Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Speaker A: Foreign.
Welcome back to another edition of Just say Something podcast. My name is Philip Clark, and I'm the CEO here at Just say Something.
And so before we get started with today's guest, I want you to be sure to go in and to, like, share.
There's the other one. And follow our podcast, because you can follow. You can find our podcasts wherever you find your other favorite podcast.
So today we have a special guest, as all of our guests are always special.
I met this young lady a couple of weeks ago at a meeting, and, you know, sometimes you meet those people and you just click.
And so Elena and I clicked. We've been trying to get on this podcast.
Here we are.
And so Elena has a special guest that she's brought with herself, and that would be her mom.
So I'm going to let Elena introduce herself and then your mom.
[00:01:14] Speaker B: Perfect. Well, hello, everyone. I'm so grateful to be here. My name is Alana Thornton. I'm the executive director of the Girl Girls Academy sc. And I am so elated and excited to be on this podcast today with Phil. He is an amazing man. I'm so excited to partner with him and just say something and be on this podcast. And I brought my lovely, beautiful, and intelligent wisdom speaking and just a amazing, amazing, dynamic woman. And my mother, Valori Thornton.
[00:01:47] Speaker C: Thank you. I love, love you. Thank you so much for that intro. Again, my name is Valori Thornton, and I am delighted to be here. Thank you, Phil. I'm so, so excited.
[00:01:56] Speaker A: I know, I know. It's great.
[00:01:58] Speaker C: I have to go back to my daughter. She is such a wonderful, dynamic person, and I wonder where she gets that from.
[00:02:03] Speaker A: You know, you just took that right out of my mouth. I wonder where that came from.
[00:02:07] Speaker C: You know, all jokes aside, she is fantastic. She is a woman of wisdom. She is a woman of her word. She has a genuine heart. And I'm just so elated and excited to actually call myself her mother. We are part of the Girls Academy. We launched the Girls Academy January 6, 2025.
[00:02:25] Speaker A: Okay.
[00:02:26] Speaker C: It was once a vision, and now it has come to fruition. Because, you know, when God gives you something, if you don't act on it, you will not rest until you act on it.
[00:02:34] Speaker A: That's right. That's right. So what is the Girls Academy?
[00:02:38] Speaker C: Great question. The Girls Academy, like I said, it started January20.
Sorry, January 2025. And the girls Academy is a hub where we're going to ignite, support, elevate, and develop these young girls into powerful, powerful women. Our motto is embrace the Girl Empower the woman, Embrace the girl. Empower the woman.
[00:03:02] Speaker A: Love that.
[00:03:02] Speaker C: We're going to have strategic classes set up for them. We're going to focus on etiquette, character building and AI courses for entrepreneurs.
[00:03:11] Speaker A: Okay. Okay. So what was the preposis for?
What made you decide this is something that we need to do in our community.
What was that turning point for you to say we need to do something? This is it?
[00:03:27] Speaker B: Yeah, definitely. So I would say a lot of our girls right now are struggling with self esteem issues when to it comes comes to social media, depression, anxiety, body shaming. And these are things that we realize that are very prevalent in today's girls that they're struggling with things that previous generations like myself or my mother, we didn't, we didn't struggle with those things.
And we're also bringing it back to the basics with character building, leadership and etiquette classes. And the reason why my mother just mentioned about empower, embrace the girl, empower the woman is that a lot of young ladies want to be mothers, they want to be wives but do not actually have the skill sets to be maintain a household.
[00:04:04] Speaker A: Right.
[00:04:04] Speaker B: They don't have the, the self esteem to go to a job interview to be very poised and understand like when I show up I want people to respect me but because they have low self esteem. So we are trying to take the negative statistics and bring it back to the basics of leadership etiquette and character building. And also my mom mentioned earlier about AI for entrepreneurship is to help with the negative statistics of social media and the anxiety and depression and to change into a positive and that positive is having a positive self worth. It's knowing who you are as a young lady and to involve into a young woman and then also and to help you with business instead of aimlessly scrolling on social media, let's make some money, let's do something you've always wanted to do. Could you imagine if you're in school, you're doing well in school and every time you're on your phone you're making money and you're, you have a, you have a vision or you have a non profit that something that you've always wanted to do and a lot of kids are utilizing social media in a negative way but we want to utilize social media in a positive way. So we're really bringing it back to the basics but doing a, a twist and a spin on it to bring in technology because I have a background in tech for about 15 years selling Microsoft and other cloud products and I love tech. So And I'm also AI certified, so your girls will be in good hands with us.
