Communicating with our teens isn’t always easy, especially when the topic of conversation is related to their plans (or lack of a plan) after high school. In this episode, I am joined by Melanie Studer and her young adult son, Sam. Melanie is the author of “College Bound: The Ultimate List of Conversations to Help Your Teen Through High School”. During our conversation, Melanie and Sam share their experience during Sam’s high school and college years and offer suggestions for families about keeping the lines of communication open. You won’t want to miss Melanie’s tips for getting teens to start thinking about their future and why it’s important to set clear expectations early so that everyone is on the same page. 

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The timing of this episode is extremely relevant and there’s no one else I’d rather have with me than Jane and Jason Sarouhan of J2Guides. In this episode, we talk about gap year experiences during COVID-19. You might be feeling that this is not a good time to think about a gap year, when in fact, the opposite is true. The gap year is not only surviving, it’s thriving. During our conversation, we discuss the benefits of taking an intentional gap year during COVID, the key word here being intentional. If your family is just starting to think about a gap year or if you’re already deep into the research, there is a wealth of great advice and information in this episode, you aren’t going to want to miss it.

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In this episode, I am joined by Allison Dillard. Allison is an author, an adjunct math professor, and the host of the Allison Loves Math podcast. On her podcast, she talks with education and parenting experts about how to empower kids to do well in math and STEM. As I reveal in the podcast, math has not always been my strong suit, which I think is true for a lot of people. In fact, I used to joke that math is a four-letter word. During our conversation, Allison shines a light on how to help our teens not be afraid of math and how to get over any math anxiety they may have, and how we can help them work through their problems (pun intended!) Allison also shares why statistics are helpful for all students, no matter what path they're taking and why it's important for our kids to be able to try and fail in order to succeed. There's a lot of great advice and suggestions from Allison here, whether your kids love math or not!

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I've had some parents request that I provide some help and resources for parents of teens with learning differences who are planning to attend college. I am fortunate to have crossed paths with an expert in this field and she is joining me in this episode. My guest today is Debbie Cinquemani of Guide Us Educational Services. Debbie specializes in working with students with learning differences, an area of college counseling that is vastly underserved. She is passionate about finding every student the school that is their best fit. In this episode, Debbie and I talk about when and how to begin the college planning process, how the landscape of college admissions is changing and the importance of finding a school that is the best fit for your teen. Debbie provides valuable advice for parents about determining your teen's college readiness, and why it's so critical for teens to be authentic when writing their college essays. There's something here for every parent of teens, so be sure to take a listen.

Guide Us Educational Services website: http://www.guideusinc.com/

Guide US Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/GuideUsInc

Contact Debbie: [email protected]

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In this week's episode, I am celebrating my one year anniversary as host of the High School Hamster Wheel podcast. The past year has been more fun and more fulfilling than I could have ever imagined. And what better way to celebrate this milestone than with two of my new best friends, who also happen to be previous podcast guests, Dr. Anna Stumpf and Jay DuSold. Heads up, Jay and Anna spend a lot of time gushing about me and my podcast during this episode and the feeling is mutual. I have great respect for the work that they do in helping our teens find the path that is right for them. I am beyond grateful for the support I have received from Anna and Jay and best of all, I am now blessed to be able to call them my friends. I can say with certainty that I wouldn't have made it through this first year without them. During our conversation, we talk about some of the topics I've covered over the past year and I share my "why" for leaving my corporate job and starting the podcast. A special thank you to my listeners for joining me on this journey. I hope you will stay tuned and keep listening, the best is yet to come!

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In this episode, I'm thrilled to welcome to the show. Erica Smentowski. Erica and I crossed paths online in another parenting Facebook group and when I read her post, I knew that I wanted to learn more about her family. Erica is the proud mom of two teenage boys. Her older son, Nathan is 17 years old and he's on the autism spectrum. He just began his senior year of high school and he still unsure about his path going forward. During our conversation, Erica shares all about Nathan's journey through high school and the steps they're taking to help Nathan explore his future career opportunities.

Be sure to visit the show notes page for all relevant links and resources.

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In this week’s episode, I’m joined by Tanya Meessmann. After a successful career in corporate America, Tanya pivoted, and now has a company called Girl Shaped Flames. Tanya mentors young ambitious girls and she helps them develop self-confidence and self-belief. As a mom to two teenage sons, I live in a world that's mostly boy-focused. So it was a pleasure to talk to Tanya about her experience with girls and what we as parents can learn about raising teens. Much of our conversation revolves around teenagers in general, so don't worry, boy-moms, there's plenty here for you as well. During our conversation, we talk about why it's so important to protect our relationship with our teens, and Tanya offers three valuable suggestions about how to keep our relationships strong. We also talk about why as parents, we should try to meet our kids where they are today rather than focusing on who they were when they were younger or who we hoped they would be.

Be sure to visit the show notes page for all relevant links and resources.

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In this episode, I welcome John Walsh to the podcast. John is a bestselling author, speaker, coach, and business advisor with a passion for helping students and young professionals accelerate their potential and stand out when it matters most. As the president and CEO of StandoutX, he and his team work with other experts around the world to inspire and develop the next generation of high performers, leaders, and difference-makers in business and in life. Before becoming the leader of the Standout movement, John spent 20+ years as a successful finance and strategy executive with The Walt Disney Company and the Madison Square Garden Company. John has completed multiple marathons, including last year's race in New York City and he lives in central Florida with his wife and three children. You won't want to miss our conversation as John talks about his journey from homeless in high school to business executive, to entrepreneur. His StandoutX company is all about making a difference in the world, and he has a pretty lofty goal of reaching 10 million people in 10 years. During our conversation, John offers lots of great advice for parents, including how to help our teens get to know themselves, who they are and where they're going, how to find their purpose and fulfill it, and why we shouldn't protect our kids from the downside, but rather help them explore the upside.

Be sure to visit the show notes page for all relevant links and resources.

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In this episode, I’m joined by Jordan Paris. Jordan has achieved so much success at such a young age that I just had to share his story with you. During our conversation, Jordan talks about his journey to entrepreneurship, why he believes we should all begin with the end in mind, and the importance of choosing a college major that will deliver a return on investment (ROI). He has great advice for young people about starting a business and shares why he felt compelled to start his super successful Growth Mindset University podcast.

Be sure to visit the show notes page for all relevant links and resources.

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In this episode, I had the absolute pleasure of interviewing Laurie Bodine. Laurie is the founder of START Leadership, an education, and training company. The work she does with families and schools gives parents and teachers evidence-based tools to equip kids with the mindset and skills that they need to lead well, be well and do well in today's increasingly competitive and rapidly changing world. During our conversation, Laurie offers great advice and actionable tips for parents to help our teens find their purpose and connection, how to develop a family model of leadership, and how to teach our teens to become the leader of their own lives.

Be sure to visit the show notes page for all relevant links and resources.

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