Elaine Taylor-Klaus: Hi, everybody, it's Elaine.

Diane Dempster: And Diane.

Elaine Taylor-Klaus: And we are here for—are you ready for it? Wait for it.

Diane Dempster: Wait...

Elaine Taylor-Klaus: The 100th episode of the Parenting with Impact podcast!

Diane Dempster: 100 episodes. This is exciting!

Elaine Taylor-Klaus: It's amazing. When I think about it—just think about the fact that we've been doing this incredible work in this community all over the world for a dozen years.

Diane Dempster: More than a dozen years, actually.

Elaine Taylor-Klaus: Do that math for a minute... Well—

Diane Dempster: Right.

Elaine Taylor-Klaus: We officially started in October 2011, right?

Diane Dempster: We launched then, but we were doing this work even before that, right? We started dreaming about it before then. So, do we count the dreaming date or the launch date? I don't know.

Elaine Taylor-Klaus: We're a dozen years in and we finally got our act together to do a podcast a year and a half ago that took a little.

Diane Dempster: We had a couple of tries in the middle there. But—

Elaine Taylor-Klaus: And we’ve been doing interviews—so if you’ve been listening to the bonus interviews on the podcast, those started as expert interviews we were doing on the website. Getting it into podcast format took a while for us because—well, what are we? I guess we’re technically baby boomers.

Diane Dempster: Well, yeah, I’m a baby boomer.

Elaine Taylor-Klaus: I am too, but I’m in the last year of the baby boom.

Diane Dempster: So let’s give a big shoutout to the podcast team, to Market Domination, and all the folks there who help us out every week with Parenting with Impact. So thank you!

Elaine Taylor-Klaus: They make it all happen! And here we are, 100 episodes in—which is just amazing. The feedback has been extraordinary. I always knew people loved this work, but it’s so interesting to move into a new venue, right? Into a new medium. All these people who have been with us for years are now able to access the information in a way that fits into their lives better.

Diane Dempster: Well, and I think it’s worth saying that everyone digests information in different ways. I mean, we started with blogs, then moved to videos. We’ve been doing this since way before virtual work was a thing. 

I remember when we first started meeting on Zoom—it felt like this big, new thing. Then, when the pandemic hit, suddenly everyone was on Zoom. Back then, when we wanted to do something like this, I’d have to drive over to your house, we’d set up the studio, and make it happen. Now, it’s just like—turn on the frickin’ camera, and here we are, ready to go!

Elaine Taylor-Klaus: That’s right! There’s been so much support for us as we support you. And I really want to say thank you. We wouldn’t be here doing this work otherwise. We talk every week about how lucky we are to get to do this amazing work in the world.

Diane Dempster: Yeah.

Elaine Taylor-Klaus: Right? And we couldn’t do it without the thousands and thousands of people out there—people like you—who are listening, reading, watching, learning, trying, implementing, and then coming back for more.

Diane Dempster: And, well, you can always think about the fact that we like to close our podcasts with a thank-you. I don’t know if it’s every podcast or most of them, but we always say thank you for what you’re doing. At the end of the day, you make the difference. Yes, we love what we do, we love to talk, and we love listening to ourselves—but this is about you. It’s amazing to me.

I was on the phone the other day with a woman who said, “Oh my gosh, Diane, I’ve listened to every single one of your podcasts!” And I was like... I haven’t even listened to every single one! (I was a little embarrassed.) I was just thinking, "Please let her talk about one I’ve actually listened to!" Because I know, Elaine, you remember a lot more of the episodes than I do. But really, it’s about you guys—you’re the ones doing the work every day, and it just warms our hearts.

Elaine Taylor-Klaus: Well, and it changes lives. I mean, this is a podcast, right? You’re just listening while driving, running, cooking, or whatever you’re doing. On one hand, it’s just background noise.
Diane Dempster: Yeah.
Elaine Taylor-Klaus: But on the other hand, this work—this coach approach—is transformative. Lately, I’ve been talking a lot about the neurodiversity-informed coach approach. This is what we do: we take coaching skills and blend them with an understanding of neurodiversity. That combination gives you a different way—a new lens—for how you communicate with your kids, your partners, your colleagues.

Diane Dempster: Right.
Elaine Taylor-Klaus: Right? To your teachers, to your partners—about what’s going on with these amazing kids who are complicated and amazing. That’s what I think is so extraordinary. It’s not just a podcast. 

