136. AI, Authenticity, and Reels: Smarter Social Media for Schools with Andrea Gribble

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[00:00:00] Aubrey: Welcome to Mindful School Marketing, your go-to podcast for personal and professional growth. We’re school marketers, business owners, and moms passionate about connecting other school professionals with tools and strategies for success. We love solving problems, exploring new ideas, and thinking outside the box. Let’s transform your school and life starting right now.

[00:00:22] Welcome to Mindful School Marketing. I’m Aubrey Bursch. Social media is changing quickly, and AI is creating both new opportunities and new concerns for schools. School leaders are asking important questions about deepfakes, student photos, and AI-generated content. At the same time, school marketers are still under pressure to post consistently, create more video, and tell authentic stories, often without a large team or much time.

[00:00:47] So today we’re really gonna talk about all those topics and how school leaders can approach them more thoughtfully. And that’s why I’m so excited to welcome back Andrea Gribble to the Mindful School Marketing Podcast. Andrea has been a part of our Small School Leaders conference for the past four years, and also shared her expertise inside of Small School Solutions membership.

[00:01:06] I’ve known her for years and had the pleasure of meeting her in person, and she is truly the person I turn to when I have any questions regarding schools and social media. So if you don’t know Andrea, be sure to follow her. She’s founder of Social School for EDU, the author of Social Media for Schools, and the host of the Mastering Social Media for Schools podcast.

[00:01:25] She helps schools and districts celebrate students and staff while connecting with their communities through social media. So Andrea, super excited to have you back. Thank you for being here today for these important topics. 

[00:01:37] Andrea: Absolutely. Lots to talk about. I mean, there’s always something happening with social media, but I just feel like we’re in this trend of, like, constantly having to deal with issues that are popping up and opinions and all of the things.

[00:01:51] So it’s good to be here. 

[00:01:52] Aubrey: Oh, I’m so glad you’re here. So let’s just dive straight in, ’cause I know this one is one that, like, a lot of school leaders talk about, and it’s, you know, that conversation around AI. And it, now it’s not limited to, like, oh, should someone use ChatGPT to help write a caption?

[00:02:05] Now it’s like, okay, hey those deeper questions about student images, deepfakes, privacy, misinformation, whether sharing photographs online could create new risks. So there are a lot of, like, bigger questions that schools are asking themselves. So I’m curious, like, what concerns are you hearing from schools about these topics?

[00:02:23] And, you know, how… Like, what lens are you using to view these? I’d love to hear your thoughts. 

[00:02:28] Andrea: Yeah. Well, I mean, we do social media management for about 85 schools across the country, so we’ve certainly had some schools bring up concerns of should we even be posting pictures of students anymore because of this opportunity for deepfakes, and it’s scary.

[00:02:47] And I totally get it. It’s, it’s just easier than ever to use student faces or any face that you see out on social media or the web to create not-so-great pictures and you know, extortion and, you know, all of these things are, are real. So I’ll, I’ll, I’ll just say that. I’ve had many conversations with school leaders, and I don’t feel that the easy answer is to just stop posting photos of, of students on your social media or start using just clip art or you know, stock images of students.

[00:03:22] Because, you know, we really use social media to build those relationships, to create that authenticity, to, to give people a, a inside look at what your school is really doing. And so when… If you’re gonna just totally shut that off in today’s day and age, that’s really saying, “Okay, we’re not letting you in anymore.”

[00:03:43] And, and we certainly with safety just physical safety and, and you know, health concerns and all of the things, you know, not as many people might… aren’t, aren’t coming into your schools anyways. And so I don’t think there’s an easy answer. What I always res- you know, kind of guide my schools is, you know, we have an opt-out policy.

[00:04:03] So every school should either be opting everybody in or everybody out or, you know, have a, a policy where s- parents, families have the ability to say, “I don’t want my child pictured on social media for the school.” I would say that, you know, in most cases, we can control what’s on the school’s page.

[00:04:24] There’s probably not… I, I don’t know if there’s a, a, a student or staff member or human out there that doesn’t have any photos of them out on you know, social media or the web because just of how digital this you know, that we are in this day and age. But we certainly owe it to our families to give them that choice.

[00:04:43] So, you know, we’re, we’re gonna be grounded in that. But we also wanna make sure that we are paying special attention to identifying students. So, you know, even holding up a certificate or at, being a desk and the desk is labeled just really paying attention to those things. Because when you can tie those faces back to names that just lends itself to another piece of you know, I guess, risk.

