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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