Unlock The Key To Your Family’s Genius w/ Co-Founder of Parenting Evolution
Are you passionate about becoming a successful parent but tired of all the various online advice? Look no further!
Are you a parent looking for answers but find yourself often shuffling through the clutter of online advice? Well, the search is over! Women.com would love to introduce you to the founder of Parenting Evolution, Cathy Domoney!
Cathy is an award-winning children’s author, counselor, mentor, educator, hypnotherapist, and family empowerment expert. Featured on TEDEd, Fox News, Up Journey, Buzzfeed, and many more, she has over 20 years of experience transforming the lives of many families.
Cathy founded Parenting Evolution to help families feel empowered and knowledgeable when it comes to disrupting all the harmful advice society floods our social media.
If you are ready to grow as a parent, keep scrolling to learn more about Parenting Evolution!
Click here to see more of Cathy’s many accomplishments!
“As a parent, I choose myself every…single…day… Why? Firstly, because my kids are learning from the example that I set for them. Also, because I’m Badass.”
-Cathy Domoney.
Before becoming the Co-Founder and Co-Director of Parenting Evolution, can you please share some insight into your family and being the mother of 5?
Our family is a mixed bag of the best kind of crazy, heart-centered fun, the perfect amount of quirky, anchored in loving humor. My husband works away so is only home for 12 weeks of the year, so I am severely outnumbered! The kids and I are a great team. We have a fantastic relationship, we do not always see eye-to-eye, but we love each other fiercely and take the time to work through issues and have the uncomfortable conversations needed for us to move forward together as strong individuals and a strong collective. We are very loving and giving, but we are not pushovers! We will fiercely defend ourselves and each other when needed. My husband and I have created the family that I always wanted, but never had. My husband is a big kid at heart which makes for a fun home life. Recently, he and my eldest son came up and asked if they could have a star-wars movie-marathon day. (I oversee the schedule and so they needed to know their availability!) I suggested a day that would work perfectly for them on my husband’s seven-day R&R and my husband asked, ‘Can we have treats?’ To which I replied amused, ‘You’re 47 years old, Ian! If you guys want treats, then go and get them!’ We are perfectly imperfect, and I feel so lucky and blessed to have these incredible souls in my experience.
Why do you describe your children as having neurodivergent abilities?
My children are a combination of ASD and ADHD and they are the most incredible humans you could ever be lucky enough to meet. The reason that I describe my children that way is because words matter and the way that they hear me describe them matters. I am not a fan of language that implies that my children are ‘less than’ - so when I speak of them, my words are always brimming with unconditional love and endless possibility for them. I have found my children to be the wisest, most loving, extraordinarily logical, empathetic, kind, deeply empathic souls. Often misunderstood and rejected by some in society who are not ready for their kind of uniqueness, it is essential that they are surrounded by the most nourishing and nurturing environment possible as they develop their characters and beliefs about themselves. I am one of the most influential people in their young lives and what I think about them, and how I speak to them and about them, matters.
As your career progressed, what was the inspiration behind Parenting Evolution?
As I began to speak more publicly and appear on podcasts, I realized that other parents were craving the authenticity, honesty, and reassurance that I was offering. As I connected with more and more parents, the rawness that I shared of my own journey as a parent had a huge impact on them. I believe it is fundamentally important to be honest about our parenting journeys and for us to stop pretending that we have it all figured out. How can we? My kids are all different, they are all individual characters who all need something slightly different from me, and that is in constant fluidity. I have made mistakes…it’s what I did with those mistakes that had a positive impact on the development of my kids. Parenting Evolution is a sacred space where parents can be real without the fear of judgment. It is also a place where parents are given the freedom to evolve alongside their children and be the best versions of themselves that they can be, which is what all our children deserve.
What qualifications do you bring to the table when it comes to educating other parents?
Growing up in a home with narcissistic siblings who were over a decade older than me, meant that from a very young age I was fascinated with human behavior. I learned to be very quiet and to observe and read the room carefully before I participated. I then studied sociology at university, then teaching, counseling, psychology, hypnotherapy, and coaching. Little did I know that all this professional curiosity would be preparing me for my own parenting journey.
