Follow The Brand Podcast with Host Grant McGaugh
Are you ready to take your personal brand and business development to the next level? Then you won't want to miss the exciting new podcast dedicated to helping you tell your story in the most compelling way possible. Join me as I guide you through the process of building a magnetic personal brand, creating valuable relationships, and mastering the art of networking. With my expert tips and practical strategies, you'll be well on your way to 5-star success in both your professional and personal life. Don't wait - start building your 5-STAR BRAND TODAY!
Follow The Brand Podcast with Host Grant McGaugh
The Help4You App: Turning Smartphones into Lifelines for Bullied Kids
What if we could use technology to revolutionize the fight against bullying in schools? Join us on the Follow the Brand Podcast as we feature Harvette Sears-Smith, Chief of the North Miami Beach Police Department, and her insights into the groundbreaking Help4You app. This innovative tool offers real-time support for kids, enabling them to communicate their struggles and instantly connect with experts confidentially. Chief Sears-Smith shares her wealth of experience in law enforcement, emphasizing how such technological advancements can foster a safer environment for our youth.
We'll also explore the pivotal role of law enforcement in tackling both traditional and cyberbullying, focusing on the importance of positive police-community relationships. Discover how community policing, educational tools, and collaborative efforts between schools and local advocacy groups are crucial in creating a supportive network for children. You'll hear about the benefits of programs like police camps, which help bridge the gap between officers and the community, and the challenges they face in changing negative perceptions. This episode is essential listening for parents, educators, and anyone passionate about the well-being of the next generation.
The Meek Foundation, a leading organization committed to revitalizing communities and fostering social impact, has partnered with Miami-Dade County to fund the development of the Help4You app—a groundbreaking tool designed to combat bullying and provide a safe, supportive environment for children. By investing in this innovative project, the Meek Foundation and Miami-Dade County are demonstrating their dedication to empowering youth, reducing violence, and strengthening community bonds through cutting-edge technology and collaborative efforts. This initiative reflects their shared vision of creating a safer, more inclusive future for all children in the region and beyond.
Thanks for tuning in to this episode of Follow The Brand! We hope you enjoyed learning about the latest marketing trends and strategies in Personal Branding, Business and Career Development, Financial Empowerment, Technology Innovation, and Executive Presence. To keep up with the latest insights and updates from us, be sure to follow us at 5starbdm.com. See you next time on Follow The Brand!
Welcome to another episode of Follow the Brand.
Speaker 1:I am your host, grant McGaughan, ceo of 5 Star BDM, a 5 Star personal branding and business development company. I want to take you on a journey that takes another deep dive into the world of personal branding and business development, using compelling personal story, business conversations and tips to improve your personal brand. By listening to the Follow the Brand podcast series, you will be able to differentiate yourself from the competition and allow you to build trust with prospective clients and employers. You never get a second chance to make a first impression. Make it one that will set you apart, build trust and reflect who you are. Developing your five-star personal brand is a great way to demonstrate your skills and knowledge. If you have any questions from me or my guests, please email me. At. Grantmcgaw spelled M-C-G-A-U-G-H at 5starbdm B for brand, d for development, m for masterscom. Now let's begin with our next five-star episode on Follow the Brand.
Speaker 1:Welcome to the Follow Brand Podcast. I am your host, grant McGaugh, ceo of Five Star BDM, where we help you to build a five-star brand that people will follow. And today we are just talking about building brands. We are talking about building communities, empowering voices and making real change. We're diving deep into an issue that strikes at the very heart of our society bullying. But this isn't just any conversation about bullying. Today, we are talking about a revolutionary shift. While the latest in digital technology is being furnished to protect our kids, giving them a voice when they need it most, this is about turning fear into courage, isolation into community and smartphones into lifelines. And joining me for this important discussion is a true trailblazer someone who has spent over 30 years in law enforcement and has seen firsthand the devastating impact bullying can have on our children and our communities. Beth Sears-Smith of the North Miami Beach Police Department isn't just any police chief. She is a visionary leader who is using her badge, her voice and now cutting-edge technology to fight back against this epidemic the creation of the groundbreaking Help For you app, a tool designed to offer real-time support to children facing bullying. We will unpack how this app works and why it's a game changer, and how it's transforming the way we think about safety in the digital age. So, whether you are a parent, an educator or just someone who cares about the next generation, this episode is for you, and we are not just discussing problems, we are talking solutions. So let's get started on this journey to make our world a safer place for our children On the Follow Brand Podcast, where we are building a five-star brand that you can follow.
