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Coaching Elementary Kids | The Positively Healthy Mom Podcast with Renaye Thornborrow
34 Plays1 month ago
🎙 Welcome to The Positively Healthy Mom Podcast! 🌟
In this episode, Laura Olinger chats with Renaye Thornborrow, founder of Adventures in Wisdom, about empowering kids with mindset skills through story-based life coaching.
✨ In This Episode:
How life coaching builds kids' confidence, resilience & self-esteem
Simple ways parents can use coaching at home
Inspiring success stories from real families
The difference between therapy and coaching
Why live connection matters in today’s tech-driven world
🎧 Tune in and grab your free story at adventuresinwisdom.com!
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Transcript
Introduction and Guest Welcome
00:00:00
Speaker
Welcome to the Positively Healthy Mom Podcast, where positive parenting meets well-being. Hello and welcome to today's episode of the Positively Healthy Mom. I'm your host, Laura Olinger, and today I'm so excited to introduce you to Renee Thornborough, who is a personal development expert and founder of Adventures in Wisdom. So Renee, I'm so excited to have you on the show today. We've got so much to cover. And so tell us just, you know, quick, quick background about who you are and and why we're together today.
00:00:33
Speaker
Absolutely, Laura. Thanks for having
Adventures in Wisdom Overview
00:00:35
Speaker
me. And really what our company is all about is helping children learn about the power of their thoughts and the power of their mind and bringing mindset skills, training and life coaching to kids.
00:00:44
Speaker
Since 2013, we've certified many hundreds of coaches in over 30 countries to help them bring this work to children, transforming the lives of children and families around the world, while also creating their own businesses, whether it's part time, full time and just having a wonderful impact on children and families.
00:01:02
Speaker
I think that's so awesome. I have a feeling that there's so many moms listening today that, you know, might have an interest in, you know, creating a career for themselves or changing careers. And so how could they become a life coach for kids?
Becoming a Life Coach for Kids
00:01:16
Speaker
Well, we do have a lot of parents, volunteers, grandparents that they start wanting to help their own children and their vision starts to expand and they want to help other children as well. That's exactly how I wound up getting into this ah whole thing, too.
00:01:29
Speaker
And you know for them, it's just a matter of what I would invite for them to do is experience our curriculum, download a free coaching story, see what it's like to use it with their own children and see if that's something they think they might want to do. then if so, watch a video overview about about our program, how we support our coaches with a story based coaching curriculum and story coaching process, as well as abundance of of resources on the marketing business and coaching side.
00:01:56
Speaker
to help them start a successful business. So that's how they can learn more. And then if they feel inspired to apply to talk with with one of our six success coaches. Okay, awesome. And so I, of course, have spent time researching you and your company. And I'm so curious because you're bringing up the word story a lot. And so I did download one of your stories. But for our listeners, explain what you mean by stories and how that gets incorporated into the life coaching.
00:02:20
Speaker
Well, that really is what is so... special about the Adventures in Wisdom program. So we help children develop 27 mindset skills all through a story-based coaching curriculum. So our stories are written in a Fable format, and they're designed to teach a mindset skill to children. So through this story, children can see situations that the characters are facing, things that they might face in their real life, whether with friends, school, at family, extracurricular activities, and how you can use different mindset skills to Be empowered in life and make your choice, whether it's making choices or thinking about something differently so that you're developing confidence, developing self-esteem and, you know, supporting our children and creating happiness in their lives, which is what as parents we all want for our kids. Right.
00:03:05
Speaker
So it's more than just a story, though. It's it is a curriculum. So there's two parts to each one of what we call a skill book. So 27 stories, 27 skill books, 27 skills. So mentor's guide that's going to have the background information and coaching tips for the coach and then we have the children's guide where you're going to have the coaching story, child friendly discussion questions and then activities that are multi-sensory and really give children an opportunity to experience these skills at a deeper level.
