Today’s topic is one that will resonate with every parent, no matter the age of their kids. I’m thrilled to welcome Karen Moon, a psychotherapist specializing in grief and loss to the podcast. Karen has a private practice in Wayne, Pennsylvania and she has worked with teenagers for over fourteen years. During our conversation, Karen shares her expert wisdom and insight to help parents as they guide their teens through grief and loss. Some of the topics we cover include helping our teens gain resilience, learning to be ok with “I don’t know” and how to get comfortable with the lack of control. As our kids transition back into in-person school this year, this episode is a resource you won’t want to miss.

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In today’s episode, I am delighted to welcome Dr. Tonya Crombie to the podcast. Tonya is an author, a certified life coach, and a parent of two teenagers. Her experience both professionally and personally has equipped her with valuable insight into helping young people manage anxiety and successfully transition to adulthood. During our conversation, we talk about the emotional rollercoaster that we’ve all been on during the past 18 months, why being transparent about our own anxiety can be a huge help to our teens, and why we need to put on our own metaphorical oxygen mask first. Be sure to listen through to the end as Tonya shares why it’s so important for us to befriend our anxiety. Everyone experiences anxiety at some point in their life, so this episode is filled with valuable advice and strategies no matter who you are.

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In this week’s episode, I had the pleasure of interviewing Louis Profeta, M.D. Dr. Profeta has decades of experience as an emergency physician at St. Vincent Hospital of Indianapolis, a level one trauma center. He is also an award-winning writer. You may be familiar with some of his work, including his essay titled “A Sunday Talk on Sex, Drugs, Drinking and Dying”, on the topic of drugs, sexual assault, and alcohol abuse on college campuses. Dr. Profeta travels the country talking to college students and his approach is extremely direct and brutally honest. Trigger warning... we talk about drug and alcohol abuse and the experience of losing a child. Please consider that before listening to this episode. My goal in interviewing Dr. Profeta is to help educate parents about how to prepare their teens for college and life after high school in order to keep them safe. During our conversation, Dr. Profeta shares his wisdom and experience on topics including how to get through to your kids during the tough conversations, the danger of sending your kids to college with prescription drugs, and how to tell if your teen is truly ready to go to college.

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Today’s episode is a must-listen for parents of college-bound teens. My guest today is Susan Paterno, author of “Game On: Why College Admission is Rigged and How to Beat the System.” As Susan explains during our conversation, college admissions is a game but unfortunately, the rules aren’t clear to all participants (especially parents) and colleges have the advantage. But don’t despair, thanks to Susan and her valuable advice, we can level the playing field by equipping ourselves with knowledge, information, and strategies before allowing our kids to incur a paralyzing amount of student loan debt. I say “we” because I am a parent right smack in the middle of this journey. Our high school senior is building his college list and we are getting ready to complete our FAFSA. So I can tell you first-hand that my conversation with Susan is incredibly helpful. She shares some background on how we arrived where we are today, how families can get the best return on investment from college and why the US News college rankings are bogus. Be sure to listen all the way to the end where Susan shares her own family’s journey through the college admissions process and as she offers her expert advice for parents to get the best college deal.

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A few weeks ago I was chatting with a friend whose first-born will be starting freshman year of high school next week. She had some questions about what to expect and how to help her teen navigate high school. It reminded me of when my oldest started high school and how overwhelmed I felt. So, I decided to reach out to friends and the High School Hamster Wheel community to crowd-source some advice from parents of teens. I am certainly not the expert but I am surrounded by high school moms and dads who have “been there, done that” and who have wisdom and experience to share. I couldn’t think of anyone better to join me in this episode than my favorite podcast moms, Susan Borison and Stephanie Silverman from Your Teen for Parents. As I’ve said before more than once, the best advice and support I have received has been from parents of teens who are a few years ahead of mine. We thought it would be fun to share the “what to do” advice on the Your Teen podcast and the “what not to do” here on the High School Hamster Wheel podcast. So be sure to tune in to Your Teen when you finish this episode. While this conversation is geared toward parents of freshmen, there’s a lot here for parents of high schoolers no matter what grade they are in.