[00:05:08] And so we’re, we’re asking people to pay attention to that. And so we’re, we’re making sure as we go into this new school year, that hey, we’re telling staff, “Make sure you’re watching for these things,” because we don’t wanna inadvertently put those out there. Now, if somebody gets a big award, usually you are putting the name out there.

[00:05:25] But for simple photos from a classroom, you don’t have to have that kind of identifying information. Certainly schools are gonna decide what they’re gonna decide. But I just, I think there’s risks both ways in regards to completely shutting it off. I don’t know y- do you have any questions or, or anything additional?

[00:05:43] ‘Cause I know you live in this world too, Aubrey. 

[00:05:46] Aubrey: Yeah, I completely, and I, I re- what you said resonates so much with me because it is, those are the stories, and that’s what, as a school, how else are we gonna tell them without our, our students and, and, you know, scenes from the classrooms and stuff. Like, it makes it really challenging.

[00:06:01] I, I also love what you said about, you know, the opt-out. Every school I’ve worked with, yes, we’ve also recommended that, having some sort of opt-out for parents. And I, I also think, and I’d love to hear your opinion on this, like, the idea of a policy around photos. If a school does not have a policy, like, you know, a name will be featured when you said they won an award, are you then emailing the parent prior to the award being featured with the name on, you know, social media?

[00:06:29] Like, what’s your policy as a school? I think making it very clear to parents so they know ahead of time helps, you know, you know, that transparency level and helps ensure that your school is, you know, both telling the stories, but also honoring, you know, parents’ wishes. Yeah. So I’m wondering how you’ve found schools navigating that.

[00:06:47] Andrea: Yeah, I think that is important for you to have, especially as a social media manager, to know what you can and can’t publish. Because sometimes the classroom teachers that maybe are submitting things don’t realize that, okay, maybe they don’t want their, You know, name given. I think on the opt-out policy, it’s, it’s r- important to be very clear on what’s in and what’s out, and not have, “Oh, well my student can be on the website, but they can’t be on social media, but they can be in the yearbook, but they can’t be h-,” you know.

[00:07:17] And because that is way too hard to manage. So it’s kind of either in or out. Usually with us, with elementary age students, we definitely stay away from first and last name together with maybe middle school, high school if there is an award, they, that, that may be shared. So y- you need to take a, take a look at that.

[00:07:37] The other thing that gets tricky, Aubrey, and I’ve heard a couple strategies on how to keep track of students that can and can’t be pictured. So one thing is if, if the whole entire class like a classroom, an el- elementary classroom, can be photographed, maybe there’s a symbol on the door. Let’s say it’s the Instagram camera symbol that just is telling anybody that’s going in there, “Hey, I can take pictures of anybody.”

[00:08:00] Maybe there’s a different symbol or no symbol on a door where you have to ask, “Okay, which students should I not photograph?” I just saw this off of a church website that they actually had lanyards on the kids, and they did a colored lanyard for kids that are not supposed to be photographed, and a different color for those that can be.

[00:08:21] So it’s not really obvious but there is a different color, and so then taking pictures makes it easy because all of a sudden I can take pictures of anybody with orange, but anyone with blue, they can’t be on social media or, you know, however you would determine. Some people have done, like, colored dots especially on bigger events.

[00:08:40] But again, it’s, it’s challenging because those public events you know, where anybody could basically come into your school, anybody can take pictures at those types of events and post them on social media. So that’s, you know, not really the school’s responsibility then at a public event of whether the opt-in or opt-out is there.

[00:09:00] So, there’s just things to be aware of. I do have a, a, a blog on this that maybe we can link in the show notes that just talks through kind of some, some training and, and just, you know, having that clear process m- makes it really important. But I think right now in this age that we’re living in, we need to be aware of it.

[00:09:19] We also need to be respectful of our staff. So we’ve never had an opt-in, opt-out with staff before, but we certainly respect staff that don’t wanna be pictured on social media. And so it may be time to, to visit that formal- formally or at least ask the question when you’re taking some photos or, you know, when you’re doing orientation with your staff of, “Hey, if you, if you don’t want to be photographed on social media, you, you need to let us know that so that we can then honor it and we don’t run into issues there.”

