Transcript
Speaker: What do you think is the percentage of internal organs that you could identify um in yourself? well i any i promise i mean man i mean i'd probably i mean I'd say probably get get but in general that's what i get in life anyway you know what i mean eighty eighty percent you think you you know eighty percent of your or patientss yeah Yeah, there we go. bum bum bu bu ah inter Intro music.
Speaker: Hello.
Speaker: Our first guest today is Rush With. He hails from the great state of Ohio. Welcome to Name Your Body Parts. Internal organ edition, Rush Witt.
Speaker: Hey, Rush, thanks for being on the show. ah just want to go ahead. We're going to go ahead. on this some do Now, because of last because of last episode, you have $15,000 in your bank and you've already exited out the lungs, the the lower and upper intestines.
Speaker: And you also got a bonus point figuring out where where the where the gallbladder is. So here we are in your second round.
Speaker: First one up for bed. So do you, uh, do you know where your gallbladder is? Do you know where your gallbladder is? Gallbladder is. Gallbladder is. Take two fingers and point it there. There's your gallbladder right there.
Speaker: ah So stupid.
Speaker: ah It is fitting with this guy. That's right. Mr. C, the teacher. He's a scientist. Now, again, I think he's more of a chemist than a biologist, but you know, potato, potato. You know what i mean?
Speaker: Did you look him up? Are you just going by what I told you? I just go by what I told you. That's like the pure art of this podcast rush. Yeah. The pure artist saying, hey, it's just like at a picnic.
Speaker: You were at a picnic and Rush, you say, hey, I want you to meet my friend, Mr. C. And I go, nice to meet you, Mr. C. You seem like a very interesting person. And then we jump in. You're right.
Speaker: I'm a purist. I'm a purist of the MIP podcast. o Here comes. Here comes. Come on, Mr. C. You got it. You got it working, Mr. C. Mr. C.
Speaker: and stir see I have to admit on the front end, Mr. C. So Rush was telling me how how he had seen one of ah one of your presentations and you guys connected, I got show. And so I literally have no, had no context because, you know, I'm meeting you for the first time. I have to say, Mr. C.,
Speaker: I have to say, like, you're a sharp, good-looking dude. And I'm saying, thought that I imagined you as more like a kind of a absentee, kind of back-to-the-future-y type, you know, Lerth. You're thinking of Beaker.
Speaker: You were thinking that he was going to be like- Yeah, those are some of my- those are so i You got a little bit of like artisanal chef, you know kind of a chef look. You know i'll think oh like you know your science you know your science, but you know you still you still know what decade it is. you know i'm just Oh, for sure.
Speaker: for You know what I mean? It's it's happening. it's like So do you want us to call you Mr. C or Kevin? Mr. C. mr steves right That's right. So where where are you right now?
Speaker: I'm in Dayton, Ohio, so I'm at home. Oh, cool. I'm in my office. I've got my all my other computers doing work while I'm sitting here doing this. so or wait Hold on a second. How many, how many computer just, I'm interested in your, in your space right here.
Speaker: So this is ah our editing office. So this is where we edit our TV show. okay So I've got, i brought my Mac in here. I typically have that downstairs in the other studio where I record and stuff like audio and stuff for my music, but I've got,
Speaker: I've got all my fun little monitors. I've got like four or five monitors hooked up so I can edit. That's fantastic. That's cool. You are you are obviously um more technologically savvy than the two-man crew here. Dude, look at that.
Speaker: You've got all kinds of stuff. You've got merch. shield, Mike.
Speaker: i am.
Speaker: Perfect. And i'll send it I'll send it to you like 32 bit float so you can mess with it, whatever. Okay, cool. Thank you. but So, so Mr. C, tell me, tell me a little bit about what, what is your world? What is your world look like?
Speaker: Sorry, ask that again. My phone doesn't. Oh, it's fine. No, this is it. was I honestly thought it was your intro music. i was like, man, this guy is so put together. right How in the world have you ever signed up for this gig? That's fantastic. i Well, let me tell you a little bit, Joe, intro music.
Speaker: But seriously, what explain to me a little bit about what life looks like for you, man. Yeah, so um I'm a former educator. I was an educator for 15 years before doing Mr. C full-time. I was a fifth grade science teacher.
Speaker: i was an administrator. I did that for seven years. I was an administrator for eight years. So I was a building principal, curriculum specialist, um STEM director, HR director. I kind of did a whole bunch of different positions in the educational field. And after 15 years of doing all of that, um i I decided to do Mr. C full time. and And that kind of came about because, you know, my last name is Cornell. My first name is Kevin. So my kids would always call me Mr. C yeah offer for short. And it just kind of stuck. And so um we just ran with it and I was producing media and I was putting it onto my YouTube channel.
Speaker: um And so, you know, it gave a kids a platform to go to after school to see like what Mr. C was doing, listen to music, watch some science video. I mainly focus on math and science songs initially.
