The Power of One: How One Teacher Can Change a Life | S1E10

Teachers often never see the full impact of their work. Beyond grades and test scores lies a deeper influence—one that shapes confidence, purpose, and identity. In this episode, host Cathy Tooley reconnects with her former student, Amber Fields, now a Partner and Chief Culture Officer helping organizations develop their people. Their conversation, “The Power of One: How One Teacher Can Change a Life,” explores how belief, encouragement, and authentic connection can unlock potential that lasts decades.

Amber shares how Cathy once “spoke belief” into her at a time when she didn’t believe in herself—what she now calls “borrowed belief.” That same principle guides her leadership today, showing how early mentorship translates into lifelong impact. Together, they uncover how small moments of affirmation can ripple across generations, shaping not just students but the future leaders they become.

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Amber's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/amberwestfields/

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//About

Cathy Tooley is the Founder & CEO of Tools for Success and a seasoned educator with over 40 years in K–12 classrooms and school leadership. From high school teacher to principal, Cathy has dedicated her life to supporting educators. In 2014, she launched Tools for Success to provide real, in-person instructional coaching—not just “PD in a box.” She’s the author of The Education System Is Broken, a national speaker, and a fierce advocate for teachers. Through this podcast, she’s spotlighting the ripple effect of great teaching.
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Transcript

Podcast Introduction

Amber Fields 0:00

I don't think that teachers get enough accolades for the work that you do. You're literally setting the trajectory for the future of our children. You are teaching them what it means to be a really great leader and what it means to know and own their gifts and talents, and we're not focusing on that, I think, enough. At that age, it is really hard to know anything about yourself. And we should not have the expectation that our kids know themselves at that age, but it is our job to speak into them who we see them becoming. And I actually, very interestingly enough, had a talk with one of my kids' teachers. Actually, he teaches both of my kids today. And I had the opportunity to tell him he gave my daughter some negative feedback. And I said, You have the opportunity to really invest in her and help her understand that just because she doesn't understand math well, that she is doing the very best that she can. He was teasing her and called her, like, if you don't get it together, you're gonna be what we call a super senior.

Cathy Tooley 1:04

Hi, everybody, welcome back. This is Cathy Tooley. Thanks so much for joining us on my podcast. Today I'm with the one, the only, the Amber Fields. I know I've said the one the only on many, but this one is a really the one, the only. And I have to tell you the one the only in the why. So Amber and I go a long way back. Like, like some people, you know, people say that all the time. Oh my gosh, I've known them for like 12 years or like 10 years. No, no, no. I knew Amber in utero. Literally in utero. Her mother and I were very dear friends um when I was in high school. Yeah. Back in We won't put that out there. 10 years ago. 10 Yeah, that yeah. I was like, could I tell people all the time I started teaching when I was three? But now um Amber has I, I was at Amber's wedding and you've been married for what? 22 years in August. Gosh, you know. Five kids and a grandbaby. And then I'll let her at the end tell us about um what she does because I I she could explain it so much better than I. But I have Amber on this podcast because you know, we're continuing the series The Ripple Effect of a Teacher. And this one was a tough one for me to have on, not because it's Amber, because they have Amber, but because I thought, you know what? I want a student's perspective because we've had a day full of lots of educators and administrators and teachers that have talked, but I'd not had a student perspective of the ripple effect of a teacher. And so Amber doesn't even know this. So her her um topic that she picked is the power of one, how one teacher can change a life. Um, and I want to show you something that you probably yeah, right off the bat. So earlier I pulled out, do you recognize this card? Yes. So here's a card. This is a card.

The Power of One Teacher

Cathy Tooley 2:51

Um yeah. So earlier we did a I did a podcast called Um Letter to My Teacher or something like that, I think it was called. And so I was digging in my box of stuff, right? And I came across, you know, it's just a nice my guess is it must have been teacher appreciation we or something like that. But here's the note that said, I will never be able to thank you for everything you do. I love you. And then I won't say class of whatever this is. That wasn't that long ago. I will not run. That was a hero too, though. So I will not, but but I thought that was the ultimate of irony that as I was digging through and I didn't get very far before I got to yours. And there was actually a letter in there you wrote too that I thought would be too emotional. Yeah, let's not read that. Right. But I just thought I I wondered as you're gonna talk about the impact of a teacher, that see you have it too. That here we are three years ago as we established that you graduated, though you've been married for 22, and she did not get married in high school, folks. So so let's leave that at that. That what impact? Yeah. Talk to me about a difference that how one teacher changed your life.

