We recently connected with Peymaneh Rothstein and have shared our conversation below.
Hi Peymaneh, appreciate you sitting with us today to share your wisdom with our readers. So, let’s start with resilience – where do you get your resilience from?
My resilience comes from my faith and refusal to accept that the lowest points of my life should define my life. I have always prayed, even as a child. I grew up with the understanding that “this too shall pass.” One constant even from a very young age was a still, small voice each night connecting me to my faith in God and a deeper belief that my life has a higher purpose. As an immigrant child in the US during a time when society was not accepting of outsiders (especially from the middle east) I had to hide a lot of myself and the fact that I was Jewish in order to fit in with my classmates and neighbors. The compilation of my childhood traumas from physical and sexual abuse, miraculously surviving a bomb that didn’t go off right next to our apartment building, fleeing my country with my family, and all the societal pressures I felt as an outsider in America, all forced me to question at such a young age whether this all happened for some bigger purpose in my life! These crushing hardships could not have been for nothing! Most children don’t even ponder the existence of God, let alone feel pressures to confront their faith and their own existence at such a young age. All that pain served to turn me into a person who demanded a better life! “There has to be something better than this” I swore to myself. So even from a young age, I learned to take adversity and transform it into positive opportunity. Only God was there for me; not my family or friends, so I learned to rely on Him and myself. You become very self sufficient and resilient when you have no other option. But I knew that even when no one else believed in me, God did, and that faith got me through. The most powerful connection one can have is with one’s creator. It supersedes human connection which can include jealousy, greed, subconscious malice, and other emotions of which you aren’t even aware. As I grew, I learned that the more appreciative you are of what you have, the more God will bless you with abundance. The fruit of this abundance will shock your friends and family. Everybody wants you to be successful, just not too successful (not more successful than them).
What is new and exciting in your life?
This is the part of the interview I’m most excited about since I have so many new developments and changes in the works!
Since my last interview with you, we have launched a new Autistic Inclusion program at both of my childcare centers! Precious Time Child Development Centers is a national provider of on-site managed child care services. I founded it in 2001 and we have grown to multiple locations since then. We are dedicated to promoting the quality of life for all working families and to fostering strong familial bonds. We are committed to every child having an equal opportunity to learn and play and grow at our centers! And we recognize that some children need a little more (and specialized) care than others. That’s why we decided to learn and certify our instructors on how to care for these precious children that most centers are forced to turn down due to lack of insurance coverage and other “red tape” which has nothing to do with overall growth and benefit of the child in question.
Autism is a spectrum disorder, meaning every individual on the Autism spectrum is different with varying abilities, strengths, and opportunities for improvement- just like you and I. Although every person with Autism has varying abilities, there are several core characteristics that might be present. To be diagnosed with Autism, a person must have deficits in social communication/interaction and restrictive/repetitive behaviors. These characteristics show up differently for every individual with Autism. In fact, symptoms must be present in the early developmental period, but may become more pronounced with social demands over time. In 2020, the CDC reported that approximately 1 in 54 children in the United States is diagnosed with Autism! Notably, with support and evidence-based interventions, characteristics of Autism can become less pronounced over time.
There isn’t a cure for Autism, however, studies have shown tremendous results of highly improved outcomes with interventions from a young age, such as Applied Behavior Analysis! There is not a limit on how much learning, growth, or knowledge can be gained because of best practice interventions at an early age and throughout the life span.
At Precious Time we love to care for the child as a whole, providing a loving, stable, environment in which “kids can be kids” and play and grow and learn together where everyone is supported and included!
Another exciting update is the addition of several films to my roster as a film producer! I love creating extraordinary, social-conscious films with positive messages. I genuinely feel that content creation and films are the way to positively influence this world and culture. And I’m very excited that we are done with the post-production for a darling short called “The Last Kiss” which also stars my daughter! We’ve already received several nominations in several film festivals. I’ve also Executive Produced another short, which is also serving as a proof of concept called “The Last Altruist” and that one has been raking in the laurels! “The Last Kiss” is a romantic comedy and “The Last Altruist” is a drama. I was also brought on board as a producer for “The Old Way” starring Nicholas Cage which released this January!
