Here are some things I believe

We are so capable. Left to our own devices, we humans are brimming with curiosities, ideas, interests and big dreams, and have capacity to make those dreams reality. A three-year-old building worlds in play. A mother finally making space to write her novel. A kid obsessed with dinosaurs. An adult pivoting careers or building an app. The capacity is there.

Our primary job as educators and parents is to connect and listen. What are you like? What are your interests? What motivates you? What shuts you down? What makes your curiosity spark? Whether we're supporting a young learner or holding space for someone reclaiming their power, the work is the same: deeply listen, attune to, and honor what people already bring. The listening is the foundation.

Our secondary job is to coach and support. People come with their wildest ideas, dreams, what-ifs, and what-abouts. Sometimes those ideas are loud and clear. Sometimes they're buried, half-formed, calling to be unearthed. Our job is to take those bubbling curiosities and burgeoning capacities and support people in bringing their ideas to life.

The vast majority of education models are inverted Whether in kindergarten or college, schooling centers curriculum instead of learners. Most learning spaces start with "here's what you should know" instead of "who are you, what lights you up, what are you trying to build?" That’s backwards, and it’’s disconnected. What if instead we honored and centered what learners already come with, and supported them in bringing their dreams to life?

People know how to direct their learning. Watch a three-year-old at play—moving seamlessly through imaginative worlds, building things up, breaking them down, creation and destruction and recreation on repeat. Watch someone finally carving out time for their project—the focus, the flow, the way they seek out exactly what they need to learn next. This is learning in its most alive, authentic form. The vast majority of formal education interrupts this deep work. Our job is to make space—for young learners and adult learners alike—to tap into the creative well where learning is most ripe and accessible.

Learners deserve better than to have their time wasted. Whether you're six or forty, your time is sacred. Most educational spaces—schools, courses, training programs—balloon requirements way beyond what's actually necessary, and teach necessary content inefficiently wasting time on content that serves systems more than learners. What if we honored time as sacred? What if we built learning spaces—for kids learning to read, for mothers building businesses, for anyone doing their most important work—that centered not wasting people's time?

Learning is relational. We don't learn in isolation—we learn in connection with others. Kids learn through play with peers, through conversations with adults who genuinely see them. Adults learn through community, accountability partners, people who believe in their projects when doubt creeps in. The relationship matters. Whether it's a teacher who truly listens, a writing circle that holds space, a community of people doing hard creative work together—learning comes alive in relationship. Real learning happens when we're connected, seen, supported, and held accountable by people who care about our becoming.