Make It a Great One with Dr. Dan: #1 Podcast for Inspiring Conversations to Live and Lead On Purpose

Dr. Dan Peters welcomes Sarah Thomas, the co-founder and Chief Imaginator for Kalamata’s Kitchen, a global franchise helping kids learn about cultures through adventures with food. She authored the Kalamata book series with renowned chefs (including Chef Eric Ripert), developed the Taste Bud Travel Guide, hosted live tasting events for kids across the U.S., and attracted celebrity ‘taste buds’ including Padma Lakshmi and Chrissy Tiegen. She recently launched a free Kitchen Exploration Passport to help keep kids adventuring in the kitchen during the pandemic.  Sarah spent her childhood surrounded by good food, books, and entertainment. In this episode, Sarah Thomas tells Dr. Dan “If you get kids to be more thoughtful about what they consume, they’ll naturally make better decisions as they get older, and that’s what all of us want for the next generation.”  Dr. Dan and Sarah discuss: Sarah’s story  Why food is the perfect tool to nurture curiosity and compassion in kids  How to help picky-eaters by creating authentic child-led experiences The Kalamata character (a little girl from India) and her pal Al Dente and how these characters inspire kids to discover cultures, food and build empathy in the process Sarah’s Parent Footprint Moment is about her first time reading her book to a class of young children and why she’ll never forget one child’s response to meeting Kalamata for the first time.  Sarah was most recently a sommelier in New York City at three-starred Michelin restaurant, La Bernardin. She holds a pre-med degree as well as literature and politics and a Master’s degree in English Renaissance literature.  For more information go to: https://www.kalamataskitchen.com/pages/our-story Watch this free video to learn more about Dr. Dan and Parent Footprint Awareness Training®. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Dr. Dan welcomes Cécile David-Weill, French American author and parent, to Episode 96 to discuss her new book Parents Under the Influence: Words of Wisdom from a Former Bad Mother.  In her book (part memoir and part guide), Cécile David-Weill draws on her own parenting mistakes and successes as well as case studies and works of fiction to guide readers to become more effective, nurturing parents. This unique book offers both insight and remedy to those parents who are unknowingly under the influence of their own childhood experiences, and unwittingly repeating their parents’ mistakes while believing they are doing the right thing.  Dr. Dan and Cecile discuss many topics and thankfully for all listeners dispute the perfect parent myth. Dr. Dan and Cecile talk about parenting advice including:   How to talk through your own childhood and identify sources of trauma   How to spend time with your children in a way that’s enjoyable – and benefits everyone   The importance of getting rid of all preconceived notions of who your child will become   The importance of the silent relationship between mother and children   Why, despite the common thought, worrying is not a form of love   Why parents should be real and authentic (hint: children know when we are faking it)   and more Cécile’s entire book informs her Parent Footprint moment. She shares a story about music and her son -- listeners will never forget it! Cécile David-Weill is French and American. She published her first novel, Béguin, under the name of Cécile de la Baume. The Suitors, her third novel, was published by Other Press in 2013. David-Weill is a regular contributor to the online French news magazine Le Point, with a column entitled "Letters from New York." She was born in New York, where she currently lives. For more information visit:   https://www.ceciledavid-weill.com/ Watch this free video to learn more about Dr. Dan and Parent Footprint Awareness Training®. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Dr. Dan welcomes “The Windy City Nanny” Florence Ann Romano to episode 95.  A childcare expert and entrepreneur, Florence is also the author of Nanny and Me.  She joins the show today to talk about playtime, childcare, nanny wisdom, and more. Florence Ann Romano, The Windy City Nanny™ (www.WindyCityNanny.com), is a dedicated philanthropist and former nanny who has always had a special place in her heart for children. Romano worked for over 15 years as a nanny, beginning as a 'Mommy's helper' at the age of 11.  Dr. Dan and Florence discuss the importance of empathy, parenting awareness, and what Florence calls the “healthy trifecta.”  Florence’s career as a nanny as well as her informative website provide resources on many topics including: What really works for caretakers and children? How ditching electronic devices playtime benefits children     What are some of the best ways for parents to homeschool their children (especially in the midst of COVID-19)? The reason the best parenting practices come from the entire family working together Florence’s book about her lifelong childcare experiences -- Nanny and Me (Mascot Books, May 2015) -- helps children make the transition from being cared for solely by their parents to having a nanny in their home. The Parent Footprint Moment at the end of the show will resonate with parents and encourage parents to being open to learn and grow alongside their children. For more information and to meet Florence visit:  www.windycitynanny.com.  