Answer: I started my own speaking practice when I was employed by Catholic Social Services of the Miami Valley, teaching a parenting class I’d developed on my own through an 8-year, research-based literature study. The funding for the program only allowed for a part-time position and we had so many parents requesting the program that I had waiting lists and more speaking requests than I could meet.
I was advised by my supervisor to start my own practice to handle the overflow. That speaking practice, Parents Toolshop Consulting, expanded to include a DBA publishing company, Ambris Publishing, when I published my first book, “The Parent’s Toolshop.” In 2011, I expanded internationally and started co-creating programs to improve other relationships by partnering with niche experts (i.e. ChristianToolshop.com, SchoolToolshop.com). So now both Parents Toolshop Consulting and Ambris Publishing are DBAs, like subsidiaries but not technically subsidiaries (they are all under same EIN), all are part of Relationship Toolshop. I’ve also created several niche Toolshop programs that aren’t separate companies but have their own sites.
Q: What led you to this point in your career?
A: I was definitely led to this point. I did not anticipate or strive to get here — I worked hard, yes, but sometimes what I pushed to achieve is not what manifested and what did was the result of many cool coincidences.
I’m one of only a few second-generation parenting educators in the world … it started there … but doors and opportunities have opened up to me that were quite unexpected, and I said “yes.” For example, I called Springboro Star Press to put a classified ad in their paper for a casual mom-at-home support group I was starting and they did a full-page article. That’s how I started The Family Network, a local nonprofit that served local parents (not just moms at home) for over 25 years.
Since I’m local, I teach my multi-week, research-based parent series in person through local partners like Kettering Health Network.
National media experience helped me become a trusted parenting expert to the local media, too. I was a columnist for the original Dayton Parent Magazine, Springboro Star Press, the Dayton Daily News 937/513 Moms website, and co-producer/on-air expert for the Emmy-nominated Ident-a-Kid series on WDTN-TV with Donna Jordan. I was also nominated three times for the Dayton Daily News’ “Outstanding Woman of the Miami Valley” award.
For more than 20 years, I’ve hosted a monthly series, Parents Tool Talk, starting as a teleseminar then internet radio show (podcast) and now webinars. The archives now stream on The Parents Toolshop TV Roku channel in 10 languages.
In 2011, I expanded my company to Relationship Toolshop International Training Institute, to partner with niche experts to co-create new Toolshop programs.
I have trained more than 100,000 parents and professionals worldwide and certified more than 100 Parents Toolshop coaches and educators in eight countries. For more than 20 years I’ve been a top trainer for the Ohio Child Welfare Training Program (OCWTP) and San Diego’s Foster Adoptive Kinship Caregiver Education (SD-FAKCE) program (10 years).
Q: Who are a couple of people you think of as your professional board of directors (the folks you go to for advice and support)?
A: I have had an accountability partner in CA for more than 15 years, Donna Mills. We are both coaches and we coach and support each other. I was a team leader for an international Product creation and Coaching course with Michael Port (Book Yourself Solid) and Mitch Meyerson (bestselling author of “When Parents Love too Much” who co-created “Guerilla Marketing on the Internet” and the Guerilla Marketing Coaching program with Jay Conrad Levinson). Donna was on my team. After the course, I provided ongoing group support. Over the years, other members dropped off, but Donna and I have continued supporting each other both professionally and personally.
I also work closely with some of the leaders of the non-profits I serve. Specifically, I’d go to Debbie Farr, president of National Parenting Education Network; Betty Cooke, the chair of the Competencies Committee and founding member of NPEN; and Dawn Cassidy, the former head of the Certified Family Life Educator program at the National Council on Family Relations.
Q: What is advice you have for women growing their careers?
A: I read a book in the 1980s that guided my life decisions, "Sequencing," by Arlene Rossen Cardozo. One line says it all, “You can have it all, just not all at once.” By “sequencing” my life I have been able to do almost everything I wanted to while keeping family a priority, which is important to me. It allows me to be present in whatever I’m doing. Even when I was a mom at home, I was building my career, so there’s always something you can do to grow your career. It’s the little things you do that can add up to impressive results later. You do have to be self-disciplined and self-motivated.
Q: When you were a child, what career did you hope to have?
A: I already pretended to be a mother and a teacher — and being a parenting educator I am both!
Q: Are you involved in any cohorts, boards, nonprofits?
A: I volunteer extensively for the National Council on Family Relations, specifically the Certified Family Life Educator credentialing program, National Parenting Education Network and Family Life Coaching Association. I am a founding member of the latter two.
WOMEN IN BUSINESS
Are you a woman in leadership in your business or know someone who is and deserves the spotlight? Email details for consideration to be featured to Editor Mandy Gambrell at mandy.gambrell@coxinc.com.