MY PHILOSOPHY
The Little Acorn and Top-Notch Villages
My parenting journey gave birth to my philosophy of the Little Acorn and Top-Notch Villages. While it was born through motherhood, it speaks to everyone who influences a child’s world.
Nurturing Children Early Shapes the Adults They Become
The heart of the Little Acorn philosophy communicates the understanding that when we nurture children early, with intention and belief, we shape the adults they become.
And Top-Notch Villages exist to ensure that this work is never carried by families alone, but shared across mission-aligned communities committed to raising capable, grounded, and future-ready adults.
How This Philosophy Was Formed
Raising a child to adulthood put me in a constant state of reflection.
I can now see my parenting journey from start to finish. I can look back on every decision, every shift, and every intentional step I took to create the environment I wanted for my son.
Because of the way I grew up, I knew I didn’t want to repeat the environment that I had to navigate as a child. I wanted better for him. But I didn’t have a blueprint. I didn’t have a model of what a loving, nurturing mother looked like. Since, I only had one child—I decided to let that one child inform me on how to be his mother. I listened to him. I followed his lead. And in return, he walked me into a beautiful world of seeing children differently.
He showed me that childhood isn’t something to control—it’s something to understand. That children don’t need to be molded into something—they need to be nurtured into who God created them to be. That parenting isn’t about enforcing authority—it’s about building trust. And once I saw children differently, I started to ask myself…
What if we’ve been looking at children all wrong?
Seeing Children Differently
While many of us see babies as a gift, we often talk about raising children as an obligation—a duty to fulfill, a task to manage. But what if we saw raising as something far greater—breeding greatness?
What if instead of seeing parenting as an exhausting obligation, we saw it as an honor to help shape the future?
What if instead of seeing children as obligations to manage, we saw them as visionaries in the making?
What if instead of focusing on what children don’t know yet, we focused on the brilliance they already carry—and built from there?
What if instead of rushing children to grow up, we honored the magic of their present moment?
Children are limitless potential, waiting to be nurtured. Children are reservoirs of brilliance, creativity, and untapped innovation. Children are the world’s most valuable investment, shaping the future with every lesson they learn and every dream they dare to chase. Every breakthrough, every innovation, every world-changing idea… all started in the mind of a child.
Einstein.
Dr. King.
Maya Angelou.
Steve Jobs.
Barack Obama.
Beyoncé.
They were once children—children with brilliant ideas deep inside them, waiting to be realized. And if we truly believed that—if we recognized that today’s children are tomorrow’s innovators, leaders, and changemakers—how would we show up for them differently?
Would we speak to them with expectation and encouragement?
Would we nurture their ideas the way we nurture progress in other areas?
Would we recognize that investing in children is investing in a better future for all of us?
This isn’t idealistic thinking. This is reality. The world moves forward because of the brilliance of each new generation. And that means we all share the responsibility of raising children because we all benefit when children do well—as the children of today will dictate the quality of the future. That’s why Top Notch Villages are so vital.
A Top Notch Village is a collection of people who understand the importance of empowering children so they can maximize their personal potential. It is a network of families, educators, mentors, and community members committed to ensuring that every child has the resources, encouragement, and belief needed to step into their greatness.
I believe in the Top Notch Village because of the progress I’ve seen in my son, Ricky II. His journey reflects what is possible when families and systems move in partnership. As a young man on the autism spectrum, he is positioned to do extraordinary things in life because he has a Top Notch Village as the wind beneath his wings, allowing him to go further and faster than he would if it were just me raising him. Ricky II serves as a reminder that our collective efforts can activate and accelerate progress—shaping motivated, capable, self-sufficient adults who contribute positively to the world.
Many of us were raised to believe that struggle builds character, that discipline comes through hardship, that “spare the rod, spoil the child,” “speak when spoken to,” and “do as you’re told” were the standards for parenting. We were taught that children should be seen and not heard.But how do you build a leader and breed greatness by silencing a child?
How do you teach self-advocacy if they were never allowed a voice?
How do you prepare a child for greatness if they’ve been made to comply without question throughout their childhood?
It just isn’t logical.
If the children of today are the leaders of tomorrow, why not treat them like the magical creatures of change that God intended them to be—today?
We are the change the world needs. If you are in the position to impact or influence a child, then you have the power to start changing the world for the better immediately.
Right now.
In this moment.
Why Communities Matter
What I’ve come to understand over time is this: Children do not grow up in isolation. They grow up inside communities—ecosystems—and in time, they become those communities.
The children in our neighborhoods will one day be our sons- and daughters-in-law. They will be our doctors, educators, employers, and policymakers. They will determine the quality of our schools, our healthcare systems, our workplaces, and our civic life. When you look into the eyes of a child, you are looking at the soul of a future adult—one who will make decisions that affect us all. That means the way we speak to children, invest in them, guide them, and show up for them today directly shapes the world we will live in tomorrow.
Raising children, then, is not solely a parental responsibility. It is a collective one.
Because when children thrive, communities thrive. And when communities neglect children, they inherit the consequences later.
This is why families need partners.
This is why schools, organizations, and communities matter.
This is why we cannot leave the future in the hands of parents alone.
They need partners.
They need Top Notch Village Members.
What I Do Now
This philosophy guides how I show up in the world. So, I travel from city to city, town to town, and state to state sharing this message of collective engagement—bringing families, educators, and communities together to move children forward. I do this work because when we pour intentionally into the children of today, we create the conditions for a stronger, more capable tomorrow.
This is my part.
This is my contribution.
This is how I help build our healthy and sustainable future—one child, one family, and one village at a time.