High School Hamster Wheel

I am thrilled to welcome Blake Boles to the podcast. Blake is the founder and director of Unschool Adventures, as well as an author, speaker, educator and podcaster. During our conversation, Blake and I discuss the various alternative learning paths and why parents need to learn to release control of their kids’ education in order to build a more authentic relationship. Blake is an expert in the f...

In today's episode, I have two special guests joining me. One is my son, Ethan. He's 16 years old and a junior in high school. Also joining me is Jay DuSold. Jay has spent decades working with teens and their parents as a speaker, writer, learning experience designer, mentor, and coach. His work as a career guide began in 2014 while helping his own son figure out what to do after high school. He n...

I am delighted to welcome Maia Agranoff to the podcast. Maia is the mom of two young men who have both taken very different journeys than what many kids experience. One of her sons started his own business when he was just 13 years old and reached a million dollars in sales by the time he turned 16. What I love about this conversation is that Maia has so much experience and wisdom. I always say, t...

In today's episode, I'm joined by my youngest guest to date. Her name is Charlotte and she's 14 years old. Charlotte is quite an amazing young woman. At the age of 12, she started her own Pinterest business and now, two years later, she's created a course to teach others. Charlotte's mom, Annette, also joins us during this conversation and we talk about parenting young entrepreneurs, why we need t...

My guest this week is Ken Burke. Ken is the founder and CEO of The EntrepreneurNOW! Network. He is a speaker, serial entrepreneur, mentor, and author. Ken founded MarketLive, a market-leading, enterprise-class eCommerce software platform used by major merchants generating two billion dollars in online sales through the platform. He sold MarketLive to Vista Equity Partners in 2016. Ken authored the...

In this episode, I'm joined by mother and daughter Punam and Lyla Saxena. As the mother to four young adults, Punam has years of experience parenting teens and has lots of valuable advice to share. Lyla is a current college student and is wise beyond her years. She offers great suggestions for teens who are figuring out their path after high school. During our conversation, we talk about the impor...

In this week’s episode, I welcome Dr. Shelly Gruenig to the show. Shelly is a homeschool mom of three successful adults, a STEM entrepreneur, and a career coach. During our conversation, we talk about the importance of exposing kids to Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) from an early age. Shelly believes that our teenagers want to do hard things, and she has some great suggestions a...

With schools getting ready to reopen over the next few weeks, parents need helpful tips and strategies to guide their teens as they return to campus. There’s no better source for accurate, science-based information than my guest today, Diana Stark. Diana is the Director of Infection Prevention and Control for Oviedo Medical Center and UCF Lake Nona Medical Center located in central Florida. During...

In this episode, I am joined by Loren Kelly and Rebecca Stansfield. As she approached the end of her sophomore year of college, like many students, Becca was really starting to feel the pressure to choose a major. She was unsure of what her path would be beyond college and really needed some help in declaring a major. So she sought out help from Loren and they've worked together to help Becca desi...

Preparing ourselves for the empty nest phase isn’t always easy. Parents typically spend more time and effort focusing on getting their kids ready for their next chapter and spending little or no time preparing themselves. In this week’s episode, I welcome my friend and fellow podcaster, Colleen Rosenblum to the show. Colleen has a lot of wisdom and insight to share based on her own journey to beco...

In this week's episode, I am delighted to welcome Christopher St-Hilaire to the podcast. Christopher is an extraordinary young man and he is proof that bumpy roads lead to beautiful destinations. At the young age of fifteen, Christopher was feeling uninspired and uninterested in what he was learning in high school, so he made the difficult decision to take a "leave of absence" from high school in...

In this episode, I am joined by Gabe Nossier. Gabe is a transformative life coach for athletes. He works with professional athletes, weekend warriors, non-athletes, and parents of athletes in workshops, small groups, and individual coaching sessions. Gabe also hosts the "Clarity for Parents of Athletes" podcast, which is designed to help guide parents through stories from professional athletes abo...

My guest today is Calvalyn Day. You might remember Calvalyn from episode 9 of the podcast. She is a former school counselor and now works as a coach and consultant serving schools across the country. Calvalyn is also the author of two books, Drag Em Kicking and Screaming and Authentically Engaged Families. She has a wealth of experience working with families and teens. Most importantly, Calvalyn i...

