 Thank you for joining us for this episode of Fort Worth Forward. We're here at Mick Ortho, and we're going to interview Dr. David Mickincheck, as well as CJ Evans, Fort Worth ISD Board Trustee, and Laura Wessinger with The Mindful Project and Lauren Yoga. Let's go. Welcome to this episode of Fort Worth Forward. I'm here with Dr. David Mickincheck of Mick Ortho. Welcome, David. Thank you. Welcome for having me. You're welcome. So it's really honored to be a part of your ribbon cutting today. It was great. You had your office staff and everything out there. Thanks for letting me participate in that, and I'm really happy for you to get this building open. No, thank you. I appreciate you coming out. We just wanted to have the people important in our community, along with our builders and reps and things like that, just so we could kind of identify everybody that's helped us through this process. That's great. Thank you. That's, yeah, awesome. Tell us a little bit about the building, how it came together, how you got here. Yeah, I love it. We kind of, you know, had been at the same spot in Tengwood Village for 14 years, and we had just kind of slowly outgrown it, and, you know, our lease was coming to an end last month, and we started this process with Fort Denil, probably about three years ago. And finally, after all the planning and then the COVID delays and all that, we finally got to this position where we're at today, and we're able to move into our new building with that group. And it's been wonderful so far. So that group is Fort Denil. Correct. You're kind of sharing a space here. We are. We are. Tell us a little about the services. Yeah. We also were orthodontics specialists, so we just provide orthodontic services. Fort Denil, they are, you know, general dentistry practice, cosmetic dentistry practice. Also in Fort Worth, they were located up by kind of Healing Mall, and so, like I said, we just kind of, we were both looking for new spots, kind of outrun our current areas, and this was, we love Ryan Urban, we love this area, and we decided this would be a great new home. That's great. Well, we have a lot of viewers that look at, like, professions, what they want to do. Are you interested in orthodontics and dentistry in general? Right. I grew up, my father was a periodontist, actually, and so I kind of grew up a little bit, kind of in the dental field. I just got to kind of see, you know, growing up in Temple. What's a periodontist? Periodontist is gum disease, gum surgery, things like that. So growing up in Temple, Texas, a little bit smaller than Fort Worth, you know, just kind of getting to see him interact with patients, the community in a smaller environment, being able to, you know, pick a schedule, and all that kind of stuff. He was just, he enjoyed going to work, he liked being around people, and so it was kind of one of those things that I was kind of naturally drawn to, and then once I got into dental school, just kind of really figured out that I liked the cosmetic component of orthodontics a little bit better, and kind of went down that road. So you knew going into college that this was going to be the career path? Pretty much, pretty much yes, I did, you know, and then once, once I got into dental school, kind of really figured out that orthodontics is where I wanted to be, I worked for a couple of, you know, different orthodontics growing up, and I kind of really liked how that worked, and so I just thought this would be a great profession, and enjoy working with people and, you know, being around and helping others. Yeah, so what was your undergrad major at TCU, right? Correct, yes. And what was that got you, and that sort of... You know, you know, did biology and chemistry, you had to take so many pre-recorded... That's pretty typical. It is, very, you know, very, very typical. Some people do business and things like that, but you have to take so many prerequisites for dental school that you basically earn your degree doing all those prereqs, and so once again, then you get into dental school, and it's kind of repeat of all those sciences all over again. Right, right. But TCU, you know, definitely earned me for it. That's great. Well, one of the things we're talking about lately are small businesses. I've created the Small Business Task Force just to help small businesses maneuver through city bureaucracies of somewhat, our permitting process, other aspects, and then that might morph into services or other things that we offer through our Business Assistance Center. But you are a small business, right? We are, we are. I mean, we open from scratch, you know. So tell us a little bit about that process, like how that worked, what that did, what was going through your mind, the stresses that came with it probably. Yeah, I lost a lot of hair during those times, you know. At that point, you know, we opened on Cinco de Mayo of 2008. And so, you know, I had a daughter that was, you know, two years old. My wife was pregnant. You know, we just went out there and hung our shingle, as they say, and just kind of figured out where we wanted to be. We both