[00:09:51] Aubrey: I love that so much. I would love to revisit your opt-in versus opt-out, because this is something that, so to make it one or the other, I, I believe you’re saying, and correct me if I’m wrong, that like it’s too complicated to be like, “You can be featured in the newsletter,” or, “You can take my child’s photo and it can go in this Google folder, but it can’t be shared elsewhere,” right?

[00:10:14] Because w- I have worked as well with many schools, and it w- got so complicated and mistakes were made. Because once you take that photo, first of all, let’s hope that everyone has a great photo labeling system and everything like that. But in reality, how many schools actually do, right? Right. So, I, I think the idea of it’s either you’re either in or you’re either out, right?

[00:10:39] Yeah. Because that means that whatever exists is usable- Mm-hmm … as opposed to trying to, to, to figure out later, even one year later if cha- staff changes and everything like that. So, yeah, I’m so interested. 

[00:10:53] Andrea: Yeah. And, and the opt-out is usually what schools use. So basically to say, “Hey, your student is going to be photographed, and, you know, we’re gonna use that unless you tell us otherwise.”

[00:11:04] So then they have to complete a form that basically says, “No, I don’t want my child photographed.” And, and, you know, again, it’s either in or out. But the other option is you gotta have a form from everybody opting them in, and that obviously gets to, can be a paperwork nightmare for bigger schools with 5,000 students or, or even 500 students, making sure you have a form for everyone.

[00:11:28] I will also say many times if, if you do have an opt-out policy, parents are just signing documents. And then all of a sudden they’re signing this, and they don’t realize they’re signing it. And so every year at New Auburn, the small district that I manage, you know, we might have 20 names that show up. I happen to know most of the parents, but we’ll make phone calls to those parents and say, “Hey, did you mean to sign this?”

[00:11:51] And usually we can whittle that list of 20 down to, like, four. And so that’s something that schools should consider as well, ’cause it does make it easier when you don’t have as many to worry about. 

[00:12:03] Aubrey: Oh, yeah. I, I, I love the, the, the calling follow-up. It’s so … It makes everyone’s life easier, because sometimes parents don’t realize what they’ve just opted out of in gen- Yes well, that, I, I’d love to transition from that to another kind of key piece here which is AI content and, you know, how people are using it.

[00:12:26] So one thing that we talked about before recording was that, you know, there’s this other side of AI that seems, perhaps feels a little less frightening, but is becoming increasingly more visible. And, like, that’s when schools are using it maybe for flyers or something like that. And, and things tend to look a little AI generated.

[00:12:44] So I, I’d love your thoughts on, like, where are you seeing schools publish and, you know- these types of things, and what are the, you know, what are you seeing and w- how might that be a problem for, for schools? 

[00:12:57] Andrea: Yeah. Well, first of all, the social media platforms are developing a, a, a capability to identify AI-generated content.

[00:13:06] So it will actually say, “Content is AI-generated.” We’ve had this happen with teachers who have submitted things that were taken with a Snapchat filter, okay? Or that they somehow doctored up a- an image, and so there, there are AI elements of something they’re sharing. And then obviously we all know the AI flyers.

[00:13:25] They look the same. You lose the branding. You know, and, and our whole goal of using social media is to really build that trust and that transparency and, you know, that authenticity with our community. And so all of a sudden, if everything’s being AI-generated, which it makes it easier, but it also all starts looking the same, and I think there is a loss there.

[00:13:50] So AI’s a tool to use but it shouldn’t be used all the time. One of the other issues that we’ve had, Aubrey, is an AI-generated flyer with pictures of students or staff members on that flyer. Now, it may be something that it generated itself, but all of a sudden parents might be like, “Hey, are they feeding photos of my child into one of these AI tools?”

[00:14:17] And then how is that image being used out in the world, right? Because some of those are open format, some of them are closed format AI models. So it’s something to really be considerate of. And again, because we work with so many schools, we’ve been through quite a bit of that, and so you wanna kind of protect yourself from those questions popping up ahead of time.

[00:14:39] And so, you know, we basically had to tell our schools, “Hey, if there’s something that’s coming in AI-generated, you know, we may be asking for something else. We may simplify it with something that we did, do create in Canva. We are gonna question anything that has an image of a student or a staff member, because we don’t wanna lead into those questions.”

[00:15:01] And let’s just face it, I mean, some schools and some people are very open to using AI, and some are on the other side where they really are believing these data centers and the energy consumption and all of that. There’s, there’s environmental concerns, okay? And so we have to be aware that there’s like a 50/50 feel out there in the world.

