you only use $35 during that month. Yeah. The other $15 becomes an automatic donation, a tax deductible donation, to Happy Crew. And you get a receipt at the end of the month.

And then it just starts all over again. And so the students that I work with can see this growing popular. of people investing in and surrounding them and make, you know, like, yes, I believe in you. Yes, I support you. Yes, you matter and you belong to the community. And we want to make mental health and wellness just part of the, part of the, like, breathing air. Yeah. It's just not this big, scary, awful thing.

Right. So, so we're doing memberships and we're doing corporate memberships, which will launch in April. Okay. And that will give corporations some extra perks and some, some Happy Crew meetings at your place. Oh, I see. Mm-hmm. So Happy Crew, and what I mean by bringing Happy Crew to you, is to, first, let me tell you about

Happy Crew, what we do on a Monday night. Right. Me, we have dinner. And Cronelli's, who you know. Of course. Nguernery donates dinner to us every month. I cannot say enough. The generosity of Cornelis and the incredible support that they have been and continue to be to happy crew.

I mean, above beyond crazy. They are amazing. And Lysinda is just the most open, big heart ever. She is. And they deserve all the props. I know they got a bunch of awards. lately for best Italian restaurant and they deserve it. Yeah.

So, love them. Anyway, so we meet, we have dinner. And then we break up into random small groups. The kids get a name tag when they walk in the door. Each name tag has a different color dot on it.

All the green dots meet over there, all the red dots meet over there so that we can break them up. We try really hard to not, okay, But, you know, we want them to know each other. And it's just much easier if we do it that way. So then we have, this year I have 20 student leaders who trained with me in August. And they then lead the groups, the small groups.

And these leaders, these kids are, they're so amazing. I can't even, I could never say enough about them. So we break up into small groups. And the first thing the small groups do is they pull these random, cards with questions on them, you know, just to kind of prime the pump, let them know, you know, other people struggle with us or other people have had vacations to Hawaii or other people have, I'm not alone, I'm not alone. And then they'll spend the last 25 minutes really working through a mental health and wellness tool. So if our, if our conversation is how to have a

have a productive conversation. Yeah. First, you have to know what you want, what your outcome is going to be, what you, what your intention is, what you're bringing to the tape. Then you have to be intent on, how am I going to listen and be curious and be open and really hear. And we do a lot of active listening. Am I hearing you say this?

Yes, you got it. Am I hearing you say this? Oh, then that's not what I meant at all. let's drag it. Okay. And then how can you have an outcome where both sides of the conversation can walk away, knowing they learned something, knowing they grew, and where both sides, if you will, feel like they won or like they made progress.

Or, you know, so that you don't go into it with a, I'm going to win and you're going to lose, and here's how I'm going to found you. And so that's one thing we did. And then they'll practice it. We have whiteboards. We have Play-Doh. We have all kinds of stuff up in the coffee house. And so they'll go get whatever they think is going to work with their group and they'll draw a little cartoon.

Or they'll mold up some Play-Doh and act things out. Or they'll just, you know, talk about it. Or they'll write poetry. Or we try to do something really creative so that it sticks. and the kids get to choose which area of creativity they want to use to lead their group. Okay. I always know what the outcome we want is. Yep.

And so it's this beautiful, beautiful. It's so fun to watch, and I get to watch that every Monday night in third hour. Oh, gosh. And it is just a privilege. So that's what we do. And then when I say bring a happy crew to your. corporation, it's like, let's sit down. Let's, first of all, realize that we're all, you know, human beings.

There's nobody here that's, we're just all here together. And so how do we build community here? And how do we build belonging here? And how do we hear each other here? And how do we create a culture that values each person's input rather than, well, you're just a cog in the wheel. So if you want to leave tomorrow, fine. Because that doesn't benefit anybody.

You put a lot of money into somebody when you're training them. And you want them to stick around. And when I'm a new employee and I'm being brought into a culture and a value system, I'm much more likely to stay than to keep my eyes open and be looking. Because I know that I have value there and that I matter. So that's part of it. And then we do quarterly meetings. where we talk about how to communicate with your teenagers.