went to Fort Worth, met each other, you know, at TCU. So we knew Fort Worth was going to be home. And so then it was a matter of finding the right spot of where we wanted to be. And then you just, you just take a leap of faith, you go, you know. And obviously, the community supported us. It's been awesome. You know, we obviously love living in Fort Worth, raising our kids here. So it's a natural fit for home. And then once again, having the TCU connections definitely helped. And it's just, it's a big city with a small town feel. And so that, once again, just being active in the community, having our kids go to the Tanglewood and just being engaged in the community just made it so much easier for us to naturally grow. And because it's a word of mouth. You've been very philanthropic too. Every, you know, when I plan the Tanglewood auction and all the auction, you've been supportive in that way, you know, out of full disclosure with their audience, my girls now come to you to get their braces. You've been friends with your wife for a long period of time too through that process. You know, she's, I'm sure a big part of this process too. Absolutely, that's what we wanted. I mean, you know, a lot of people practice somewhere else and then live somewhere else. So we wanted to be involved in the community. That's, once again, it's not for everybody, but that's how we wanted to do it and how we wanted to be. And so I really, we've really enjoyed that. And like I said, the community's embraced us. It's been great and it's fun. It works both ways. You know, we support the community. They support us and it's wonderful. That's great. What advice would you have for someone that's going to start a small business? What would be the first sort of thing you tell them? You know, love what you do, number one, you know, because that you can't fake, you can't fake that, you know. And number two, be prepared to work hard, you know. And, you know, having great connections helps as well. But, I mean, you know, it's what you want to make of it, you know. But it's going to take some hard work. And, but that's, you can't. But if you love what you're doing. Exactly. And it, but that's more of the planning. But I mean, you know, everyday interactions, like I said, do what you do, you know, and love what you do. And how many cups of coffee does it start the morning? Oh my gosh, at least two. Yeah. So we're, it's definitely, I kind of ramp down a little bit later in the day. But yeah, it's, no, it's been fun. That's great. That's great. Well, I appreciate you being here. I appreciate being able to participate in your ribbon cutting today. I wish you the best of luck with the business. I know you'll do well. So we love it. Thanks for coming out and supporting us. Thank you. Appreciate it. Appreciate it. Thank you. Now I'm here with CJ Evans, 4th Independent School District, trustee district five. Welcome CJ. Thanks for having me. Yeah. Excited to have you here. We've been friends for a long time. Excited for you. Tell our audience what a trustee for the 4th ISD does. Okay. A trustee holds a superintendent accountable. Passes a budget and represents the vision and values of the community. In representing the vision and values of the community, I take my job of listening to parents, teachers, stakeholders really carefully and to always hear how they feel the district can continually improve. That's great. That's great. Tell us about district five. So for years that don't know how your districts are set up, tell us a little bit where it runs, what schools you cover. Right. 4th ISD is made up of nine single-member districts. And 4th took kind of a big growth population-wise westward and southward in the Bimberg area. So all the districts took a big westward-southward step. So now not only do I represent the west side, Arlington Heights area, Como, Tanglewood, Overton Park, I also represent parts of Ridgely. Okay, that's great. One thing I love about district five is what I really love about Fort Worth and that's the people. We really have the best people which at its core makes it one of the great places to live. Yeah, well our districts overlap a whole lot and those schools and that's great. And I know those neighborhoods well and that's awesome. What motivated you? So you were elected what year? Nineteen. Nineteen. So about four or five years at four and four years into it? Yes, about four years into it. What motivated you to run for school board and just get involved in education? Great question. Well my mom and mother-in-law are retired educators. So I guess it's in my blood. I have seen how a teacher can change a life. And teachers really just need a few basic things to do that. Fiscal-y sound employer, safe work environment, tools to do their job. And the right trustee can help ensure and facilitate those things at the district level. One of the things you brought up as one of your charges is superintendent and oversight of the superintendent. So ISD is now going through a superintendent search and I don't know where it sits in that process. Tell us a little bit about that and what you're looking