In this episode of Build Momentum, we are joined by Marcus Soutra. Marcus is an educator and is also the president of Eye to Eye, a national mentoring nonprofit organization that empowers young people with learning differences.
Marcus is a champion for those who learn differently.
Some Questions I Ask:
In This Episode, You Will Learn:
Quotes:
“I think if you say yes to enough things and you’re confident, and you work really, really hard, it does make that cocktail of opportunity.”
“When you're a leader, you're automatically vulnerable about your own strengths and weaknesses, which I think any good entrepreneur really is."
“To start a business or to do something like this, I think you have to be passionate about it, or it's just never going to work. Because with the amount of work that you need to put in, you have to have something to fuel your tank on an everyday basis.”
“I think the best advice I ever got in college was these two phrases, which I say all the time to myself: “Steal, steal, steal” and “Stay out of the teacher’s lounge.” You know, steal from other people’s good ideas. And the teacher’s lounge is a metaphor for something that exists in every industry, like the old ways of doing things, the old type of thinking. Stay out of that room, do your research, focus on students or whatever it is.”
Connect with Marcus Soutra:
Eye to Eye National
Stay in touch with Sarah Williamson:
Free Case Study Guide
SWPR GROUP Website
LinkedIn
Stay in touch with Chad Bolser:
LinkedIn
About "The Secret to Transformational Leadership," which Sarah co-authored with Dr. Quintin Shepherd:
Transformational Leadership Secret website
Purchase the print or ebook
In this episode of Build Momentum, we are joined by Marcus Soutra. Marcus is an educator and is also the president of Eye to Eye, a national mentoring nonprofit organization that empowers young people with learning differences.
Marcus is a champion for those who learn differently.
Some Questions I Ask:
In This Episode, You Will Learn:
Quotes:
“I think if you say yes to enough things and you’re confident, and you work really, really hard, it does make that cocktail of opportunity.”
“When you're a leader, you're automatically vulnerable about your own strengths and weaknesses, which I think any good entrepreneur really is."
“To start a business or to do something like this, I think you have to be passionate about it, or it's just never going to work. Because with the amount of work that you need to put in, you have to have something to fuel your tank on an everyday basis.”
“I think the best advice I ever got in college was these two phrases, which I say all the time to myself: “Steal, steal, steal” and “Stay out of the teacher’s lounge.” You know, steal from other people’s good ideas. And the teacher’s lounge is a metaphor for something that exists in every industry, like the old ways of doing things, the old type of thinking. Stay out of that room, do your research, focus on students or whatever it is.”
Connect with Marcus Soutra:
Eye to Eye National
Stay in touch with Sarah Williamson:
Free Case Study Guide
SWPR GROUP Website
LinkedIn
Stay in touch with Chad Bolser:
LinkedIn
About "The Secret to Transformational Leadership," which Sarah co-authored with Dr. Quintin Shepherd:
Transformational Leadership Secret website
Purchase the print or ebook
Hello and welcome to Build Momentum where we help education organizations, blow past their competitors with strategies that make an impact. We think beyond traditional press releases and generic communication tactics, and seek out big, bold ideas to create meaningful results for our clients. I'm your host, Sarah Williamson. And I've spent more than 15 years in public relations for the education sector, where our team has learned what works and what doesn't when it comes to PR from launching groundbreaking new industry awards to landing sought after panels at the most prestigious shows. We absolutely love this stuff. But the best part is, we have an opportunity to interview some of the smartest people we know who share their knowledge and strategies or success right here on the show. If you enjoy what you hear, we would so appreciate if you please take a moment to drop us a review on whatever platform you listen. And if you want to learn more about us, visit swpr-group.com thanks so much for tuning in. today. Let's dive into the show. And on today's episode, we have Marcus Soutra, the president of Eye to Eye and National Mentoring nonprofit organization that empowers young people with learning differences. Marcus is a champion for those who suffer from learning differences and focuses particularly on students with his organization. Eye to Eye, Marcus, it's so great to have you on the show today. Welcome.
