The Fairy Podcast with Winslow Vail

In this episode of The Fairy Podcast, host Winslow Vail is joined by special guest Mena Teijeiro, Leadership Calibrator, Executive Intuitive, and Founder of The Florrest, for a joyful conversation about helping children learn to be fully themselves.Mena shares Return to Center, the leadership calibration methodology she spent 11 years creating for founders and executives, translated here into a playful game for kids. Built around three players (you, your body, and your relationships) and three landscapes (inner, creative, and impact), the map offers children a way to reconnect with themselves early, so they can grow up with the clarity, confidence, vitality, and self-trust that Mena helps grown leaders find.Together, Winslow and Mena explore what it means to tend your garden rather than climb a ladder, to nurture who you are rather than try to be someone else. Mena also shares her own journey of shedding the pressure to shrink herself, and how safe spaces for joy and self-expression helped her learn to be fully herself everywhere else.In this episode, you'll hear about:Return to Center, a leadership map eleven years in the making, now translated for kidsA playful way to understand yourself, your body, and your relationshipsThe difference between tending your garden and climbing a ladderHow to “weed” shame instead of carrying itWhy caring for the body is foundational to vitalityHow being yourself can work like a magnet, drawing some people closer and sending others awayWhy children need safe spaces where they can practice being fully themselvesHow our mistakes and difficult experiences can become “compost” for growthWhy freedom and self-expression need to grow alongside kindness, respect, and responsibilityHow creativity and confidence become the “fruit” of everything we tend over timeWhy protecting a child's inner spark may be one of the most important things we can give themThis episode is for children, and the child within all of us, who are learning to know themselves, trust their inner wisdom, and bring their unique light into the world.About Mena TeijeiroMena Teijeiro is a Leadership Calibrator and founder of The Florrest, a 153-acre leadership sanctuary in Round Oak, Georgia. She created Return to Center, a leadership calibration methodology developed over more than a decade of study and practice, to help founders, executives, and teams identify the invisible patterns limiting their performance and lead from a more grounded, sustainable place. Her path includes an MBA from Chicago Booth, business recovery experience with PricewaterhouseCoopers in London, a TEDx talk, and co-authoring the Jack Canfield bestseller Success Redefined. A dual citizen of Argentina and the United States who has lived across Latin America, Europe, and North America, Mena is also a mom of two young men, and her work is rooted in her own years of rebuilding her life and leadership from the inside out.Men'a Website: https://www.theflorrest.com/✨ ✨ ✨ Fairy Mail: https://www.winslowvail.com/fairy-mail/Fairy-School-Mail/Music Credits: "Canon in D" by Johann Pachelbel performed and recorded by Winslow Vail. 

In this episode of The Fairy Podcast, host Winslow Vail is joined by Nancy Mellon, a pioneer of healing and therapeutic storytelling and a Waldorf educator with over 35 years of experience, for a wise and playful conversation about fairies, elves, gnomes, and the many kinds of elemental beings who share our world. Nancy shares how she didn't grow up believing in fairies, and how that changed one moonlit night at Emerson College in England, when a roll of tape seemed to roll itself across the floor. Nancy also highlights the well-known writers who knew the elemental world firsthand, how to recognize a "part fairy" person hiding in plain sight, and what it means to feel a little bit in between, human and something more.In this episode, you'll hear about:Why fairy tales don't always have fairies in them, and what a fairy really isHow Tolkien and Shakespeare wrote from real knowledge of the elemental realmsDora van Gelder's The Real World of Fairies and the many kinds of elementals she sawNancy's own late-in-life awakening to the elemental world in EnglandA true story of playful, mischievous fairies at Emerson CollegeHow some people carry elemental traits in their bodies, gestures, and sensitivitySimple practices for children (and grown-ups) to build true connection with nature spiritsWhy loving and observing nature more closely opens the door to the fairiesThis episode is for curious kids, sensitive souls, and anyone who wants to keep their eyes and heart open to the magic living just beyond what we can see.Take a breath, open your fairy senses, and let the elementals connect with you.About Nancy Mellon Nancy Mellon has pioneered healing and therapeutic storytelling as a counselor and Waldorf educator worldwide for over 35 years. Her work continues to inspire creative courage and dynamic awareness of the relationship between language, imagination, and well-being.Nancy has a lifetime of experience supporting individuals, families, and communities around the world, applying a broad array of healing modalities. She currently lives in Upstate New York.Nancy received a BA from Wellesley College, an MA in English and American Literature from Hunter College of CUNY, and an MA in Counseling and Expressive Therapies from Lesley University. She is also a licensed high school teacher.Nancy's Website: https://www.healingstory.com/✨ ✨ ✨ Fairy Mail: https://www.winslowvail.com/fairy-mail/Fairy-School-Mail/Music Credits: "Canon in D" by Johann Pachelbel performed and recorded by Winslow Vail. 