The impact of the podcast is that we’re giving people—and our guests, our amazing guest experts—tools and insights. Whether we’re riffing with each other or sharing success stories from our clients, people are leaving with something they can use, something they can try, or something they can implement.
Diane Dempster: It’s not just a bunch of information. That’s one of the things I’m most proud of—not just the podcasts themselves, but the number of people who listen to the podcast and then come into our community. They join our programs, get more involved, and really start putting the information into practice.

What was coming up for me as you were saying that, Elaine, about the coach approach, is that when we started this—and it’s in both of our bios—we always say, When we became coaches, we became much better parents. It’s something we say all the time, but I was reflecting on it the other day.

I think about our incredible bench of coaches, and one of the common threads among every single one of them is this: they’ll all say, When I became a coach, I became a better parent.

Elaine Taylor-Klaus: And when I started learning this work—

Diane Dempster: When I started learning this work, right? The coaching tools are just so foundational. They’re not only practical, but they’re also just great communication skills that we all need.

Elaine Taylor-Klaus: Right. And they’re empowerment skills too. There’s this inspiration piece—you hear us talk about parenting from inspiration instead of desperation.

Diane Dempster: Right.

Elaine Taylor-Klaus: And that’s so key. What we’re really about is inspiring you to believe in and see what’s possible—for yourself, for your kids, for your relationship with them, for your partnerships. And then, helping you learn some tools to start turning that possibility into a reality in your life. That’s why we’re here. That’s what this is about.

Diane Dempster: Well, and the other piece of this is that coaching is about digging deep and moving forward. When I say “digging deep,” I mean part of it is looking at our own stuff as parents, and part of it is really uncovering what’s going on underneath the surface.

This is such a critical and important piece. It’s easy to stay on the surface and say, “My kid has ADHD, my kid has anxiety, my kid has autism,” or whatever it might be, and grab something quick from that. But when you look deeper, you start to see what’s really happening. Maybe I’m feeling guilt and shame because of how I’ve been parenting for the last 20 years, which makes me more likely to get triggered. Or maybe my kid is overwhelmed by what’s happening in the classroom, so they’re avoiding schoolwork.

It’s about examining the deeper layers of the situation. That’s such a key part of what the coach approach is all about—understanding what’s really going on so that you can take meaningful action.

Elaine Taylor-Klaus: Well, I was having a conversation with a colleague—I’m going to be part of a summit—and we were talking about this concept of neuro-coaching. It comes out of neuropsychology, and it’s very belief-based, sort of cognitive-behavioral in nature. From what I understand, the idea is that if we dig deep and understand our beliefs, we can shift those beliefs to change our actions.

What we were discussing—and what I think is so important, and I really want to emphasize—is that beliefs are essential, but they’re not everything. Right? We have to understand the interplay between beliefs, thoughts, and feelings, those layers we talk about all the time. But we also need to account for the wiring—the executive function challenges that might be at play.

It’s not just about the belief, like, "I feel embarrassed or ashamed because I didn’t understand what my kid needed before, and now I know better." That’s an important piece, but we also need to look deeper. For example, let’s say my child is struggling with a working memory issue. That’s a structural, neurological challenge I need to externalize and work with. My belief alone isn’t going to change that.

Diane Dempster: Right.
Elaine Taylor-Klaus: Understanding the structural pieces and how to address them is just as important as addressing the mindset. It’s the combination of those two pieces that is so critical.
Diane Dempster: Well, and the other piece of this is, I was listening to a webinar or something yesterday, and they were talking about how, in order to get somewhere, you have to know where you are. Right? If you’re looking at a map—she had this old-timey map—and she’s like, “Okay, I want to go to Cincinnati, but I need to know where I am right now to figure out how to get there.”

So part of this is the introspection we talk about all the time. Where am I? Where’s my kid? We talk about the stair steps—meeting our kids where they are and raising the bar from there. But it’s the same thing with us. We have to know where we are and take baby steps from that point, instead of just focusing on where we want to be.

And that’s another key component of the coach approach, I think.