Speaker: And then I got into building my YouTube channel up a little bit. But You did that through your like in your classroom while you were teaching or on the side? So kind of both. So when I was during the holiday season, i would take in karaoke CDs and we would take like karaoke Christmas CDs. And then the kids would have to rewrite a karaoke song.
Speaker: Christmas tune with a scientific concept that we've been focusing on up until that point. So whether it was ecosystems or electricity, or sometimes they use the math song that they were working on in their math class. um We would write those songs. We'd record them in the class and then I would work and clean them up. And then we would actually just burn CDs for them. You know, CDs who uses those now, but um we burn CDs and all the kids would have their CDs and still to this day during the holiday season,
Speaker: I get emails and texts really and messages on Facebook saying, Mr. C, we're listening to our CD. That was cool. In 2004. I'm like, oh, That's so that is it does So yeah, the music and kind of edutainment has always been my thing. and And in 2018, January, well, summer of 2017, I quit being a STEM director full time and I went into doing science shows locally at schools all over the state.
Speaker: And then it's kind of migrated now into... um booking across the country where you guys found me. i travel all across the country and I have an agent who books me and I travel very heavily from September through November for my theater touring. And then December to August, we focus on our television productions, which air on PBS. So yeah.
Speaker: Wow. I didn't, I didn't realize, i didn't realize that you were on, that you were on PBS. How does, so how did that, how did that come about? Did you, um did somebody discover what you were doing and approached you? Did you guys give a pitch reel? What'd you do?
Speaker: um It actually kind of came about semi-naturally. um I was working with my local PBS station on some projects. But then in 2016, they had what was called a Digital Innovator Program. They still do it a little bit. It's a national program. And I was selected to be Ohio's PBS Digital Innovator for 2016.
Speaker: And that kind of was the kickstart. So my wife submitted me to that program. I got accepted. i still work with PBS at a national level um on their platform, PBS Learning Media. So I do so work with them on that. But since then, it just kind of um went crazy. And really, what was the...
Speaker: um the piece was i was doing a little show called full steam ahead with, um, our local PBS affiliate think TV, and they're like one minute interstitial. So they were like one minute science segments that aired before and after, their programs on PBS kids.
Speaker: And so think TV was doing that. I think up, um, Bowling green area, Northwest Ohio was using it. And then also Alabama public television was using it. And then what ended up happening during COVID um I was really heavily touring theater stuff, school stuff, and we lost all of that. Yeah. So then what happened was, is we migrated to going online and we did like a hundred straight Facebook streams. Like every day at nine o'clock, we would stream for like an hour, an hour and a half, do like a whole science lesson, just pick a different concept and have fun with that. And Alabama public television reached out to me and I partnered with them. They were, they were pushing my content to their Facebook page, to their social media.
Speaker: And then they reached out and said, Hey, do you, can we use some of your content on And I said, no, unfortunately it's not air quality, but I have an idea for a show. And nice and they were like, well, what is it? i was like DIY science time. They're like, well, can you build a pilot? So my wife and I filmed the pilot in our kitchen here at the house.
Speaker: And we shipped it off to them and they're like, let's build it. And, uh, literally we are wrapping up season three and we have 39 total episodes now. That's crazy. That's so fantastic. I love, i love, yeah, I just, I love the fact, I love the fact that you're, you're utilizing, you're utilizing, you're utilizing a gift set and you're exploring ways in which that you can care for people. And, um and I like the, you know, the edutainment world, but do you be able to captivate and to communicate concepts with creativity that it seems very, very fulfilling
Speaker: Like, do you see, do you see yourself as, you know, it's interesting, like scientists and creatives, sometimes, sometimes people think that those are two opposite things.
Speaker: but How would you, how would you describe that? You know, you have the creative artist and you have the, you know, the, the scientist, you know, a very detailed binary, you know, molecular level thinking and creative, but it seems as though that you're, that you have both, you have both of those dynamics. Yeah. Yeah, I think for me, what what I really enjoy about, and this is why I love teaching. I love to help kids. I love to help parents. I love to merge those two, get kids and parents excited about learning in non-classroom settings, right? So if that's after school, after school programs, if it's online, you know, continue the learning in a fun way that gets kids going. um And that's always kind of been a thing. And I always thought that teaching truly is an art, right?
Speaker: because you you literally have to, it's so interpersonal, right? You have to be able to communicate, you have to be able but to articulate, you have to find ways to get kids to understand concepts. and And for me, like the science that I teach, like I'm not a science genius at all.
