Meet Our Speakers I Happy Mom Summit

Amy Lang, MA has been a sexual health educator for over 25 years. With her lively, engaging and down-to-earth style she helps parents become comfortable and confident talking to their kids. Amy’s books, online solutions center and podcast, show parents they really can become their kids' go-to birds and bees source.

Amy is still married to her first husband and they are getting the hang of parenting their recently launched man-child. She lives in Seattle, WA and you can learn more about her work at BirdsAndBeesAndKids.com and BBKPros.com.

Audrey Monke, author of Happy Campers: 9 Summer Camp Secrets for Raising Kids Who Become Thriving Adults, is the owner and director of Gold Arrow Camp in Lakeshore, California. She is among the nation’s most well-respected experts on the topics of summer camp and friendship skills. For almost 40 years, Audrey has researched and improved practices at her camp to promote belonging, friendships, and character growth. Her parenting website and podcast, Sunshine Parenting, have a loyal following of like-minded parents wanting to raise kids who become thriving adults. She is the mother of five adult kids (ages eighteen to twenty-eight) and lives with her husband, Steve, in Clovis, California.

Breanne is a certified female athlete Elite Performance Coach who works to empower and enable female athletes to cultivate true confidence, unlock their potential, and level up their performance across all aspects of their lives.

She has a true passion for empowering and enabling female athletes (and their moms!) with the mental aspect of their sport - the missing key to confident and elite performance. Her areas of expertise include: goal setting, affirmations & visualization, crushing limiting beliefs, shifting self-talk, overcoming mistakes, performing under pressure, letting go of perfectionism, managing stress, and becoming more resilient. AND teaching the moms what to say and how to best support their athlete daughters!

As a former collegiate volleyball player and long time coach, Breanne has experienced first hand the unique struggles that female athletes face on the court and in life. Which is why she and her sister-in-law founded The Elite Competitor Program.

Mariko is a mother of two and a Board Certified Behavior Analyst. As a parent coach/behavior consultant, she works with families to address challenges that arise in daily life: tantrums, not listening, aggression (hitting, biting, throwing), bedtime routine/sleep issues, toilet training, picky eating/mealtimes, self-care skills, adjusting to a new sibling, sibling fights, academic and behavior challenges in school, you name it. Mariko is dedicated to supporting parents to come up with functional, effective, and easy-to-implement strategies that will work for their children and parenting style. All of the strategies she recommends are evidence-based interventions, and most of them she's implemented herself as a parent. Mariko's goal is to help parents build their connection with their child, understand the 'why' behind their child's behavior, and provide strategies that will help parents and children thrive.

Melinda Wenner Moyer is a science journalist and author based in Cold Spring, New York. She's a weekly contributor to The New York Times, a contributing editor at Scientific American magazine, and a faculty member in the Science, Health & Environmental Reporting program at NYU’s Arthur L. Carter Journalism Institute. Her first book, How To Raise Kids Who Aren’t Assholes, was published in July 2021 and won a gold medal in the 2022 Living Now Book Awards.

Melinda was the recipient of the 2022 Excellence in Science Journalism award from The Society for Personality and Social Psychology, the 2019 Bricker Award for Science Writing in Medicine, and her work was featured in the 2020 Best American Science and Nature Writing anthology.

Sheryl Gould is a parent educator, podcast host, and the founder of Moms of Tweens and Teens, an international organization supporting moms to grow in their self-awareness, become more effective parents, and build stronger connections with their adolescents and families. Sheryl is a master at providing simple, practical tools, backed by solid research and real-life stories, that will help you understand your adolescents on a deeper level. She teaches how to communicate so one can start building real connections, love, and trust; in order to raise emotionally healthy, happy, responsible adults. She is the author of SOS! The Technology Guidebook for Parents of Tweens and Teens: Get The Answers You Need, Keep Them Safe and Enjoy Your Kids Again and her soon-to-be-released book, You’re Not Crazy, You’re Not A Bad Parent, and No Your Teen Really Doesn’t Hate You. She's been featured on WGN Nightly News, Fox News Chicago, Your Teen for Parents, and national Parenting Podcasts.

Whitney Casares, MD, MPH, FAAP, is a practicing board-certified pediatrician, author, speaker, and full-time working mom. Dr. Whitney is a Stanford University-trained private practice pediatrician whose expertise spans the public health, direct patient care, and media worlds.

She holds a Master of Public Health in Maternal and Child Health from The University of California, Berkeley, and a Journalism degree from California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo. She is also CEO and Founder of Modern Mommy Doc and The Modern Mamas Club App.

Dr. Whitney advocates for the success of career-driven women in all facets of their lives, guiding them toward increased focus, happiness, and effectiveness despite the systemic challenges and inherent biases that threaten to undermine them. She speaks nationally about her Centered Life Blueprint, which teaches working mothers how to pay attention to what matters most amid post-pandemic pressure, at multibillion-dollar corporations like CeraVe and Nike, and at executive-level conferences. She is a spokesperson for the American Academy of Pediatrics and medical consultant for large-scale organizations, including Good Housekeeping magazine, Gerber, and L’Oreal. Her work has been featured in Forbes, Thrive Global, and TODAY Parenting. She is a regular contributor to Psychology Today.

Dr. Whitney practices pediatrics in Portland, Oregon, where she and her husband raise their two young daughters.

Kelly Smith is a mother and globally celebrated yoga and meditation teacher, E-RYT 500 /YACEP, founder of Yoga For You, and host of the iTunes chart topping podcasts, Mindful in Minutes and Meditation Mama. Kelly believes that there is not a one-size-fits-all approach to yoga and meditation and encourages her students to find their own personal practice, listen to their bodies, and find inner joy by accessing their most authentic selves and owning their power. Kelly specializes in the non-physical limbs of yoga and is best known for her master trainings in meditation, restorative yoga, and yoga nidra, and her international retreats.

Miranda Lee teaches parents, families, and kids how to lead contented and balanced lives using mindfulness and meditation techniques. The author of The 5-Minute Meditation Journal, Miranda is a certified Mindful Schools meditation educator, who specializes in practical meditation coaching for busy families. While Miranda has over 20 years of experience in yoga and meditation and has studied with some of the world's great yoga teachers, she considers her two young sons to be her greatest "Zen Masters."

New York Times bestselling author Ruth Soukup is dedicated to helping women everywhere create a life they love. She is the host of the wildly popular Do It Scared podcast, as well as the founder of several successful brands, including Living Well Spending Less®, Elite Blog Academy®, and her newest endeavor, Thinlicious™, created to make getting healthy taste and feel good. Her practical advice has been featured all over, including Good Morning America, the Today Show, Family Circle, Entrepreneur, TIME and Fox News.

Cara is a wife, mom to a 16-year-old stepson, 7-year-old daughter, 5-year-old son, and a woman of God. She works as a productivity coach for work at home moms and her mission is to provide women with the tools, resources, and community to reach their goals, empower themselves, find their happiness, and live a life by design. She does this via her blog, The Purpose Driven Mom Show podcast, virtual community groups, and e-courses that help moms figure out how to grow and scale a business without hustle, shame, or guilt.

Lisa Woodruff is the founder & CEO of Organize 365®. Lisa, along with 87% of America, believes organization is a learnable skill. Yet less than 18% of those same Americans feel they are organized. Through The Productive Home Solution™ course Lisa aims to teach Americans young and old the skill of organizing and unlocking their time for what they are uniquely created to do.

As the host of the top-rated Organize 365 Podcast (which has 17 million downloads and counting), Lisa shares strategies for reducing the overwhelm, clearing the mental clutter, and living a productive and organized life. Her sensible and doable organizing tasks appeal to multiple generations. Her candor and relatable personality make you feel as though she is right there beside you; helping you get organized as you laugh and cry together.

Under Lisa’s direction, Organize 365 has conducted academic research establishing the definitions of housework, home organization and the weight of paper in the American home. This ongoing research is making the invisible work at home visible to all. The goal is to eliminate it and free people from the monotonous tasks of daily living; and unlock their time for what they are uniquely created to bring forth in the world.

She is the author of four books including, How ADHD Affects Home Organization and The Paper Solution. Lisa’s understanding of the lived female American experience has helped her to create products & courses like the Sunday Basket®. These products and courses externalize the routine tasks that take up the executive functioning capacity of our brains; freeing us up to think and create again!

Elisa Giorgio loves using her super power of organization to help women get dinner on the table without losing their mind! She's a teacher, speaker, and creator of the Capsule Pantry, her signature method that teaches the power of minimalism in the kitchen. Elisa is also a mama to two boys, a rescue dog, and a strong coffee maker. When she’s not teaching moms how to use fewer ingredients to make more dinners, you can find her whipping up a mean spinach artichoke dip, enjoying a good book, or cleaning up homemade slime — for the hundredth time!

Nationally recognized parenting expert Amy McCready is the founder of Positive Parenting Solutions, creator of the 7-Step Parenting Success System®, and the best-selling author of The "Me, Me, Me” Epidemic - A Step-by-Step Guide to Raising Capable, Grateful Kids in an Over-Entitled World and If I Have to Tell You One More Time…The Revolutionary Program That Gets Your Kids to Listen Without Nagging, Reminding or Yelling.

As a “recovering yeller” and a Certified Positive Discipline Instructor, Amy is a champion of positive parenting techniques for happier families and well-behaved kids. Amy is a TODAY Show contributor and has been featured on The Doctors, CBS This Morning, CNN, Fox & Friends, MSNBC, Rachael Ray, Steve Harvey & others. In her most important role, she is the proud mom of two amazing young men.

Marcelle Waldman lives in the beautiful Pacific Northwest, with her husband and two children, ages 10 and 12. She is a certified K-5 elementary educator, having the incredible opportunity to teach some of our youngest learners in kindergarten and preschool, and also served as preschool director. She is Youth Mental Health First Aid certified, and has completed extensive coursework in psychology and child development. Marcelle is the founder of FeelLinks; a small business targeted at strengthening children’s social-emotional connections and confidence. FeelLinks includes hands-on tools, educational resources, and more to support families and educators with developing lifelong social-emotional skills in children.

Marcelle educates on topics around social-emotional skills development in children, how emotions influence the brain, emotional intelligence, and how to support the overall emotional health and well-being of our children. She presents at schools, summit events, and conferences around the globe. As an avid community volunteer, she has served on her school’s PTA board as vice president and president, contributed to many School District committees, is a current Board Trustee for her local Schools Foundation and sits on their programs committee, and volunteers for the Ladybug House, a hospice and palliative care program for children.

Ned Johnson is an author, speaker, and founder of PrepMatters, an educational company providing academic tutoring, educational planning, and standardized test preparation. A professional “tutor-geek” since 1993 and battle-tested veteran of test prep, stress regulation and student performance, Ned has spent nearly 50,000 one-on-one hours helping students conquer an alphabet of standardized tests, learn to manage their anxiety, and develop their own motivation to succeed

With Dr. William Stixrud, Ned co-authored The Self-Driven Child: The Science and Sense of Giving Your Kids More Control Over Their Lives and What Do You Say? How To Talk With Kids To Build Motivation, Stress Tolerance, and a Happy Home. Ned is the host of the PrepTalks podcast: conversations with parenting and education experts, a sought-after speaker and teen coach on study skills, sleep deprivation, parent-teen dynamics, and test anxiety, and his work is featured in The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, NPR, BBC, and many others.

Debbie Reber, MA is a parenting activist, bestselling author, speaker, and the CEO and founder of Tilt Parenting, a resource, top-performing podcast (more than 5 million downloads), consultancy, and community with a focus on shifting the paradigm for parents raising and embracing neurodivergent children. A regular contributor to Psychology Today and ADDitude Magazine, Debbie’s most recent book is Differently Wired: A Parent’s Guide to Raising an Atypical Child with Confidence and Hope. In 2018 she spoke at TEDxAmsterdam, delivering a talk entitled "Why the Future Will Be Differently Wired." After living abroad in the Netherlands for five years, Debbie, her husband, and differently wired teen moved to Brooklyn, NY in 2019.

Julie Skolnick, M.A., J.D., founder of With Understanding Comes Calm, LLC, passionately guides parents of gifted and distractible children, mentors 2e adults, trains educators and advises professionals on how to bring out the best and raise self-confidence in their 2e students and clients.

Julie serves as Secretary to the Maryland Superintendent’s Gifted and Talented Advisory Council, is an advisor for the Masters of Education Program for the Bridges Graduate School of Cognitive Diversity, is the Maryland liaison for Supporting the Emotional Needs of the Gifted (SENG), is a Committee member for the National Association for Gifted Children (NAGC) and serves as an advisor to “The G Word” feature documentary currently in production.

Julie produces Let’s Talk 2e! virtual conferences, hosts the Let’s Talk 2e! Empowerment Series and publishes “Gifted & Distractible,” a free monthly newsletter. Julie’s book, Gifted and Distractible, is due to launch in Fall 2023.

A frequent speaker and prolific writer, Julie is also the mother of three twice exceptional children who keep her on her toes and uproariously laughing.

Linda Roggli is the creator of the ADHD Palooza series, a Professional Certified Coach (PCC), award-winning author and founder of the A-D-Diva Network for ADHD women 40-and-better. She is recognized as an expert in midlife and senior ADHD.