Marcus Soutra:Thank you so much for having me excited to be here.
Sarah Williamson:Yes, good. Okay. So I really like to start with you sharing your story with us because it's definitely a powerful one. What led you to this life's work and mission to launch Eye to Eye?
Marcus Soutra:Sure sure. Yeah. So this really has been a life's work for me and I calling in many ways. So the work really began for me as somebody who was identified with learning differences when I was in elementary school with dyslexia and ADHD specifically, and I used that were identified really specifically, it's really important to me and to a lot of us at Eye to Eye because it's very different than thinking of it as a diagnosis, right, and something that I suddenly one day had, but this was the way I was born. And that's the way it operates for most students with learning disabilities is that you're born this way. And it takes you know, typically, sadly, failure in school to then get identified to get the supports that you need. But I will always be dyslexic, my wife is definitely not going away. I'll always have ADHD and just kind of a part of my identity as an individual. So I really came to this work as an educator, I started off going into college and thought, you know, this is a very broken education system. It's incredibly inequitable. For students who learn differently. They don't know how to advocate for themselves. They don't know what they need. They feel very stigmatized. So I wanted to go into education, I became a teacher, I thought I would be kind of the secret spy and utilize dyslexia as a way of understanding students and having more empathy for students, I quickly realized that my story was actually going to be an incredibly valuable tool in the classroom. And that was going to be my kind of real biggest tool that I can use to be able to change the culture of my classroom and reach students.
Sarah Williamson:Yeah. Okay. And then how did you decide you're gonna, you know, put together Eye to Eye? How did that all come about? Tell me more about that. Sure, sure.
Marcus Soutra:So basically, I had this experience in this one classroom. In New Hampshire, when I was student teaching in my first year, I thought, how could you scale this kind of culture change that I'd seen in my classroom, students are bracing their learning difference, asking for help, all those types of things. And I always loved entrepreneurship, and always was like, the kid was like having five different hustles going when I was growing up. And so I started looking into different models. And luckily, a professor came to me and said, You know, there's a guy named David Flink, and he's at Brown University right now. And he's running kind of a mentoring program that's aimed at the same things that you're aimed at that you want to accomplish with the time I was thinking about starting a summer camp as the intervention, I would create a business model I would create. And so Dave, and I got paired out. And he was just starting Eye to Eye just started to begin to apply for the 501 C-3, and kind of really build the organization. So we started working out of his apartment in Brooklyn at his kitchen table, and the two of us began to build and scale the organization from there. So it was really his experience at Brown and my experiences in the classroom coming together at the right time to start the organization.
Sarah Williamson:Yeah, that's amazing and powerful. I think it's pretty incredible. So many people I talked to, it's just like they happen to meet the perfect person at the perfect time. If you're on the right path that's bound to happen. Don't you agree?
Marcus Soutra:I think if you say yes to enough things, and yeah, confidence, and you know, you work really, really hard. Yeah, it does make that cocktail of opportunity.
Sarah Williamson:Oh and I like that cocktail of opportunity. That's great. All right. So you been able to create such a unique platform for sharing and educating the public about learning differences. How are you promoting your mission and your organization to gain support also attention around learning differences, because I think that sounds like that's really important to you. Yeah, definitely.
Marcus Soutra:Yeah, we first start off by building mentoring programs around the country, high school and college students with learning differences, mentoring middle school students with learning differences. right out the gate, we realized that when organizing those students to volunteer and do service, they were these incredible spokespeople for our work when they work. So we really just had to kind of train them to be the spokes people to tell their stories, and to train to change culture of the schools and communities. For us, it was about finding partners to and basically platforms to be able to share those stories. So over the years, we had worked, you know, harder with conferences, partner with schools, partnered with, you know, brands throughout the country to kind of leverage those young people's stories. But we had to organize, we had to deliver a quality product, we had to get the base of support going and really kind of have a proof point for our work before we could really start to amplify the message.
Sarah Williamson:Yeah, that's exactly something we talked about on PR all the time. It's all about storytelling and letting others tell your story for you. I think that's the most powerful way to really get the message out. So when you give those students a platform, are you giving them any key messages? Are you how do you coach them? I'mreally curious on how you train them?
