FCB Faith is your rhythm and prey station. I listen, my mom listens, pretty much the whole family. I cannot, I cannot. I canna. Said, don't, don't and don't listen to FCB Faith on iHeartRadio, Odyssey at faith dot com, or tell your smart speaker to play FCB Faith on iHeartRadio. This is the FCB Podcast Network. Great job, boot Change says, we don't listen to y'all this, We don't listen to y'all this d hold make them scream out now that us sound cause the Rooks in the crowd, tuned in the rug for the tune in the Rude. For the. Welcome to the Outlaws. This is Darby Oda Kingtonmorrow alongside Robin O'Malley and Dante bry don't forget too Like us on Facebook at Facebook dot com, slash the Outlaws Radio, follow us on Twitter or x and Instagram at the Outlaws Radio. We have a special interview that we're gonna dedicate most of the show to that Dante and i uh tape together with a guy that you've probably heard before by the name of Todd Allen, and he's the situation that he's dealing with is a very significant and crazy, crazy situation that we wanted to shed some light too, So we're gonna get into that on the fun side. Though, you know, later on in the show we will hear from Robin for the tea time with real segment, so stay tuned for that. But let's get into our interview with Todd Allen right now. Okay, normally I would say you're a very special guest, but I mean this, this ain't no very special. He's read on this show before we all know him. You know how like when when you have like a friend that the first time they come to the house, you get him something to drink. You'd be like, hey, you know you want something to eat, blah blah blah. By that third or fourth time they come to the house, it's like, you know where the refrigerator is, Go get the stuff, Go get the fool, Go get the drink. So that's that's this guest right here, Uh Todd Allen. Many of you, if you longtime listeners of this network, you remember the Todd Allen Show. We're gonna get into a lot of stuff that we got to talk about. In this interview. But first, uh, Todd, welcome, back. How you doing, sir. I'm well, thank you, man, and thanks for that introduction, and I appreciate it. Man. Yeah, that's exactly how this goes, so. Yeah, exactly. So, of course, it's always always a good time when when we get a chance to talk to to particularly with Dante being a part of the show. I'm Todd the reason why I met Dante. I met Dante through time, so. You're welcome. I didn't even want to say that because I knew he was gonna take credit for but so it's always always a good time, but this time it's on a little bit of a somber and crazy occasion. Dante and I were talking to Todd a little bit during like before the interview started, and we were both kind of like dumbfounded as to how this situation that Todd is going to tell you how it played out and why it played out like it did, because it doesn't really make sense. It's extremely inconsistent, particularly considering some of the things that the country is dealing with right now. But we'll touch on that in a little bit. So Todd, let's just start start going to beginning, like tell people what's been going on? Wow, Okay, how do we unpack this? Okay? Twenty nineteen, my my wife and I were married in Columbia, South America. I say South America because some people, some listers right say oh, Columbia, South Carolina, New Liutford. Further south, Columbia, South America in Bogota, Columbia, and we're married. In twenty nineteen. The idea was for me to come back to the United States because it was college professor working at a large institution in the Cleveland area and I had to get back to work. With the idea of that during spring break, I would go back down to Colombia and we would start the process for the visa to have my family accompany me in the United States. Well, in February of twenty twenty, COVID hit and the world shot down, and my wife and I were separated for the first year of our marriage. I say it was the first year of our marriage because it wasn't until September of twenty twenty when Columbia opened its borders and were allowing people to be able to fly into Colombia, South America. At that particular time, all of our courses were online and it didn't make sense for me at that point to be separated from my family because everything was online, why not just do everything from Colombia. So that's what I did. I sold everything and I moved to Columbia, South America. I thought that the Spanish that I had learned a little a little bit of Spanish that I had learned in the classroom was enough for me to be able to handle myself. Uh. And I soon found out when the plane landed that I didn't know much of anything. I was about the doubles a Dale duck. So it's been an immersion, been an experience. I do want to say this before I get too long winded. I am not a passport bro. I'm an Expatrick. So there is a. Difference because he said that ladies and gentlemen because I jokingly called him a passport bro before the start. Yes, yes, and I have I have. I have some very good friends who are passport bros. But I'm not one of those. So during that year, everything was fine. Uh, maintain my courses, everything I was supposed to do. Students. Now, students have always been able to get in touch with me because from day one, I give them my cell phone number, my WhatsApp number, my private personal email. They know how to get access to me twenty four hours a day, seven days a week. And many of my colleagues they don't give out their personal numbers because they feel some kind of way. Then now I have my personal numbers, but they also have what I have, what I call a VoIP of voiceover Internet protocol where if they leave a text, they leave a message, it will actually write it out in text and I could respond to them, et cetera, et