Since our last interview I’ve also joined the advisory board of Mindology Fitness which we’ve also implemented at the childcare centers. Mindology Fitness teaches the children self-soothing and coping mechanisms and reminds them that awareness of their emotions is important for their wellbeing and all within their own control. It’s an incredible educational program developed and taught by my close personal friend Dr. Troy Byer.
Speaking of advisory boards, I’m also now on the advisory board for Ronin Content. Ronin Media Networks was founded by Joshua Otten and Jason Rhude, and brings 20 years of experience developing, managing, and monetizing broadcast quality content as well as partnering with global brands to connect them with consumers through emerging media platforms. Their CTV ecosystem enables them to partner with global brands in order to help them reach highly desirable, yet tough-to-reach, niche audiences via branded content, interactive advertising and targeted data.
I of course still believe in the power and contribution of the Unstoppable Foundation!
The Unstoppable Foundation is a non-profit humanitarian organization bringing sustainable education to children and communities in developing countries thereby creating a safer and more just world for everyone. My dear friend Cynthia Kersey is the founder and head of this incredible non-profit. I took a trip with the Unstoppable Foundation to Kenya to see first hand the work that our donations and contributions really make possible through this organization and it changed my life! The Unstoppable Foundation’s mission is to ensure EVERY child has access to the life-long gift of an education.
If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?
The three qualities that have proven the most impactful on my journey are (in this order): Integrity, being Unstoppable, and Humility. Being in integrity has to do with living your life’s purpose. For example, when you sell yourself short in a job or position; when you make decisions based on fear or refuse to take an action which you know will bring you in alignment with what you truly want, you are not living your life in integrity. You are saying that you want something and then sabotaging yourself with your actions. A perfect example of this is people who say they want to “get in shape” but then they don’t eat clean and they avoid exercise. They are not living their life in integrity. And living your life in integrity is the foundation to fulfillment for anything you wish to accomplish. Integrity also builds on itself. In fulfilling your word once, it makes it that much easier to do so again. Integrity starts with minor steps: you keep your word, you take the actions you need to take, and that gives you more confidence, more self-empowerment, and it develops that discipline like a muscle, which then allows you to think and dream bigger!
Which brings us to the next quality of being Unstoppable. As you get visions and ideas, and become relentless in your pursuit of them, you become unstoppable. You keep your word and then when a problem arises or something comes up that clashes with your commitment, you’ll take actions and become unstoppable in the face of fear. When someone tells you “no” or you get a “no” in business, you’ll begin to recognize that “no” as a redirection rather than a “no.” It’s just the universe telling you that you need a different action; not that the game is over and you must stop in your tracks. The game is NEVER over; it’s all about being unstoppable and redirecting, in staying true to yourself and your callings.
Now humility comes into play because you must always be open and willing to learn. This means you must also admit that there is plenty you don’t already know. The truth is we live in an era where knowledge is always at our fingertips! Gone are the days where you had to visit a library to check out an encyclopedia or to ask your mentors or teachers. Now we have the world’s information constantly accessible right from our phones! Now if you want to learn about accounting, there is software that will teach you about accounting! Anything you want to learn is so much more accessible, so why aren’t people taking advantage, you might ask. Well, people must be open and willing to learn! To be at the level of humility to acknowledge that I know for the rest of my life that I’m going to be in the world of knowing that I don’t know, and asking myself ‘how much more is there to learn’ rather than thinking I already know it all, that is humility.
The advice that I’d give anyone starting out is to firstly surround yourself with people who inspire you. They will encourage you to level up your game and play at their level and you will bring out the best in each other. Secondly, find mentors who will teach and hold you accountable! Remember, if you’re the smartest person in the room, you need a new room. And lastly, everything that happens to you, happens FOR you! No obstacle is wasted. So when you catch yourself out of integrity with what you say you want, you have to stop and ask yourself, do I actually want this, or would I rather go down this other path instead? When you catch yourself ready to give up because you’ve had one too many rejections, take a moment to think outside the box. Is there a perspective or shift you haven’t considered yet? And when you find yourself annoyed or frustrated that you don’t already know something (or don’t want to take the time to learn) either outsource it to someone else or remind yourself that its ok that you don’t know what you don’t know. And then get to work and learn! Remember, we must all start somewhere, but we’ll never get anywhere if we don’t start.
