MSSP Jude Husein 24.11.22

Michael Schweisheimer [00:00:00] You good? All right.

Dave Winston: Here we go. Three,

two,

Michael Schweisheimer: one. Time for the Mission Story Slam podcast. It's brought to you by PWP Video. I'm Michael Schweisheimer, the executive producer at PWP Video. Mission Story Slam. And I'm also a collector of objects that are the wrong size. So the next slam is coming up on Tuesday evening, December 3rd at National Mechanics, and it might also be the wrong size.

I'm thinking it's going to be huge. So get your tickets fast. Our theme is it's a family affair. Some very cool storytellers are promising me they're going to put their name in the can. So. Grab those tickets before they're all gobbled up. Yes, we're right after Thanksgiving. The only thing missing is an official sponsor.

Maybe that's you. Maybe it's your organization. But reach out to me and let me know if you'd like to join us in that way or suggest someone. [00:01:00] So my guest today was the very first name drawn at Mission Story Slam 10. And as one who has told the host story at every slam, going first is probably the hardest thing to do in that situation.

But Jude Hussein handled it with grace, aplomb, and very good cheer. So I met Jude through her work at Philly Bolt, where she is the Interim Executive Director. In 2022, she became the only Arab staffer in the PA Senate. That fact, by the way, just blows my mind that you were the first Arab staffer in the PA Senate.

That's crazy to me. So Jude is a passionate youth advocate, a lifelong North Philadelphian, and she serves on multiple boards. I know what that is like. In her spare time, if there's such a thing for her, she consults with youth organizations across the city to ensure they have a seat at the table. She was named the 2024 Activist of the Year by the Philadelphia Citizen at their RAD Awards.

And I agree that Jude is rad. This truncated bio is really just a list of impressive and exhausting facts. So let's listen to her story to give you [00:02:00] a better sense of the person behind all these accomplishments.

Jude Husein: My name is Jude Husein. I am a government professional. I'm a traditional nonprofit leader.

I'm an Arab, I'm an activist, I'm a humanist, I'm an optimist, I'm all the ists all merged in one. So think big, bold, and bright. And so, one message can alter your life. It can basically determine how you interact with someone, it could be a conversation in passing, it could be how you troubleshoot a scenario.

And so this evening I want to share three very specific messages that were turning points in my life. And they were like random, ordinary days that I didn't think anything of, and turns out it kind of geared me to another route. And so the first message that I wanted to share, um, that was a turning point was, uh, growing up to be an optimistic Arab activist.[00:03:00]

And so growing up in North Philadelphia, sharing a room with three of my siblings, so we had to decide who's going to take the bed one night, who's going to take the floor, but the standard of excellence for my mother was the same. So it didn't matter if you had a crappy night, you were going to show up and show out.

And so that meant I had to travel two and a half hours to get to school. So walking 12 blocks to the L, from the L to the term, from the term all the way to Northeast Philadelphia from North Philly. To really try to get a good public school education. So my mother wasn't too happy when I got, um, truancy court.

And she said you had one fucking job just to get to school on time, get to school on time. And I completely screwed it up. And in that moment I realized that Philadelphia public school students have the most resilience that you'll ever see in your life. Right. And so SEPTA is your best friend and SEPTA is now my best friend too.

Um, but I will say driving has its perks as well. So I'm [00:04:00] not gonna, I'm not gonna give that one up. Uh, and then that transitions me to kind of an ordinary conversation with my brother one night. And this is how I remain steadfast in my advocacy work. So I'm walking in after traveling 300 miles across the commonwealth hearing black and brown students experiences on their campuses.

And I see my brother just casually sitting at the dinner table and I walk in and I'm saying, I just don't understand this system. Government sucks. Even though I'm a part of government, government still sucks. And he just looks at me, he's like, All of your work is super negative. Why do you still do it?

And in that moment in my life, I realized that we tend to talk about, a lot about the problems. And we never share a lot of our wins. And the story that I shared with him that night, that just had him snap his head up and say, I don't want to hear it anymore. Was an experience that a brilliant young black woman had in school where her professor convinced her that she [00:05:00] got a B minus in her intro to chem class, that she's not qualified enough to be in the STEM field.

