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

Sandra, appreciate you joining us today. Risking taking is a huge part of most people’s story but too often society overlooks those risks and only focuses on where you are today. Can you talk to us about a risk you’ve taken – it could be a big risk or a small one – but walk us through the backstory.

All my life has been lived taking risks, the risk has been part of my life, I love to feel the adrenaline of the uncertain, although that has kept me on a roller coaster of emotions, it has made my existence more interesting and passionate, it has made my life more alive.

I have always said that the most dangerous risk is staying in your comfort zone, it is the safest, yes, it gives you a sense of stability, yes, but it keeps you stagnant, dead in life, because you are not well enough to be happy and you are not bad enough to change your life, you are there, still, stable, safe, without living intensely, without following your passions.

So when I feel stuck I launch into the adventure of risk, and although it is scary, terrifying and often painful, I became an expert in making myself uncomfortable, forcing myself into the unknown over and over again. Like the time when I came to live here, in another country, where I didn’t know anyone and didn’t know how to speak the language, leaving the love of my life, who I never saw again.

Like many times that I accept jobs without having the slightest idea of how to do it, or knocking on doors to do media research at night in different neighborhoods of different cities, often driving in unknown unpaved roads. Or the tome after living 10 years in this country and finally settle down, having a stable home and a stable job, deciding to sell everything, reducing myself to two suitcases and start traveling alone through different countries, traveling by boat, train, planes to unknown towns where I didn’t understand the languages, or the time that I met someone online and went to live with him the same day I met him in person. He turned out to be the father of my daughter two years later.

Even things as simple as buying a car on installments without having a job, I’ve done it twice and I never stopped paying them because I was convinced that I would have the means to do it. Being a single mom is a risks, decide to homeschool is a risks, being a business owner and being in charge of little ones is a risk, in fact in our school we promote risky play, because it promotes self-confidence and resilience.

Risk is something that I know very well and although it scares me, I am passionate about it. I believe that each of us who become owners of a business must have a passion for risk, otherwise it would be impossible to do so.

Risks is and art, and we as humans have to remain capable of risking and never miss an opportunity to risk. “Risks is the only guarantee to be truly alive”

Sandra, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

It was a long way to get where I am now, I knew all my life that I wanted to be a business owner but I did not know how and doing what. I tried many things in my life and I worked in many different types of jobs ( sales, marketing, customer service, media research, real estate ) but it was in 2009 where I had this vision that I wanted to have a School of Love for kids, before the idea took form I traveled the world for two years, studied to be a Life Coach and also became a Reiki Master. When I was doing coaching and Reiki I concluded that many of the issues we have in our adult life are directly linked to our childhood. After my travels came to an end and when I came back to America after a painful breakup, pregnant, jobless and with very little money, I was in a deep depression. I felt totally lost and with no desire to do anything but I knew I needed to provide for my daughter and I started to work in Uber and different rideshare apps, which gave me flexibility around my daughter’s schedule but allowed me to pay the bills.

As my daughter started to grow, my desire to create a space for the kids started to grow as well. My initial passion got recharged and I decided to study Child Development, where I continued my education in alternative methods such as Waldorf and Reggio Emilia approach as well as the Forest Schools. I joined many groups, interviewed different program directors, and also worked at Waldorf schools and homeschool enrichments outdoors. Finally, In 2018, after a decade of dreaming about it, burning desires, research and studies, I decided to put my own Nature Immersion program that combined in my experience as a mother, Emotional Coach, Energy Healer, Child Development and Waldorf Educator and would give me the opportunity as a single mother to provide and be there for my daughter while allowing me to accomplish my dream to create a space for the children to be free of society demands and expectations, allow them to play freely in nature and let them be what they are, children!

And we have seen miracles in outdoor school, special needs kids that improve tremendously, it is like having Occupational therapy every day, because they are working balance, coordination, motor skills, negotiation, team work, socio emotional learning and more.

It makes my heart happy seeing the children wild and free, seeing them enjoying childhood without expectations and demandings of adults from a very young age. Seeing them grow in many aspects, jumping, climbing and without restriction of movement that it’s a essential need to develop their brain and is one of the first things that is restricted in a regular school.

WE LOVE that they learn by experimenting, playing and experiences rather than filling out worksheets, how they use their imagination and stimulate their creativity when they have to invent and the only thing that they have are leaves,sticks, rocks, plants and mud, how they practice and stimulate their motor skills, climbing a tree, balancing between rocks, jumping and running.

But above all, what we love the most it’s see how labels like ADHD, ADD, Autism, Anxiety, Language delay, sensory processing disorder, etc, magically decreased in nature when we leave them be kids, without “don’t do this”, “silence” or “don’t move”!

Exposing them daily to a dose of connection with nature is all the therapy they need!!
¡¡Forest Therapy!!

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

In the beginning of my journey with KidWings, like many business owners, I needed a means to maintain myself and my daughter economically while the business got started. While I worked at Uber, and at different schools, I handed out flyers to those who told me they had children; I spread the word through social media but still was not getting much attention to my initiative. I cried many nights because things didn’t turn out as I had imagined. People weren’t interested in an outdoor school; the concept was still too new. There was still a lot of attachment to the traditional schooling system, contrary to European education, where parents truly value the benefits of learning through play.

I started with only two students two days per week while I was still working for other jobs; for almost a year and a half, I did many open houses with very low attendance and sometimes I went home with a lot of families interested but still not students enrolled. There were many times that I give up, but then I remembered my motivation, my daughter and my purpose and mission, and I keep trying and trying and trying until I worked at another Nature School for Homeschoolers and that gives me the confidence I needed to say I can, I can do this, little by little I started to increased students and days, first 5 more students then 10 until the pandemic hit the world and I have to closed, but for only two months, when parents started calling me that please take their kids outdoors, so in the summer of 2020 my business flourishes like never before having more than 50 families enrolled in my program different days per week and opening from Monday through Friday classes.

Any advice for growing your clientele? What’s been most effective for you?

Customer Service, connection with people, with parents, with the kids, give love to everyone in my team and in my community, listen to parents needs, to children’s needs and to staff needs, valued everyone and appreciate them is the best strategy for a business because that is reflected. There is not better strategy that making feel good the people that is trusting you their treasures. Worths of mouth and of course social media is also a very helpful way to growing our clientele,

Contact Info:

• Website: https://kidwingsnatureschool.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kidwingsnatureschool/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/kidwingsnature
• Youtube: https://youtu.be/100kx-NLDcA
• Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/kidwings-nature-school-san-diego
• Other: https://linktr.ee/KidWings