cetera. So twenty twenty in twenty twenty one, I was on sabbatic. I was doing a research project which was researching the economic impact of COVID on Colombia and did an extensive study on that and actually created a video that I put on the YouTube to be able for people to take a look at it and understand what was going on, and it was quite interesting. It was also during that time here that we lost my mother in law due to it was set due to COVID. But we all know that. Hospitals kind of received benefits when they when they were able to put this kind of when they said this was actual thing that that took care of PEP that people were deleted. But so a little bit skeptical because you know, she did have. A heart attack. So, long story short, that was twenty through twenty one. Coming into twenty twenty two, I had a new manager. The old manager was still there, but the old manager was the supervisor of this new manager. And the old manager has and it told me to my face they had always known where I was and they could always get in touch with So, long story short, new manager. I only had issues with the college during the summer months, and so during the regular academic year, I was again separated from my family for long periods of time. Long story short. We applied for spouse a visa to come into the United States. We were denied because we had not taken the COVID vaccine. This was in twenty twenty two, twenty twenty three, so this was after COVID had had run its course and it was actually slowing down if any cases were being reported at that point. We applied. We were denied because my wife didn't take the vaccine, neither did I, and I didn't take the vaccine because in the state of Ohio, we were not mandated to do so because not only am I I'm in ohioan and because of the Constitution of Ohio. My governor said, we don't have to take it. So I decided at that point I wasn't going to and other things. Of course, the college knew what my situation was. The college knew that I was experience seeing stress and anxiety over this entire situation. I had expressed this to my managers upon multiple occasions, and I was seeking some help. I had a psychology psychiatry psychologist that I was working with on a regular basis to manage stress and learning techniques to manter stress, building mental resilience in the old nine and I had expressed to the college that you know, this was a situation and how can we receive some accommodations. Crickets. So flash forward to this past September, the college decided that they no longer needed my services. Fourteen years with the college, thirteen going on, fourteen years with the college tenured professor. I had just received nomination the previous semester for one of their most prestigious teaching excellence awards, and with them terminating our relationship, no severance, no handshake, and they also want to deny me. Unemployment, so they're forcing me into retirement. So that's where I stand. That's the story. Wow, Dante, I know that you are former student of Todd's. Talk a little bit about what the accessibility was to him when you were one of his students. Yeah, so I can speak to a lot of things about Todd. First and foremost the accessibility. So first day of class, when every college professor, every every teacher is handing out a syllabus, Todd is handing out a syllabus, but he's also saying, hey, write down my cell phone number right down. I don't know if he had what's up at the time, because you know, this was I had you twenty fifteen. Yeah, pre WhatsApp. Yeah so this was pre WhatsApp. But it's like, you know, here's my personal self phone, here's my personal email. Actually, you know, it was saying I would prefer for you guys to use that because I'll always get it. I may not be any office. You know, things happen, right, I may not check my work email all the time, but if you really need to email me, just send it to my personal email. Right. So, And an example of this is I missed the class once, just had something going on in life. It was a summer class, and I called Todd maybe two hours after the class, and he spent an hour on the phone with me going over what we would have went over in class. Right. So that's first, and formal accessibility was never an issue when I had to you know, when I took the class, I'm sure it was pretty much the same. Right. So, but then the second thing is teaching style. And I'm not just saying this because you're on the show or because we have a relationship. I've told Darvo this, I've told people who don't even know you this. But the teaching style was incredible. I've never had a professor at any institution, at any any level of my academic career. Give you material and be as accessible as Tod was. And when I say give you material, I don't mean provide you with a slanted view or this is how I want you to think. I mean just present the material as is and let you make your own decision. Right. I tell people this all the time our final paper, because I think I had you for a macro. It wasn't you know. I'm going to give you the economic system. No, we win overall the economic systems. Your task is to then you tell me which works best, and how I'm going to grade you is not based on like whether I agree, which is based on just how well you support it with what we went over in class, right, so that I can tell you at you know, at different institutions my my, which I ended up changing my major to econ, that was not how things went right. And I think a lot of ECON students con tept that is not how their classes go at you know, at different institutions. So yeah, this was uh yeah in terms of excessive, but that was never a problem. You could call it todd at seven pm on a Saturday and be like, Hey, I was struggling with this, with this paper or with this book. Can