Today we’d like to introduce you to Alexa Torrijos.
Hi Alexa, so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work-life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today?
I suffered from infertility for 5 years and when I finally got my miracle, I decided to stay home. As a new mom, I was having a hard time finding things to do with my child, how to entertain him and how to help him with developmental milestones. At the same time, my husband was going to the office every day, which meant my days were spent alone with a baby that didn’t talk.
I took it upon myself to start creating meetups while our husbands were working to connect with other moms in the same situation. I took courses and workshops about child development at the same time as I was planning meetups and art activities with our babies. I shared what I was learning while trying to build a digital business, serve my community and make friends.
Moms asked me to do formal classes, and since I had fallen in love with sensory play and how kids learned, I thought that was a perfect alignment with the business I was growing.
I launched my first sensory class in partnership with the preschool KLA of Pembroke Pines, which was a great success. Covid hit, and we had to cancel our classes – I launched many online courses and programs for moms to recreate what I was doing at home and in my classes while gaining popularity in my local city. Once life opened up again.
Now I have different online programs to support mothers with toddlers and babies and have nature and sensory programs for moms with children under three that usually get sold out months in advance.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
It hasn’t been easy! Creating a unique business had me researching and creating things from scratch. There weren’t local classes doing what I was proposing to do for toddlers. Now I’m glad I have opened up a sensory teacher training space where this concept can be shared all across. It is fun for moms and kids alike.
There has been a lot of testing and reinventing things. Trying different classes, bringing other teachers, and tweaking and learning. Some ideas had worked, others worked even better than imagined, while others were a total fail. And when you put your soul and heart into it as an artist – because we are artists! Sometimes it’s hard. But, you must keep pushing and trying and treat everything as a test to grow as a person, as a business and as an artist.
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
I love to teach small children, I love to see them getting messy with paint or a sensory bin or getting dirty in the woods. It’s a way to give them a childhood that has lost been lost in this digital world. I get to be a child again, I let moms bring out their inner child even if they are doing it alongside with me in class or in their homes with their families.
I am proud to let my weirdness out and shine away; being passionate, happy, and joyful makes me different. Seeing the world in my way, past the worksheets or the “we have always done it like this” and push the limits, give children the freedom and support the moms along the way.
Being different was scary to show, but it is the one gift that sets me apart.
Let’s talk about our city – what do you love? What do you not love?
I love the sense of community and the partnership with the local parks, local preschools, and private businesses that have supported my vision from the beginning. I love the moms and the support they have given me, the ability to create a community, and the field trips we take together.
Contact Info:
- Website: http://kidactivitieswithalexa.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kidactivitieswithalexa/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/kidactivitieswithalexa
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/kidactivitieswithalexa
- Other: https://kidactivitieswithalexa.teachable.com/
Image Credits
KID ACTIVITIES WITH ALEXA
