Today, we welcome Naomi and Samantha from Raising a Warrior, to answer a dozen questions. Thank you for joining us!

What brought you to setting up Raising a Warrior?

We met in 2017 through a mutual friend. We became instant friends, and quickly realised that we shared a mutual passion for self-development and working with children. We then had the idea of writing a book together, and the fictional story of Lucy & Sarah began to unfold. As we were writing the first part of the book, the next sections began to reveal themselves: an activity section for children and an adult’s guide. The rainbow (on the front of the book) was a consistent symbol throughout our journey. It then became a national symbol of hope as the pandemic took hold. It was published in December 2019, much to our delight! From our own experiences, we wanted to be able to offer Tweens the tools they need to navigate this crazy thing called life! Our vision then expanded and we went on to create our range of Bravery Tools: an on-line course, a Bag Of Bravery and personalised clothing. We are both used to working face-to-face with people, but we wanted to create something that any child could access, no matter where they are in the world. Thank goodness for technology!

Where did you study?

Naomi: I studied Occupational Therapy in York for 3 years, then spent the 4th year specialising in Occupational Therapy using Horse Therapy. This took me across to America to do their national course. Ten years ago they were much more advanced than here in the UK. Then, over the years, as part of my CPD, I explored more teaching and learning through completing my PTTLS, and began to help more children from the school setting. My key takeaway is to listen to the children. Once I have helped them to understand how to communicate, they have provided me with some incredible insight into their difficulties. I find that a lot of children who have been through tough experiences are amazing at reading non-verbal communication, and that this is their mother-tongue. The frustration begins when they are expected to be fluent in verbal communication. I believe in educating those around the child the difference between naughty, and ‘I am not OK’. Also, after 10 years of practice, I now understand how important the environment is. It either helps you to thrive or die.

Samantha: I received my NNEB Diploma back in 1999! At the time, it was the highest qualification in childcare. I chose that particular college because the diploma was offered over a longer period, to mature students who wanted/needed to work alongside their study. It was through this course that I went on to train and work as a behavioural therapist with an autistic boy. I have achieved further qualifications and worked in various settings over the years, gaining invaluable insight and experience with all ages of children, with very different needs. My key takeaway is that a qualification won’t shine until you have been out there, ‘in the field’, right on the frontline, living and breathing it with the children in your care.

Who inspires you?

Naomi: Albert Einstein said, “if you want to learn more about everything, look deep into nature”. I go to the school of nature every day, trying to understand things better and become a better person. There is nothing like Mother Nature to keep you humble - she can be a Saint, but she can also deliver her lesson with clout!
Samantha: Wow! It’s hard to pick one! But, for this, I’m going to choose Maria Montessori. I could go on and on, but she developed a holistic, practical education system which looked at the whole child. She believed that children learn best when they are doing. She recognised that if children are self-motivated in their learning, it will lead to increased self-esteem, confidence and success. Her whole philosophy embraces children as natural, inquisitive learners.
What are your influences?
There is always an element of faith, though not necessarily religious. We are both big believers in following your gut feelings, and listening to life, for signs and clues, to help guide our decisions. Another influence are the children themselves. We receive and welcome feedback from them about how things have been, and if something has helped or not. They are amazing at giving instant, honest feedback, even if, sometimes, it’s a challenge to hear! Just as importantly, we are influenced and driven by our own, personal experiences throughout life, and the challenges that our lives have brought: death; struggling with the education system; going against the norm; personal setbacks. All of these experiences have chiselled away the noise that surrounds us, and helped us to get back to and live our truths.

What is your superpower?