Amber Fields 4:06

Yeah. Well, the first thing I want to say, Cathy, is thank you for picking me. Oh thank you for saying thank you for asking. Like it's I I don't think that teachers get enough accolades for the work that you do. And and you're literally setting the trajectory for the future of our children. You are teaching them what it means to be a really great leader and what it means to know and own their gifts and talents. And we're not focusing on that, I think, enough. But as a young adolescent who was a cheerleader, who was in sports, who were super busy, you know, uh, you spoke life into me and you spoke about things that I couldn't see for myself. You know, we have had some a lot of conversations in your classroom because I was also the student teacher, the helper.

Cathy Tooley 4:52

She was a little brown nose. She was, but she was a great, she did my um bulletin boards. Cause you know, those of you guys, those of you teachers that teach elementary, let me just say for a minute, oh, I'm so sorry. Because we get these. So she would purposely, I would help her do her schedule every year so we would have a study hall. Yeah. Which really she was never going to be in study hall. Although I let you do your homework if you wanted to. Yeah. But she would help me do bulletin boards and do those things. So sorry, elementary people, we eat, we get those. But yeah. So we just lots of good conversations. Yeah.

Amber Fields 5:19

Yeah. So many good conversations. And as a teenager, I'm raising, you know, the four and five kids of mine, the fourth and fifth are twins. And they're 14 years old now. And

Speaking Life Into Students

Amber Fields 5:30

they're they're in eighth grade and they're approaching that high school time. And it's a very sensitive time in their life. They're so impressionable. And dear God, there are more things for them to deal with today than we have to deal with. So the parents I am to them is not the parents I have been to the other three kids that I have. But I will tell you, you gave me, you always gave me great loving feedback. And I think that's your nice way of saying and trying to say, yeah. And there was, I remember it like it was yesterday. There was a time when you sat me down and said, Amber, I hate to tell you this, but you were hanging out with the wrong crowd. Yeah. You said you are too smart, and you are, you have a future for yourself, and you need to get away from these people because they're gonna take you down the wrong path. And I was mad and I was like, What do you mean? I love them. They're so good to me. Like, what? And I listened because I could because you're right. It influences matter. And so, you know, thank you for for saying the hard stuff. And even as an adult, you still say the hard things to me. And I am like a 14-year-old girl. I kick my hands a little bit and my feet, and I'm like, oh, but she's probably right. I need to listen to her. But you saw things in me. I remember you and Mrs. Hurdle, Miss Hurdle, right? And I was public speaking on the school news or whatever that was. And little newspaper or whatever. Or yeah, or little newscasts.

Cathy Tooley 6:59

Not as high flutant as it is today. Right.

Amber Fields 7:01

Back then. And both of you were really, and and I was doing public speaking in her class and learning Spanish in your class, which by the way, do not let my inability to speak Spanish today come from the lack of influence on Cathy because I took eight years of Spanish and I am still not fluid, but that's okay. That's beside the point. But you both spoke into me that you have a gift in public speaking, that you have a gift in commanding an audience and saying what needs to be said. So you need to do that. And it and I did that. I took one piece of something and was like, oh, I do think that I would be really good at that. Now, the story, the history of how it plays out is a little bit different than what I'd hoped, but lots of things happened between then and there that led me to where I am today that I have zero regrets.

Cathy Tooley 7:48

So, what is it you think that, because this one is really about the power of one, how one teacher can influence. There's lots of people watching this podcast that that question whether they are making a difference. And how because not everyone gets blessed enough to have a former student on a podcast like I do. People don't get that. Um, I was um talking earlier today with an administrator, they're an elementary administrator. I mean, they don't elementary kids are probably even least likely to say anything, less likely to say anything than than a high school person, but but how what do you say to them on the influence that they are making?

