Ep. 82 – 2023 Reflection by the Numbers

0:03
Hello, and welcome to dyslexia devoted the podcast dedicated to building awareness, understanding and strategies to help those with dyslexia. I'm your host, Lisa Parnello, dyslexia therapist and founder of Parnello education services. Join me as we dive into today's episode of dyslexia devoted. Hello friends, and welcome to the last episode of 2023. It has been an amazing year. And if you're listening to this in real time, it is the start of holiday break. And so many of us are feeling the happy spirit of getting to take a rest and enjoy our time for the holidays. And today I decided episode number 82 is going to be a reflection on 2023. And all the things that have been happening at Parnello education. Because I'm pretty darn proud of this year. I personally feel like I have accomplished a lot. I feel like this season brings about a time of gratitude and being grateful for all that you have. I know I have some friends going through some really tough times right now and some losses and things like that. And it's really terrible timing. And so it just makes me remember that it's so important to be grateful and appreciate all the things that we have, and all the things that we have accomplished this year. And I know that not everyone's here is perfect. And I'm sure this is a tough time for some people. But we still have to think about all the good that has come about throughout the year, as we start focusing ahead on the new year to come. So without further ado, Episode 82, of dyslexia devoted is all about running down the numbers of 2023. So before I hopped onto the microphone, I went through a bunch of numbers relating to my business. And I don't mean money, although I did do that too, mostly because I have to pay taxes. And as a small business owner, that part makes me want to cry. So instead, I'm going to talk about the happy numbers of this year. The first one is this podcast, I am so excited to say I have done 52 weeks in a row this year. And actually, I'm at 82 weeks in a row altogether. And it is something that I never thought I would ever do start a podcast, let alone start one that is gone. 82 weeks straight. And I made it through an entire calendar year, despite COVID and terrible colds and some asthma attacks and things like that, that all make it very difficult to record a podcast. But I had a goal for myself and I was on a mission to reach it. And today it feels pretty darn good to reach that goal. I run a small team of me, myself and I That's it. Nobody helps me with any of the recording or editing or uploading of any of these podcasts. And I do this on top of my normal job of helping kids every day. So I am super excited that I've been able to bring you 52 episodes this calendar year of information that I hope has helped you. Now one of the things I wanted to do is rundown some of the top episodes. According to you guys, the most recent episode that gained some popularity was number 71. Success doesn't come easy. Now in terms of the overall year, there are three episodes that coincidentally got released pretty close to one another that were all really popular this year. So I don't know if it had to do with the timing of when I released them. And people just had more time in life to listen to podcast episodes, or if they just really resonated with people in general listening to it all year long. So the top three that have had the most downloads this year are episode number 34, the signs of dyslexia, which Hello that one's kind of given considering this is dyslexia devoted the podcast. So that one's kind of obvious number 38 When a student doesn't make progress, because that is honestly the biggest frustration of so many people is what do you do when a student doesn't make progress. And number 39 helping kids develop grit, because well, that's all related to when they're not making progress. They gotta develop a little bit of extra grit to keep on going. So if you haven't checked out those episodes, those ones were our top downloaded episodes. We are at over 15,000 downloads of the dyslexia devoted podcast as of when I checked yesterday, I think it was and I'm super excited to have gotten to share information with people all around the world. We've had people as far away as Europe and Australia tuning into my podcast that I record from California. And it is just so wonderful to see how far this podcast has reached in how many families it has helped. And this podcast is actually how I started working with an extra student this past year, who's on a different timezone. So therefore, I was able to squeeze them in at a time slot that nobody on the West Coast wants. So it's pretty wonderful that this podcast has allowed me to help not just adults around the world, but kids as well. Now that brings me to my next number 36. That is how many kids I personally have helped who have dyslexia or other learning differences. And there's a chance I miss counting one or two, because I'm going off of a list by the month. So there's a chance when I was going through and counting, I know, I didn't double count anyone. But there may have been one or two that I missed when I was trying to count that I thought I'd already counted. So at a bare minimum, we are at 36 kids that I've helped this year. And I'm so excited. Those are a combination of the kids that I helped during my summer program, and the kids who I see regularly throughout the school year. So I absolutely love that I've been able to help so many kids be successful this year, and see a wonderful change. Just this past week, I had a student tell me he's learned more in my office than he ever has at school. And I find that to be really powerful and really motivating. Because sometimes teachers work their tails off and don't always feel like it's doing much and, or that it's noticed. And it is wonderful when a kid can see and feel the difference and their own successes and know that all of the work that they're putting in, because you have to remember kids come to my office on top of a regular school day, and to be able to make a difference in that extra time that the kids enjoy coming to my office. That is always such a powerful thing and brings me so much joy. I've actually gotten questions many, many, many times this year about if I'm going to expand my business, because there is definitely empty office space in my building. And I have a huge demand for clients. And right now my answer is still no. I love working directly with the kids. And I discovered from my time at the school that I'm a really good boss to my staff, and they loved me working with them. But I just don't know if it's in me right now. And you know, I'm not shutting the door forever, there's a chance Parnello education could expand to, you know, a bigger office or you know, more tutors or something like that. But for now, I'm really in a happy place. And I would like to stay there. And I'm really enjoying working one on one with kids, and being able to make so much progress with them without having to sacrifice time with kids to manage other adults. And for now, I'm going to be content with where I am. So many times people always want more and more and more. And I'm finding the value in knowing when enough is enough, and trying to be really good about limits and boundaries. And that is actually a big success of mine this year is to be okay, just saying no. Now setting boundaries and limits and saying no does not mean I said no to everything. Because there are definitely other ways that I have expanded Parnello education this year that I am very proud of, and have been a pretty good success, they're still you know, work in progress. So the next thing was this year, I launched five courses, two of them the larger courses, and those are discovering dyslexia for parents discovering their kids have dyslexia and what to do, and the educators guide to dyslexia, those are the two big courses. And then I've also had three mini courses this year. And those are things that I am not a marketing expert. And so you know, they're on my to do list for 2024 is to expand the courses, possibly adding a few more. If there's ever anything you want to learn about or have a course about, please just let me know. They're all on demand. So people could do it on their own time with lifetime access, not with any certain set deadline. And so that is my way of expanding Parnello education to as many families as I can, is that even though I don't have a team of tutors right now, by my own choice,