for in a new superintendent. Okay, well because Fort Worth has the best people, I feel like Fort Worth ISD can be the best large urban school district in Texas. I really believe that. And how many students now? We have about 74,000. So even though Fort Worth at times feels like a small town, you know we're not Brock ISD, we're not Graham ISD, we are a large urban district. One of the things that we have is a very diverse population, 46% of our students. English is not the primary language at home, that just gives you an indication of the diversity within the student population and their parents. But in terms of what I'm looking for in a superintendent is somebody who can help us become that best district that we can become. And in listening to the vision and values of the community, we've been doing that in specific listening sessions for the superintendent's search, we're going to be discussing it at our next meeting, June 14th. But there's an overwhelming vision that is surfacing and that is everyone wants all our kids reading on grade level. So we're looking for a superintendent who can do that. That's great. What is the percentage now that read on grade level? It is lower than 40%. Lower than 40%. And really that metric is third grade, right? That's correct. Third grade, do you know off the top of your head how many percentage of third grade or on grade level it's lower than 40% which for our audience that doesn't know, that's an indicator if you're going to finish high school, if you're going to go on and do other things, right? Right. So broad educational goals, early literacy, middle school math and college and career readiness. And the reason those goals are shaped that way is because if a child can read in elementary school, then they're going to be equipped to learn math in middle school, then they're going to be college and career ready. Right, right. So that's why we really focus in on that third grade number. Doesn't mean that that kindergarten reading teacher isn't important or that second grade reading teacher, but it really comes to fruition to let us see what is happening at that point. Well, I guess the overall is from kindergarten to third, you're learning to read. Right. And third on, you're reading to learn. That's it. And make that jump there, so. Exactly. Great. Well, I'm glad that's a goal that's important for all of our kids to really embrace education and understand that it is the pathway for their future. Right, right. So I've had a chance in my district to visit 14 of the 16 public schools in my district, which has been great and see the upgrades that are happening in them and in particular schools. And I know we're trying to do all the schools and we'll get there as part of that. But what are some major projects that the school district is working on right now? Well, something that we started right before COVID and we're just now starting to see the positive effects of is the work our parental engagement department is doing. Okay. Parents are their students, first teachers. That's right. First and foremost. And so as a district, we are trying to engage and empower those parents to do so. We have some campuses that have been the model for parental engagement and we're learning from those. But we're also learning that parental engagement looks differently on each campus. That's right. And so our principals are working closely with our parental engagement specialist to engage and recruit parents. Okay. That's great. That's great. Well, what's been a favorite moment in this job you've had? Well, it's been recently. Did you hear that our girls had a flag football season? In this past spring? I did not. I did not. Okay. So it's really exciting. Which girls? All our high school girls. Okay. Every single comprehensive high school had a flag football team for girls. Okay. They started this season off in February practicing at Cowboys Stadium and then the games were at our various high schools from March to May and the finals ended up back at Cowboys Stadium. It was a really neat experience to see our girls finish so strong. This has been a hard year for all our students and to see them across the district finish so strong and to be at that final game at Cowboys Stadium, it meant a lot to so many students on so many different levels and it was neat as a community to come together. That's wonderful. Why? As a father of three daughters, I think that's exciting and fun for those. Yeah. And a daughter that's in 4th IC at Overton Park right now. So that's in the other two attended Tanglewood. So very familiar with the ISD itself and the schools and what's going on. But also for you, this is not your full-time job. It might feel like a full-time job. Sometimes. It does from the council perspective, but having people understand it's not a full-time job, it probably takes a significant amount of time each week to make sure that you're on top of it. What else do you do? I think you volunteer in a clinic or you help in a clinic, right? I do. Even before I got elected, I worked at the Women's Center volunteering in their legal clinic just because I feel