Ep #403: An Unconventional Path to School Leadership with Deepali Deshmukh

Hello, empowered principals. Welcome to episode 403. 

Welcome to The Empowered Principal® Podcast, a not so typical educational resource that will teach you how to gain control of your career and get emotionally fit to lead your school and your life with joy by refining your most powerful tool, your mind. Here’s your host certified life coach Angela Kelly.

Angela Kelly: Well, hello there, Empowered Principals. Happy Tuesday, and welcome to this week’s podcast. I have a very special guest. She’s somebody that I spoke with. We had a meet and greet, and I just fell in love with her. She’s got a great story to share with you about education and school leadership and has a unique experience to her path to leadership. So her name is Deepali Deshmukh, and she is a school leader who is opening a brand new school.

One of the reasons I love her so much is we connected on this very similar experience. So as I was a brand new principal, my first two years in school leadership, I was opening a brand new site. So I wasn’t just learning how to lead an established community, an established staff, an established school in terms of the building, the actual campus. I was opening one, dealing with construction and all of this, getting people into the program. So there was an element of sales and marketing and recruitment. And this is one of the things that Deepali is now adding to her repertoire as a school leader. She’s going to tell you her story of how she got into school leadership.

And I’m going to turn it over and let her tell the story. It’s so beautiful, and I really found her story and her journey inspirational. So, Deepali, welcome to the podcast.

Deepali Deshmukh: Thank you so much, Angela. And likewise, I’ve been listening to this podcast and I’m so honored to be here today. Yes, just like you, I am birthing a new school, but my journey is kind of unconventional. I do not have an educational background. So my Master’s was in biochemistry. I was a biochemist in a lab and doing my things with my instruments. I then went on to do my MBA in human resource management, and I was focused on organizational development, training, and developing grownups. And then we moved, my husband and I moved to the United States in 1999. So I was a new immigrant with a baby and trying to figure out my life.

And as I volunteered at my son’s school, I just fell in love with what the field of education was about. The teacher was amazing and she was just my inspiration. And so I wanted to get into education, didn’t quite know how, and she advised me about the credential program. And as I was getting into it, the private schools, I realized, do not need me to have a credential. They needed me to be well qualified and know the subject and really teach well. And so I got into education as a fifth-grade teacher. Taught for four years, loved it. And then I was offered school leadership, and I was really scared because it was a new field for me, but I said, “Okay, let me try it out.” And I became an elementary director, then a headmaster, and now I’m, I’ve been a head of school for years.

But the interesting thing is, no matter how experienced you are, anytime you’re doing something new, there’s this feeling of, am I the right fit for this? Am I going to do the right thing for my students? So yeah, that’s my journey. And this year I’m opening a middle and high school. So Stratford’s been around for 25. This is our 26th year, and for Stratford, this is new too. It’s the second high school in the Bay area. For me, I was approached, would you open the school? And that immediate question comes, right? Am I the right person? But I’ve gone out on a limb and this year has been a year of learning and adventure. I have a great team and I’m really excited to August 2025.

Angela Kelly: Yes. And so what astounds me about this story is that you were in corporate America. I mean, you had studied something completely different in the field of science, and then you find yourself transferring over into education. And you and I had this amazing conversation when we did our meet and greet around your thoughts and feelings, your identity as a leader, when they asked you to step into school leadership and you didn’t have the credential, right? Per se. Tell us about that feeling because a lot of school leaders, even when they have a credential and they have studied education, so they’re in the field with the credential. 

So technically they have all of the training or they are qualified, they get into that job, that’s so brand new, and there’s one thing, there’s theory and then there’s real life application, as we all know. But they feel like imposters. And we were talking about this fear of imposter syndrome. So you came from having a masters in science to now leading the people in the field of education. So tell us how that experience was for you.

Deepali Deshmukh: When you first are offered leadership, there is the sense of pride, excitement. You’re being recognized, and of course you want to prove yourself. So that initial sense is, I’m thrilled to take it on. And then you take it on, and you start the work, and you realize there is so much more to it. Like when you are a teacher in your classroom, you’re in an island, and you and your students are happily living your life together and you’re managing the kids. But when you get out into school leadership, the sense of responsibility for not only the students, which is of course the biggest one, but also the people, the adults in your ecosystem, so to speak, the parents, the faculty, every faculty member. And then you’re dealing with emotions. 

