Speaker 1: Hey, guys, welcome to another episode of Eating While Broke.
Speaker 1: I'm your host, Colleen Witt, and today we have very
Speaker 1: special guests. Nina Lynn is in the building. It's an
Speaker 1: honor to have you. For you guys that aren't familiar
Speaker 1: with Nina Lynn. She is a seasoned executive that founded
Speaker 1: the Wonder Seed Foundation, a nonprofit that helps at risk
Speaker 1: you heal from their trauma. Nina formed a bipartisan education
Speaker 1: committee and took her advocacy to Capitol Hill, championing meaningful
Speaker 1: education reform and legislation. Nina is now running for Congress.
Speaker 2: So I am you.
Speaker 1: Are officially the first person I think we've had on
Speaker 1: the show that's running for Congress, which is a big deal.
Speaker 1: So yeah, thank you.
Speaker 2: For having me. Yes, it's such a pleasure to be
Speaker 2: here with you.
Speaker 1: Thank you. I was fascinated about wunder Seed. I've been
Speaker 1: fascinated since the day we met. So it's nice to
Speaker 1: be able to have you here. And you drove a
Speaker 1: couple hours to be here too, so it's very nice
Speaker 1: to have you here. But in addition to having you here,
Speaker 1: to find out your backstory, I would love to know
Speaker 1: what you're cooking for me for breakfast today.
Speaker 2: I'm gonna plug the foundation. So we're having wonder seed
Speaker 2: wantons today.
Speaker 1: Okay, Wonder seed wantons, okay.
Speaker 2: And this is a staple that you know of my childhood,
Speaker 2: and it was an ingredient the ingredients that sort of
Speaker 2: my mother put together and created comfort food for us
Speaker 2: to snack on.
Speaker 1: Okay. And what are the ingredients of the wonder seed wanton?
Speaker 2: So today we have ground turkey that we are going
Speaker 2: to saute in the pan along with a little bit
Speaker 2: of sugar, green onions. And the secret ingredient to any
Speaker 2: Vietnamese dish is what's called fish sauce, okay. And so
Speaker 2: it's it's what we use as a seasoning instead of salt, okay.
Speaker 1: Okay. Is it like a soy sauce or no.
Speaker 2: It's I guess it's in the same family, I would say,
Speaker 2: But yeah, it's a seasoning that you can actually use
Speaker 2: with soy sauce in some dishes that maybe another day
Speaker 2: I'll come back and we can.
Speaker 1: Ok we can do.
Speaker 3: That, okay.
Speaker 1: And then you have Lonton's egg and what are those
Speaker 1: other ingredients.
Speaker 2: So we have once we start to step the long time,
Speaker 2: we have what's called glass noodles, which is another staple
Speaker 2: in the Vietnamese cuisine, and also black mushrooms.
Speaker 1: And you boiled those before, right, we.
Speaker 2: Boiled those before, okay, five minutes each, okay. And so
Speaker 2: now we're just going to prepare. The main ingredient is
Speaker 2: the meat. Okay, So we're going to put in a
Speaker 2: little bit of sugar.
Speaker 1: I like sugar. We're starting off right, sugar and meat.
Speaker 2: And the secret ingredient, which is the fish sauce.
Speaker 1: Okay, I want to hear give me the bowl for
Speaker 1: the fish sauce. I just want to like dip my
Speaker 1: finger in it because curiosity. You're done with this.
Speaker 2: Right, yes, and now we're just gonna Oh it is
Speaker 2: really good.
Speaker 1: It's salty.
Speaker 2: Yeah, so we're using that instead of salt, okay.
Speaker 1: And then the egg. The egg, okay, this is different.
Speaker 1: And what does the egg do is it to stick
Speaker 1: it all together.
Speaker 2: It's it adds taste and it adds a little bit
Speaker 2: of it just is something that my mother just added, okay,
Speaker 2: and it is something that we continue to use. So
Speaker 2: it doesn't necessarily stick it together, but it's it just
Speaker 2: adds more of a taste to it.
Speaker 1: Okay. And just so you know. I think I already
Speaker 1: told you off camera this dish is amazing. I'm going
Speaker 1: home to claim it as my own.
Speaker 2: You should and whoever else is watching this, guys, this
Speaker 2: is something that's special and anyone that's ever tasted this
Speaker 2: can't just eat one.
Speaker 1: Oh, I believe it. I love one times. I love
Speaker 1: anything that comes in a wrapper. What is the water for?
Speaker 1: I'm just curious.
Speaker 2: Now the water is going to we're going to we'll
Speaker 2: use that for the one times the one time stick
Speaker 2: together exactly, Okay, got it exactly?
Speaker 1: And then so right now you're buying the meat, and
Speaker 1: then all right, cool. And then I just want to say,
Speaker 1: for all y'all listeners out there, I did go. I
Speaker 1: was a little The only reason why I think I
Speaker 1: went to Asian Market on this dish was because of
Speaker 1: the glass noodles and the black mushrooms, and that was
Speaker 1: the only thing where I was like, I don't know
Speaker 1: if they sell this in a regular store or if
Speaker 1: I'm gonna roll the dice, but I will say this
Speaker 1: whole dish was completely affordable. Guys. This is like under
Speaker 1: twenty bucks really affordable. And I'm just based on how
Speaker 1: much I got for that I'm assuming this could feed
Speaker 1: a family of four. Is it like appetizer? Is it meal?