it's important to volunteer and give back according to your skills and ability. Sure. And you're a lawyer. And I am a lawyer by trade. And in serving some of those adults, I have seen adults who can't read on grade level. Some adults who can't read at all. And when I say adults reading on grade level, adults who are like at a 6th grade or 8th grade reading level. And it's, I just, as I'm helping them with various legal aspects, sometimes it's as simple as reading a lease for them because they just need help doing that. But I think, you know, what if that person's teacher in 2nd grade had adjusted? What if that person's teacher in 4th grade had done this? And so I just sit back and think, what if? And how can we, as Fort Worth ISD, as a system do it differently? What can each principal, teacher, paraprofessional do differently? So Fort Worth kids have the best education. That's great. Well, thank you for being here today. Thank you for having me. I know in the last sort of year, two years or so, it's been hard to be a school board trustee here across the country. I've seen what you've gone through. I appreciate you when I've reached out, which I try not to bother too much. But sometimes things sort of come into my world that is really part of your world that you've been responsive. And I know you will be helpful because I know where your heart is. You want to help the kids. Thanks. And ultimately, that's what we're trying to do here. All about the kids. Yeah. That's right. Well, thanks for being here today. I appreciate it. Thank you. Now I'm here with Laura Wessinger, who is head of the Mindful Project and Lauren Yoga. Welcome, Lauren. Thank you so much. Glad to have you here. Yes. So I don't do yoga. I don't have the body. No, I'm just kidding. Tell us a little bit about what got you into yoga, what that's like. Yeah, I started practicing yoga in the mid 90s, believe it or not. I was in high school. And I had a lot of corporate careers, long story short, arrived in Fort Worth and started yoga teacher training. And Fort Worth was the first place I ever taught in 2009 and continued today. And there's different types of yoga. What do you teach? What is it? Tell our honest little bit about it. There are so many lineages and types. I mean, the saying I practice yoga is like saying I do sports. OK. You know, there's so much underneath that umbrella. And so for me, I pull from a lot of different styles. And my main goal is to help people manage chronic stress in their body. We know now that almost 80% of chronic disease is rooted in stress that has been unmanaged. And so my whole goal, my whole passion is helping people mitigate that. Mitigate their pain, stress, outside influences. What's it like to teach yoga here in Fort Worth? It's great, you know, surprisingly in a town like Fort Worth where yoga took a little longer to kind of come on the scene. When I got here, there was two or three studios. Of course, it exploded to like 20. And then COVID kind of trimmed that down. But there are so many fantastic teachers in Fort Worth. It is wonderful. We have a great community here. Yeah, I feel like every time I open my social media, another friend has gotten certified. Right. And part of it, my hairdresser actually is certified. Yeah. Yeah, it's wonderful. We have a really rich offering here. We're lucky. That's great. Where is the studio? Where is it? So my studio was called Soul Space. And it was over on the West 7th. Yeah, over in the Michaels Shopping Center, Chukotsky Shopping Center. And then we closed right before COVID. And I took everything online. So my business is virtual and then going to people. OK. So they're private homes or businesses? Businesses, mostly. Yeah, yeah, exactly. Do you do until you just use solo or do people sometimes bring friends over as part of it? Both, both. Yeah, I mean, if you would have told me three years ago that I was doing this online and had an app, I have a Lorne Yoga app on the app store. OK, there you go. I would not have believed you. OK. But COVID kind of changed a lot of people's businesses. And it sounds like you just sort of adapted and moved forward. Yes. And it's been great, I have to say. Well, it's great. I mean, we'll explore that for just a second. I've started this small business task force. And it's really, we have a design on looking at what the city processes are, how they might hinder or hurt, help small businesses, what we can do from there. But you're a small business, right? Totally. So some processes, you obviously adapted during COVID from what the business that you had or business model that you had to this new model. Tell us a little about that process. What went through your mind? What were you thinking? You know, we hadn't closed because of COVID. We closed right before as a conscious decision on purpose. We were just done. The yoga business model, yoga studio business model is challenging, and I think needs to be revamped. It's not that sustainable for most studios. OK. Is that because people getting them there, et cetera, and people want? Yeah, you know, just commercial real estate rent is so