And I didn't share the latter half of the story that a year later she graduated full honors and now going to be a chemist. And so that full turnaround moment where Advocacy is really tough was a really huge moment for me when I realized that we tend to talk a lot about the problems But we never share the other half of things And so that's really what has kept me steadfast in my advocacy work is those key moments in life where government sucks But I'm a part of government and then I step outside and I'm like Okay, like now it's time to agitate you guys and I step right back inside.

And so it's very interesting to me, uh, how we transition in and out of those moments where it keeps us going. One day you're about to quit and the next day you turn back up. And then the final that I want to share with all of you guys [00:06:00] is in a time where it was my very first day working for the Senate of Pennsylvania, I walked into the Capitol in Harrisburg.

And my immediate thing is to say good morning to everyone that I see. So I'm good morning. Good morning. Good morning. And my colleague pushes me aside and she's like, we don't do that here. I'm like, Hmm, what do we do here? Then she's like, just people don't talk like that. And in that moment, I realized that no system is ever going to make me so jaded.

That I do not speak to the people around me. And then I transition to the end of my day where I'm just talking to someone casually getting to know them. He's like, what do you want from me? I'm like, I just want to get to know you. He's like, okay. Completely walks away. And I conclude with this is that there's good people in government.

There's good people in advocacy. There's good people really everywhere if you look around, [00:07:00] but more importantly, we must remain steadfast in our commitment to serve people, okay. And have fun with it. And so good, say good morning to everyone.

Michael: I want to start out by saying good morning, Jude.

Jude Husein: Good morning, Michael.

I'm happy to be here.

Michael Schweisheimer I am very happy. I am not going to walk away from my chance to get to know you a little better. Listen, from your story, I'm very curious. How is your brother doing, and does he still see your work as a bummer?

Jude Husein: No, I will say my brother's doing absolutely great. He's probably in the sky right now, but the other day I got him to admit that he finds my work pretty exciting now, and so I'm happy about that.

Michael Schweisheimer So I'm gathering he is a pilot, or does he just float?

Jude Husein: No, he's a pilot. He has a flight school up in the northeast called GQ Aviation, and he flies commercially.

Michael Schweisheimer Oh, that's awesome. That's very, very impressive. That's yeah, getting a commercial pilot's license is a lot of work and a lot of hours. So very, very cool.

And then speaking of family, what about mom? Is she a little more pleased with how you're managing your day job? I

Jude Husein: [00:08:00] think mom is super happy with how I'm managing everything. She continuously tells me that there's more to be done, but she's super stoked.

Michael Schweisheimer Okay, so you're messing up when you weren't getting to school on time, but now you have to do even more when you're already doing all that?

Michael Schweisheimer4: We made it. We made it. We're not going to bring that up.

Michael Schweisheimer Oh, hey, listen, you brought it up. That was in your story.

Michael Schweisheimer4: That's fair. That's fair.

Michael Schweisheimer We just played it back. Another thing from your story, are you still saying good morning to everybody at the Senate?

Jude Husein: Absolutely. I'm back in um, Harrisburg next week. And so I'll be walking up those Capitol steps saying good morning.

And I think I uh, got a few people on my side to do the same in their day to day, so.

Michael Schweisheimer I, I gotta tell you, being in an environment where, Like, someone would walk away from me just for saying he wanted to get to know them or that you had nothing that, you know, wanted to get out of them. That would make me absolutely insane.

Jude Husein: People in politics can be a little weird.

Michael Schweisheimer Well, I'm really glad you work for Senator Haywood. He is, in my experience, the [00:09:00] most normal human person who is Been in politics for a long time. It's strange.

Jude Husein: Senator Haywood in every meeting, even if people know he's a state senator, he'll be like, okay, let's go around for introductions.

And he'll say, are he would state senator. And so he never assumes that anybody knows, which I think is a really great thing and traits and just really the way to carry yourself and has remained really committed. But he's always been an activist, I feel. And so I think it comes from that kind of background too.