[00:05:23] Speaker C: So.
[00:05:26] Speaker A: Where do you find these young ladies?
[00:05:29] Speaker B: Yeah, that's a great question. So in middle schools, high schools, the ages are ages 13 to 20. So if you have a young lady, either she is, you know, maybe struggling with self esteem, that's one, or maybe she's doing really well in school, but she needs an advocate, maybe she needs a mentor in her life. A lot of kids when 13 years old.
Statistics state mothers and daughters start having a disconnect in their relationship at 13 years old. And the statistic is 87% that it changes. And so sometimes it gets better, but a lot of times it doesn't because that communication changes and shifts. However, if we can teach these young ladies that, hey, my mother and I are a positive voice for you, but also we're just backing up what the parents are already saying, and some of the kids don't have good parents, and that's okay, too. But we're. We're looking for girls ages 13 to 20 in our school system, any even kids in foster care. We do know there's a lot of children that in homes that nobody's pouring into them.
[00:06:28] Speaker A: Right.
[00:06:28] Speaker B: And so with our program is. Is that we're not just saying it has to be a specific type of young lady. It has to be a young lady willing and open to receive some positive, constructive criticism as well as some positive reinforcements to be the young lady that they were always destined to be.
[00:06:45] Speaker A: Okay, so once you have them engaged, do they come to you? Do you go to them? Do you have a location? How does that work?
[00:06:55] Speaker B: Yeah, definitely. So we are starting our new classes September 13th. That's going to be on a Saturday.
And we would love for our girls to come to us. If there is transportation challenges, we could work through that and partner with some of our nonprofits that we know provide transportation. And the goal of it is, is to have these classes every.
Every month, twice a month, and to. We're going to start with the leadership and etiquette and character building and also have our AI classes, too. That's going to be our fundamental. We have partnered with the community, with mental health, financial literacy, cooking and sewing classes, and that's going to be taught by the community, to come into our classes to teach the girls.
[00:07:38] Speaker A: Okay. I know a long, long, long time ago when I was in high school, that there was a class, home economics, that the girls took.
[00:07:48] Speaker B: Right, right.
[00:07:50] Speaker A: And so they don't offer those kind of programs anymore. And so this is A great opportunity for parents that are looking to help their kids help find themselves of who they are.
So you talk about the age around 13 where there's strife that starts to happen.
So did this come out of a personal relationship or an issue that the two of you as mother and daughter had, or was this something that talking with your peers and others, that this is a need that we. We need to. Because usually if someone starts a nonprofit, it's because something has touched them to the point that I want to help other families avoid going through what I'm going through.
[00:08:44] Speaker B: Yeah. So I would say twofold. And the reason why I say that is one, when I was young, I was a pretty great student. I'm an only child. I really didn't have a lot of struggles and challenges. However, my struggles and challenges started when I was 16. My attitude, I thought I was grown. I was very disrespectful to my parents. So my shift wasn't at 13, it was definitely at 16. So that's one part of it. But the second part of it is my mother and I are not new to nonprofits at all. We have served in our community, plenty of nonprofits around Greenville. We've helped other people start their nonprofits with their girls or their guys. But we've also personally mentored young ladies. My mom has mentored young women, young ladies, men, men and women previously incarcerated.
She's taught men and women around the world with corporate training as well. So my mother has an extensive background on training and mentoring. So she has about 30 years and I have about 15 years of mentoring. I started mentoring when I was in college, and I've had girls from middle school, high school. I got to see them graduate high school and college.
