>>Narrator: How do I know which path is best for me?

Is it possible to take on these challenges and obstacles?

Where do I even start?

What should I do with my life?

Sometimes, the only way to find out is to go see what's possible Since 2001, we've been sharing the stories of people who ventured out and explored different career paths and different possibilities for their futures.

This is one of those stories.

This is Roadtrip Nation.

[MUSIC] >> DJ Lux: Hello, this is DJ Lux, and I'm here with Billie.

>> DJ 5050: Hey everybody, this is DJ 5050 coming at you live from B-Loud Radio, and I'm here with.

>> Max: Max.

>> Aliyah: Aliyah.

>> DJ 5050: What have you learned about yourself and your career path between this destination and yall's last?

>> Billie: So far, it's just been really inspiring and affirming, currently making an after-school program for folks with autism.

And so, I'm still in college, I'm only 21, it's hard to recognize that I am making a nonprofit and I am like a leader in this field.

>> Max: I should know what to do, I'm 21, I gotta have that all figured out, I graduate next year.

>> Aliyah: I am a former teacher now homeschooling mom, I'm also an entrepreneur.

I have a business in garden education.

I know in my community that I can be an inspiration to other people, but sometimes I feel like I need that for myself, I need to be inspired, I need to be motivated.

>> Billie: And so talking to other people who have made these programs has just been really reassuring to me, and so far, it's helped build my confidence in what I'm doing.

>> Max: I've learned that it's okay to not be sure of myself, to not know exactly where I wanna be in my life.

>> Aliyah: We're all on this journey where we're trying to figure out our next steps, where to go, or how can we put things together?

And to be able to go on a road trip, think that it really helps to answer those questions that you're looking for.

[MUSIC] >> Max: Mr. Waffle.

>> Aliyah: Is this North Carolina, South Carolina?

>> Max: We are at Mr. Waffle, so it's not Waffle House, but it is Mr. Waffles.

Yeah, I'm really bad, I waste so much money on these stupid things.

>>Billie: No don't say that >>Billie: You're really good at it bro >> Aliyah: You got it >>Billie: You're gonna get this giraffe >>Billie: Yeah!

>>Billie: No!

[LAUGH] >> Aliyah: They cheated you on that >> Max: It's not meant to be, it's not meant to be.

[LAUGH] >> Aliyah: We are going to my house, to North Carolina, where I live, where I was born and raised so, yeah.

I'm excited, we're doing something, I'm doing something completely out of the ordinary.

I don't want to let my passions die just because I am a mom, or just because I am a wife.

I'm excited, we're literally almost there.

Right here.

>> Max: Right here?

>> Aliyah: Yeah.

>> Max: Okay, got it.

>> Aliyah: Go, yeah, you wanna go.

[EXCITED SOUND] Hey!

When you're a mom and you're wife, it's really hard to put yourself first.

And I feel like I have been putting myself on the back burner, and I'm 29, and sometimes I feel like I should be somewhere, I should be where I wanna be and I know I'm still young, I know.

You wanna say hey?

>> Kyan: Hi.

>> Aliyah: This is Billie, can you say, hey Billie.

>> Kyan: Hi Billie.

>> Aliyah: And Max.

>> Kyan: Hi Max.

>> Max: Hi [LAUGH].

>> Aliyah: Now I'm a stay-at-home mom and I'm with my daughter a lot, and it's stressful trying to be the teacher and the parent, and this and this and this and that, and have your child all day.

I really felt like gardening helped, because I didn't even have to do too much.

And my daughter was learning.

She has a lot of information that a lot of kids that I know, because I was in the education system, they don't have, it's because we garden.

>> Kyan: Those are leaves, we don't eat leave.

>> Aliyah: Yeah, we don't eat the leaves, you can't eat the leaves, that's so true.

>> Kyan: They're poison.

>> Aliyah: Can you say, thank you for the harvest.

>> Kyan: Thank you for the harvest.

[MUSIC] >> Aliyah: I just wanna have my own land and be able to help my community wherever I'm at.

I've always been a helper, a giver, so it just makes me happy to help.

I do things, I do things in the community, I'm out here, and people see me as like a leader in things, but I don't see myself as that just yet.