That sense of responsibility and suddenly you feel, okay, am I the right person? Am I doing what is right for my team? And you question yourself. There’s the sense of self-doubt that I started to feel. And it was weird because I consider myself a fairly confident person and I had fresh out of my Master’s, I had worked in a lab and worked with a U. N. United Nations Development Program situation, and I had presented to some ministers in India. So, why am I feeling this? This is I know I can do it, but why am I feeling this?

And so I had to go, literally talk to myself about it where first let’s acknowledge what I’m feeling, because at first I was just trying to bury it under, and it seemed to grow because I was not saying this is true. So I stopped and said, “Okay, I am feeling this. Why am I feeling it?” So there is a sense of self-doubt because I don’t have a piece of paper that says you have credentials. You are a professional in this educational field. And it helped actually when I kind of called it out, I’m going, “Okay, I don’t have that. But what do I have?”

And then I started kind of just reminding myself that having a science background, you’re kind of go through this process where you’re observing and you’re making mistakes and you’re learning, your hypothesis was wrong, but that’s fine. Making mistakes is part of the process and it takes you towards progress, not perfection, but progress. I could apply that same approach here. I don’t have to be perfect. I just have to bring my most authentic self into that space and work with my team. I don’t have to know it all. 

There are people who are experts and I have to bring that excellence together. That’s my job. I don’t have to be the best at every area. My office administrators know a lot. I can use their expertise, my teachers, my other leaders, learn from them, and my students, the kids know a lot. So you kind of come to that process and as I felt that as long as I kept myself very open and I admit, when I make a mistake, guys, I’m sorry. I messed up. What do we do from this? Or we’re working on any event or anything for school, you kind of do an after event analysis and say, what went well? First let’s celebrate that. And then what are things that we could do differently next time?

So it’s my initial problem was you constantly are critiquing yourself too much to the point where you forget to celebrate. That’s terrible because you have to find your joy first. If you’re not joyful, school is a joyful space. You have to celebrate and then say, “Yeah, but we can do better.” Sure, that’s always a process.

Angela Kelly: Yes. No, this that is so insightful because, and what I really want listeners to take away from this is that especially in education, we are so attached. I mean, this is kind of what we do. We say if you go through this program and you pass these courses, you will get a piece of paper that is a credential or a certificate of completion that now validate you as a content expert in this field. 

But we all know that you can have that piece of paper. You can have a PhD in education, and when you walk onto a school campus and into an administrator’s office, the responsibility and the weight that you feel when there are so many little souls under your watch, you’re thinking about their physical safety, you’re thinking about their mental and emotional safety, you’re thinking about their growth and development, cognitively, intellectually, academically, socially, mentally, emotionally, and it can feel like so much weight that there is no credential that will eliminate the pressure or the desire that you have to support all of these people and all of the moving parts that is your school.

So I’ve noticed this, like people will think, “Well, I have to get this credential and then this area of expertise, and then I need this, and then I need this.” And we’re constantly looking for that piece of paper. And it’s not that you don’t learn amazing things along the way, but what I heard you saying is, I was in a situation where I didn’t have the luxury of having time and space to do that paperwork or that field of study, but I could take what I knew about my other career and apply it here, and it doesn’t mean that you didn’t feel new. Of course you felt new, but it also doesn’t mean that without the piece of paper that it invalidates your identity as a leader, that you could build up an identity as a leader with or without having a piece of paper that told you are qualified.

Deepali Deshmukh: That is so true. I think you will agree. You and I kind of have the same experiences in terms of, I mean, you talked about starting a school, but the reflection piece that we go through as leaders, that’s really where the growth happens. It’s not that I did really well today and that means I’m perfect now. Every day there’s something you learn. This is what I did well. Here are things that I could have done differently. I could have listened deeper. I could have waited before I responded. You know, some of those things come with experience, they come with some maturity, they come with knowledge about yourself and work that you do within. So a piece of paper is very important. You need to have the knowledge, you need to have content.