Speaker 2: What is it? There's snacks, there's snacks. Okay, it's a
Speaker 2: snack that I would consider it an appetizer, but so
Speaker 2: many times I've just eaten it as a meal.
Speaker 1: Okay. And then can you eat these cold?
Speaker 2: You can eat them cold?
Speaker 1: Really?
Speaker 2: And yes?
Speaker 1: Okay, so your mom would make them and they'd be
Speaker 1: like in the fridge. You just go and help yourself.
Speaker 2: Yes. And it's interesting because even while it's when you
Speaker 2: go in, it's in the fridge and it's been sitting
Speaker 2: for a while, it's still crispy.
Speaker 1: Okay, ooh I like that. Yes, okay, so you heard
Speaker 1: it here first. Nina's making all of the ingredients for us.
Speaker 2: And by the way, this is special because I don't
Speaker 2: get to do this often. It's a few years.
Speaker 1: Yeah, when was the last time you made this?
Speaker 2: Adolescence?
Speaker 1: I had a lescens Yes, oh my gosh, back in
Speaker 1: the day. So how does it making it?
Speaker 2: I love to cook when I can, because I think
Speaker 2: that cooking is first of all, healing for a meditative
Speaker 2: for the person that's cooking, and the joy comes from
Speaker 2: being able to share something that you've created and you
Speaker 2: put so much care into and watching someone enjoy it
Speaker 2: it's the best part.
Speaker 1: I'm sure I'm gonna enjoy it. So you have, You're
Speaker 1: gonna have a lot of fun today.
Speaker 2: I hope I'm not talking this up right now.
Speaker 1: I'm pretty sure you aren't. Okay. I can look at
Speaker 1: all these ingredients and know it's going to be a
Speaker 1: great time.
Speaker 2: You know.
Speaker 1: What I love also is that we've never had this
Speaker 1: dish on the show. That's also very exciting. You can
Speaker 1: only imagine how many times I've been ramen.
Speaker 2: You have never had this dish because this comes from
Speaker 2: a Tonya's special. It comes from my mom.
Speaker 1: Yes, and it's Vietnamese, right, It's.
Speaker 2: A Vanemy's dish. And so this traditionally can be cooked
Speaker 2: with pork, ground pork. I don't really eat ground pork,
Speaker 2: so we're substituting it with turkey and stead so you
Speaker 2: can use chicken, ground pork turkey.
Speaker 1: Okay, Okay, I didn't know that. So take me back
Speaker 1: to adolescent times. Take me all the way back to
Speaker 1: that kitchen memory of your mom making this dish. What
Speaker 1: does your household look like? Mom? Dad? Together? Take me back.
Speaker 2: I knew what I was getting into when I came
Speaker 2: on the show. Listen this dish as I'm cooking it
Speaker 2: and stirring and sautag. It takes me back to a
Speaker 2: household that was working class. My mother was primarily a
Speaker 2: single mom, and I say that because I did have
Speaker 2: a stepdad who wasn't really present. He suffered with severe alcoholism, okay,
Speaker 2: And so I grew up in a violent childhood. And
Speaker 2: so my mother was primarily the natriarch, the center of
Speaker 2: gravity in our home, the stabilizing force in our home.
Speaker 2: And she even with all So she worked as a
Speaker 2: single mom, as a nurse, as of course a caretaker,
Speaker 2: because which is her essence, and being the extraordinary woman
Speaker 2: that she is, she held down our home. And we
Speaker 2: grew up in a working class family, and every dollar mattered,
Speaker 2: but you wouldn't. You could never tell on the kitchen
Speaker 2: table because she was such. She was mindful and strategic
Speaker 2: and smart about how.
Speaker 3: She spent money.
Speaker 2: So when we sat and had dinner, you could never
Speaker 2: tell that we were struggling, right, and every meal that
Speaker 2: we had was we felt it was rich.
Speaker 3: And so.
Speaker 2: Part of the way that she showed her love was
Speaker 2: through food.
Speaker 1: I love that. Yeah, Now did you know growing up though,
Speaker 1: that the funds were tight or did she do that
Speaker 1: in other areas? In addition too, did you not want
Speaker 1: for anything? For sorta?
Speaker 2: She That's a good question because as a young kid,
Speaker 2: you don't know that you're wanting for something. And it
Speaker 2: wasn't until my adolescence that I realized her journey and
Speaker 2: I realized her struggle and her dedication and commitment and
Speaker 2: sacrifice that she made for her children and her family
Speaker 2: and to hold the family together. So as the child, no,
Speaker 2: I didn't in terms of material things, I wasn't aware
Speaker 2: because quite frankly, we were my days of childhood, which
Speaker 2: I don't really talk about, but they were in flight
Speaker 2: or flight. It was when we would hear the car
Speaker 2: pull up in the driveway, all of us would retreat
Speaker 2: to our rooms because when my stepfather would come home,
Speaker 2: we didn't know what it was going to look like.
Speaker 2: It was unpredictable. It could be he could go off
Speaker 2: at a drop of a hat, so we didn't know
Speaker 2: what to expect. So that was like the environment that
Speaker 2: I grew up in. And to have such a mother
Speaker 2: that you know that she counterbalanced that.
Speaker 1: So she counterbalanced that. This is where it gets difficult.
Speaker 1: I guess this next question is she's like this pillar
Speaker 1: of strength, and this is your siblings are with her?
Speaker 1: Or your siblings with her your stepdad? Or are they
Speaker 1: with your biological dad?
Speaker 2: Taking it back a little further, and this is another
Speaker 2: example of her, the extraordinary woman that she is. She's
Speaker 2: I'm first generation immigrants. So she came here from a
Speaker 2: war torn country with three young kids in her arms. Wow, yes, alone,
Speaker 2: Like she left the family and said, no, I'm not
Speaker 2: gonna stay here. I'm going to go and give my
Speaker 2: children a better life. And so she took that journey
Speaker 2: on her own and came here and started with nothing
Speaker 2: and built built a life, an extraordinary life.
Speaker 1: And she did that by herself with three kids. With
Speaker 1: three kids, how old was she, do you know? Like
Speaker 1: in her twenties and her twenties, geez, Louise. Okay, now
Speaker 1: we get the full scope of who this woman is.
Speaker 2: And I couldn't even imagine, Geez that journey. Yeah, and
Speaker 2: I think I'm pretty resilient. In fact, I know I am.
Speaker 2: Oh yeah, But imagining her journey is, like I said,
Speaker 2: it's extraordinary. And so coming here three kids on her own.
Speaker 2: I'm just a babe in her arm literally, and oh she.
Speaker 1: Had like a baby, a baby's.
Speaker 2: So I had no memory of it. And she remarries
Speaker 2: because my father, who I had never met past before,
Speaker 2: he died in the war, so I never met him.
Speaker 1: Okay, And so she's also dealing with grief too, Yes.
Speaker 2: Yeah, exactly, in so many ways. Yeah, in so many ways.
Speaker 1: She's also like flight, fight or flight two in a
Speaker 1: sense to write, I would is that what you would
Speaker 1: consider fight.
Speaker 2: It deep into it. But I think much and I
Speaker 2: think I get this from her. There's three versions. So
Speaker 2: when you deal with trauma, there's a fight, flight, or flee.
Speaker 2: And she's a fighter and so am I. And not
Speaker 2: to say that those that flee or freeze that there's
Speaker 2: no judgment in that. It's just it is what it is.
Speaker 2: But with the two of us, it's it's all about
Speaker 2: the fight.
Speaker 1: So I thought, we're dealing with trauma. It's when they
Speaker 1: say fight or flight, that means when the person is
Speaker 1: faced with something heavy, they choose one or the other.
Speaker 1: I didn't know that there. It means like their typical
Speaker 1: response would lean towards one or the other. Say, every
Speaker 1: time you deal with a trump traumatic or a big situation,
Speaker 1: you choose to fight or is it like in that moment,
Speaker 1: you choose one or the options.
Speaker 2: That's a really good question, and I think in most
Speaker 2: circumstances many it's usually one that you're that you default to. Now,
Speaker 2: that doesn't mean that it doesn't cause an arrested development,
Speaker 2: right or what an arrested development? So the wonderstate our
Speaker 2: theory of change is that unaddressed trauma equals emotional dysregulation,
Speaker 2: and emotional dysregulation is the root cause of a lot
Speaker 2: of the issues that we have in our society, and
Speaker 2: meaning that from a neuroscience perspective, when you do not
Speaker 2: deal with trauma, it can cause an arrested development in
Speaker 2: the executive decision making part of the brain. And that
Speaker 2: part of the brain is critical thinking, it's emotional regulation,
Speaker 2: it's your relationship skills, your communication skills, your cognitive abilities
Speaker 2: to remember, retain information, process information. And so that that's
Speaker 2: what we call unaddressed trauma is when that happens, and
Speaker 2: arrested development happens.
Speaker 1: And arrested development means that get locked into that age
Speaker 1: and they can't proceed at a normal level. What does
Speaker 1: that mean that's.
Speaker 2: A great question. So yes, it gets emotionally, you get
Speaker 2: locked in to you emotionally, I would say, let me
Speaker 2: just back up. Not necessarily locked in, but it causes
Speaker 2: a slower evolution, okay, and in some cases, in more
Speaker 2: severe cases, it does lock you in emotionally, okay. And
Speaker 2: so when you you know, and it comes out in
Speaker 2: so many ways. It comes out in how you show
Speaker 2: up in relationships, whether it's in a personal romantic relationship
Speaker 2: or a friendship, or even in work. And it also
Speaker 2: affects how you are able to thrive or not in school,
Speaker 2: in work. And so we have a lot of our
Speaker 2: young folks that they when they go and they get
Speaker 2: a job, they can't keep that job, or they can't
Speaker 2: excel in a job or grow in any position because
Speaker 2: they can't deal with stress, right, because of that emotional
Speaker 2: arrested development. And so what we do is we help
Speaker 2: to stimulate all of our curriculum. The technology that we
Speaker 2: use helps to stimulate that part of the brain. Okay,
Speaker 2: so you can think of it as brain training.
Speaker 1: And then how long, And I know we're dropping all over.
Speaker 1: I didn't mean to fast forward a wonder seed. Wait
Speaker 1: before we get into wonder seed. Let's back up a
Speaker 1: little bit. We're going to go back to the fight,
Speaker 1: flight or flee. Your answer to that question was that
Speaker 1: basically they typically go to one one response over the other.
Speaker 1: Can you give me a quick definition of fight flight
Speaker 1: or fee or flee?
Speaker 2: Sorry, If one is going to respond with fight you,
Speaker 2: that means that you know that you will act out
Speaker 2: outward towards the issue or confront the issue. And that
Speaker 2: doesn't necessarily mean it's always healthy. Right. I have a
Speaker 2: lot of young kids that they fight and they get defensive,
Speaker 2: but and that leads them down a path that's worse.