high. Membership prices are so competitive. Unless you have a teacher training program and charge several thousand per student for that, it's not sustainable. So there's room to grow there, right? With how that business works. But I started teaching over Zoom during the pandemic. And then long story short, I had 150, 200 people that were coming to this little homegrown membership site. And I switched it all to an OTT platform, which is like Netflix. Netflix is OTT. It means over the top of cable. OK, OK. And so it's just been a way to surprisingly have me get more out into the community, even though it's virtual, because I have a contract with Fort Worth ISD, for example, Cook Children's. And so I'm teaching to all these people who before I never would have reached in my actual bricks and mortar business. Yeah, that sort of problem of getting there versus being to do it on your own time. If you're already stressed, it's another stress that's added about how do I get there and you can't work for that. Yes, the time, money, and energy involved to go to a studio doesn't work for all people. That's right. Interesting, interesting concept. I want to talk to a little bit now about the Mindful Project. Yeah. That's how really you and I kind of first met. We've been friends for a while, but really connected through that. Tell us about the Mindful Project, how it came about, what you're trying to do with it. Yeah, so at the studio, at Soul Space, we had a corporate wellness arm of the business. And so when we closed, I kept that, because it was still thriving. We had manufacturing companies. We were teaching chair yoga for safety reasons. We were teaching mindfulness. So I rebranded that to be the Mindful Project. So really, that's been around since 2015 or so. OK, OK. And I just kind of follow where the need is. And I have fallen into this realm of frontline workers and first responders with the contract, with the school district, with childrens, with some of the stuff I'm doing with Arlington PD. I'm finding the need for shorter, stronger, more potent practices available all the time is where it's at for a lot of these people. Explain that. What does that mean? So don't get me wrong. I love going into a yoga studio and taking a 90-minute class. I love it more than anything. But the people I just described don't have 90 minutes. They don't have a lot of time to waste. They need a tool that's going to work now in the next five minutes to help them come down from a stressful event or to help them, I call it, inhabit their body a little more. Stress kind of takes us out of ourself. And so even the yoga classes, there's 15-minute classes there. There's five-minute meditations. There's five-minute breathing exercises. I want it to be just really accessible for people. OK, that's a great thing to have, great goal. You mentioned first responders. And I'm a big supporter of our first responders with the job that I do where I can support them. Because I know they're the people rushing in when others are rushing out. And I know the stress every time they put on that uniform. And sometimes they only have the uniform on. But they know things that they know that are going on. So to my talks with some of them, it's a constant stress. Even when they're at home, they're also just aware of things that you and I just as normal citizens aren't. So talk about your work with specifically police officers and what that's look like for you. Yeah, I'm learning a lot. I'm learning a lot. So this summer, we have five four-hour training scheduled where I'm going into different departments with an Arlington Police Department. And I'm teaching a half-day course called Mindfulness for Job-Related Stress and Trauma. And it's what you just said. I mean, what I'm starting to learn is the 24-7 hypervigilance. And a lot of them don't know that there's another way to be. And so the whole point of the course is to help them start to realize that they have a little bit of choice and a little bit of agency and when to turn it on and when to actually turn it off for a little bit. Because that sense of hypervigilance and trauma isn't something you can just decide, like, oh, I'm going to be unhypervigilant now. It doesn't work that way because it's lodged in the survival brain. And so the whole course is showing them different techniques through breathing, mindfulness, and some trauma-informed practices to help them. It's called NeuroCEPT, NeuroCEPT safety in the body so they can then practice mindfulness or breathing or one of the other exercises. Yeah, it has to create a lot of stress in the family. A lot of stress with their spouses or their kids. Have you seen some of that? And in your work with them, being able to release that a little bit and maybe have healthier marriages, healthier family lives? I mean, that is the goal, you know? I mean, the downward effect, the cascading effect of dealing with everyday stress trickles down into relationships, into heart health, into weight. I mean, it touches everything. And in my research, I'm starting to learn how so many people retire from the department and just don't have