Speaker 1:Welcome everybody to the Follow Brand Podcast. This is your host, grant McGaugh, and we are in North Miami Beach and I'm going to talk to one of the city's finest, and I'm talking about Chief Parvath Sears-Smith, who is here with me. We're going to talk about something that's near and dear to my heart, as well as hers, and some people have maybe not aware of some of the work that I have been doing with building bridges communications, which has been phenomenal. I really want to applaud Femi Filani Brown for actually bringing this to the fore, for making it visible in our community around the facts of bullying. I'm talking about our children being bullied, whether it's cyber bullied or they're having issues within school that maybe they cannot talk to another individual about, and we want to give them some opportunities to be able to communicate what's really going on with them. Chief, would you like to introduce yourself? Let's have a candid conversation around this type of application.
Speaker 2:Absolutely so. My name is Harvette Sears-Smith. I am the chief of North Miami Beach Police Department. I've been in law enforcement now for over 30 years and I understand the importance of the community, what our kids need. I've seen firsthand how bullying can impact the family. So this initiative, this project through Building Bridges Communication, I feel is very important. So that is something that we are geared towards helping the community putting things out there. That's very helpful. So I'm excited. I'm very excited about this project.
Speaker 1:Well, we were excited that you wanted to be one of the brand ambassadors for this initiative and brought it to your attention. Then we first brought it to my attention and then I worked with my partners over at Agile InfoWays to actually create the actual application in which it gives children a real-time app. A lot of children, they have phones and they cannot connect directly to a resource that can help them. In your opinion, in your experience, why do you feel that this type of application is so important for today's school children?
Speaker 2:that this type of application is so important for today's school children. So a lot of times kids are a little scared to really explain to an adult on what they're experiencing when it comes to bullying or abuse or being harassed, because it just puts them in a different space. And this app is really going to give them the opportunity, in a confidential setting, to explain or to tell someone what is going on with them. And it's good that they're reaching out because they want the help and I think by having this app and giving them the tools and connecting them with an expert immediately can be beneficial and help the child and their family. A lot of times parents have no idea what kids are facing while they're at school or on the playground or through social media, so this app will definitely help them and once we get the awareness out there that it is available, I think it will prove beneficial.
Speaker 1:I like that. I like that. Now I want to just pick your brain a little bit or just go back in some history, okay, in your experience, because you know right now the app does not exist. But as you go back and you know certain things that have happened during your career that you may it may have had a different outcome if people were aware of the situation. Can you share with us any stories that might be beneficial to our audience?
Speaker 2:um, absolutely so. There have been that I'm aware of. Um we've seen, uh, how this impacts kids, mainly in school settings, um where they're being bullied.
Speaker 2:I've been on a couple of calls or scenes where kids may have tried to harm themselves because of what they're experiencing and I think just that, like you said, if this app would have been available back then, you know it would have been different for the kid or it would have been different for the parent. It may have brought awareness to the parent because, remember, in order for the kids to even access this app, we have to have the consent from the parent for them to even be a part of it. So I think, once you know parents, teachers and counselors see that this is available, it is something that they're going to want to definitely be a part of, because it's going to improve the community, because bullying actually has an impact, a negative impact on the community and it promotes crime.
Speaker 1:I believe that and I think about, automatically my attention goes to some of the really bad things that have happened in our schools. You think about some of the children that were involved many school shootings, right yeah. And the pattern seems that unfortunately, the child might have felt isolated there by themselves. They they are experiencing certain things that they're not reaching out. Or maybe someone else is seeing another child going through periods of bullying and they don't feel like you know what.
Speaker 1:I'm not going to say anything because I don't want to get involved wherever it might be. And vice versa, where the child is sitting there and they don't know who they can reach out to, or maybe they're thinking about reaching out to anybody, but if they were aware that there is a resource, because I know, hey, if I'm afraid, let's just go to. I would say happens almost every day Kids being bullied, they're being threatened as far as being beat up after school. Let's just say, for whatever reason, and they don't know who, to contact button, get to potentially a resource. That then can then get you in touch with a police resource or a law enforcement resource. If you were taking that call and in your department, how would you be able to mitigate that kind of circumstance?