Watch this free video to learn more about Dr. Dan and Parent Footprint Awareness Training®. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Dr. Dan welcomes psychological safety expert and the Founder/CEO of LeaderFactor Tim Clark to the show today to discuss his new book The 4 Stages of Psychological Safety and how these lessons can help parents. Timothy R. Clark is founder and CEO of LeaderFactor, a consulting, coaching, and training organization. Dr. Clark is an international authority in the fields of psychological safety & innovation, large-scale change & transformation, and senior leadership development.  In his new book, The 4 Stages of Psychological Safety: Defining the Path to Inclusion and Innovation , Dr. Clark explains that fear has a profoundly negative impact on engagement, learning efficacy, productivity, and innovation, and that until now there has been a lack of practical information on how to make us feel safe about speaking up and contributing at home or at work..  Today Dr. Dan and Dr. Clark discuss these high-level leadership concepts in an accessible and enlightening conversation touching upon important parenting topics such as:  Psychological Safety  Trust Fear Human Needs Love Acceptance As a social scientist and an organizational consultant, Dr. Clark’s book provides a framework to move people through four successive stages of psychological safety: Member, Learning, Contributor, and Challenger which are detailed in the book and he touches upon these stages during today’s show with Dr. Dan. At the end of Episode 94, Dr. Clark describes a revealing Parent Footprint Moment about his son and how he had to change his parenting style to meet the needs of his son. Dr. Clark is also the author of Epic Change: How to Lead Change in the Global Age (John Wiley/Jossey-Bass), Leadership Bones (Bradmore Road Press), The Employee Engagement Mindset (McGraw- Hill), Leading with Character and Competence: Moving Beyond Title, Position, And Authority (Berrett-Koehler).  He earned a PhD in social science from Oxford University, and was both a British Research Scholar and a Fulbright Scholar at Seoul National University in Korea. He also earned a master’s degree in Government and economics from the University of Utah. As an undergraduate at Brigham Young University, he was named a first-team Academic All-American football player where he completed a triple degree cum laude.  For more information visit https://www.leaderfactor.com/ Watch this free video to learn more about Dr. Dan and Parent Footprint Awareness Training®. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Dr. Dan welcomes author Elizabeth Segran to episode 93 to discuss her book THE ROCKET YEARS: How Your Twenties Launch the Rest of Your Life. In her encouraging new book, Elizabeth arms young people and their concerned parents with the tools to confront uncertain times and to make the most of the critical “twenties” years to create a “dream” life. We tend to think of our twenties as a playground for life: a time for low-consequence experimentation and delaying big decisions.  Elizabeth’s book (and the data shows), the choices we make (or put off!) during this critical decade about our career, marriage, health, friends, even downtime, have the greatest impact on how our lives play out.  Today’s episode invites listeners (parents and young adults) to think critically and holistically about the life they want to build and why the choices we make in our twenties matter.   Dr. Dan and Elizabeth talk about how the twenties can be a launchpad for a bright and successful future.  Topics related to the decisions we make in our twenties include:  Career Marriage Kids and Family Politics Fitness Friends Hobbies The show ends with Elizabeth’s unique Parent Footprint moment about her own parents.  Elizabeth Segran attended Columbia University and received a Ph.D. from the University of California, Berkeley in women’s studies and Indian literature. She is a senior staff writer at the business magazine Fast Company and her work has been published in The Atlantic, The Nation, Foreign Policy, Foreign Affairs, and The New Republic.  She lives in Boston with her husband and daughter.  For more information visit: http://www.elizabethsegran.com/ Watch this free video to learn more about Dr. Dan and Parent Footprint Awareness Training®. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Dr. Dan welcomes esteemed author and journalist KJ Dell'Antonia to the podcast to discuss her parenting, her writing career and her newest book, a debut novel THE CHICKEN SISTERS and how to find happiness in everyday parenting experiences.  KJ is also the author HOW TO BE A HAPPIER PARENT and the writer of the viral New York Times parenting essay “Why I Didn’t Answer Your Email.”   