Meet Dee Dee Vicino | Corporate and Educational Trainer

We had the good fortune of connecting with Dee Dee Vicino and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Dee Dee, can you walk us through the thought-process of starting your business?

My life, like so many others, changed dramatically in 2008. When the market crashed, I lost about 75% of my net worth. I sold my house, re-entered the workforce after a 17-year sabbatical spent raising children, and moved my family into a smaller, more manageable home. I loved my new career – first as a middle school teacher and later as an Assistant Principal, but this new life did not suit my youngest child well. I knew that in order to protect her future, we had to leave that world behind. And my career along with it. Colorado was the obvious choice: My family had been here for decades, all of our free-time and vacations had been spent here, and my oldest child had left for the Foothills of Fort Collins and the halls of CSU in 2011. So off we went.

My daughters thrived – and continue to thrive – in Colorado. My youngest recently graduated from CSU with a degree in Business Communications and was asked, and successfully gave, her college’s Commencement Speech. She is now in graduate school and has mastered the art of balancing school with career – she is a well-sought-after model in the Denver area. My oldest daughter is a musical comedian who was also featured in this publication – Shelby Taylor. Look her up – she’s a hoot!

After a two-year break from the workforce, it was time for Mom to find a job. A former award-winning English teacher and assistant principal who was then forty-nine years young, I focused on the education industry. While I found plenty of jobs, I couldn’t seem to land a job. I later discovered that the jobs for which I interviewed went to those already working in the school district—and much younger too. Every. Single. Time. This continued for about a year. I learned something very important during that year: I needed to make a change. But if I wasn’t a teacher or an administrator, who was I? The school system may have deemed me too old, but C.S Lewis assured me that I was not “too old to dream a new dream, “and certainly not “too old to set a new goal.” It was time for this old dog—now fifty—to learn a few new tricks, and that involved revisiting a few old tricks. What could I do? What did I want to do? What did I love to do? What skills did I possess? Once I answered these questions, I targeted a new industry, reinvented myself, and rebranded myself. And it worked.

I am now a Corporate and Educational Contract Trainer who teaches teachers to teach and facilitates professional development seminars for business professionals around the country. I also own a Food Allergy Awareness company, AllerCuisine, and consult with families whose children have been diagnosed with food allergies. I am having a blast and am so thankful for all of the “new tricks” I’ve picked up along the way!

What should our readers know about your business?

My entire life has been dedicated to improving the lives of women and children, and that certainly carries through to my professional life, as well. I am a Corporate and Education Trainer who teaches teachers to teach and facilitates professional development seminars to business professionals. I am also a Congressional Candidate for Colorado House District 52 hoping to positively influence education and small business regulations. So that’s new.

I LOVE working with teachers and administrators in the areas of Classroom Management and Literacy. There is a saying, “Kids don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care,” and if we are to effectively educate children, we must effectively control our classrooms so that we create a caring and inclusive environment in which children feel safe to express themselves and to LEARN. I am known for my classroom management skills and was an “Observation Classroom” while I was teaching. Basically, this meant that teachers who struggled in this area were sent to observe my class. I also facilitated classroom management training sessions for new and struggling teachers. In addition, I worked with other teachers within our network ofsSchools whose students struggled with basic literacy skills to get them to proficiency and beyond. Today, I get to travel the country and influence teachers everywhere. Lucky me!

There are few higher highs for me than facilitating professional development seminars for business professionals seeking to expand their skill and knowledge base and watching them LEARN. Two of my favorite seminars are “Dealing with Difficult People” and “Leadership and Management Skills for Women.” The insights I glean from attendees is awesome, and they make the seminars even better.

I mut admit, I have a lot to be proud of. I am proud of my children for carving their paths, overcoming obstacles, and following their dreams. I am proud of my education journey and of my students – I love hearing from them and learning of their successes. I am proud of having my student’s work published in anthologies, and I am proud to have learned from one of the best Principal’s to have ever walked the earth – Donte Fulton-Collins. I am proud of the work we did to bring our elementary school from a C school back to an A school, and I am proud of the dedication and perseverance of ALL of our teachers. I am proud to have authored a proposal to protect consumers with Food Allergies – a proposal that was ultimately accepted by the conference for Food Protection (Kind of like an FDA Food Court), and I am proud to be certified Food Allergy Coach and Consultant.

I am proud to have been asked to partner with Leah Robilotto of the Food Allergy Institute and I am proud of the course we developed to help parents navigate the complexities of raising children with food allergies (The Ultimate Guide to Finding Your AllerTribe), and I am proud of the food allergy course I created for Corporations – AllerSolutions.

Finally, I am proud and overjoyed to be running for Colorado State Representative of House District 52 and be the voice that speaks up and speaks out for ALL of the voices in our district – not just those of the political elites. You can read more about my campaign at www.DeeDeeforColorado.com.

Was all of this easy? In a word, NO. Adjusting to a new career after 17 years at home definitely took some doing, and I needed to reacquaint myself with educational standards, polices, and protocols. In order to move into administration, I had to return to graduate school. As a single mom balancing raising kids with a full-time teaching job, this was quite a task. After our move to Colorado, I encountered insane bureaucratic roadblocks to educational licensing, and if not for the connections of an administrative assistant in the Poudre Valley School District, I may never have become licensed to teach in Colorado.

I sacrificed a career that I loved, I encountered age discrimination as I searched for a job in Colorado, and just when things were ready to really take off, a long came COVID and shut everything down. My work is dependent on public speaking and seminars, and that just didn’t happen in 2020. Not in person, anyway. However, I used that time to build my arsenal and perfect my craft. I facilitated several virtual seminars and breakout sessions for teachers and business professionals, and by the time I was able to hit the road in mid-2021, my craft was honed and success was easier to come by, as was repeat business, which is always a plus.