Elaine Taylor-Klaus: Well, yeah, when you said that, the first thing I thought of is how often when a parent calls or texts or emails—or however the thousands of ways they reach out to us—they say, “My kid was just diagnosed with [whatever it is].” My response is always, “Congratulations.”
Diane Dempster: Yeah.
Elaine Taylor-Klaus: Because now you’re starting to understand what you’re dealing with. And when you know better, you can do better. You can do things differently. But you can’t support your child if you don’t understand what’s going on.
Diane Dempster: Yeah.
Elaine Taylor-Klaus: So, what do we want to do today? We want to celebrate 100 episodes! Yay, yay, us! Yay, you! Right? Yay, team! Because we have this amazing team. I want to take the privilege of celebrating not just 100 episodes of the podcast, but a dozen years of doing this amazing work.
Diane Dempster: Yeah.

Elaine Taylor-Klaus: That’s allowed us to support hundreds of thousands of families all over the world.
Diane Dempster: Yeah.
Elaine Taylor-Klaus: Which is—I mean, get your head around that for a minute.
Diane Dempster: Well, in multiple languages. I just want to add that.
Elaine Taylor-Klaus: Yes, we’ve taught Saturday School in English, Spanish, and Norwegian.
Diane Dempster: Norwegian.
Elaine Taylor-Klaus: And then, people have translated into a few other languages on their own. So, all over the world, in multiple languages.

And my favorite thing to think about is that we have clients on six continents. Just a pitch for Antarctica—I’m still looking for that one!
Diane Dempster: Please sign up for our mailing list. But really, all of you should always—
Elaine Taylor-Klaus: Find that unity!

Diane Dempster: Everybody, sign up for the mailing list! If you’re not on the mailing list, especially if you're in Antarctica, then we can say we’re on every continent. That’ll feel really good.
Elaine Taylor-Klaus: I’ve been wanting this for years!
Diane Dempster: I don’t know that I ever really thought about it. I guess people do live in Antarctica. I want to meet somebody.
Elaine Taylor-Klaus: I just think we need a nerdy scientist. It shouldn’t be hard to fast-track kids. I mean, it should have been defined by now. We just have to keep putting it out there in the universe.

But the other thing I want to highlight, Diane, is that we’ve impacted hundreds of thousands of people all over the world. It’s super cool, and they’re using it in all different kinds of ways. 

And this has allowed us to build an amazing team. We have an international team—Canada, many different states in the U.S.—and now we have this amazing bench of coaches who are literally all over the world.
Diane Dempster: All over the world.
Elaine Taylor-Klaus: All over the world.
Diane Dempster: Right?

Elaine Taylor-Klaus: Who are supporting people in our community with group coaching, private coaching, and the four-week coaching groups we started offering in the last couple of years. So, there’s this extraordinary capacity. 

I said to a group last week, I was finishing up with a “Queer and Quirky” group, and I said, “We started this because we saw the need, and what we're really good at is seeing a need and filling it.”

Diane Dempster: Yeah.

Elaine Taylor-Klaus: When we see the need, we step in and ask, "What can we do to fill that need?" And of course, this is an invitation to those of you listening—if there’s a need you see, let us know.

Diane Dempster: Let us know.

Elaine Taylor-Klaus: We can fill it, we will.

Diane Dempster: And it's funny. Let’s reflect on some examples, like the “Queer and Rock” group. It’s a great example. We did a podcast early on about neurodiverse kids who are dealing with gender issues or LGBTQIA+ topics. I'm sorry if I used the wrong terminology—

Elaine Taylor-Klaus: Let’s just call it the alphabet mafia.

Diane Dempster: The alphabet mafia. The other piece is the Spanish piece. And then, there’s the young adult group. I mean, parents of young adults have really come out of the woodwork in the last three years, and we are excited to support you. 

Honestly, I’m going to say this because we now have young adults, and it’s sometimes more fun to work with people who are dealing with the same kinds of issues that we are dealing with currently, as opposed to the ones we were dealing with 10 years ago. 

Although, we love you, parents of elementary-aged kids too. Don't we?

Elaine Taylor-Klaus: Plenty of coaches on the team who are experts there. I just love that. I want to say, two years ago today, we didn’t have a young adult group. And now, we have two groups that meet twice a month.

Diane Dempster: Yeah.

Elaine Taylor-Klaus: Right? That’s amazing! And that’s because you told us what you needed, and we were able to respond.

Diane Dempster: The other piece we’ve been focused on for the last couple of years, Elaine, is the underlying personal development and spiritual development stuff. We’ve started our Positive Intelligence Program.

