Adventure Nannies On Air

Prevention-First Child Safety with Ashley-Lauren Elrod

• Reagan Fulton

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Big conversations about safety do not have to feel scary, and they do not have to wait until a child is old enough to "understand." In this live Summit Session, host Deej Jalal sits down with trauma-informed advocacy leader and board-certified mental health coach Ashley-Lauren Elrod to talk about what prevention-first child safety actually looks like in a working household.

Ashley-Lauren walks through Maya's Magic Word, her story-based safety program for children ages two to six, and how it teaches body autonomy, consent, and the difference between safe and unsafe secrets through storytelling, simple affirmations, and everyday routines. She makes the case that professional nannies are household leaders and protectors who often co-create these systems alongside the families they work with, and she shares how clear, ongoing parent-caregiver communication keeps safety practices consistent across every adult in the home.

The conversation also covers practical early warning signs of possible abuse in very young children, with attention to shifts in a child's emotional state around specific people or places, plus the case for a daily body scan that catches unexplained bruises or injuries. Ashley-Lauren points listeners toward resources from the Chicago Children's Advocacy Center and the National Children's Alliance, and shares what is next for Maya's Magic Word, including an interactive curriculum and more accessible versions of the book, starting with Spanish.


Timestamps

  • 00:00 Summit Session with Ashley-Lauren Elrod
  • 00:22 Introduction
  • 02:01 Interview with Ashley-Lauren Elrod
  • 19:49 Live Audience Q&A
  • 27:07 Closing Remarks


About Our Guest

Ashley-Lauren Elrod is a trauma-informed advocacy leader, board-certified mental health coach, speaker, author, and survivor of child sexual abuse and domestic violence. She is the creator of Maya's Magic Word, a prevention-first safety education platform for ages two to six built in partnership with the Chicago Children's Advocacy Center and Imagine Theater Chicago, combining an illustrated children's book, interactive theater, a trauma-informed early learning curriculum, and caregiver training.

Ashley-Lauren partnered with Dove on an Emmy-nominated, Cannes Golden Lion-winning campaign, speaks nationally on abuse and trafficking prevention, and founded Visionary Woman Productions, a social impact storytelling company. Her mission is simple and bold: teach children that their voice is powerful, their body is their own, and that saying "no" is a form of magic.

Connect with Ashley-Lauren:


About Your Host

Deej Jalal is the Onboarding Coordinator at Adventure Nannies and a regular host of Adventure Nannies On Air Summit Sessions, where he guides conversations with the educators, clinicians, and advocates shaping the childcare industry.


About Summit Sessions

Summit Sessions are live virtual learning events hosted by Adventure Nannies for nannies, newborn care specialists, private educators, and the families who work with them. Each session brings in a guest expert, includes a live audience Q&A, and gets recorded and released as an episode of Adventure Nannies On Air.

Register for an upcoming session or catch up on past ones at adventurenannies.com/summit-sessions.


About Adventure Nannies

Adventure Nannies is a nationwide placement agency connecting active, traveling, and adventure-loving families with career nannies, newborn care specialists, and private educators. Founded in 2012, we build personalized matches based on skills, personality, and lifestyle fit, and we support a growing community of caregivers through ongoing education, Summit Sessions, and Nanny Camp.

Learn more at adventurenannies.com.


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Deej Jalal

Hello everyone, and a big welcome to tonight's summit session. My name is Deej Jalal. I'm one of the onboarding coordinators for Adventure Nannies, and I'll be your host tonight as we dive into tonight's conversation. Just a quick note before we get started, tonight's session is a live podcast. So just keep your mics muted. If you have any questions for our guest, go ahead and pop them in the chat, and if we have time, we'll get to them during our Q&A. Tonight we're going to be moving beyond reactive childcare and stepping into a prevention first approach. Together, we'll be exploring a movement, designed to empower our youngest voices, nurture emotional autonomy, and cultivate a truly harmonious trauma-informed home. I'm thrilled to introduce Ashley-Lauren Elrod. She is a trauma-informed advocacy leader, board-certified mental health coach, and the visionary behind Maya's Magic Word, a groundbreaking safety platform for ages two to six. From partnering with global brands like Dove to collaborating with Chicago's Advocacy Center, Ashley-Lauren is a survivor and expert dedicated to teaching children that their voice is their power. So I'm excited to dive into such an important and empowering conversation. Ashley-Lauren, I'm so happy to have you here. To start, I'd love to hear about your journey and what sparked this passion for creating safety-centered, trauma-informed methods for families.