Speaker 2:I mean, first of all, I think I know you said click a button and to get that immediate response, but I think we have to make that person, whether it's a child, a teenager we have to make them feel comfortable enough to reach out and get that help. A lot of kids don't feel comfortable and you know they're so withdrawn and you know wanting to just deal with the problem. A lot of times they take matters into their own hands and it may be the wrong approach and that's where we get the school shootings and so forth. So we've seen time after time where we've had the school shootings and the subjects are or were bullied in the past. So by having this app, promoting it, you know, providing the training, letting the kids know that you know it's a comfortable and safe environment, I think the outcomes would have been different.
Speaker 2:And just taking the call in my capacity and seeing that you know someone a child is, you know, in this scenario that's one of the things I would do. I would make them feel comfortable, let them know that we're here to help. You're not in this alone. There is an out. That's exactly what I would explain to them.
Speaker 1:The out. That feels good. I know that it's reassuring when there's an out. One of the things that they have has not just talking to research, it has information. Yes, right, so you can see different videos that will inform you of different scenarios. Even small K through 5th grade children, right? They can say, oh wow, this is something I could see somewhere else, that might be experiencing something, and now I feel an affinity to that. Someone understands, because they have an understanding I know I can then begin to have a conversation around this. So there's a lot of tools that are available, not just the emergency type situation, there's all kinds of different things. Now here's my question to you why did you feel that this is something you wanted to take on and get involved with?
Speaker 2:For me as a law enforcement leader and being in the city of North Miami Beach for over 30 years, community is top priority. So when you identify the needs of a community, and with bullying being one of them, it was easy for me to say, oh yeah, you know, I want to be a part of that, I want to make a difference in the community, I want to be able to promote something that's positive, that's going to bring a positive outcome. So just being a part of this is, you know, just rewarding enough for me. You know, if I can just help one kid save one kid, that's enough for me. If I can just help one kid save one kid, that's enough for me.
Speaker 1:You said a lot there and I want your counterparts throughout Miami-Dade County, broward County and hopefully across the nation to chime in. We've got to help our kids and we've got to find ways that we can do this, understanding that the time in which we grew up is different. Social media is huge here and kids have access to devices. There are cell phones, there are tablets, desktops and whatnot. We use these every day, just in teaching them. So we can't just say, hey, give me your cell phone, do this, do that, and then that doesn't happen. No, there's got to be other ways that we can help in terms of alternatives, especially and I've seen it you know they had hearings and partners about cyberbullying and these type of things. So I'm hoping that this kind of application will help For you. What is your siren call to your counterpart? You, what is your siren call to your counterpart? You're like, hey, chief harvett, I'm interested in possibly helping.
Speaker 2:What would you say to them? So I want to go back and touch on something you said in the beginning, because we're our kids are now coming up in a different time from when we were in school and how bullying took place. So. So bullying can happen in school, but it doesn't stop because we have the social media, we have computers, we have cell phones and laptops and that cyber bullying can continue on throughout the day, so it has a lasting effect on the child.
Speaker 2:So one of the things I would say to my counterparts in law enforcement is to let them know that, look, this is a tool that is going to be used to help save our children. We want it to be where it's, something that's supported throughout, not just for a year or so, but continuously, because we know bullying has been around for years and it's just gotten worse with the use of technology. So I would basically tell them we need your support. We need you to also hit the ground running, you know, introducing this tool to our school kids, to communities, to local advocacy groups. We need to put the word out there that this is something positive that's going to save our children.
Speaker 1:I like that and that's the thing you know when we talk about community, our kids are involved in all levels of our community. You're part of a lot of different associations in which you can interact and get involved, and I want the children. This is the thing, right? It is a thing that a lot of times our children and a lot of people, they're afraid of the law enforcement, they're afraid of the police, like wow, and because of that there's that gap in communication and understanding. Are you here to help or are you here to hurt? And I'm glad you're getting out in front of this and saying I am here to help. This is how we help. That is the charge of the law enforcement agencies is to be a vehicle for helping our communities to move forward, so we don't want to be looked at, but I don't see a lot of your counterparts doing what you're doing now, having conversations when you're not in an intense situation and just have a conversation about who you are and what you do. Give us some more information about how you can fill that gap and let us feel more comfortable about working with law enforcement.
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Speaker 2:So one of the things that's constantly evolving is community policing. So community policing is bridging that gap between community and law enforcement and we want it to be where it's a partnership. So we're going to help you police your community, but we're going to also allow you to help the police. So a lot of times within community policing, our groups for our youth and one of them that comes to mind immediately because I've been involved with it for so long is our police athletic league, and that is where we mentor our kids, we put on different programs for them, we build those relationships and show them that you know it's okay to come to a police officer, it's okay to sit down and have a conversation with us, and that's one of the things police athletically is that we are filling playgrounds and not prisons. So we want to be able to have those conversations, relationships, mentor our kids, to let them know that it is. It's a positive relationship. It's not where we're always out to see the wrong in an individual.
