Resilient Kids Ltd
Business Name and What it does.
Resilient Kids Ltd is a social enterprise that supports parents to be the best they can be to raise resilient children.
Our vision is to ensure parents understand the Impact of Overindulgence on children’s development and the subsequent impact on families and communities.
Within first world societies, we are witnessing a continuing erosion of resilience in our children witness the impact on our mental health resources, family disfunction levels, school and work conflicts, teenage suicides, as well as deteriorating interpersonal relationships through a range of age levels.
Research has identified unwitting “overindulgence” by parents as a prime cause of resilience erosion. Whilst we all parent from a good heart, global marketing, commercialisation and a plethora of devices, pressure us to want more, do more and have more. These pressures can lead many parents to behave in ways which create unintended conditions that can be more harmful than physical abuse. It is, in fact, a form of child neglect. It is estimated that marketers spend six billion dollars a year targeting children, 18 months to eight years old, to develop brand loyalty.
Resilient Kids Ltd is wanting to highlight this information so parents can withstand the pressure. It is hard and we hope we will build community across the globe so our children and our children’s children – and so on, seven generations into the future will have resilient children.
We sell a parenting book and workbook, hard copy, and e book, in English, (Spanish and Sinhala are in production) provide an online training programme, parent coaching, work with schools to support school communities, provide community education and train the trainer programmes.
Resilient Kids Ltd have a newly launched free Podcast which is available on Anchor, Spotify, Google, and Apple.
Founder’s/Owner’s story
Madeleine’s first entre into entrepreneurship started as a plum and pinecone seller at the front gate of the family farm in a small rural community on the North Island of New Zealand. She would ride her pony to school in the warm summer months to attend school where there were 5 other students in her class.
What followed was five years at boarding school, a stint as a laboratory technician, a university degree in Social Work, working holiday in UK, Europe, and USA all which taught her the value of having some money in her pocket.
Her second entrepreneurial business was selling knitted hats to support the family following going on Parental Leave and her husband being made redundant at the same time.
In 1995 Madeleine set up the beginning of her People Skills Consulting Business which enabled her to work through the early days of parenting three sons.
As her sons grew Madeleine and her husband did as most parents do, muddled their way through. That worked reasonably well for the first two but not so well for the third and so Madeleine began looking for more information and support to help.
In the early 2010’s Madeleine was studying for a certificate in Transactional Analysis Organisational Development and Anne Tucker introduced her to the work of Jean Illsley Clarke, Connie Dawson, and David Bredehoft. In 2013 she went to Minnesota and took the five-day training in “How Much is Too Much”. Madeleine returned to New Zealand and worked to achieve the certification to teach this material.
Following the Global Pandemic Madeleine was able to access some business coaching and then was supported by an Advisory group of supportive humans who helped keep her on track and push her to take steps that led in 2021 to formally set up Resilient Kids Ltd.
and what motivated them to start the business
It was a three-pronged approach that served as motivation. Firstly, through the People Skills business Madeleine saw the impact of young people coming to work and not having the resilience to manage and the inability of leaders to understand how to work with these young people who had vastly different motivations than themselves.
Secondly, her own experience of parenting that had been difficult and traumatic for both parents and offspring. (Happy to say that things are all back on track now, which means Madeleine can say the product works!)
Thirdly, as a young mother, Madeleine heard a story from another young mother – let’s call her Fran, who had immigrated to NZ from Singapore as a school age child. Fran’s mother had come from a well to do family who had been schooled in England only to be invaded during the Japanese occupation. Fan’s mother lost her home and cooked her first ever meal in a chicken coop out the back of their house. Having read Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand early in Madeleine’s university career, this story resonated. We cannot be sure that the political systems we currently live with will be with us all our lives.
To manage the coming changes from climate change, the impacts on the economy and the changes technology brings our children need to be able to flex and adapt. Whether it be big changes or small the capacity to be resilient is a key survival skill.
The challenges the business/market is facing
- As we all know the world has become more complex and challenging and yet the importance and value of parenting does not have the support and recognition it deserves. As Dame Whina Cooper said “Take care of our children. Take care of what they hear, take care of what they see, take care of what they feel. So how the children grow so will the shape of Aotearoa.” (New Zealand or for that matter any country.)
Resilient Kids Ltd is challenged to bring awareness to our communities in a way that is not seen as blaming or evangelical
- The way marketing has been understood by multinational corporations who use neuroscience to ensure parents feel bad about themselves to encourage parents to purchase things that they probably do not want or need.
Resilient Kids Ltd is challenged to be thinking creatively and collaboratively as the budget for marketing is smaller and we do not want to repeat the very thing we are accusing others of.
- There are challenges in the market with a plethora of online offerings that make it near on impossible for parents to work out what is valid and not.
Resilient Kids Ltd is basing the knowledge and strategies shared on research and validated approaches.
- The challenge of providing information to parents in a way that does not reinforce feelings of guilt and blame. The impact of some marketing is that many times parents do not feel they can be leaders in their own families.
Resilient Kids Ltd works hard to place the dilemma of parenting into a global context so that parents and caregivers are not blaming themselves but are able to take action to support a better future and to take up the role of leaders for their family.
- The constantly changing platforms for accessing information – initially newspapers and magazine, posters, written pamphlets then the internet, then Facebook, Instagram, Tic Tok, Podcasts.
Resilient Kids Ltd is partnering with parents and young people to share skills and knowledge in a way that benefits all.
- Limited time in the day to do everything that we want to do.
Resilient Kids Ltd keeps a focus on the strategic plan and manages energy levels so that the work can be achieved.
The Opportunities
- The use of remote communication tools opens a world of possibilities and also helps to manage the concern of global warming.
- Connecting with young people who have a good understanding of the platforms – so Madeleine now has 3 different folk who manage the Instagram page, the face book page and the Podcast platforms and is in the process of connecting with a Tic Toker.
- Take the everyday opportunities to talk with parent/teachers/grandparents which means being in places that people are
- Recognise that every time someone “moans” to you about the problem is an opportunity for you to fill that gap
- Resilient Kids Ltd has 3 games in development. These game will provide a different way for parents to learn and process information.
- Partnering with organisations who have people who are impacted by the issue (in our case parents) who might use your service. We have a research programme happening with a local school
- Recording events and in time creating a movie to be able to show families.
Advice to others about business
- Gather people around you who are great at what they do and empower them to do it
- Be open to suggestions
- Keep going
- Get a coach
- Ensure that you are aware of the financial situation and that you can fund your projects
- Spend resources to grow the business
- Be as generous as you can be
- Manage your energy, go to bed on time.
- Do it – don’t wait til it is perfect – iteration is great
I believe that nutrition science is a wonderful helper both for the preventive improvement of health and adjunctive therapy in treatment. My goal is to help people improve their health and well-being without torturing themselves with unnecessary dietary restrictions. I am a supporter of a healthy lifestyle – I play sports, cycle, and swim in the lake all year round. With my work, I have been featured in Vice, Country Living, Harrods magazine, Daily Telegraph, Grazia, Women's Health, and other media outlets.
- Bell Peppers 101: Nutrition Facts and Health Benefits - April 19, 2024
- Products That Assist with Stress Relief - September 21, 2023
- TRÈFLE – THE ROAD TO THE 15TH - July 29, 2023