Michael Schweisheimer Speaking about having. Or being an activist. Like, with Mission Story Slam, I often talk about that we serve a number of different communities, right? That we're there for people who are in non profits, the do gooder community, or activists, or even people in politics. I actually think you might be one of the first people I've met who's in all of those areas at one time, because I know right now you're Interim Executive Director at Philly Bowl, and Chief of State Advocacy, and Strategic Partnerships, and you're Executive Director for the World Affairs Caucus in the Senate.[00:10:00]

I would ask what a typical day is like, but I, like, what do you do in a week? Do you take any downtime? That's some juggling. How,

Jude Husein: how? So I wake up at 5 15 AM. Usually I will say the team at Bolt really accommodates. It's my Senate time, so they'll check in with me at the wee hours or the late hours, which is, uh, really awesome.

I don't know. It's all stuff that I really love to do, and so I make it work. I grew up with the idea of I never want to be miserable. I always had one foot in, one foot out of government growing up. Um, I served on the Mayor's Youth Commission. I was always at community meetings, zoning meetings, police meetings, and I would always interface with people that just did not seem happy to be there.

And so I always told myself I will never do anything where it made me seem like I was miserable. And so it's just things that come really natural to me.

Michael Schweisheimer I'm on the Mount Airy business improvement district. I'm on the zoning committee. I am not a [00:11:00] developer and because I'm not a developer, I'm one of the few people that doesn't have any conflicts.

I ended up running a lot of our zoning meetings when we are asked to do so. And I'll admit, I tend to not take on things that I don't necessarily love, but running zoning meetings is tough. It's hard to go in. So, first of all, are you saying that you were attending zoning meetings when you were still young?

I mean, you are still very young, but when you were like, a kid, when you were a youth activist?

Jude Husein: Yeah, when I was seven years old, my mom would drag me to all of these community meetings, and these zoning meetings, and interfaith, and I would always wonder to myself, I'm like, Why am I here? And I would vocalize.

I'm like, mom, I don't want to be here. No one else is here. And she's like, you know, whatever. One day you'll thank me, just sit down and listen. And if you have something to say it, but just be mindful of what you say. And you want to always just be really intentional of what you say. And so, you know, later on, I did thank her and I took her spot on some of these committees, but it was really a learning experience for sure.

Michael Schweisheimer So is your mother in government or politics or [00:12:00] activism as well? It sounds like she must be doing something of that nature.

Jude Husein: She's living her life. She travels now. She did a little stint in government, but she's always been an activist. She was part of the inaugural group that started the interfaith walk across the city of Philadelphia for about 20 years.

And so I grew up in a household where I would just walk in this tiny rural home in North Philly and there's random people in our town. super tight living room and come to find out my mom is like raising money for grassroots organizations, whether it was for the Interfaith Walk or was New Sanctuary Movement of Philadelphia, or it was maybe a trip to New Orleans for the building group to build a house for a family that was affected by Katrina.

And so my mom always did things like that. And so I grew up in that kind of atmosphere that we had to always participate one way or another. There was always Something to do for community. And so that's always been fun.

Michael Schweisheimer Since you have so many different roles, I know some of them are your job. I know some of them are [00:13:00] volunteer or like sometimes you're an activist.

Sometimes you're an organizer. Is there any difference for you in how you either look at or approach those professional roles versus the volunteer ones?

Jude Husein: I get that the same level of effort for volunteer and for my formal job, but I also think that I'm very privileged to be able to take what I learned from community and, and put it in government, because I think I have a really unique experience currently to be able to work with grassroots leaders across the city of Philadelphia, to work with young people across the city of Philadelphia, and then also take those same experiences back in Senate.

You know, whether it's for decision making purposes or just sharing people's lived experiences. And so how I approach it can look a little bit different. In my government capacity, I think people assume that government officials know different experiences or they know how young people are impacted in their school by their environment or their infrastructure.

