Meet Danna Evans

Danna , so many exciting things to discuss, we can’t wait. Thanks for joining us and we appreciate you sharing your wisdom with our readers. So, maybe we can start by discussing optimism and where your optimism comes from?
Optimism is so important, but it can be overused to the degree that we’re almost tired of hearing about it. I feel like people think optimists are either naive about life or just chronically, constantly happy in kind of an annoying way. Like, “I’m just too tired right now to deal with an optimist.”

Optimism simply means feeling hopeful about the future. Which is essential for our well-being, but how do we feel optimistic when we’re feeling down in the present moment and when we genuinely don’t beleive life is going to turn out rosy?

One tool I often use to help me see the brighter side of things I actually got from the movie ABOUT TIME with Rachel McAdams, Domnhall Gleeson, and Margot Robbie. It’s a great film, and I’m glad to share it with your readers – if you haven’t seen it yet – you are in for a nice evening. I don’t think I need a spoiler alert to share this one line from the movie:

“I just try to live every day as if I have deliberately come back to this one day, to enjoy it as if it…as if it was the full, final day of my extraordinary, ordinary life.”

I love this quote because time has a way of playing with our perspective. If I think this is my last opportunity to enjoy the people and things that fill my ordinary days, then I am going to pay special attention to them. I am going to enjoy them even more despite their quirks. There is so much to appreciate, but it’s easy to fall into auto-drive and stop taking notice. That quote helps me turn off auto-drive and take a moment to actually see the good that is all around.

Appreciate the insights and movie recommendation!  Before we dig deeper and ask you about the skills that matter and more, maybe you can tell our readers about yourself?
Tell us about what you do.

I am a graduate of the University of Arizona. I have a degree in Journalism, and after graduation, I worked in advertising and marketing in California with Hershey Advertising and at the Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising.

I enjoyed my work for many years but constantly felt the pull to work in education. I eventually got my K-8 teaching certification and worked in California and Arizona. I love teaching.

One thing I noticed, as both a parent and a teacher, is that when the classroom has a healthy, positive environment, everyone is happier, learning is easier, and school is more fun.

While that is easy to say, it isn’t easy to attain. Classrooms can have up to 32 people in them for over six hours a day. That’s a lot of together time.

I mean, think how challenging family dynamics are for just a family of five (which is considered a large-sized family), and we know how high the divorce rate is (and that’s just two people who need to get along), yet we sort of just expect teachers to manage over 32 students for six hours a day, five days a week, with no problems and all.

I love the old saying safety doesn’t happen by accident. I think the same is true in education. Happy classrooms don’t happen by chance.

That’s what my company, All Things E.Q. does. We help create happy, productive classrooms with confident students. We do this by working with parents, guardians, teachers, and students to ensure they have the essential academic and social skills they need to not only do well in school but enjoy it too.

One thing we are most proud of is our results. We increased on-campus feelings of hope and well-being for students, and an independent four-year study showed with statistical significance that All Things E.Q. raised English Language Scores and Math Scores on State Assessments, increased attendance, and decreased student discipline referrals in both frequency and severity.

I feel lucky to be able to do what I do, and on those days when the challenges feel overwhelming, I ask myself, “Was it a bad day, or was it just a bad few moments I keep replaying all day?”

If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?

What made ATEQ successful is that we addressed these three barriers to change:

1. Overwhelm
2. Retention
3. Status Quo

When you think about it, these barriers affect us all whenever we want to learn or do something new.

First, we already have enough on our plate, and more feels like, well…more. That’s overwhelming!

Second, we forget. Even when we read what we think is a life-changing book, we find that three days (maybe even three hours) later, we forget all about it and return to our old, familiar habits.

This leads us to the third barrier, the status quo. We tend to revert back to our old habits, to what we always do.

My advice, whenever you want to create positive change in your life, is to spend time creating plans for those three barriers. When you address them and know how to navigate them, your path to success will be much clearer.

Any advice for folks feeling overwhelmed?
I love this question because overwhelm is a problem we all have to face, and having strategies to deal with it is crucial.

Unfortunately, there is no one answer that applies to all people all of the time. Although, wouldn’t that be lovely!

That being said, I do use this strategy quite a bit to motivate myself when I feel overwhelmed.

Whenever I find myself facing a problem that felt unsolvable, I would tell myself:

“This is great because this is where the competition quits. This is where the people who came before you quit and where the people chasing after you will stop. You won’t stop here. You will figure this out, and you will move on. Be glad this barrier is here because this is what separates you from your competition. Knowing you will solve this problem is why you bring value to your client and why your competition can’t. This problem isn’t a bad thing – it’s a great thing, so get busy solving it.”