About

Career history

I began working with children and families in 2007. I realized quickly how much I love working with children in the early year's age group (0-8-year-olds). I went to Douglas College and earned a diploma in Early Childhood Education (2010). 

Early in my ECE career, I gained experience working in play-based and inquiry-based childcare programs as an ECE, infant/toddler teacher, one-to-one support worker and supervisor. 

In 2014, I began working in adult education teaching ECE, Infant Toddler and Special Needs Education courses. Since then I have taught and worked with a diverse group of students (Indigenous-led, Immigrant, International, and local ECEs). After having my first baby, I began providing professional development workshops and training to ECEs in my local community (2016).

In 2018, I began working in early intervention services (in different roles) providing inclusive and trauma-informed support strategies to parents and caregivers of children with complex needs. At the same time, I went back to school to earn a Bachelor's in Child and Youth Care (with a specialization in early years) from the University of Victoria (2021). In between these years, I had my second child.

I continued to provide in-person workshops to ECEs and was flown around BC to share my expertise. In 2020, all that changed (thanks to the you-know-what) and I was forced to quickly pivot.

I was one of the first in the Early Years field (in BC) to move all my workshops online. That year, I facilitated over 100 live online workshops and found myself burning out of "live online workshops."

I could see Educators burning out from working through those unprecedented times we don't talk about anymore and I could see parents struggling to work from home while parenting, and managing screen time. As a parent of two young children at the time, I could definitely relate. 

That's when I started working with other workshop facilitators to build a library of self-paced online workshops. I began offering group and one-to-one support to Educators who wanted to learn to create and facilitate their workshops. I also collaborated with other experienced facilitators to host live workshops and create yearly online summits for educators to access professional development in a self-paced and flexible way. 

An unexpected plot twist...

In 2021, our family experienced unexpected adversity and acute trauma.

I won't disclose all of the details here, but let's just say that most of what I thought I knew as an ECE and parent consultant who supported parents like me, went out the window. I had to go back and start at the basics, brain integration, attachment-based, strength-based, play, art, and trauma-informed care and I grew a deeper understanding of what it means to parent a child going through "tough stuff."

It took several months (painful recovery) but once we overcame the adversity and healing including post-traumatic growth, I knew what I had to do to move forward with purpose and passion. My life wasn't just going to be about education, travelling to speak at conferences and facilitate workshops, or writing.

I believe things happen for a reason.

I realized that my purpose with all that happened and all that I do, it comes down to one thing: helping adults to help children thrive!

What I'm currently focused on

So here we are now, I have a third baby. I have continued to navigate parent life, and graduate studies (Master of Professional Education in Early Childhood Education) while continuing to manage and develop new content for Early Years Thriving. 

I love the work I do. I love working with educators and parents to help them understand how they can confidently create thriving environments to help their little ones thrive. 

That is what I am all about. 

As an educator, I have in-depth knowledge of child development, trauma-informed, and inclusive approaches. Connection is at the heart and foundation of all I do.

As a parent, who has had to navigate raising young children through all the unique challenges of the last few years, I can relate to the struggles that parents are facing, and can support parents on how to advocate for their little ones who may be having a tough time at daycare or school. 

With these two perspectives, I take an integrated approach in all my work (speaking, coaching, and consulting).

How to get in touch with me

If you're a parent and you are thinking, yes, I love it and Ana gets me, I would love to work with her. Feel free to reach out to me and schedule a call with me here to see if my services would be a good fit for you and your family.

If you're an Early Childhood Educator or an organization looking for a speaker (for Educators or Parents) and want to learn more about the topics I cover, visit my Workshops and Speaking page here.

If you are just here to learn more, thanks again for taking the time to learn more about me. 

Sincerely,