8:42
I do have a set of courses for parents and educators to keep learning about dyslexia and learning differences. So that is on my agenda for 2024 is to keep spreading the word about my courses, and possibly add a few more to the list, including maybe some live workshops. So if you would like to learn about anything, dyslexia or learning differences, let me know, as I have sticky notes of ideas, but I have not nailed them down yet. And I would love to serve you guys in whatever way you think would be the most helpful. So feel free to reach out to me Parnell education on Facebook or Instagram, or my email Lisa at Parnello education.com. And the last new thing I started in 2023 was parent and educator coaching. That was something that I'd only ever done with clients where I've already worked with their kids before. And then this year, I opened it up to new families who are have been around the country and looking for ideas and strategies on how to help their kids be successful. So while I don't have room to take them on personally for their kids, I do have a wealth of resources and knowledge to share that I can coach parents on what to do what questions to ask in their IEP meetings, and what things they should look for in a tutor what questions to ask What kind of books and resources I had one super motivated mom want to know which books she could buy for herself, so she could teach her own child in a better, more successful way. And so it has been a really great way to connect with a few more of the families who many of them listen to this podcast, and others that I've found through other ways, and to be able to coach parents and educators on helping kids with dyslexia. And so if you are interested in the parent educator coaching, I'll put the link where you guys are listening to this show in the show notes. It's also on my website at Parnello education.com, forward slash coaching, and it allows you to book a session. And to wrap up 2023. I'm also in the process of finalizing my presentation for sped summit next month. I'll give you more details on that when it's time to sign up if you want to join in on the festivities, because there's a bunch of presentations if you're interested. And I was able to participate by contributing trainings to different virtual conferences and summits and things like that this year. So that was pretty wonderful. So that is on my agenda for 2024 as well. I know I already have at least two of virtual conferences that I'm participating in. So as it gets closer to those dates, I will be sure to share it with you so that you guys can attend some of my longer trainings as well. All right, that is it for today. I hope you had a wonderful 2023 I hope you are taking some time to take a rest and enjoy some downtime before New Year's, and I will be back with you in the new year. See you next time.

11:35
Thanks for tuning in to today's episode. If you want to learn even more about dyslexia, check out Parnello education.com forward slash courses. See you next time