And a lot of the cases they don't, right? Unless we tell them what those experiences are. [00:14:00] And so the ability to share those experiences. is a really powerful thing. And I tell people, no, no, no, please don't assume that I know what happened, but I'm super privileged to have the best of both worlds. And I never want to be too far away from community because I think that's when we lose our grounding.

Michael Schweisheimer Well, I think the way that you've interlaced so much of your volunteer focus and your activism focus with your professional focus. Does that help at all in terms of being able to put some, a board meeting for a volunteer thing in the middle of a work day because it still ends up impacting your work because you're doing, uh, chief of state advocacy work for the Senate, right?

Does that help you to have that all fit together?

Jude Husein: I keep them very separate when I say that in terms of workload. I think I'm just very mindful of my Senate time and my Senate capacity. You know, if it's the evening or I'm at a board meeting and there's a way to plug in different resources, that community may not be, uh, Um, aware of, I definitely try to pull in those resources or contact that I think could [00:15:00] benefit, even if that's not necessarily my role in that moment.

Uh, I think it's my responsibility all the time. If there's something that I know and that I could share that could benefit community and or could benefit government, uh, I make sure to connect the two for sure.

Michael Schweisheimer Your story itself was interesting in the way that you talk about Kind of a love hate thing with government, right?

And like, trying to get things done and trying to stay positive, but having that way that it functions or the reality of it be kind of an ongoing challenge. I appreciated that that was part of your message, was about the slog or the continuing slog of trying to make change.

Jude Husein: Anybody in government, if you really talk to them, We operate very slowly, right?

Everything is very slow. There's some things that don't even make sense, some things that government shouldn't be involved in, in my personal opinion. But even if we look at budget, right, and like passing a budget, why should it take so long? Why can't people communicate with each other, right? Why is it on a text message?

We're going past June 30th for a budget, right? These are [00:16:00] honest things I'm not afraid to say in public. And maybe that's the activist in me, or maybe that's just a taxpayer in me. But I do know that there's wonderful people in government, right? And I'd like to think I'm wonderful, but maybe not that wonderful to some people.

But, I'm one of those people, right? We're not all stone cold or far away from community. I think it's, I think it's, Important that government has more experiences than just what happens in City Hall or the Capitol. I think we need to meet the people where they are. It's a love hate relationship for sure, because I wish government would work faster, I wish there was more people from community in government, I wish that when we say we work for the people that we do, and a lot of times we do and a lot of times we don't, and people need to hold them accountable.

And I'm on the inside and I'm like, alright, hold us accountable, let's do it.

Michael Schweisheimer I've been a pretty engaged person, I feel like, most of my adult life. I did not start as early as you by any stretch at all. The inner workings of government are [00:17:00] And I'm not even sure if that's purposeful, but yeah, every time I learned something new, I'm like, oh, that's either that's interesting or that's weird.

It never necessarily makes sense.

Jude Husein: I will say that certain systems were built purposely to keep people out. And I think though, now we just live in a time where. If we know this, we need to do something about it. But government won't be held accountable if their constituents don't participate. And it sounds super cliche, but it really is that, right?

I mean, we even look at something super recently about the Supreme Court ruling that school funding is unconstitutional. The advocacy behind that.

Michael Schweisheimer4: Yeah.

Jude Husein: That in itself. To get to that point, that didn't happen because a few lawyers put their mind together and said, oh, by the way, we should probably do something about it.

Buildings are falling. Young people across the Commonwealth don't have what they need. Not only this year, but for a few decades at this point, since the start of time, that happened because the level of advocacy from different subset of [00:18:00] advocates came together. They could have disagreed on X, Y, and Z. But the one thing that they could agree on was that every young person deserves to have an adequate, fair, and equal education, not just in the city of Philadelphia, but across the Commonwealth.

And so that's a really good example of advocates actually banding together and holding government accountable. If we see that mirrored, even just 30 percent across the board, we can really drive change. But because of that mistrust, because the systems that are so mysterious sometimes that are really hard to comprehend, it keeps some people out.

And so our job in government is try to support community to break down some of those barriers. And so that's been a lot of fun too.

Michael Schweisheimer It's really interesting that you brought up the education funding lawsuit to me, just, I think it's about a decade ago, might even have been a little longer, that, but we did a series of videos.