00:03:32
Speaker
A lot of them have like art projects, which gives them something we call memory markers to take home to remember the skill and course, practice, practice, practice. Yes, yes. Practice is so important just to have that repetition and and have it really deeply ingrained into their nervous system and their memory and and all those things so that it comes up when they need it the most.
Target Audience and Package Options
00:03:51
Speaker
um And so what age range would you say this is for? Well, when I designed a program, it's really geared towards elementary, early middle school. So about ages 6 through 12, 13, 14-ish or so.
00:04:03
Speaker
And the stories themselves are written at about a grade 4 level. But one thing that surprised me over the years, Laura, is how many of our coaches use our work with teens and even some of the younger kids. It's really about who they're most comfortable working with and you and adapting it as needed to to serve who they're working with.
00:04:21
Speaker
Mm hmm. so could a mom who maybe doesn't have an interest in starting a life coaching business, could she just, you know, is it possible to her go through your program or buy your curriculum and just use it on her own kids?
00:04:34
Speaker
Well, we do have several different packages, the lowest end package. She can become a a coach, but there's a package that wouldn't have a lot of the business training.
00:04:44
Speaker
So it would be a lower investment level for her there if she wanted to do that. But yes, absolutely. Okay. What might find is that she wants to coach other kids too. And and you'll create a little bit of a side income there. Yeah, ah yeah. And I could just see that going in so many different directions because, you know, moms, which I encourage a lot, I spend a lot of time talking to moms about um being their own person and having an identity outside of their kids. And so even though you might be working with kids, it's still that can become your own thing and away from your family and give yourself your own sense of self-esteem and worth and confidence and all that stuff, because it's the way you're contributing to the
Importance of Self-talk and Identity Building
00:05:23
Speaker
world. So
00:05:24
Speaker
um Speaking of that, what are some specific skills that you teach ah your coaches to help their and help the parents build strong self-esteem in the kids?
00:05:35
Speaker
Well, one of the most powerful skills for self-esteem and confidence is the skill of self-talk. And every moment of every day, we're saying something to ourselves, either through our thoughts or through our words.
00:05:46
Speaker
And those words and thoughts are either building us up or they're tearing us down. We're doing it as adults. our kids are doing it as well and most people aren't even aware of it. So self-talk is one of the most powerful skills to teach children and yeah this is actually the story that we give away for free on our website because it's such an important skill and even if this is the only thing that a parent does it will really support children in their confidence and in their self-esteem and even resilience for them to learn how to talk with themselves in a way that's going to support them in navigating a situation.
00:06:17
Speaker
But they will learn how to identify and shift negative self-talk, then how to proactively build their positive self-talk. And the more they practice, the more it becomes their normal way thinking about themselves to where it can really transform their identity. It's extremely powerful.
00:06:33
Speaker
Yes. And i i love those I love that. I love that because i I use that on myself. I use that with my clients. And and so I can attest to how powerful that
Coaching vs Therapy
00:06:43
Speaker
is. So um for the average listener out there who, you know, maybe they're used to me, but they haven't met a lot of other coaches.
00:06:50
Speaker
What would you say is the difference between a therapist and ah coach, and you know, or or any other profession out there that might be helpers and helping children? Yeah, it's a very important distinction. So if you look at mental health on a continuum where you have mental wellness on one end and mental illness on the other end, counselors and therapists tend to work with children who are more on towards the mental kind of illness side where they have more serious issues that they're dealing with and they work with them to get back to a porn point of being more normalcy, being in their day to day life.
00:07:25
Speaker
Coaches are working with children who are on more the mental wellness side, but it's really about supporting them in developing, proactively developing resilience and coping skills, proactively developing their confidence and self-esteem skills, and then learning how to do things like set and achieve their goals, manage peer pressure, develop self-leadership skills.
00:07:44
Speaker
So it's really being more proactive and helping them build a strong mental fitness before there is a situation, before there is a crisis. We actually on our website to underneath the for parents tab, we have a really powerful infographic. It's a continuum here. I'll show you a picture. It's kind of like this.