What's the best way to talk about suicide? If, you know, there was a suicide at Rakhinean over fall break. And how do you talk about that with your children? Because the tendency, there's a couple things. You either ignore it, like, okay, well, it's not going to happen here and it's over. and oh, those poor, that's such an unfortunate situation, but let's move on. Or you just, you just panic. And really, I had the kids who had Monday night right after spring break, and I'm like, you know, we had this great night where they just let off a lot of steam.

And at the end, I said, I want to talk to about this beautiful person that we lost by suicide. And they all just breathed this. You said the word. you're giving us permission to talk about it. You're letting us. Yeah. And they just, they just, they really let these crying and they were, you know, but they were so glad to hear the word and to be able to say,

this did happen. And here's how we can increase our game, increase our watch, let people know we're here. Yeah. And so parents, yeah. Yeah, I'd like to say, don't be afraid of the S word. Right. Just say to your kids, man, this happened at school.

Here's how I feel. Oh, I'm so glad I get to hug you tonight. Right. Oh, please, no, I'm here for you. And how is this affecting you? And what are your friends thinking? And how can I come alongside all of you during this crazy time? And to just be open to those kinds of discussions.

It's the best thing we can do. Right. To talk and to listen to our kids. So that was a great night. That was a great night. Wow, yeah. I've learned with some of the other people I've talked to or had conversations with. The kids today are much more open about talking about what's happening in their generation than their parents are.

Their parents are afraid, basically. I've been afraid. I'm terrified. What? And, of course, you know, we all wanted to say, okay, come in the house. We're going to lock you up until you're 50. But that's not what anybody really wants. It's just that responsive.

I just want to hold you close. I know. Oh, my gosh. And those families, oh. Oh. How can you? Yeah. Wow. I've circled all kinds of things to ask you questions about. Oh, you have an amazingly full life and you are impacting and inspiring so many people in so many ways. I'm just, I'm kind of overwhelmed because these students are the future leaders of our country. or our state, our county.

Yes, yes. And the foundation they're getting is amazing to have this to walk alongside them while they're in high school. And what's really fun for me, Judy, is that, like, of my eight board members, four of them are former happy crew members. I love it. And they're out of college now, and they're, you know, they're like, okay we want to come back we want to help we want to make sure this thing keeps going and it's so

it's so fun to watch and it they just learn so much from each other and from taking these tools and learning how to use them in the world and it's it's on them and they take it and run with it and that's just the truth i get to i get to plant a bunch of seeds but they're the ones that are responsible for watering it and throwing it and right seeing it come to fruition so that they can repeat it. That's what we're all about in life, right? Yes. Yes. So you mentioned the eight board members for our previous Happy Crew. What about the 20 student leaders? Where have they come from? They're all at Rock Canyon High School. They're all high school students. Okay. And seniors, I have like six juniors and maybe four sophomores.

So then if they're leaders, it's not an uncomfortable situation for a junior leader to have a mix of all four grade levels in their small group. Right. No, it isn't because they just, they start with these cards. Yeah. And they're talking about, oh, yeah, favorite vacation. Oh, yeah, this, this, this. And then the leader just says, hey, so tonight, this is what we're, this is what we're going to talk about. And this is how, this is where we're going to go. And then they all just start, they all just start sharing. And the leaders are really good.

They're so authentic. They're so vulnerable. They just really set the stage. And it's not just like, I have authority and you don't. It's like, hey, let's come together. We're all in this together. Here's what we can learn about this. What I'm amazed by, too, is that,

your leadership principles are so right on because you started by yourself, you know, in your home of all places. And now you've got a board of eight members, you've got 20 student leaders, and you've got up to 100 kids coming every Monday night. And you've created this, you know, this, what do you call it? Not the ladder, but the levels of people who are you. are all growing themselves, you know, to move everybody in the same direction upward and forward. Yeah, they are. That is amazing. I want to know about your kids because they grew up with the happy group.

Yeah. How old are they in their 20s now? Cole is 29. Okay. Lives in Hawaii. Okay. married. He has got, you know, I mean, like he does happy crew in Hawaii.

He, um, he participates in a lot of different things. He's involved. He, they, they're, yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Um, they went there with youth with a mission. Okay. And, uh, then he got married to Jeney, who is, he definitely married up.

