We are so incredibly excited to introduce you to the Owner of Heart of Connecting.
Hayley is our neighborhood Parenting Coach. I wanted to take this moment for you to get to know her a little bit more.
It is always inspring what we can learn from our Community Trailblazers.
Heart of Connecting’s Hayley opens up and shares her :
Personal Wins:
- Happily married to my amazing husband for 28 years and have always had his support.
- 3 incredible kids and a great family life.
- Immigrated from South Africa and became part of a community and created a life here in the USA.
- Learned new parenting strategies that became essential to changing my parenting style and being able to connect better with my son and being more present and mindful of being the parent he needed me to be. Through my son I learned there is no one size fits all approach to parenting and the learning and growth that can come from parenting a strong willed child. I ‘m definitely a better mom, therapist, coach and person from having parented him.
- Fell in love with German Shepherd’s and the love that comes from rescuing a dog (or many dogs over the years).
- Professional Wins: 5 years ago I took a big leap of faith leaving a job I loved with the Irvine school District and opened a private practice offering parent coaching.
- Learned about marketing and social media and got more proficient and comfortable with public speaking.
- I’ve had the privilege of meeting some amazing parents struggling with their parenting, wanting to do their best raising their kids but feeling overwhelmed and inadequate. I’ve been honored to be a part of their parenting journey coaching them and supporting them and watching their confidence in their parenting grow and their relationship with their kids strengthen. I’ve seen them become calmer parents and their family lives become happier. I’ve watched their little ones growing up as they have been part of my alumni parenting program and have worked with me for many years.
- I’ve developed some long standing relationships with preschools in the community and have coached their teachers and their families for several years. I’ve seen the schools grow and evolve over the years and am so proud to be a part of their community.
- I have a highly focused practice where I get to do great work that I love, I get results and make a difference in my clients lives and the lives of their children and families, while having a family life of my own.
Ninja Tip to Help parents:
You need a parenting plan. That plan begins with knowing what life skills and characteristics are important to you for your kids. What values, morals, traditions to you want to teach them? Who do you want your kids to become? That means more than just raising kids who behave well.
That said, “A goal without a plan is just a wish.”
― Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, author of The Little Prince
Who Inspires Me? My friends inspire me. Everyone has something in their lives that they are struggling with and to watch each of them showing up everyday and doing their best – and falling apart- and getting back up- and celebrating victories- and falling – getting up again. I’m inspired by these wonderful people in my life leading ordinary lives and doing tremendous things to make their little family and their corner of the world the most comfortable and best it can be with life’s ebbs and flows.
How Do You and Your Family Spend Time Together?
Two of my kids are away at college. My daughter is in the Veterinary Medicine Program at UC Davis and my son is at UCLA. Only my youngest daughter is home and is a junior in high school. With my girls we are on a quest to find the best Lavendar Latte so we spend time finding different coffee shops to visit and try their Lavendar Latte’s. As a family we have rescued German shepherds. Two of our shepherds are blind. As a family we love going on hikes, in the hills and on different trails with the dogs. One, for a nice outing and exercise for everyone and two to give the blind dogs an opportunity to have different experiences and use their senses to enjoy life. There is nothing better than exhausted, happy, sleeping shepherd curled up on the couch with you at the end of the day.
What’s a Typical Day For You?
My typical day starts early to get in my own exercise or yoga before starting my work day. A work day for me can be a combination of seeing clients privately for coaching, teaching a parenting class or doing a preschool observation. Somewhere in that day will also include 1-2 hours of walking dogs.
Upcoming Class : Feb 5th
Registration is open on the website and spaces are limited www.heartofconnecting.com/classes-workshops
PHOTO credit: