Welcome to Mindshift Power podcast, the only international podcast focused on teens, connecting young voices and perspectives from around the world. Get ready to explore the issues that matter to today's youth and shape tomorrow's world. I'm your host, Fatima Bey, the mind shifter. And welcome. I'm Fatima Bey, the mind shifter.

So today's a little bit special. Today's a special announcement, and I'm gonna tell you all about it. So so far on mind shift power podcast, we have had 74 episodes under our belt. Well, with the magic number of 75, I've decided to make a special announcement. So we're going to be expanding the podcast.

So, so far, the podcast has been focused on The US and Canada. Well, now the focus of mind shift power podcast is gonna go from regional to global, worldwide. So we are now the only international podcast focused on teen and teen issues. So this, we will consider an upgrade, upgrading from smaller to larger to a focus on international issues and not just America and Canada. So right now, this podcast has is on over 55 platforms around the world, and this puts us in over a hundred countries right now.

So technically the podcast is already on an international stage, but now we're going to include all those international people on the same stage. This is important because I've learned quite a few things doing this podcast, and I've learned that some of the issues that we have are they're universal, but more importantly, it's it's more important to understand issues from another perspective. When we are only around people just like us, we tend to be very, very, very close minded and small minded. And I don't care where you are in the world. That's a human truth.

So I think it's important to to gain other perspectives so that we can have a more balanced way of thinking. And sometimes hearing about someone else's situation might actually help you to figure out yours because you heard a different perspective that turned a light bulb on in your head, And that's one of the goals of this podcast is to be able to do that, but on a more global scale. So we're in a unique place in this in this world today. Our teens are having experiences that most of us adults never did. Yes.

Humans will be humans regardless of what generation we're in. That's true. But all of the details that go around with us being human have changed. We, as adults, did not grow up with the information superhighway that our kids are not just living in. It's their everyday experience.

It's part of their existence, and that matters. It's even affecting people in third world countries who don't have Internet and electricity. How this world is living right now is affecting them too, and you're gonna learn more about that kind of stuff by listening to this podcast. Like I said, we're in a unique place in this world today, and that's partly why. But I also think there's a great disconnect, between the adults who were supposed to be serving our youth.

It's really important to include diverse voices from every continent because sometimes we think that, well, everything this is, like, this is the way it is. I'm in Russia, and this is the way it is. So, therefore, it's this way everywhere all everywhere else in the world. I'm in Guatemala, and I can I only know Guatemala, so I can only think from the Guatemalan perspective when, in fact, living in Guatemala and living in China couldn't be more different? So it's very important that we listen to other people's perspectives, and gain understanding for ourselves, and that's something we're going to do in a unique manner on this podcast.

And my other objective the other objective here with this podcast is for teens to know that they're not alone. You know, there might be a teen I have seen I've actually seen this. There might be a teen who's in the middle of Nigeria, and they're thinking a certain way, and they think they're the only ones who think that way. But then they hear that a teen in China is thinking exactly the same way. Oh, wait a minute.

I heard that a teen in Brazil is thinking the same way. Whatever. That matters because then they're gonna know that they're not alone. They don't know that through social media because social media is sensationalism. This is not about sensationalism.

So the goal is different, so the behavior is different. Different. On social media, you get a lot of sensationalism, and that predicts and it motivates and it guides and it affects behavior. That's why you see a lot of fakeness on social media. A lot.

You don't get that here. You're gonna get real issues and real conversations, and it's important that teens know that that they're not alone. So the type of guests that we're gonna have on this isn't gonna change a lot. It's still gonna be teens. It'll be experts and educators, innovators, people who work with youth, sometimes parents, professionals, but the difference is that it's going to be on an international scale.

And I might talk about the same thing 14 times, but it'll be from 14 different perspectives. And, hey, that matters. Something else you're gonna learn listening to this podcast with this universal focus, the, global focus, is that there are universal challenges faced by today's young generation everywhere. You really don't know that. You're not gonna know that by watching the news because when you watch the news, I don't care what station you're watching.

I don't care what this who the source is. You're being told what they want you to know. On here, we don't do that. So you're gonna be able to hear what's really going on with other teens around the world and what challenges that they face. You're probably gonna find that there's more similarities and differences in many cases.

We're gonna talk about things like climate change, education equity and other parts of education, mental health, technological transformation, agricultural importance, which is something you don't hear a lot, but it it does matter around the world. And then we're gonna talk about regional perspectives, but solutions. That's always my thing. Don't just tell me about the problem. Tell me how we can solve it.

And sometimes hearing about a problem in China might help solve a problem in Canada because you heard a new perspective that turned a light bulb on in your head. You see, hearing from other people's perspectives is the best way to turn on the light switch in your head. You probably don't realize that, but it really, really is. Now something that's not going to change is Mindshift Power Podcast's commitment to authentic and open dialogue and listening to other voices without filters. You see here, if you listen to any of my episodes, you already know I don't do political correctness.

