When people ask about my work…I can sum it up in one sentence:
“I am an inspired contributor to children globally.”
How I got here is a colourful and interesting story….that started in 1996 in my classroom as a naive teacher who only wanted the best for the children in her care. I was one of those teachers who walked the extra mile and did whatever it took to get the best out of children. Often getting into trouble for challenging the status quo.
The truth is that within a few years, the system crushed my enthusiasm and stole my spark. I knew there was more to life than succeeding academically so I embarked on my quest to educate, motivate and inspire children from the inside out. With no business knowledge and only a heart filled with hope, I started building my dream.
Fast track to today and I now head up The Kids Life Studio®, a global organisation that has an international footprint of world-class Kids Life Coaches who share my enthusiasm and extend my reach.
My drive is to see a world, where labels are not an indication of a child’s true potential, but where every child no matter their background, environment or abilities is seen as a leader.
We never know the extent and reach of our influence and no matter the circumstances I believe in coaching children to coach themselves. My personal experiences have taught me that children can be coached to overcome challenges and pursue their dreams.
I would love to work with you, your child or your organisation to educate, motivate and inspire you to rise above the challenges, embrace the changes and fulfil your deepest, wildest dreams!
Coaching for your child
Your child is a gift. Filled with quirks, traits and surprises that keep you on your toes on this journey known as parenting! There are no rule books and most of the time you are just trying to figure it out as you go along right?
Well what if I tell you that is okay. Being a parent is not about having all the answers or knowing what to do every time something goes wrong. In fact, what if I told you that I certainly don’t have all of the answers myself!
What I do have is a road map for you and your child to navigate this journey called life together. Why leave their success to chance with all the negative influences happening in this world. You can have their best interests at heart, but sometimes what your child needs is a neutral voice that spares judgement and gives them a practical toolkit for making good choices.
I believe in the magic of childhood and when I am coaching children, my heart “sings”! Their energy feeds my soul and as much as I strive to coach them towards their own best self, they are always teaching me new ways of looking at life. This is what has given me the edge…the inside track…the knowledge to create my Kids Life Coaching programmes that are being used by a global network of certified coaches around the world.
I understand the challenges that children are facing but I also understand how to equip them to work towards creating their own legacy. For me, it is about keeping it real and guiding children no matter their background, circumstances, abilities or challenges to enable the labels that they have been given or that they are giving themselves that may be holding them back.
It is only when children have full faith and belief in their own worth that they can become active positive contributors to our world. For me taking a child on my coaching journey is about equipping them to work towards creating their own legacy. No more and no less. To be happy, to have fun, to live a life of Zeal….all of this while keeping it real!
Take a look at what I do https://www.kidslifestudio.com/team/zelna-lauwrens/
Learn how to coach children
When I started coaching children in 2003, I remember how overwhelmed I felt trying to navigate myself around an unknown field that had no proven programmes, research, backup or track record.
Alongside this, I felt very isolated working on my own not knowing if what I was doing was right. Through trial and error, lots of sleepless nights, extensive research and pure persistence, I managed to develop my own proven Kids Life Coaching model that is now being used by a network of coaches around the world.
I have a mission to reach 10 million children by 2020 because that is when the World Health Organisation says mental health problems in children will increase by 50%. I am looking for change makers and action takers who genuinely care about children to join me!
As the trail blazer in the field and with The Kids Life Studio® being the global leader in quality Kids Life Coaching, I take great pride in having the most comprehensive and inclusive training and certification program in the world. I believe it takes more than reading a manual or attending a quick fix once off training to become a world-class Kids Life Coach. You need to be willing to invest your time into developing your coaching practice and into your ongoing education.
My top value is relationships so I handpick my team of Kids Life Studio® Coaches to work alongside me. Before I invite anybody to proudly represent my Kids Life Studio® brand in their local communities I make doubly sure we all share the same values when it comes to supporting children!
That being said, I do understand that not everybody is interested in starting a full time career as a practicing Kids Life Coach. For this reason, I also offer training to parents, educators, therapists and adult life coaches who want to use my proven techniques in their own existing environment.
No matter how you choose to coach children, I have integrated my two decades of experience as a school teacher, counsellor, university lecturer and kids life coach into delivering a unique learning experience that allows you to successfully adapt and use my proven model in whatever context works for you!
If you decide that you don’t want to apply to join my global team of Kids Life Studio® coaches and be trained under my personal mentorship, then you can visit my Kids Life Coach Academy School that offers a variety of online trainings. I have designed these user friendly trainings to be completed in the comfort of your own home at your own pace and in your own time. No prior qualifications are necessary and you can join when you are ready!
Click here to visit my Kids Life Coach Academy School www.kidslifecoachacademy.com
With teen depression, anxiety, suicide, self harm, drug and alcohol abuse on the rise, we believe that we need to tackle problems before they spiral out of control. Prevention is always better than cure so this Introduction to Kids Life Coaching is aimed at giving you a foundation for supporting children below the age of 12 so that they can be equipped to deal with life’s curve balls with confidence. This introductory training intends to inspire you to tap into your own natural inner Kids Life Coach that every single adult has! So whether you are a parent, teacher, therapist, social worker, life coach or any other profession relating to children, this 6-week programme can be adapted and applied to your own unique context.
My organisation The Kids Life Studio® offers accreditation to passionate people who want to work with children or are already working with children. With the support of our strong brand presence, we give you the flexibility to choose where, when and how you would like to assist children. You can adapt this to suit the needs of your community and you can integrate it into your existing brand, qualifications or business. We will equip you to coach children through our intensive combination of face to face and online training that is based on practical experiential learning.