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In this episode, I welcome Josh Burnette to the show. Josh is a business owner and the co-author of two Adulting 101 books. We hear that term being thrown around a lot lately. Adulting. It’s defined as “the practice of behaving in a way characteristic of a responsible adult, especially the accomplishment of mundane but necessary tasks.” As Josh describes it, adulting does include the tactical aspects and the hard skills, but it’s also very much about cultivating healthy adulthood and living your best life. During our conversation, Josh shares the benefits of having a job at a young age and some dos and don’ts for teen job seekers. He has a lot of experience working with young people, as he is the owner and operator of a Chick-fil-A restaurant in Virginia. You won’t want to miss the four core principles for success that Josh instills in his team. No matter what your actual age, this episode has something for everyone who wants to become better at adulting!

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I’m joined today by my partner-in-career-coaching Jay DuSold. This episode will sound a bit different from others I’ve published. I’m sharing the audio from a recent live event that Jay and I held in our Life After 12th Facebook group, so the format is different. Unfortunately, the audio quality isn’t as good as I hoped but please don’t let that deter you from listening all the way to the end. This topic is one of the most important I’ve covered on this podcast. It’s all about helping young people see and understand their SHAPE. You may be wondering what I mean by SHAPE. Well, it’s an acronym for the five facets of a person's inner wiring that directly relates to career direction. Listen in as we explain each facet and why they are so important for finding career direction. And after listening to our conversation, if you still have questions or need more clarification, please reach out to me or to Jay. We’d love to connect with you.

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This episode is a long one but please stay with me until the end. Trust me when I say it’s worth every minute of your time. I’m joined today by Dr. Paul J. LeBlanc. Dr. LeBlanc has spent more than 17 years as President of Southern New Hampshire University. If you haven’t heard of SNHU until now, you’re not alone. I hadn’t heard of it either until a mutual connection introduced me to Dr. LeBlanc. It’s definitely worth mentioning that SNHU was #12 on Fast Company magazine’s “World’s Fifty Most Innovative Companies” list and was the only university included. Forbes Magazine has listed Dr. LeBlanc as one of its 15 “Classroom Revolutionaries” and one of the “most influential people in higher education.” After listening to today’s episode, you will understand why. During our conversation, Dr. LeBlanc talks about the key to building resiliency in young people, why finding the right college fit is not as simple as it sounds, and why the choice of college major is far more important than the choice of school. Dr. LeBlanc discusses the three goals he sets every day and the reasons we need more flexibility in higher education. If you are like me, you will be amazed when you hear about the innovative competency-based education model happening at SNHU’s College for America. Be sure to stay tuned until the end when Dr. LeBlanc shares the one most important question that parents should be asking when helping their teen choose a college.

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Today’s episode is one that I believe will benefit parents of teens going off to college or on to any next step after high school. It’s all about taking proactive steps to help ensure your teen or young adult is equipped and empowered to succeed in their next chapter. I connected with my guest, Carol Ben-Davies, through her post in a parenting Facebook group where we are both members and knew I had to have her on the show. As a society, we are so focused on making sure our kids get into college and figuring out how we will pay for it, that we spend very little time thinking about what happens after our kids get there. Are they set up for success? Are they prepared for what lies ahead? Do they have a plan in place if things go off the rails? Carol shares wisdom and insight from her time on the inside in both college admissions and student life. Carol’s actionable advice for parents can mean the difference between staying in school and dropping out.

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In this episode, I’m welcoming back a familiar face (and voice), my friend and partner in crime, Jay DuSold. For those who may not know much about Jay, he is the founder of MapInMe Career Coaching for Teens, and as of a few months ago, I began working with him in his coaching business. Last week, Jay and I delivered our first-ever Find Your Fits Career Exploration Workshop for teens and young adults. We offered it in person, in my hometown in central Florida. The workshop was based upon Jay’s program and methodology and we tailored it to fit within three evening sessions. Needless to say, it was a jam-packed three evenings but in the end, based on the feedback from our attendees, it was a huge success. At the end of the workshop, we asked participants to provide us with some feedback and we included one important question in particular because we knew that parents would want to know the answer. During our conversation, we are sharing the feedback (anonymously) in the hope that it will help parents and other adults as they guide their teens to life after 12th. 

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