What is the biggest challenge you’re currently facing?
The biggest challenge I’m currently facing is being a single mom to two incredible pre-teen daughters. Now, what makes that difficult besides their amazing hormones and growing and developing minds and bodies, is the unlimited access to the world of technology. Even if I wanted to completely take away their phones and laptops, their schools are assigning work through the internet so they HAVE to plug in everywhere! If they want to learn at school, they have to plug in. If they want to do homework, they have to plug in. They’re plugged into social media with their friends constantly. The biggest challenge has been in figuring out how foster their creativity (not just let it die) and continue to keep them connected to the universe and to nature. I need to train them not get their self-worth and validation from social media, which has been an ongoing battle. This has been especially difficult with all their friends continuously on social media. As adults we are learning how to deal with the negative emotions incited by all these social media platforms (Instagram, Facebook, who got invited, why didn’t I get invited, who did what). So how can we expect our kids to manage it when we ourselves are still learning to navigate this conundrum? Not to mention some of the video games which are not even based in reality that kids get involved with which create competition and anger!
How can we foster our children’s emotional wellbeing when there’s so much technological influence, even within the school system? There’s no reprieve for these kids. There will never be a time where they don’t remember having the internet, so it’s up to us as parents to face this challenge and keep them safe. Some of the ways I do this are by limiting screentime, scheduling hikes with them in nature, taking weekend trips to my favorite beaches, a lot of “touch times” like snuggles during movies on the couch or before bedtime, and keeping up with their extracurricular activities. One of the best ways to make sure my girls get unconnected is keeping them grounded and involved in movement activities like sports, dance, soccer, and volleyball, and keeping them in creative outlets like piano lessons, acting classes, and vocal coaching. I also encourage and facilitate lots of playdates between them and their friends. But I think it’s so important not to lose sight of the fact that our mental, emotional, and physical health is all connected. Our physical body is our access to our mental and emotional wellbeing. The other thing I’m trying to teach my kids is how to laugh in order to shift their attitudes, because I’ve noticed that after being on their phones, laptops, and switches, especially for more than 10 minutes, they are cranky! And I’m not the only parent who notices this! So I’ve found that one technique to shift your attitude from a negative to a positive is to fake laugh because a fake laugh will often times turn into a real one. Also, body movement: shake it off, jump up and down, do a few minutes of stretching. Another technique is to utilize pressure point therapy which we learned through Mindology Fitness (which I also teach at my centers). Mindology Fitness teaches kids how to take advantage of those pressure points and other techniques to ground yourself back into your body and get really present to the way they are feeling and how they want to feel instead. There are certain ways you can give yourself a hug, hug your own head, and release certain emotions in easy quiet mindfulness.
Another thing I’m teaching my kids is to regulate their emotions; that feeling good is up to you. The energy and attitude you put out into the world is what you will get back. So, if you put out kindness and love it will come back to you. We have many conversations around this, so when they are having a bad day, I invite them to pay attention and pay a kindness to something or someone. Do something nice for someone else, pay someone else a compliment; shift your focus from what you are lacking to what you can provide for others. Do something kind for someone else and watch it come back to you. Whenever you’re feeling bad about yourself or a little lost, the best way to find yourself is to go help others.
I also do my best to be a great role model for them in all this as we all know “kids do what they see, not what they’re told.” My girls know that I have my workout yoga routine in the morning to take care of myself, that I schedule outdoor hikes with them (not just have their friends take them), I put on music while I cook and start dancing around the house so they see me choose joy even in the most mundane tasks. And when we talk, I set my phone aside and really look and listen to them. I think one of the best things you can give your children is your undivided attention; it shows them that they matter to you, that they are important, and that you want to hear what they have to say.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://ptcenters.com/
- Instagram: @peymanehrothstein
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100069338349907
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/peymanehm2023/
- Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/user_details?userid=aGHenCzhBeQY-tlAtHyWug
- IMDB: https://www.imdb.com/name/nm6312765/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_3