[00:15:22] And so, I, I think it’s really high time that your, your school talks about how you’re using it especially with the social media thing, because people can comment, and they can post their opinions, and now all of a sudden you’ve got something that you’re worried about instead of focusing on all the, the great things happening at your school.

[00:15:43] Aubrey: So when you say people should talk about that, they should have a policy and communicate it with the parents essentially. Like- 

[00:15:48] Andrea: Yes, and internally with their staff. So just understanding with the staff, and that’s, I guess, you know, because we deal with the staff at the districts we serve, that’s the primary spot I’m talking about.

[00:15:59] But yes, I do believe that you should be sharing with your with your parents and students of this is how we are using your information, this is how we are not using your information. I think it’s, it’s definitely to be proactive to have something in place that addresses that. 

[00:16:18] Aubrey: Yeah, that makes perfect sense.

[00:16:19] Mm-hmm. Is there any time when you think AI can help in terms of social media and- 

[00:16:27] Andrea: Oh, a ton. I mean, there, there are so many ideas and so many things that it can help process through. You know, you’re problem-solving, you’re trying to figure out the best way to communicate something. You know, it certainly can help socialize posts and build engagement.

[00:16:44] And, you know, I love using social media kind of as a, as that thought partner to help make sure that I’m getting things across in the best way possible. And because you do have to seek attention you know, even ideas on, and I know we’re gonna talk about it, reels or, you know, different po- feature ideas or questions you could ask, you know.

[00:17:04] There’s a lot of things that you can use. And, and certainly beyond that. I mean, there’s, there’s websites that come up with custom songs that can be about your mascot or, you know, whatever, or, you know, royalty-free music that you can customize that you don’t have to worry about getting any copyright issues or things like that.

[00:17:22] So there are a lot of ways that we can use it without it being so obvious to our followers that it’s, it’s definitely AI generated, and now all of a sudden it leads to a lot of questions of how you’re using it as a district or a school. 

[00:17:39] Aubrey: Yeah. That’s great. And that leads me to the next thing, which is authenticity, which people want authenticity.

[00:17:44] They want, they want to know you and y- Mm-hmm … the, what you bring. And AI tends to, can take away from that authenticity. So, let’s talk about kind of this idea of posted is better than perfect and unpublished. Yeah. So I think this is a very great message for school marketers particularly those who are managing sc- social media alongside probably multiple other things on their plates.

[00:18:08] Yeah. You know, I, I’m curious, like, why do you think school community, c- communicators get stuck, like, in this maybe trying to make every post perfect or trying to live up to certain expectations around posting and, you know, w- what would you say to them? 

[00:18:23] Andrea: Well, you’re really putting out a perception of your, your school district, right, with every post that you share.

[00:18:29] And so there is that worry of, is this representing what our school is about and our mission and our vision and all of the things. And ultimately, people relate to real people, and I think in this age of AI, we’re craving that authenticity even more. We have definitely seen great responses to just individual features of staff or students, or these videos with, with people talking, right, and, and sharing.

[00:18:56] Ren Luebbering, o- out of Missouri is the one who gave me this quote. We made it into a sticker. It’s one of our favorites. But so often we, we see other things out there and we think we’ve gotta have everything polished and perfect. The truth is the more authentic it is, the more people are like, “Hey, they’re not trying to sell me anything.

[00:19:15] They’re not trying to put on a, you know, this perfect glaze of, ‘Hey, this school is you know, ultimately spotless,” and, you know, whatever. It- they’re real. This is, this is a real place. And you would be astonished at how many times, you know, a, a im- I just had it yesterday in my membership group.

[00:19:33] Somebody posted a picture of people transitioning and getting ready for a, a little concert or something, and it was not a great picture at all, and it ended up to reach over 8,000 people. It was like their highest rated you know, highest reaching post, and they almost didn’t post it because it was, it was just kind of in the moment and on the fly and but that’s what people relate to.

[00:19:55] So I just, I think sometimes we can get so afraid of things not being perfect. There’s so many rules that it should like you know, follow to, in order to post it, but then sometimes we’re not putting anything out and so then nobody’s thinking about our school. You know, Aubrey, the average internet user spends two and a half hours on social media a day, and they’re not going to your school’s page.