Speaker 2: And then you have those that are that freeze. And
Speaker 2: when you freeze you that means that you suppress a
Speaker 2: lot of issues. You suppress a lot of fear, anxiety, depression, trauma,
Speaker 2: and then it comes out in other ways. It comes
Speaker 2: out in substance, abuse, comes out in acting out, going
Speaker 2: down the wrong path, violence.
Speaker 1: Et cetera. Is that the flea one that's.
Speaker 2: That's that would be flea and that would be no,
Speaker 2: that would.
Speaker 1: Be freeze freeze. Oh, there's freeze. There's a thing called
Speaker 1: fight flight. Oh, fight flight or freeze? Okay, Okay, I'm
Speaker 1: messing up the language. Okay, so that's freeze. Okay, So
Speaker 1: the freeze is when they probably find other ways to cope, right,
Speaker 1: that's what you're saying exactly. And then now flight, what's flight.
Speaker 2: That you just run from? It? You avoid, So it
Speaker 2: goes into avoidance avoidant behavior sometimes.
Speaker 1: Now, could I be wrong, but it's fight always have
Speaker 1: to be like a physical or a verbal altercation? Or
Speaker 1: can it be like a problem solving problem shooting because
Speaker 1: you're dealing with the problem head on, no feelings, right.
Speaker 3: That's exactly right.
Speaker 2: Yeah, so there's two versions of.
Speaker 1: That, okay, okay, Yeah, So I take it you and
Speaker 1: your mom was the the version of I'm going to
Speaker 1: take on this confrontation and I'm going to problem solve.
Speaker 1: Is that what you're saying, Because I look at you,
Speaker 1: you have a crazy resume. I look at your mom,
Speaker 1: crazy resume. It has to be a problem solving in
Speaker 1: that fight.
Speaker 2: Wasn't always that way it is now, and I grew
Speaker 2: into that. But when I was a young adolescent, I
Speaker 2: was angry, Okay, I was I was rebellious, and it
Speaker 2: was all about fight, as I mentioned earlier, not necessarily
Speaker 2: the healthiest way. And so as I grew and became
Speaker 2: more emotionally intelligent. It came, it became more problem solving,
Speaker 2: solution focused.
Speaker 1: So how did you get How did you and your
Speaker 1: mom evolve into emotional intelligence? Did you guys have to
Speaker 1: read books or study or analyze yourselves therapy? I'm sorry, yeah,
Speaker 1: I'm just I'm genuinely curious.
Speaker 2: I think that some of us are born like IQ EQ, right,
Speaker 2: because emotional intelligence is EQ. Some of us are born
Speaker 2: with higher levels of EQ, IQ, et cetera. But the
Speaker 2: beauty of EQ is that you can actually learn it
Speaker 2: and you can grow it. And I believe that I
Speaker 2: was always I always had a certain insight into behavior
Speaker 2: and the human psychology and deep empathy. I think that
Speaker 2: came from just being an EmPATH of just understanding and
Speaker 2: feeling other people's traumas and dramas. And I think most
Speaker 2: of it comes from my own journey, right. The deepening
Speaker 2: of my empathy comes from my own journey about the
Speaker 2: things that I went through and what my family went through,
Speaker 2: and being able to say, Okay, I can relate to that, yeah,
Speaker 2: and so what do I do with that? And the
Speaker 2: rule that I've always been taught is the golden.
Speaker 1: Rule what's that that.
Speaker 2: You treat others the way that you want to be treated?
Speaker 1: Yeah, I love that rule, but I live and die
Speaker 1: by that rule.
Speaker 2: Right, And so if you know that someone is in
Speaker 2: pain or if someone is acting out, the most important
Speaker 2: thing is to understand that it's not about you that
Speaker 2: don't take it personally. And once you step outside of that,
Speaker 2: you can actually see what the root cause of what
Speaker 2: their issues are and to be able to deal with
Speaker 2: that person in a way that you're not emotionally connected.
Speaker 1: Oh okay, it's brilliant. So I want to get you
Speaker 1: closer to me. I see you brown them? Or what's
Speaker 1: the next step in your dish? You're getting calls to
Speaker 1: sit in next to me?
Speaker 2: Yeah, so I just put in the green onions.
Speaker 1: Okay, it looks beautiful. And is this where you make the.
Speaker 2: This is so this is where I'm going to make
Speaker 2: the one time. So I'm going to now start to stuff.
Speaker 1: Okay, hair, let's switch plates. I'll take your red meat
Speaker 1: plate here? Do you need this yet? It all right?
Speaker 1: So back to your story. Okay, did you have did
Speaker 1: you were you torn as an adolescent in regards to
Speaker 1: your stepfather? Because you do have the EmPATH in you.
Speaker 1: Were you torn because you knew that he was battling
Speaker 1: some demons? Or did you just put him in the
Speaker 1: unsaved category?
Speaker 2: You have the best questions. Oh my gosh. So the
Speaker 2: answer to that is, as an adolescent, I didn't know
Speaker 2: any better. My brain is still developing. I'm all I'm
Speaker 2: concerned about. Is this man that's hurting my mother. That's
Speaker 2: what I see, and I see him as danger like
Speaker 2: away from that. So it wasn't until my years of
Speaker 2: learning and understanding and growing and evolving was to see
Speaker 2: him as someone that was in deep pain. But in
Speaker 2: my mind, still in my mind, that doesn't give you
Speaker 2: permission to her others.