Speaker 1:I'm so glad you said that and it reminds me of my own childhood Me and my brother and this was I'm from the Midwest right and my mother. I remember my mother kind of hey, I'm going to enroll you in summer police camp. We're like summer police camp and at the time she had a friend that was a police officer and we liked him. His name was Jimmy. Oh, jimmy was pretty cool. I said, hey, we're all going to go to camp and it was police camp and we went out, you know, into the rural community, and we had these cabins and we were there with kids from all over the city. It was probably like I don't know 40 or 50 of us or whatnot. They had swimming pools, they had all kinds of stuff. We were involved in all these activities, but these were the police officers that were in the community.
Speaker 1:Now we're like time was like eight, nine, ten years old and I remember that and we would spend a whole week up there. We went like a couple of years in a row and it made me feel like I was not afraid of the police. Amount of times I would see them in their cars and, hey, we were waving at them. We knew what they did. So I didn't have that feeling of the police were my enemy. They were actually friends in the community. But I don't know if those programs existed. You just brought some of those programs up and I really really like that. I enjoy that. Hopefully there's more of that going on Absolutely.
Speaker 2:And I can tell you, at the end of the day, we're human. I mean we have families, we have kids and if we can just foster those positive relationships and let kids know that it's okay to say, you know, hi to a police officer when you see them out on the street, one of the things I hate is when a parent see a police officer and they tell the kid oh, if you continue to be bad, I'm going to call the police. I immediately tell them no, no, no, it's OK, you can come, you can talk to the police, you can say hi to me, because we don't want it to be where a child is afraid of a police officer. So by your mom putting you all in those camps and us continuing to create these programs where we have positive relationships with the kids in the community, it's just proving that we are fostering and building a better future for all.
Speaker 1:I agree with that. This app helped free you so you can introduce something like that. So if you're at a camp or you're at a police athletics camp and that type of thing, you're introducing this kind of program, they're going to then like, feel good about it, it's not being forced on them. Like, hey, if you're going through situations, here's an app you can download it. Make sure your parents are aware. Situations here's an app you can download it. Make sure your parents are aware. You take them through that whole scenario because you're in a positive environment. And then you're like I'm calling a friend to help, not another problem that's going to come to my door because of this, or people here and there, like people are like, oh, that's snitching, I don't want to be a snitch type of thing. How do you, how do you work with those kinds of attitudes?
Speaker 2:I can tell you I'm just working with the kids. That's in our police athletic league. You hear them saying that you know, and we have to kind of like immediately address it when we hear kids say, oh, stop snitching, you know, stop doing this. We have to let them know the importance of knowing what's wrong and what's right and being able to articulate it to a police officer or someone who can help them with the situation. So with the Help For you app, just like you said, there's resources on there, you can text. You don't have to actually speak to someone over the phone because we want it to be a comfortable environment. It's like creating that safe space, you know, and I think when you mentioned getting my counterparts to get on board and providing that financial assistance, it's creating a safe environment and creating a safe space for these kids who feel, you know, the need to be able to come to.
Speaker 1:I want to ask you this, because now there is a resource officer in a lot of the schools now. So you have scenarios, you have a resource officer, you have the school administration and then potentially, a scenario you might have police involvement in a scenario. How do you feel that if, with and without this app, those situations could be better or worse?
Speaker 2:I think without the app the situations could be worse Absolutely and, like you said, can mitigate some of those issues with harassing bullying because the presence of the officer is there. So we want to make sure that even with the presence of this app, that can help within a school environment for the kids that are there, because they know that they can immediately just go to that app and get assistance as well.
Speaker 1:Okay, this is good. I like this because now I want everyone to know that this was done through a grant, through the Carrie Mae Foundation, also through Miami-Dade County, in which they work with a lot of different enterprises to help our to have social impact, to help our children, and this was the app that was created by ThoughtSwitch, which is a Building Bridges Communications subsidiary or Vice, first, I believe it's ThoughtSwitch, then Building Bridges is the subsidiary of that, and they developed the Help For you app. I want everyone to know it because this was just the pilot that's been created. We still need funding, we still need stakeholders, people that need to be involved, so this can grow. It can be a county-wide application for our children and then we'd see it growing even into a national platform. Help us understand why funding is so important.