the health. They don't make it that long for a second life, a second career, I mean, where they want to serve or what they want to do. They have a lot of time after they retire. And so it just really- Some of that started in the 18, 19, 20, 21, they retire when they're 42, 43. So they've got 20 years on the other side at least. Yes. It just, it tugs on my heart, you know, these, not just in that field, but in all fields, people that serve our community who are really struggling. And so I just feel a lot of passion about helping them. And, you know- It's amazing. Yeah. I think one of the things that we're getting to too, it's more acceptable now to talk about mental health. Yes. And I love what you're doing. Talk a little bit about that, maybe changes you've seen and why it's important that it's okay that we, all of us, all of us have had issues. All of us have baggage or things that we bring into every situation. Yeah. But I love that we're more and more, as a society saying, it's okay for us to talk about what's in our head, someone else is probably going through it too. Absolutely. I think what you said is so key. What I always try to express in different ways in my teaching is that whatever you're feeling or thinking or going through, you are never the only one. Right. Ever. Right. In fact, there's probably thousands of people right now feeling the same way. Yes. And it's something that I call the human condition. You know, we, in this day of social media and having to show up and do our thing, whatever our thing is, there's an element of vulnerability that's missing sometimes. But we are complex people. We are complex beings and we have feelings and emotions and that adds to who we are. And to be able to talk about that between two people is deeply healing. Yes. And honest. Yes. So I know also too as part of my mindful project, we're talking with city of Fort Worth. Yes. You mentioned Arlington, but I know we're talking about bringing it here and I'm very excited about us seeing how that works out because I do know from dealing with our first responders that they are under amount of stress. Where does that sit in the process? What are your thoughts there? Yeah. So we've had very initial conversations with Fort Worth PD and you and I have talked about it. And what I'm doing in Arlington right now, I feel like this summer is almost information gathering. You know, I'm getting in there refining the program. We're hoping to get some data around it. And then I need to bring that to the right people with in Fort Worth PD and have those conversations. But they're receptive and I think they're ready and it's just getting the information to the right people. Okay. Well, let me know how it can help with that. Happy to do it. What can just normal people, everyday people, everybody else do to de-stress their environments? Yes. Yeah. Yes. That's a really important question. If they can't get to your class or get on the app, what else can they do in their life to de-stress? You know, I'll start with super simple neuroscience of why your question is so important. Because we're mammals, we have a limbic system in our brain. And in the limbic system, emotions are- I'm getting all this science. I love it. I know, right? I love it. I love it. Emotions are contagious, like literally contagious. So if I came in this room today and you were cranky and distracted and just having a bad day and I would pick that up and that would be what we shared today. Yes. The kind of base feeling of that. So in a group, you know, say you're in a team of 10 people, six of the people are overwhelmed, overworked, under-resourced. That whole group is going to be pretty dysregulated and not function well. Yes. And so when we, like I was sitting in the lobby today waiting for you and I had my feet on the ground because I was feeling a little bit, you know, a little anxious. A little anxious, okay. So I had my feet on the ground and I took a deep breath and then I imagined that I was running the exhale through my body down into my feet. Okay. And that grounded any sense of like anxiety or that live wire feeling. And so I did that maybe five times sitting out there and when it was time to come see you, I was steady. Calm and blended. Yes. I'm not as scary as it sounds. No. Yeah. Yeah. Well, that's great. Well, where can people find you? Yes. Website, et cetera. So the website for the Mindful Project is themindfulproject.co. Okay. Not .com, but CO. And I'm reachable through there. And there's- And you have an app too. What's that called? Yes, the Lauren Yoga app. Lauren Yoga app. Okay, great. Well, thanks for being here. Thank you so much. That has been very informative and I love the work that you're doing. Thank you, I appreciate it. Thank you. Thank you for joining us for this episode of Fort Worth Ford. It's been great to be out here with Dr. Mick, Mick Ortho, as part of their ribbon cutting ceremony. If you have great people that you would think would make great guests for Fort Worth Ford, send them our way, district3atfortworthtexas.gov. Again, thank you and I'm gonna get some work done now. Thank you.