Today we’d like to introduce you to Summer Stallworth.
Hi Summer, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us. To start, maybe you can share some of your backstories with our readers.
Growing up in inner-city Detroit, MI., is where my passion for seeing families healthy— emotionally, spiritually, mentally, physically, and psychologically—began. I did not come from a healthy family dynamic. I remember being a little girl thinking to myself, “This cannot be what a healthy family looks like.” I must add that my family dynamic is in a much better place than before, and I can only thank the Lord for the transformation that is occurring in my family.
My desire for wanting to serve families became more focused when I first met this beautiful bright-eyed boy named Darian during elementary school. I know I was young but very much aware of how special Darian was. Darian was a young boy with severe autism. When I first met him, it was like the hidden calling and passion in my heart leaped. Darian became my friend, and if anyone dared to make fun of him, they had to answer to me. It wasn’t until I became an adult that my passion for working with families of special needs children started to come back to surface again. Over 20 years of working with families, the Lord began to show me how this was a part of my calling. However, it wasn’t until I started a career as a behavior therapist in 2013 working with children on the spectrum that the feeling I had when I was a little girl resurfaced. Then it hit me; I immediately thought, “This is what I was called to do.” Shortly after, I decided to go back to school for my master’s. I received two master’s degrees: one in child development and the other in behavior analysis.
During Covid, while on lockdown, I began to dream about a company that the Lord through prayer deposited in my heart. The purpose of this company is to provide services to parents raising children with special needs in the age of technology. This company helps families restore connectivity, reduce their anxiety and fear surrounding raising children with special needs, reclaim their unique identity regardless of whatever special needs their children are struggling with, and understand how to lead a child growing up in an age of technology. The dream of this company, which is called Fearless Love Parenting, became a reality in 2021. I came up with the name Fearless Love Parenting because over the years, I’ve watched parents love their children courageously and unconditionally even though, at times, it is hard.
Now, Fearless Love Parenting curates tailored family behavior plans for the entire family. We believe that even though there may be one child with special needs present in the home, the entire family is one team, and each unit of the family needs support in learning to understand one another’s needs and how to best serve one another. We understand there is a lot of fear, shame, and hardship that comes with raising children with special needs. This is why in our six-phase family program, we focus on empowering the parents. It’s not just about fixing the problem with the child with the needs. However, it’s about helping parents identify their superpower and who they were created to be in order to present the uniqueness of who they are to the world unashamedly. What we do for our parents gives me great joy.
I must admit that many times I have felt the imposter syndrome, haunted by thoughts of “what makes you qualified to help families when you yourself did not come from a healthy family situation.” Then I felt God speak to my heart. “This is what makes you qualified. You will have compassion and passion in a way that others may not understand.”
My long-term goal for Fearless Love Parenting is to create a family hub that will provide services for families with special-needs children in many different capacities. For instance, providing students with special-needs with shadows who are trained to manage behaviors in the classroom. Another goal is to create a safe housing community for adults with special needs, teaching them how to live independently but still providing them support along the way. We are currently working on launching an online school for moms to help them feel enlivened, equipped, and empowered. During one of the courses, we help moms process through unresolved trauma that could be hindering their daily lives and their motherhood. I am beyond excited about this school for moms. The school will launch in 2023
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way? Looking back, would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
There have been many obstacles along the way. The first was overcoming the fear of failure; when you find something that you’re passionate about, you don’t want to fail. This is something I had to release to God on a daily basis. Second, I’ve had to fight to keep from getting discouraged. It’s hard trying to build a company that sometimes feels much bigger than what you have the capacity to accomplish, but then that’s when I pull on my strength from God. Third, sometimes entrepreneurship can feel like a lonely road, but I am grateful to have support from friends and family as I am building to eventually develop a team of people with a similar vision. The last big challenge is resources. It takes money to build the company that we’re building. I am being patient and building step by step and day by day. I know the resources are there. I am just working to be prepared when the time is right to access the resources we need.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know?
The uniqueness of our services is that we pride ourselves on creating a space for our clients to feel safe, heard, and seen. We curate individualized plans to fit the needs of the client. We take into consideration culture, personality, history, and personal challenges that your child may be facing. We try to create a natural environment so that our clients feel safe by treating them like a person more than just a patient. Doing so allows for our clients to open up and embark the journey of freedom that we’ll feel honored to guide and support.
We’d love to hear about what you think about risk-taking.
Honestly, taking risks has always been very easy for me. However, since I got married, it’s much harder to take risks because now I have to consider my husband before jumping out of the boat. When I was single, I could dive right into the risk. Preferably calculated risk. I just try to trust that every opportunity, whether or not things turn out the way I hope, will make me stronger and help me grow in integrity and character. It’s actually more of a risk to not do anything out of fear of the unknown than to just move by faith and doing it afraid anyway. At least you try to grow in the process.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.fearlessparenting.org
- Instagram: @fearlessloveparenting
