I'm skipping English to be on this podcast. I have an A.

The other day, I needed a podcast to play in the car.

And since listening to my own show would be weird … I chose a business podcast called My First Million.

The title “This 17-year-old kid makes $20M/year with zero employees” caught my eye.

I pressed play.

I drove about an hour from the Finger Lakes region of New York to my home in Syracuse.

It was a beautiful fall drive.

The leaves were changing color. I saw a number of lakes. And quintessential New York American towns straight out of a Hallmark movie.

The guest on the pod was a kid named Zach Yadegari. He sold his first business for $100K at 16. Then he started a new project called Cal AI — a simple calorie tracker app supercharged by AI.

At 17 years old, Zach has made more in a year, then I will make in my life.

And that’s okay.

Success can be defined in many ways. Your self-worth isn’t tied to your bank account.

But I couldn’t help but wonder how this was a perfect example of school missing the mark.

Zach is totally bored at school. His GPA is great, but he is coasting during the day …

While operating a multi-million dollar company at night.

The drive came to an end. The podcast was nearly over.

Wrapping up the conversation the hosts asked Zach a question, and his answered rattled me.

The hosts asked Zach, “Shouldn’t you be in school right now?”

Zach said, “Yeah, I’m skipping English to record this podcast with you right now. I have an A.”

Zach’s answer was a like a punch to my gut.

This kid just put to words what so many of our students are feeling.

I felt sad because of the missed opportunity and the fact that so many kids are disengaged from school. 53% of students are disengaged from school according to a recent Gallup poll.

But our students have greatness in them. Look at what Zach has already accomplished!

How can we tap into that?

That’s what my Do School Different point of view is all about.

So here’s the lesson for Ruckus Makers: Imagine what you could create on your campus if you knew and encouraged your student to follow their passions and interests. What if we started there?

Do you agree that would create a campus experience worth showing up for?

BTW … today’s podcast focuses on a public school in TN that has created an Entrepreneurship and Innovation Center. They are Doing School Different.

Their kids are engaged. They don’t have discipline or attendance issues.

Funny how that works …

🎧 💻 Listen or Watch today’s episode here.

Keep Making a Ruckus,

Danny

PS … if you made it this far, do you see how I drew you in with a story?

It would be easy to write a post “5 Steps This 17-Year Old Took to Make a $20M in One Year.” It would also be forgettable.

Stories do the opposite. They are memorable. And they are the best way to communicate.

If you’d like to improve your storytelling skills, I’m running a 6-week program beginning Oct. 9. Just hit REPLY and write STORY in the body of the email and hit SEND if you are interested. I’ll follow up with program details within 24 hours.