So I’m absolutely, I respect those who have that credential and there is no – it does give you a sense of confidence that perhaps I lacked initially. But after you get into the field, you have to do more of that reflection and show that you’re open to learning every single day. There’s no one in our school that could say that we’re perfect. I don’t need to learn. The kids learn, the teachers learn, the leaders learn, everyone’s in this ecosystem of learning and that’s what helps us get great and have fun.

Angela Kelly: Yeah. Yes. And I love the way you said that because I think what happens is we want to avoid the discomfort of the learning by doing process, where we have to step in. We have to be vulnerable. We have to take a risk. We have to step in. We have to not know how to navigate something and we learn how to navigate it by just navigating it, and then we gain wisdom in the hindsight of having navigated something.

So when we have credentials or if you’re somebody who feels like you can’t move forward until you have the credential, I guess what I want to offer you is that getting a lot of credentials because there’s many different things you could do in education in terms of getting more and more credentials, but they won’t exempt you from the discomfort of learning by doing. It won’t prevent you from making a mistake or it doesn’t necessarily protect you from not knowing what to do, if that makes sense.

Deepali Deshmukh: It absolutely does because yes, I’ve worked with people who have the most amazing credentials in the field of education. And it’s interesting, and as you know, most of us in the field of education, there are lots of women. It is a women-centric. I mean, not to be sexist in any way, there are many very wonderful men, leaders and teachers, but we are, we see a lot of women and it seems like we have the sense of self-doubt as women more than men. We just kind of, even as mothers, right? Mothers will question and have these guilt trips. Am I a good enough mother? And I think that same approach also happens in the field of education. Am I good enough? Even these very qualified people will have that sense of self-doubt.

And so that process of, yes, put yourself out there, make yourself uncomfortable, try things out, it’s actually a good thing because the field of education also needs innovation, right? So when you’re coming from different spaces, you’re bringing ideas to a school, and the school will benefit from it. So you don’t have to have things done in the exact same way as your predecessor. Many times you’re stepping into big shoes, and that is scary because the relationships that your, the person, the leader before you has made, people kind of resent the new person coming in. Who are you? Why are you taking this person’s place? 

And you’re not intending to do that, but then you feel like, “What if, they will hate me? I’m different. I’m not that same kind of person.” And then you have to just stop and say, “Yes, I’m different, and that’s okay. I’m going to bring some different ideas. I’m going to be respectful of the culture, but I’m also going to bring something different that may be valuable to my school. Even if I make mistakes, there’ll be growth, and that’s okay.”

I think that idea is also when you’re a new leader getting into a school system that has existed before and has great leaders around that the person before you has been there for 20, 30 years and you go, “How can I ever do this?” You can. Just trust yourself. You have to be like, “Okay, take a deep breath. It’s okay. You’re not that person and you shouldn’t be. You shouldn’t try to be.”

Angela Kelly: No. No, that is everyone. That is so good. It’s so good because I thought a lot about this, like there is a universal self-doubt, a tape that we play in our mind about not being enough, like insufficient at some level. And then there’s also this idea, what you were just talking about where and think about this. We play this out. When we self-doubt, what we do is we retract because we’re afraid of getting it wrong or afraid of hurting somebody or getting hurt or doing it wrong and feeling the outcome of being wrong, and we don’t like that feeling so much so that it will literally make us retract back, play small, not take risks.

But when you are leading in the energy of self-doubt and for those of you who listen to the podcast on the regular, this is a STEAR cycle. So if the energy fueling your decisions and actions is self-doubt, you’re going to like, you’re going to spin out on decisions and either not make decisions and stall in indecision or you’ll ask everybody else’s opinion, which makes you more confused, or you’ll defer that decision, or you will make it in haste, thinking, “Well, I don’t really know, I’m just going to try this and see what works.”

But if you play this out, when self-doubt is the fuel behind your leadership identity, you play small, you procrastinate, you try to avoid because you’re trying to navigate around the vulnerability, around the discomfort, around the fear of making decisions and it doesn’t just like stall you out and stagnate you, it stagnates the progress of your entire school and community.