What sets me apart from others is experience… I have raised two food-allergic children, fostered two teen-age boys, co-founded a daycare center for parents of homeless children, worked with former child-soldiers in Liberia, Africa, survived difficult and border-line traumatic teenage years, effectively taught children of all ages, was a 3x Merit Award recipient for student success, taught teachers of at all grade levels and across academic disciplines, ran an A+ school with over 1500 students and 85 teachers, and I have had the great pleasure of drawing from my vast experiences so that I can teach business professionals how to manage the demands of every-day work life so that they thrive in busy and often complicated environments. I am so thankful that I continue to learn and grow so that I can help others learn and grow. It’s been a crazy journey and one a heck of ride thus far…and I can’t WAIT to see what’s coming next.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?

Well, this is an easy one! My very first best friend recently came to visit so that we could celebrate 50 years of friendship together. We only had a few days, but we used them well. We hiked Devil’s Backbone in Loveland, and we visited RMNP – always a fan favorite – and she got to see snow (so fun!). We knocked around Old Town Fort Collins and she absolutely loved the twinkle lights. We drove up to Estes and did a little sightseeing and shopping – the charm of Estes never gets old for me. She fell in love with the Stanley Hotel, and we had fun making our way through the maze. I wish we would have had time to drive up to the Mishawaka or to go to a concert at Red Rocks…another time, to be sure. We ate at Austin’s and the Rio in Fort Collins – two of my all-time favorites. Another favorite is Café Vino, but there just wasn’t time. If we’d have had more time, I would have taken her to Ocean Prime in Larimer Square for some Berries and Bubbles – if you haven’t had it, you should. The most fun drink EVER! I love a Brewery tour, and to this day, I haven’t found one that rivals New Belgium – always a fan favorite. Hopefully she can make another trip when the weather is warmer and we can tube the Poudre, do a little river rafting, and attend a few outdoor concerts – one of my favorite things. I could go on and on and on – there is so much to do and so much to see in Northern Colorado – one of the many reasons I am proud to call this place home.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
My journey is evolving, and I certainly wouldn’t be here if it weren’t for the love and support of my family, my friends, my supportive life-partner, my previous supervisor and mentor, Donte Fulton-Collins, and my guiding star, God – Abba – Mighty Creator.

My mother is my hero and my biggest champion. A single mother most of my childhood, my mother put herself through college and made innumerable sacrifices to support my brother and me. When she found she couldn’t afford the best schools for us, she moved us to a district that provided a first-class education, even though it meant a brutal commute for her. Whenever I doubted myself, she gave me hope. Whenever I needed her, she was always there. She still is. My mother, a child-psychologist by trade, owned and operated her own private practice for years. I learned so much about hard work, entrepreneurship, and sacrifice from her. I even worked for her for a couple of years in high school.

My brother is my best friend and confident, and I think of his wife as my sister. I cannot imagine my life without their guidance or support. They are my foundation and I love them dearly,

My grandmother taught me grace and aplomb. She never wavered, was kind to everyone, and was, in turn, beloved by everyone. She never sacrificed her truth, but always told it in a way that was palpable to everyone. She truly was the sweetest woman to ever walk the earth.

My children have been a constant source of love and support and I am proud to call them my own. They are generous, kind, accepting, appreciative, creative, brilliant, witty, talented, dedicated, hard-working, and are two of the best humans I know. They bring me joy each and every day, and I am incredibly blessed that we are so close.

I have a small but close circle of friends to whom I turn to and lean on often. Some of these friendships span over five decades! Some of my friends live close, others far, but they are always near and dear in my heart and I am so fortunate to have a circle of strong women to lean on.

I met my life-partner shortly after moving to Colorado, and we have been thick as thieves ever since. He, too, is a small business owner, so he understands the demands on time and energy that is required for success. He supports me in all I do, accepts me for all I am, and lets me cry on his shoulder when things get tough. He has also given me the gift of two more daughters, who also bring me great joy and happiness.

I was so incredibly fortunate to work under the steward of Donte Fulton-Collins, one of the most phenomenal women I have ever known. To this day, when I’m in a difficult situation, I ask myself, “What would Donte do?” I still call on her for wisdom and advice, and I quote her regularly. She epitomizes grace under pressure, transformational leadership, and big-picture thinking. As the principal of our K-8 Charter School with an ethnically diverse and socioeconomically challenged student population, she never let teachers off the hook when it came to serving our students. There were no excuses, and she did everything in her power to ensure the success of our students regardless of ethnicity or socio-economic status. “Our students are only as strong as the people who stand before them. And ladies and gentlemen, it is you and I who stand before them.” Under her brave and brazen leadership, our students DID achieve. Every. Single. Time. No excuses. Just hard work and dedication. We were the highest performing school in our network of schools, and I am honored and privilege to have learned from the best.

And last but MOST, I can’t imagine my life without my Lord and Savior – he guides my path every day and serves me well when I listen. I only get into trouble when I tune Him out or try to do things “on my own.” When I’m quiet, when I listen, the world is always righted, and the decisions and answers come easily. Knowing God makes my life easier, happier, and brings me great joy.

Website: deedee@deedeevicino.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/deedeevicino/

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/deedeevicino/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/DeeDeeVicino

Facebook: deedee@deedeevicino.com

Other: www.DeeDeeforColorado.com

Image Credits
Brittany Friar, Wanderwest Photography