Speaker: I'm more of a guy who does, I scratch the surface of science concepts and I like to dig deep and I just kind of like to um get kids going on concepts. So if there's something I really want to learn about, I'll dig deeper and I'll try to figure it out. But you know, when I was teaching, the whole thing was about like hands-on learning inquiry based learning. That's, we call that project based learning. Now it's the idea of like putting kids, allowing kids to work and explore the concepts without you telling them the information. So yeah,
Speaker: I'm not the facilitator. I'm not the keeper of knowledge in a classroom or even when I'm on stage. I'm a facilitator of knowledge. I i i give them the experiments. We should you know give them the kickstart to say, here's something we did. let's You guys can go home and explore more. And that's kind of my goal.
Speaker: is to find as long as you can communicate information to people, um, you can find a way to get them engaged. And i think that's what I love about my onstage show where I came across you guys is that, um,
Speaker: For me, it's like, how do you incorporate music? How do you make it fun? How do you engage 1,500 people or 2,000 people in an audience and keep them engaged for an entire 60 minutes?
Speaker: And I use things like media. I use things like my music. I use eye-catching, explosive, you know. visual demonstrations that can be seen from anywhere in a theater. and And that's what gets kids hooked. And once you get them excited about learning, they're going to go on and continue learning past what I did. And that's my goal is I want them to get excited about it. Like they're not going to learn every piece to air in 60 minutes but they might yeah oh man if i build one of those i could do something like that like the vortex cannon or they want to build a ping pong ball cannon or you know things like that so it's just a lot of fun i can't remember which show you were at i don't know if it was newton's law yeah or if it was the air show um what was the first thing you said newton's laws um
Speaker: I don't remember. So you you did some things where you, one of the things you shot ping pong balls out into the crowd. and That's my air show. Yeah. Okay. I mean, when we when we saw your show, one of the things, which is to your point that you were making about digging deep that stood out to me was, and what made your show so interesting and really you interesting, which was, which was a reason why it prompted me to think i it would be great for Joe. And i talked to this guy more was that it was obvious that you weren't just up there, you know, like it's easy to go to a show like that and expect it to be a lot of like goofy fluff.
Speaker: And it's just like games and shallow, but it was, i was, i was captivated by The way that you were – there was depth to what you were talking about. It had this ever a so slight classroom feel without losing all of the enjoyment, the fun of of your experiments and all of that. And it just – That was just something really different that I appreciated about it was different than than anything that I had you know seen like that before we've been to other stuff like that. So that's that that to me is coming from a parent. Right. Yeah. That is amazing because that's exactly what I'm trying to accomplish.
Speaker: is that I want it to be fun. I want there to be information. And I think that's really what sets me apart from other folks who do this is like, I am a true educator. Like I've been trained. I have my bachelor's in education. I have a master's in teaching and of science. I have my curriculum license. I have all my principal license, my superintendent license, like my world is education. So when I get 2000 kids in front of me, like I know what it's like to have them at school because was school principal. I know what it was like to have them in a classroom because I was a teacher. I know what it's like to have those kids coming to to the theater on the bus because I rode the bus with my students sometimes. And it's like,
Speaker: you know, you have to find like, why do they want to be at that theater? Like yeah going there, not because they chose, it's because their teacher said, this is going to be something you come to. And I'm like, let's get you excited about it. So you want to go to another theater show, whether it's mine or someone who's like, let's get you to have that experience. And that to me is powerful. So what you just said, like really resonates with me. It's like, that's what I want to hear from a parent.
Speaker: And that's truly appreciated without any prompting. Like that's the yeah money. What I'm chasing. It really is. What, what is it, what is it that, that inspires you? and There's, there's certainly in the realm of education and science, but the things that, the things that you, that prompt creative and, and educational energy for you, what are those inspiring things that are flourishing for you? i mean, yeah.
Speaker: I think the thing that inspires me the most is just trying to impress on kids that learning really should be fun. Like that. Honestly, that it's it's that simple for me. Like my website is learning sciences fun dot com. My YouTube channel is learning sciences fun. Like I just want kids to enjoy and embrace learning.
Speaker: And I want kids to know that like it's OK to fail and it's OK to make mistakes. And the sooner you make a mistake, the sooner you can get up and move forward because you know what not to do again. And it's for me, science is really like.
Speaker: all about life because ultimately we're in a huge science experiment and we're living it day to day and if something doesn't work today what do we do the next day we make an adjustment to improve the next day and that's what we do in science class so if there's information we need we go and hunt for that information to try to do an experiment if it doesn't work we try to hunt for more information and this this give and take this pool it's constantly like what life is so like When when I'm doing science and I make a mistake, whether it's on stage, like I embrace it. I'm not like, oh, man, it didn't work. I'm like, oh, gosh, didn't work. How do how do we fix that? Or or you know what? That's something I might have to try after the show because we don't have time to do another thing. Or maybe that's something you guys try. The whole idea about fail and fail fast and fail often is really critical. And I'm like so like if I ask you guys, are you guys like a half cup glass, half full glass, half empty kind of?
