Spill the Tea: The Secrets of High Achieving Teens

Text like a Teenager- March 2025

You’ve probably seen it. The abbreviations, the emojis, the endless use of 'LOL'... and the tricky navigation of every unwritten rule when texting. Well, today, we’re going to map out this mess. Whether you’re trying to keep up with your kids, connect with a younger audience, or just want to know what all those slang words mean, we’ve got you covered.

Sleep Secrets: How High Achievers have learned to harness the power of Sleep

Every one of us needs sleep.  But what separates high achievers like Jeff Bezos, Ariana Huffington, LeBron James and Mariah Carey apart is that they have learned how to use sleep to bring their A game.  Not only do they get enough hours at night, but they have learned the science of sleep to manipulate their bodies into peak performance.  In this episode we are going to dive into this science - plus detail how a teenage brain is different and what that means for a successful day.  So you too can understand how your sleep brain works to get the most out of 24hours.  Like JLo says- “Sleep is my weapon”.  So lets learn how to wield it! Expert Dr. Maida Chen MD, Seattle Childrens Hospital and Professor University of Washington, Seattle Content 0:00-2:40 Intro to sleep and sleep deprivation 3:40-9:50 What regulates our sleep. Details of Circadian Rhythm, Sleep pressure, and melatonin 09:50-14:00 First Hack: Learn Science of Circadian Alertness and how the teen brain is different than adults 14:03-21:48 Screens and device influence on sleep and the 3 Hooks of Devices 21:48-23:30 Peak Alertness and peak peformance 23:30-29:20 Second Hack: Power of the Nap, Science of stages of sleep including REM 29:24-34:00 Third Hack: Caffeine!  Doses and best timing of this drug 34:03-end: Fourth Hack: Effective Sleep Hygiene to get you a good night's sleep.    Studies National Sleep Foundation, 2006 Owens et al. Pediatrics 2008 Meldrum et al. Preventative Medicine 2014 Australian Traffic Foundation Dunster et al. Sci Adv 2018 Milewski et al. J Paed Ortho 2014 Posner et al. Sleep 2010 Carskadon et al. Sleep 2011 Chee et al. J Sleep Res 2017 Chee et al. Sleep 2016

Next Level Hair

What do Patrick Mahomes Jennifer Aniston and Princess Leia all have in common? Iconic hair! Hair can be what someone first notices about you or how you're remembered or what brings that positive vibe on a good hair day. In this 20 minute episode we're going to untangle the secrets of hair, because high achieving teens have busy schedules, they're pulled in all sorts of directions like into the pool or on the lacrosse field with the suit at prom or on the ski mountain each of these activities demanding their own style so how do we make doing hair as simple as strands on our head.   Expert: Andrea Keene of Selenite Studio, Sammamish WA Franbourg et al. J Am Acad Dermatol 2003;48:S115-9.

Teen Stress in High Pressure Environments

Do you play a sport at the club level? Play an instrument in a youth orchestra? Is your schedule filled with AP, or honors, or IB level classes, or are you just surrounded by people doing all of this? Maybe you’re a parent of one of these kids? If so, then stick with us, because in today’s episode we are going to tackle the topic of teen stress within high pressure environments. We are going to hear straight from teens what is really at the heart of their stress, not what we think it might be. Then we will hear from an expert clinical phycologist who will bring this all together and give us some tips and tricks that anyone can use to keep our emotions from pulling us under. And for our parents listening, we have some specific tips for you. Let’s start at the beginning.