We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Lizzie Assa a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Lizzie , thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today What’s one of the most important lessons you learned in school?

In 2001, I was sitting around a small table in a stuffy classroom on NYC’s Upper West Side. I was in graduate school earning my master’s of Science in Education. My peers and I were sitting with our advisor, discussing our student-teaching experiences. One person said, “I have a child in my class who is just so manipulative…”
We all nodded with understanding. All of us, except our Adivsor.
I’ll never forget her response because it forever changed the way I look at behavior in early childhood.
“Young Children are not manipulators. Children who present that way are asking us, the adults, to help them with an unmet need.”
I was floored. I was forever changed.
From that moment on, I’ve always tried to view children through this lens.
That small shift in perspective can have a massive impact on a child’s behavior and your relationship with them.

Lizzie , before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

I’m Lizzie Assa, founder of The Workspace for Children. My journey into early childhood education began in the classroom, where I spent time as a preschool teacher and earned my Master’s in Science in Education. What truly transformed my approach to working with children was working in schools and with mentors who showed me that play is a child’s most important work, and their environment should reflect that.
After having my own children, I became fascinated with creating intentional play spaces that foster independence, creativity, and learning. The Workspace for Children began as a small at home studio, where parents and caregivers would bring their children to play. It was my mission to teach the grownups to step back and trust that in a prepared environment their children could direct their own play without adult instruction. It evolved as I documented our work on IG and on my blog. As a mom to three small children, I eventually closed the studio to focus on my own kids and their work at home. I continued to document their play and my parenting and my platforms grew. In 2019, I launched my first online course, teaching parents how to support independent play at home.
Today, I continue to write and share about my family, as well as writing on Substack, and my first book, But I’m Bored, will be published with Putnam in January 2026. I continue to work with families, offering virtual consultations, workshops, and digital resources. What sets my approach apart is the deep understanding that the environment itself is a teacher – when thoughtfully designed, it can inspire concentration, independence, and play in children while making parents’ lives easier.
What I’m most proud of is seeing families transform their relationships with their children through play. When parents message me that their child played independently for the first time or that they finally enjoy parenting instead of feeling overwhelmed by it, those moments remind me why this work matters.
If you’re considering working with me, know that I bring both professional knowledge and personal experience as a parent to every consultation. I understand the realities of family life and create solutions that are practical and deeply respectful of children’s capabilities.

Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?

There was a period a few years ago when I was going through a lot of personal and family growing pains. It was hard to show up online and for my one-to-one clients when I was overwhelmed in my personal life. We had recently moved to a new state, and my children, my husband, and I were all struggling with the transition. I began to question my choices as a parent, which of course made it even harder to show up and support other parents. I even considered selling The Workspace for Children so that I could focus solely on my family. I reached out to a handful of other female entrepreneurs whom I trusted in the online space. I shared my struggles and asked for honest advice. One woman helped me understand, on paper, what it could look like to sell, which helped me grasp a better understanding of my choices. One woman was a really good listener and helped me sift through my thoughts. One woman said to me, “Lizzie, the work you do is so important. When I was a young mother in the trenches, barely making it, your work helped me find joy in parenting and use play as a way to get the break I needed. You have to keep showing up!” I am so glad I listened to her because it was just a few weeks later when my agent reached out to me to write my debut book. I can’t wait to put it into the world. Having peers who understand what female entrepreneurship looks like is invaluable. I am so grateful to these women.

What else should we know about how you took your side hustle and scaled it up into what it is today?

I started The Workspace for Children ten years ago when my children were small, and I was at home with them full time. While I loved being with my kids, I missed the classroom, and our single income was stressful. I began sharing what I knew about art, play, and child development on a small blog, never imagining it would become a business.
My first milestone came when a brand sent my children scooters in exchange for a blog post – I was thrilled to give my kids something new through my writing! Then, during one of their nap times, I watched an Instagram live about digital products while folding laundry. I thought, “I can do that. Why not me?” I wrote my first $11 ebook and sold it to my Instagram followers. My family cheered each time my phone beeped with another order, and I made about $600 in that first launch.
That proof of concept convinced me to invest in a business coach who taught me how to create and market my first online course – and I was all in.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.workspaceforchildren.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theworkspaceforchildren
• Other: https://substack.com/@theworkspaceforchildren

Image Credits

Lizzie Assa