we talk about it for a second. Yeah, And you know, you look up and it's thirty five minutes later and were still talk and it's like, oh, wow, you just got another lecture. And so that was never a problem, right, right, And so you know, the thing that. Is the most kind of disturbing to me or the most illogical, the thing that doesn't make the most sense, going back to the fact that you got that your wife got denied for visa. Here you have people who are trying to do it the right way. You're trying to bring your family over here. You're an American citizen and you're trying to bring your foreign family over here legally, and you're getting a hard. Time because of not taking the COVID shot. For a pandemic that is already over, that was already over at the time. Meanwhile, the southern border people could just walk. I would joke with you all the time when I would ask you what was going on. I'll tell you, man, you might as well just tell her to go to the border and tell y'all, I'll pick you up on the other side. Like, it doesn't make any sense to me that here you. Are trying to do it the right way and you're getting all this hard time and everything leading up to the fact where the separation from you not wanting to be separated from your family cause you to lose your job. Meanwhile, people could just walk in anytime they want to in the border right now. Yeah, the the. It's bizarre. I mean, what this showed me was a couple of things. Well, I mean, I was I was fighting two systems. Not only was I fighting the federal system, I'm also fighting the state system and the state system as related to this particular institution. They created the you know, a policy. You know, one of the policies that they created was not in the in the the agreement, the contract right the employment contract, but was added later. But a lot of times people say case by case basis, it wasn't that they didn't know. It wasn't that I was doing anything in secret. They knew right when we had a they called it a predisciplinary hearing, but you know, it was really an inquisition. Uh. And I stated, if we if I had the video, if if we had the visa, that we would not be having this issue there would you would have to be worried about me doing online courses outside the state of Ohio. Uh, you know, which, which is kind of. Let me stop you right and old on, let me stop you right there. What the hell difference does it make if it's outside of the state of Ohio, if you're doing if you're teaching online courses, what difference does it make? Well, here's the thing. It's not that it's my residence is Ohio. I'm an Ohio resident, Okay, So it's not like, you know, you're teaching outside the state of Ohio and you're a New York resident, right, or you're a South Carolina resident. I'm a State of Ohio resident, and I'm teaching outside during the pandemic was an issue. But I'm teaching. Outside the state of Ohio, right because my family situation also this past summer would happened. I didn't tell you this that my wife suffered a second degree burn on her face. So during this time So during this time. Period, you're asking me to be separated from my family for two days minimum of three hours. And my wife has second degree burned on her face and I'm supposed to be separated from my family during that time period. Do you understand the psychological impact that that had on my wife? It's crazy, It's crazy. I mean, here, here's here's the thing. Anytime, anytime that I was coming back to the US, because you know, because I have to do my job. And I enjoyed what I did, Okay, I enjoyed that. I'm not saying I didn't enjoy I enjoyed what I did. But what happened was that the environment in which I was working in became unattainable. They were causing me to make a decision between my family and the job, and even though that they didn't want to say, they would say, well, did we say that explicitly? No, you didn't say it explicitly. You said it implicitly with your policy. And then when I'm asking for some help for a for accommodations, right now, you know there's there Now there's no process, or if there is a process, who's helping me with the process from HR? So you know it's questionable. I understand that that that most bureaucracies are there to support themselves and it's always as they say, next man up, or next person up or next woman up. Okay, I get it, but you don't value you don't value the relationships with the people that have been there and that have that have provided quality service. I mean, Dante is just is just one of many students that that you know, I had the pleasure of building relationship. He's not the only one. But you know, there comes a point at my age, I have to live my values in order to be happy, and so that's what I chose to do. I chose my family over the profession, and they didn't like it, and so they're being very vindictive as it relates to that. More to come stay tuned, will be right back here on the Oulaws. cREL Conversations. We got. This is the your lost radio show. Walking back and listening to the Outlaws. Here's a conclusion of our interview with Todd Allen Dante me your thoughts on the situation and if you got any any questions or comments for time, go ahead. Yeah. The sort the COVID mandate is just really perplexing to me because one, I didn't know that that was still in I didn't know that that was still a thing. I get this, I get I get that reaction every time I tell the stories, like is that still a thing? Just because of where we are in the process. I mean, I don't, I don't. I really don't want to get us into any trouble. I know, Darvyo'll probably sitting on pins and needles over there because he knows how I feel about. Some of this stuff. But I just I just don't understand how we've progressed so far and know what we know now about