I don't wanna take on a role that I may not be able to fulfill.

I have so many questions, but I really just wanna know what it takes.

>> Nygeem: I hope she comes back with moments and memories that's gonna fuel her to continue doing what she wants to do.

Got any final words to say, Kyan?

>> Aliyah: Do you wanna say anything, mamma?

>> Kyan: 307.

>> [LAUGH] >> Nygeem: Okay, 307, it might be a lucky number to play at something.

>> Aliyah: We might even go play those numbers [LAUGH].

[MUSIC] >> Max: So Aliyah, who are we seeing today?

>> Aliyah: So today we are gonna be meeting Andrea Hall with EPIC Homeschooling Network.

She is a homeschooling mom who basically is doing what I wanna do, bringing homeschooling communities together.

>> Andrea: Okay, I'm gonna stop grinning so big, I was just so excited.

>> [LAUGH] >> Andrea: My name is Andrea Hall, I am the founder and executive director of EPIC Homeschool Network, so I didn't set out intending to do EPIC Homeschool Network.

I went to school to become a teacher, and when I was going through my teaching career, that's when I learned about early childhood education and how important the first seven years of a child's life are.

Well, if the first seven years are the most important I kinda wanna control that, [LAUGH] so that's when I actually said, you know what, when I have kids, I wanna homeschool.

So I planned to find a group to join.

And I had applied to some groups, there's an application process, and didn't get a call back, didn't get any responses back.

So when that wasn't working out, finding a group for my kids to join, I was like, well, I'll just start my own.

So in 2012, I made a flyer, we had our first meeting, it was in July I think, and we just had a whole bunch of moms come, and we just talked about it, and they wanted to homeschool together.

And I realized one of the handicaps for homeschooling is one person is the breadwinner, the other person is homeschooling.

But a lot of families, they were just a single mom working but they still wanted to homeschool, so they need resources and support.

So I was like, well, I wanna provide scholarships, I wanna provide resources, I wanna provide more support for our families.

How do I do that?

So I guess I need to become a nonprofit.

And then as the years kept going on, we just kind of kept adding more layers to it.

We got some roadtrippers in the room [LAUGH].

So now getting into the nitty gritty of what we do.

We create what's called an individualized learning plan, we help families create that, and they kind of decide what they want to teach that year and we kinda coach them through that.

>> Billie: I'm just so glad we got to meet the whole community and really see them come together and do their work.

>> Aliyah: Being able to just break out and be with the kids and I played Scrabble and I was whipping butt in Scrabble.

>> Max: That was really fun playing with the kids, I had build Legos with them [LAUGH] and it was amazing.

>> Aliyah: I am feeling very just inspired.

Where you were in the beginning of your journey, that's where I'm at, right now I'm hosting weekly library classes.

But I really want to know, how did you expand your EPIC Network into this?

>> Andrea: People, realizing you can't do it all by yourself, and I do still have the tendency of I'm a type A personality, I want it done this way, right?

And I'm a perfectionist, so having to let go of those things and just talk to people and let people know you need help, and just reaching out.

So already knowing that I needed that help, and gathering those people together, I think that's kind of how it started to grow, because you're sharing the vision with other people, and they're buying into it.

And you meet more people, I've met people who come alongside me on the journey, like, hey, I'm with you, let's do this.

So definitely looking out for those people, talking to people, reaching out and getting to know them.

Because you can't do it by yourself, nonprofit, homeschooling, whatever, you can't do it by yourself.

>> Aliyah: I needed that.

>> [LAUGH] >> Aliyah: Yes, I needed to hear that, thank you.

Seeing Andrea and how she runs everything, how their schedule is, how organized she is, as an educator it really made me happy.

Because I'm in the space where I'm kind of like in the beginning of my journey when it comes to homeschooling and trying to build something, build a community where I'm at.

And I'm doing all this work and I'm just kind of figuring out, where is this going?

But now I see like it can build into something and it can be created, this can happen.

It's been a real, it's been a challenge trying to get things off the ground and doing it yourself, and maybe feeling like you're not supported.

Sometimes it can be discouraging, because you don't have the support that you think that you will have when you home school.

And so, just seeing this and seeing all the support that she does have, seeing the community that she has created is very inspiring.

