Ground Control Parenting with Carol Sutton Lewis

What can a ballerina, an inventor, a pediatric psychologist, a First Lady, and three generations of moms teach us about parenting?  As Season 8 comes to a close, Carol revisits some of the many conversations offering memorable answers.

Misty Copeland, Dr. Marian Croak, Maryland’s First Lady Dawn Moore, and the moms of On the Ground were among the many guests who shared their stories and practical parenting guidance this season. Across these very different conversations, a few truths surfaced again and again: talk to your kids honestly, keep talking with them as they grow, and give yourself grace. 

Carol also looks back on the launch of new segments On the Ground and GCP BookTalk, and the first Ground Control Parenting Shower on Martha’s Vineyard. Join Carol for the Season 8 wrap-up, then catch up on any episodes you missed!

Follow Ground Control Parenting:
📱 Instagram, TikTok & Facebook: @GroundControlParenting
💼 LinkedIn: Carol Sutton Lewis
🌐 Website: GroundControlParenting.com
📫Substack: @carolsuttonlewis

What helps a child walk into an unfamiliar room and believe they belong there?

For Jen Hayes Lee, it has always been a pair of golden hoop earrings. In this GCP Book Talk, Jen joins Carol to discuss her debut children’s book, The Golden Hoops, inspired by the first pair she received from her mother. Jen is head of marketing at The Bump, founder of Bestow Collection, host of the No Guide for This podcast, and one of the moms from GCP’s On the Ground series.

Jen shares how her golden hoops made her feel connected to her mom and helped her hold onto her Black identity while growing up in predominantly white environments. She and Carol explore the cultural history carried by hoop earrings, what children may need when they are feeling like outsiders, and how parents can use the lessons of The Golden Hoops to help both girls and boys enter new spaces with confidence. 

Follow Ground Control Parenting:
📱 Instagram, TikTok & Facebook: @GroundControlParenting
💼 LinkedIn: Carol Sutton Lewis
🌐 Website: GroundControlParenting.com
📫Substack: @carolsuttonlewis

Dr. Marian Croak is one of the most influential inventors of our time. With more than 200 patents, she helped develop Voice over Internet Protocol, the technology that makes Zoom, FaceTime, and WhatsApp possible. She has transformed the way people around the world communicate.

Dr. Croak joins Carol for a deeply personal conversation about parenting, including how her parents turned a frightening childhood mistake into a defining lesson, and how their example shaped her approach to failure, invention, and raising her own three children.

During this episode Dr. Croak offers a memorable image for the tension between an intense career and family life, shares a question she has asked herself every year throughout four decades of work, and reveals the one piece of guidance she believes is the greatest gift a parent can give a child.

Follow Ground Control Parenting:
📱 Instagram, TikTok & Facebook: @GroundControlParenting
💼 LinkedIn: Carol Sutton Lewis
🌐 Website: GroundControlParenting.com
📫Substack: @carolsuttonlewis

Madam C.J. Walker built a groundbreaking business and created opportunities for thousands of Black women. She also raised a daughter, A’Lelia Walker, whom she loved fiercely and tried hard to protect. Sometimes that protection felt like pressure.

In this GCP Book Talk, Carol talks with award-winning journalist A’Lelia Bundles about her book, Joy Goddess: A’Lelia Walker and the Harlem Renaissance, the story of her great-grandmother.  They explore the complicated bond between Madam Walker and her daughter, the difficulty of watching our children make choices we believe are wrong, and the challenge of growing up in the shadow of a powerful family legacy.

Come for a fascinating story of Black history, culture, and achievement. Stay for the unexpected parenting lessons about love, control, identity, and letting our children find their own way.

Follow Ground Control Parenting:
📱 Instagram, TikTok & Facebook: @GroundControlParenting
💼 LinkedIn: Carol Sutton Lewis
🌐 Website: GroundControlParenting.com
📫Substack: @carolsuttonlewis

What happens when you throw a shower for parents? 

At the Ground Control Parenting Shower on Martha's Vineyard, parents at various stages of the journey spent an afternoon being informed, inspired, and celebrated.

In this special episode, Carol goes behind the scenes at the Shower, describing how the afternoon was built around four issues that matter deeply to GCP families, and sharing some of the best advice and resources that parents took home courtesy of sponsors Morgan Stanley, Meta, The College Board, and DonorsChoose.

The episode also takes us back inside Carol’s live conversation with Abby Phillip and Courtney B. Vance about raising children who are grounded and confident. Courtney shares how he and Angela Bassett created a strong “rhythm of the household” for their twins, and how they worked to keep their privilege from becoming their children’s definition of normal. Abby talks about the high expectations of her immigrant parents, the role of grace in her life and career, and how she is teaching her daughter to find her sense of worth within herself, rather than in other people’s praise or criticism.

Come inside the GCP Shower and discover what happens when parents get some of the attention, encouragement, and support they truly deserve. 

Follow Ground Control Parenting:

📱 Instagram, TikTok & Facebook: @GroundControlParenting
💼 LinkedIn: @Carol Sutton Lewis
🌐 Website: GroundControlParenting.com
📫Substack: @carolsuttonlewis