Speaker: I'm full all day. full Full, for sure. Yeah, yeah. my but My cup's always full, right? Half water, half air. Like, there's there's always something in it. Even if it looks completely empty, like, there's always something there. Love it. So, like, that to me is is what we have to instill in our students to say, it's not going perfect every day, but together, you and i teacher, student, presenter on stage, person on TV, like, together, we can learn together and have fun.
Speaker: And if we make mistakes, let's celebrate them. So, Mr. C, I'm i'm so curious. So this you're talking about that that life. What a great way you framed it, that life is a giant experiment and to explore and to understand.
Speaker: when For someone who explores life as much as you do around the nation that you do, what is it that you hope that students find?
Speaker: Or what what is it about life that is worth exploring? And what's the beauty that we can find there? So I think life in general just has to be about finding things you love to do.
Speaker: and just putting your energy into what those are. So, yeah you know, I knew from a pretty young age that I wanted to be a teacher and I just knew i loved helping people. When I was in middle school, I helped people do their homework. Right. And i would, I would help.
Speaker: It was just like, it was just a natural thing. When I got into high school, I had an amazing teacher, Mrs. Beerbauer. And, you know, I remember she gave me my essay back and it was covered in red ink. It was like a C plus. And and I was like a four point something odd GP student. So I was like, oh, I got a C. And I said, what, you know, this is horrible. She's like, it's not the end of the world, Kevin. Like the red ink, this is an opportunity for you to make adjustments.
Speaker: and get better and make your paper better. And that's what life is. Like we all have red ink. And depending on what you want to do with the red ink, you can be happy with the red ink that you have in your life, or you can make adjustments and improve your life or your essay paper. Same difference.
Speaker: And that that really was one of the things that, even though I maybe never shared that with my students when I was a teacher or now when i'm on stage, that's that's really what it's all about is just empowering people and yeah and what i want kids to learn from anything is go out and do what you love because if you do what you love people will respond to you people will embrace you for who you are don't be something you're not because life's too short so just enjoy it so like for me teaching was a thing and i wanted to have more reach
Speaker: And so for me to have more reach, I went from a classroom teacher to a building principal. Now, instead of 70 kids a day, I had 700. And then I went to a district administrator. So I had 8,000. But now, like our show reaches 40% of the country. We reach over a million people. Wow. I've got 154,000 YouTube subscribers.
Speaker: You know, I have all these people landing. Wow. Watching you my content. So for me, it's about having an impact and reaching as many kids as possible because I want to transform how they feel about learning.
Speaker: That's so speaking of you're powerful. I love that. that yeah yeah how they feel yeah How they feel about learning. Because I think that's that's what you're that's what you're exploring and communicating is that learning is not just about cognition, but it's about it's about being.
Speaker: it's about being content content is important but it's the way we learn content it's the way we engage with content it's it's the discussions we have about content content comes naturally if we're engaged but we've all been in classrooms where it's really painful to sit there and just and absorb information and take notes and like that's not fun And there's a time and a place for it. But ultimately, like, how do we engage the kids to feel like they can contribute, they can learn, and what they're learning is now applicable to the world in which in which they live?
Speaker: So speaking of life and improving life, when you were starting out in you know high school, college with a desire to be a teacher, have you always had this vision forward? I mean, you have a unique story because you have, as Joe is pointing out, the creative aspect as well as kind of academic science aspect. But then there's also this visionary kind of, it seems like, entrepreneurial aspect.
Speaker: view forward looking view of, I mean, you're kind of, you're kind of scaling a program to greater audiences. And is that something that was like natural to you or did somebody come along and, and help cast the vision? How did that happen? Yeah. So, um, honestly, um,
Speaker: I think when I was teaching, I thought I would never do anything but teach because I was like, I'm impacting these kids. I'm changing the world with these kids one year at a time. like This is it. And then I got my license and I thought, you know I probably want to have a bigger reach. And that kind of continued to happen.
Speaker: And then when I was in my 15th year, when I was a STEM director, it was an eight to eight job. you know you're You're an administrator. You're doing all sorts of work.
Speaker: Really... it it It was a lot of work, and which was good work, but my wife was like, you know, people are reaching out to you to do this STEM stuff, going to school shows and things like that. She goes, you should you should quit. I'm like, you're crazy.
Speaker: Oh, serious. and i'm like really easy And she's like, no, you should quit. And if it doesn't work, you can come back to it. Right. Because my my ultimate goal is I was going to become a superintendent, run a school district. Like that's where I wanted to be. That's what I envisioned. Because once again, in that role, you can have this approach to impact more people. Right. change the lives, not just for kids, but at that point, teachers, because if you are in a position where you can transform how teachers feel about their work, they feel differently. They want to improve and do all those things for themselves, which ultimately improves the kids in the classroom and the environment.