However, I would like to speak to the limitations of academic qualifications alone. Degrees and diplomas are helpful and valuable, but not necessarily in isolation. More important than my formal qualifications have been my experiences, as a coach and as a parent. I have experienced darkness as a parent. I have navigated through depression. I have had doubts and fears that I have had to overcome to keep showing up as the parent that our kids deserve. I have helped my kids through dark times, and I have been on my knees praying for the strength to keep going through doubt and overwhelm. If I want to find out about what it’s like to visit Greece, I want to talk with someone who has been to and experienced Greece, not from someone who has only read the guidebook.
Why should parents stop listening to the parenting gurus who call themselves “experts”?
Parents have been systematically separated from their intuition. We have been told that there is only one way to parent, and that a good parent looks and behaves in only one way. This is both outdated and ridiculous. Some of the experts out there have some great points to share, but many of them tap into parent insecurities to make them. This bothers me. The first conversation I have with parents addresses their inner fear that they are somehow screwing up their kids. This makes my heart sad. Parenting a whole child means that our parenting needs to be whole. Not compartmentalized into ‘good’ and ‘bad’ but rather to create the fluidity of a whole human experience for us as a collective. My primary goal when working with a family is to heal any potential wounds of the past, and then to reconnect each soul in the family to their own intuition, and then even more powerfully to each other.
Parenting Evolution
How would you describe a successful parent?
A successful parent takes the time to work on themselves, to heal their childhood wounds and past trauma so they can show up as the most powerful versions of themselves possible for their children. They see their children as connected to but separate from them. They acknowledge that their children have their own unique journeys and hold space for these journeys to unfold in the perfect timing. They see the unique potential in their child, and they hold them to that through radically empathetic and strong leadership.
How does Parenting Evolution work?
Parenting Evolution will look slightly different for every family who connects with it. It has been strategically designed to elevate every unique parent who engages with it. Every person within every family is distinctive. They need a space where this individuality is supported, guided, and celebrated. That is what Parenting Evolution represents. Through a variety of carefully sculpted approaches, each parent in that space will be valued, seen, heard, inspired, and held. It is the only way forward if we are to create the next generation of leaders that humanity is demanding.
What challenges and/or questions do you find parents commonly dealing with and/or asking themselves?
Parents are under so much pressure these days to get everything ‘right’ for our kids. We must balance our new and evolving identities, our wants and wishes, our careers, our mental and physical wellbeing as well as trying to balance the ever-intrusive cyber existence that is ever more prevalent in society today. Then, through all our trials and challenges, to show up and be the most excellent leaders that our kids so richly deserve! The main concern of parents that I work with is that they can powerfully connect with their children in all ways so that they can be the guides for them as they begin stepping increasingly into independence.
The gorgeous families that come and cocreate with me want to give their children the most solid foundation from which they can successfully build their lives upon. Parents are wanting to know how to balance their own wants and wishes with those of their children.
They want to know how best to support them in all ways. They want to be loving, but also gift their children the boundaries they will need to navigate the world when their children emerge from beneath their wings. The biggest fear I unpack with folks is, ‘Am I messing up my kids?’ Frankly, the very fact that they would be asking themselves such a question shows that they care deeply and are dedicated to their children in all ways.
The Pillars of Leadership Blueprint provides parents with tips and solutions to these challenges, how so?
The Pillars of Leadership Blueprint provides parents with an easily accessible, detailed, and deep insight into the characteristics of leaders and the parents of leaders throughout history. It highlights some of the greatest, most celebrated leaders of our time and unpacks which characteristics, attitudes, or experiences directly contributed to their success.
Additionally, and most importantly, the Blueprint provides practical examples of how to develop these strengths in our own children in our everyday lives and is designed to empower every parent who accesses it to connect deeply with their own unique parenting style, whilst filtering through the gems of leadership, such as integrity, honor, and honesty to position their children as leaders in their own experiences. By amplifying these qualities in our children and in holding space for their journeys to unfold organically, we strategically empower them to release their individual genius, whatever that looks like to them.
Do you have any success stories you could share with our viewers?
My daughter was in a friendship group where she didn’t belong.
She knew it.