So mentoring. So when you talk about the second part, is it, you know, was it a need that came out of a personal need or was it a community need? It's both. Because the community need. We know that young ladies are struggling right now. And statistically the 87%, it starts at age 13, the disconnect. But it's not that we are replacing parents. We are just enforcing and helping bring light to maybe some subject matters and things that they don't have time to teach.
Because one in two families in America based, based off of Focus on the Family says that there are blended families and more than half of our population is raised by single mothers. So if a single mom is working, does she have time to teach her daughter how to cook? Does she have time to teach her daughter what a positive self esteem Is doesn't mean that they don't care. It just means that they have. They have priorities, and their time is limited. So our goal is. Is to pour into these girls what maybe somebody else in their household might not be able to put. Pour into.
[00:10:50] Speaker A: Right, right. And we see that a lot with the parents that come in here.
You know, parents typically parent the way they were parented, right?
[00:11:00] Speaker C: Absolutely.
[00:11:01] Speaker A: And so, for the most part, they don't know what they don't know. And when they come in here, they're like, I don't know why I'm here. My child's the one with the problem.
Well, you know, the apple doesn't always fall far from the tree.
And so typically, by the end of one of the. The first or second session of the series that they're attending, they come to our coordinator, and it's like, I'm the one with the problem, not my child.
And so we look at that kind of like professional development. You're not a bad parent. You're just doing what you know.
[00:11:35] Speaker C: I wanted to go back to something that you said earlier, Phil, when you said, you know, during our era or during our generation, they taught in school. Home economics.
[00:11:43] Speaker A: Okay.
[00:11:43] Speaker C: We don't have that. That's not being taught in schools anymore. And so you have your children, they don't know how to set a table. They don't know how to eat properly. I put something on Facebook. This is a while ago. And one young lady responded, does anybody else's children eat with their hands? And this is a nice family. She said her son just decides he wants to eat with his hand.
[00:12:03] Speaker A: She.
[00:12:04] Speaker C: She said, I don't know where that came from, but we were taught, set the table so that we can have dinner. You don't hear that verb. It's now set the table so that we can eat as a family. How do we eat now? On the run. We're moving. We're doing things. And like Alana said, the parent is not that they don't necessarily care. They don't know what they don't know.
[00:12:23] Speaker A: Right.
[00:12:23] Speaker C: And so I started teaching etiquette and character building classes about 20 years ago to many nonprofits and also men and women that have been incarcerated. So therefore, the second part of that question, that's where that need came in. We're missing it. And each time I teach etiquette classes, I hear parents often say to me, that is in lost art, we are not teaching them how to become ladies. We are not teaching them how to set tables. We are not teaching them how to articulate correctly. Because if you don't know, you don't know.
[00:12:53] Speaker A: Right. If you don't know, you can't teach.
[00:12:56] Speaker B: Right.
[00:12:56] Speaker A: Ding, ding, ding, ding, ding.
[00:12:58] Speaker C: And that's where that came from.
[00:12:59] Speaker A: Right, Right. That's so important. And you see it so much in the workplace as well.
Yeah, I'll leave that little nugget right there.
So the Girls Academy, you develop that as a means, as an opportunity for girls to grow, to learn, and to become leaders.
Once you have them engaged in one of your programming or programs as they go through each step. Is there a graduation? Is there a celebration at the end? What does that look like?
[00:13:42] Speaker C: Yes, we plan to. Once they go through the entire course. Okay. And we're still ironing out some things. Once they go through the course, we are going to have a formal ceremony, give them a certificate for. A certificate for completing the entire course so that they can see value and. And what they've learned and what they've trained in. Our goal and our hope and our prayer is that once they graduate, they will pour back into the young ladies that are coming up through the course that they have taken.
[00:14:10] Speaker A: Okay.
[00:14:11] Speaker C: Definitely the goal.
[00:14:13] Speaker A: And I know with it just being with you just starting in January of this year, but I'm sure before that, and since then, you've probably had some measurable moments or thrilling moments that you can see that light bulb come on in that young girl's head.