Speaker 1: Nope, especially not my mama. That's right now. And he
Speaker 1: was physically violent with her. He was okay, wow, she's
Speaker 1: juggling a lot. And then you have older siblings. I
Speaker 1: take it you're the youngest because you were the baby.
Speaker 2: So I was the middle child.
Speaker 1: You were the middle and you were the baby.
Speaker 2: Oh, the middle child. So my mother did have another
Speaker 2: daughter in her second marriage who was my absolute best
Speaker 2: friend and I absolutely adored her, and unfortunately she's no
Speaker 2: longer with us, and so that that was part of
Speaker 2: my journey and part of my mother's journey, and as
Speaker 2: a mother myself, I can never imagine losing a child.
Speaker 1: Did you use her in your older adult life or younger.
Speaker 2: My young adult life? Oh my gosh, I'm like all
Speaker 2: in the stories.
Speaker 1: Sorry, go ahead, like these ones are fat. You got
Speaker 1: to put a little sprinkle on there. I guess maybe
Speaker 1: I should have got you bigger wanton.
Speaker 2: I think so, I think so. But it's okay, Well
Speaker 2: we'll make it. Maybe it, We'll make some wanting. This
Speaker 2: is what not do. I'm going to be creative here.
Speaker 1: Go for it. I want a big one.
Speaker 2: Solution focus, right, a solution focus?
Speaker 1: So at what point, so you're going you are dealing
Speaker 1: with your sister, the loss of your sister. Your mom
Speaker 1: is coping, is your At what point does your mom
Speaker 1: and your step father separate?
Speaker 2: Teenage years?
Speaker 1: Okay, yes, you were relieved at that point, of course. Okay,
Speaker 1: of course. And your older siblings during this whole upbringing
Speaker 1: that you're going through, do you find solace in them?
Speaker 2: Yes? My brother and I are very close. Okay, he
Speaker 2: doesn't live here, he lives in a different state, but
Speaker 2: he and I are very close. We're very different, but
Speaker 2: very close. And my older sister also transitioned about a
Speaker 2: year after my younger sister, or sorry, a year before
Speaker 2: my younger sister. That's a lot, Yeah, it's a lot.
Speaker 1: Okay, I want to ask, but I think I'm gonna
Speaker 1: skip the curiosity there just for a second. That's a lot,
Speaker 1: to be honest, that's a lot. I'm assuming this isn't
Speaker 1: because of disease, right.
Speaker 2: Yeah, no, we can skip that part. Okay, but yeah,
Speaker 2: it was, it was, and it's again we all have
Speaker 2: our journey and the beauty of it is that they
Speaker 2: their passing was not in vain.
Speaker 1: Is this where wonder seat starts to take place?
Speaker 3: Oh?
Speaker 1: I thought maybe this was because you can start to
Speaker 1: see the pivotal you can start to see the what
Speaker 1: do you?
Speaker 2: But the spirit spiritual journey began.
Speaker 1: The spiritual journey began after these that's.
Speaker 2: Right, the spiritual journey began, the spiritual awakening again.
Speaker 1: Okay, okay. And at this point, are you in college
Speaker 1: or are you?
Speaker 2: Do?
Speaker 1: You know what you're gonna you're pursuing.
Speaker 2: So studying of all things political science?
Speaker 1: Okay.
Speaker 2: I never thought that I would be where I am today,
Speaker 2: which is the irony of it all.
Speaker 1: Okay.
Speaker 2: So I went through that path and then I ended
Speaker 2: up for love. I ended up in Chicago, okay. And
Speaker 2: Chicago brought about my son.
Speaker 3: Okay.
Speaker 2: Yeah, the birth of my son, okay. And so that
Speaker 2: was the beginning of this journey that has taken me,
Speaker 2: that's led me to wonder seed.
Speaker 3: Okay.
Speaker 1: Yes, So after having your son, that's when wonder seed
Speaker 1: starts to formalize in your mind.
Speaker 2: Not until eighteen years later.
Speaker 1: Eighteen years later, Yes, Now, I know you have a
Speaker 1: background in the entertainment business. I didn't mention it. But
Speaker 1: during prior to one Seed, is that where you were
Speaker 1: in entertainment? Or are you? Can you fill me in
Speaker 1: this gap?
Speaker 2: I could fill you in, but I'm not feeling in
Speaker 2: the one times.
Speaker 1: No, what do you need?
Speaker 2: They're falling apart.
Speaker 3: You got this okay, Okay, I'm hungry.
Speaker 1: I can't wait to try it.
Speaker 2: Okay, Okay, I'm not doing this.
Speaker 1: You got this?
Speaker 2: Okay, let's talk.
Speaker 1: Okay. So I'm trying to I'm trying to inch towards
Speaker 1: wonder seed. So how does wonder seed come about?
Speaker 2: So wonder seed is the third iteration of my lifetime.
Speaker 2: So I had this rich life in the entertainment industry.
Speaker 2: Behind the scenes, we had a couple three shows on air.
Speaker 2: We had a boutique music and management company which with
Speaker 2: notable artists that you've probably heard of. And at this
Speaker 2: time life was good. I was married, my son was
Speaker 2: so happy. He grew up with the great life which
Speaker 2: is and so life happened, went through a divorce, and
Speaker 2: it was devastating for him, and it was his it
Speaker 2: was his version of trauma. And I, as much as
Speaker 2: I thought I knew, I had no idea that it
Speaker 2: would affect him the way that it did. And so
Speaker 2: he went to seeing our home life turned upside down
Speaker 2: was devastating to him because the three of us were tight,
Speaker 2: We're really close, and and he it was hard on him.
