Episode 277: Tips for Successfully Parenting Adult Children: Interview - Emily and Erik Orton

How to get a Seat on your Adult Kids’ Board of Directors.

Welcome to the Love Your Story podcast! I’m your host Lori Lee and today we are talking about the complexity and balance of interacting with and influencing our adult children.

My guests today are Emily and Erik Orton, You’ll remember them from Episode 133 - Seven at Sea, where we talked about the year they took their 5 kids and lived on a sail boat.This was one of my all-time favorite episodes because I so loved the things Erik and Emily shared.

I’m very excited to have them back on the show! But I’m also excited because I’m personally having a hard time getting on the board of directors for my adult kids - or in other words, I’m not having a great deal of success having any influence with my adult children. How do they still think I have nothing to share with them….???? What am I doing wrong?

Stay tuned as we get to talk shop with Erik and Emily as they share their expertise they have developed and share through their business The Awesome Factory.

Erik + Emily Orton - Erik is an Emmy Award-winning writer and producer. Emily is an educator, author and public speaker. Their life design framework mutes fear and accelerates growth. They are parents to five kids raised in Manhattan, where Erik worked on such shows as Wicked, Les Miserables and The Phantom of the Opera. When their kids were 6-16 years old, Erik and Emily bootstrapped life aboard a fixer upper sailboat in the Caribbean. They sailed as a family from St. Martin back to New York City. Their memoir about the experience (Seven at Sea) is a New York Times Top 10 Travel book. After life on the boat, they continued to travel the world with their children through Europe, the South Pacific, Africa, and across North and South America in planes, trains, boats and vans. They are the co-founders of The Awesome Factory, a coaching and travel adventure company that leads retreats and sailing adventures all over the world.

Emily and Erik - Welcome back to Love Your Story!

TUNE INTO THE AUDIO DISCUSSION TO HEAR THE THOUGHTS ON THESE AND OTHER IDEAS:

Lets start with your story. That introduction gave everyone a super quick look at the adventures of your past decade, but I’d love to have you share some of the highlights you’ve had with your family - particularly those that have helped you build relationship with them in a way that they now give you a place on their board of directors.
You coach and direct a great deal regarding empty nesters and dealing with adult children. How did you metamorphose into this space of expertise?
Let’s jump right in - I attended an entire evening presentation on this topic, with you, so I know there is lots to talk about. How do we get on our adult kids’ board of directors?
What kinds of things do you have coming up and where can people find you?

Finding the Ortons:

Here is the link to The 100 Year Grid:

https://www.theawesomefactory.nyc/100

They tell all about how to use it in episode 18 of their podcast - What Could Go Right?

The 100 Year Grid – How to Visualize Your Whole Life on 1 Sheet of Paper

https://youtu.be/YWYKl6Y7-E4?si=Ay4x3aXw9Cs_WJNx

Their Podcast: What Could Go Right

Their Website: https://www.theawesomefactory.nyc

Thanks for being with us today. Please share this episode with someone who has adult kids and let’s share the love of helping one another navigate the tough stuff. Join us in two weeks for our Quick Chat - one inspirational idea in 15 minutes or less and have a great week creating your life with intention.