Amber Fields 8:28

Yeah, I say that the way that you look, I understand that you have a lot of students. And I actually, very interestingly enough, had an a talk with one of my kids' teachers. Actually,

Words Matter in Education

Amber Fields 8:40

he teaches both of my kids today. And I had the opportunity to tell him, he gave my daughter some negative feedback. And I said, You have the opportunity to really invest in her and make her and help her understand that she, that just because she doesn't understand math well, that she is doing the very best that she can. He he was teasing her and called her, like, if you don't get it together, you're gonna be what we call a super senior. And he did not mean anything negative by that, but words matter. So I say that to say words matter. And she came home and she was crying. And if you know anything about my child, she is a perfectionist. And anytime she, I mean, she is literally me in the 14-year-old version, you know, 30 some odd years later. Um, and he said, Amber, I didn't know that that was what she heard because that's not what I meant. He said, I was teasing her, we were joking, it's a smaller class. So I feel like I can be a little more jovial with her. And I said, You can, but you have to know your students and you have to know the headspace that they're in. And because math is something that is hard for her, she is um she's much harder on herself than anyone else when she doesn't get it right the first time. And he said, Am I, can I go back and and apologize? And I was like, No, please do, please go do that. Because she she is taking everything that you were saying and making a part of her identity at this age. And same I probably had no idea. He had no idea.

Cathy Tooley 10:09

Because he certainly, I don't think teachers by a bachelor wake up each morning thinking, what can I say today by a child? But I think unless you, for example, as a parent, when he said something, he would have no idea of the influence that he was making to that. Wow. Yeah. I I think about the own dinner table conversations my own kids have had. And they come home and talk about that teacher or the influence that that teacher said, or the words that that teacher said. And I, you know, was blessed enough to live in education. So very comfortable. When you're a teacher reaching out to another teacher, boy, they'll take your call over because it's almost like, you know, talk to me, collie. Yeah. We're different, different things. But it's like it's it's just different. It's just different than a parent who isn't in education because so often it comes across as an attack. For sure. I applaud you for the ability to communicate that that I'm certain that wasn't your intention. Yeah. I'm certain that wasn't what you meant because I don't think No, never. I I think what is that? Um, what is that book, The Pillars? Always one of them is assume good intent. Yeah. Assume good intent behind. Yeah. Okay. I hate to ask this question, but I have to. Tell me something that I did that made a difference for you.

Amber Fields 11:13

Yes. So you, I thought long, because there's so many things, Cathy. Like there's so many things that I could, and a lot of it has happened.

Cathy Tooley 11:21

You are not gonna cry on this episode. No.

Amber Fields 11:23

We are you already got me with the card, like that alone. Not gonna cry. Yeah. No. Because we have had the privilege of being friends. We have after school.

Cathy Tooley 11:33

And that doesn't happen. No. Um, those of you that are watching this that are are um educators now, it's weird when you teach high school kids. It is because they're they are they're not adults when they start with you. The freshmen are just middle school grown-ups. That's all they are. Um, but by the time they leave you, you're you're looking into the window of adulthood. That's certainly not who they're going to be at, you know, 40, 50, 60, you know, whatever they're gonna be, but you're you're starting to look into a window that is their future. Um and that is a very special place to get to be. So I I can think on one hand of students that are what I would call Facebook friends now. Um, neighbor could name my children. She could name my grandchildren, which we now have vibe, five of them. So jealous. She could name them. Um, and those are few and far between. Not because um I didn't teachers don't find that important, but for many students, when the chapter that is high school closes, the chapter that is our relationship is over. Is over. Yeah. As it rightfully should be. But there is a there are a handful, and you are one of, like I said, I can think of probably about six or eight that are still in my life. And and maybe it's because you and I have such a a longer history.

Amber Fields 12:55

Maybe, or we're both women of faith, and maybe God just had it intended to do it. Yeah, cross. Yeah. So I believe that to be true. So sorry. That's okay.

Cathy Tooley 13:04

As as happens when you get Amber and I together, we have to stay focused. Or we're wrong. Trajectory. Yeah, that's the question. Yes. The trajectory of the question. Okay. Yeah.

Amber Fields 13:12

So what so the difference that you made for me, Cathy, was that you spoke belief into me when I did not believe in myself. Um at that age, it is really hard to know anything about yourself.

Cathy Tooley 13:32

To know nothing to do with your parents. Nothing.

Amber Fields 13:34

It just has to do with all of the hormones and age and all the things that you're going through and the peer pressure and not knowing yourself. You do not, and and we should not have the expectation that our kids know themselves at that age, but it is our job to speak into them who we see them becoming, who they are turning themselves into and seeing the things that they do well that comes easy for them. You sp you said things to me that, Amber, you are really smart and you are a great leader. Be the leader that I know that you can be and do not fall into the path that is not going to end well for you. Right. So, yeah, Cathy, for me, it was helping me have the confidence when I didn't have any. Or I was beginning to have some saying things, speaking life into me and believing in me and letting me borrow that from you or have it from you because you had it until I could formulate it on my own. Choke that back.