Speaker: So I wanted to be a superintendent, but my wife is like, No, let's let's just you jump, jump over the cliff. We're going jump off together. And she's like, you've never failed at anything, so let's just do it. Worst case, you go back and it's like going back to that fail, fast, fail often.
Speaker: You got to you got to try it. And if it doesn't work, then you just pivot. And so, you know, i'm I'm a pretty optimistic person all in all. And so I was like, all right, let's try it. And my wife was there to support me and we did it. And, you know, eight years later, we're never looking back. And it's it's been an amazing journey. And and that's one of the things like when I talk to kids and I talk to other teachers and adults about what I've had a chance to do.
Speaker: it's It's nice to share that because i try to practice what I preach. And i try to say, yeah, take risks, ah safe risks. Like, you know, if it didn't work out, I knew I could come back to education.
Speaker: I still have school districts reaching out to me. um It's just not the right fit right now because i love the life I get to live. My wife and I produce our show together. We do all the filming and recording and editing here.
Speaker: So it's it's amazing. Yeah. Yeah. yeah speak Now, I'm saying that it's it's amazing, isn't it? That in everybody's story, and as Rush and I get to spend time with just so many interesting people, that there's always there's always a catalyst.
Speaker: There's always someone who is able to give feedback or encouragement or to help them to think and ah to be able to really explore ah what is how they've been made to flourish.
Speaker: And it's really cool when that's your spouse, right? When your spouse goes, Hey, you know what? And listen, let's go for it. And we'll, jump I like what you said, jump off the cliff and we'll do it together. Yeah. So tell me a little bit, tell me a little bit about your wife, your marriage. How long have you been married? What are, what are some of the, besides jumping off of cliffs with you? What are, what are some things that just is special about your wife and, and how life lives in your home?
Speaker: Is she here? Come on, say hello. Give a cameo. Come on. Come on, Mrs. Give a cameo. She's chilling. She's like, nope. All right. But tell me a little bit about what is it as you, you know, if you're exploring life and learning her, tell us a little bit about what life like is being married. We're going to get a great answer with her sitting right. You would have been, double checked, but you would have been. She can fact check. Yeah, yeah, for sure.
Speaker: No, it's like, We've been married 23 years. and That's awesome. Yeah, we have a 20-year-old who is graduating from college in December. What college?
Speaker: Youngstown State. Youngstown, nice. and and so she Yeah, have two i have two in college right now. So I got two out of four. so I got two in college. Rush has got two. Two, yeah. Two in college. um two Two in college.
Speaker: So you have ah sorry so one, the the one that's in college. do you have any more? Nope, just one. yeah I knew when to quit being ahead. um I did not need a little Kevin running around.
Speaker: um But no, it ultimately, it's like having being married to someone who knows you better than yourself sometimes. Yeah. ah You know, that that's what's really critical is that she can see what I'm doing. She knows what I love to do.
Speaker: um Always super supportive, whether it was me continuing schooling for, you know, ultimately 12 years college. I went to school for 12 years straight, getting all my degrees and administrative licenses.
Speaker: And, you know, when we had our daughter, were both working at the time and we had decided whenever we were going to end up having a kid that one of us would stay home with our kiddo. And she's like, I'd like to stay home with a kid. um And I was like, stay home with Jackie. That's totally cool. And so I went to work and I did that part. But it's always been that kind of a relationship where we work together.
Speaker: We bounce ideas off of each other. We talk a lot. We. um you know Having that confidant, basically, is and knowing that that person is there to support everything that you do um and She is a huge critical piece to what we do now. She's a communications major. She does social media pieces. She does curriculum design. like i I brought her into the educational world, and then she's also taken me into that communication piece. so Our skill sets match really well together. Yeah, they really do. and They pair well, which allows us to continue to kind of build this
Speaker: um, business, the Mr. C business. Um, but at the same time, really keep our vision and mission genuine. Um, because, you know, we have the opportunity constantly to do all sorts of things and we choose to pursue what we're doing together because it allows us to have a wonderful life together where, um, We work from home, you know, 80% of the year. You know, when I'm on the road touring, that's different. um She stays home so she can take care of the pet ferret. and you know that' like You have a pet ferret? Oh, yeah. and that's That's my baby girl now. that' my big
Speaker: I tell you what, there's there's something ah there's something about there's a really really known theologian that says that it's it's remarkable to be in a place where you're fully known and fully loved.
Speaker: and how you're describing Mrs. C, that there's somebody who really does know you and loves you and that the reciprocal relationship that you have and then applying that in creative work that's helping others, I mean, that's incredibly that's incredibly flourishing. And on top of that, you got like a sidekick ferret. I mean, life's pretty good. What more to yeah what more do you want? Yeah, yeah. We we ended up this year for a season three the AI Science Time. We built a robot.
