Never too late: 1975 alumna discovers true passion with successful small business

JoAnn (Wright) Schauf came to Central Washington University with dreams of becoming a fashion designer, but it didn’t take long for her to discover that she was destined to help people in other ways.

The Spokane Valley native needed a career that was built around human interaction, so she decided to change her major to psychology shortly after arriving in Ellensburg.

“I was an extrovert from a large family, where I honed the skills to become professional listener,” said Schauf ('75), whose early career included stints as a nursing home activities director and a Lamaze instructor.

It wasn’t until she completed her master’s degree in counseling in 1991 that she started doing what she was truly meant to do: provide mental health services. Schauf soon landed her first counseling job as a therapist at a psychiatric hospital in California, and it turned out to be the career change she had needed for a long time.

“My patients were tweens and teens, and it was very rewarding to be on a team of professionals dedicated to supporting both our patients and their families,” she said.

A few years later, she moved to Texas and started working as a counselor in secondary and post-secondary schools. In that role, she was able to put another skill set to use, empowering teacher teams, developing innovative programs, and helping students discover who they were and how to solve their own problems.

But Schauf wasn’t done reinventing herself. In 2017, she decided to take her career in yet another direction and become an entrepreneur.

“Many parents felt plagued by the changing parental roles once their child entered puberty, and I thought I could help them,” she said. “Their children were changing and they needed skills and strategies in order for their families to thrive together during the transition to adulthood.”

She opened her business Your Tween and You seven years ago and now travels around the country, speaking at conferences, hosting parent workshops, and coaching parents and their tween children (ages 9-12). She also published her first book, Loving the Alien: How To Parent Your Tween, earlier this year.

“With no experience in business, it has been a huge learning experience that I wouldn’t trade for anything,” said Schauf, who was recognized as Entrepreneur of the Year and Coach of the Year in the Dallas area after three years in business.

Based in Austin, Texas, Your Tween and You serves up to 20 coaching clients at one time. The programs Schauf has developed have proven successful at providing parents with the confidence, energy, and strategies they need to support their kids.

She also hosts parent workshops and professional development programs for educators, speaking events every month, teaching parents how to talk to their kids, learning about their relationships and interests, showing them how to manage social media activity, and more.

The positive response from the community has been both humbling and eye-opening.

“The work I do is very rewarding,” Schauf said. “My audiences, filled with people who want to become better parents and want to improve themselves, go home with specifics to be the parents they’d always aspired to be. We also have a lot of fun together, which is why I absolutely love what I do.”

Building Her Business

When Schauf isn’t coaching or speaking to groups of parents, she is either prepping for her next speaking engagement, writing blog entries for The Tween Times, or working on her next book.

She recently published a journal for tweens, Hello, It’s Me, designed to help children learn more about who they are during an often-confusing time in their lives.

“Writing in a journal gives them a chance to explore their inner feelings and it helps them bolster a sense of self,” Schauf said, explaining that when kids write long-hand, it helps them solidify concepts in their brains.

She is also working on a pair of fiction books, one of which is an adventure tale based on bedtime stories she used to tell her daughter at bedtime.

“They are stories that kids can read together with their parents,” she said. “Finding ways to get involved in your kids’ lives is so important, and reading is a good way to come together.”

Business has been so good for Schauf the past seven years that it’s hard for her to remember what it was like to be an aspiring entrepreneur. She remembers going into the business world “ice cold,” but she never let her lack of experience stand in her way.

“I knew a lot about counseling, but I didn’t know anything about business,” she said. “I really wanted to make it happen, so I just kept putting myself out there.”

Schauf found many helpful resources at the SCORE office in Dallas, and she also joined a number of community organizations to learn how to write, coach, and speak in public.

“What helped me the most was being able to ask for help,” Schauf said. “I’ve always believed in asking others for help because you always have a better chance of finding what you’re looking for if you just speak up. But, if you don’t, it’s not just going to show up at your front door.”

Now in her early 70s, Schauf doesn’t plan on slowing down anytime soon. She continues to empower others and making a difference in the lives of families.

It’s hard to say where her career might have gone had she not decided to step out on her own, but she’s glad she has been able to tap into her true passion for helping others.

“No matter where you are in your career, you always need to remember that there’s something out there for you,” Schauf said. “If there’s something you are good at, you can be successful. You don’t have to stay in a job you don’t like. If you follow your heart and listen to your gut, you can make it happen. The universe awaits your journey.”