In this episode, I’m thrilled to welcome Erica Smentowski to the show. Erica and I crossed paths online in another parenting Facebook group and when I read her post, I knew that I wanted to learn more about her family. Erica is the proud mom of two teenage boys. Her older son, Nathan is 17 years old and he’s on the autism spectrum. He just began his senior year of high school and he still unsure about his path going forward. During our conversation, Erica shares all about Nathan’s journey through high school and the steps they’re taking to help Nathan explore his future career opportunities.
About Erica Smentowski
Erica got married at 18 years old and put herself through college and graduate school, earning an MA in Industrial/Organizational Psychology. She has been an entrepreneur, owning businesses with her husband (same one!) for over 18 years. Prior to that, she gained experience working in public, private, and non-profit sectors. Erica homeschooled her boys two days a week for many years, and now they homeschool one day a week. Erica currently also works part time in office management and bookkeeping. Her husband has made their lives interesting by fighting robots on TV shows like BattleBots here in the US and in China, and Erica spends a lot of time getting roped into his eccentric hobbies!
In this episode:
- Erica’s Facebook post about her son’s journey
- The family’s experience through homeschooling, high school, and entrepreneurship
- The importance of career exploration during the teen years
- How Nathan’s love of animals has helped him strengthen his social skills
- Nathan’s amazing internship with the local zoo
- Encouraging our teens to pursue a variety of interests and explore all of their options
- Erica’s advice for parents of teens
“Parent the child you have, not the child you thought you would have.”
– Erica Smentowski
Resources:
The Robot MarketPlace (the family business)