From Burned Out Teacher to Union President

What happens when an educator discovers that their voice matters?In this inspiring conversation, Dr. Ilana Nankin sits down with longtime kindergarten teacher, educator leader, and newly elected teachers union president Kristy Herrera to explore a remarkable journey of growth, leadership, and advocacy.In this conversation, she shares how daily practices like emotional check-ins, morning circles, and kindness rituals transformed her classroom, strengthened her confidence as an educator, and ultimately helped her find her voice as an advocate for students and teachers alike.Whether you're a classroom teacher, school leader, or simply passionate about the future of education, Kristy's story is a powerful reminder that meaningful change often begins with a single educator willing to speak up.Chapter Markers00:00:00 - Episode Teaser: The Kindergarten Classroom as an ER00:01:03 - Reconnecting: From Burnout to Cohort Mentorship00:03:01 - Career Pivot: Leaving Commercial Interior Design for Teaching00:05:53 - The Reality Check: What Credential Programs Fail to Teach You00:08:18 - Discovering Breathe for Change & The Power of Practice00:10:58 - Inside the Kindergarten Morning Circle & Sentence Frames00:13:51 - "Buying Back Time": The Quantifiable ROI of Mindfulness00:15:58 - Expanding Emotional Vocabulary & The Classroom Calm-Down Spot00:19:22 - Stepping Out of the Comfort Zone: Sharing Practices with Adults00:22:14 - Smashed Assumptions: Cultivating Lifelong Tribes Online00:25:58 - Shifting School Site Culture via Morning Announcements00:27:55 - Entering Higher Ed: Overcoming Pay-Scale Constraints00:31:21 - Smashing Baselines: Action Research on Language Acquisition00:33:56 - Becoming an Action Researcher vs. Academic Imposter Syndrome00:35:58 - Ilana's Story: Writing a Dissertation in 48 Hours 00:40:19 - System Innovation: The Kindness Ambassador & Peace Tickets00:44:06 - Evolving the Initiative: Out-of-the-Box Classroom Brainstorming00:45:31 - The Toughest Year: Special Needs & Pandemic Mask Rebound Reality00:48:05 - Advocating for Children Within a Broken, Rules-First Bureaucracy00:51:59 - Stepping Into the Fire: Fighting for Smaller Class Sizes00:54:09 - Re-Enacting the Emergency Room Triage Metaphor Speech00:56:06 - Finding Her Loud Voice: Becoming Union President00:58:54 - Owning Leadership: Stepping Fully Into Community Trust01:00:06 - A New Strategy: Moving from Union Savvy to "Human Savvy"01:03:04 - Aligning District Inequities (West Side Wealth vs. East Side Trauma)01:05:04 - Postponing Retirement: Committing to the Next ChapterBest Moments in This EpisodeWhy Kristy left a successful career to become a teacherWhat teacher preparation programs often fail to teachHow social-emotional learning transformed her classroomThe impact of daily morning circles and emotional check-insResearch findings from her work with multilingual kindergarten studentsHow she found the confidence to become a union leaderWhy advocacy begins with caring deeply about studentsWhat You'll LearnHow educator well-being impacts student successWhy belonging and emotional safety matter in classroomsPractical ways to build connection and community with studentsHow educators can grow into leadership rolesThe power of advocacy, purpose, and human-centered leadershipAbout Breathe for ChangeBreathe for Change empowers educators, school leaders, and community changemakers with research-backed practices that cultivate well-being, emotional intelligence, mindfulness, human connection, and purpose.Through our Master of Education in Human Intelligence, educators develop the skills needed to help students thrive in an increasingly complex and rapidly changing world.Connect With UsWebsite: breatheforchange.comInstagram: @breathe4change#TeacherWellness #Education #TeacherLeadership #SocialEmotionalLearning #HumanIntelligence #BreatheforChange