Speaker 2: And during this time he decided because I was an
Speaker 2: emotional wreck. I was I was going battling with my
Speaker 2: best friend in an entire world. And he decided that
Speaker 2: he wanted to go to prep school for his last year.
Speaker 2: And I thought, wow, that's a great idea because it's
Speaker 2: an empowering decision, is his decision, and I will supp
Speaker 2: and he'll be away from the drama y And so
Speaker 2: he goes to the East Coast and mind you. He
Speaker 2: was a d one guy, the type of kid that
Speaker 2: would leave drugs, leave parties when other kids were doing drugs.
Speaker 2: Just a gentle giant, just a good soul, and protect
Speaker 2: other kids that were being bullied. That's the type of
Speaker 2: kid that he was. So he goes away, gets a
Speaker 2: career ending injury. Home life turned upside down, and some
Speaker 2: kid down there, he's in an incredibly vulnerable state, and
Speaker 2: some kid down there say, hey, try this. He tried
Speaker 2: marijuana and he liked it, and he came back to
Speaker 2: California and at the time, miracle marijuana was just becoming legal,
Speaker 2: and you had a lot of these shady pop up meals,
Speaker 2: prescription meals that popped up everywhere. And he went and
Speaker 2: got a prescription and went to a dispensary and someone
Speaker 2: introduced him to a thing called dab. And if nothing
Speaker 2: else that parents are aware of this drug. It is
Speaker 2: a highly concentrated version of THHC, artificial with other chemicals,
Speaker 2: a host of other chemicals, unregulated, and it sent him
Speaker 2: into a state of psychosis. And so it literally broke
Speaker 2: his brain. And I was in a rabbit hole with
Speaker 2: him for about two and a half years trying to
Speaker 2: figure out how does psychoactive drugs i e. Marijuana affect
Speaker 2: the developing brain. There wasn't a lot of studies on it.
Speaker 2: And so with that said, we have this potency of
Speaker 2: eighty percent. So when you and I were kids, the
Speaker 2: potency was probably seven eight percent. So you can think
Speaker 2: about that, right, think about that number, eighty percent. And
Speaker 2: so I went on this journey and there wasn't a
Speaker 2: lot lot of studies at the time. Insurance companies were
Speaker 2: They didn't view marijuana as an addictive drug, saw it
Speaker 2: as something that was benign. And thank god it's changed now,
Speaker 2: I think now because since the opening of a lot
Speaker 2: of these shops and the type of chemicals that they're
Speaker 2: putting into the product, it's flooded. Our systems are our site,
Speaker 2: cycle site, Oh my gosh. Our hospitals, our treatment homes
Speaker 2: are jails with young primarily young adolescent men and that
Speaker 2: that are mimicking signs of delusions erratic behavior. So yes,
Speaker 2: and my gosh, it's so hot.
Speaker 1: I'm sorry. We could take a do you want to
Speaker 1: take a second? Okay, yeah, go for it. All right, guys,
Speaker 1: we are officially back. There was a lot more cooking
Speaker 1: than Nina had to do and prepping with these wantons.
Speaker 1: I even got in it and started making some wantons.
Speaker 1: So I'm gonna claim all the great wantons. Nah, I
Speaker 1: can't do that. I can't do that. But let's go
Speaker 1: ahead and try these. Let's go ahead. I took a
Speaker 1: little nibble of the meat. I'm dying to try one.
Speaker 1: Go ahead, let's go memory lane. Here we go, nice
Speaker 1: and crispy. These fried in like seconds. I felt like, right,
Speaker 1: they fried.
Speaker 2: Really two minutes? Oh my god, it takes me back
Speaker 2: so good.
Speaker 1: You know, are delicious?
Speaker 2: Have you got? I'm sure they're hearing the crunch right then.
Speaker 1: And I get the rice noodles now, So I asked,
Speaker 1: you know, if the meat and everything stays so great,
Speaker 1: why do we have the rice noodles if they're plain?
Speaker 1: And I get it because it balances out the taste
Speaker 1: and the texture. And I'm still trying to figure out
Speaker 1: the black mushroom or the.
Speaker 2: Press black mushroom also known as fun Guy super healthy
Speaker 2: for you.
Speaker 1: I'm reading my whole wan tong, and yes, we will
Speaker 1: be fighting behind the scenes over the last bed bup.
Speaker 2: You can't just have one.
Speaker 1: If I had these in my fridge, they will last
Speaker 1: exactly about two hours now, I would be going back.
Speaker 2: And forth and we spoke about it. It's really good.
Speaker 2: It's just as good cold so.
Speaker 1: Late it does, let me tell you, outstanding, superb. One
Speaker 1: of the top dishes on eating while broke is the
Speaker 1: wonder Seed. Wanton. All right, we started talking about we're gonna,
Speaker 1: we're gonna come back into the conversation on kind of
Speaker 1: the foundation of what was a foundation to you starting
Speaker 1: Wonder Seed, and we know that your son's what happened
Speaker 1: with your son played probably a more pivotal role, it
Speaker 1: sounds like into it was.
Speaker 2: The very inspiration Wow, that drove me to create an underseed.
Speaker 2: And the reason why is because when as I was
Speaker 2: going through my journey to try to find a solution,
Speaker 2: I was told that there wasn't one, and so I
Speaker 2: found one. I created one. And I wanted to find
Speaker 2: a solution that was preventative and could help other families
Speaker 2: and other young young folks to deal with their emotional dysregulation.