00:08:01
Speaker
And it's got a whole list of situations that you might see where coaching applies and then where counseling and therapy might be a better fit as well. And of course, we also advise, you know anytime a child is either threatening, hurting themselves or someone else or doing so. That's absolutely a counselor therapist type situation, but if you're struggling a little bit with their self-esteem or shyness or making friends or, or maybe they're too scared to try out for the baseball team. um Those are types of situations that coaching is phenomenal for you so little fears, fear of the dark or sleeping in their own room.
00:08:39
Speaker
Our ah coaches have gotten amazing results with, with children. Mm, yes, that
Choosing the Right Coach
00:08:45
Speaker
makes so much sense. And so when parents are either looking to become a coach or on the other end, if they're looking to hire a coach, what should they be looking for in that coach?
00:08:55
Speaker
So one thing is is really going to be the fit and just all of our coaches are going to have a conversation with a parent. Now, for a parent who might be interested in working with one of our coaches, we have something called a connect with a coach form on our website where they can describe the situation, what what they're experiencing and the results they would like to see with coaching.
00:09:13
Speaker
And hopefully they've talked with their child, too, about what results they would like to see, because this isn't about fixing kids. It's about empowering children and helping develop these life skills to really be able to thrive in life.
00:09:24
Speaker
And then having that conversation is really important. But it is about you the skill set and the fit. And when someone does fill out one of these forms, our coaches who feel like they could be a good fit for helping that child will be the ones to respond directly to the parent. And then it's up to them as to whether or not it might be a good fit.
00:09:41
Speaker
Okay. Okay.
Success Stories and Global Reach
00:09:43
Speaker
And can you share some stories? Obviously, you know, we hold clients um privacy in in high regard, but um can you anonymously share some success stories of some of the clients that your coaches have worked with?
00:09:56
Speaker
Oh, absolutely. We've got so many on our website and and the book too is just, ah And we always change the names because, like you said, or your privacy is so important. But, you know, one them was a little boy named Tyler and one of our coaches was working with him. And the parents hired him because he was really struggling with both confidence and his self-esteem. In fact, when the first time she met him, he wouldn't look at her, had a really soft tone of voice.
00:10:19
Speaker
And just it was just incredibly withdrawn and shy. And after just a couple of coaching sessions, he started building his confidence a little bit. And one of the things that we do when we're working with children on their confidence is we help them develop what we call stretch activities where they stretch outside of their comfort zone.
00:10:36
Speaker
And one of the stretch activities that they created together was to go to a coffee shop where he would introduce himself to the like the barista and other people there and find out what they like to do just to have conversations.
00:10:49
Speaker
And so the coach, the mom and Tyler went and the mom could not believe what she was seeing. know, her son was talking to different people and just was coming out of his shell.
00:11:00
Speaker
And it's just amazing after just about, I think that was probably six or seven coaching sessions. He was able to really build his confidence. And what was really neat about this story, Laura, I'm is that he lived in a high rise apartment building. This was, I think this was in Europe, if I remember correctly.
00:11:14
Speaker
And he would look out the window and see the boys playing in the play yard. And he was too afraid to go ask them if he could play and build up the courage to go ask them to play. And, you know, they became his playmates. And so it was just really a story of transformation for him, both in his confidence and his self-esteem. and That's just one of so many examples.
00:11:33
Speaker
Yes, I'm sure you've got. So it sounds like, and I think you mentioned, you've got coaches all over the world. that you How many countries did you say? It's actually over 40 now. Our website will say 30, but it's actually over 40 now.
00:11:45
Speaker
Okay, that's amazing. And how have people been able to find you? Like how is how you discovered people in 40 countries? Yes, yes. So, you know whenever we do our marketing, we're we're mostly in the United States. And most of our coaches are in the US or Canada, Australia, because our curriculum is in English right now.
