Ever Forward Club’s Ashanti Branch is joined by Spencer Atkinson. Spencer is a Career Coach and Experiential Educator, helping students at UC Davis navigate university life and find fulfilling careers. In this conversation, Ashanti and Spencer find a connection looking back on their careers as veteran educators. They even overlapped as collaborators at Stanford University. We hope you enjoy hearing Spencer’s dedication to the well-being of our youth come through your speakers.

(1:30) Ashanti’s introduction.

(8:10) Spencer introduces himself, his career in education over the years, how he and Ashanti overlapped at Stanford University through men’s work, and why career services feel more meaningful to him than teaching high school English.

(17:10) Spencer suggests a new format to the mask-sharing structure before he and Ashanti share their masks. Ashanti’s front - funny, hard-working, serious. Spencer’s front - smart, prepared, clever. Ashanti’s back - stress, fear of failure/quitting, am I good enough? Spencer’s back - lonely, aspiring parent, [?]. They then analyze and share ideas about how the front and back of the mask are related.

(29:20) Spencer reflects on what’s on the front of his mask. He shares how each item on the front of his mask has a “shadow side.” Then, Ashanti shares what it means to have “hard-working” on the front of his mask, and how upholding this trait and reputation puts a lot of pressure on himself.

(34:10) Then, Ashanti also shares why “hard-working” is on the front of his mask almost every time. He explores how “hard-working” explains why “am I good enough?” is on the back of his mask.

(43:50) Spencer reflects on his teaching days and the structures that get in the way of teachers having “human moments” with students. Ashanti chimes in with memories from his own career.

(55:10) Spencer breaks down the difference between dopamine and oxytocin, between screen interactions and in-person connection. They also discuss how it is possible to be an extrovert while, at the same time, lack intimate connections.

(1:01:50) When sharing some final thoughts about the back of his mask, Spencer shares how the Johari Window reveals the things he does not know about himself, and how these things scare him.

(1:10:40) Spencer makes a final plug, trumpeting the importance of career services.

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Connect with Spencer Atkinson:

Podcast: careeriosity.wixsite.com/podcast

Instagram: instagram.com/careeriositypodcast

LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/spenceratkinson

Career Services: icc.ucdavis.edu

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Create your own mask anonymously at www.100kmasks.com

If you are interested in being on the Face to Face podcast, email us at [email protected]

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Connect with Ashanti Branch:

Instagram: instagram.com/branchspeaks

Facebook: facebook.com/BranchSpeaks

Twitter: twitter.com/BranchSpeaks

LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/ashantibranch

Website: branchspeaks.com

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Send in a voice message:

anchor.fm/branch-speaks/message