[00:20:19] You have to show up in their newsfeed. You have to show up while they’re scrolling, and the only way to do that is to get attention and put content out there. And so, we just, you know, we don’t wanna put out every little thing especially the wrong things in regards to maybe an AI generated something or just posting flyers.

[00:20:38] That’s not gonna gather a lot of infor- or a lot of engagement and reach but these authentic stories will. And I also think, you know, a lot of school communicators, I mean, Aubrey, we’re two of ’em, right? Like, we’re kind of perfectionists. Like, we wanna d- we wanna put good stuff out there, and we’re always trying to get better but sometimes that ends up holding us back.

[00:20:58] And so I love the stories of when I hear people say, “Ugh, I wasn’t quite sure, but I just did it, and oh my gosh, look at all these comments.” You know, that those connections that it’s creating with families with friends, with relatives that are out beyond, you know, even your state sometimes even your country can, can do really well, but we’ve gotta get those out there.

[00:21:19] Aubrey: I love that so much. I was just at an SAIS conference, and one of– part of my session was l- we– and it was probably one of the most impactful parts ’cause people were talking about it later, was like, you know, the, the idea of a B-minus effort. Like, look, there’s A-plus. There’s times to be A-plus, but sometimes you just need to get it done, right?

[00:21:39] Yes. And it doesn’t need to be perfect. And, you know, especially, I know with social media posting, like no one’s gonna see it if it’s not out there, right? Right. So I love what you were saying there because that resonated so much with like, I think how a lot of school leaders and school communicators, we have this very high perfectionism drive or like just we want it to be the best.

[00:21:58] We love our schools. We want them to be the best out there. But if, if it’s not out there, no one’s seeing it. 

[00:22:04] Andrea: Right. Sometimes 

[00:22:04] Aubrey: it’s just best to get it done and, and let that go. Yeah … so thank you for that. We touched on this earlier in the conversation. I know it’s a hot topic for everyone. So that’s reels.

[00:22:16] Okay? So reels a lot of people talk about them. Some people are like, “Oh, it’s so complicated. I, I’m not sure if I should follow every trend. Like, what should I do?” So can you talk a, a little bit about, like, what should schools… You know, should school, should reels be a part of a school social media strategy?

[00:22:32] Why and why not? And what can video communicate that a static flyer or a photograph cannot? 

[00:22:38] Andrea: Yeah. Well, it’s in, it’s, it’s we’re living in this TikTok world, and I don’t think every school needs to be on TikTok. Our latest survey showed, I think, less than 9% of schools were actually using TikTok. But Instagram and Facebook both have reels, so those are those short vertical videos usually under three minutes.

[00:22:57] You can put a lot of different elements in it. I love to edit just right in the Instagram app itself. You can add closed captioning, you can add different photos in, you can add music. You can add all of those things. And the truth is y- video brings you in and engages you in a different way than a static image or graphic would.

[00:23:17] I would al- I would always say that a, that a image would probably do better than a graphic. People relate to faces. And that goes back just a little bit to our first topic of AI, not posting pictures of students. Like, there are ways to take pictures of activities at your school with m- out maybe identifying students.

[00:23:34] But just know that those pictures are not gonna get as much engagement because we’re human. We engage with faces and facial you know, expressions and all of those things. And so yes, you can use that sometimes, but it’s not gonna be as engaging just in the same respect of a video. And you know, one of the things that we just really focused on in my Social Media for Schools retreat last June was just on getting their attention in those first 30 seconds, right?

[00:24:01] Like, if, if you can have a, a great video, but you’re starting with your logo and just this typical three-second intro to say, “Oh, here’s what’s happening at my school,” dude, they have already scrolled on by, okay? So we’ve gotta pay attention to how are we getting their at- attention so that then they can consume the information, which again, may feel overwhelming, but baby steps, okay?

[00:24:26] We, we, we’re, we’re just gonna take baby steps. But the truth is there are a lot of people consuming video. If I, I think a great goal is to try to do one a week- Mm-hmm … for, like, your school district or your school page. If that makes you, like, like, hyperventilate, then one a month. Okay? Let’s start with one a month.

[00:24:46] And if you can build a recurring theme, maybe it’s your superintendent is out interviewing students. And these microphones that you can buy off Amazon, I’ve got this whole tool list that I can get you for the show notes. But and then those little wireless mics that you can buy on Amazon for, like, 20 bucks, you put that inside this real-looking microphone.