KJ Dell’Antonia is also the former editor of the NYTimes’ Motherlode blog and a co-host of the #AmWriting podcast. Through her writing, KJ focuses on the societal, policy and personal factors that make finding family happiness is more relevant today than ever before. Weaving together KJ’s writing career with Dr. Dan’s expertise, KJ and Dr. Dan discuss many parenting topics in this episode including: The four things that happy parents do well and how you can do them, too  How important it is to change your “parenting narrative” so that you can improve your family’s happiness How to put sports and activities in their proper place so these things fit around your family and adult lives, and not the other way around How to structure your time in the kitchen so that it can become a happiness ritual for you and your kids Finding that balance between the big dreams and the day to day joys, and making choices that make us happy KJ’s new novel Episode 92 wraps up with KJ’s Parent Footprint moment where she explains how a broken leg helped her learn one of her biggest parenting lessons. For more information visit: https://kjdellantonia.com/ Watch this free video to learn more about Dr. Dan and Parent Footprint Awareness Training®. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Dr. Dan welcomes Sarah Andersen a personal development coach and founder of The Real Girl Lifestyle. Sarah is also the Director of The GRACED BY GRIT foundation which provides opportunities for girls to discover and develop their GRIT through empowerment events and a student-athlete scholarship fund.  Sarah Andersen is a Certified Personal Development and Life Coach for Teen Girls and Young Women. She lives in San Diego, California and coaches girls all over the country.  Sarah focuses on teen girls and young women however her advice on today’s episode is for all teens and is filled with empowering messages. Sarah works one-one-one, leads small groups, and speaks nationally about girl empowerment. In her coaching sessions, Sarah focuses on developing the teens' strengths and using creative tools and strategies to help them face challenges and obstacles with confidence.  Today’s podcast discussion includes these topics and questions:  How would you define authenticity? Why is it so important for teenagers to develop authenticity? With a culture that values perfection and success more than anything else it can be difficult to show our true colors, what are some ways parents can help their teens understand this?  How can parents themselves model what living authentically looks like? Tell us about the 3 I’s that you believe are contributing factors to a teenager’s journey of authenticity.  How does the fear of rejection influence and impact being our real selves? What are some of the obstacles that prevent us from being authentic? Sarah talks about her own parents during her Parent Footprint moment and her personal story links generations of Sarah’s family in what was a big moment of revelation for her and her Dad. Sarah Anderson is certified through Teen Wisdom Life Coaching, Institute for Integrated Nutrition, and the Dr. Sears Wellness Institute.  For more information about Sarah and her work visit:  The REAL Girl Lifestyle https://www.therealgirllifestyle.com/ . Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Today Dr. Dan welcomes Occupational Therapist and author Kelly Beins to the Parent Footprint podcast. Kelly Beins is an Occupational Therapist certified in sensory integration.  She has over 22 years of clinical experience.  Through her Ovis the Sheep book series, she uses characters and a love of reading to help children make challenging real-life experiences easier for families.  Kelly owns the private practice About Occupational Therapy Consulting, LLC in Frederick, Maryland.  The organization’s mission is to make life easier for children and families living with sensory processing disorder (SPD).  Kelly’s children's book series and her course for parents of kids with sensory processing challenges ("Sensory Parenting: An EASIER Way") as well as all of her work teaches parents to learn positive co-regulation. Kelly works through the many daily challenges so many families face (sleeping, eating, toileting, dressing), and explores the many overlaps between SPD and other existing conditions like ADHD, anxiety, and autism,  The world of sensory processing can be a confusing place. One in fifteen school-aged children experience sensory differences. Despite an advancing body of research and a quickly expanding body of knowledge, those children and families living with sensory differences often feel misunderstood, and at a loss for how to communicate to others what they are going through and what they need. Kelly’s work and her books are lighting the way for families to see everyday challenges more clearly and work through them. Dr. Dan and Kelly discuss the many types of sensory disorders, other diagnoses related to sensory processing disorder, mental health, parent survival tips, the importance of parent intuition, how kids mirror parental regulation/dysregulation, and many other important sensory related topics. At the end of today’s episode, Kelly shares two enlightening Parent Footprint moments that will surely resonate with listeners as she describes the intersection of her work and her parenting. Originally from Canada, Kelly lives in Maryland with her husband and two daughters. For more information about Kelly and her books go to:  https://www.otc-frederick.com/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Today Dr. Dan welcomes author Bethany Saltman to discuss her new book STRANGE SITUATION: A Mother’s Journey into the Science of Attachment.  