We were working primarily with the education law center who led the lawsuit, but it was in conjunction with the public interest law [00:19:00] center. And I remember we did these videos and we were all very pleased with how they came out and we were like, hopeful that they could be a useful part of this case. And they were like, this is going to take a long time.

And yeah, like 10 years later, That case was finally winding its way through and it's just, it's mind boggling that not that it took that long, but that many different groups found ways to work together in such harmony to make that big an impact. And the impact isn't done, right? We're just seeing it start to actually happen.

Wind its way through things like that budget that took so long to pass

Jude Husein: Extraordinary things take ordinary time and I try to tell this to absolutely everyone and certain challenges won't require that level of advocacy, but if we don't strive for that level That I don't think great things can happen, right?

We need to put in that effort. We need to make sure that people are accountable. Because what happens [00:20:00] when you leave people unchecked, right? It just keeps going and going and they take it farther and farther. And so I always tell people, right? Like budget is all year round. It's not just in May. We just remember all of the glorious challenges and things that we have to do.

Tell our elected officials, it's every single day, right? We got to remind them, hey, the minimum wage in Pennsylvania still has 7. 25. Then yes, there's hundreds of thousands of Pennsylvanians making that. We shouldn't look at, you know, major corporations that are not paying 7. 25. But, you know, there are people still making that.

Michael Schweisheimer It's offensive that we think that people can live at that kind of a rate ever. That's crazy.

Jude Husein: We are literally in last place. If you look at the surrounding states, they have raised their minimum wage. As of January 1st of this year, 22 states, including Virginia, y'all, which is like absolutely crazy, have raised their minimum wage and is on track to getting that 15 in the next few years.

And so we can have a gradual increase. There are so many different ways that [00:21:00] we can go about this that won't impact employers, which is a very common And so that's where we stand.

Michael Schweisheimer Do you have your own version of an education funding lawsuit? Is there a project that you've been working on for years and that has years to go?

Jude Husein: I have a few projects that I'm working on. I think in my Senate capacity, while we're on it, I've been on the end campus racism tour for the past two years, recently released a report. In campus racism across the Pashti school system. So the state school system that has 15 campuses and so went around the Commonwealth to every single state campus and met with black and brown students to hear their stories of racial discrimination and harassment that continues on for this day.

And so really looking for some serious policy changes across. Uh, the Commonwealth, whether that's a universal incident system, reporting system, where students feel confident that their reports will be heard, uh, there won't be any [00:22:00] retaliation. We have an example on campus where a professor says, just because you scored a B you can never be a biochemist.

And so you switch out and become an artist or something because you'll never make it in the STEM field. And so these are real life experiences where students are being called the n word and, and different kinds of words, um, on campus. And it goes unseen and unheard even when a report is filed. And so then you just have a trickle effect of students.

Not feeling seen or heard and then ending up dropping out. And so that's one of my major projects in the senate that i've been working on and have highs and lows and and good successes And also a very long way to go because of a system that has just been in place for so long But i'm really hopeful coming into the new year that some of these policy changes will be enacted That are a very easy lift for every single university president So if anybody wants to advocate, call all the PASHE schools and tell them that we need to see some changes.

Michael Schweisheimer So wait, PASHE? I [00:23:00] actually don't know that acronym. What's, what is the acronym for, Pennsylvania?

Jude Husein: So, so it's the PA State System of Higher Education. Got it.

Michael Schweisheimer This is all of our state schools.

Jude Husein: Bloomsburg, Kutztown, IUP, Pennwest, Clarion, Edinburgh, Temple. Uh, Temple is not a part of it, but Temple does get state funds.

Michael Schweisheimer Oh, Temple's not They do

Jude Husein: receive state funds.

Michael Schweisheimer You'll learn something new about government every day.

Jude Husein: Uh, you're looking at, you know, Mansfield, Lockhaven, um, Pennwest, Edinburgh. Yeah, there's 15 campuses.

Michael Schweisheimer So, I did want to ask, a lot of what you're hearing about sounds like it's shockingly or sadly still very overt racism.

