Resilience Event Takeaways

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Thank you to the 250 parents, caregivers, and teens who attended the Families Connected Speaker Series event, “Under Pressure. Stress Resilience When the Stakes Are High.” We had a dream team panel featuring Norm Chow, Casey Jennings, Valorie Kondos Field, and Mikah Haly-Karros, LMFT. Thank you to our event partners, Beach Cities Health District, Children’s Hospital, Los Angeles, Positive Coaching Alliance, and the MBX Foundation for making this presentation possible.

If you missed the presentation, click on the link below to access related resources and handouts:

We’d also like to than our Families Connected Parent Ambassador Lisa Hardiman, South Bay Families Connected (SBFC) Board member Kathleen Terry, and SBFC volunteer Fred Terry for taking the time to share with South Bay Families Connected and Beach Cities Health District her take-aways from the event.

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Lisa’s takeaways:

One of the things I loved about this Families Connected Speaker Series event was that it was more of a conversation than a structured presentation. Norm Chow, Casey Jennings, Valerie Kondos Field and Mikah Maly-Karros all sitting together in one room (mind blowing, right?) discussing resilience. It was an honest, thoughtful and unscripted exchange between some very inspiring coaches and athletes.  Although there were many points of insight throughout the night, here are my top three takeaways: 

  1. In regards to “failure,” get over it. Perfection doesn’t exist. Refuse to feel badly and move on. Learn from your mistakes – you aren’t learning if you are pouting.

  2. When it comes to your kids, have their back. Be there for them when they exceed your expectations but even more importantly, when they don’t. They need a safe space to fail.

  3. Have something beyond sport that brings you joy. Grow and develop passions as a whole person and not just an athlete.

And one bonus tip – never discuss the game in the car ride on the way home.  It’s tempting, I know, but just don’t do it.  

Kathleen’s takeaways:

Kathleen Terry

My husband and I have been attending the speaker's series regularly as volunteers and also just because the speakers are so interesting regardless of whether you have school aged children or not. My son is an adult and actually I am quite removed from knowing the issues that are facing kids today. By attending these sessions not only do I learn about the relevant issues facing youth today but I get a chance to reflect upon how I personally can pass the information on to others. Talking about how to handle failure provided me personally with some ideas that I could pass on to others in the groups I facilitate. I was able recently to share the insights about not focusing on the win as much as the process and enjoying the game right after the session. The other day I was talking to with a friend who has a young child in soccer. She expressed concerns that the coach was so competitive and wasn't going to allow her child to play if she didn't become more aggressive. I had wished she could have heard the panelists discuss this as it would have helped her find a way to talk to her child. The message was let the kids have fun. Yes winning is important but more important is did they put their best effort forth.

Fred’s takeaways:

I found this lively panel discussion to be educational, insightful and entertaining. The panelists experiences and observations were thought-provoking and relatable to attending parents. Though I no longer have school aged children I was able to identify some of my own lessons learned and opportunities missed. I would highly recommend this speaker series to any parents with children in school. They are a great way to improve your interactions with your kids.