Deepali Deshmukh: Wow, that’s so well spoken. But it’s so true. I couldn’t have put it better myself. And I have done this, right? I think as a school leader, there have been times where I have been playing from that place of fear. And you are so right because it, it really diminishes you, it diminishes the people around you because you’re, you can’t make decisions and you’re like, “Well, I should do this, but what if this happens? What if…” you know, you’re always second guessing yourself and schools need to move on. You have to make a decision and go forward and be bold in that step. Trying to be somebody else is never going to help.

The lucky thing for me was that, for example, at Stratford School, we have a network of schools. So I had a lot of leaders who were kind of in this same situation as I was. When you talk to people and you realize what they’re going through, it helps kind of alley your fears as well. It’s like, “Okay, I’m overthinking this. Stop.” And learning from each other and sharing it out, being very open and vulnerable and just taking on those risks sometimes is okay.

I’ve also been fortunate that our families, our parent communities have been so warm and welcoming because you, you create that culture, right? To say, “I’m going to ask you for feedback. I need your feedback to get better as a school.” So the more you kind of put yourself in this fortress, the less you’re going to grow. But when you open yourself to your families also, they want a great school for their children, so they’re going to give you feedback that’s going to help you. So it’s the entire community around you. Your teachers have such great ideas. 

So I started asking my teachers, “What other, in the pandemic, it was horrible.” I think everyone who survived the pandemic feels we can survive anything. But during that time, it was like, “How do we create community when we are all behind masks? Nobody’s seeing our smiles. We can’t bring people in.” And then my teachers came up with some great ideas. What about doing this? And one day under the shower, I had this idea of let’s do this grandparents day where we celebrate them. We can’t bring them into the building. 

So outside on our porch, we put on some music. We had fruits and water out for them. And we invited them in, and we said, “We’ll be…” And everyone was like, “But they’re grandparents. They must be so old. We have to have chairs.” I said, “No, no, no. We’re going to do a fun, healthful activity. And we’re going to bring them in and going to have them dance.” And so we got them all in and the grandparents, it was a dance size. We got our students there. Everyone’s in masks, but it was such a joyful moment. And it just came out of, let’s try this out. Our communities are strength. So use that. Don’t think you’re alone in this whole process of figuring things out as a leader. We have so much support built into, in our community for us.

Angela Kelly: Absolutely. The possibilities really are limitless when you just decide to be willing to try things. And I love what you were talking about. The solution to imposter syndrome is not try to pretend to be somebody else or try to fit into the footsteps of or the into the shoes of the previous leader. What actually makes you feel better, less imposter syndrome like? Because that is exactly what you’re doing when you’re trying to impersonate somebody else, which makes you feel like more of an imposter, right? So the solution isn’t trying to fit in or trying to fit a mold of a past leader. It’s honoring that leadership and adding to it and expanding it and expounding upon what else it can be.

And when you identify for yourself, what do I bring to the table? What do I love? What are my talents? What am I good at? What do I think would be a really fun thing and really fun way to lead and to teach and to learn? When you bring those, and when they’re in alignment like you said, like grandparents day was something you just came up with. A lot of times those ideas come in the shower. So here we are in the, “Oh, let’s try this.” 

Yes, you want to weigh the amount of time and effort required, but you can do something in such a simplistic way, doesn’t require a lot of time, energy, and effort on the part of your you and your staff. And those, and what was the outcome? Like let’s talk about this. So you put it out there. You had no idea what to expect. Were people going to like it or not? But you felt it would be a fun thing to do. So you did it. And what was the outcome of your grandparents day?

Deepali Deshmukh: Well, on the day itself, it was funny because I had told the parents that this was the event for grandparents, you’re just dropping them off, you’re not hanging out. But of course, they wanted to stay there. And so one of the dads came to me and he said, “This Deshmukh, I did not know that my mom could dance so well.” And it was just, they were just so delighted to see their parents, you know? They kind of automatically put grandparents, they must be old and no, these are young folks at heart and they love the idea that they could build this community. They got to know each other. And after that, even though it wasn’t a parent event, they’ve been, hey, when’s the next party? We want to come. 