I tell him all the time. Don't mess this up. You love her. he's like, not as much as I do. And they're just beautiful together. And their whole community is very, you know, much about helping. They run a thing called Deep and Beyond where they, every month, take disabled and people in wheelchairs into the ocean,

who maybe have never been in water before. So they have a big ramp. They have these special wheel. They transfer people to the wheelchairs and take them into the water. So that's pretty fun. So they are super inspirational, super fun, super. And yeah, Cole created all our websites. He knows it from the inside of.

And Meg is 28. Okay. And she is, is that right? Yes, 28, sorry. And she ran all our social media. Okay. She's up in the coffee house almost every day. Okay.

She led middle crew, middle school, for a couple of years here at the house. Oh. And then she went to college and things changed. And now she's back. And I don't know if she'll be picking that up. We have a couple people interested in middle group, but super artistic, super taking a lot of pictures, helping us. We're going to be able to rent our space for events.

or if somebody wants to have a birthday party there, if they can rent it. So she's getting all of that media together to say, here's our space. If you'd like to rent it, call us here. And, you know, that just helps sustain happy crew and the coffee shop and the lease and the whole thing. Right.

So they're both super creative, super, it's just in their DNA. Yeah. They're never going to escape it. No. It's been a kick. So the space, I've actually been in it so I know what it looks like and it's absolutely phenomenal and the whole place is all windows and there's a huge area for your coffee shop. So what you're saying is that if someone wants to hold an event of any type, that space is available like when during the day and the evenings, everything but Monday night, weekends. How does that work?

You put a, we have a form on Okay. Crew Coffeehouse.com. Okay. And you can just submit like an Airbnb. I'd like to come in this date this time. And then we'll get back to you within 24 hours and say, hey, yeah, the space is available. Call us.

Let's talk about what you want to do, how it's going to look. What's really great about the space is that you can bring in all your own food and beverage. Oh, wow. So you don't have to. work with our caterers or our beverage providers or anything like that. Private events can bring in their own food and beverage to our membership space. Okay. And so that's pretty fun.

I have some kids that have been saying, I want to book up for my graduation party. Oh. Okay. That would be great. Yeah. Even though I don't want him to graduate. But they're going to graduate. They're going to go on.

They're going to make them big impression. big lives and every year I you know I cry yeah no kidding there go my kids I know and all of you've invested in them they're going to take with them what a marvelous thing so fun yeah um so I love that idea of being able to rent out the event space so then like just let's just say for instance I wanted to have a trivia night and I wanted to rent out the space and I had 35 people coming and I could have Cronellys or someone else cater the appetizers

and maybe wine or beer or something and then then you or some happy crew members or who kind of make sure that we're all doing what we're supposed to do there? It depends on your contract. What you want to do.

If you just want the space and you want to come in, set up, run everything, clean up. We'll have somebody there to open the door make sure you know what you're up to and we'll have somebody there to lock up but we're not going to like monitor what's happening. I see. Okay. But there's also room for saying, hey, we want help with setup. Hey, we want help with cleanup. Hey, we want the coffee bar to be open. Hey, we want this many baristas there. There's just a myriad of opportunities to make it your event,

to make it for you. That is unbelievable. I love that opportunity. That, needs to be, that needs to be broadcast into the whole South Denver area, right? Yes, yes, yes. Get that out. Yes. So I have another question about like the tools that you use during your Monday night time. You said you pull cards with questions and then for 25 or 30 minutes you talk about a health and wellness tool. How did you and the leaders learn how to facilitate things in the mental health and wellness sphere?

That's a great question. And I think the answer to that is it can be the mental health sphere is a really big word. it's a really big, it's a really big thing. I see. But if you just say, I want to talk to you about how to communicate to your parents. Yeah. It's a great tool.

Yeah. Here's some communication things. Hey, if you're feeling depressed, oh. It's a real thing. It's a valid thing. Yeah. All these feelings are going to come and go.

Yeah. They are. Feelings are part of our world. Yeah. And you can't say, I only want the good ones. and I'll never deal with the bad ones. Guess what? That's impossible.

So when you have a bad one, what are you going to do with that? And then I'll talk a lot about a bus. If you let feelings drive your bus, it's not going to get you where you want to go. It's only, you know, like you don't leave my house, you guys at the end of the night, get to the first stop sign and say, hmm, do I feel like turning right or less? I think I'll turn right. You know, like if you go home like that, you're never going to get there. Right.

