Hey, I'm Michelle
Elementary teacher for almost two decades. A degree in psychology and a degree in education. And a recovering perfectionist, which means
I know exactly what it feels like to be your kid.
I know what it's like to not raise your hand unless you're 100% sure you're right. To redo something three times because it wasn't perfect yet. To decide it's safer not to try than to risk getting it wrong. I lived it as a kid, I've watched it in my classroom every single year, and I had to do the rewiring on myself first. That's why I can teach you how to do it for your child.
My Story
The Bunny Ears Photo
For most of my life, when I thought of myself as a kid, I thought of the responsible girl. A perfectionist for sure. I played it safe, second-guessed myself, tried really hard not to get things wrong.
Then I found an old photo of myself, around nine years old.
I'm wearing bunny ears and a bright pink gymnastics outfit, with the entire neighborhood parade I'd organized lined up around me, ready to march down the street. I planned it, advertised it to the neighbors, and there I was at the front like, "Follow me!" 🎉🎉
I wasn't born shy or anxious. I was BRAVE, bold, and expressive. I was the kind of kid who took up space without asking permission.
Somewhere along the way, that version of me dimmed. It happens to so many kids... pressure, comparison, expectations, the quiet message that mistakes aren't safe.
Maybe you're watching it happen to yours right now.
The parade crew, minutes before showtime. Bunny ears = the organizer. 🐰
The Kids Who Reminded Me of Me
When I became a teacher, I naturally gravitated toward the kids who reminded me of me in school. The capable ones who freeze the second it gets hard. So smart, but the moment something feels uncertain or they might get it wrong, they shut down,
avoid it, melt down, or try to make it perfect.
You might be raising this kid. Great on paper, and falling apart over
one tricky homework question.
I KNEW what was happening on the inside. It wasn't laziness or a bad attitude. It was fear. Their nervous system going into protection mode.
So I got obsessed with figuring out how to help them. I did every training I could get my hands on: growth mindset, emotional regulation, resilience-building, brain-based strategies... anything that would help kids feel safe with challenge and learn that "hard" doesn't mean "I can't."
And I watched it work. Kids started trying again. Raising their hands.
Not treating a mistake like an emergency.
2023
Then in 2023 my mom passed away, and it made me stop and ask
why I'm even doing any of this.
Here's what I realized: it can't stop at 25 kids a year in my classroom. Ten months with me isn't enough. Kids get a new teacher every single year, and whatever progress we make can fade if nobody keeps building on it.
But their parents have them for a lifetime.
And so many parents are doing their absolute best and still don't have the tools... they don't know how to respond in the moment their child shuts down, don't know how to build confidence that actually lasts.
That's when Bravewired started, really.
Why I Teach Parents
I still teach part-time because I love the classroom. But now I also coach parents, teaching them the exact strategies I've used for years as an educator.
Because here's the truth: confidence isn't built in an office once a week, or even in a classroom for ten months. It's built at the kitchen table over homework. In the car after the game. In the moment your child says "I can't" and looks at you.
You're already there for those moments. You're the constant.
My job is to make sure you know exactly what to do with them.
Equip the parent, and you don't just help one classroom.
You help a whole family, for the long run.
What I Believe
Kids aren't born afraid of hard things. They learn what feels safe. And what is learned can be rewired.
Capable kids don't avoid hard things because they're lazy or trying to be defiant. They avoid hard things because "hard" started to feel like proof they're not who they're supposed to be.
Confidence isn't built through pressure. It's built through practice, in small brave reps, with a calm adult nearby.
The brave version of your child is still in there. I've seen it come back too many times to doubt it.
The kid in the bunny ears? Yours has one too.
If you're raising a capable kid who freezes the second things get hard, you're in the right place. You don't need to figure this out alone, and you don't need to wait for them to grow out of it. They won't.
But what they learned can be rewired, and it starts with you.
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Newsletter
A couple of emails a month: one children's book worth reading together, and one honest thought about raising kids who can do hard things. That's it.