And they’ve been like, “Make sure you send your children to the school because Stratford really celebrates community.” They celebrated us. It was just a joyful, happy event. The teachers loved it. The kids were delighted and it’s become a tradition. And it’s not only become a tradition at my campus, but it’s spread to the other Stratford schools. So we’re all celebrating them in different ways, but it’s just such a great way to do things. So you never know. You have germs of ideas and you take a risk and you go out there and say, let’s try it out. And it may not always work. There are, of course, I have many stories of my mistakes, but there are those things that can suddenly be, look what happened. And now you know, everyone enjoys that.

Angela Kelly: Yes. And what’s so great about that is the outcome of this event, you’re not trying to raise money, there’s not a tangible goal. It’s about connection, fun, laughter, curiosity, movement, just, it’s simple in its intention. But it’s the probably the easiest way. Now, I know you are a private institution so that you do have a recruitment process that public schools may not have to actually go through in the same way that you do, but look at what such a simple decision and risk, basically, that you took, turned into actually marketing. Like it’s now like, “Bring your kid to this school because it’s fun, because they celebrate.” And I want to say something. The podcast that I just recorded prior to speaking with Deepali today was on celebration, was on like bringing closure to your campus and celebrating. And the value of celebration. Can you speak to the value of celebration and how you integrate celebration into the work that you do as a school leader?

Deepali Deshmukh: That’s such a great question because like I said, I had to remind myself from the beginning, I’m here because it gives me joy. I had other options. I chose education because of the joy that it brings me. And as a very conscious decision, as a school, we’re very fortunate. It’s not like your regular jobs where, you’re doing something meaningful, but it’s you and your computer. Here we get to celebrate people. And whether it’s your faculty, so we have, you know, awards for our teachers for, of course the serious things, service awards and all of those, but also the silly things that happen and you kind of have events around that for our students.

We recently, I started this orator festival. I just, again, another, let’s call it something, names are important. So we called it the Mighty Orator Festival and we had the students, the National Poetry Day, I said, “So what else can we do with this?” We call it National Poetry Day. And the kids started, we gave them challenging poems and speeches to recite, and everyone’s like, “It’s a little too difficult. What are you trying to do?” And a fifth grader doing Shakespeare. Yesterday I was watching the kids and they are astounding and they were so proud to celebrate their, you know, their public speaking skills in front of an audience, and it’s a joyful thing to see what kids can accomplish.

So whether it is a festival, like a narrator festival, whether you’re doing teacher appreciation week, there are so many things you can do to celebrate the joyous things. One of my mentors told me because when he would have a check in with me, I would be, “Well, these are, you know, I need to work with these teachers. I need to work with these parents. This is what the problems that I was facing.” And he would always say, “Stop. Let’s first talk about what was great. What was the most fun thing that you experienced in the past two weeks? And let’s talk about that first. Then we’ll get to the things that we need to solve.” 

And that really helped me kind of reshape my thinking. There’s a lot of joyful stuff, good stuff that we are doing at school. And if we only focus on the things that need to be fixed, we forget the good things. So just changing that paradigm and thinking about even in a classroom where a teacher’s new and learning her skills, she’s doing a lot of good things. First, celebrate those, and then coach on the other things that she can work on, the technique she can work on. So I think doing both of those together, it even helps my, my leadership in the sense that teachers want that coaching where you first celebrate them. You see the good things that they’re doing before you say, “These are things we can improve on.”

Angela Kelly: Yeah. Oh, I love that so, so much. Is there any advice that you would give to an aspiring school leader or a new school leader? There will be people out there who are so eager and so excited and also so scared to death. Just like you felt that first day. And I’m anticipating that you, Deepali, too, have some butterflies in your stomach this coming school year as it’s your grand opening. Am I correct?

Deepali Deshmukh: Yes.

