Host Kristin Carlson interviews Holly Storm, a certified parenting coach, and Mary Mae, a certified trainer with the Center for Nonviolent Communication, about creating safety, space, and understanding through Nonviolent Communication (NVC). They share their personal paths into NVC, emphasize it as a felt-sense consciousness rather than a script, and explain core concepts: observing without judgment, identifying feelings and universal needs, distinguishing needs from strategies (e.g., PLATO), and making requests with openness to “no.” Examples include children’s shoes by the door and supporting toddlers’ disappointment without fixing feelings. They discuss nervous system regulation, triggers, sensory support, and how behaviors like tantrums or teen eye-rolling are protective signals of unmet needs, not permissiveness. They describe modeling and narrating self-regulation, community support, and their 14-week “Foundations of Trust and Connection” cohort plus a continuation program.

www.JoywithMary.com

www.HollyStorm.com

Host Kristin Carlson welcomes Rachna Patel, founder and director of RAAC Academy and author of the memoir "Empowering Echoes," to share how surviving a childhood brain tumor shaped her life and teaching. Rachna describes severe, sporadic pain beginning around age seven, an MRI revealing a large right-side brain tumor, and a high-risk surgery in Atlanta with lasting impacts to vision and memory that required relearning basic skills. With intensive support from family and key mentors, she rebuilt confidence through art, games, and movement-based activities, later becoming an educator who personalizes learning around student interests. She explains RAAC’s growth to 37 project-based classes (K–12), including NASA-themed competitions, hands-on labs, and trivia-buzzer reviews, emphasizing inclusive, meaningful, alternative education for homeschool communities.

www.RAACAcademy.com

Host Kristin Carlson welcomes Colby Sherban, a mother, artist, and community space-holder, to share how her family left small-town Canada during an Alberta winter for a one-way move to Guadalajara, Mexico, seeking more culture, options, and connection to her husband’s Mexican roots. A planned six-month trial became a long-term life after pregnancy and COVID, later leading them to Puerto Vallarta with only a few local contacts. Colby describes ongoing settling, balancing working abroad, and finding community through homeschool meetups and hands-on activities. She explains their interest-led homeschool/unschool approach, managing outside judgments, and how creativity shows up beyond art. They discuss limited “me time,” late-night creating, learning to say no, and hosting an Art and Earth festival.

@mamacocreativa