About Evan Whitehead

Evan Whitehead is the  Executive Director of Private Therapeutic Day Schools that focus on working with students with Autism, Intellectual Disabilities, and Severe Learning Disabilities. He’s also a national consultant, trainer, and presenter with Dr. Ruby K. Payne’s Aha! Process, Inc., provides local and national training, presentations, and speaking engagements. Evan is also a certified mindset and accountability coach.

Throughout his 20+ career, Evan has served as a special education paraprofessional and teacher, Latino parent outreach coordinator, dean of student discipline, community outreach coordinator, Director of Title 1, Special Services, Bilingual Education and ELLs, and Assistant Superintendent. He is also a passionate mental health advocate, mindfulness practitioner, and proponent of equity, diversity, and intercultural competency.

Evan's 3Bs, Balance, Boundaries, and Breaks, promote a lifestyle of self-advocacy in the areas of mental health, mindset, self-care, and well-being. Evan’s 3Bs made it to the mainstream and pop culture in 2022 when platinum-selling recording artist, actress, and Entrepreneur Saweetie adopted and implemented them into her life. Saweetie has shared the 3Bs wisdom with other celebrities and entertainers such as Mary J. Blige, Oprah Winfrey, and Kelly Rowland.

How to reach Evan
Bio at https://www.ahaprocess.com/consultants/evan-whitehead/
Twitter (X): @evanwhitehead00  #BalanceBoundariesandBreaks


Topic and Question for this episode:
Does everyone have the privilege of being authentic?

Questions we discussed with Evan:

1. How does privilege affect authenticity? 
2. In what spaces or situations do you feel that authenticity is a privilege? 
3. We generally think of authenticity as a form of freedom of speech but how does authenticity and privilege relate to other areas of self-expression? (i.e. The CROWN Act)
4. Do you think that anyone has the privilege of authenticity in reality? (Marx quote)
5. Even once we’ve identified that privilege exists and is consequential, the question remains as to what we should do. (Unearned Privilege: Psychology Today)
6. What will it take to be ready to challenge our blind spots and embrace discomfort? (Privilege Awareness and Authentic Allyship)
7. How can society or people in their interactions mitigate this issue and create more equity around authenticity?

Some of the resources we mentioned in the podcast:

“Authenticity & Privilege”
http://freedavid.co/posts/authenticity-and-privilege.html

The CROWN (Create a Respectful and Open Workplace for Natural Hair) Act (SB 188) https://www.wikiwand.com/en/CROWN_Act_(California)

Privilege Awareness and Authentic Allyship: A Journey to Equity
https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/privilege-awareness-authentic-allyship-journey-equity-cheraine-ncube/ 

Unearned Advantage: What to Make of Privilege?
“Anyone can be ‘privileged’ if it suits someone else’s argument.”
https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/insight-therapy/202007/unearned-advantage-what-make-privilege 

We invited Hedreich Nichols to join us on Real Talk to have a conversation about authenticity around bias. She is an author, educator, and consultant who helps educators and districts amplify the voices of all students. Hedreich’s YouTube series and podcast, SmallBites, focuses on equity and helping educators to create more culturally responsive learning environments. 

Hedreich is the author of several books: “What is Antiracism?”, “What is the Black Lives Matter Movement?” and more to help students understand systemic inequities. Her Solution Tree title, Finding Your Blindspots, provides educators with guiding principles to help them create more inclusive, welcoming campuses for all students.

A few of the questions we asked Hedreich:

1. What does authenticity mean to you? 
2. Referring to Finding Your Blind Spots. How do we become aware of our bias(es)? 
3. What do we do if we’re struggling with our own biases?
4. How do the words that we choose and speak to each other reinforce bias? 
5. How do we navigate and deal with microaggressions in those conversations? 
6. How can we be intentionally inclusive even with people we don’t agree with?
7.  Let’s go back to your book, Finding Your Blind Spots. You ask readers to reflect on what strategies can be easily implemented to help you respond more empathetically when you encounter a trigger.

Some Gems Hedreich shared:
“Allow others to be where they are.”
“Don’t judge others’ journeys.”
“Be action oriented…put the energy into coming to a consensus.”
“Who are our ‘thems’ and who are our ‘others’ and why?”
“Bias is a natural outgrowth for safety.”
“Who are your others? Start there.” 

How to reach Hedreich
Website: https://hedreich.com
Twitter (X): @hedreich
Instagram: @hedreichnichols
Facebook: Hedreich Nichols
LinkedIn: Hedreich Nichols

We started the last conversation by discussing what authenticity means. Authenticity is the core of our podcast and it is controversial just talking about it.  There was more to delve deeper into this discussion so we invited Dr. Amy Mathews-Perez to join us.

Dr. Mathews-Perez is an experienced expert, an energetic leader and learner,  an aspiring author, and an inspiration advocate. Amy is connecting and communicating through laughter and real life. Working to make education special for everyone!

Amy shared strategies she used and learned through experiences, courses, and books she read around critical conversations. Sometimes we have to learn things multiple times about what works.

Amy shared her definition of authenticity:
Knowing your own values, core values, and non-negotiables. Once you know what those are, then authenticity means showing those to the world through your actions and how they impact you. Relationships are about who you want to invest in.

Amy shared Jon Gordon's quote on mental health:
"If it is still bothering you in 24 hours, then you need to follow up before 48 hours."

A Gem Amy shared: You cannot be in a power struggle unless both or all people in the struggle are involved.

Another Gem: QTIP: Quit Taking It Personal

Make sure you listen all the way through for all the examples, strategies, and so many gems that Amy shared with us.

Dr. Amy Mathews-Perez is @drgrowtoknow on Twitter (X) and on LinkedIn connect with her at https://www.linkedin.com/in/dr-amy-mathews-perez-918431237/

Introducing our podcast "REAL TALK"

Let’s talk about why we want to discuss authenticity in a polarized society in the first place. The first question that came to our minds was, "What is authenticity?"

Nicole mentioned being authentic vs being offensive and Barbara mentioned maybe it was being an authentic person vs an authentic perspective.  They talked about what is truth and Nicole found this description:

• An honest person is one who is sincere and truthful. An authentic person is one whose behavior reflects their deep feelings, core values, and inner qualities. Therefore, authenticity includes more than the frank expression of what comes to mind. Source (Arash Emamzadeh, Psychology Today)

So many questions came out of this intro to our podcast:

• How invested or “stuck” with the person are you? (your motivation)
• Think about this: What another person thinks of you is none of your business.  
• Can’t change them, it’s usually more of a reflection of them
• So if you are invested and don’t agree, how do you have authentic dialogue?

Make sure you keep listening and share this podcast with your friends. We'd love to hear from you about your own perspective of authenticity.  #RealTalkBN