Veronica Alexander

Background

• Mother of Dr. Lael Alexander
• Currently living in Louisiana in her hometown/childhood area
• Deeply religious, researched Biblical names for her children
• Comes from a family of sharecroppers who elevated themselves through education and entrepreneurship
• Strong family matriarch who raised exceptional children

Family History & Values

Generational Transformation

From Sharecroppers to Success:

Veronica: "My was uh sharecroppers. My dad and them were masons. So, both of those were pretty honor honorable because sharecoppers were they took care of themselves, and the masons had technology, they took care of themselves. They weren't beholding to anyone."

Multi-Generational Success:

Veronica: "My mom going to college and sending all of her siblings to college. And then my mom building her house and then helping all of her siblings built all of their houses, you know what I mean? So they they they purchased the street that we lived on... And now off four of my mother's kids got living mansions. That's just two generations. It's like boom boom."

Work Ethic Philosophy

Multi-Talented Parents:

Veronica: "My father was a construction worker, so he worked in construction up until September in time frame in a year and and in September he stopped working destructive, and when itained, we did a supercave... my father law um build houses, you know, uh did uh brick uh, you know grocery stores, everything."

Entrepreneurial Legacy:

Veronica: "So it was absolutely root in my jeans, right? to be that entrepreneurial. But but that's uh that's what you try to protect. That's part of the legacy that try to protect the the seed of the work engine is more important to protect than what these kids define as their sanity right now."

Lael's Childhood & Development

Early Intelligence Recognition

Off-the-Charts IQ Testing:

Veronica: "At one time, um, they brought me to, um a child psychiatrist and they and they had to my IQ test, so I tested off the charts and my IQ test... And then and then the person that was the actual child psychologist, like the third visit. I was handling the sessions."

Child Psychologist Retirement:

Veronica: "By the middle of the school year the guy retired and wrote a letter back to us saying um that whenever he whenever he got to a point in his career that he depended on a patient. he realized that he shouldn't have been in this profession. because as a kid, I'm now giving him advice."

Behavioral Patterns

Multitasking from Childhood:

Veronica: "Even when he was in class, uh he would be sitting he would be sitting looking at the teacher and playing with some little toys mother and seat. In other words, he he'd have his no little little toys, little little different, the right, and they would be under the seat and he's he's playing with his army curtain looking at the teacher."

Octopus Arms Metaphor:

Veronica: "I used to tell them all the time that uh that uh octopus performs I always I always labeled him as having octopus arms because he was always doing more than one thing at one time."

Independence and Determination

Grade Placement Resistance:

Veronica: "They put you in the eighth grade and he decided he didn't wanna do that. So he's like, uh, no, that's not where I'm supposed to be. I want to go back to... So every every other day I was gonna get a call from the secretary of the school telling me that we had to go and get them out of one class and put them in another class. That that was how determined he was to do what he wanted to."

Master of His Own Mind:

Veronica: "Male always has has kind of like the master of his own mind. or even though, you know, adults might wanna, you know, take the ring and say, well, Leo, maybe you ought to be doing this because this makes better sense to you. He always felt like you, what do you should be doing for himself."

Parenting Challenges

Authority Struggles:

Veronica: "No, no, my mama's mama's don't surrenders. Mother's do. No, you have no respect. They have no respect authority because you know, have to you know have a have a tough time at it, but it was always a constant battle, you know, um you know, trying to help him to understand who was was the authority. and this house."

Punishment Ineffectiveness:

Veronica: "Sending me to my room. Would that would that be a punishment for me? what was, no punishment... Oh, no, I'm going to my room. No."

Room Cleaning Redefinition:

Lael: "Clean your room. So what what happens when you say the room I'll move the room. I'll change the entire room. because it like, what do you mean clean it? Oh, and you want me to clean it, that means you want me to retool it."

Understanding and Support

Not Viewing Him as Misunderstood

Community Recognition:

Veronica: "I didn't think that he was misood? I don't think they understand how much I misunderstood. That's the thing. I don't misunderstood. I have a problem. Okay. I didn't think it was a problem, you know? everybody and everybody in my hometown knew that I had a I was something different. They knew I had a talent."

Village Support:

Veronica: "They but they hadn't scenes they didn't know how to really treat with that talent because they hadn't seen that type of thing before, neither. So it was new... you can't you can't blame that village for anything, because they did a phenomenal job."

Family Exposure Strategy

Intentional Enrichment:

Veronica: "One of the things that the Alexander family did that mom and dad tried to do was to expose the children to uh things outside of our our our own our own area, our own culture. uh so so that that they they would have a a rich, a richer experience in life."

Generational Investment:

Veronica: "We we try, you know, and at S as my mom would put it as a I pour a normal family, uh we tried to give you know, gifts to to our kids uh a lot more than than we were able to have for ourselves as we were coming up."

Spiritual Foundation

Name Selection Process

Biblical Research:

Veronica: "I did some research in my Bible and in some of my bill typical references I atted some names. I was looking up names to see what the names mean. I looked at names and the meaning of of the various things to where I was in my life. It's my spiritual that's the spiritual part of my life and lay me's child of God."

Prophetic Naming:

Veronica: "I had a couple of names that uh down and um when I when I saw saw him, and I put Ed Hughes put in my arms, I I knew exactly what what's her name of."

Name Pronunciation Challenges

Simplified to Alexander:

Lael: "I went through all my life with people calling and calling me a different name. People don't wanna talk. They don't wanna call you by. the child of God names... So then they gave up when probably me about my first name and just started calling me with my last name. So it's been Alexander since. I've been the ultimate Alander."