Does a reporting system have room for the not overt racism that is often so impactful, like, more like the B minus? Don't go into a STEM career kind of thing.

Jude Husein: I think those are some of the examples that I mentioned are more on the lower end only because I don't want to make your listeners feel super sad walking out of listening to [00:24:00] this podcast.

That's the only reason why, but to answer your question, every campus has their own reporting system. They also have their own student code of conduct, whether what's acceptable and what's not acceptable. They also can deem what is the title six violation, what is not a title six violation, and if it's not reported.

Or it is left for no investigation, right? How can that lead into a title six investigation? It's very tricky Especially since they're majority funded by the state. They are considered a system, but they do not Necessarily report out as a system. I hope that makes sense

Michael Schweisheimer It does just from the earlier part of our conversation talking about that frequent opacity of government.

I feel like that That is a perfect example of why change within government can be so slow is it's not like you're like, what's in racism in our school system? That's a, well, first of all, difficult to define metric, but also [00:25:00] a goal that is generational versus just one, say 10 year legal battle or something like that.

But that idea that here are these systems, here are these state schools, here's a guy that thinks he knows what a state school is and doesn't. And then just to get a single, like a reporting system where you can get accurate data to be able to move the needle or to have a better impact on those 15 campuses that you're just trying to change.

the reporting system to not be individual across each campus. You know, there's pushing the heavy rock up a hill, but this is almost like, Hey, I've got a pile of pebbles and how do I keep them all moving? Cause it's 200 little things to be like, wait, there's one over there. I forgot. Like, how do you get those things to move?

And that, that helps me understand. In a more concrete way, that glacial pace.

Dave Winston: Hi, I'm Dave Winston and I've been a storyteller all my life. Dr. Yuval Harari of Oxford and Hebrew University in Jerusalem has studied the progressive changes in [00:26:00] human civilization since we supplanted the Neanderthals some 70, 000 years ago.

That's when we developed much of what we think of as civilization. Things like language, agriculture, and medicine. And that's when we escalated war from what were gang rumbles to full scale planned battles and campaigns. Much of his work examines the consequences of intelligence. According to Harari, we're no longer at war for land or resources for the most part.

We go to war for the stories in our heads. We go to war over who's got the best economic doctrine, whose race is superior, whose nation is exceptional, and whose God is God. And what rules we believe he expects us to live by. Those stories are why we fight. That's why every war is preceded by what Noam Chomsky calls manufacturing [00:27:00] consent.

Everyone needs to understand the story of why we are sending our people to fight and die. In World War II, the biggest Hollywood directors, Frank Capra, Walter Houston, John Ford and others, were tapped to create some of the greatest war propaganda films of all time. The Why We Fight series explained everything to Americans in story form.

That story is usually a variation on Why you fight a battle in a foreign land? Well, that's our land. They stole it. Or, those are our people on that land and those foreigners are keeping them hostage. Or the ever popular We have to fight them over there before we have to fight them over here. These are the stories that convince people to give their very lives to a cause.

Now marketing professionals spend their working hours trying to devise stories that will separate you from your hard earned cash. They create tales of [00:28:00] embarrassing social situations that only their product can resolve. They make you afraid that your body's natural scent, your breath, or a hair in the wrong place might limit your future prospects and make you die in poverty.

Unless you use their product. And as smart as we may be, we all fall for it at some level or another. That is the power of a story. There's an old saying, a lie can travel halfway around the world while the truth is still pulling its boots on. Well, why is that? Because a lie, by nature, is a story. And it's designed specifically to persuade you to believe it.

The truth is often messy. It doesn't answer all the questions we can throw at it. often incomplete when compared to a polished lie. And the truth has to prove itself with a long, boring list of facts and [00:29:00] figures. A well designed lie reinforces some privately held beliefs. And sneaks into your brain disguised as something you already believe.

And when it's repeated over and over, well, it might as well be the truth. That's the power of the story. It can be the delivery vessel of truth and knowledge, or it can be used to manipulate you. And that's why storytelling is so important and why sharing our stories, our true stories, is so important to the growth of caring and understanding.