>> Max: Let's get to it.

>> Aliyah: I've never been to RV parks, we just didn't camp.

And so now that I know that this is what camping is like, and it's not really like people going deep down in the woods and getting bit up by ticks and stuff, [LAUGH].

>> Billie: It can be.

>> Aliyah: [LAUGH] >> Max: But the first time I did that at the YMCA, first of all, I got the end space all the way at the corner, so I got the nickname Bear Bait.

[LAUGH] >> Aliyah: Oh no, not Bear Bait.

>> Max: Yeah, like, yeah, Max can be our Bear Bait.

He's small, but he'll do.

>> Billie: If this wind puts out my fire, no, don't do it, okay.

[LAUGH] >> Max: Billie, please don't catch on fire.

>> Billie: One of my proudest moments in my life was when I was camping with a bunch of dudes, and none of them could make a fire, and then I made a fire, and I, yeah!

>>Aliyah: yeah, I got this.

>> Max: Thank you, Billie, for the fire.

[MUSIC] >> Aliyah: So, Billie, who are we interviewing today?

>> Billie: We are interviewing Wendy Kopp at Teach for All.

[SOUND] Hi, this is Billie Salvucci, I'm super interested in talking to Wendy Kopp.

Give me a call back, thanks.

I did it, and I vaguely remember what I said.

Yeah, I feel like I'm a little nervous.

>> Aliyah: You all keep calling it a high profile, this is one of our most high profile interviews and I'm just like.

>> Max: Yeah, you see, I wasn't feeling nervous before this conversation, but now I'm starting to feel it.

>> Billie: No, literally.

>> Wendy: Well, my name is Wendy Kopp, I am the founder of Teach for America, and now the co-founder and CEO of Teach for All.

Which is a global network of organizations like Teach for America in more than 60 countries around the world.

I thought of this idea when I was a college senior.

I was really, really searching, trying to figure out, what do I wanna do with my time and energy.

I started reflecting on just the role that education had played in my own life.

My parents didn't have a lot of resources initially, but they really prioritized moving into a community with a strong public school system.

And as a result, I went to an incredible public school and ultimately, to Princeton.

And I felt like the whole world was open to me, and I knew it was simply because of the education that I had had a chance to gain access to.

And what I realized at Princeton is how differently prepared people were to do well based on just where they were born.

So it was all those things that came together to lead me to this thought, why aren't we being recruited as aggressively to commit just two years to teach in urban and rural public schools.

As we were being recruited to commit just two years to work on Wall Street, became very obsessed with this idea.

I mean, here I am, a college student with no connections.

Luckily, it only takes one yes, right?

Like, I would send out 100 letters, but I'd get through one person out of 100 letters, and that person would introduce me to a couple of others.

And ultimately, perseverance pays off, and it's true that you need one yes.

Like, one person who decides, I'm gonna help this woman.

>> Billie: Your story just sounds very similar to mine, [LAUGH] and I'm just wondering, being so young and diving into this huge project that took a lifetime, did you know that it was going to take a lifetime?

And how did you commit to that?

>> Wendy: I did not, I thought we would build the Peace Corps in two to three years, and that I would then have to figure out what else to do with my life.

That was where I was graduating from college.

For a decade, I couldn't even think about anything else because it was so overwhelming.

I was also feeling very inadequate to the task, it was a mess.

>> Billie: [LAUGH] >> Wendy: It was an absolute mess behind the scenes.

Then it became so exciting to actually feel like we could really make this thing into a force for change in the US.

So we launched that pretty significant scale plan, which grew into the Teach for America we know today.

But there was something along the way there where I just decided, there's actually nothing I would rather be doing.

And nothing I think would have a bigger impact in the US than making Teach for America fulfill its potential.

>> Aliyah: Being a leader is so challenging, you don't wanna let people down and just, what it takes to really be a leader is really what's on the back of my mind.

What does it truly take to be a leader?

How can you lead people and keep them motivated while you're trying to keep yourself motivated?

I feel like it's a lot of responsibility.

>> Wendy: It is, it takes taking care of yourself too.

I learned that kind of the hard way, but it really, we need to take care of ourselves if we're gonna be able to be our best selves for others and how we are determines so much about the response that we get.

