Jose Villasenor

SUMMARY

Jose "Joe" Villaseñor has one of the most unexpected paths into education you'll ever hear: TV production, seminary, bail bonds, school counseling, and now leading Employee Wellness at Irving ISD. In this conversation, he shares how those turns shaped his deep empathy for people in hard places and how that shows up in real, practical supports for educators today, from yoga and fitness classes to laughter workshops and campus wellness champions. If you've ever wondered what it looks like when a district truly cares for the adults in the building, this episode will give you both a vision and doable ideas you can borrow.

CHAPTERS

• 00:00 – Cold open: "There's always a reason people do what they do"

• 00:15 – Welcome to Oxygen for Educators + intro banter

• 01:32 – Meet Jose "Joe" Villaseñor: A true Renaissance educator

• 04:02 – Jose's path into education: CIS, first graders, and cowboy boots

• 09:24 – Teaching across Texas, Tennessee, and Georgia + dinosaur vs. dragon

• 14:03 – "You need to do this": Friends and family nudging him toward education

• 17:29 – From TV to seminary to almost–Secret Service (and why his dad said no)

• 22:26 – School counselor, district leader, and the road to employee wellness

• 25:35 – Launching wellness before COVID and growing through the pandemic

• 27:35 – Visionary leadership: Superintendent Magda Hernandez and work–life harmony

• 29:23 – Sponsor spotlight: Tacky Box

• 30:10 – What educators are hungry for now: Movement, connection, and community

• 32:08 – Fitness classes, social hours, and wellness champions on every campus

• 35:36 – The rising weight on educators and state demands

• 38:01 – Making wellness easy to access: Lunch-and-learns, meditation, journaling, stretching

• 39:36 – The power of laughter: Connecting with every kind of student

• 41:33 – Stress as both signal and motivator + doing the inner work

• 43:05 – Lessons from seminary and bail bonds: Radical non-judgment and empathy

• 47:04 – Mental health as everyday care, not a last resort

• 49:53 – Host debrief: Pants-leg stories, unexpected joy, and work–life harmony

• 1:03:00-ish – Closing reflections, gratitude, and disclaimer

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Oxygen for Educators is proudly sponsored by Tacky Box.

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