Our Story

How it all began

Before becoming a Mum, our Founder Lorraine had worked in business and education on a wide range of projects involving young people. Throughout that time, very few schools were engaging in 'enterprise learning' of any kind, and those that were often viewed it as a 'bolt on' to an already packed curriculum. Lorraine knew that enterprise was far broader than the media focus of 'being an entrepreneur' and her curiosity led her to look at how children could be supported at home to nurture their enterprising skills and character, given the crucial role parents have when it comes to character formation and development.

Her research showed that there was little, if any, support given to parents in this area, and so the seed was sown and the research continued as she began working on her first book.

Several years and one child later, Lorraine's interest in this field was further developed just before her son's fourth birthday when she noticed how conversations with her son had changed. Through simple questions, observations, and activities, their time together became even more engaging, giving her insight into ways in which the everyday could be used to nurture essential skills in young children such as the ability to problem solve, resourcefulness, creativity, self-regulation, critical thinking, and playing and working well with others.

First milestone

Lorraine's book took shape with her extensive interviews with parents, successful entrepreneurs, business leaders, and young people, to help understand how family influences and parenting styles impacted upon the development of children who grew up to innovate and inspire and make a positive impact upon the world. The first major milestone was reached when her book Enterprising Child was published by Bookshaker in 2012. The book proved immediately popular world-wide with both parents and teachers. She then went on to establish the company ‘Enterprising Child’ with a strong social purpose to enrich family lives and help children fulfil their potential.

In 2015 the company secured external funding, enabling a re-branding plus the launch of its first app. Independently tested by families, recommended by The Good App Guide, the app has proved popular with busy families.

Present Day

With the support of a fantastic Advisory Board made up of professionals from parenting, child psychology, early years, and enterprise education, the business is continuing to work on new resources to support families and educators, as well as carrying out research to inform development. New resources such as the Can-Do Child® Activity Cards (endorsed by The Good Play Guide), and an online course 'Raising Can-Do Children' have been developed. We are also focused on developing new collaborations with organisations and individuals working with children from Early Years through to age 11 years.

Lorraine's second book The Can-Do Child:Enriching the Everyday the Easy Way published by ReThink Press regularly features in the Amazon Kindle Top 50 parenting book list. Although some of the language has changed a little ('Enterprise' is still very much at the heart of our work, but there remains many pre-conceptions about this word, which is why you will see we talk about Can-Do far more these days!) the company's fundamental purpose and values have not. Her third book 'A Parent's Guide to Easy, Screen-Free Activities Children Will Love' written and published in 2020 already has 100% 5* reviews, and regularly features in the Amazon Top 10 category of Family Activities.

Expansion

Lorraine's work is becoming well established both in the UK and internationally, in particular in the Middle East and more recently in North America. New distributors for the products (books and cards) have been secured and the company is looking to develop more relationships with organisations who share the Can-Do Child® philosophy and values. The first online course through Udemy launched late 2019 was immediately successful with 700 students from 50+ countries, with more courses under development.

We'd love to have you along on our journey, so if you have any questions or suggesstions as to how we can work together to better support our children's futures, we'd love to hear from you.