[00:25:04] You’re doing interviews with students of just, like, “Hey, what are you learning this week? We really wanna know.” And then, you know, these kids are responding. Or these open mics which is, is kind of like, just in the mic- in the hallway. I’m sorry. Those hallway microphone interviews where, you know, something, you know, what’s…

[00:25:23] “Tell me something good that happened today.” And these kids or adults are coming up and telling something great that happened, and they can– you can create these short fit- short little videos. Those have been doing really well for us here in New Auburn. I finally started doing them at the end of last year, and one of our videos reached over 100,000 people.

[00:25:43] I mean, had a hun- over 100,000 plays. We only have, like, 4,000 followers on our page. So these are the types of things that are resonating really well. I think, Aubrey, many people overcomplicate what needs to go in. They think of these trends and they… Let’s, let’s just take a step back, and then let’s just kind of showcase really what is happening in our schools.

[00:26:08] You know, it, it can be from an event where it’s a series of pictures that you can easily put together. I’ve got a series of video tips on Reels on my Instagram page, Social School for EDU, that you could take a look at. But get a reverse mentor. Get a g- If you’re a, if you’re, you know, 48 like me, and you’re like I don’t really know how to do Reels,” grab a student.

[00:26:29] They can show you how. And and, and it’s really not as difficult as you might think once you get started, but you just have to do it, so. I don’t know if that helps. 

[00:26:40] Aubrey: Oh, it does. I’m curious, do you have, like, one or two ideas as people head into the school year of, like, what are, like, some back to school reel ideas?

[00:26:48] Andrea: Yeah. Well, one of the cool back to school ideas from last year was just, like, the ma- if you have a mascot or if you have a well-known character, you know, them being lonely at school or getting ready for the new school year. I just recently saw one too, and colleges are doing a great job, you guys. So if you follow any colleges they’ve actually, not a reel, but they just have videos of the mascot in different locations throughout campus of being really lonely.

[00:27:15] And so they c- they can’t wait for everybody to be back, but you could, you could easily do that into a video. I love and I don’t know about you with nightmares, but sometimes I still have a nightmare that I can’t get my locker open between classes, and we only had three minutes ’cause we had a super small school.

[00:27:32] So what about a principal just doing a little video, or a student, showing how to do your combi- like, your locker combination, right? Like, if your combination is 3-24-6, here’s how you do it. And, you know, there’s little things like that. You think of the frequently asked questions going back to school that people are wondering about, create a short little video on, on it instead of putting out a post that they may or may not read.

[00:28:01] Because you, you’re gonna always have that video too. You could always repost that or re-share the link. You could put some of those links into a newsletter. They don’t just live on your, your social media channels. You could be putting them into a digital newsletter. You could be adding a QR code into a physical newsletter.

[00:28:20] So there’s a lot of things that you can do to get excited, and, you know, just a simple scroll of maybe some surrounding schools or some colleges could give some real simple ideas. And once you know how to create some of these videos… I mean, Aubrey, I’m doing everything just with my phone. I do not have a professional camera.

[00:28:41] And we work with students which can be a great addition to incorporating reels into your school strategy. Grab those upper middle schoolers if you don’t have a high school. If you have a high school, maybe a couple students in, in your high school, p- preferably one that’s not a senior so that they could come back next year and help train in the next folks.

[00:29:01] But that could be really a great strategy to get some ideas and to be able to build that authentic video content. 

[00:29:09] Aubrey: I love that so much. Thank you for sharing. Yeah. Curious, now we’re at that time in our episode, we’ve tackled a lot here, where we transition to our rapid fire. So are you ready for rapid fire questions?

[00:29:21] Andrea: I am so ready, Aubrey. 

[00:29:24] Aubrey: I love interviewing you. You have such great enthusiasm. If you could book one… If you could put one book as mandatory reading in the high school curriculum, what would it be? 

[00:29:34] Andrea: I think right now it would be the, Have You Read This? Inner Excellence by Jim, Jim Murphy. Mm. This is train your mind for extraordinary performance and the best possible life.

[00:29:45] I wish I would’ve read this book in high school. I think it’s like mandatory reading every year for people, but he is he’s amazing and so I would recommend this book. 

[00:29:56] Aubrey: Oh, I’m adding that to my family’s reading list. Thank you. 

[00:29:59] Andrea: Yes. 