Every child is born with amazing opportunity embedded in their own uniqueness and it is important to develop a healthy mental attitude early on in life. This Zeal True Colours Motivational programme gives you the tools, that focus on educating, motivating and inspiring children to become engaged thinkers and life-long learners. This easy to use Kids Motivational programme for 5 – 9 year olds is based on the beautifully illustrated Zeal the Zebra Shows His True Colours story which is accompanied by award winning music and colourful resources that reinforce skills transfer. This delightful African tale with its vivid illustrations wonderfully captures the spirit of true belief in the self. When you participate in this programme with children, it will teach them to recognise and value their own distinctiveness.
Just like regular exercise builds up healthy bodies the Zeal Challenge® Coaching programme helps to strengthen a teenagers body, heart, mind and spirit by following an easy self development process designed to achieve long-term success. The Zeal Challenge® Journal which underpins this programme and that aims to give you a toolkit to support teens preferably before their behaviour spirals out of control. It is based on implementing 5 easy daily habits that assist teens to make better choices with you mentoring them through structured daily activities that lay the foundation for lasting change.
Let me inspire you
I love sharing my message of hope and inspiration about this journey called life. Having gone through my personal challenges of mental health problems, my particular area of focus is on bringing a message of hope accompanied with practical steps to children, parents and professionals.
I believe that life has a way of sending you exactly what you need to grow and learn. No more and no less. I feel there has been no coincidence that I was unable to be a parent in the traditional sense. This has paved my way to being a world-class Kids Life Coach, dedicated to uplifting other peoples children and promoting their peak performance.
I know that it takes more than a bit of inspiration to pave the way to success, so I pride myself in being practical in my workshops and talks that I offer and my approach is play based and experiential. I understand the value of think, understand and apply as an ex educator and university lecturer and my insights are always accompanied by measurable action steps.
As an author, my talks and workshops are based around the content of my books and can be tailor made according to the needs of your school or organisation. Focusing on children, parents and professionals, I love to see results and a clear outcome. Take a look at what I currently offer or let’s talk about tailor making something for you.
Children are faced with many challenges outside of their control which are causing side effects such as self harm, suicide, bullying, eating disorders, drug and alcohol abuse. This talk based on my book, THE SECRET PARENT presents a sweeping action plan for achieving the best from children and for harnessing their full potential so that they can grow up strong and resilient and able to break the cycles of potential mental health problems. This all starts with laying a foundation for making healthy lifestyle choices at a young age.
THE SECRET PARENT is not your traditional advice giving talk as it shares the interwoven stories of other peoples’ children whom Zelna had the privilege of coaching. From board room children to street children, all of them have two things in common. They rebranded their childhood by learning how to make better choices relating to the parts of their lives they were able to control. These children were the inspiration behind Zelna finding the strength to do the same and overcome her own mental health struggles.
The culmination of the book, draws attention to the fact that it all starts with every adult taking steps to be a “Secret Parent” in a child’s life. No matter the context, every teacher, sports coach, counsellor, social worker or kids life coach is a role model and in order for children to live a genuinely happy life, they need tour guides who are doing the same and showing them how it should be done.
Currently there are millions of adults who are experiencing a midlife crisis who wish they were still children! Yet ironically, children who should be enjoying their childhood are behaving like mini adults.
What is going on here?
Many adults yearn to live their lives devoid of responsibility and full of reckless play! Yet ironically, children who deserve to be playing, are showing high levels of anxiety and stress that should exclusively belong to adulthood.
Adults sometimes rely on therapy to make sense of their childhoods that shaped them into the adults they no longer want to be. Children are being sent to therapy to become the children they deserve and want to be. Many adults and children share the similarity of participating in destructive behaviour as a temporary bandaid for their pain of dealing with their stress and anxiety relating to demanding lifestyles.
Then there are those who have overcome the hardest of obstacles and have gone on to live an inspired life. There are adults who have become pioneers and making a difference in this world against all odds. What has given them the inside track and the edge to use their childhood adversities to their advantage? What can we learn from this that we can share with children to fast-track their journey to success?
The truth is that every single adult is in the position to rebrand their childhood by maximising their strengths and reframing their negatives. In the process they will not only improve their own life, but the lives of the children they influence. Children need role models, guides and mentors now more than every before. It is up to us as adults to give them a life to aspire to. That is why we all need to work on “Rebranding our Childhood” so that we can give of our best and be our best to inspire children to become the “Leaders of their own lives.”
Do you sometimes wonder what has happened to childhood? Do children have a choice in this ever changing world that is forcing them to grow up so fast? We can’t assume that children will magically be able to stand up to bullies, say no to drugs, be immune to depression, choose not to self harm or worse yet take their own life. What we can do is prevent challenges and obstacles from spiralling out of control by giving children a toolkit for life.
The World Health Organization predicts that by 2020, mental health problems in children will increase by 50%. At The Kids Life Studio®, we have decided to make it our mission to actively work towards proving this statistic wrong! We believe that every child needs their own Kids Life Coach to support them to embrace life and to understand the reality that they will probably make mistakes or face challenges but that they have the personal power that makes their choices easy.
In this workshop, you will learn the secrets to Zelna’s Kids Life Coaching Model that has transformed the lives of thousands of children. You will gain insight into her easy tools & techniques that are used by the Kids Life Coaches she has certified globally.