Because as we have seen, they're just as easily used to transmit fear and prejudice and create anger. What will you use your story for?

Michael Schweisheimer So listen, look, I want to talk to you for just a second about the story slam itself. [00:30:00] You do so many things. Did you take a lot of time to prep that story? Like, how did you make time to, to get ready to tell a story at a slam?

Jude Husein: I was super excited to tell a story at the slam. I know, Michael, you gave me some feedback about, you know, it's super laid back and it's a wonderful crowd, which I will attest that it was a really fantastic crowd that we had that night and really looking forward to this upcoming one.

But it took two weeks and I just. I came back to it a variety of different times and I wanted to really be intentional of what I shared with people. I wanted it to resonate with people and I just wanted to connect with people and whoever heard it felt connected to me and that was really important because I don't think I'm a unicorn, but that is my spirit animal, but I wanted people to somehow feel connected and so I prepped about For five days, I ebbed and flowed.

I said it out loud, the whole mirror trick and just maybe, I usually don't let people hear my stories or any of my remarks. And so that was really how I prepped.

Michael Schweisheimer I'm [00:31:00] definitely a bullet point storyteller, but I've talked to a lot of people who are very much, nope, word for word memorization, like I have to have it.

Um, and in either instance, I think I know from my experience, but pretty much everyone I've talked to something comes out different when you're actually on stage telling the story. And so I'm wondering if your story came out remotely, how you expected it, or if it was a little bit different in the moment.

Jude Husein: So I think nerves. For me, it definitely came out a little bit different because sometimes it's easier to tell a history story, like a history lesson, than it is to speak from a personal point of view. And so at first I was a little bit nervous. And so, my entire intro was completely not what I prepped for.

Completely not what I prepped for whatsoever. But, I believe that nerves keep you on your feet, and I wanted to be very genuine about what I shared with the audience. And so, I pivoted a little bit, but I trusted that I know myself enough [00:32:00] to be honest and just be genuine, and hopefully it resonated with at least one person in that room.

Michael Schweisheimer Well, it certainly resonated with me, so we've got that done. And I'm quite certain that I've seen some other people. It's interesting to me that you were nervous because I have seen you, I think it might be when I met you at that WHYY conference that Eric Marsh had invited us to. Like, I, you are not a, In my limited experience, you were not a nervous public speaker.

Jude Husein: I don't even look at nerves as necessarily a bad thing. Just in general, I love public speaking because that means that I'm able to connect with more people. And I think that's what really fuels me to be surrounded with people and to learn from people and hear from people. But I think when It comes from truly some of my most vulnerable experiences in which I shared with the audience.

And now that everyone now has heard my story, I think it's always very nerve wracking, right? But the audience was just so sweet, and it was super nice to see some familiar faces, and that helped out a lot.

Michael Schweisheimer I [00:33:00] find it every slam has a slightly different chemistry. It is always a positive room, but it is a different type of nerves.

And you're telling something that's a little more intimate because yeah, most times we're getting up on a stage in front of people. Like if I'm talking about video production or communicating for nonprofits or whatever it is, that's what I do every single day, but I don't necessarily get up in front of strangers and be like, Here's this kind of awkward moment for me, or you know, here's this very personal fact.

That's a different animal.

Jude Husein: Yeah, it was a lot of fun. I'll be at this next one. Which by the way, I wanted to be a judge, but I'm just gonna put that out there. I'll wait until like the next five other story slams. We'll see.

Michael Schweisheimer Well, I have One spot left on the judging table. Jude, would you like

Michael Schweisheimer4: So

Michael Schweisheimer I would like to announce the judging panel for the Mission Story Slam 11.

Mike Lee from ACLU PA and You're saying you're going to have to pick which of your 16 titles I [00:34:00] mentioned, or do I have to mention all of them?

Michael Schweisheimer4: I don't know, we can discuss that later. Let me really soak in this moment.

Michael Schweisheimer Please. Bask, bask in the one of three seats twice a year. So that's, yeah, that's not a lot of judges.

