Today we’d like to introduce you to Katherine Saltzberg.
Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
I began parent coaching in 2011. My late husband and I had more conflicts over raising our then four-year-old son than any other issue. My little guy would hit me when he didn’t get what he wanted, he slept in our bed, or I would sleep in his because he wouldn’t let me leave. He would throw massive tantrums, etc.
I consulted various parenting experts, some specializing in certain philosophies such as Adler, and therapists who wanted to find the reason why my son was hitting me and get to the root of the issue. The solutions were about connecting with him, reasoning with him, and digging deep for the cause of the problems, trying to find some psychological reason for it all. Not only was this advice complicated and expensive, but it also didn’t work. Not one solution was helpful for any length of time. Rewards, star charts, and catching your kid being good don’t stop massive tantrums.
My husband and I ended up taking the best of traditional parenting (minus the spanking) and combining it with the empathic parenting that I loved. In a nutshell: Authoritativeness (not authoritarianism) and an ocean of empathy. I stopped analyzing why he was doing x and y and began helping him up and out of behaviors that he could not stop on his own. The ship turned around. Other mothers started asking me how I got my son to listen, and my husband suggested I coach. That was the last thing on my mind because I was not an educator or therapist. However, I was passionate about my new way of parenting (which wasn’t new at all, it was just new to me), and I was successful at getting my son’s tantrums and hitting to stop.
I remember the day my boy exercised self-control for the first time. He raised his hand to me and then decided to put it back down. I didn’t raise my voice, threaten, yell, or try to get to the cause of it. Today, I help other parents, mostly moms, do the same. I coach parents to help their kids up and out of behaviors that they cannot help themselves out of. Their kids are a whole lot happier, and family peace is restored
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
The main struggle was my confidence that people would hire me. Most parenting experts are therapists with major capital letters after their names. Who am I? Why would anyone hire me? I wouldn’t hire me unless I was desperate and the other stuff didn’t work. So I was very hesitant and afraid to promote myself. That said, the clients I did have over the years were getting results, and I would get referrals, but not enough to sustain a business.
Tragically, my husband passed away from a heart attack while on a bike ride in 2021, and I had a teenager to support and a monthly nut that made for sleepless nights. The life insurance policy was denied (don’t get me started on insurance companies), and I was terrified of how I was going to handle it all. I telemarketed from 5:30 am to 2:30 pm and then switched to parent coaching. I also got help from two charities that help widows and people in challenging circumstances. Ugh, was that hard to accept, but I had a son to support, and those loving angels reminded me that I needed to be a gracious receiver and that some of their recipients ended up being their biggest donors. That thought gave me hope. I too wanted to be that biggest donor.
Last November, I let go of the sales job and began putting myself out there. Social media, cold calling, growing my list, etc. So this has not been a smooth road. What keeps me going is that I want to help other parents in the way I was helped. I too have a parenting mentor and a coach because this really does take a village. I help moms who have anxiety running through them like a freight train, just as I did, and get solutions for their parenting problems as quickly as I can because I know I am the last house on the block for them and cannot waste a moment of their money or time. The main obstacle has been FEAR. Fear that the clients won’t be there. Fear that I will have to go back to that telesales job (which I was extremely grateful for, by the way) and just that big fear of failure. So every day, I wake up and remind myself that I am here to serve. Period. I take those marketing actions (like this one, thank you) and trust that parents who need me will find me. But I have to put myself out there and make imperfect media posts, etc. We all need help, and I want to be a part of your parenting village. That is an honor. A privilege. Now, my daily challenge is keeping the faith. Not giving up before the miracle, as they say. Every time a parent solves a problem, I am reminded to keep going because there are so many more parents who need help.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
I am a parent coach. I coach parents, mostly moms, to solve common parenting issues such as tantrums, yelling, hitting, bedtime battles, mealtime struggles, media meltdowns, and more. I help them raise happy school-aged children, tweens, and teens who are resilient, competent, and listen to their parents the first time.
We’d be interested to hear your thoughts on luck and what role, if any, you feel it’s played for you?
Lots of luck, good and bad. I had to look up the definition just now. (I do that a lot). “Success or failure apparently brought by chance rather than through one’s own actions.”
I was lucky enough to get the lead in a sitcom when I was 19 called Star of the Family. I was unlucky in that it lasted as long as a Middle East peace agreement.
Unlucky that I lost my husband, who left behind three children. The youngest, still living at home, I had to look into his face and watch his heart shatter by telling him the rock of his life was never coming home.
Lucky, meeting a widower three years later whom my son likes a lot, and writing this makes me cry.
I try to look at things from a more spiritual place today. Saying this one has better luck than I do, or I am luckier than this one, feels like comparing and despairing—even if I come out on top in my own mind. Then it’s about she did something to deserve that, or I did or didn’t. Instead, I think about the actions I can take and leave the results up to a Higher Power or the Lucky Fairy if you will. I have no control over the outcome of anything, but I do have control over my choices. Where can I do good for others? It gets me out of fear, which I have lots of. All said, I wish for much more good luck! Now I want to run out and get things that can bring it to me and my family (rabbit’s foot (not a real one, people) or a hamsa).
Contact Info:
- Website: www.parentingsolutionscoach.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/icoachmoms/?hl=en
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/icoachmoms
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/katherine-saltzberg-00578a4b/recent-activity/all/
- Youtube: https://studio.youtube.com/channel/UCRZUJu-uQjFMxV2jQcFEYMA/videos/upload?filter=%5B%5D&sort=%7B%22columnType%22%3A%22date%22%2C%22sortOrder%22%3A%22DESCENDING%22%7D
- Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/i-coach-moms-los-angeles?hrid=z8jHcnY5cKtpBoGyzpBmeQ&osq=i+coach+moms
- Other: https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0537896/
Image Credits
Social Media & Copyright: For my headshot only (green sweater) see below. Please tag and credit your Instagram images @paulsmithphotography Here’s a link to my page also https://instagram.com/paulsmithphotography/ And my X/Twitter handle is https://twitter.com/paulsmithphoto Please use the photo credit paulsmithphotography on all images. For all other uses, especially magazine (print & online) contact me directly as I own the copyright. The other images are from my website