I do honesty and realness. So that same manner is not changing. My guest can still come on and say whatever they want as long as it's true. So you're going to hear different perspectives without the filters, and I don't make them say anything that they don't already feel or don't wanna say. And I also don't make them try to fit into a narrative that I think they should fit into.

You see, I don't really have these conversations with you as my audience, but every guest knows because I have this conversation with them. I do not believe in making them fit into my narrative. My narrative is for you to know the truth, not for you to think what I think. That's the difference. So that part is not changing.

We're gonna hear things I might hear things I don't like, but if it's true, then say it. And that part's not going to change. You're still gonna hear unfiltered truth or at least their truth, their opinions, or what they believe. And I really part of the goal here is to really encourage teenagers to connect with global perspectives, connect with other people, and hear what other people have to say. And again, going back to I want you to know you're not alone.

I want you to know, and if you're an adult listening, I want you to know some of your experiences with your teen, it's not just them, And some of your experience as a parent, it's not just you. Some of your experiences as a teacher, it's not just you. Sometimes we think it is and because of the region that we're in, and it it it's very easy to get caught up in the smallness of our town, the smallness of our city or state or wherever you are. But when you can hear greater global perspectives, it helps you to balance out your thinking and put things in the right place and realize, wait a minute. I'm not crazy.

And I think that that's helpful. So this podcast is still gonna be for relatively the same audience. For people who are looking to solve problems when it comes to teens, this is definitely your place. And we're here to provide insight insight for educators, youth workers, teachers, counselors, administrators of any programs that have to do with youth. And it might help you to make more culturally aware programs, and that's a big deal, especially in The US since we have a lot more immigrants in this country than we've had for a long time.

I wouldn't say than ever, but for a long time. And if you're not culturally aware, you're gonna miss the boat big time. You're gonna miss opportunities, actually, not just for them but for yourself. And this will also help parents to better understand the international environment that our teenagers are growing up in because most of us didn't grow up in an international environment. Every teenager right now is growing up in an international environment because of where we are with technology in this world.

And even if they don't have electricity and don't have reliable Internet or unreliable electricity, our current state of affairs in this world is still affecting them. Because when they do get the little bit of stuff that they get through a connection of Internet, it's a big deal, and they're getting information not from one source anymore like it used to be. That matters. That really, really matters. So this is also for parents just to listen so you could understand what's going on in the world.

It will help you to better parent. It'll help you to be a better perspective of things. And anyone in any position that's interested in youth development, Sunday school teacher, a youth teacher at a mosque, anything, any community program leader in the middle of Ghana. It doesn't matter where you are. If you're working with youth, this is definitely for you.

It will help. So I just wanted to make that announcement today and explain why why I've changed Mindshift Power podcast to an international focus. I am super freaking excited about it, and I hope you are too. And I really hope that you listen and that you get a lot of value out of it. So I'm asking every listener if you could please subscribe and follow this podcast on whatever platform you want.

Like I said, we're Mindshift Power Podcast is on over 55 platforms around the world, including some major platforms in Africa and India off the top of my head, like Ghana, GeoSavin, AfriPods. There's a lot more, but those are off the top of my head. And I we're on that, so you can subscribe or or follow on any platform. But, also, if you're looking to learn more information about the podcast, go to fatimabey.com/podcast. That's fatimabey//podcast.

And if you wanna know what platforms I'm on, right on their pay right on that page, every single platform that I'm on in the world is on that page. So you can take a look at that. If also follow me on social media. So if you go to FatimaBay.com, go to the very footer of the website, the bottom of any page, it'll there's a link there that says follow me. You can click on that.

It'll show you all the media plat all these social media platforms that I'm on, which is very many. I'm on every media media, major social media platform. And if you have any questions or you wanna suggest some topics or you wanna recommend a guest for the show, please go to my podcast show, again, at FatimaBay.com/podcast. And there are you can just click on a button and submit a really quick form that will let me know any topics you wanna cover. I am very interested in hearing what you want to hear about.

I don't really wanna sit around and talk about things that aren't important or aren't relevant. So if there's a topic that maybe I haven't covered and maybe I haven't thought about, please suggest it. I will definitely listen. And I also asked it if you could rate and review this podcast on your favorite platform. Well, I thank you all for listening today.

I'm super excited about this podcast, and I'm looking forward to helping you grow. Thank you for listening. Be sure to follow or subscribe to Mindshift Power podcast on any of our worldwide platforms so you too can be a part of the conversation that's changing young lives everywhere. And always remember, there's power in shifting your thinking.