Her fascinating discussion with Dr. Dan about parenting, attachment, love, and the current pandemic is riveting and revealing. In her 2016 New York Magazine feature that went viral, writer Bethany Saltman asked: “Can Attachment Theory Explain All Our Relationships?”.  She wrote about how surprised she was by her anger and frustration as a new mother, and her desire to find out what attachment (or a lack of secure attachment) might have to do with it all, ultimately discovering that attachment isn’t a checklist of behaviors developed by physical closeness but the product of secure relationships from one’s own past. While attachment science describes how we relate to others, it also shows us how truly entwined the success of our relationships is with our deepest sense of who we are.  Bethany’s book STRANGE SITUATION grew out of this article;  the book is a memoir hinging on science, biography, psychology and spiritual practice, and an indirect look at parenting, and how we are all interconnected by the feelings of attachment, but not by what experts and others typically suggest, or by co-sleeping or  baby slings but instead.  Dr. Dan and Bethany unravel what attachment is and how it happens. The good news:  the actual science of attachment makes it clear: every single one of us is attached, though some more securely than others. Dr. Dan and Bethany agree that who we are -- and our own self-awareness -- is enough for attachment.    “At the heart of the attachment system is a primitive kind of call and response that keeps the species alive.” And that’s what we all do—keep our kids alive, even those of us who work outside the home and supplement with formula.  Bethany’s book shifts paradigms by demonstrating that from an attachment point of view, self-awareness is other-awareness. Self-care is childcare and therefore we’re all attachment parents. There’s no other kind. Dr. Dan and Bethany also explain and explore: Being “Attachment Aware” Shame and Guilt Self-Care Adult Attachment  Experts (Mary Aisnworth) Myths (Dr. Sears) Delight as the “North Star” Bethany’s Parent Footprint Moment In addition to being an author, Bethany Saltman is also an award-winning editor, mindfulness mentor, and researcher. Her work has appeared in magazines including the New Yorker, New York Magazine, Atlantic Monthly, Parents, and many others. Bethany graduated from Antioch College where she was one of the architects of the nation’s first Affirmative Consent Policy. She went on to receive her M.F.A in poetry from Brooklyn College, where she studied with Allen Ginsberg. A longtime Zen student, Bethany is devoted to the fine art and game-changing effects of paying attention. She lives in a small town in the Catskills with her family. For more information:  visit https://www.bethanysaltman.com/ Watch this free video to learn more about Dr. Dan and Parent Footprint Awareness Training®. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Dr. Dan welcomes back his colleague and friend Debbie Reber, founder of TILT Parenting and host of the TILT Parenting Podcast (which just hit two million downloads!).  Debbie created TILT to support parents raising “differently-wired” kids and her work has shifted the conversation around how neurodiversity is perceived and experienced in the world.  She emphasises parenting with joy and acceptance for all children.  Her book Differently Wired was recently released in paperback. Today Dr. Dan and Debbie talk about their own intimate and personal stories about raising their differently wired kids. The episode includes advice about navigating the stages of a diagnosis from a “fix it stage” mindset to frustration and fear and finally to reframing and acting -- and ultimately shifting to what will work for your individual child. Debbie explains why her favorite quote (“Life begins at the end of your comfort zone”) can successfully lead parents and families to a successful future.  This episode is one parents will return to again and again. The enlightening interview ends with Debbie’s Parent Footprint moment about ange, which will resonate with many listeners. Debbie Reber is the New York Times bestselling author of Differently Wired, podcast host, life coach, and speaker.  Before creating Tilt, she spent over ten years writing inspiring books for women and teens and speaking about issues including media literacy, self-esteem, and confidence.  In 2016 when she founded TiLT Parenting, a website, top parenting podcast, and social media community for parents like her who are raising differently-wired children.  Debbie Reber lives with her son and husband in the Netherlands. For more information visit  www.tiltparenting.com.   Watchthis free videoto learn more about Dr. Dan andParent Footprint Awareness Training®. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices