Hi everyone!
We’re almost done with our SECOND full session of Behere with classes at capacity on Tuesdays and Thursdays and a new “preschool in the park” class added and it’s all going so well. How amazing is that? I receive encouraging messages from many of you on the weekly that tell me we’re doing something right and the world needs more of this. Institutional education is VERY VERY broken and in need of an overhaul. At the same time, Homeschooling is VERY VERY hard and not sustainable for every family. We don’t all have the calling to homeschool, but maybe we’re seeking an alternative educational path, and need help achieving a curated “private” education for our child(ren).
I am not going to mince my words here, your children deserve better than a one-size fits all education that limits connection to nature, arts and healthy movement. I am not coming from a naive perspective, I have a lot of input from families with their kids in traditional school who are fed up with the rigor and lack of downtime their kids get. It gets gnarly 3rd grade up. Some kids thrive in it, I did, but at the cost of becoming a more convergent thinker for a while who struggles with a people-pleasing psyche I combat on the daily.
Forget controversial concerns with curriculum and agendas for a minute and ask yourself if your chosen educational journey is giving your kids what he/she needs to pursue their passions and interests or is it creating a lot of busy work?
I am looking at you, homeschoolers, too! Often we get caught up in the performative work or the “my 5 year old is doing 4th grade math” bragging rights🙄. This is a problem. Your child is not another trophy to parade around. This makes you just as bad as the “my kid is on honor roll” bumper sticker. If this is you, “knock that shiz off.” Let’s start to normalize our children being “behind” and share more success stories of children who mastered concepts potentially later than the masses.
Your child is a human with a unique purpose. It is our responsibility as their parents to shepherd them towards using their gifts for their earthly purpose. THIS IS HARD. Lord knows I need help. My oldest is like one big trigger button for me. Reading with him is a STRUGGLE. Which is why he now has a tutor. Which is also why I think I was given this vision for Behere, because a little outsourcing to the community can go a long way to preserve sanity and relationships.
It was just a year ago that I started writing this vision blog in an effort to birth the idea and help it actualize. This blog has served as a personal accountability ledger to my commitment to birth the village. I am one stubborn and loyal person who will see commitments through with my heels dug in.
I still remember during this one specific pitch in advertising, we were presenting creative and nothing was landing with the client. I did NOT want to lose this project. I can think fast on my feet and found myself riffing some pretty good “off the cuff” stunts and pitching them right then and there. It got to the point where my creative director had to just say (with phone on mute), “Brooke, it’s over. just stop!” NEVER SAY DIE, should be on my epitaph.
The reality is. It’s been a hard season in our family. AND the reality is, it’s also been an amazingly good season too. I’ve realized these two realities can co-exist. Hard and good.
Failure and success are not mutually exclusive.
You’ve seen the inspirational talks and videos from every person who has “made it” and they know how to reframe their failure and hardships as necessary parts of their journey towards success. We all know this to be true, but it’s much easier to ring that truth bell when you’re on the other side.
I am hard on myself a lot, even though I know we’ve made something amazing happen with the launch of Behere just last October! We’re not even a year old and have tremendous traction that shows no sign of slowing down.
I met with Chris Dunn, the founder of Covered 6 the other day and his startup story was nothing short of bootstrap beginnings and woes, that resonated all too well. But he made it, and 13 years later, his organization is tremendously successful. He looked at me and encouraged me, told me we’re indeed building the future of education and gave me the confidence to press on even when my bank account says “QUIT! Go back to advertising!” Or sometimes I get the other calling to just go little house on the prairie, move off grid, be “selfish” and focus on personal gig work and private homeschooling my kids again.
It all sounds SO MUCH SIMPLER. But recently, Im reminded that this is all for the purpose of bringing families together, and not just so our nuclear family units can see each other more, but so they we commune more with other families on the same journey. KEY WORD = COMMUNE, the root of community. We need more of it. Whether you go to church, are involved in lots of sports, or have awesome neighbors, I’m sure you’re thirsting for more connection, more community in this busy life.
I’ve been blessed with neighbors, friends, family who are taking my kids, giving me breaks, checking in on me constantly as I do a ton of solo mom work these days while running Behere 😅 . You see, my husband recently started ranch hand work up north of SB and so I’m like a “fire wife” now with 4-8 days solo. If you asked me 10 years ago if this is what I thought Matt would do for work some day, I’d have choked on whatever I was snacking on. He really prefers the digital arts world. But it’s kinda hot (TMI?) to see him learning all of this manly ranch work and breaking down mental barriers and limitations he had for himself. It’s the ultimate provision to know he’s learning skills our family can truly survive on when Shiz hits the fan. And his experience is providing me with the conviction that sustainable life skills are indeed in Behere’s future. We must teach the next generation where their food comes from and how to grow, harvest and cook it. This will be in the next phase of Behere, I guarantee it.
I’ll end with this note, this country is a dumpster fire. It’s a good idea to not be reliant on the system. And I say this from a completely politically neutral stand point. It’s just the mind of the entrepreneur to feel best when we “do it ourselves.” I’m like a toddler insisting on putting on her jacket alone and struggling through the zipper: “I DO IT MYSELF!” even if it’s jenky.
So I hope you’ll join us on this journey to support families who are “exiting systems” that no longer serve them. We can do this! Will you join us? Will you support us?
We’re now taking intent to enroll admissions for fall. Until we get that registration form on the website, please email me at brooke@behere.re to request a spot for Tu/Wed/Thurs classes.
If you want a hands on feel for if Behere is for you, come to our Wonder Camp! Or if you are excited about what we’re doing here, we would be honored for any contributions you can make so we can improve our outdoor facility: get desks, upgrade our outhouse, more picnic tables, supply storage etc. Improving accommodations for the children comes first, then the parent waiting/wellness space is next! We can’t wait to invite you onto this land.
If you’ve made it this far through my brain smattering of thoughts, I deeply thank you! I appreciate you!
Much Love,
Brooke
Brooke is a wife, mother, homeschooler, nature-lover, entrepreneur, and former corporate-advertising professional who helped dozens of brands find their unique voice and positioning. She worked with titans like Disney, Softbank Robotics, Sony Pictures, Apple and many telecom/ tech brands, but her absolute favorite work was (and is) helping small businesses and startups get going because they’re the most passionate and soulfully connected to the work. As owner and cofounder of Behere, Brooke understands this soulful connection even more and brings this passion for entrepreneurship to the program infusing elements of independent thinking, leadership and soft skills of entrepreneurship into the workshops provided.