About Dr. Jenn
How I became a coach for families with mixed-race kids
Short answer: I wanted to make a bigger impact.
I discovered there was a mixed-race community when I was in college. My mind was blown. People were doing research and advocacy work for people like me??? I scrambled to find all ways to get myself involved and haven’t left yet.
But in all my work with organizations and conferences dedicated to the mixed-race experience, I was always struck by a few things:
First, mixed-race adults often referred to their adolescence as a time of difficulty for their identity development. They remembered not knowing how to respond to peers who questioned their background. As adults, they still felt the pangs of being othered or the struggles of finding acceptance.
Second, mixed race adults I met often wished for more parent support or discussions. They shared how their parents either did not have conversations that helped them understand who they were or their parents played a negative role in their search for belonging.
Third, the mixed race adults I met who were strongly connected to their cultures seemed to have a deeper sense of self and a security in who they were.
I remember thinking, do their parents know all of this? What would their parents have done if they knew their mixed race children needed their support and guidance?
I realized that most of the conferences and events were for mixed folks, by mixed folks. It was a necessary place of safety and healing.
But it hit me: we’re preaching to the choir! Who is talking to the parents?!
I realized it had to be ME because I have 3 important puzzle pieces: I have the education to work with families, teens and parents, I read and have done research on the mixed race experience and I have the lived experience of growing up mixed race myself!
I began meeting and working the parents. And they were feeling stuck. They didn’t know what to say to their kid. They worried they didn’t have the “right” advice or understanding and they felt helpless watching their kid try to navigate group belonging and friendships.
They didn’t know which struggles were “normal” when it came to identity development and when to be alarmed.
I knew that if parents feel empowered to help their child in the home, how much more confident will their kids be when they step outside and into the world?! And I got to see how many parents were so relieved by what they learned and how they felt more confident in raising their young children.
Watching the growth of those parents fueled my passion to have a bigger reach and impact.
So here I am!
I am so excited to bring my knowledge, expertise, and experience to so many more people who have
been searching for guidance for their mixed-race kids. I love that I can now be able to help a mom who’s a couple
of states away and the parent on a totally different continent!
Thanks for being here!
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