I

Michael Schweisheimer4: appreciate you, Michael.

Michael Schweisheimer I'm excited. And by the

Michael Schweisheimer4: way, Michael was not forced. to give me this judging position.

Michael Schweisheimer No, and, and we do edit this podcast. I could have dropped the whole damn thing, but this will be in there for sure. Because this is fun. I love it. That's great. It's funny. I often in the podcast, I'm like, are you going to come back and tell another story?

So I'll put someone on the spot. You are the first person to turn those tables and I love it. I think it's great. It totally makes sense. So you are our third judge. Yay.

Michael Schweisheimer4: Yay.

Michael Schweisheimer All right. Listen, I know. That you've got some other stuff to do as we start to wrap up any other thoughts before we close You know storytelling activism fighting the good fight I'm, just kind of curious if we other little things we didn't [00:35:00] get to

Jude Husein: I will say for all of your storytellers and for anyone that hasn't told a story I really hope that everyone just takes a little bit of a leap of faith and even if it's not on a formal stage Even in people's personal lives and their professional lives Uh, to really share some of your story and it doesn't have to be a complete one.

It could be snippets because I think stories truly connect people, uh, they humanize us, they make us feel like we're all in this together because we are, and it's just another step towards that. And so I really hope that everyone tells their story somehow someday soon.

Michael Schweisheimer That's very cool. And honestly, there's a lot of moments and beats in the story that you shared that stay with me.

But that one about that. in the Senate, just turning away from you when you said you wanted to get to know them better. That really sticks with me because I can feel the sting of that when you shared that. So I hope that. People will share their stories and also, please never walk away from someone who wants to share theirs.

Maybe find a nice way to say something [00:36:00] like, I really have to go to the bathroom now, your story's been going on for 20 minutes. But never just turn and walk away without saying a thing. So, so crazy. All right, listen, what's the, someone wants to reach out to you if they want to get involved with one of the millions of aspects of your work, or I'm also going to suggest that people probably send you gift certificates for a massage or spa or something like that.

Oh, no. How should people, Reach out.

Jude Husein: Uh, I'm on LinkedIn, so feel free to reach out to me on LinkedIn and I will shoot over my personal email or my personal cell, uh, but Jude Hussain on LinkedIn.

Michael Schweisheimer And that is with one S for anyone who gets it. One

Jude Husein: S, guys. One S. H U S E I N.

Michael Schweisheimer Is there anything coming up on your calendar that you want to make sure people know about besides being a judge at the December 3rd Mission Story Slam?

Jude Husein: That's the most important thing, but just make sure you tap into phillybolt. com and we're on Instagram. We're also on LinkedIn. Subscribe to our newsletter. Bolt stands for build our lives together and we do some [00:37:00] tremendous work across the city of Philadelphia.

Michael Schweisheimer Absolutely. Tremendous work. So, all right, we'll listen.

Thank you so much for everything that you do, for spending some of your precious time with us on the Mission Story Slam podcast, and I hope you have an amazing day. It's no longer morning. Can't say good morning to you.

Jude Husein: Anything for you guys. Thank you for having me.

Michael Schweisheimer Are you a serial do gooder like Jude, or maybe a normal do gooder without the superpower of eternal energy?

Regardless, I hope you'll come out and join us at Mission Story Slam 11 on Tuesday evening, December 3rd at National Mechanics in Old City. Start thinking about your story for our theme. It's a family affair. I have definitely started thinking about mine You can find out more details on our website, MissionStorySlam.

org, or contact us on LinkedIn. And that truly is my only social media of choice these days. Sounds like maybe it is for you too. But the team is on TikTok, Facebook, Insta. I hear we still have a Twitter account that's open. I don't know if [00:38:00] anyone checks it because Elon. But the Mission Story Slam podcast is produced by Dave Winston.

It is edited by James Robinson. It is produced and brought to you by PWP video. We are video with a mission. You can find us at pwpvideo. com. And until our next episode, I shall remain Michael Schweitzheimer. And I do look forward to sharing the next story behind the story with you soon.