Speaker 2: So it was my son's emotional dysregulation that caused him
Speaker 2: to go down this path to experiment with drugs, and
Speaker 2: so my goal was to find an alternative that was
Speaker 2: that was able to speak the language of our youth,
Speaker 2: and that has a lot to do with technology. So
Speaker 2: technology is the center of how we disperse our programs.
Speaker 2: So we use immersive environments so VR based programming that
Speaker 2: is quite frankly and inspired by an innovation lab that's
Speaker 2: ran by one of my board members, a brilliant clinical psychology,
Speaker 2: a psychiatrist by the name of doctor Albert skip Rousseau,
Speaker 2: and he is the executive director for the Institute of
Speaker 2: Creative Technologies at USC and it was his technology that
Speaker 2: inspired this journey, and so he was using medical VR.
Speaker 2: He's like the godfather and grandfather of medical VR. So
Speaker 2: I say I say godfather because he would prefer godfather
Speaker 2: because he wants he doesn't want to tell his age.
Speaker 2: But he was the one, the visionary that started medical
Speaker 2: VR way back in the early nineties.
Speaker 1: Yes before it became a popular.
Speaker 2: Exactly, And so he was contracted with the military to
Speaker 2: treat PTSD and in vets through exposure therapy. And so
Speaker 2: basically I looked at that technology and we created something
Speaker 2: pretty spectacular from it, and it's we have seen our
Speaker 2: programming just changed lives. And so I grew wonder seed
Speaker 2: from humble beginnings where I was told, no one's going
Speaker 2: to understand this technology, no one knows who you are,
Speaker 2: You're not going to get funded. And so now we
Speaker 2: are in three different cities in three different states.
Speaker 1: Wow. And you were able to get the funding all
Speaker 1: on your own. Absolutely wow. Yes, and you got the
Speaker 1: Godfather on your board.
Speaker 2: That's right, Which that's you know, that's right.
Speaker 1: I love that your protests to think preventative versus looking
Speaker 1: at the I guess the end goal. You said, Okay,
Speaker 1: we're going to take a step. What was the call?
Speaker 1: In Christianity? We say the sin behind the sin? That's
Speaker 1: what I learned interested. But I love that you took
Speaker 1: that route and created such impactful organization. The night we met,
Speaker 1: you had said something that really stuck out, which was
Speaker 1: and you're gonna have to tell the numbers because I
Speaker 1: will butcher them, but you talked about how much money
Speaker 1: can be saved in America right now if we treated
Speaker 1: preventative trauma or trauma, preventative treatment of trauma. Can you
Speaker 1: talk about that just for just a second.
Speaker 2: Yeah, So mental health is the root cause, as I mentioned,
Speaker 2: to a lot of the issues that we deal with.
Speaker 2: So in every dollar that we invest in mental health,
Speaker 2: we get eleven dollars back, right, and we see that
Speaker 2: we will see billions of dollars annually back through our
Speaker 2: medical system, our healthcare system, our workforce pipeline, our economy
Speaker 2: as a whole, including our justice system. And so when
Speaker 2: you have all of these systems that are being flooded
Speaker 2: in every sector, and if we address the root cause
Speaker 2: in advance, that we're able to mitigate a lot of
Speaker 2: those issues and costs.
Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, I thought that was really interesting. I was like, WHOA,
Speaker 1: that's deep. That's deep. People don't think about it like
Speaker 1: that because we're always treating the problem and not the
Speaker 1: going back to what I said, like the root cause
Speaker 1: of the problem. So I thought that was fascinating. Now
Speaker 1: I would like to eventually at some point get down
Speaker 1: to Orange County and try a VR set because I
Speaker 1: have questions around wonder seat. But because of time, I
Speaker 1: want to talk about what transpire to get you to
Speaker 1: take us into pursuing congress.
Speaker 2: So about three years ago, one of my board members
Speaker 2: came to me. He was hiring executive positions and he
Speaker 2: saw the discrepancy between black and brown resumes and white
Speaker 2: and Asian resumes and he asked, what is this, And
Speaker 2: of course, wonder seat is all about the root cause
Speaker 2: and understanding that the lack of higher education from our
Speaker 2: minority kids has a lot to do with access. It
Speaker 2: has a lot to do or lack of access with trauma,
Speaker 2: unaddressed trauma, and so just all around socioeconomic issues. And
Speaker 2: so we as just me being me, and this is
Speaker 2: something that is really close to my heart and understanding
Speaker 2: and knowing that education is foundational to everything, whether it
Speaker 2: is a life meaning full, a purposeful life with dignity,
Speaker 2: a meaningful job, a mental health, physical health, et cetera.
Speaker 2: It all starts with having a strong foundation of education.
Speaker 2: And so I helped to create a co found an
Speaker 2: education subcommittee for think Tank that's based in Chicago, and
Speaker 2: we dropped it a federal education bill that is really comprehensive.