>> Aliyah: Yeah, that's what I'm thinking.

>> Wendy: Awesome.

>> Billie: I'm just feeling very reassured right now.

Like I created a nonprofit literally right out, not even, still in college.

And so I'm just thinking, if you could make this world-wide, arguably, one of the most successful nonprofits in the world, I can make a freaking after-school program.

[LAUGH] So, feeling, yeah, feeling very reassured.

>> Aliyah: After interviewing Wendy Kopp, I feel so inspired.

>> Billie: Seeing how big of an impact she was able to make has just been very reassuring in my own impact.

>> Wendy: Wow, this is high pressure.

>> Aliyah: [LAUGH] >> Wendy: Okay, we need your generation to ensure all children have the chance to fulfill their potential.

>> Max: And honestly, just the way she was talking about how we need people who can inspire the next generation, who can help guide them, not only to pursue and be better people.

But also just spread that positivity, you know, and help others along the way.

[MUSIC] >> Director: You ever been kayaking before?

>> Max: A couple times.

>> Aliyah: We about to go canoeing?

>> Max: Is it canoeing or kayaking?

>> Dicrector: Kayaking.

>> Aliyah: Okay, I was saying we about to be in a canoe.

>> Billie: [LAUGH] It doesn't feel like the end of the trip yet.

>> Aliyah: Cuz we've interviewed so many people.

>> Billie: We had a really exceptionally good crew, I could not imagine doing this with any other group of strangers, [LAUGH] genuinely.

[LAUGH] This is the first time in a very, very long time where I'm both not under an immense amount of pressure and I'm having fun and learning and doing things.

>> Aliyah: I definitely think I'm gonna miss it, just because it was such an exciting piece in my life that I'm just gonna think about it for a while, like, wow, I really did this.

And I'm gonna be able to talk to people, I know people are gonna be like, Aliyah, what about that experience?

Can you tell me?

And so, I'm gonna be reliving it over and over and over again.

>> Max: I'm happy to go home, have my own bed, not be all scrunched up.

[LAUGH] >> Billie: Excuse me, sorry.

[LAUGH] >> Max: I mean that, my sleeping position, I'm literally scrunched up like this in bed.

[MUSIC] >> Max: What are we gonna do next?

>> Aliyah: [LAUGH].

>> Max: I just can't.

Were you telling me to do something?

>> Aliyah: No, but you did it so good.

I'm just like, we about to go to the beach.

>> Billie: [LAUGH] >> Aliyah: Low-key.

>> Max: Okay, so who are we interviewing next?

>> Aliyah: So, if I'm not mistaken, Reverend Luis Cortes with Esperanza.

>> Billie: Yeah.

[LAUGH].

>> Max: Esperanza is this organization that they work with primarily Latino Latin children.

>> Luis: I'm Luis Cortes, Reverend Cortes, founder of Esperanza.

In 1986, July 1st we started Esperanza.

We as the clergy, we were all organized enough that we could become a defense mechanism for the community.

That went from understanding civil rights, which is a reactive work, to becoming a development corporation, which is a proactive work.

Who says that because you're economically disadvantaged, you can't have a good life?

Nobody says that, but that is, in fact, what we impose on people.

So our goal was, can we build institutions and build systems that it's irrelevant how much money you have?

What is relevant is if you get involved, you can have a good life.

So that's why when you come here, you see schools, theater, art galleries.

These are things that all neighborhoods have, except every poverty neighborhood.

So you have to model what you're telling people they can be.

You have to model what you're telling people they can do.

So it's one of the reasons we have a large group of our young people can go to college, because we give them everything everybody else gets in other places to go to college, access.

>> Max: It's kinda like a dream school.

It's exactly what I would want out of a school if I was running it.

You have to try to push kids to be the best, and especially with the population, starting with Latino and Latina students, that's exactly what I wanna do.

I'm gonna graduate by next year, or next May actually, and I know I wanna do something in education, that's my passion, I just wanna help people.

But the issue is, I don't know exactly how to do that and what direction to take that.

>> Luis: As you move forward, you're gonna find where the greatest need is.

More than likely, no one's addressing it, that's why it's the greatest need.

More than likely, no one's gonna wanna fund it cuz it's a new need.