Cathy Tooley 14:39

I never thought of it that way, but it's so I remember saying to my own children

Legacy of Borrowed Belief

Cathy Tooley 14:45

um when they would be very upset about something they couldn't do. And I would say, borrow borrow the belief in what you can be from the person who sees it until you can see it on your own. Yeah. It's a gift. I had no idea. And I learned that from my own father who used to tell me you are what you believe you are. That's right. If you believe you're successful, you are. If you believe you're not successful, you aren't. If you believe that you're a failure, then you are. You will simply create a life that defines failure. If you believe that you're successful, you will create a life that is successful. If you believe that you are loving, then you will love. If you believe that you are a nasty, mean person, then you will be nasty and mean. It's more over what you believe than what anyone tells you. And what I'm telling you is, is don't ever believe that what people tell you that you know is an alignment with who you are. That's right. And so I never thought about until right now, you know, um, the legacy that your our own parents leave us that now ultimately influenced my teaching. Dad would dad is spinning in heaven right now to hear that because that belief that I then shared with you came from him.

Amber Fields 16:06

Yeah. And I didn't know that story about you.

Cathy Tooley 16:08

I I I never put it together until because I'm not sure we've ever, I don't go around often asking you, Amber Danny Saber, and tell me some good things about me. You know, that's just not the kind of Tuesday conversation you have, you know, like, why don't you do me a favor and share some great stories? Yeah. But that is the intention of why you were on this podcast today. And it's in it, and because I want to make it clear that it's not about me, no, but there are ambers out there. There are ambers out there, and there are Cathy's out there. And teaching is hard. What we do is hard. Um, what is expected of us is hard. And the soft skills we teach are critical and we know it, but we don't have any clue whether it's landing or not. Yeah. Or whether it's like oil on a duck's back that's just flowing right off. We don't have a clue. And so I particularly wanted you here for this topic because we have that relationship. I was praying you wouldn't make me cry, but but there you are.

Amber Fields 17:11

It's a gift that I have also. Your face makes me cry, Kathy.

Cathy Tooley 17:16

That's a whole different story for a whole different day. But but it but it really, it really absolutely solidifies one person. When you think about it, my dad, as one non-educated, didn't graduate from high school. Because back in that day, you you went to the war. Yeah, you went to the war, yeah, and he did what he needed to do, and that was it. And then coming back, you don't go to get a diploma, you go get a job and take care of your family, which is what he did. But from a man who didn't have a high school diploma to seed words into me that now allowed me to seed words into you is truly the legacy of one.

Amber Fields 18:01

Yeah. That I'm feeding into my five kids, that I'm feeding into all the people that I lead today. They will feed into their families, that they will it's the multiplier. Like it's just because it's it's now a it's a gift that I have as it relates to the people that I lead. I speak belief into them because it was instilled in me. You you taught me at a very young age to give back.

Cathy Tooley 18:30

Okay. So tell us what you're doing now.

Amber Fields 18:33

Oh uh, so now I am a partner and the chief culture officer at a company called TrueU and TrueUHR , where we are helping organizations uh grow their culture through the development of their people, through it comes full circle. I do it every day. I'm helping organizations grow and scale through their most valuable asset, which are people.

Cathy Tooley 19:00

Well, thank you. You're welcome. Um when I put this together and I knew um you know, I knew that we needed to have former students, you weren't obvious, um, especially for this topic, which you picked. I did. You picked. Um, and I want to thank you because it's not easy. And I hope that anyone watching this podcast gets it, that it's today is not about me or you. Right. It is about

Full Circle: From Student to Leader

Cathy Tooley 19:31

you and I just get to be outward manifestations or examples or real life things for what a teacher can do. Yeah. The ripple effect of a teacher. Yeah. It's about the stories. It's about the stories. Thank you for being here.

Amber Fields 19:46

Thanks.

Cathy Tooley 19:47

Thank you, guys. I I would I would wrap up with something lovely and cute, but let me tell you what I have nothing. I'm gonna end it with that. We'll see you on our next episode. Thanks for joining us.