Angela Kelly: And another thing Deepali and I have in common is we’re both Bay Area. Well, I’m not local currently as I’m, you know, supporting my family right now, but we are Bay Area women and Bay Area school leaders. So this was near and dear to my heart because I love the Bay Area so much over in the San Jose, Silicon Valley, San Francisco area. And I think you’re in the East Bay, right? In Milpitas?

Deepali Deshmukh: I’m in Milpitas, yes.

Angela Kelly: Yes. And so you are prepping for your very first, and you know what’s so cool about this, Deepali? This is the one time that it will be your first year opening a school. Like this experience only happens once. So can you tell us, describe how you’re feeling, what you’re thinking about, the butterflies that you have, and how you’re navigating the buildup and the preparation for this first year, this first day? Because I want school leaders to hear, this is also a magical time because it only gets to happen once, your first year, you know, leading a school or first year opening a school. So tell us a little bit more.

Deepali Deshmukh: Well, in the 23 years of education that I’ve been in, this is actually the first time I’m birthing school. I’ve always gone to an established campus and school, but this is that first time when I get to do this. So yes, it is butterflies in the stomach. What, what’s going to happen? But it’s such an exciting time and so actually tomorrow, we’ve just finished a hiring cycle. So tomorrow we have our veteran middle school teachers who’ve been with us and our new high school faculty team that we’ve just hired. We’re going to do a little celebration with them. We’ve called all of them together on campus and we have minute to win it games. We have trivia games. We have dinner, of course, for them, but just to get them introduced to each other and get excited, you know, about this journey that we are going to start.

And I think, learning from all these years, building that community is the first thing that I would focus on, that I have been focusing on. We didn’t have a building at last August 2024. So what we did was we invited all our families and said, “Come on in. We are doing a boba and blueprints bash.” I came up with that name and we literally put up the blueprints of our school on easels for parents to see in the parking lot. And then we got a boba truck for, because of course our middle schoolers and high schoolers love boba tea. 

And so we brought them into the parking lot. And then we had construction hats and we took them into the building to showcase, look, this is the empty space. We had just finished the demos. So it was just four walls. There was nothing there. But I said, now you can imagine, put that blueprint over here. Imagine this space. This is where we are going to all be learning together. This is where the labs are going to be. This is where the gym is going to be.

So right through this journey, my focus has been on the community first. And then, of course, we’re hiring the best talented people for this role. My construction updates, you want to share those out with your family. So initially in my first few years, I would have been, “No, it has to be perfect before I share things out.” And I’ve learned, no, people love being part of the process because then they feel that sense of ownership. So yes, it’s not perfect yet. It will be, but let’s share this whole journey with them. So we are sharing construction updates. We are sharing, you know, we are going to be sharing our faculty updates with them.

And if I had to give advice, because again, who am I to give anyone advice? But if I have to share one thing is really focus on building that community. They’re there for you. They’re there with you. They’re going to work with you throughout. So we’re never alone in our journey. What we are doing, it takes a village to educate children. And so bring your village along with you and take their help because that makes us really powerful.

Angela Kelly: Yes. You’re so right about that because when you think about the experiences that we have and the memories we create and the impact that we have, we are in the business of people. This education is developing young and adult humans alike. We’re here to connect. We’re here to expand and evolve and develop, but we want the experience to be a positive one, a fulfilling one for us and for those that we’re leading. 

And so when we’re doing it in community with them, and we’re having fun doing it with, I love the boba and the hats and bringing, you know, the kids and the families in because that it feels significant because they have ownership in it. They feel a sense of connection and community to not just come to this school, don’t be late, you know, attendance and tardiness, you know, all of that, and sit here and do your studying. It’s not just about that. The school is a community and just like a family, when a family is moving, if the children are involved in helping pack and helping choose the house and get going on the house tours and setting up the new house, or when you’re in your new house, your kids are involved in setting the table or folding the laundry or, you know, just life.

When you involve them in all of the life, not just you’re a child and you only do this or you’re a student and you only do that or you’re a teacher and you just teach. But this idea of we’re all in this community together building this school together. And you are more the collaborator or the facilitator and connecting all of the moving parts, which is kind of fun.