Speaker 2:Funding is very important because we want to make sure that the Help For you mission is worldwide. It's almost kind of like the Sandy Hook Initiative project. So we want that to be available for Miami-Dade County. We know the Meek Foundation is built off of revitalizing communities, so this app will actually help with, you know, like we said, reporting, abuse reporting, bullying reporting, harassment, reporting, other criminal type activities, and by doing so, that actually fosters better communities. So it's going to help with violence, reducing violence. So the Meek Foundation and Miami-Dade County you know they're reprised on doing that creating better communities. So if we have this app and we can use it to bridge the gap between communities and law enforcement, it's going to prove that this is something that was needed far too long because we want it to be where people feel comfortable living in their communities. So I think that this is something that's very positive.
Speaker 1:I know it is very positive and we need to get our community on board. Those of us who are interested. I want them to reach out and talk to us and find out how they can find out more, how they can get involved, what it takes to get involved, so we can get this rolled out and truly help our children. Before I let you go, I want to give the mic to you and think through what we have not discussed and that is. It's important, because and I want you to think through you as a chief of police and now that this app is available and how you feel like, wow, this is something that can actually make a difference, Give us some, give us your feedback overall on how you feel.
Speaker 2:So let me just start out by saying with this app and, like I said, we can't do this alone so we do need our law enforcement partners, we need our government entities, we need our stakeholders, we need our local business owners, we need our local advocacy groups we need to put out there that there is a zero tolerance for bullying. The policy needs to be just that. So if we go out there and we promote it, we show that we're bringing awareness to teachers, to children, to parents, that this is going to be something that's going to help with kids and them feeling that, oh, I don't have a way out, and how it really impacts them emotionally. It lacks mindfulness for them. So I think, having those organizations on board, providing that financial support being a part of that zero tolerance policy, I think that that's something that we need to hit the ground running, because it's going to show that we are involving in technology within our communities of Miami-Dade County, and I think the Meek Foundation realized that this was something that was needed, which is why they provided the initial support.
Speaker 2:So we want to continue with that support because we know, sometimes, individuals that may be in crisis or maybe in some type of situation where they feel that there's no help, no way out. We want to let them know that we're there for you, and this app is going to do just for that. So a lot of it has to do with communication, getting it out there, explaining the vision clearly of what this organization is for, what this app is for. So, I think, just providing that empowerment to kids and adults to let them know that we're not going to tolerate bullying, we're not going to tolerate kids being harassed. They are our future. We need them to thrive and we're going to do our best to help them with that.
Speaker 1:I love that. That is called walking the walk, not talking the talk. You are all about that. I believe, as our community becomes more and more aware of what you're doing and why you're doing it, that we're going to get a lot of people on board, because this is something that we truly, truly need and we have to show, put our arms around our community, show that we care and we care by communicating with them. This is a great way to communicate and, before I let you go, you got to let us know how to contact you. People are like oh, how do I get involved? How do I contact you? What do I do? Help us?
Speaker 2:So basically, it's falling under the Building Bridges Communications. As I told you, I am Chief Parvette Smith. I can be reached through Building Bridges Communication. I don't have an email yet, do I? I don't. Once we do have that information, we will be able to put it out on all of our social media platforms. We are on Facebook, we're on Instagram, so we can be reached through that.
Speaker 1:This has been wonderful and we've got to get an opportunity to get in touch with you. What is the best possible way?
Speaker 2:So we can be reached through Building Bridges Communication, basically just going through ThoughtSwitchMiamicom and subscribing, and then you can also reach me on my LinkedIn account at Chief Harvett Smith.
Speaker 1:That is so wonderful. This has been wonderful, thank you, thank you. Thank you so much for being on the show, and also everyone that tunes into our show and your entire audience can reach all the different episodes on Follow Brand at Firestar BDM. That is B for Brand, d for Development InfoMasterscom. This has been wonderful. Thank you so much for being on the show.
Speaker 2:Thank you, grant, thank you for the opportunity, and we will do great things with this app.
Speaker 1:Absolutely. Thanks for joining us on the Follow Brand Podcast. Absolutely bonus insights that will fuel your success. Subscribe now and be a part of our growing community sharing and learning together. Explore, engage and elevate at Follow Brand TV Series on YouTube. Stay connected, stay inspired Till next time. We will continue building a five-star brand that you can follow.