Marcus Soutra:Sure, yes. So initially, we had this program called the diplomats program, where students would be recruited to be trained in public speaking and telling their stories into using anecdotes to be able to make points around, you know, the value of self advocacy and skills like that for students learning disabilities. So that became a big component of it. But also we found that these students were really great storytellers. You know, people with learning disabilities, maybe, you know, in some cases have much better verbal skills than they do written skills. So it was a glorious filling up in front of a room to share their story with something that they were actually they were shining at, as opposed to everybody else say, Hey, can you write that story down? And that's where they were actually struggling. So it was really playing to our students gifts was kind of a big part of the strategy.
Sarah Williamson:Oh, that's great. And then you said you pursued conferences and other avenues to amplify their voice? Was it ever media outreach?
Marcus Soutra:Yes. So we worked on a couple different situations. So we worked with PBS to help with documentary film about students with learning disabilities, so we were helping recruit students for the film, train the staff on how to make sure the film addresses the issues and the appropriate ways. We did a billboard series with the Indy 500. So it was like a PSA that aired at the Indy 500 with sir Jackie Stewart is a famous racecar driver, who's dyslexic and Justin Wilson, who actually sadly passed away but was also a famous racecar driver, dyslexic, as well as our students stories as well. So finding those brands, sometimes this is where like, we never thought we'd end up like the Indy 500. It's like that, right?
Sarah Williamson:Also, I noticed that you did develop a billboard series featured in New York's Times Square, is that the same series that you applied to Times Square and tell me about that one.
Marcus Soutra:Sure. So that was a different series altogether, but kind of build it from that type of work. So we did a two part series one was our students stories up in lights, students with learning disabilities, kind of changing the idea of what people think of when they think of various facilities, and the other room quartered with a WNBA star and Olympic athlete who just won the gold medal, Jewel Lloyd to tell her story in lights as well. She really represent our community in so many great ways. So it was about our students, it was also kind of tying it a little bit to that celebrity aspect.
Sarah Williamson:That's a really brilliant strategy. How do you get these celebrities,
Marcus Soutra:We just keep telling our story. And the nice people network keeps growing and but there's also a lot of celebrities out there with learning disabilities. You know, if you Google it, it's unbelievable. Like, you know, there's the CEOs like Richard Branson and Chuck Schwab. And then also you have like Anderson Cooper and Whoopi Goldberg, and you know, all these people who we see on TV every single day, who really struggled with kind of the basic skills of school and are now incredibly successful.
Sarah Williamson:Yeah, Daymond John comes to mind I know he is always and you didn't you speak at an event with him?
Marcus Soutra:Yes, we did an event together at fashion week where again, we were, you know, kind of raising awareness around learning disabilities and other organizations that were supporting students who were struggling in school, and he was, you know, incredible. I think four out of the six sharks are dyslexic.
Sarah Williamson:Like, really?
Marcus Soutra:Barbara.
Sarah Williamson:Barbara is Yeah,
Marcus Soutra:(Inaudible) is Mr. Nice Guy is Richard Branson is when he's on the show. So we're well represented the entrepreneurial and dyslexic. Dyslexic entrepreneurs go hand in hand.