Ashley-Lauren Elrod

Hello everyone. It's great to see everyone here tonight, and thank you for having me. I'm Ashley Lauren, and I'm excited to be here. I am the founder and executive director for Mya's Magic Word, as you can see the book here. Mya's Magic Word is a tool and resource. it is trauma-informed, it's empowering, and it's a way where I am creating, a tool for the youngest ages, starting as young as age two, to be able to understand bodily autonomy, consent, safe and, unsafe secrets, things of that nature. being able to, help parents as well as caregivers and educators have the voice to be able to comfortably talk about these conversations. we're still living in a time where things are very taboo when it comes to child safety and talking about big things such as, making sure no one touches you in certain areas and making sure that you're confident in speaking up to your safe adults, when it comes to if something does happen, or even if another child exhibits certain, behaviors that may, single off an alarm that they may be going through something at home or someone may be doing something they are not supposed to be doing. So I, after all my years of being in the advocacy, child advocacy space, wanted to create a tool and resource for everyone to be able to bridge so many gaps that are still in our communities today around these conversations. we should be able to talk about these things and not be afraid to understand, that yes, child abuse is very much real, but how do we, prevent these cases from rising? And that starts, I believe, now with storytelling, empowering, content to be able to help adults be more comfortable, to have these conversations and not feel as daunted. So not only is Mya's Magic Word a book, but it's becoming the first of its kind platform and interactive curriculum that we hope that will be instilled in schools, starting in preschool and beyond, to be able to help, this just be a natural, everyday embedded part of conversations about protecting yourself, speaking up, and being, encouraged to do so.

Deej Jalal

Amazing. and in my role as an onboarding coordinator, I see a lot of transitions. From your experience, what truly differentiates a professional nanny from a babysitter when it comes to long-term impact within the home?

Ashley-Lauren Elrod

I think when we all were growing up, a lot of us babysat, started off just, as the neighbor next door, who knew the kids really well and would, take over for date nights and such for parents. and I think now, babysitting and nannying, even though nannying is a profession, that many choose to rise in, that takes another level of responsibility. nannies and babysitters should be equally equipped to be able to deal with these circumstances, to be able to deal if a child discloses something, that they need to a safe adult, to be trauma informed, to just be well, well-versed in being able to help as much as they possibly can, from reading a storybook that talks about these things to understanding what the process is, if a child does disclose, or if they're feeling uncomfortable about something that they want to talk to someone about. usually, that comes to the caregiver. a lot of kids, are not comfortable talking to their parents about certain things. there's, sometimes gaps in families. I've dealt with them when I was a nanny. nannies are leaders in the household. They are co-creating with the families, or should at least be having a co-creation relationship with their families. we're helping to potty train. We're helping to teach, kids to tie their shoes for the first time sometimes. a lot of times even helping them to understand how to just use their voices if they don't like something, and instead of punching you, they are, they're opening their mouths, which I've been there, that situation where I've had to, help a child just because he simply didn't know how to voice what he wanted, and he, used his fists to try to explain things. quick little mindset shifts of being, there and present helped me to also help the parents to understand how, to better serve their child. So when it does come to nannies, we do have an elevated responsibility when it comes to protection, when it comes to safety, when it comes to making sure children are safe and feeling that we are their safe adult, that they can come to us, for anything when they need it. and that's why I think definitely what we're trying to do with Maya's Magic Word is instill this program in everywhere we can so that even caregivers feel equipped to be able to have trauma-informed resources to protect the kids that they are working with, but also to introduce to their families who may not be having these conversations.

