Chelsey Hauge, Ph.D. Education & CEO, Positive Parenthood

I was a working mom, and my stress levels were through the roof. At home, I had three children demanding my attention. At work, I had a high-profile team demanding my intellectual leadership. I was a big, giant mess and it was showing up in my children’s behaviors, their irregular sleep, and their every-hour-on-the-hour tantrums.
 
Exhausted and skeptical, I turned to my own mother. What I discovered blew me away.

​I found a wide and generous community of people with their own challenging children, who were already applying the Positive Parenthood model. I found a way to build relationships with my littles that decreased tantrums and increased my sense of peace. I found an approach to parenting that acknowledged my parenting experience in a way that actually supported my children.
 
I decided I would do whatever I had to do to bring this model to everyone I know. With my mom’s curriculum at the center, I drew on my background as a PhD in Literacy and as a social justice educator to build these resources that bring Positive Parenthood to you.
 
At other times in my life, I have led youth media programming, contributed to academic research in the area of media, gender, and social justice, and run summer camp programming. You may see these experiences seep into my work with Positive Parenthood, and you will definitely see my mothering seep into my work with Positive Parenthood. I have three little girls, and they are the reason I’m here today with you, learning, attempting, creating, trying, and building the Positive Parenthood community.

What is your secret to success?

My secret to success is definitely, unrelentlessly nourishing your vision. Whether it seems wonky or silly or random to others, your vision- where you want to be in life- is undeniably, yours. Your steadfast commitment to where you want to be is what your heart deserves, and I also believe it is the secret sauce for making any new idea blossom. After all, who's going to believe in it enough to water it every single day, if it's not you? ​

Greatest female role model?

Gosh, this is a tough one. As a feminist scholar, I want to push back on the idea of a "female" role model and instead, frame my greatest mentors as gender rebels and largely, womyn identified folks. First in line is my mom: she's an absolute warrior for hopeful, relationship-based, sweet approaches to parenting that work, for me and for every person she comes into contact with. I am so consistently stunned by how she holds space for mamas and papas to work through their most difficult parenting challenges, and at how deeply she believes, with all of her being, in the capacity of all families to achieve a peaceful life. I try to emulate that belief in others, that steadfastness in approach to relationship-building, and that insistence that the world can be a gorgeous, magical place.

Best Advice I ever got

Best advice I've ever got? Definitely, one hundred percent, to follow my heart. It sound cliche, right? And yet- this little, wild, spindly piece of advice has rung so true to me. Time and again, when I've decided to strike out on my own and it's been mortifying. But- I've long followed the advice to "listen to my inside voice." And time and again, even when it seems like I am failing out of the world.... "my inside voice" has been tried and true. Sometimes it's a shaky inside voice, and sometimes no one outside can hear it-- and yet, as time passes I see again and again, that that tiny inside voice was always always right. And so, the best piece of advice was definitely, "follow your inside voice," from my friend  Char, who passed in 2015 from breast cancer.

What's Next for me

Over the next year, I'll be growing Positive Parenthood. We are going to offer parenting workshops and courses, and we can't wait to reach parents and families all over Lamorinda. I'm really thrilled to continue building a business that allows me to be home and nourish my three kids. I know how powerful the Positive Parenthood can be, and I cannot wait to share it with others. ​