 I’m so excited to see what’s next on that front. Because so many of you—and Elaine and I are both personal development junkies—we’re both really into exploring what’s going on with us. 

And I know many of you are as well. So it’s just exciting to think about how we can support ourselves on this journey, not just focusing on our kids.

Elaine Taylor-Klaus: Right? And that’s—I mean, that’s so important. I want to hone in on this because it’s really key. You’re always hearing us say that if you don’t know where to focus, lean into a relationship or focus on self-care. And those two are kind of in this circle, all around our model: self-care, relationships, self-care, relationships. But self-care isn’t just about bubble baths, right? Self-care is about you doing your own deep inner work. 

Seth Curler likes to call it... I love the language he uses. So, yeah, Positive Intelligence. We’ve had hundreds of members of our community go through that training. And I’m sure there’ll be more to come. 

We’re also starting to look at other ways to expand the coaching part of the coach approach that we do. It’s not always about the families and kids, but sometimes it’s about you.

Diane Dempster: Yeah.

Elaine Taylor-Klaus: So, more to come on that one. Heading down that path.

Diane Dempster: Yeah.

Elaine Taylor-Klaus: What else do we want to mention before we wrap up?

Diane Dempster: Well, I think the other thing is, the week that this is airing, I think we’re launching book number three, right?

Elaine Taylor-Klaus: Yes. Here’s a preview of it. For those of you on YouTube, this is what the cover looks like—Parenting with Impact. You can see this is not the finished copy yet, but Parenting with Impact will be available. I think it’ll be free on Kindle on March 8, is that right?

Diane Dempster: Yeah, that’s true. It will be free.

Elaine Taylor-Klaus: And so that’s coming out. So now we have three books: Parenting with Impact with three different publishers. Currently, Parenting with Impact: The Essential Guide to Raising Complex Kids with ADHD, Anxiety, and More. And now, the first one was Parenting ADHD Now.

Diane Dempster: Yes.

Elaine Taylor-Klaus: Sorry, the second one is The Essential Guide. And the third one is Parenting with Impact, which is stories from this podcast. Then, coaching tools for each of the podcast episodes. Diane and I go through and kind of give you some coaching topics or tools or ways to implement what you’ve learned in that podcast. So that’s going to be kind of fun. And just a quick celebration, in January 2023, the month or two before this episode, we had well over about 12,000 downloads.

Diane Dempster: Yeah, 11,000-something.

Elaine Taylor-Klaus: Yeah.

Diane Dempster: I passed on downloads. And I think the other thing—like, I was looking and since we started the podcast, we’ve had about 16,000 new people join our community. And so, again, I’m going to put a plug in for that—if you listen to us every week, or if you listen to us whenever, please sign up for our mailing list, get one of those free tip sheets, and become part of our community, because it’s just an amazing community. 

When I was out there on the—I mean, we have a couple of Facebook groups, but I was out there in one of our Facebook groups, and the amount of love and non-judgment and support that our parents give to each other. Our coaches are out there all the time. 

I mean, it’s just this amazing place. I know some of you might say, I don’t like Facebook, but it’s great to figure out how to be out there and create a profile just to be part of our community.

Elaine Taylor-Klaus: Because we have lots of people who have.

Diane Dempster: Yeah, that’s true.

Elaine Taylor-Klaus: Yes, just on that. And what I was thinking, as we were kind of getting ready to do this. Do you realize we've been doing a newsletter every single week, and each week, we publish at least three pieces of content now for the podcast?

Diane Dempster: Right.

Elaine Taylor-Klaus: Every week, since the fall of 2011. Every single day.

Diane Dempster: Like how many newsletters is that? How many?

Elaine Taylor-Klaus: I don’t want to count enough.

Diane Dempster: It’s been with thousands of—like if you guys like to read, I know you guys like to listen because you’re listening to the podcast. But if you’d like to read there, you will read the article until you can’t read anymore, quite frankly. And then we’ll add new ones by then.

Elaine Taylor-Klaus: Each week, if you get the newsletter, we keep it really short, sweet, and simple. It's a great way to stay current without overwhelming yourself. Alright, I think one other thing I wanted to talk about is success stories. 

On this podcast, we interview amazing guest experts, and as you’ve all learned, you can learn so much from these incredible people. You’re going to read the book. Sometimes Diane and I riff on a topic — something I’ve been hearing a lot in our community, and we just dive deeper into a subject we feel we want to teach about. 