Deej Jalal

and many families want a calm, well-run home, but don't really know where to start. How can a nanny step into the role of a house manager and implement these professional systems without overstepping boundaries?

Ashley-Lauren Elrod

I feel like in my career I always wanted to, make sure that the families knew I was co-creating with them. they were trusting me to be in their home, trusting me to be around their children, which is an honor and a privilege for all of us, and, making sure that we know what the needs are. I always had pretty much... I also interviewed my families. I had intakes with them, and I sat down with them before accepting the job to understand fully what their parenting style was like, to get a vibe of how they are with their children, and to see how open too they would be for my expertise in the childcare background, from the education standpoint and the advocacy standpoint of how well that would be received. And that has always served me very well of just having that open line of communication with them, and fully just making sure that they know I am here to serve, your kiddos, to protect them, and to help them too along the way. I've had so many parents, who now, have called me and been like, "How did you do that thing?" And honestly, being able to help them along the way, and also being able to instill these conversations that I've, put in Maya's Magic Word as well with different scenarios on the journey she goes through. because a lot of parents once I s- once again, who I've talked to over the course of so many years always say the same thing, "I don't know how to talk to them about that," or, "Aren't they too young, to learn about, bodily autonomy and consent?" And being able to set up those, those pillars for them, I like to call them. that's a simple way that we can be able to do that is being able to understand, okay, where are they at, busting any myths with the parents that they're too young to be learning how to speak up for themselves and making sure they know how to protect their bodies and their minds, and being able to create what works for each child, because each child are so different. But that's what we're trying to do, is make it a little bit more inclusive by starting off with books such as these, that it's easy as you guys bringing this book to your kids and your parents and introducing the system to them, and it being a simple embedded practice and affirmation in their lives.

Deej Jalal

And you mentioned that big conversations don't have to be so scary when we start early. your Maya's Magic Word program actually begins at the age of two, which is a lot earlier than most programs. What kind of specific tools or routines help empower children to understand body autonomy and boundaries from such a young age?

Ashley-Lauren Elrod

in Maya's Magic Word, we go through a couple different scenarios. We go through, a scenario where there's an adult who wants her to keep a secret at school who she doesn't know quite well. that is where we're teaching kids through the book to trust their intuition, to trust what their body is saying to them in those situations. So also just understanding to teach our kids at a young age that secrets with older adults and older kids, no. It's just some- it's something that we don't do, and that we move forward with to, talk, tell a self, a safe adult, if that happens to happen and they run into that. But even if they think, it's, okay or it's fine, just understanding that they can trust their bodies to say no, to speak up and say, "Not today," or, "I'm going to go tell my teacher about this." starting off with simple things such as talking about secrets and whether they are safe or not is very important. Understanding to talk to them just about their bodies in a natural way. They are human beings, who should know about their bodies, and understanding that absolutely no one should be touching them, other than, the caregiver, the mom and dad, doctor, whoever, you decide are the safe adult circle for your child at that time. we have affirmations as well that are very simple in this book, and cards that will be coming with them as well, just helping them understand to just say no and what that means for them. even putting up their hand, against someone if they feel uncomfortable, saying, "Not today," "This is my safety space," and things of that nature, which we will be helping to guide parents, caregivers, and kiddos along with on her journey, to teach the kiddos. understanding, too, that they can trust to speak up, at any time, understanding that their voice matters, that it's magic, which is the whole source of the book and the series, and that they are not, being a burden for, to just talking, and understanding that if something didn't feel right, that they can actually say that. that's something that, so many people I've talked to who, you know, just like myself, you know, who didn't learn about bodily autonomy or even speaking up when they were kids or had conversations with their parents, really reaped, unfortunate repercussions because of the lack of education and the lack of just simple, attainable steps to take each day. And, that's what we're helping to eradicate in this upcoming generation.

Deej Jalal

And for the parents and caregivers that are listening, how can families build long-term respectful partnerships with their nannies to ensure that the safety and empowerment methods are consistent across the board?