Deepali Deshmukh: It’s so much fun. And I think when the kids are older, middle and high school, that’s the other part, right? Their ideas are going to be so valuable. And the students that we have enrolled, I think they are really excited about this as well. It’s not just I’m telling you which clubs we are going to run for you. Tell us what clubs do you want to run? What is the enrichment you want to see at our school? Where’s the leadership? I want those opportunities for the students where they’re going to co create with us. It’s not the grownups doing it for them. So there’s a very different feeling when you are starting a school like this. And I think bringing everyone along in that journey, the kids, most importantly, their families, our faculty, everybody’s ideas are going to make such a difference. 

So, yeah, that’s my advice. Have fun building your community. And yes, you, of course, have to build your systems and your processes and make sure everything is, you know, aligned so that the school will run smoothly. And that is the back end work that we do. But that’s not the reason we do it. So we have to come to the why in front of us at all times.

Angela Kelly: Yes. Because the one thing that doesn’t change in education is people and connection. There will always be students, there will always be adults, teachers, staff members, community, family. There will always be the people. And so we focus on the people. The processes will change, whatever you need to set up systems, those systems are going to have to evolve and change just like with COVID. We had no idea that was coming and when it came, boy, did we have to pivot in processes, systems, and all of our old systems were completely invalidated in one day, it felt like. 

So those systems are important, but they’re not the focus. They’re not the primary reason we’re here. And the reason we are here, you guys, we’re here to have fun. Please give yourself permission to have some fun. Take some risks. Laugh at yourself. If it’s a failure, if you have grandparents day and you do a dance at your school, you’re going to borrow Deepali’s idea and nobody shows up and it’s a big bomb, laugh.

My son and I call it misadventure. Like, here’s to misadventure. So we’re going to take this journey together as a school. There’s going to be some adventures that really land and stick and there’s going to be some misadventures that didn’t land and stick, and that’s okay, but have some fun along the way. It is a big job, but it doesn’t need to weigh you down in fear, doubt, worry, all of that. So I love your spirit. I’m so glad that we’ve met. 

Thank you for taking the time to share your story to all of the listeners in the Empowered Principal world. And I can’t wait to stay in touch. I really want to hear, you know what would be really fun? I just thought this out loud. We should have you on at the end of the school year to hear how the first year went. Wouldn’t that be fun?

Deepali Deshmukh: That would be wonderful.

Angela Kelly: Like a year from now. I would love to share our adventures and our misadventures.

Deepali Deshmukh: I would love to share our adventures and our misadventures. Yes, I would be delighted. And when you are next back home, back in the Bay area, please come visit. Come see our school.

Angela Kelly: I will definitely do that. I’m actually, I should be flying out sometime this coming summer. A friend of mine is having her baby in actually in about a month from now. So I might be out in the next couple of months. So I’ve got your contact info. I’ll look you up and we can meet for coffee or something.

Deepali Deshmukh: We’d love to have you around.

Angela Kelly: I would love to come visit the school too.

Deepali Deshmukh: Yes, I would make arrangements with our – we’ll have your construction hats ready for you and you’ve been doing the space.

Angela Kelly: I am all in. Hey listeners, if you have any questions or you know, if they have more questions or they want to connect with you in any way or reach out or learn more about your school, how can they contact you? Do you want us to put all that in the show notes?

Deepali Deshmukh: Oh, that would be great. I’ll share my email and the school website and everything. But yes, we’re a phone call away, an email away. I’d be happy to connect.

Angela Kelly: Yeah, I would love to. And I hope that maybe you’ll join EPC too because we’d love to have you and your expertise in there. But if you want to learn more, we’ll put all of Deepali and her school, both contacts, information, her email and all of that in the show notes. If you are a brand new principal or you are opening a brand new school and you want to have a compadre in collaboration with the first year. So be sure to reach out to her. Again, thank you so much. This has been a delight. I hope it’s been helpful for you all. Stay empowered and we will talk to you next week. Take good care. Bye.

Thanks for listening to this episode of The Empowered Principal® Podcast. If you enjoyed this episode and want to learn more, please visit angelakellycoaching.com where you can sign up for weekly updates and learn more about the tools that will help you become an emotionally fit school leader.