And there's so many old needs where institutions like Esperanza exist, and we try to suck up the money, right?

I would say, if you find a group that you can help and you start to help them, then you need to find the institution who sees that as an opportunity.

And they will help raise the money so that you can make a living at it.

Just don't let them take advantage of you.

>> Max: [LAUGH] >> Luis: Bu that is, in essence, how every business gets started.

Something you love becomes something you do, becomes something you teach, even if it's a bakery, right, or a business, whatever it is.

And it could become something that leads in a community.

>> Aliyah: I just wanna know, how do you just keep going?

I feel like, I'm 29, sometimes I feel blessed to be here but then also so sad cuz it's like I've had so many experiences that some people will never get to have.

Why me?

Why do I have to be the one to have all these experience and have to be the one with this vision and just keep going when life just seems so hard sometimes?

>> Luis: We all have a journey.

Your journey is yours.

What you do with it is yours.

Everyone can be a positive force, everyone can be a negative force.

So for all of us, the real issue is, what's the call?

What's the opportunity?

Who can you save?

Who can you help?

How do you get better, right?

So you can help other people.

To me, that's the most important thing we could be in life, is to be a positive force.

>> Aliyah: It was emotional.

It definitely was.

>> Billie: This interview has really just made me think about a lot of the people who I grew up with and how I really wish they could sit down and talk with these people too.

Feeling very grateful and very privileged.

>> Luis: Hope, if you lose hope, it's over.

Persistence, persistence wins.

Everything you see here is because we've been persistent.

Grow your network.

You've seen the pictures we got here.

I grew my network.

Doors have been open for you.

So whoever's helping you do this, you need to talk to them about what you're gonna do after this.

You're the stars of this program, you should be given access to a better future so you can help other people with what you've learned.

Cuz that's what a leader does.

>> [MUSIC] >> Max: I'm excited to go home, I'm just tired to pack.

Okay, you gotta do it quick, though.

>> Aliyah: Okay.

[LAUGH] I think I got that!

>> Max: Falling on my butt.

>> Aliyah: Yo!

[MUSIC] >> Billie: I feel like I've gained a lot more confidence.

Hearing from all of these really successful people, but they absolutely would not have been able to do it without the support of other people.

Reminds me that I need to lighten my load a little bit and ask for help, otherwise I'm gonna burn myself out before this program's even started.

And I don't wanna overwhelm myself trying to make it bigger at this point.

I just want to get it started and see where it goes and pick up the breadcrumbs rather than making this ten-year plan of where I want it to go.

>> Max: I feel like I've really grown a lot within these last two weeks.

Before this trip, I was having that mindset, I don't know what to do, and now it's like, I'm kind of okay with not being able to figure it out.

I still don't know what my next steps are gonna be for sure, I just feel a lot more secure in not knowing.

[LAUGH] In two weeks, I've grown so much, so imagine what I can do in a couple years.

It would be really interesting to see what happens.

>> Aliyah: Hey, what you doing?

Making a silly face.

Kyan, guess what, baby?

I'm gonna be coming home.

>> Kyan: Yay.

>> Aliyah: I feel like everyone else, it's bittersweet.

I'm super happy to go home cuz I miss my family, I miss my daughter, my husband, my garden, just like my everyday lifestyle.

But then I also had this super exciting moment, with amazing people that I will miss.

I think I have a lot of clarity and gained a lot of clarity on where I want my business to go, and how I can balance that with family.

This trip has allowed me to have my own mental space, where I can go back and feel like I'm a healthier mom and a healthier wife to my family.

And so, I hope that I inspire more moms and wives to just continue to follow their passions, follow their dreams, cuz it matters, that part of us still matters.

It's just mind blowing, and it just really opens your mind to all the possibilities that you could be.

[MUSIC] >> Aliyah: I have instilled hope in myself, but what about all these other people?

How do you do that?

And that was something that is very inspiring.

It has to be a living thing, it has to be a living testimony, you have to have that hope to inspire people to have hope.

And I hope that that's what I can do.

[MUSIC] Wondering what to do with your life?

Well we've been there and we're here to help Our website has some awesome tools to help you find your path And you can check out all our documentaries, interviews and more Start exploring at roadtripnation.com