Speaker 2: It covers everything from adequacy funding to addressing each and
Speaker 2: every child's needs and also empowering our teachers because the
Speaker 2: teachers are in the front line and education is only
Speaker 2: as good as the teachers right teach it and making
Speaker 2: sure that everything from facilities to modern technology to emotional intelligence,
Speaker 2: all of these things to be addressed and making sure
Speaker 2: that there's funding for that. And I advocated this bill
Speaker 2: on our hill on the capital deal, with our friends
Speaker 2: and on both sides, because my committee is bipartisan, and
Speaker 2: we really got close to a balanced solution, and the
Speaker 2: House philipped and things stalled. And knowing that this administration
Speaker 2: that's in, that's whose eyes are about dismantling the Department
Speaker 2: in Education, and so that was so a mentor of mine,
Speaker 2: that is the former congressman that also sits on the
Speaker 2: board with me, that has a rich history, rich roots
Speaker 2: in education, asked me to run. And so I initially
Speaker 2: I said no, absolutely not. And then fast forward, the
Speaker 2: new administration came in and we knew what was going
Speaker 2: to happen and that they had their eyes set on
Speaker 2: destroying the Department of Education. And he asked again, and
Speaker 2: I said, I'm at a different place in my life
Speaker 2: and let me consider it. And so I went on
Speaker 2: a listening tour. So I opened up a a committee,
Speaker 2: and I went on a listening tour and I spoke
Speaker 2: to everyone, just the people on the ground. I spoke
Speaker 2: to veterans, I spoke to students, I spoke to teachers.
Speaker 2: I spoke with mothers and grandmothers, and just everyday people.
Speaker 2: And I spoke to all parties, Democrats, Republicans, independents, and
Speaker 2: they were all singing the same song. The tune was
Speaker 2: a little different, but the lyrics were the same. And
Speaker 2: when it was when I had an interaction with a
Speaker 2: grandmother's Latina grandmother. She wasn't much older than you and I.
Speaker 2: She was a young grandmother's two grandchildren young and one
Speaker 2: of them had a disability, and she was pat provide
Speaker 2: that she wouldn't have insurance for the kids, and she
Speaker 2: was crying. And I found myself holding this woman and
Speaker 2: I got emotional. And when I spoke to her and
Speaker 2: I helped to explain, listen, this is a moment in time,
Speaker 2: and yes it's precarious moment, and yes it's a dark moment,
Speaker 2: but it's an opportunity for us to really create something
Speaker 2: better than what we had, and we need to keep
Speaker 2: hope alive because without that there is nothing. And that
Speaker 2: really resonated with her, and I saw her compose herself
Speaker 2: and she was like, you're right, and thank you for
Speaker 2: giving me hope. And it was that moment that I said, yes,
Speaker 2: I'm going to do this.
Speaker 1: That's beautiful. I'm glad you did. You're a go getter.
Speaker 1: You've set your mind on under seed, you've set your
Speaker 1: mind on You're a fighter.
Speaker 2: Thank you.
Speaker 1: I like to see you in the.
Speaker 2: Seat, Thank you, thank you. We have to get back
Speaker 2: to people policy.
Speaker 1: And then, now that you're in the seat, what is
Speaker 1: probably some of the hardest things you've had to deal with?
Speaker 2: If when we're time traveling January twenty seven, I would
Speaker 2: say that because there's a lot that could happen between
Speaker 2: now and then. There's a lot that's happened in the
Speaker 2: last eight months, especially with this big, beautiful bill of betrayal,
Speaker 2: and so there's a lot to be said.
Speaker 1: I like how you're warded that, but there's a.
Speaker 2: Lot to be said or and a lot to be
Speaker 2: seen between now and then. But what I would hope
Speaker 2: to see is our country getting back to the middle,
Speaker 2: because that's where most of us are, and I feel
Speaker 2: that our voices have been hijacked.
Speaker 1: Yep.
Speaker 2: And as much as some people don't want to hear it,
Speaker 2: in order for sustainability of our nation, for healing, and
Speaker 2: for smart policies to really make a difference, we need
Speaker 2: bipartisanship to make it happen. Yeah, and my hope is
Speaker 2: that some of my colleagues quote unquote soon to be
Speaker 2: colleagues in Congress between now and then, have the courage
Speaker 2: to stand up for what's right and because quite frankly,
Speaker 2: if you are more interested in keeping the job than
Speaker 2: doing the job, you shouldn't be there.
Speaker 1: That's like the best clothes out right there. That's true.
Speaker 1: That's true. I appreciate you taking time out of your
Speaker 1: day and your hectic schedule to come and cook wantons
Speaker 1: and to share with us some of your backstory and
Speaker 1: letting us get to know who you are and who
Speaker 1: Nina Lynn is as a young person to where you
Speaker 1: are now. And I love everything you're doing for the community.
Speaker 2: Thank you, and I really am honored to be here
Speaker 2: with you, and I'm happy that we have this moment
Speaker 2: that we're sharing together. And I think that you're pretty
Speaker 2: fabulous and I can't wait to see what your next
Speaker 2: steps are.
Speaker 1: I know this much. I'm going home and to finish
Speaker 1: making recites wantons. Thanks for tuning in, y'all. I will
Speaker 1: be eating my way out, piece out, and then where
Speaker 1: can everybody keep up with Nina.
Speaker 2: Lynn Wonder Seed Foundation, So Wonderseafoundation, dot org. Please check
Speaker 2: us out, contribute to the work, help empower us, empower
Speaker 2: our youth, and then find me on my social media
Speaker 2: your handle so Nina lynn CA forty. You'll find me
Speaker 2: on Instagram, Blue Sky, Twitter.
Speaker 1: TikTok, Facebook, and it's Nina l I n h.
Speaker 2: C A as in California forty.
Speaker 1: Okay, Nina l I and h c A forty. That's right,
Speaker 1: that's right, got your there first. Peace out guys, thanks
Speaker 1: for tuning in peace