00:12:03
Speaker
But other people just find us like on Google and then referral ah referrals and then ICF training as well. We do a CCE training every month. And that's another way that they find us, too. OK, that makes so much sense. Just because I know I listeners on this podcast are in many countries. And so um I thought that was fascinating that people could find you.
00:12:22
Speaker
um What else should we know today? Like what else is important that we know?
Mindset Skills and Resilience
00:12:27
Speaker
It's just the power of the mind is so critical for our children. Because if you think about it, we're faced with challenges and disappointments. Most children don't have the tools to handle them.
00:12:36
Speaker
So what happens is they will get down on themselves. That's going to crush their self-esteem. They give up on themselves, which is going to crush their confidence. And this doesn't have to happen. Confidence, self-esteem, resilience, self-esteem.
00:12:49
Speaker
These are all skills that can be developed. And coaching is a powerful way to support children in developing their these skills. I mean, I'm i'm amazed at how quickly our coaches can get results with kids. mean, a lot of times, even from the very first session, the parents notice a big change in their kids. So I think that's the main thing. And the other thing, too, is that a coach is not there to replace a parent.
00:13:11
Speaker
They're part of the parent's team. In fact, the book I just wrote, it came out just a few months ago. It's a parent's guide to life coaching for kids. When to add a coach to your parenting team. It really is. That's the way coaches view themselves as they're part of that parent's team. The parents are always the most important person in that child's life. And it's just a matter of getting that little extra support sometimes to support the child in being who they were meant to be in the world.
00:13:35
Speaker
Yes, yes. So tell us more about your book. That sounds fascinating. Well, we put this one together actually for our coaches to use to help them help parents understand what this is all about. And we have a lot of content from this book free on our website aye ah for the underneath the for parents. ah There's a tab that says something like is coaching right for your child. And it's going to share a lot of the information in here, such as, you know, when to add a coach to your parenting team, what are some things to think through?
00:14:01
Speaker
And we have a little checklist that the parents can get to kind of think through is coaching going to right for my family. Yes. Yes. In fact, that's one of the things I did download from your website was the checklist. So tell us a little more about that.
00:14:14
Speaker
Yeah, absolutely. have a copy of it right here. I mean, there's four key areas where we have different questions to ask yourself. One is, you know, how's your child feeling? And you can see, you know, we as parents, we can see what' how our how our child is feeling about themselves, about situation, about school, et cetera. And if they're struggling a little bit, that might be a sign to get a ah coach involved.
00:14:36
Speaker
ah What's the child doing? Now, this is a big one, like around self-responsibility, household chores, screen time, homework, that kind of thing. So what type of behaviors are you seeing in your child? Because a lot of times coaching can support a child in in making better choices and being ah but being the boss of themselves is what we call it.
00:14:55
Speaker
It can be the boss of me. And then, you know, what does the child want? Our coaches have helped children children achieve big goals, whether it's performing their solo on the dance competition, making the all-star team, getting out of a hitting slump, you know if there's different, but making grades.
00:15:10
Speaker
um A lot of our coaches have specialties like working with children who might have learning differences or who are ADHD and helping them learn how to kind of manage the the challenges they might be dealing with and achieve good grades or achievement award that they might be going for as well. So they might have a goal.
00:15:29
Speaker
And then just what do you want? i mean, what what motivated me when I got into all of this is I wanted my children to learn about personal development, to learn about the power of their mind, because I didn't discover until out of college. And I was like, why didn't I learn this when I was a kid?
00:15:43
Speaker
yeah And we will find that the vast majority of our coaches and parents who hire our coaches, they love personal development, self-development type work. A lot of us have the same books on our bookshelves. We're lifelong learners and we want to support our children in building these skills for themselves so that they can navigate life and just be confident and prepared to thrive.