Can you share with our listening audience maybe one of those stories?
[00:14:40] Speaker B: I definitely can.
So I have a mentee. She's 16 years old, very sweet.
She was doing a lot of interesting activities, some adult activity. Her behavior was rebellious, even though she is a sweet girl.
One of the things that we struggled with with her when we were doing. When I was mentoring with her, we were focusing on goals and vision board. And these are things that she's never done in her life. And so that's what we also go through our program with leadership is teaching these kids how to have a smart goal, how to measure it, how to do the Pomodorian technique so they can actually know what a Pomodorian technique is. Increments of small study times, and then you have breaks, so it can help you with your brain and process things. So one of the challenges that we had with her is that she did not give us eye contact.
So a lot of kids actually struggle with eye contact right now. And I asked her, I said, how come every time I speak to you, you don't look at me? And she was like, well, I'M nervous. And I said, okay, can you. Can you just elaborate on that? And she's like, well, I'm nervous. It makes me feel uncomfortable. I don't know what to say sometimes. So I just don't look at people when I talk to them or. Well, right now, her generation, a lot of children are struggling because they're on social media, on their cell phones.
[00:15:58] Speaker A: That's all they know.
[00:15:59] Speaker B: And all they know is to look at phones and communicate. But when they're missing small interactions and things, that can be a deeper interaction with somebody because they're not actually having eye contact.
So I told. When we had that conversation, I explained to her, I said, well, when you don't have eye contact with people, one, it's rude.
Two, it seems as if you're uninterested in what they're saying. And three, it seems like you want them to hurry up with what they're. What the conversation is. So I told her, I said, how about we do this? I'll be your safe place. Practice on me. You can look at me. I know it's going to make you feel uncomfortable. I said, but the thing is, I'm going to help you through this process. So every time we meet now, it was a challenge because I had to address it multiple times. But we got much better. And at the end of it, this is, aha. Moment that she was able to look at me face to face with confidence and communicate with me. But previously, before, it made her nervous and gave her anxiety, and she didn't know how to look at people, like, talk to people without looking at them.
So now she's able to communicate with us effectively. And she's also able to, like, give me eye contact like you guys are giving me right now. And so I'm very grateful. And those are just one of the stories of the many that I've had with young girls over the years that, I mean, this is what it's about. It's about taking insecurity and making that not the vocal point of your life, but let's practice. Let's work on it. And we're going to make you an amazing person. We're going to take that, that, that challenge and make it into a positive. And if we have more programs like this throughout our life, it will help us be a better person.
And so those are just little things that really will help her in the long run with the interview, maybe going to a college application interview, you know, doing things in the future that she wants to get done. But if she didn't know how to accomplish it at 16. How's she going to be able to accomplish it at 25?
[00:17:50] Speaker A: Right, right. Oh, absolutely. Absolutely. So I know y' all just had a mother Daughter conference, and I know that was a great success and congratulations on that.
[00:18:03] Speaker B: Thank you.
[00:18:05] Speaker A: Knowing that. All right, that's come, that's gone. You'll plan for that next year.
What's next on the horizon for you as far as events or support?
[00:18:14] Speaker C: Okay.
[00:18:15] Speaker B: You'd like to share so I can. But mom, you share really quick about the Mother Daughter Conference. Just explain to them what happened and just. And then I'll go on to the next event.
[00:18:23] Speaker C: The mother. I certainly will. The Mother Daughter Conference. I will tell you it was the first annual. Okay. And I will tell you it exceeded our expectations. It was wonderful. The atmosphere was great. People came, we unfolded, we unpacked a lot of information. There was healing, there was connections. And you know what? It's nothing short of what I expected, what it was going to be. And so we had a mental health component of it. We had breakout sessions. We fed them breakfast, we fed them lunch.
That was the great part about it. And so it was nothing short of coming together, wanting to learn and strengthen that mother daughter bond. Because when you do any type of studies on relationships, the mother daughter bond is one of the most special, unique relationships ever.
[00:19:13] Speaker A: Ever.
