We had the good fortune of connecting with Gina Bowen and Kendyl Kenny and we’ve shared our conversation below.
Hi Gina Bowen, what principle do you value most?
The Empowered Kids mission is to empower children by encouraging a growth mindset to be their best selves. By embracing a growth mindset, children learn to embrace challenges and adversity and view failures as opportunities for growth rather than setbacks. They also learn tools to help them regulate their emotions, focus on gratitude and kindness, self-advocate, and to believe in themselves!
We recognize the pressing need to teach our children the valuable life tools to navigate an increasingly complex world. Teaching is one thing, and it is so important, but our focus is on giving children a chance to practice social emotional skills in a safe, fun environment. We use creative expression, problem solving, and role play scenarios to give children the confidence to use these tools in real life experiences whether that is in school, at home, in sports, or elsewhere.
Our preventative and proactive approach to building positive mental, physical, and social wellbeing helps children on their journey towards fostering confidence, resilience, self-trust, and self-regulation. All of this is possible when our core value of a growth mindset is at the essence of every lesson and activity that we do.
Alright, so for those in our community who might not be familiar with your business, can you tell us more?
We are two authentic moms who are big proponents of personal growth. Our Empowered Kids Program started organically. While sitting on the sidelines and watching our son’s play soccer, we realized the opportunities before us. Our vision continued to take shape when we discovered our shared love for pickleball. We spent countless hours chatting before, during, and after games. What started as healthy habits and connecting, quickly turned into taking action. Empowered Kids came to life through a school project that allowed our children to practice important social and emotional skills. The program has shown enormous growth and has proven how valuable and necessary this work truly is. This has motivated us to keep creating and providing more opportunities for others to practice and grow. Here is to furthering our kindness community and growing together!
Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
We will focus on kid and budget friendly options. There are so many amazing places to visit with families in the San Diego area, The options are limitless.
What we value most about North County, especially Leucadia/Encinitas is the laid back, casual living. Sometimes doing less, slowing down, and spending more quality time together is really the best thing you can do on vacation.
With that said, our number one recommendation is the Beach! It’s cheap, it’s easy, and it’s so fun! You can’t go wrong – Seaside, Moonlight, and Beacons are our top 3 favorites. Spending your entire week beach hopping and visiting the cool, coastal shops and restaurants each day will fill your soul. Boogie boarding, playing in the waves, building sand castles, and digging for sand crabs top the list for the kids. Parents, you can join your kids in the fun by playing beach games, boogie boarding/surfing together, or just bring a beach chair, a good book, and umbrella and you are set for hours!
A few of our favorite casual, kid-friendly restaurants, (and also have amazing food and drinks for adults) are Fish 101, Nectarine Grove, Union Kitchen and Tap, and Corner Pizza.
For a tasty treat that won’t overdo it on the sugar crazies, definitely hit up Jojo’s Creamery where they have delicious, organic, all natural ice cream.
And lastly for the parents, make sure you bring your pickle ball paddles and visit Poinsettia Park in Carlsbad. They have open play everyday, all day for both beginners and more competitive players alike, It is guaranteed to be a great time!
Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
This Shoutout definitely goes out to our kiddos and husbands. Our children are our biggest teachers in life, silently encouraging us to work on our own personal growth without even knowing it. You know all of those triggering moments of parenting and constant self-doubt? Well, we see them as opportunities to practice a growth mindset and keep working on being our best selves. Whew, it is definitely not an easy task. We make mistakes and are disappointed with our performance at times. Thank goodness our lives are not meant to be a destination, but a journey, and often a messy one. Our children have been the best and most willing guinea pigs of all time to play in this sandbox with us. Thank you for your constant involvement, honest feedback, and input to continue to make Empowered Kids relatable and fun for other kids to try.
Website: www.empoweredkidsprogram.com
Instagram: empowered_kids_program
