My Story
How I Found My Light
Hi, I’m Karla — and I help kids build real confidence.
Not confidence that comes from simply being told, “You can do it!”
The kind that comes from collecting enough evidence to know, “I can.”
For nearly two decades, I’ve worked with kids as a teacher, coach, nanny, and online educator. Over the last six years alone, I’ve taught more than 10,000 kids from around the world and received more than 5,800 positive reviews from families.
And after thousands of conversations with kids, I’ve learned something important:
Confidence doesn't come from just one place.
It grows from a collection of skills that work together.
Kids need to understand their brain, where those annoying negative thoughts come from, and how those thoughts can influence what they feel and do.
But knowing what to do isn't enough.
Telling a kid to “do hard things” doesn't teach them how to move through the fear that's stopping them. Telling them to “speak up” doesn't teach them how to find their voice, communicate what they need, build healthy relationships, or work through conflict.
For the last six years, I've taught these skills to thousands of kids, testing and refining what works along the way.
I know how to make it fun, make it stick, and connect the pieces in a way that builds real confidence.
But my connection to confidence started long before I began teaching it.
I started coaching when I was 18, and helping kids grow has been part of my life ever since.
I'm also a mom of four, which means I've had plenty of opportunities to discover that knowing how kids work and raising your own are two VERY different things.
I was an All-American collegiate volleyball player and Hall of Fame inductee. Athletics taught me what it feels like to build confidence from the ground up. To challenge myself, do hard things, fail, get back up, keep growing, and discover just how capable I really was.
But as I got older, I also began to recognize the parts of my confidence that athletic achievements couldn't fill.
And that's a huge part of my why.
I want every kid, regardless of their gifts, talents, grades, trophies, or achievements, to build a confidence that comes from knowing who they are, trusting themselves, and discovering all the ways they are capable.
I want them to know they don't have to prove they're extraordinary to believe there is something extraordinary inside of them.
That's why I've spent years developing, teaching, testing, and refining the skills I teach today.
And it's why I feel so strongly about giving kids these tools now, while they're still figuring out who they are and what they're capable of.
So what do you say? Ready to help your child build real confidence?
I'm creating a 90-day experience for families who want to intentionally help their 6–12-year-old build the mindset, self-trust, and relationship skills that grow real confidence.
I'm being intentional about the families I bring into this program. Book a call so I can learn more about your child and your goals, walk you through my approach, and determine whether you and your child are a good fit.
Review
Mona Prasad DO
Chief of Maternal Fetal Medicine
OhioHealth
"As professional parents, we are continually asked how we find balance among the equally important responsibilities of career, relationships, parenting, and community. Over the years, we have realized that balance is not really the goal.
Harmony is.
Sometimes work takes the lead. Sometimes parenting takes the lead. But at the end of the day, week, or month, success means being able to look back and say that you were where you needed to be, when you needed to be there. When that happens, all the layers of your life have the opportunity to thrive.
One of the most important skills in navigating these competing and uniquely meaningful roles is the ability to be fully present wherever you are. Having someone like Karla on your parenting team makes that possible. She allowed us to focus on work when we needed to, while trusting that our values, influence, and priorities continued to ripple through our home even when we were not physically present.
Karla was our nanny, turned sister, confidante, friend, trusted partner, and household CEO from the time our youngest daughter was born until she was nine years old.
Initially, we were drawn to Karla because of her formal educational background, coaching experience, upbringing in a large and loving family, and personal development as a collegiate athlete. What we came to love most about her, however, went far beyond her resume.
Karla had an extraordinary ability to understand the tone and values of our family and seamlessly model them during our work hours. She understood that our children were being raised with both privilege and responsibility. We were aligned in the belief that navigating life successfully would require humility, confidence, resilience, healthy boundaries, and a strong sense of self.
At the core of our parenting philosophy were a few simple truths: our daughters should know that their potential is limitless, kindness matters, strong and healthy bodies support successful lives, and respect for others is nonnegotiable. We believed we were providing positive parental role models, but we also knew that our influence was magnified through Karla's presence and partnership.
Our children were not the only beneficiaries of her impact. As parents, we were too.
When handoffs are seamless and children feel loved, nurtured, and secure regardless of who is physically with them, a home functions differently. The constant hum of chaos is replaced with a sense of peace. That environment allowed each member of our family to show up as the best version of themselves.
Today, our daughters are 16 and 19 years old. They possess a strong sense of self, an even stronger sense of community, and the confidence to navigate challenges with purpose and compassion. What we were able to create together through intuition, trust, and partnership feels remarkable. Seeing Karla now bring more than eight years of intentional study, coaching, and experience into this work makes us believe her impact will be even more extraordinary for the families she serves.
Karla was never simply an employee. She was a true partner who genuinely wanted the best for every member of our family, and she delivered that gift many times over.
Even today, she remains a trusted source of wisdom, advice, and love in our home. Each of us still reaches out to her when we find ourselves at a crossroads because her perspective continues to be so valuable.
Knowing that her voice, insight, and gifts will be amplified through this work is exciting. Parents seeking a like-minded partner will benefit immensely from her guidance, and children will gain a valued member of their village, someone who consistently models the character, values, and humanity we hope prevail in this world.