But when you leave here, you know your destination. You know what you have to do to get home. Now, are you going to have to maybe go through a construction site? Yes. Is that going to be frustrating? Yes. Are you going to get out of your car and abandon it and start walking? No.

You're going to say, I know where I'm going. This is a temporary situation. I can turn the volume up on my radio and jamming here while I'm stuck in this traffic, and I can just calm, you know? And so we talk about that. If you spend a lot of your time looking through the rear view when you're driving, guess what? And life is very much like that.

You have a rear view to know certain things that are important. I'm not saying any of these feelings are not valid or important. It's just where you're going to place your focus. And if the fear or the anxiety or the anger is so strong, okay, then sit with it for a minute. Let it sit with you for a minute. And then realize, okay, you can be here because I can't get rid of you. But I'm not going to wear you like a coat.

You can sit right next to me and I feel you. And I know that you're not going to sit there forever. And then begin to think, What outcome do I want? What do I want to learn from this fear? What do I want to learn from this anxiety? What do I want to learn from that failed test? Okay?

Lots of kids fail a test and then their whole world ends. They're like, oh my gosh, I'm not going to get into college. I'm not going to have a career. I'm not going to make money. I'm not going to be successful. Everything is crazy. I'm like, okay, wait, it's a day. It's a moment.

It's one moment. What can you learn? Did you study like you want to do? to study. If it's yes, then ask your teacher, where did I go wrong? I really want to get this right next time. If you know you didn't put yourself into it, just accept that and say, you know what, I really blew it. I went out to a movie, then I stayed up, and then I got up for this test, and I wasn't ready, and of course I failed. And that's okay. It's okay. It's okay. It's okay. So look at it. Get some perspective. Why in your perspective? Anyway, so mental health, fear,

If we sit down and say we're going to increase our mental health awareness in the sphere, it's so daunting. But if we say, hey, here's how you can think about neat things. They're real. They're valid. Can't erase them. You can embrace it, grow from them, learn for them. Walk with them until they dissipate. It's a whole different thing.

And so when you're talking, the kids get that so fast. They're like, oh, yeah, it doesn't have to be threatening. It doesn't have to be like here. And all these things are good. Here's 50 years of data about how perspective, increasing your perspective, can alleviate situations with your mental health. They don't need all that. They just need to sit down and play with it. Like, oh, yeah, okay.

Or, you know, put a blindfold on. Well, can you see nothing? How fast do you think you're going to? and run to the next house down the road? Not very. Okay, what if you get a little bit of vision? Oh, I can get there, but I might trip. Okay, what if you got a lot of vision?

Oh, you know, just those kinds of exercises that help them drill down and go, okay, where's your perspective? Where's your perspective? So we talk about all those things. Oh, my gosh, Amy. I'm in tears listening to you. I wish I could sit under your teaching every Monday night. I think all of us should have a little dose of you in our lives.

That's very sweet of you to say. Oh, my God. I just can't even say enough. It's so them. It's so them. I mean, I have ideas, and then they get it and they run with it. And it's fun. It's so fun.

Yeah, but you're the one who sparks that thought in their mind, and then their creativity takes over from there, and they need someone to spark that thought. Because, I mean, I wouldn't have had the thought that you just shared with me, but I'm incredibly impacted by what you just said. Thank you. Well, that's a good way to end our conversation today, even though I could ask you more questions.

So what do our listeners need to do to learn more? Website is always good. The happycru.org or happycrucoffeehouse.com. We'd love to welcome you as members. of our coffee house and grow that belonging community support and you matter, you belong. We have a wall that leads, we're upstairs, and so you get to walk upstairs to get to us. But the wall on the way up, we want everybody that comes into the coffee house to sign that wall. Wow.

Because we're all part of the community that is supporting each other. And it starts with the kids, but then they take it and it grows and grows and grows. So those are two really, really important ways to get more information about happy career and the kids and everything that's going on. Yeah, well, bless you, my friend. I feel like we're kindred spirits after our conversation. I'm just... Thank you, Judy.

So blessed by what you shared and your passion for the kids and the growth that's inspiring in them. So thank you, Amy, for being with us today. Thank you so much. What a privilege. What a privilege. Thanks so much for joining us for the inspiration. Inspired Impact Podcast.

To listen to past episodes, please visit theinspiredimpactpodcast.com.