The Butterfly Effect

The Power of Play: How Nature Helps Children Heal and Thrive 

Play isn't simply a childhood pastime — it's essential to healthy brain development, emotional well-being and resilience. But for children growing up in poverty, access to safe outdoor spaces and opportunities for unstructured play can be limited, potentially affecting their development and ability to heal from trauma. 

In this episode of The Butterfly Effect, Carol welcomes early childhood expert Audrey Rowland to explore the science behind play and why thoughtfully designed, nature-inspired environments are critical to helping children thrive. They challenge conventional thinking about playgrounds and make a compelling case for treating access to outdoor play as an essential investment in a child’s future.  

Discover why the freedom to play may be one of the most powerful opportunities we can give a child — and what parents, educators and community leaders can do to protect it. 

Carol and Audrey discuss: 

• Why play is essential, not optional (hint: it supports brain development). 
• The healing power of nature 
• Play as an investment in breaking the cycles of trauma and poverty, supporting strong families and creating healthier communities. 
• How to incorporate natural elements such as sand, rocks and water in your own yard or nearby green space to encourage exploration, appropriate risk-taking, creativity and independence. 

Enjoyed this conversation? Subscribe to The Butterfly Effect for more thought-provoking discussions, and share this episode with someone who might find it inspiring or helpful. 

The Butterfly Effect is recorded at Riverside Coworking, powered by the non-profit Center for Transforming Lives in Fort Worth.

Executive Producers: Carol Klocek, Trish Rodriguez and Jordan Moralez

Recording Engineer: Chad Burns

Original Music: Chris Jobe

Video production and editing: Jordan Moralez and Megan Kim

In This Episode 

What does it take to turn a promising idea into a business that creates lasting economic opportunity? In this episode, Carol talks with small business graduate and entrepreneur Chaka about building C. Collins Consulting Services from an idea into a thriving logistics business — and the role that education, coaching and access to opportunity played in helping her grow. 

Carol and Chaka discuss: 

• Chaka’s journey from $13/hour with a master’s degree to becoming a business owner with far more income, flexibility and control over her family’s financial future. 
• How education, coaching, mentorship and strong networks turn ideas into sustainable businesses. 
• The power of social capital: Chaka entered the small business program looking for knowledge but gained relationships, networking opportunities and connections that helped open new doors.  
• Flexible entrepreneurship, and supports like free drop-in child care, that make it possible for mothers to pursue economic opportunity while caring for their families.  
• From one client to 62: Chaka shares how preparation, persistence and business education helped her move from an idea to significant business growth.  
• Entrepreneurship changed more than her income, by exposing her children to new skills, possibilities and expectations for their own futures.  

When communities invest not only in entrepreneurs’ skills, but also in the resources and family supports that make entrepreneurship possible, small business development can become a powerful tool for disrupting intergenerational poverty. 

Subscribe, leave a review and share this episode with someone who needs to hear Chaka's story.

Enjoyed this conversation? Subscribe to The Butterfly Effect for more thought-provoking discussions, and share this episode with someone who might find it inspiring or helpful. 

The Butterfly Effect is recorded at Riverside Coworking, powered by the non-profit Center for Transforming Lives in Fort Worth.

Executive Producers: Carol Klocek, Trish Rodriguez and Jordan Moralez

Recording Engineer: Chad Burns

Original Music: Chris Jobe

Video production and editing: Jordan Moralez and Megan Kim

In This Episode

"I wanted to change the trajectory of my bloodline because it's just always been poverty.”

In this episode, Carol visits with TaNisha, a Center for Transforming Lives graduate and mother of four, for a powerful conversation about homelessness; the barriers single mothers face around child care, transportation and financial stability; how trauma can leave people feeling “frozen” in survival mode; the importance of trauma-informed support; TaNisha’s breakthrough with therapy; and what it means to break cycles of generational poverty.

Most importantly, TaNisha offers a message of hope to others who may be where she once was: difficult circumstances can be part of your story, without becoming the end of it.

Carol and TaNisha discuss:

• Why staying with friends or family doesn't necessarily mean someone has a safe or stable home
• The challenges single mothers face without reliable child care, transportation, financial resources or support from another parent
• How trauma can leave people feeling “frozen,” which others may mistakenly interpret as lack of motivation
• The importance of being treated without judgment
• The role counseling and EMDR* played in helping TaNisha break the cycle of poverty
• Graduating with honors, setting an example for her children and pursuing a career helping others

*EMDR  stands for Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing, a therapeutic approach used to help people process traumatic experiences.

Subscribe, leave a review and share this episode with someone who needs to hear TaNisha’s story.

Enjoyed this conversation? Subscribe to The Butterfly Effect for more thought-provoking discussions, and share this episode with someone who might find it inspiring or helpful. 

The Butterfly Effect is recorded at Riverside Coworking, powered by the non-profit Center for Transforming Lives in Fort Worth.

Executive Producers: Carol Klocek, Trish Rodriguez and Jordan Moralez

Recording Engineer: Chad Burns

Original Music: Chris Jobe

Video production and editing: Jordan Moralez and Megan Kim

The Butterfly Effect is a podcast hosted by Center for Transforming Lives featuring our very own participants and staff, local experts and more. 

Enjoyed this conversation? Subscribe to The Butterfly Effect for more thought-provoking discussions, and share this episode with someone who might find it inspiring or helpful. 

The Butterfly Effect is recorded at Riverside Coworking, powered by the non-profit Center for Transforming Lives in Fort Worth.

Executive Producers: Carol Klocek, Trish Rodriguez and Jordan Moralez

Recording Engineer: Chad Burns

Original Music: Chris Jobe

Video production and editing: Jordan Moralez and Megan Kim