Naomi: My superpower is my dyslexia. I can see patterns - it’s a perk of being dyslexic. It means that, because of the way my brain is wired, I see societal, behavioural and emotional patterns, and I can normally seeing what the next step forward is or, potentially, the next event that is going to occur. However, this isn’t always welcomed. Sometimes when you see a pattern and inform the person or organisation that this is where the path is leading them, it is met with resistance as it normally involves change. Most people want to watch changes occur but don’t want to be part of making that change happen.
Samantha: My super-power is my attention to detail. I have bags of patience, and want to delve into every aspect of whatever I am doing, and complete it to the very best of my ability. And if I don’t know how to do that, I will try to learn how! I can see the tiny things that need changing/improving/tweaking, as well as the big things.
Tell us about what you are doing now: SOOOOOOOOOOO excited about our ‘I Found My Brave’ Online Course for Tweens and Bag of Bravery! It has been such an epic journey of creation, and we really believe that these two tools could be a big game-changer for a lot of children, especially in the current climate of uncertainty and high anxiety.

What inspired you to give your company its name?

Being the most epic co-creators together! We were sitting in the garden (Samantha’s) with a big, white sheet of paper, and lots of coloured pens. We talked about the meaning of different words and came up with about 5 different versions. But, each time we discussed it, we came back to the name: Raising A Warrior: ‘Raising’ evokes images of growth and development, and ‘Warrior’ feels like a very strong word! So we chose that one, and celebrated with pizza!!

What can we look forward to seeing from you?

Our next project will be to add to the ‘I Found My Brave’ Online Course. We are currently creating a separate version to suit all of the Kinesthetic learners out there. That way, all children, regardless of their learning style, will be able to access and successfully complete the 12 activities in the course. We are also busy building up our personalised clothing range. This will allow warriors to spot fellow warriors, which will help to build our supportive community even further.
Is there anything you are excited about at the moment?
In the wider field, we are excited by the use of film to spread messages of hope and bravery far and wide. A lot of films today, which are geared towards children, have hugely inspirational story-lines, with a central hero/heroine, which aim to comfort and encourage. Although not a project that we will be working on in the immediate future, we hope to be speaking to script-writers further down the line, with a view to turning Lucy & Sarah into a film. Watch this space!

How might your range of Bravery Tools help a child with their self-development?

As with anything in life, there is never just one solution to a problem. In the world of self-development, the solutions often need repeating and incorporating into life so that they become habitual behaviours. The tools we offer are designed to be used by the children themselves, so that they can actively learn the processes, and see the results. We put the children in charge of their own decisions and development, whether this be managing their finances, exploring ways to reach their goals, processing their feelings, learning from their mistakes or tackling obstacles.

What makes Raising A Warrior different?

Firstly, here at Raising A Warrior, we are emphasising simplicity. It is one of our strengths. We provide effective, easy-to-use tools. Yes, we could explain what we are trying to achieve in medical or psychological terms, but this can sometimes result in the aim of each tool getting lost in translation. What we hope to do is bridge the gap in language for parent and child. We all know that when we’re in a heightened, emotional state, it can be difficult to process complex information. Therefore, if the tools are user-friendly, they can be utilised, no matter how elevated a situation might be. We want people to be able to calm themselves and others, and help everybody to succeed, no matter where they are in life, what situation they are in, or what experiences they are having.
Secondly, we’d like to reference our motto: ‘I Found My Brave’. We want children to know that bravery is achievable. We don’t want them to feel as if it’s something they have to struggle for or work hard for. It can be as easy as picking a pencil up off the floor. By using our toolkit, children can remember that they are brave and courageous, and what an incredible person they are. They will come to understand that their successes have come from a place of bravery. Our whole ethos is underpinned by our main reason for setting up Raising A Warrior in the first place. We want children to realise that, no matter what day they’re having, they can always succeed and always shine. We are all walking a unique journey, and all striving for self-mastery: that ability to flip a situation or our thoughts/emotions around, so that they’re working for us rather than against us. We want children to move through situations and experience with ease, rather than struggle, and we want them to realise that it’s their responsibility to learn how to master themselves. If the adults around them do that too, then together, we will all start walking our unique path in life.

Where can we find you?

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/raisingawarrior.uk

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/raisingawarrior.uk/?hl=en

Website: https://www.raisingawarrior.co.uk/

We also have a You Tube channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCInXRzkRjsORzXGLjO9Rh8g
You can watch a video here of Sam and Naomi chatting with me about Forest School, kinaesthetic learning, and how to support the kinaesthetic children in our care: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AKMy87g-2Fc