The online Palooza series now includes ADHD Women, ADHD Parents and ADHD Couples. Linda’s book Confessions of an ADDiva: Midlife in the Non-linear Lane won first prize for women’s issues in the prestigious Next Generation Indy Book Awards competition. She regularly hosts workshops, organizing groups and retreats for ADHD women.

Sheryl Ziegler, Psy.D. is a Licensed Clinical Psychologist and a Play Therapist in private practice. She is the author of Mommy Burnout: How to Reclaim Your ife and Raise Healthier Children in the Process. She is a regular national and local news contributor on topics related to parenting and mental health and did a Tedx talk on "Why Moms are Miserable" which is all about the power of connection. She is the host of Dr. Sheryl's PodCouch and the founder of the parent-child puberty course, Start with the Talk. She is a frequent speaker on chronic stress, parenting and burnout both in the workplace and at home. Dr. Ziegler is Colorado’s NBC affiliate (9News) Parenting Expert for the franchise series Mental Health & Me.

Tessa Stuckey, also known as The Mom Therapist, works hard with adolescents, parents and families navigating the digital, tech-filled world that our kids are growing up in. As a mother of 4 herself, Tessa is passionate to provide motivation and hope for families by teaching how to create a healthier and positive lifestyle for all through anxiety management, understanding the harms and necessary limits of screen use, and the need for healthy connection and a balanced lifestyle. She is a nationally recognized author of the book, For the Sake of Our Youth. Tessa and her husband live just north of Houston, Texas where they are actively raising their four sons and continuing the fight against today’s cultural effects.

Katie Kimball, CSME, the national voice of healthy kids cooking, is a blogger, former teacher, and mom of 4 kids who founded the Kids Cook Real Food eCourse, recommended by The Wall Street Journal in 2020 as the best online cooking class for kids. Since 2009, her blog, Kitchen Stewardship, helps families stay healthy without going crazy, and she’s on a mission to connect families around healthy food and teach every child in America to cook. Her latest adventure is a series of talks: a pandemic-cancelled TEDx talk turned DIY in 2020 - redefining the kids’ meal and starting a #KidsMealRevolution, followed up by a TEDx talk in Bismarck in 2021 about kids, critical thinking, and the kitchen, and another at TEDxHartford on how picky eating isn't about the food.

Kris is a classically trained chef with over a decade of experience in the culinary world, but more importantly - she’s a busy mom of two and a culinary nutritionist with a passion for sharing real food recipes for real families that are really delicious! Kris founded Healthy Mama Kris in 2014 to help moms stress less about food through delicious family-friendly recipes, simplified meal planning, actually do-able meal prep and realistic grocery budgeting. Kris inspires moms worldwide to enjoy spending time in their kitchen through her digital courses, cooking club membership and top rated podcast, The Healthy Mama Kitchen Podcast. She lives on the gulf coast with her sailor husband and two little sous chefs.

Katrina is a spunky wife, mom with a mohawk, frugal fanatic, loyal dog lover, business owner, runner, devoted brownie eater, and lover of all things glitter. She's been called “crazy” more times than she can count, but knows that “fun” is really a better description of who she is. Full of spunk and a little bit of sass, Katrina fiercely loves her hubby and kids, just about as much as she loves to have a good time – affordably, of course! Her passion is to help busy moms plan fun, easy and affordable parties their kids love.

MEET YOUR SUMMIT HOSTS

Brie Tucker, B.S.

MEET YOUR SPEAKERS

Positive Parenting

Self-Care for Better Mental Health

Organization for a Calmer You

Stronger Communication Skills

Parenting with Neurodiversity

Building Emotional Regulation

Overcoming Picky Eating

Finding Fun Activities with the Kids

Want to learn more about our speakers?

JoAnn Crohn, M.Ed

Amy Lang, MA

Audrey Monke

Breanne Smedley

Chazz "Mr. Chazz" Lewis

Heather O'Donnell

Mariko Fairly, BCBA

Melinda Wenner Moyer

Sarah R. Moore

Sheryl Gould

Dr. Whitney Casares

Jennifer Roskamp

Kelly Smith

Marielle Melling

Miranda Lee

Ruth Soukup

Cara Harvey

Jessica Litwin

Lisa Woodruff

Renae Fieck, OTR/L

Elisa Giorgio

Amy McCready

Marcelle Waldman

Ned Johnson

Debbie Reber, MA

Julie Skolnick, MA, JD

Linda Roggli

Dr. Sheryl Ziegler

Tessa Stuckey

Katie Kimball, CSME

Kris Dovbniak

Katrina Rauch

Mandisa Watts