We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Shawn Brown. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Shawn below.
Alright, Shawn thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. What do you think it takes to be successful?
It takes purpose, passion, and persistence to be successful. Success does not happen overnight. On my journey as a business owner I’ve learned that purpose provides the vision for your business idea. Passion is the driving force that puts the vision into motion. Persistence is the fuel that is needed to keep going when times get challenging and to create longevity. I have experienced many of the ebbs and flows of operating a business. I have learned to use all challenges as an opportunity to grow both personally and professionally. It has been through the challenges that I’ve been able to support healthy growth, improvements, and longevity in the business and its operations.
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
I entered the field of education over 30 years ago. I was pulled there by my purpose. I began my educational career as a middle school teacher. After several years I became frustrated that students were entering my class reading 3-4 years below grade level and could barely craft a 5 sentence paragraph. I knew that I could not affect change in a larger school district, so I decided to start a k-8 charter school. As an educational leader of a charter school, I could provide students with a strong academic foundation that would allow them to be successful long term. Pasadena Rosebud Academy Charter School serves 70% African American and 30% Hispanic/Latino students. The Rosebud Dream Team is closing the achievement gap. Our core principles are: critical thinking, financial literacy, exposure and experiences, cultural awareness, and service. Our program is designed to develop the whole child. Our vision is to develop well-rounded critical thinkers who will impact the world.
In order to expand the work that I do in education I wrote, The Purpose Driven School. The Purpose Driven School is a book that provides a roadmap to create great schools. My work as an educator also includes public speaking. I recently did a TEDTalk on The Achievement Gap.
How do you keep your team’s morale high?
Effective leadership is imperative for managing a team and maintaining high morale. An important part of leadership is relationship building. Building positive relationships with employees is key to creating an educational dream team that is self motivated to work towards the mission and vision of the school. A positive school culture is so important to retaining good and great employees. The culture that is created at a school or in any business is reflective of the leadership. More than anything, hiring the right people is extremely important to building a team that is committed to working towards the vision. When you have the right people on board, managing and maintaining high morale becomes organic.
We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.
I think we can all relate to our ability to be resilient during the 2020 pandemic. Navigating how to continue educating students during the pandemic and the aftermath was challenging. The pandemic compelled me and my team to be adaptable, innovative, and consistent. There was a mental shift that was required during that time, but the emotional shift that was needed was overshadowed by the necessity to support student learning virtually. Despite the challenges that came along with COVID-19, our school was able to create positive attendance, and maximize instruction and learning so as to minimize gaps in learning. We were able to maintain high standards for ourselves and students during the pandemic and came out better and stronger.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://thepurposedrivenschool.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thepurposedrivenschool/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/shawn.brumfield.33/
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/shawn-brown-8a3045222/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCASrs4q38tQTHKm6FxDRp9g
- Other: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=POwMTijNgPg&t=791s