00:16:06
Speaker
Yes, yes, ah which is so
Technology's Role in Mindset Development
00:16:09
Speaker
important. And and so I would love to dig a little bit deeper on the technology use because I feel like I get so many questions on um you know as a parent coach to teenagers, how to set up boundaries for your you know kids and how to navigate the screen time issue and the content and the social media.
00:16:29
Speaker
And so when you're coaching, when your life coaches on your team coach children, How do they address that with the kids? ah Well, I mean, it it is one of the most challenging things that are that parents are dealing with with their children, especially as children start getting into that middle school and high school years. And i think a lot of it is with education educating children about the impact of technology. Have you read the book, The Anxious Generation, by chance?
00:16:58
Speaker
I have. Yes. I just started of that book. I'm 25% of the way through it. And that is something I think every parent needs to read but because it really talks about the impact of screens and of social media on our children's mental health. And it's very eye opening.
00:17:13
Speaker
And I think that for children, for them to understand how technology impacts them as people, um it's going to be really important. I tell you, the other thing, Laura, that we're going to be dealing with is AI.
00:17:24
Speaker
ai Because with AI now, the critical thinking skills that children usually develop in school was suddenly ai is is be answering all these questions for them. it We're going to see that one of the biggest impacts on our children's learning and social emotional development, I think, in the next five years, but maybe even a bigger impact than what we've seen in the last 10 social media.
00:17:49
Speaker
It's going to be profound. I completely agree. it's It's like I've been talking to this with a lot of people about this topic. And it's almost like, you know, when the internet was first getting started, and we still had the little dial up did it did it we had no idea like where that was going, or what it would become, or how it would impact our lives, and that we could go on Amazon and have something to our house at four hours later. Right. like right know And I feel like we're just on the tip of the iceberg with the AI.
00:18:16
Speaker
And so how that's going to impact our kids, I think is really important to be aware of. So I think that what you're doing and what your coaches are doing is now is like the the level of importance is like going even more um through the proof. Because it's impacting how our kids are able to process, like you're saying, their own thoughts, their own feelings, like instead of, you know, yeah. So so what are you seeing as as a potential impact?
Live Coaching Sessions and Social Development
00:18:40
Speaker
Yeah. and And one thing I will share with you, our coaches work live with children. Now, it might be online via Zoom, but they are live. Our children are craving human to human connection, and that is just disappearing in so many children's lives. And it is just such an important component. And that's one thing i encourage all parents is to find any opportunity that they can spend with their children or in situations where they're not in front of screens and videos and that type of thing, because it's going to be so important for their social and emotional development.
00:19:12
Speaker
Yes, I can. I cannot agree more. and And one thing that I have done some reading about is specifically to teenagers where teenagers don't like to be duped.
00:19:23
Speaker
So when they learn that companies are buying and selling that their data, that they are being used as profits, like they're, you know, they're like, we don't like that. We don't want to be part of that. And so as part of the education piece, I know that could probably trickle down to kids as well as like, You know, and it's not to paint, you know, because they might have a parent that's working for a technology company. It's not to paint the technology company as the big bad wolf.
00:19:47
Speaker
But just to have the awareness that like when you're spending your time online, you know, it's not just you getting, you know, entertainment or content or whatever. Company is also getting something as well.
00:19:58
Speaker
Absolutely. You're right about that. Yeah. Yeah. So this has been a fascinating conversation. How can people find you going forward?
Conclusion and Call to Action
00:20:06
Speaker
Well, we invite you to visit our website, adventures.com.
00:20:09
Speaker
inwisdom.com. Check out a free coaching story about self-talk. Just download it today. You have story time tonight and start helping children in your life learn that skill.
00:20:20
Speaker
you're interested in being a coach, we have a tab there that says be a coach. If you're interested in resources for parents or maybe even working with one of our coaches, we have a resource there that says ah or tab there that says for parents and that's how you can learn more.
00:20:31
Speaker
Awesome. Well, Renee, this has been a great conversation. I thank you so much for your time. And hopefully everybody will go check out your website. Thanks for having me.