Parenting Philosophy and Advice

Working with Lael

Patience and Focus Advice:

Veronica: "I I I would say that you you have to be patient and you you're gonna have to um find a way to to to keep him still because he has a tendency to to be uh uh working on several things at one time."

Internal Obstacles Assessment

No Internal Barriers:

Veronica: "I don't I don't really think that Leo has internal obstacles, that keeps them from doing what what he wants to do. I I think for it is just uh it's it's a matter of of timing, number one, and number two, if you see the birds value and what he's gonna be doing."

Value and Purpose Driven:

Veronica: "What is the what is the purpose? Is this that it is gonna be purpos to be? Or is it gonna make sense to me for me to do that? Otherwise, and and I'll give you that then I'll get it'll I'll give you a a specific example of what it."

Current Concerns

Generational Motivation Decline

Worried About Grandchildren:

Veronica: "Not all them wrong, I'm I'm afraid because my kids don't have the same drive that me and my siblings have.. So, they will probably go back to living like when mom and dad and them dead. Because they don't have to drive that I have to."

Protecting the Work Engine:

Veronica: "That's part of the legacy that try to protect the the seed of the work engine is more important to protect than what these kids define as their sanity right now. It's like, where is your motor? You know what I mean?"

Unfamiliarity with Laziness

No Family Precedent:

Veronica: "That that that motor doesn't look like the motor that I was brought up with is like because I hadn't seen anybody in my family that carried the laziness, uh, or the or the desire not to have, or the desire not to compete or challenge or do. I didn't even know that looked like before."

Educational Philosophy

Library Centrality

Alpha Schools Critique:

Veronica: "Always it. Always, always, always, always. Is't that like Supermbolic though that Alpha doesn't have a library? It just says it just it is so symbolic. It's beyond beyond symbolic... That was the one thing about alpha school that made me realize they don't have a center. cause the library is the center of the school."

Social Media as False Center:

Veronica: "It just you know, the center is, it's social media. Yeah, it's terrible. It's literally Twitter. literally Instagram, literally TikTok."

Family Values

Grandchildren as Greatest Joy

Greatest Blessing:

Veronica: "Is there anything greater than having grandchildren? I't. Yeah. I' I have your own children, having the grandchildren is the best."

Individual Specialness:

Veronica: "My children are all special to me. each one of them. And then each one of their children. you know, it's it's special to me as well... Not a thing. not family is very special, special to my family, so each square child is, you know. they're all all person and they has their own special place."

Interactions with Gary Sheng

June 6, 2025 Phone Conversation

• First extended conversation with Gary as Lael's potential biographer
• Shared detailed insights about Lael's childhood and development
• Provided parenting advice for working with Lael
• Discussed family values and generational transformation
• Connected over shared appreciation for libraries and education
• Invited Gary to visit Louisiana

Connection Points

• Appreciation for Gary's Christian faith and values
• Shared concern about proper educational foundations
• Recognition of Gary's role in documenting Lael's story
• Openness to ongoing relationship and communication

Regional and Cultural Context

Louisiana Roots

• Lives in hometown area where she grew up
• Strong connection to local community that recognized Lael's talents
• Values traditional Southern hospitality and family connections
• Appreciation for regional culture and cuisine (mentioned Gumbo and Louisiana hospitality)

Cultural Perspective

• Understands importance of proper cultural exposure for children
• Values both traditional roots and progressive advancement
• Believes in community support while maintaining individual excellence
• Emphasizes the importance of understanding cultural context in education

Notes

Veronica Alexander emerges as a strong family matriarch who played a crucial role in nurturing Lael's exceptional talents while maintaining appropriate boundaries and expectations. Her approach to parenting an exceptionally gifted child demonstrates remarkable wisdom in balancing support with structure.

Her family's multi-generational transformation from sharecroppers to successful entrepreneurs provides important context for understanding Lael's drive and capabilities. Her concern about maintaining this "work engine" across generations reflects deep understanding of the cultural and motivational factors that drive exceptional achievement.

Her critique of Alpha Schools lacking a library demonstrates sophisticated understanding of educational philosophy and the importance of learning-centered environments versus technology-centered approaches.

The conversation reveals her as a thoughtful, supportive mother who recognized her son's unique gifts early and worked to provide appropriate challenges and opportunities while maintaining family values and spiritual grounding.

Key Quotes

On Lael's Intelligence:

"At one time, um, they brought me to, um a child psychiatrist and they and they had to my IQ test, so I tested off the charts and my IQ test."

On Family Transformation:

"My mom going to college and sending all of her siblings to college. And then my mom building her house and then helping all of her siblings built all of their houses, you know what I mean? So they they they purchased the street that we lived on."

On Working with Lael:

"I I I would say that you you have to be patient and you you're gonna have to um find a way to to to keep him still because he has a tendency to to be uh uh working on several things at one time."

On Alpha Schools:

"That was the one thing about alpha school that made me realize they don't have a center. cause the library is the center of the school."

On Generational Concerns:

"I'm I'm afraid because my kids don't have the same drive that me and my siblings have.. So, they will probably go back to living like when mom and dad and them dead."

On Family Values:

"My children are all special to me. each one of them. And then each one of their children. you know, it's it's special to me as well."

Transcripts

Transcript ID	Date	Summary
2025-06-06-gary-lael-veronica-alexander-family-conversation	2025-06-06	Family Origins and Parenting Insights - Gary Sheng, Lael Alexander & Veronica Alexander