Speaker: um That's one of our animated cartoon characters that my daughter drew and that we're using for the show. But I've always i've always laughed about it. Like, we need to create a ferret and have her in the show and like just have, like, you know, waste up. Yeah. um that's right it's like zabuma foo man back in the day yeah so but yeah i mean my wife's amazing i'm i'm very fortunate um we laughed you guys mean did you guys meet in college where'd you guys meet oh we met high school yeah not in the same high school i met her at a ah video arcade i went to play video arcades one night and stop it was raining i pulled up and i didn't want to be driving in the rain my friend and i just stopped to hang and play video games and i met her and
Speaker: Yeah, that's... No way. Now, did you guys did you guys date in high school? and through commentss Yeah, I was a senior when I met her. um So, yeah, we've been together since... No kidding. I was telling, because my son, because my son, he, you know... Because because that's ah that to me, the the like the high school boyfriend-girlfriend thing has always been a little bit of a tricky thing. I'm like, you know, i don't know yeah know. It's like... Is it because, you know this, right, when you get to college and those things, when you're not playing with monopoly money anymore and all those other different dynamics. But it's so interesting that it really, i find that, man, you really can find um a lifelong partner. Oh, yeah. for From your high school, from your high school sweetheart. And yeah it's interesting. it's That's not always the case. And so I finally, and I'm encouraged, Mr. C, by talking you, please. I said, you know, okay. I was telling my son, I go, hey, no, all right.
Speaker: Hey, listen, you know, you're off into a new you're off to a new world, and but you've been holding hands, you know, with your high school sweetheart. And I'm going tell him, go, hey, listen, Mr. C, Mr. C, they traveled through the college years. Now, did you get married during college you get married after? We got married after. So but we went to school, same school. Oh, you did?
Speaker: Yeah, we went here to Wright State University. Yeah. Okay. So you can you just ask Mrs. C real quick? Oh, she went that she stepped up. but oh she's actually' that I'm just going to ask her what what the her biggest joy in the whole journey is. Maybe you already know that. I mean, you guys are together a lot. You talk through everything.
Speaker: you know What do you think is the biggest, the highlight of you know looking back? She's just really loved this path that you've been on for some reason. I mean, I would ask her if she's not here, but I would say that the highlight is that we're doing this together.
Speaker: Yeah. I hear that. and And we figure it out together. Like yeah when COVID hit and we lost every penny of income, like We lost everything being self-employed. There was nothing on the horizon because we did not know what to do. We just pivoted and we said, okay, we don't have that. What do we do?
Speaker: We just sat and brainstormed. Let's like start live streaming. And when we did that, um we literally started getting sponsors to support the live stream that we're doing every single day for two a half minutes. Did it just happen? and just took off like that? You started live streaming and then you, it just,
Speaker: caught fire yeah it literally we just we're doing facebook live streams we bought we use our cell phones we bought this thing i forget the something i forget the program we use but regardless it was switcher studio that's what we use we use switcher studio and we were able to use all the cell phones in the house and the old ones to use them as cameras and she was using us as like a switchboard and we' we're just filming it and interacting with our audience i mean we we didn't have huge numbers like it was like 150 200 people watching yeah i mean that's not hateful and so you know we we started picking up steam and people were like hey let's let's support these people because what they're doing is amazing and i'm very fortunate that we had a lot of people in the community who believed in what we do and we still partner with those folks joe and i need to find something to live stream
Speaker: we'll well we'll fa We'll figure it out. Maybe a ferret. That's what we need. Insert ferret cue. Hey, here we go. Trademark. Okay, go ahead. Yeah, that's right. That's right.
Speaker: right That's right. Ferret facts, trademarked here, right here. the um You know what's really interesting, Mr. C, that it's just been really enjoyable as I hear you kind of ah help us to explore with you your world.
Speaker: That's incredibly interesting. is how relationship forward it is i mean i hear yeah i hear in the heart of your hearts like man the the relationship of being able to care for others the relationship of wanting to see parents and students to learn together the relationship that empowers really the the work that you do say man the joy of what you do is in the context of relationships. And I'm i'm curious that who who brought that into you? Did you grow up in a place where there were a lot of lot of relationships that you saw modeled that people pursued you? Or was it your own exploration of going, no, man, people really, really do matter?
Speaker: Both um for sure. So, I mean, I mean, i in the ballpark, I mean, I just said a lot of things, but I mean, does that resonate with you? am i Yeah, for sure. No, no, that's, that's spot on. So like, yeah cool you know, being a teacher,
Speaker: you can buke I've always said it's about building relationships. The connections I have with my students, with the teachers I work with, those those are the things that make you want to go to work.
Speaker: And those are the things that drive you forward. Because ultimately, you can be a great teacher, but if you don't have rapport and trust with your kids, you're not a you're not a good teacher to them.