Ashley-Lauren Elrod

definitely being able to have an open line of communication with the families that you are serving is absolutely of the utmost importance, and also, making sure that those families understand that too. I think, sometimes we can have families that are just like, "Oh, you're working, for my kids, and, and for me, and it's, I don't need too much, feedback, when it comes to anything." I think how you help to bridge that gap in the very beginning is just being honest and straightforward. and also just inserting, your leadership as the caregiver. You've been doing this a while. this is your journey that you've chosen, which is remarkable, and, that you are here to help, but also too the needs of the child are the utmost importance. And how you are able to make sure those needs are being fully fulfilled is by being able to have open line of communication with their parents, making sure that they are open to understanding new tools and resources that may need to be brought into the home, such as Maya's Magic Word. that is a very just empowering, trauma-informed, non-fear-based way of teaching your children that they can speak up, that they can make sure that their bodies and their minds are taken care of, and that they know what safe adults are in their lives, and to be able to understand they can confide at any time, with their caregiver, if they can't do so with their parent. so being able to create that line of communication and safety between the parents and yourself also creates a huge line of safety with you and the kiddos that you are caring for

Deej Jalal

and then looking at the industry as a whole, what would you say are, some of the biggest misunderstandings, or the most misunderstood aspects of working as a professional nanny and household manager today?

Ashley-Lauren Elrod

Yeah. I feel sometimes people still have the old school mentality of just yeah, treating a nanny probably like they're a babysitter and that they, that this is not a career, that this, doesn't... This isn't like you working on the front lines every single day to help mold a child's life and to help, direct them down the right path as much as possible, but it is, I feel like sometimes it definitely can be looked down upon, which is wild to me because once again you are stepping up to take care of children, which is the... I think, it's a huge honor, but it's a huge responsibility, especially when it's someone else's child. but we are all the village. We are all a community that is supposed to be here to care for children, to lead them down the right path. And, sometimes, yeah, even in my past, when I started off nannying, I felt like, "Oh, I don't think people really get it." they're just like, "Oh, so you babysit." It's like, "No," "This is really an actual career and I'm caring for kids. I am a caregiver. I am an educator. I am a protector. I, am, leading these little beings along the way." But also, once again, I am co-creating with these parents, too, to make sure that we're creating a life for them that is empowering and is filled with light and the love that they need, to be able to one day, become the healthy adults, that we need in our society. and that's a big part of what we do and that's a huge responsibility. So I think sometimes people definitely don't, grasp that and, yeah, and or honor that. But yeah, definitely we hold such a responsibility that, that, leads society honestly in a big way that people may not, fully s- still grasp the truth of.

Deej Jalal

And what advice would you have for a nanny or a household manager who's looking to start and open up the conversation, about safety and body autonomy when it comes to the children that they're caring for with their employers?

Ashley-Lauren Elrod

so first off, there's some great resources out there. They are more so geared towards, adults, which is great. like Chicago Children's Advocacy Center, who are great partners of mine, the National Children's Alliance as well have great resources on their website for free, as well as workshops, to be able to just become more well-versed, in how to spot, certain things, certain behaviors that may ring a red flag about something that could potentially be happening to a child, to be able to understand how to report that or assess it, before reporting, which is very important with the parents, and being able to, instill, once again, the bou- what are the boundaries in this household? What are the boundaries outside of this household when it comes to secrets, when it comes to, speaking up, when it comes to certain people that they're around, trusting their intuition, making sure their educators that they're with and going to every day are safe, their schools are good. Once again, that's what we're creating here at Maya's Magic Word, a non-fear based system that helps this, these conversations to not be daunting, just simple embedded practices each and every day in our lives. Once again, from reading a book to pulling an affirmation card with your kids every night, from mak- making sure they retain things to soon we're going to be partnering with a live theater company, so being able to even watch a show on the platform once it's live, for the kids to be able to look at the scenarios and really get them into their brains of what they look like, but once again, be empowered, by Maya and how she handles herself, in certain situations and, being able to just educate yourselves as much as possible when it comes to the times we're in because, things are what they are out here, and it is our duty to be fully educated and aware of how to spot things early, to make sure that certain behaviors, you know whether or not they are healthy or not, and being able to make sure you have that full open communication with their parents to also be able to Be open to seeing the same because sometimes it takes a little bit. we have to be ready. We have to be, making sure that we are on point at all times and making sure the parents are too. Because if we can spot things early, then we can prevent things, from going further or even happening. So making sure that we are empowering not only our kids but the families to do what they need to do as well, and educating themselves and being honest about situations that are going on out here, that is the true step of prevention. Education is prevention across the board. So it's just about how are we, utilizing the information that we have to not feel daunted by it, but to find resources that are empowering us to understand that, yes, there's a elephant in the room, and it may look scary. But we can acknowledge that while empowering ourselves at the same time with the information and resources needed, to make an impact, to make a difference