Most of us learned at a young age which emotions were allowed and which were not. When a child hears "You'll get over it" or "Stop crying," they don't just lose comfort in that moment; they learn to doubt their own inner truth.In this episode of The Fairy Podcast, host Winslow Vail sits down with special guest Doug Noll, a lawyer-turned-peacemaker, author, and longtime de-escalation teacher, to talk about why emotions aren't a problem to fix. They're part of who we are.Doug explains why adults unconsciously invalidate children's feelings (hint: it's usually about the adult's anxiety, not the child's behavior) and shares a simple tool that works at any age: naming what you feel, out loud and without judgment. From a skinned knee on the playground to a friend who's suddenly furious with you, telling the truth about your emotions can help bring your nervous system back to calm.In this episode:• Emotions as a core part of who we are• How invalidation teaches kids to hide their real feelings• Why adults shut feelings down and why it's often driven by their own anxiety• Naming emotions to self-soothe• Using "You feel..." to help a friend calm down quickly• Responding to anger without taking it personally• Calming first, problem-solving second• Daily practices to build confidence and inner resilienceWhether you're four years old or forty, this skill works. And when children learn it early, they often become the people others turn to in difficult moments, because they know how to listen, connect, and respond with empathy.About Doug NollDoug Noll is an award-winning author, speaker, and trainer. He is, among many other things, a lawyer-turned-peacemaker, mediator, and expert in deep, empathic listening. He left a 22-year career as a trial lawyer, earned his Master's Degree in Peacemaking and Conflict Studies, and has helped thousands of companies and organizations with internal conflicts and poor communication.He is the co-founder of the award-winning Prison of Peace Project. He has trained mediators and leaders in Europe, the Middle East, and Asia in his innovative peacemaking and mediation processes.Doug's honors include California Lawyer Magazine Attorney of the Year, a Purpose Prize Fellow, and Best Lawyers of America Lawyer of the Year.Doug Noll's Websitehttps://dougnoll.com/Doug Noll's TEDx Talkhttps://youtu.be/rL_m78zdXMQ?si=yzVysSSJ8AjiHX3y✨ ✨ ✨ Fairy Mail: https://www.winslowvail.com/fairy-mail/Fairy-School-Mail/Music Credits: "Canon in D" by Johann Pachelbel performed and recorded by Winslow Vail. 

The water in your cup has a longer memory than you can imagine, and it is the very same water dinosaurs once drank. In this episode of The Fairy Podcast, we sit down with Donna Goodman, Founder of Earth Child Institute and a longtime UNICEF educator, to explore freshwater, children’s environmental leadership, and the powerful ways kids change the world. Along the way, we keep it simple, curious, and practical, so families can turn wonder into real Earth care.In this episode, we explore:• Donna’s path through Earth Child Institute and global work with children • Why children have the power to influence adults and communities • Research-backed stories of kids driving behavior change, like recycling • The closed water cycle and the idea of “dinosaur water” • Practical ways kids can help, including simple water testing • What kids around the world ask first and what it reveals about connection • EcoMasters and using stories to teach environmental stewardship • Mother Earth and Me and the tree practice for body kindness and self-love About Donna GoodmanDonna Goodman has worked to serve Mother Earth, her children, and waters for more than 36 years in more than 67 countries. It all started in 1999, when, as a single mom attending Jean Houston’s Mystery School, Donna was invited to the United Nations to teach Peace through Science using rainbow glasses and magnets to explore the invisible forces that guide our lives. The synchronicity of that first invitation led to the founding of Earth Child Institute (ECI), a US-based 501(c)3 not-for-profit, international organization dedicated to 'Empowering Today for A Sustainable Future for All’ in 2002. While young leaders from all over the world were leading Earth Child Institute on a day-to-day basis, Donna was employed by UNICEF as Program Advisor, Water, Environment and Sanitation, and later Climate Change Education. Before and after her United Nations career, Donna was nominated as one of the Top 100 Women in Franchising for her work as co-founder of Little Scientists – A Hands-On Approach to teach science to young children, and later served as Global Program Director for Swarovski Waterschool, overseeing a global network of school programs on the great rivers of the world. She was a consultant to Turner Broadcasting, Cartoon Network Latin America, and Program Developer for Kids1, a New Jersey-based company leading the way on school leadership for at-risk students in the United States.Today, Donna is proud to be focusing on her work as the author of the middle-grade fiction series ECOMASTERS: A Planet in Peril, as well as on Mother Earth and Me teaching and learning materials. Born and raised in Connecticut, she is mom to three adult children and Nonna to five awesome grandchildren. Donna's Websites:www.donnagoodman.comwww.ecomastersbooks.com www.earthchildinstitute.org✨ ✨ ✨ Fairy Mail: https://www.winslowvail.com/fairy-mail/Fairy-School-Mail/Music Credits: "Canon in D" by Johann Pachelbel performed and recorded by Winslow Vail.