Speaker: the The idea is that Teaching is all about relationships. And so I just knew I wanted to help people. And so teaching to me was that path. But yeah, my, I'm one of five kids, you know, i have four other siblings. I'm the middle child, which explains a lot probably. So I like the center stage, but you know, I have great relationships with my brothers and sisters. i have great relationship with my parents.
Speaker: And loved, and i loved the relationships that I had with my teachers, because I, I always felt like I had so many good teachers who inspired me to do great things. And so I've always been around it. And to me, it's just about communication. I had a lot of good friends. I still have a lot of great friends from high school when I lived in Germany. Um, and you know, so the connections people are drive the world. So if if you have that relationship and you connect with your students, like that's what matters. And, and I know this is weird, but rush kind of hinted at it when he was talking about my show, while I'm only there an hour, I try to be genuine. i try to be me. yeah the flavor of education with the flavor of teaching but still have fun because i want kids to be like that guy is legitimately that's what he does and he loves it yeah see it it's not fake he's not a character well that was very evident when he comes on stage that's what i don't want to do on stage um i just want to be me you don't want to be an act i'm not not trying to be an act and i'm not trying to be an act so um yeah am i crazy do i have fun of course but that's really who i am like yeah Like I run around with cameras, like I have cameras everywhere. So like when we go out and something cool, like we're going film it and we're going to post it because this is awesome. And it is. And that's the part that I think really does connect people is when they get a sense that, that you're moving towards me because you genuinely care and you want to, you want to do that. And I, and even in our conversation today, just have really,
Speaker: I mean, honestly, and it's like the fact that you would be willing to spend some time with with us to give us a chance just to explore and to experience your world. It's enriching to us. it's really great I don't know if you remember this rush, but because I always do a walk around, a pre-show walk around, that's where I pick my volunteers. Right, right. And and I do that.
Speaker: Just a side note. I do that because when you pick a kid out of an audience, you If you pick the wrong kid, like kids will all put their hand up. They want to come up but when you're in front of 100 3000 people or however many they're at the theater.
Speaker: it changes really fast when you look out and you see that many people. yeah I remember doing the walk around and Rush was working on papers or something. I was. Papers. That's hilarious. And I said, i don't know if you remember me saying this. I said, you won't be working on that during the show. ah might happen I said something that in that. Wow. and That's incredible. That's an incredible memory. I mean, that was that was six months ago.
Speaker: That was amazing. Yeah. not later it's not Longer than that. If it's September and October, that was a year ago. Yeah. It was almost a year now. So yeah, I, I remember that. And I really remember a lot of the engagements that people I interact with. Um, I, I, I wouldn't have been able to remember your name had you not reached out, but I do remember like people. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, it's great. So I, I love that about what I get to do. And, um, it's even cool. Like when I'm,
Speaker: ah across the country because my show airs in various places but i'll be at the store like on tour picking up stuff for the show or whatever and people are like i gotta and you know when they see you they're like are you that guy i'm like yeah which one they're like um PBS? I'm like, I am. That's me. They're like, there's no way. So that's fine. So so we have ah we have a rule on our podcast. You can pass on any question, and this might be a personal question you don't want to answer. ah That's a great setup, right? So it's really – it's always a cliche thing to say –
Speaker: yeah what that is it's um It's always a cliche thing to say, i'm really I'm doing with my life exactly what I want to do. But I wanted i wondered, you know you're you're becoming more prominent. You have a lot of reach. You get a lot of attention. and I assume you get a lot of offers to do other things that would take you away from what you're currently doing. Do you ever is come across one of those that it catches your attention and you go, hmm,
Speaker: I might do that. or you hold onto that for the future. That would be a real departure from what you're doing. Yeah, I don't. um yeah i We turn on a lot of opportunities all the time. And if and honestly, if it just has to match our vision and mission. And that is to impact kids, to transform how kids feel, and really to to make learning fun for kids and parents. And so, you know, you you get emails all the time. you People reach out. And we...
Speaker: we've gotten to the point where um we just like keep lining up those things. So like we build our show, our TV show, for example, DIY Science Time, and we have 39 episodes now. So as I build new theater pieces, I'm looking at existing content that I have to build new sets.
Speaker: So everything we build with media, I look at, can I use it over here in theater? And if I can't use it in theater, where else can I use that? But we try not to keep pulling ourselves away from this path um because the theater path and the media path is where we want to be. And it's really easy to get pulled aside. So for example, we we've had a t-shirt company since 2007. So we used to do apparel, rhinestone apparel really heavily. I mean, um I just don't have time to do that anymore.
Speaker: And it's while I loved it, cause I got to create logos and designs and get people in apparel and all that fun stuff. It just doesn't line up with our mission and vision. So when those opportunities come across the table, um I just have to say, does it fit? Does it match?