Sarah Williamson:Yeah. Oh, that makes a lot of sense. I love it. Have you ever wondered just how much credibility education industry awards really provide your company? We did. We wonder do k 12. decision makers really care about another logo on your website. We are tired of participating in the same awards year after year completing complex submission forms, all knowing that if our clients win, the finalists email quickly be followed by an opportunity to advertise in their publication. We wanted to see something different. So we created it. We partnered with the Institute for Education innovation to launch a groundbreaking new industry award called Supe's choice. The Supe's Choice Awards are judged exclusively by the K 12. decision makers we all want to read. By entering the Supe's Choice Awards, you have an opportunity to get your product or solution in front of up to 10 superintendents across the country. And you're sure to get their feedback on what you submit. And not to mention, you might even win. If you've not yet entered, now's the time because submissions close on October 31. And don't worry, we know how draining and complicated submission form can be. So we kept this one so simple with just five questions. Don't waste another minute and enter today at supeschoice.com. That's supeschoice.com. supeschoice.com. Enter today. Okay, so switching gears, I am actually co authoring a book with a superintendent from Texas on compassionate leadership. And one of the reasons I wanted to interview you today is because it seems like the premise of your organization was created out of empathy and compassion for those who are suffering from not suffering. But just, it's a struggle, if you have a learning difference, and it's a challenge, and you're not excelling like other students or your peer next to you in your class. So how do you foster that compassionate leadership throughout your organization? With your team? Do you have any examples of how you've been able to cultivate that spirit of empathy for others?
Marcus Soutra:Yeah, yeah, definitely. I mean, I think that's something that we lead with Eye to Eye. I mean, we lead with many ways, but one of our greatest vulnerabilities is, you know, struggle with struggle with readings, or go with the focusing thing or paying attention. So I think when you're a leader, and you're automatically vulnerable about your own strengths and weaknesses, which I think any good entrepreneur really is, you know, we kind of prop up sometimes the CEO is over, they're good at all the things, but probably the thing that you know, I'm best at is knowing where I should be, and where I shouldn't be within the organization and knowing who to hire, to support me with the things that I'm not good at. and stuff, knowledge is maybe one of the best parts of having a learning difference, because you learn that throughout the experience. But yeah, for me, it comes down to basically kind of like five key words that I think about all the time, which is empathy, passion, vulnerability, autonomy, and listening. And those seems to be the key components to making the culture work. I think that listening in is something that people kind of underestimate that is so important to be a good leader is really listening to people and trying to understand who they are, and trying to work with them to be able to maximize their gifts as a team member.
Sarah Williamson:Yeah. And like in a team meeting, do you give that space? Do you talk about it? Do you get vulnerable with your team on a regular basis? How does that look in practice?
Marcus Soutra:Sure. Yeah. So I mean, I think I mean, I'll just say that the interview question that I have asked, every person that I've ever interviewed to have a job at it, is, how do you learn? And like, and I want to see if they can, they can answer that question. And because I think it's a really, really valuable skill to be able to know exactly how you learn. But then there's constantly ways in which we're talking about, like, this is how I learned best, this is how I would communicate best. We've even developed like kind of a work IEP. So students have an IEP in school to help them like under for the teacher to understand their strengths or weaknesses. So we have a document that we're working through with our staff to be able to understand, like, this is how I received communication baskets, how I receive information best, you know, if you know, and in Eye to Eye my team knows that I'm not going to write them two page long emails, it's just, it's just not going to happen. So we figured...
Sarah Williamson:I bet they're grateful for that I would be.
Marcus Soutra:So understandable, but which is fine, but like, we all have our own working styles, but that's something it's a constant kind of conversation at Eye to Eye and with having a staff, the majority of our staff learn differently, that also kind of allows for that conversation to happen. Because if we're not able to, you know, have that conversation as leaders How can we expect our students and educators that we're working with to be able to do it?
Sarah Williamson:Absolutely, I totally agree. I love what you said about that. I think it's so important just to really get vulnerable with our teams and especially with learning differences I'm curious is required to have a learning difference to work for your organization so that you can really connect with with people is that something you require people or just passion is
Marcus Soutra:Well they're not required. If anything I think we want to have an inter-able relationships. We want to have people that are you know, have different skill sets. People who report directly to me, I would say are very different. I always say that they would be my favorite cloud partners in school like I would have been, hey, I need you guys are going to work with me we're gonna partner up with skills I think you develop as someone who's dyslexic is you're like, Oh, you know, you know how to spell like I always joke that I dated for spelling throughout school and then ended up marrying actually an English teacher. So jokes a little bit, maybe too close to home, but like, so like, I think that like that is a huge component of it. In terms of our though we do value the proximity to the issue, and that's something that Eye to Eye brought uniquely to the field was saying people who've lived this experience are going to help inform the interventions for this community. So our program staff is majority LD. You know, the students who are mentoring within our schools and doing the volunteering are all of them are students with learning differences themselves. But there are as an incredible group of passionate leaders who have connect various connections to the issue and some, just something to draw They want to, you know, make schools more equitable. And somewhere we have a child who learns differently. And that's what brought them.
