We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Jay Yoder. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Jay below.
Hi Jay, thanks for sharing your insights with our community today. Part of your success, no doubt, is due to your work ethic and so we’d love if you could open up about where you got your work ethic from?
My moms, I raised by 2 strong women who were no stranger to hard work! Both were nurses who worked from a very young age. My one mother was a nurse in Austriailia who was helping deliver aboriginal babies in the outback when she was only 17! They both taught me about balance too! Work hard, but play hard!
Great, so let’s take a few minutes and cover your story. What should folks know about you and what you do?
I am quite the unicorn. I was raised in the coal mine regions of Scranton, PA with a modern family in a prehistoric time; the 80s! Ellen was still straight, Bert and Ernie were just “roommates” and only the Flintstones were allowed to have a gay old tiime! I grew up having to lie a lot! But now I get to take the stage and talk about all of it and break that tension with laughter! What’s crazier is that my biological father is also gay! A real double rainbow!
I am also in my 20th year as a public school teacher. I teach Spanish and Latin and I take my students around the world in the summers! My wife is also a teacher and we have 2 beautiful daughters, Katie and Elysia. Elysia is autistic, she is on the spectrum and is the most beautiful ray of sunshine that I get watch grow every day! I love talking about her on stage and she is always the hero of the story!
I tour the country with a comedy group called Bored Teachers and I am a podcaster. I have a podcast called Seriously, Dad? and I am a cohost for Teachers Off Duty podcast which the #1 Teacher Comedy podcast and #6 on Apple under Standup. My favorite is that I get to bring my story and my message to school staffs across the country as a motivational speaker about my journey in education. My talk is called if its Mentionable, Its Manageable. Its about my journey in education as a student and teacher and how Covid burnt me out and comedy saved my life! You can find me at Jay Yoder Comedy on all platforms or at JayYoderComedy.com
There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?
Empathy, I’ve learned how to love people from all walks of life! I just love people for who they are and not who they think they should be. For so long I thought I had to look like a character from a Rockwell painting, but now I love being a Pollock!
Humor. I can find the funny in any scenario. Comedy is tragedy plus time. Otherwise we end up with so much tension and I hated feeling like a tea pot with no spout. Humor and jokes allows me to break the tension and bring everyone together, especially in the classroom.
Traveling. We moved a lot as a kid. I went to 7 different schools K-12 and that helped me learn to adapt quickly and make friends. I’ve also traveled the world and watched how others live and I try to bring a little of each culture back into my own life. I studied in Argentina in HS and Spain in college.
If you knew you only had a decade of life left, how would you spend that decade?
I am currently learning how to balance all the roles I play in life. I cannot be everything to everyone. I am a teacher during the day, a family man in the afternoon and a comedian at night. Having a special needs daughter also requires extra efforts that most parents can’t fathom. I am trying to balance giving my children a beautiful well rounded life while also chasing my own dreams. I work hard to balance myself so that I am where I am. If I’m home, I’m dad. If I’m in the classroom then I’m a teacher, not a comedian. I try hard to be mindful and not mind full. COVID changed me and now I am learning how to live my best life and fulfill the roles that matter to me and really that comes down to Dad and Husband. My house is my tribe and then comes everyone else.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.JayYoderComedy.com
- Instagram: @JayYoderComedy
- Facebook: @JayYoderComedy
Image Credits
Mirage Photography
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