Speaker: And if it's one of those pieces, like if we're going to do this thing, is it going to derail or like using a whole new course? Like when I left. the educational field to do the Mr. C stuff, we'd have to assess and evaluate all those pieces and overthink it, um which scientists do, right? yeah You want to know what you're getting into. And then if it's if it would be the right fit, we would assess the risk and then take the risk and jump off. But the cool thing about what we do right now is, so I have an agent who books my theater touring now because I just don't have the time to to do it myself.
Speaker: So I'm, I'm being booked out a year and a half, two years ahead. Wow. So it's, it's hard to switch gears, so to speak, because I have sure I have commitment of commitments, commitments, September till end of November already for 2025 that are starting to fill out.
Speaker: And 2026, we'll start doing that as well. So, um yeah, it's just one of those things that if we ever wanted to switch gears, we would just assess it and be like, hit the button and then we're rolling. yeah So it's cool. it it That's really great. but if it It would have to through be the right fit rush.
Speaker: That's really great. Yeah. Well, Mr. C our time has, has come into an end and you've been really generous. We are honored to have been able to spend time with you just real quickly here at the end. Is there anything that your audience should be looking forward to coming up that you guys are doing something, something new or, you know, where, where should they be looking? Yeah. So places that check out stuff, YouTube, um, learning science is fun, uh, Facebook, Twitter or X, whatever it's called. Um,
Speaker: And also Instagram, my channel is original Mr. C and then tick tock is learning sciences fund. So, you know, we are currently working on additional episodes of another series called wonderstem. So we have DIY science time.com. Um, and we have wonderstem.com also. And wonder stem is a career workforce development program.
Speaker: And so we go and explore STEM job, STEM careers and learn about what those people do. So whether it's robotics or an ornithologist, or we talk to a sports medicine specialist, you know, um,
Speaker: those are the things we get to do. Or like we had a forensic DNA specialist that we talked to that's going to be rolling out here in the fall. um So we have 20 episodes of those and we have 39 episodes of DIY science time, but yeah, just more of that stuff. And I'm hoping to get the website updated. That's one of the things being busy. You got to keep things, keep up. So mrc.live, mrc.live is where i I post where all my live shows will be.
Speaker: um i need to get that up because I'm starting to tour September 15th of this year. So. Wow. Yeah. That's awesome, man. Thank you. We really appreciate your time. im it It was so great to spend time with you. And I tell you what, Rush, like thanks for thanks for making the connection and for being you know the guy out in the crowd that Mr. C noticed grading papers at his show. And it ended it really, honestly, Mr. C, with all sincerity, that it's just been an enriching time with you. So thanks for modeling for us today, what you do with with your students and with their parents. It's really been a joy to be with you, man.
Speaker: I appreciate and Appreciate the opportunity.
Speaker: So what were you talking about um having to save up your pennies? Something in l LA he was talking about when we were off. why it like Oh, he just, he just said that that he was saying at the end that, that, uh, the Olympics are coming to Los Angeles. Right, right, right, right. The Olympics are coming to Los Angeles. I'm like, and I'm a huge Olympics fan. I mean, like Heidi and I, no kidding you.
Speaker: for those several weeks that that's all we watch i mean we watch and like everything that's on there it's fantastic great and so so well mr c was a super impressive dude i mean just the way to get his message and his and his education oh it's just out to such an audience it's amazing he was i really enjoyed i genuinely enjoyed engaging with him and hearing from him. And you want to know what, because again, we're we're both in education and I've been a part of that for, I mean, decades that he really does embody the educator.
Speaker: Yeah. Is relationship and care and just this desire to see people be enriched and learn and grow and to be able to be a part of that to help their flourishing really is at the heart of education, no matter what you're teaching.
Speaker: And he has taken that he's taken that and has moved into creative spaces to increase his reach. That has been really cool. And really enjoyed him.
Speaker: really enjoyed exploring how he thinks about things. And then again, you know what, it just, it goes to show, man, every, just, just, just at the, just it got at the end of the episode, we're like, Oh, you know, we could spend another, we could spend another hour with you. Then we shut off the podcast and we're just lingering and chatting. And it's like, It's so fascinating how that every guest, every guest kind of warms up in different ways and you make connections in different ways. Yeah. and ah But every time it's really hard to hit the stop button.
Speaker: It was awesome. I hope we hope we come across that guy again sometime. i'm sure I'm sure we will. I'm sure we will. And you know what? I mean, again, if I was working a crowd and running a national theater program rush, I would pick you too. That's right. I would pick you too.
Speaker: Yeah. It'd be great.
Speaker: Hey guys, thanks for joining us for this conversation with Mr. C, the most interesting person in the world. To access more of Mr. C's hair-raising science, toe-tapping music, and mind-blowing media, head to mrc.live.
Speaker: And don't forget to check the show notes where we've packed in every way to connect with Mr. C. And while you're at it, hit subscribe so you never miss an episode. We'll see you next week on The Most Interesting Person in the World.
