About Me

Education and International Work

My name is Winslow Vail Brokaw. I am a safe, gentle, and compassionate soul who has cultivated diverse skills and experiences through years of learning and working around the world. I hold a B.A. in International Studies (with a focus on Spanish and Sociology) and Education from Middlebury College in Vermont (2012). During my studies, I spent six months in Valparaíso, Chile, at La Universidad de Playa Ancha, where I honed my Spanish language skills.

For 12 years, I have worked extensively with children and families across the U.S., Dominican Republic, Mexico, Chile, Canada, and India, designing and running empowerment programs. After graduating college, I moved to Cabarete, Dominican Republic, where I served as a Literacy and Art Teacher for young mothers and girls with the Mariposa Foundation. This experience inspired me to design and launch a yearlong Girls' Empowerment Program called Chicas Poderosas for 70 high school girls at Nuestros Pequeños Hermanos in Cuernavaca, Mexico, an international NGO that supports vulnerable children and young adults. I established partnerships with 13 Mexican and global organizations that offered workshops for the girls, and Chicas Poderosas continues to thrive today.

For several years, I worked as a Service Project Coordinator and International Trip Leader for the Flourish Foundation in Idaho, guiding 6-30 high school students on month-long service-learning trips to Mexico and India. These trips focused on contemplative practices and community service to cultivate compassionate global citizens. I also spearheaded and secured our four primary international partnerships for these trips.

Following this role, I served as a Bilingual Case Manager for 34 survivors of domestic violence and sexual assault at the Advocates for Survivors of Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault in Hailey, Idaho. I conducted shelter intakes and check-outs, assessed clients' immediate crisis needs, responded to crisis calls, oversaw shelter safety, and educated clients about the dynamics of domestic violence and sexual assault, as well as available resources and options.

In another capacity, I worked as a Bilingual Community Advocate and Case Manager at The Hunger Coalition, facilitating the intake of over 1,000 participants and connecting them with appropriate services. I also initiated the agency's first two participant-led community engagement programs: a bilingual community kitchen and a women's support group.

I helped launch Carnival Corporation's impact travel brand, Fathom Travel, in Cuba and the Dominican Republic. As the first U.S. cruise line to sail to Cuba in over 50 years, we created transformative onboard programming and in-country community service projects for 700 travelers per week. As an Impact Guide, I led these programs, delivered weekly lectures to travelers on Cuban history and current affairs, taught diverse curricula on topics like social innovation and Spanish, and guided tours in both the Dominican Republic and Cuba each week.

For seven years, I served as Secretary and then Treasurer for The Association for Child and Youth Care Practice Board, a membership organization committed to advancing the profession of child and youth care in the U.S. and internationally.

Launching My Business

After years of working with children, youth, and adults in various cultures and contexts, I started my own business in 2020. I now coach children and adults on how to shift challenging beliefs, behaviors, and patterns and how to experience greater calm, confidence, and connection. I offer coaching sessions, weekly Fairy Mail, and Fairy School as part of my services.

My Passion and Training

As a sensitive and anxious child and teen, I often tried to please others, felt overwhelmed by others' pain, and struggled with insecurity and self-doubt. At age 17, I had a transformative coaching session with Aleya Dao, founder of the Seven Cups of Consciousness. Aleya taught me how to reference my self-worth, calm, safety, and fulfillment internally using a simple yet profound skill set. She taught me how to flip my challenges, how to shift empathic sensations so they did not crush me, and how to meet my needs internally so that I felt confident, calm, and happy. These tools became my trusty anchor, helping me navigate life's challenges, and I still use them daily. I always wished I had learned them as a child, and this is why I am passionate about teaching these tools to children and teens. I have worked and studied the Seven Cups of Consciousness modality for over 15 years, most recently completing a four-year training to become a Practitioner.

Additionally, I have trained for six years with Douglass Noll, a meditator and author of De-escalate: How to Calm an Angry Person in 90 Seconds or Less, specializing in emotional competency and affect labeling, which is the skill of validating people's emotions. Validating children's emotions offers numerous benefits, including increased:

• Emotional self-awareness
• Emotional self-regulation
• Empathy
• Self-confidence
• Strong emotion management
• Calming upset peers
• Better grades (studies show kids with affect-labeling skills are 2-3 grade levels ahead of peers over five years)
• Impulse control
• Emotional maturity
• Emotional safety
• Bullying resistance
• Resilience

As the world continues to change, having the tools to thrive in complexity is essential. I have personally tested the toolbox that I teach, and it has shifted my insecurity, anxiety, and self-doubt into calm, confidence, and connection. Now, I share these simple, practical, and effective concepts and skills to help children and adults become healthy, balanced, and resilient human beings. 

Fun Facts

• I grew up on the rocky coast of Downeast Maine and now live in the mountains of Idaho.
• I've played the violin since I was seven years old.
• I've had more random and epic jobs than you can imagine.
• I'm writing a children's book with empowering messages from fairies.
• My Waldorf school upbringing taught me to value an education of the head, heart, and hands.
• I cherish kindness, integrity, joy, positivity, and clear boundaries and believe that all humans are innately wise.