you know, what protection you really have with the you know, like everybody's saying, trust the science. I don't understand how the science has gotten us to this point with COVID and the vaccine, that we're still having COVID mandates. That part is really shocking to me. But then the other part is like you know, like Darbiel said, I mean, you don't need to you don't need a COVID vaccine if you're just going to cross the border, right, I don't know if there was a COVID mandate for I mean, we we've seen towns like Springfield basically beg migrants to come out. I don't know if there's a a COVID mandate to come to So that that part is is really wild. That's a good question. That's a good question. We should find that out if you want a tourist visa. Really that is wild. I just but that's the I mean, that's the thing about government bureaucracy, right, like it never really makes sense. Yes, that's stupid, like that that makes no sense at all, Like none of this makes any sense. Yeah that no, And that's but that's government bureaucracy. And that so again, I mean we're just seeing you know, lives Room because of its vaccine with COVID, and our elected officials will pretend like, you know, no, it's not a big deal, never happened. One question though, Todd did did it? And I don't know if you noticed before COVID, but did they have any problem with out of state teachers teaching online classes before the pandemic? Well, my understanding is that in order to be a teacher this particular institution, in the rather large institution in the Cleveland area, that you need to be a resident of the state. Okay, so you know, but they have hired. Many hires many they've hired many administrators who were outside the state, who who have come into the state after they get their job. Okay, whether it's New York or wherever. Okay, so I mean, but but the thing is that there there have always been stories of professors who don't show up the office hours haven't been seen for you know, a long periods of time or a long time or what have you, and and and and all of those things. But as I said, my dean, my director, my dean had told me to my face that she had always been able to get in touch with and when other deans were saying how they couldn't get in touch with individuals that they had, my dean always knew how to get in touch with always, And you know, I wasn't operating in obscurity. You know. It's like, hey, my wife is in Columbia. We're working on the visa, trying to get my family here, and my wife wanted the visas, but she wanted to be with me when I traveled because she didn't like for me to travel alone. My wife takes exceptional care of me. I mean, she's a wonderful woman. And that was the thing. It's like, Okay, well you're there in the US. I'm here in Colombia, and you know, we do what we do what we need to do, but we're family. This is my wife. And knowingly, why would you have a policy to where you know that you're separating your family. Where where in the political system that we had, we had people talk about, well, you're separating families at the border, you're putting people in cages and all this other bovide experiment. But then you have have my situation, and those. Very people who were hollering and screaming about this very thing, and now all of a sudden they're mute, you know, and and they're dumb and they have no opinion on it, because hey, you know what, this is the policy that they put in place. But but what do you what does a person do when a policy is unjust in a particular situation? Isn't isn't that called civil disobedience? Isn't that? What isn't that? What? You know? We have civil we have civil rights. We're all about and what happens when a person if a person is is on drugs, right and they want help, do you fire them? I'm not on drugs. I ask for help, but I get no response. I get crickets. Well, you know, I don't know that was quote unquote well you know, I don't know. Wow, are any any last words that you have, uh, for Todd Dante or for the situation in general? No, I'm I'm really kind of stunned that they would let you go, especially, like I said, I can speak to the because I've had you, And I mean, I'm, like you said, I'm not the only student that's had you that would that would speak lonely about you. So I'm kind of it saddened me to know that you would let go a really good. Professor, really, because it boils down to and I just, you know, because of a COVID vaccine. Because that's where my mind goes initially, like, I wonder if there was another reason why. You couldn't get your family to the country, if that would if they would be more willing to work. And I don't know, I just I have certain opinions about academics, and I just wonder that if maybe they're more inclined to side against you because of knowing that that may be the reason why you your family can't get so that that's where my mind goes, like maybe the deck is already kind of stacked against you because they're not too happy that you wouldn't play along and get the vaccine either. So but yeah, the. Loser to lose a great professor over that is really something. It says something about the college too. Yeah, And I think that's a good question, Dante. It is a good question, and I would love to find that out. Like if it wasn't about not taking a COVID vaccine, if there was some other hiccup, would they have been more accommodating. I think that's a very it's a very good question. I think we kind of have our suspicions, but but. Find out, as I said, I mean, they will give the policy reasons, you know, outside state of Ohio Online that but as I said, during the summer, it's a different contract. During the academic year, I was there and for the entire academic year, not just the fall, but the spring as well, and was nominated for one of their top Teaching