[00:19:13] Speaker C: So it's something that needs to be talked about. It's something that needs to have healing, if there is healing involved. And it's something that we need to continue to work on and to strengthen each and every day. So the Mother Daughter conference, it was May 24th, which is Saturday. It was phenomenal. We held it at the Prisma Welcome Center. It was just great. You could just follow us on LinkedIn, Instagram, Facebook. But it was wonderful.
[00:19:38] Speaker A: Well, I can imagine with the two of you in charge, it had to be wonderful.
It wouldn't be anything else. It wouldn't be anything else.
[00:19:46] Speaker B: Yes.
[00:19:46] Speaker A: All right. I know you have something coming up.
[00:19:48] Speaker B: Yes.
[00:19:48] Speaker A: So share that with our listeners.
[00:19:50] Speaker B: Definitely. So we have two things coming up that we would love for. For the community to come out to and support us. So, one, we have the BMW Pro Am, the charity golf tournament, and it's happening at Thornbc Club. And so a few things. One, you can purchase a ticket and the ticket, when you purchase it, you'll just. It says, what do I want my ticket dollars to go towards? And you just click. The Girls Academy SC 25% of those proceeds go back to our girls in our programs.
And so one that would be wonderful if you guys want to come out. And if you have girls who have never been to a golf tournament, we have some available tickets to bring some of those girls with us. So we wanted to share that with the public as well. And then the second part is our new classes are happening September 13th, so we have new enrollment right now, girls ages 13 to 20. And we are looking for all ethnicities. We believe that we grow together when we're. We're different, when we're unique, and we can come together and have the same vision for each other to do well, to encourage each other. So we are looking for all girls. If you are Hispanic, don't worry. We have people who translate if you need some translators. But we are here to impact the girls from ages 13 to 20.
[00:21:04] Speaker A: So. Yeah. Wonderful, wonderful. So.
So people have been listening to us talk for a few minutes.
[00:21:11] Speaker B: Yes.
[00:21:11] Speaker A: If they want to reach out to you, how do they find you?
[00:21:15] Speaker B: Perfect. Oh, thank you for asking, Phil. Thank you.
[00:21:18] Speaker A: You know, it's the little things.
[00:21:20] Speaker B: Well, follow us on Facebook, Instagram, and L. LinkedIn. And that is at the Girls Academy SC. The Girls Academy SC. We also have a website that I built.
[00:21:32] Speaker A: Okay.
[00:21:33] Speaker B: Yes, yes, yes. And I have an app for the girls as well. Thank you, Mom. And I have an app for the girls as well. So as we evolve in the mentoring platform, they have a safe place in the app that I created. But the website is www.thegirlsacademy sc.org. that's www.thegirlsacademysc.org. and we can't wait to have you partner with us, support us. And also, we're just going to pour into your girls and love on them. And again, empower the.
Empower the girl. Embrace the woman. Wait, did I say that right?
[00:22:09] Speaker C: Embrace the girl. Empower the woman.
[00:22:10] Speaker B: You're right. I said it wrong. Embrace the girl.
[00:22:13] Speaker C: Empower the woman.
[00:22:18] Speaker A: Well, you know, on that note, if there is anything else that you would like our listeners to know, what would it be, Mama?
[00:22:30] Speaker C: I would say don't worry about where you are. Don't worry about what you did or didn't do. What I would say is worry about where you want to go and what you want to do and how you want to do it.
[00:22:45] Speaker B: Drop the mic.
[00:22:46] Speaker A: Drop, mic, mic, drop, whatever that is.
Thank you.
[00:22:51] Speaker C: You're welcome.
[00:22:51] Speaker A: Thank you. So appreciative. Y' all can come back anytime that you want. And, Mama, you don't have to wait on her. You can come too, you know.
So this is another edition of Just say Something's podcast and my name is Philip Clark, CEO. Here it Just say something and I want to thank you for listening.
Just as a reminder, please like share and subscribe and you can find us wherever you find your favorite podcast.
So with that, I will bid adieu and we will see you next week. Thank you.