I am thrilled to welcome Joanna Lilley to the podcast this week. Joanna is a Therapeutic Consultant, Gap Year Consultant, and College Success Coach. During our conversation, Joanna shares helpful advice for parents of teens to help us transition from parent to partner. As our teens make their way through high school and out into the world, we as parents need to learn how to empower our kids to be...

In this week's episode, I am delighted to introduce you to Morgan Peterson. Morgan is a rising college senior at North Carolina State University majoring in Fashion and Textile Management. Morgan is a highly-motivated young woman. Through her own creativity and perseverance, she found a way to secure not one but FOUR internships this summer. Morgan wasn't always a confident go-getter. She struggle...

In this week’s episode, I’m delighted to welcome back Golden Ticket Prof, Dr. Anna Stumpf. Anna is passionate about helping young people succeed and today she shares all of the reasons that LinkedIn is a valuable tool for teenagers and young adults. You might be thinking that without a lot of work experience or not being very far in their career, LinkedIn is a waste of time for young people. This...

It’s no secret. Our teens and young adults are facing a competitive and uncertain job market. In this episode, I had the pleasure of interviewing Leah Jewell. Leah is the former Managing Director for Employability Learning Solutions at Pearson, where she built learning solutions for high school, higher education, and adult lifelong learners, specifically around accelerated skills pathways to indus...

In this episode, I am delighted to welcome Dana Malstaff. Dana is the CEO and Founder of Boss Mom. She is a mother, author, speaker, business strategist, podcaster, blind spot reducer, and movement maker. Dana launched the Boss Mom brand with her first book Boss Mom: The Ultimate Guide to Raising a Business & Nurturing Your Family Like a Pro in 2015 and has turned the brand into an international m...

During this time of uncertainty, high school and college students are worried about what their future holds while in college and beyond. As soon the quarantine is lifted and businesses begin hiring again, the job market will be more competitive than ever. How can a college student choose a major that they enjoy while also ensuring they will find employment after graduation? And how should a recent...

In this week's episode, I had the absolute pleasure of speaking with Susan Spencer and her daughter, Charlotte Cramer. I was intrigued by an article that I read online written by Susan and I knew I just had to reach out and interview them. Luckily for me, they accepted my invitation. Their story begins when Charlotte made the difficult decision to leave college after her sophomore year. My convers...

This episode is the audio from a recent Facebook Live event that I co-hosted with Debbie Schwartz of Road2College. Debbie and I spoke with Jane and Jason Sarouhan of J2Guides. You might remember them from episode 16 on my podcast. During our conversation, we talk about the reasons why it might make sense to consider a gap year for the fall of 2020. With all of the uncertainty on college campuses r...

In this week's episode, I am sharing the audio recording from a recent Facebook Live event that I co-hosted with Debbie Schwartz of Road2College.com. During this live event, we interviewed Michael Horn and Jeff Selingo and heard their take on what's next in the world of higher education. Some of the topics we discussed include how college admissions will change in the coming months, the continuous...

Kellyann Rohr is a Licensed Mental Health Counselor and School Counselor working for Florida Virtual School.  As we all navigate our "new normal" including moving our kids to distance learning, Kellyann offers helpful advice to parents of kids of all ages. During our conversation, you will hear about why it's important for you, as a parent, to get your panic in check and to learn to trust the proc...

In this episode, I had the pleasure of interviewing Karla Quintanilla. To say that Karla is something special would be the understatement of the year. Karla is one of the wisest, most mature 20-somethings I've met in a long time. Just wait until you hear her story about the big aha moment she had in high school that led her to take a gap year. I'm sure you will be inspired by Karla when you hear a...

Dr. Marcia Morris is a psychiatrist who has worked with college students for over 20 years at the University of Florida providing psychiatric care. She is an Associate Professor in the Department of Psychiatry and she is also a Program Director for Student Health Care Center Psychiatry. In this episode, we talk about the ways we can help our kids with mental health challenges including depression,...