They knew it.
They would get together behind her back and hang out and then post it all over social media purposely excluding her.
She would lay her head in my lap night after night gently weeping the hours away.
This was our nightly routine for months.
It was painful for her to live through.
It was excruciating for us to witness.
We held her as she navigated through these turbulent waters.
Here’s the crux of the conversations we had.
You’re in pain.
Partly because of their treatment of you, and partly because of your treatment of yourself. You know that trying to morph into this inauthentic version of yourself is making you unhappy on every level of your being.
It’s time to choose your unhappy.
LONG TERM UNHAPPY.
Be unhappy that you’re sacrificing your true self for people who really don’t truly see, understand, value, or love you.
OR
SHORT TERM UNHAPPY.
Be unhappy that you have no friends but that you are fully yourself, can bust out of this straitjacket ten sizes too small, and get really comfortable with yourself and your own company.
Neither choice was easy, BUT there is always power in the choice.
Thankfully, she chose option 2.
She withdrew from the group, stood in her full power and authenticity, and she began to inwardly thrive.
She is now the most genuine, fiercely loving, incredible human you could ever be fortunate enough to meet. She had to learn integrity and honoring of self before anyone else was able to gift it to her. It was an excruciatingly tough lesson to learn, but it has laid a solid foundation upon which she is now building her life.
She is unapologetically herself and that, dear friends, takes true dedication to self and great courage.
I also had a young teen client come and work with me who was deeply depressed and self-harming. Within weeks of working with me she had stopped self-harming, began to make friends, and connected with her family. This is the kind of result you get when you can powerfully connect a person with themselves at the deepest level.
"I think you replaced our daughter with an alien! Completely different child. She is calmer and thinks about what she wants to say before she speaks. She is making better choices and has been sleeping a lot better. Jane says she has made new friends from the school that she never had spoken to in the schoolyard before because she has the confidence to approach people. She has had no signs of self-harming for two months. No antidepressants for a while now. Thank you, Cathy. I can’t tell you how much we appreciate what you did for Jane. Her grandma called tonight and made a comment about how she could hear a smile in her voice for the first time in years." -Ophelia ~ U.K.
Decode Your Child’s Genius
You are also the Founder of Decode Your Child’s Genius. Tell us more about that.
Decode Your Child’s genius filters through all my coaching, consultancy, courses, and books. It is the promise that we make to our children to truly take the time to constantly get to know them, to hold space for who they are and understand that they are connected to but separate from us. It is a declaration to the world that we allow our precious young ones to evolve as they were always meant to whilst gifting them the Pillars of Leadership as they form their identities and carve out their paths. I have seen children whose genius is kindness and the ability to inspire others. I have seen math geniuses, as well as incredible empaths. Genius is not necessarily linked to academics.
What is something you wish you had known when you were a new parent?
I wish I had known that the fiercest advice and criticism I received as a new parent came from those who had failed and were projecting their insecurities onto me. When new parents ask me for advice, I tell them to stay curious and listen to the experiences of others, whilst remaining deeply connected to their inner wisdom and intuition. My fierce connection and faith in my own intuition has literally saved my childrens’ lives on more than one occasion. You know your child better than anyone else in the world - trust that.
For those who are interested, where can they go to learn more about you and Parenting Evolution?
BIO:
Cathy Domoney is a world-renowned Parenting Expert, Author, Mentor, and CEO of Parenting Evolution - an exclusive online network for modern parents who are committed to raising the next generation of world-changing leaders. In her Pillars of Leadership Blueprint, Cathy's remarkable system enables parents to tap into their own genius so they can empower their child’s greatness. Her parenting authority stems from extensive experience working with and raising her own children, 5 of which have neurodivergent abilities. Through her global empire, Cathy Domoney is on a mission to revolutionize parenting, empowering parents to embrace their unique genius in order to raise epic future leaders, unlocking their children's infinite potential so they can grow into the world-shaping leaders that humanity demands.
How can our readers connect with you further?
If you are a parent ready to embrace your unique genius in order to raise epic future leaders, unlocking your children's infinite potential so they can grow into the world-shaping leaders that humanity demands, please visit: www.parentingevolution.com