awards. So, so, what's what's next for you? Todd? What is? Uh? What's what's the plane? A last? You know? What? Here? Here, here's what I'm doing. I'm working on you know, I'm I'm a teacher. That's that's what I do. And so I'm working on a coaching program called Happiosity. I'm talking about, uh, happiness literacy. And through this whole thing, I've developed some resilience. I've developed I've. Found some tools that are helpful to kind of help people to cope, to. Reduce their anxiety, reducer stress levels, to build optimism and and I'm happy. And again not happy with the situation that took place, but I'm happy because I took the stance, and my stance was that my family is valuable to me. And you know, is it challenging. Absolutely, But when a person lives their values, that's when they really find their purpose and their happiness. And so I'm happy I'm happiest then I've. Been in a long long time. And now I'm able to help more people like Dante, like the former students I have outside of the walls of that particular institution, and I'm opening up to the world. I'm upening it up to the global community now and so that makes me happy. That makes me very very happy. So what's next for me is to continue my coaching program and grow my YouTube channel, grow my social media and my goal is to become the number one personal development coach on the face of the planet. That's my goal. All right, Well, you've never been a modest person, so that makes sense. Modesty. Yeah, well, thanks for for stopping by mass spending the time, which it was under better circumstances. Man, But we're gonna well. Hey, you guys, you guys still have an open invitation to come down here to Columbia. Man. I mean, I understand that, you know you you don't like fresh fruits. With seeds and all that stuff, and sunshine and beaches and all that kind of stuff. I mean, I get it, I get it. I'm not opposed to taking that trip either, but you just what you just described sounds like Florida, Like, how you go to Florida. Well, let me let me, let me, let me put it this way. It's could be, it's it could be. It's like Florida because it's on the career. There's a Caribbean side as well, but it's ten times less expensive. Well that's true. I'm glad, Dario. We should make that trip, but not necessarily for the you know, for the food or even even the costs. On that note, we're gonna get out of here, Man time. We appreciate it. Man, Yeah, I appreciate you. Man, Thank you so much. Man, and Dante. Man, it's good to hear from you. Get man. Absolutely, stay tuned. We have more to come here on the Outlaws. FCB Faith is your rhythm and preystation. I listen, my mom listens, pretty much the whole family. You know, you know me. I know you'll come to. Listen to FCB Faith on iHeartRadio Odyssey at FCB faith dot com, or tell your smart speaker to play EPCB Faith on iheartradiock True Outlaw RAYO. Welcome back, Welcome back here listening to the Outlaws. Make sure that you subscribe to the show on Apple Podcasts. Spotify, iHeart, or wherever you get your podcast. And if you listen to the show on Apple, please make sure you leave us a five star review and the comment is very important for the algorithm and for those of you that have already done so, thank you, oh. So very much. And now's the time of the show that we like to call Tea Time with Roe. Turn it up, y'll set up the infectation, the latest celebrity news and gossip explation. It's Tea Time with Roe on the Outlaws radio show. Hey y'all, it's the Girl Row and today on Tea Time, It's gonna be a little different. So I am not quite with the guys recording, but they are here with me in a different form. But I do have some tea for you in a way. Actually it's a very interesting topic. So I came across this post and it was talking about Kiki Palmer recalls filing for bankruptcy at the age of eighteen years old and how she lives below her meetings quote unquote, got a Toyota right now in my driveway. And you know what, I am not mad at this, Okay, Like, if you go spend and spend and spend and spen and spending. You ain't gonna have no more nor more money left right right? Okay, And you know a lot of people, celebrities, people that have money, people that are around you, that you're surrounded by, that have money, and you're like, how do they keep this money? Right? Yes, there are ways that people know how to make money, make extra sources of income, but how do they keep it? They keep it by looking like they're broke. Okay. They are driving cars like Toyota. They are not buying expensive jewelry. They are not buying expensive clothes and shoes, shoes that are four hundred dollars or more, like cars that probably cost more than their house. You know, they don't buy all these things. A lot of stories about celebrities I have seen where they have gone bankrupt because they kept just splurging and spending money and just thinking that they can avoid all those problems. Were like, Oh, it's just gonna keep coming in. I'll be good, I'll be good. I'm straight, I ain't worried. Their head got too big, and that's where it landed. You see, I am all for bargain shopping. I do not like to spend my money. I'm not even gonna lie to you. But that also might be like a capricorn thing. Who knows. I like to make my money. I do not like to spend my money. If you get it, you get it. You know you know. But yes, let me know what y'all think. I personally, I actually agree with the girl. Let me know one more time. Shout out to tide Out for coming on the show. We'd really appreciate it. We are out of here. You see you next time. This has been a presentation of the FCB podcast network, where Real Talk lives. Visit us online at fcbpodcasts dot com.
Ep. 408 - Todd Allyn talks about losing his job because of his wife's refusal to take the Covid shot