And sometimes, we get to share success stories, which we haven’t done quite as many of as we’d like to.

Diane Dempster: Wait. So, let’s put a plug in for that. If you’re one of our listeners, and you want to share some of your successes with the rest of the audience, let us know.

Elaine Taylor-Klaus: Let us know! Send a note to the team.

Diane Dempster: Send a note to the team at Impact Parents, and we’ll talk to you about getting on the podcast.

Elaine Taylor-Klaus: Can I share a couple of celebrations from just last week?

Diane Dempster: Yes, absolutely!

Elaine Taylor-Klaus: So, I had to call Strax back last week. It was a weird, quirky call, but for now, I think we’re probably going to start a new group because there was a request for it. We’re still working that out. Then I was on a group coaching PSS call, and one of the celebrations there was that someone got on the call with me and said, “I just want to celebrate how much I love working with my Impact Parents Coach.” 

Her coach was Tracy, and she was sharing how amazing it was and how perfectly fit the coach was for her and her partner, especially for the issues they were working on with their child. So, plug for our amazing coaches, but also…

Diane Dempster: For our bench! And it’s like, I know some of us need that weekly support. We have a lot of people who do both private coaching and group coaching, and it works for them too. There’s just so much that we do and so many ways to access our information.

 And if you haven’t checked us out yet, please do! Take a look at some of our programs and get help putting the great ideas you’re getting from the podcast into practice.

Elaine Taylor-Klaus: Okay, so here’s another one. I got this in writing last week. Theresa said, "Thanks for your guidance and support. I knew I needed to change, but I had no idea how to do it. 

Because of what I've learned so far from Impact Parents, I got a text from my daughter that was so different, so loving, and so truly from her. She said, for the first time in 20 years, I have hope. Thanks again for the support." And then… amazing.

Diane Dempster: I just got chills. The first time in 20 years — that’s huge! How many of us get to a point where we feel like, “I remember one of our early stories about a mom with an eight-year-old who was just waiting for her to grow up and move out of the house.”

Elaine Taylor-Klaus: Yeah, that was…

Diane Dempster: How many of us get to that place where we’re just holding our breath until they graduate? And we know that’s not what it’s all about.

Elaine Taylor-Klaus: No, we want to be in a relationship with our kids. This is all about doing what we need to have the healthiest, best relationships we can — with ourselves, with our partners, with friends and family, and with our kids, right? And colleagues, I guess, as well. Is that a good place for us to wrap?

Diane Dempster: I think it is.

Elaine Taylor-Klaus: I think... I’m missing something. The only other thing I wanted to mention is a testimonial from a woman who’s both a therapist and in one of our coaching groups. She talked about how much this has been helping her as a professional. 

So, that’s a piece I wanted to highlight. We offer training and have a professional certification program. She mentioned that she’s listening and learning professional-level skills that are really helping her. She also shared that it’s been supportive for her as a parent, which I thought was really super cool.

Diane Dempster: Yeah.

Elaine Taylor-Klaus: Alright. So, the books are out on March 8. Keep your eyes peeled for that. Just know that you’re making a difference by listening and tuning in. I was just thinking, as you were talking earlier, Diane, that maybe we should start adding something at the end of the podcast about insights and takeaways. 

We always end our coaching sessions with, “What are you taking away from today?” So, I want to invite everyone, because I know we’ve been celebrating those insights in the celebrations. I guarantee you, there’s some insight or awareness that came to you from this conversation. 

So, my invitation is for you to ask yourself, “What am I taking away from this today?” and, “What action do I want to commit to moving forward from here?”

Diane Dempster: Well, and I think this is the thing — Elaine, yes, we come in, we do these every week, and yes, we’re doing great programming, and we love what we do. But you guys are the ones doing the work.

Elaine Taylor-Klaus: That’s right.

Diane Dempster: Every day, all day.

Elaine Taylor-Klaus: And even when you don’t want to.

Diane Dempster: Even when you don’t want to. Our hearts are with you. You’re our inspiration. You’re what keeps us coming every week. We love you all and are so glad for what you’re doing in the world — for yourself and for your kids. At the end of the day, you’re the ones that make the difference.

Elaine Taylor-Klaus: Have a great week, everybody. We’ll see you next time.