Deej Jalal

thank you so much for sharing all of that insight. we've covered so much from childhood advocacy to practicalities of household leadership. we're now open for live questions from the audience, so feel free to submit any questions that you have, through the chat. so I'll give you all a moment to do that if you have any questions

Ashley-Lauren Elrod

You're welcome

Deej Jalal

we have another follow-up question. How do you notice in very young children, like two years old?

Ashley-Lauren Elrod

Yeah, so and they c- they, were under the impression that, a child in their life was potentially getting abused or some things were happening at home. the first thing was I asked them, "Okay, how are they exhibiting certain behaviors, especially when it comes to this person or going to a certain place?" Usually kids, especially as young as age of two, always tell their... tell... They have a tell, and that's through their emotional state when it comes to going a certain place. once again, kids are very intelligent. Their memories really, match up with places and people that are most comfortable to them in their lives or not. so usually when a child that young, is going through something, they will show that through their emotional state with when you mention that person's name or you're saying you're going to this specific place. once again, if they start clamming up or that they're getting instant anxiety about it, they're moving back and forth, they don't wanna talk or they're hiding, usually that's the, indicator that something is off, and that you should start assessing what is going on. because usually it has to do with they don't like that person because they did something that they did not like, and they can't voice that fully just quite yet. so really paying attention to how they react when you say they're going somewhere, they're going to be around this certain person, is very, important and is a strong indicator to pay attention to. make sure when they are in bath time, when you guys are, preparing them for, the nighttime routine or even in the morning routine, just do a scan, it's a... I always did scans of just making sure that there were no bruises that were weird or any scratches or anything out of the ordinary, with them, because that definitely is also a strong indicator, that, you always have to be on the lookout for. just making sure even on their legs, their toes, anything, just making sure i- if it looks weird, to aset- to make sure, like you ask, how did you get that?" "How did you get that scratch? Do you know how you got that?" Or, "Where did this bruise come from?" and to make sure that it's not anything, beyond just them falling or what have you. So definitely making sure to do daily scans is important. and, Yeah, for the young, the younger ones though, the biggest thing is the emotional state. That is the biggest thing. They will always usually tell through their emotional state, whether it's withdrawal or whether it's instant anxiety, the younger ones always will tell through that

Deej Jalal

What is the proper way to approach a parent about concerns or suggestions without being offensive?

