Professional Parent Coach, Jenn Wert, serves parents of young children who are looking for support in their conscious parenting. With a Master’s in Education, educator and doula experience along with post-graduate social-emotional training, Jenn knows how to counsel parents who want to authentically communicate with their children. After decades of her own therapy, while concurrently working with many different family types, she brings an honesty to her conversations and a discernment to her listening that allow clients to grow. Jenn inspires parenting that is nurturing, true and transformative.
Tell us a bit about yourself – who is Jenn Wert?
Well, first and foremost, I’m a parent. I’m on this wild parenting ride, doing my best to raise a confident, resilient and grounded girl in today’s world. I’m also a long-time educator; I’m a trained doula, a certified Iyengar yoga teacher, and I have my Masters degree in Education and have taught for decades. I’ve supported many young families in bringing their babies into this world and through elementary school.
My dedication and training has focused on the social-emotional intelligence of families and how to grow this individually and collectively. I’ve lots of leadership and mentoring experience and though I work with all kinds of families, I’m especially passionate about empowering young girls and single parents.
As a parent coach, I get to do what I love most, help adults bring more consciousness into their parenting and balance into their homes.
What is it that you do for your clients, in other words – what exactly IS a parent coach?
Coaching is about the future – it supports a future you create rather than the future you default to without coaching. It’s deliberate work that involves honesty, reflection and a willingness to try things that are new, to build new habits.
I listen a lot. And serve as a mirror for my clients, who are committed to doing their best at being both humans and parents – who are willing to be vulnerable and authentic, who want more than anything to raise resilient, healthy and connected kids.
There to point out blind spots, I hold clients accountable as they experiment with new behaviors, and believe in them as they grow alongside their children.
What family types do you work with?
Oh, gee, all types, really. I work with brand new parents, showing them how their small choices are perceived by their astute, sensory-based infants.
I work with parents of preschoolers through elementary school on a variety of issues –tantrums, sibling rivalry, power struggles, self-confidence, communication. I encourage my clients to take a close look at their subtle messaging, language, unconscious habits, ability to empathize, etc. It’s deep work with results that are more than worth the commitment.
My clients range from more traditional nuclear type families to single parents and same-sex parents, you name it. Some clients have lots of children; others have singletons. We work on mindful co-parenting, whether or not the parents live together. The list goes on and on.
All family systems can benefit from Social and Emotional Learning. And this is where my focus lies.
Yes, you mentioned this term before. Could you please explain – what is SEL?
Oh sure, of course. Social and Emotional Learning (often referred to as SEL) is about attunement. This is not simple but let me try to break it down. It’s about you, as a parent, noticing what you’re feeling and at the same time your kiddos noticing what they're feeling.
Being able to feel your feeling, name it, manage it and persevere through it is challenging and requires simultaneous vulnerability and strength. It’s more than most human beings do in this fast-paced world of ours.
SEL is all about feelings – and of course connection and communication, as well.
Recently, a number of big companies were surveyed and asked what qualities they sought most in their employees. Google was included in this research. The number one answer across the board was people with strong SEL skills (and right up there as a close second was of course STEM experience).
Wow. So, then, who should work with you?
Any parent wanting to hone these skills in their children so they grow up to become valuable, thoughtful and strong leaders in their communities.
Could you tell us what makes parenting most challenging in this day and age, being immersed in technology the way we are, still dealing with repercussions of the pandemic (many of which are still unknown)?
Everything is moving so fast, our most important practices have gone by the wayside, creating kids with massive depression and anxiety. Our children are desperate for us to slow down. They need us to be more present with them, which can feel almost impossible with our unconscious addictions to our phones and being ‘virtually connected’.
COVID did not help. Though we’ve been able to keep some semblance of normality by way of the internet, personal connections were even more disrupted. Many of our little ones took the brunt of this and consequently, it’s our work to catch them up real-time. Spend our precious time with them face to face, consciously.
There’s a lot here; I could go on forever. But, really – having our kiddos connect with themselves and supporting them in doing this positively and regularly takes more effort and awareness than it used to.
Teaching them to listen. Really listen. To themselves. And to others.
Again, seems easy enough however because of the pressures and speed of today’s tech world and the disconnection resulting from this and COVID, we need to reteach how to listen, again and again.
And - we’ve got to dedicate ourselves to this practice. To the SEL. As parents.
Yes – there’s a lot there to digest, thanks. Before we wrap up, I’d like to just take a second and get a feel for the rest of you, Jenn. Tell us about your family, where you live, what you do to recharge...
Oh, sure. I live in Boulder, Colorado and have for half of my life – a quarter-century, believe it or not. Ha! I’ve one daughter who challenges and humbles me every single day - multiple times a day. No hyperbole.
Though I have a parent coach and a therapist myself, my daughter is my number one teacher. She’s taught me to accept myself and others more than anyone, in a way that’s deeply transformed how I live.
What else? We have a white Golden Retriever named Zeke, after the incredibly loving father figure on that old show Parenthood (go figure). He’s hilariously goofy, loves water, kale and snuggling so fits into our family perfectly.
During COVID, we added a tuxedo kitten to complete our pack. He’s named Charles-Antoine, after an old crush of mine from when I lived in Paris. He wrestles with the dog, hangs from his neck… making it a bit hard to focus at times, here, working from home.
I’m most centered when I’m at the barn working with the horses, in the pool swimming my mile, or hiking quietly in the woods. As an Iyengar teacher, my meditation and yoga practices also play an important role in my wellness. My home is my sanctuary, where you’ll find me cooking with locally grown foods, dancing with my girl, knitting or working in the gardens.
Lovely. To end, please leave us, Jenn, with your three best tips for parents reading this interview:
Be curious, authentic, vulnerable and present with your children.
Remember you’re their model: be conscious out loud, make mistakes and practice repair.
To deepen your connection with your little ones, deepen your connection to yourself.