Sarah Williamson:Yeah. Okay. That's interesting. I was just curious about that. That makes sense. And I totally agree with you on surrounding yourself with people who are better than you at other things. I mean, we're clearly not perfect. I have a lot of amazing people on my team that are great at things I'm terrible at. So that's definitely strategy I employed do so. Okay. I'm curious. It seems like you really are living and breathing your works life purpose, and your life passion. And you've been able to do it in such a profound way. Do you have suggestions for how others, our listeners can kind of do the same thing because who doesn't want to live and work? Their passion? I mean, it seems like kind of the ultimate goal.
Marcus Soutra:Yeah it is the ultimate goal. I mean, it also is, you know, I think you have to start a business or to start or to do something like this, I think you have to be passionate about it, or it's just never going to work. Because the amount of work that you need to put in, you have to have something to fuel your tank by an everyday basis. And I think that this is something that people underestimate early, they're really looking for I've heard friends say to me, oh, you know, you're so lucky, you had a cause that you were connected to at a young age. And I was like, we all probably have causes that were connected to at a very young age. And I think really like funneling those interests. I think, for me, it was getting into education, because I wanted to be that teacher that I didn't have, right, I had no idea that it would turn into a business model that I would be stealing from my adulthood. But I was leading with my passion and leading with what I really cared about. And then just saying, Yes, and finding mentors, and that really led me to these other opportunities, kind of like what we were saying in the beginning was, sometimes life does kind of connect things for you. But if you're leading with like, Oh, I want to make a lot of money, or you're leading with, oh, I want to become famous, or whatever it is, that typically doesn't get you where you're going or where you want to be.
Sarah Williamson:Yeah, I agree with you. But I love what you said earlier, too, about if you're following your path of saying yes, yes, yes, it will lead you eventually down the right roads.
Marcus Soutra:Yeah, I think the best advice I ever got in college was these two phrases, which I say all the time to myself, they're probably tired of hearing it, but steal, steal, steal, and stay out of the teachers lounge. And, you know, the so steal from other people good ideas, and the teachers lounge is a you know, metaphor for it exists in all, every industry, like the old ways of doing things, the old type of thinking, stay out of that room, do your own while you're there, focused on students, or whatever it is,
Sarah Williamson:or the water cooler, Away from the water cooler.
Marcus Soutra:Stay away from the complainers and, you know, focus on the mission. And while you're there,
Sarah Williamson:Yeah, I can't stand those people. Well, we've always been doing it this way. And this is the only way and this is not possible. It's like oh my gosh, yeah. No, that's not true. Yeah. Okay. So Marcus, do you think we're gonna see more investments in programs like Eye to Eye after this year? Or are you seeing that I'm curious how businesses going with the pandemic?
Marcus Soutra:Yeah, sure. I mean, we've had to adapt and pivot and all those things throughout the last 18 months, because we you know, our services were students getting in rooms together, and that obviously couldn't happen. So we had to develop virtual mentoring programs, we've now got a program to professional learning, we call our professional development for educators, and help support them in this time we're in and I think that one of the, some of the things we've seen coming out of this time period is the focus on the emotional well being of the child. And understanding that that is such a huge aspect of school. And they were often thought of as like an academic world, and there's a social emotional world, and they have to be interconnected. So I think that's a huge piece for us that we've seen schools shifting towards the second is more of a conversation around equity. And we've seen social justice just become the top player in conversation and most every industry and sell these topics like intersectionality, and ableism. And things like that are much more often being discussed in schools. And then third, you just have the stimulus money, and some of that being allocated directly to, you know, special education and programs like social emotional learning programs. So it's a tough time to be operating and working with schools. But I am optimistic about what people are thinking about what people are prioritizing within our system.
Sarah Williamson:Yeah, I'm curious, have you seen the digital curriculum is obviously huge thing right now. And we have a lot of partners who are in the edtech space for our business, but I'm curious if you see anyone doing it well, in supporting learning differences within their curriculum, is that something you're privy to? Or are there any out there that you know, are just really doing that?
Marcus Soutra:Well, yeah, nobody's jumping to mind that I can call out right now. Not yet.
Sarah Williamson:oh, that's probably something that needs to happen. Because if so much of learning is becoming virtual and digital. That's definitely something that people need to consider.
Marcus Soutra:Yeah, no, definitely. And we have to be able to, you know, I don't think things are going to be ever going back the exact same way they were and they really shouldn't go back. But you know, this ability like for us even to be able to train teachers virtually doubled the amount of teacher theory We'll train last year because we weren't getting on planes and flying trainers out and doing all this stuff. Certain types of things in schools were more receptive to the use of technology. You know, as somebody who learns differently, technology is really the game changer for being able to accommodate your learning environment. So seeing school is more apt to, you know, to to utilize tech for students broadly. It's really, really exciting.
Sarah Williamson:Yeah, I agree. Okay, so do you have any final advice for our listeners who are looking to grow their brand and share their mission or their story in a bigger way, because clearly, you have cracked that code? We'd love to hear your perspective.
Marcus Soutra:Well, I'm still learning as I go. But I do think that like some of the exercises we've done around centering the organization around it's why, and why we do this work, not just how and what we do, has been a really healthy exercise for us, Simon Sinek has a great tool that we've utilized as an organization to be able to really kind of center everybody around that. And not only the organizations why but individuals live. So we just had a, you know, a team retreat where we started off like, with people declaring their Why, why are you showing up to do this work every single day, and those wise might be very, very different for different people. But I think it's a really healthy exercise for people to understand, like, why their team member is there working hard, especially in a mission driven organizations. But yeah, I think it also is just like, making sure whatever you're delivering the service product, that that is the most important thing, that you're just listening to the customer constantly and delivering a really good product because Eye to Eye can create all the awareness we want. But if there's not a solution tied to that awareness, it's not really very effective.
Sarah Williamson:Yeah, I agree. I think listening is so important. And then switching gears midstream to if you think you're on a path, and then you hear something different from multiple clients, maybe you should be tweaking things and changing things up. That's good perspective. Yeah. Okay. Well, this has been a fantastic chat, I really enjoyed getting to know you. And I think our listeners will, too. I'm curious about how they can reach out to you or learn more about Eye to Eye.
Marcus Soutra:Yeah, sure. So eyetoeyenational.org is our website. So please go there. And you know, it's you can either get your school involved by just clicking bring it to your school, or obviously making a donation. That's what fuels our work in many ways. So those are two kind of ways immediately, we have some interesting stuff coming up we're going to be doing October is Learning Disability Awareness Month. So we'll be doing a lot of campaigns and stuff celebrating the intersectionality of students with learning disabilities. So really kind of getting shedding light on the fact that there are students with learning disabilities all over the country, all different race religions, every socio economic status, really kind of celebrate the whole of a child, not just like their learning difference or some aspect of them. So be a great way for people to kind of plug into our work. But right now we're looking for school partners is our number one thing.
Sarah Williamson:Awesome, great. Well, that is fantastic news on the right show, because we have a lot of districts and edtech companies that partner with districts who also this is great. Yeah. Well, thank you so much, Marcus, I really enjoyed this. And I look forward to staying in touch.
Marcus Soutra:Yeah, thank you so much. I appreciate you having me on.
Sarah Williamson:Absolutely. Thanks so much for tuning in today. If you enjoyed the show, if you wouldn't mind leaving a review, we'd be so grateful. This helps other listeners bind and learn about our show. And please reach out if you're interested in learning more about how we can elevate the leaders of your organization with our PR services if you'd like because we'd even shoot me a direct email at Sarah sarah@swpr-group.com I look forward to hearing from you and we will see you next time.