Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Good morning, happy Thursday and welcome to the power walk. Yes, indeed. You know what time it is and it is time to get into this.
[00:00:12] So your girl hasn't been doing a power walk for some time now.
[00:00:18] I've been sick. When I tell you there is something that is going around and I seeing new strains of insert name, I'm not going to say because I don't want to get demonetized, but there's, there's some stuff that's brewing and I've had a sore throat and this cough and this congestion for almost a month. I went to my primary care doctor yesterday and was prescribed some medicine to help with this process, but your girl hadn't been feeling well. And I'm feeling well enough to do this power walking to move my body. Let's see, I've currently walked 1.55 miles and I feel really good about that. But also it's a lot. The last time I did the power walk, my feet were planted in New Orleans and I'm currently in Tallahassee, Florida. God is so good. So good. The other day, if you missed it, I shared that we won our trademark dispute. It is teaching for the culture, federally registered and protected. And I've had some people ask, well, what's next? And this is where y' all come in. There's an organization that was created after us, which they're mainly active on Instagram. But just removing the ing from the name of your organization does not make it unique. And we have sent cease and desist letters. Our attorney has reached out to her attorney when she had counsel. And I don't know what else to say. I'm putting it up in God's hands. I've been surrendering to God because it's been wild. And then when she filed the petition to cancel our trademark and then didn't provide any evidence and discovery to prove that you were first in time, which there's no way you could be first in time. Look at the business registration dates. You say one thing on your website and another thing on different websites and you say one thing to the trademark office and then another thing to the trademark office. This is why this thing was dismissed with prejudice. So I'm telling you, I want all of it taken down. I'm tired of it. And this trademark dispute really took a lot out of me. Not just spiritually, but financially too. Like, I was hospitalized during the preparation of trial. And I. I have a picture. I'll show it here where I have all my devices up pulling receipts and documentation for this trademark dispute and the lackluster answers and responses that Shawna Brown and her attorney at the time provided. Like I said, this trademark dispute and this issue is going to be in law textbooks.
[00:03:14] Listen to what I'm telling you.
[00:03:16] Because you can't create an organization and take out three letters ing and think that it's original, think that it's not going to cause confusion, and then use vanity metrics on Instagram to try to prove impact when it's bought. I'm not going to discount the things that she is doing and creating because everyone has a vision.
[00:03:46] But I'm sorry, you just can't do that under the name Teach for the Culture. Because we are Teaching for the culture and taking out the ing is not acceptable.
[00:03:57] Period.
[00:03:58] Full stop. So this is where y' all come in for the folks asking, what's next?
[00:04:04] I' ma post links and I need y' all to flag the page. I even went as far as reaching out to GoDaddy. One of the critical errors that I made was not purchasing the domain Teach for the Culture.
[00:04:16] I was like, no, I want people to spell it out. And so now it's fighting to hold Shawna Brown accountable.
[00:04:22] Someone was like, you need to take Shawna to court. Well, I'm still paying for this legal matter that Shawna Brown initiated. So I don't. I don't have resources right now to go after her in court right now.
[00:04:40] But best believe the court of public opinion and the court of the Internet streets. It reminds me of me having my judge robe in my gavel and at times my wig to be like, absolutely not.
[00:04:56] And this is one of those absolutely not moments. So I'm calling her out directly because she did this. All she had to do was stop infringing on our trademark and then continue to infringe on our rights, submit three trademark applications, all three being denied, and then filing a petition with the appeal board to cancel our trademark, not pay her attorney, not provide information to the board, and has lost her case indefinitely. She can't ever bring this up, so. So I'm asking for it to be taken down. I shouldn't have to Google Teaching for the Culture and see Teach for the Culture's website. Come on, it gotta stop. This is why branding is so important. This is why researching intellectual property is important. This is why having business acumen is important. My ebook that I've been working on is about protecting your brand and using my experience, experience and what I've been through to help y' all. So at least what I went through can be a testimony and a journey in a road map for someone else so that they don't fall into the pitfalls that I did. Because I still kick myself for not buying the domain Teach for the Culture.
[00:06:12] I. I really wish that I would have bought that digital property because now I have to fight for it and to provide receipts of saying this is our intellectual property and we want ownership of that. We have so many things that are coming soon with Teaching for the Culture, and I just thank God for it. And if you're not subscribed to the mailing list, why not? And if you're not following the page, why not? We haven't been active on it. Why? Because this whole situation, our organization could have been snatched from us in this process. And I thank God that we have the victory. But now it's time to amplify this justice. And that is making sure that we are able to protect our intellectual property and that we don't experience this again.
[00:07:03] But also that people stop using Teaching for the Culture without authorization or any variation of that that can cause confusion. I want to thank you for your love and support as it relates to this battle that we've been fighting for some years now. And there's some amazing things that are on the horizon for Teaching for the Culture. And I'm just very grateful. So the last thing that I want to end you with in this power walk is the power of partnership and intentional intimate connections. I thank God for what I went through in my past to set me up to have the blessings that I have now. There were a few people that would slide in my inbox when I would talk about my divorce and infidelity and betrayal and being dishonorable, that would say, how are you moving forward? And you keep talking about your past and I'm just here to uplift in this moment that my past and what I've been through has set me up for the blessings that I have right now. I am grateful. Not maybe during the time that I was dealing with it, but I'm here grateful now that I went through what I went through because God provided better. I thank God for the partnership that I have now. I thank God for the intimate connection and the folks that are in my village and me talking about that and uplifting that does it make me stuck in the past? It is showing the growth in the bloom that I'm in now. And I want to be able to hold space for individuals that are thinking about filing for divorce or thinking about separating from their partner that they've been with and thinking about creating a new life and creating it on your own terms. I went through a life coaching certification process.
[00:09:00] I've gone through schooling with a minor in psychology. I I want to be able to help people navigate these tough battles because I've experienced it. I hope that y' all have an amazing day, that you are loved and that you feel at peace. I thank God for the blessing. So can't wait to do more Power Walk episodes. Y' all be blessed. Peace.