Ashley-Lauren Elrod

I think first off just making sure that right off the bat you have that, open line of communication with your families as much as possible is so key. I was always very direct with my families when I was nannying. just saying, "I'm here to care for your kids. I have an education background. I work in advocacy, for children's safety. And, I'm here to really uphold and uplift and empower your children in all ways possible to make sure they are safe, they understand how to protect themselves, and that you all know how to empower them to do the same." And that was always very well received when I was very direct about that, so if anything did come up, they would fully trust me, to move forward with anything that I kinda had an inkling about or, needed to address. I definitely think always having just open conversations with your parents quarterly or, just even before you start a new job is very important. But even if you haven't had those conversations yet, having them now is good. just being able to sit down with them and say, "Hey," like once again, there's resources out there now for kids that are talking about bodily autonomy and consent and teaching them, daily affirmations to make sure they're keeping themselves safe to help prevent anything, from happening. And I would love for you to, for you to take a look. for have, to have them take a look, to have them see that it's, once again, non-fear based, it is trauma informed, it is age appropriate, and it's something fun too that they can just read to their children, as well at bedtime or during the day. but having that open line of communication is very important, making sure the parents don't feel daunted by anything that you may be trying to bring forward. I think right now, sometimes people cannot talk about necessary conversations because it feels scary. so making sure that you're not going into the conversation of "Hey, did you know one in four children..." You know, it's like c- you know, j- I think so, so many people, get daunted right away when they start hearing statistics, which is why, once again, we're creating the program we're recreating, that we're not, sh- telling people, don't pay attention to that," but we're empowering them though to actually just have the conversations, to embed their everyday lives with these tools and resources. So I think just coming at it from a perspective of once again, "There's this cool resource out now. I would love to show it to you. I think it will help regarding, helping the kids on a daily basis and also just for all of us to feel empowered, to help prevent, th- to take preventative measures for their daily lives," is a good way to go about it.

Deej Jalal

Perfect. how can caregivers adapt the Maya's Magic Word curriculum for children who have different needs or circumstances?

Ashley-Lauren Elrod

so right now we are finishing the first phase build-out, which will be out by the spring. once it is, Adventure Nannies will get the link and all the good stuff to share with you all. we're making sure it's as, accessible, and inclusive and diverse as possible. we're making currently, a Spanish version, and then we're going to hopefully adapt it into other languages as well, with other people that we're going to be bringing on to do so. And, we are building out a full platform, so we're going to have, content on there for kids that may need a little bit more accessibility. we also will have different versions of the book coming out as well that's a little bit more, grounded and less words just for other kids too, to pick up on a little bit easier, because we're really trying to make sure that we touch on every single child as much as possible as we can. and so you'll be able to adapt this, by the summer, in the fall, for every single child, whether they have a certain disability or not, to be able to teach them how to do the same exact thing, which is to keep themselves safe

Deej Jalal

This has been an incredible session. we've learned that childcare professionals, and, professional childcare is a strategic career path that when trauma informed can go beyond just basic staffing. we've been able to discuss vital importance of teaching body autonomy before trauma occurs, and even how the youngest voices, as young as age two, can feel empowered to use their voice as magic. I'd love to take a moment to thank you, Ashley-Lauren, for your time, your expertise, and the essential work that you do through Maya's Magic Word to protect and empower the next generation. for those of you that are looking to deepen your understanding of effective childcare operations and safety, I highly encourage you to connect with Ashley-Lauren Elrod. her movement isn't just a program, it's a foundation for a global shift in early childhood abuse prevention. you're welcome to visit ashleylaurenelrod.com to learn more about the curriculum, book tours, and community tools. also don't forget to check out the Chicago Children's Advocacy Center and the National Children's Alliance for any further support and resources on abuse awareness and protection. continue to connect with us as well. Share, connect with Adventure Nannies and Maya's Magic Word on social media, and share your key learnings. We, mayasmagicword on Instagram is your handle, correct?

Ashley-Lauren Elrod

Yes, Maya's Magic Word on Instagram and then ashley-lorraine-on- lwright.com is my website. You will be able to see the Maya's Magic Word link on my website as well for the book. the book is still currently on pr- available for pre-sale right now, with an, immediate digital download as soon as you purchase the book. So if you do happen to do so, make sure just to look at your spam, for that email for the download of the book. And, yeah, and I hope to see you guys again where I can provide hard copies in person at the Nanny Camp. If you need anything though, please let me know. Feel free to always message me, send me an email, drop me a DM. I'm happy to answer any questions. I also, work in children's advocacy, so if there is anything that comes up for you, God forbid, please know that I'm also a resource here to help you to connect with your local children's advocacy center, and to be able to be, an advocate in any way that you need

Deej Jalal

Perfect. Thank you so much everyone for participating in this live summit session. If you're currently in the onboarding process or looking to hire, feel free to reach out to us. But until then, stay adventurous, and have a great night

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