[00:30:00] Aubrey: What is one app you couldn’t live without? 

[00:30:03] Andrea: Well, I mean, you know, obviously social media’s my job, so that is a big one, but you know what I would say right now, Aubrey?

[00:30:10] Find My iPhone. Because I track my girls and my husband. You know, my girls are 18 and 21 now, and they’ve got jobs and it’s all over, and where are people eating supper and everything. So I really like being able to know where they are, and so I, I like that app right now. 

[00:30:30] Aubrey: I love that so much. What are you reading right now?

[00:30:34] Andrea: Okay, so I’m reading a couple books right now for pleasure, ’cause I’ve started to read for pleasure, which is amazing. I’m reading 32 Days in May and that is by Betty Carello, so that’s a good, good book. She’s fighting lupus and she’s dating a guy every day for just the month of May. Anyways love, love that book to get me off of all my business books.

[00:30:56] And then the other book that I’m diving into is Unreasonable Hospitality. And so, I’ve heard a lot of great things about that, of applying that to schools, and then obviously looking at how I’m applying that to my business and how I serve schools all over. So those are two that I’m reading right now.

[00:31:13] Aubrey: That’s great. Thank you so much. I love Unreasonable Hospitality, and I’ll add that other one to my book list. Now finally, last question, what is one great piece of advice you’d like to leave us with? 

[00:31:24] Andrea: I think when it comes to social media, Aubrey, it can be so overwhelming. There’s always a new trend.

[00:31:30] There’s always all of that. And one of the stickers that I have from my friend Alice Seifert at Mata Media is, “Trends fade, trust doesn’t. It’s not about going viral, it’s about building trust.” And so if we can just focus on what’s in front of us, what we can share today, what our next step is, and stop being, like, mesmerized by all the shiny objects and somebody going viral for this or that and just basically sh- focus on what do I need to do to continually build that trust.

[00:32:05] Some things may go viral, and it might be great. Some t- things go viral and it’s not so great. So, we just have to really focus on just that everyday storytelling and knowing that we’re enough because we, we really wanna measure ourselves against the next district or the next school or, you know, whatever.

[00:32:25] Measure yourself to what, where you were yesterday and just, let’s just keep trying to be better. So I, I think that that’s a big thing, and it’s hard, hard, hard to do in social media, but I think that that’s really important and what probably, you know, I know my audience, and probably most of yours needs to hear.

[00:32:43] It’s, it’s just like focus on what that next step is. Try not to get distracted with all the shiny objects or trends 

[00:32:51] Aubrey: I love that so much, and can be applied across the board for life as well, so. 

[00:32:55] Andrea: Exactly. 

[00:32:57] Aubrey: Thank you so much for being here today. I really appreciate how you bring this both practical… We dived into multiple topics that school leaders are dealing with right now, and you gave them such practical advice and examples.

[00:33:08] So I, I always come to you for that, and thank you for delivering. Now, if people wanna learn more about you or wanna connect with you online, how can they do that? 

[00:33:16] Andrea: The best spot to just ha- do is head over to my website, socialschool4edu.com. I’m Social School 4 EDU on Facebook and on Instagram, so you can catch all of that there.

[00:33:28] A lot of free resources. I, of course, have a, a podcast as well so you can catch that. But just trying to provide some great information, and if, if a- any of you listening to this are interested in learning more just head over onto that website. There’s a spot where we, you can contact me directly.

[00:33:44] You can also email me andrea@socialschool4edu.com. 

[00:33:49] Aubrey: Yeah. Thank you so much for being on the podcast again, Andrea. This was so much fun. 

[00:33:53] Andrea: Yeah. It’s always fun to talk to you Aubrey. I love what you’re doing. Your energy’s amazing. The, the resources that you put out, not only for independent schools, but it definitely applies to the public schools as well.

[00:34:04] So I am so proud of the work that you’re putting out there, and excited about, you know, the next big event that you’ll be putting out in, in February and, and will hope to be a part of that again. 

[00:34:15] Aubrey: Absolutely. And thank you. Thanks for your kind words. Yay. Well, this is a wrap, everyone. Thanks for listening to the episode. 

[00:34:22] Thanks for joining us on the Mindful School Marketing Podcast. We’d love it if you’d pop into iTunes and leave a review, five-star preferred. Let us know how you like the show. It helps us improve what we’re doing and helps others find us, too.