Meet Ikedah
That one idea is where KIMA started — and where everything I do comes back to.
I didn't plan to become a coach. I was a retired mom who got involved with my kids' Cub Scouts group — and I kept noticing the same thing: kids acting out, not because they were "bad kids," but because they didn't have another way to get seen.
My instinct was never punishment. It was to pull a kid aside, give them something that was theirs to do, make them feel important, find something real to connect over. Watching what happened when a child felt like they mattered — that's what sent me into this work.
I got certified as a kids life coach and a parenting coach, wrote Taking Care of ME! — an emotional intelligence workbook for kids — and built KIMA around one idea: be who you needed when you were younger. I needed someone who would listen to me without brushing me off, who would explain the why instead of just saying "because I said so." I didn't have that person. So I became her.
The first thing I tell every child I coach is this:
"I'm not here to fix you — because there is nothing wrong with you."
Kids don't act out because something is wrong with them. Emotions and feelings are behind every action. If a child is acting out — or gone quiet — there's a reason underneath. My job isn't to fix the kid. It's to help them find the words for what's already inside.