About Us

Our Mission

We inspire and enable parents to create a meaningful family life for themselves and their children by providing products, resources, and services which empower parents to take control of their family life and build a warm and loving home.

Our History

Families with Purpose was founded in 2003 with the goal of making it easier for families to spend time just being a family. As parents of four busy children and both working outside the home, we were feeling the frustration of not having enough quality time as a family. Thus spawned the idea for our company, Families with Purpose. Realizing there are only so many hours in a day, our goal is to try and minimize the planning, buying, and running time for family activities, so that as parents you can relax and just enjoy your family time and the little things in life.

We also realize every family is different and what works for one family may not necessarily be what works for another. With this thought in mind, we try hard to offer a variety of choices in our recommendations and are continually adding and expanding the content of our website. We value the input and comments from our visitors and customers, so please feel free to contact us at any time.

Our Staff and Regular Contributors

Polly Schlafhauser, Founder and President

Bio Picture Polly is Founder and President of Families with Purpose and is passionate about helping parents create an authentic family life for themselves and children. After 12 years of juggling a finance career with a Fortune 500 company and an active family life, Polly set out to create the tools and resources busy families need today. After years of hard work, joys, and frustrations, Polly has built an online destination visited by thousands of parents looking to learn how to simplify and better manage their family life as well as connect with each other and their children in a very deep meaningful way. Polly lives in Michigan with her husband, four daughters, and 3 cats. You can reach her by visiting our Contact Us page.

Sandra Huber, Parent Coach

Sandra is our resident parent coach and the “soul” and “coach” behind the Soulful Parent. She has worked in Early Intervention, Special Education and has supported many families in the road to successful parenting. She became a PCI Certified Parent Coach® because she’s deeply passionate about changing the world, one family at a time. Sandra believes that life becomes a more enjoyable journey when you lead from your strengths! She can be contacted at the www.thesoulfulparent.com for more information about seminars, presentations and individual coaching services.

Laura Rolands, Attention and ADHD Coach

Laura Rolands is an Attention and ADHD Coach whose passion is to support, lead and inspire independence and success for children, teens and adults who experience attention-related challenges. Through her coaching, clients are able to achieve improvements in areas such as time management, organization, study skills and focusing. Some of Laura’s clients are diagnosed with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD or ADD) while others simply want assistance with their specific challenges and do not have a diagnosis of ADHD. The process involves partnering with individuals or parents of individuals who experience attention related challenges in a thought-provoking and creative process that inspires them to establish clear goals and maximize the potential to reach those goals. One key consideration is that there are no right or wrong goals. Clients have a wide variety of goals that can be addressed through coaching. In addition to her individual coaching sessions, Laura provides workshops throughout the community. For more information regarding Laura’s services, please visit her website at www.MyAttentionCoach.com.

Kids with Purpose

Pat Douglas and Anna Mitchum are passionate about helping others. Driven to share that passion with their children, Pat and Anna created Kids With Purpose. KWP empowers children to grow in faith through service to others. This grassroots program has spread across the country through word of mouth and an inherent desire to change the world. KWP's mission is to develop awareness as well as foster and nurture a desire to help those in need. It provides an opportunity for children preschool through tweens as well as families to make a difference in their community and the world. In return, the children develop a love for missions, increased self-esteem and a lifelong habit of caring for others. Currently residing in Northern Virginia with their families, they continue to work and volunteer in their own churches and give back to their community in a myriad of ways. You can find out more about Kids with Purpose at www.kidswithpurpose.org

Mandi Ehman, Organizing Junkie

Mandi Ehman is a work-at-home mom to four spunky little girls. She believes that getting organized only lasts if you do it your way – to fit your needs, your preferences and your lifestyle – and she shares organizing and time management tips at Organizing Your Way.

Susan Heid, Parent and Family Manager Coach

Susan Heid Susan understands and empathizes with the overwhelming job of being a mom – whether you are a single mom on the go, a stay-at-home mom juggling your responsibilities, a career mom always feeling shorted, or a step-mom working to blend a family – she’s been there, done that! Her tenacious spirit, no nonsense approach, and generous heart helps empower moms in their most important role. Susan’s training as a PCI Certified Parent Coach®, a Certified Family Manager® Coach and a ScreamFree Certified Leader gives her a unique combination to encourage and support busy moms in the art of Home and Family Management. She helps moms get the BIG picture on how their home is functioning and then helps them gain relief with a personalized plan of action to give life changing results. Empowering Moms and Strengthening Families is her passion! You can find more information on seminars, workshops, presentations and individual and group coaching for Busy Moms at The Confident Mom. She is a proud mother of 3 awesome kids – ages 17, 13 and 9 and is married to her very own prince charming. A true “Seattleite” — Susan loves coffee, cloudy days, and can even pronounce Puyallup and Sequim and yes, she does think the “bluest skies you’ve ever seen are in Seattle.”

Jenna Riggs, Mommy on a Shoestring

Jenna is a native Northwesterner, who went to sunny California to study graphic design at the University of the Pacific, spent some time in sunny Colorado, and eventually missed the rain and moved back. Jenna’s design and illustration work has been in almost every category of visual materials—from children’s books to marketing pieces, identities to advertising, websites to annual reports, and children’s themed home products.

Jenna is also part of Mommy on a Shoestring with Beth Engelman—their website and weekly radio show are chocked full of ideas on how families can live creatively and large on a small budget.

Jenna lives on Vashon Island, near Seattle, with her husband and two daughters.

Visit Jenna’s design and illustration website at jennariggs.com and her children’s illustration site at childrensillustrators.com/illustrator.cgi/JennaRiggs.

Beth Engelman, Mommy on a Shoestring

Beth began her writing career in second grade when she won her first writing contest with her essay entitled “If I Were President, Bubblegum Would Be Free and Taxes Would Go Up (So Teachers Could Get More Money).” Clearly not destined for a career in politics, Beth has focused her talents on creative writing, education, and curriculum development.

Beth’s achievements and experiences include eight years as a Kindergarten and First Grade Teacher, being nominated for the Kohl-McCormick Foundation’s Excellence in Education Award, and participating in numerous national conferences on fostering number sense and literacy development. Beth has developed books and games for several companies including: LeapFrog Toys, Chronicle Books, Piggy Toes Press and Disney. Beth Engelman currently writes an award winning column for the Pioneer Press Called “Mommy on a Shoestring”. The column is filled with activities, games and craft ideas moms can do with their kids on a shoestring budget. She also is a regular on “You & ME this Morning” on WCIU the U in Chicago and co-hosts the Mommy on a Shoestring Radio show with Jenna Riggs which airs live on Thursdays from 2-3 EST on Toginet Radio.