We had the good fortune of connecting with Dr. Jennifer Noble and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Dr. Jennifer, the decisions we make often shape our story in profound ways. What was one of the most difficult decisions you’ve had to make?
Leaving my tenured teaching position was the most difficult decision I’ve made. We are taught so often to get “security” – salaried job with benefits like medical insurance, 401k and paid holidays. Then you are supposed to work at that job until you retire. I absolutely love teaching and being in the classroom with my students. But for a few reasons I was faced with the possibility to do something different. I missed being in private practice, I wanted to have a bigger reach and I wanted to be able to move. The decision to leave my “secure” job where I literally cannot be fired was scary, but exciting at the same time.

Can you give our readers an introduction to your business? Maybe you can share a bit about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
Of course! I created an online coaching community where parents of mixed race kids can get coaching from me and find support from other parents raising children. It’s all via an app on your phone called The Mixed Life Academy. I’m very excited to bring this to the world since mixed race children and their experiences often go invisible or heavily stereotyped in the media.

I am a clinical child & adolescent psychologist and I am also a parent coach for families with mixed race kids. I feel many families are looking for support and guidance, but may not have the need for therapy. I decided to offer parent coaching specifically for parents with mixed race kids. I realized through my advocacy work with mixed race populations and through some of the clients I was seeing in my practice, that many parents in an interracial partnership just do not know how to address their child’s mixed race identity. I saw a deep need for these families and wanted to help parents teach their children to avoid the struggle of embracing their identity when they grow up in a society that taught them they must choose just one race to identity with. So many times, mixed race young adults I have worked with wished for conversations, protection and support from their parents that never came.
So I am very excited that now I can work directly with these parents through my app and share my knowledge and expertise on what mixed race children need in order to develop into confident and resilient people!

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
I love showing people around Los Angeles! If I had someone who would be here for a week, I would have to include the following: We’d of course have to have a beach day where we visit the Santa Monica pier. I would probably have us rent bikes or roller blades so we could head north and have brunch at Back on the Beach. You can’t beat a breakfast where you get to put your toes in the sand!

I’d also make sure we drove down Main St in SM to Venice so we could park and walk through the Venice Canals. Maybe we’d grab a coffee on Abbot Kinney and do some window shopping! And just for my own carb-addiction, I’d have us eat dinner at C&O Cucina so I could introduce them to the best garlic knots in the entire world.

We’d need a day to visit The Watts Towers and some brunch at Watts Coffee House. I’d make sure to visit Inglewood’s Market St. and take a look at the neighborhoods around the new SoFi stadium. I’d keep heading north and make sure we got a pistachio latte at Hilltop Coffee & Kitchen on Slauson and I’d drive us through the beautiful neighborhoods of Baldwin Hills, View Park, Windsor Hills & Ladera Heights. We’d definitely have to walk into Kenneth Hahn to take in the gorgeous LA views. Dinner would be at Post & Beam where we could sit on the patio and hear live jazz.

I’d take them to my favorite LA secret for nightlife: La Descarga. It’s always a hit.

Thai food in Thai Town, Cafe Brasil for excellent Brasiilian food, Goat Mafia for tacos and South Indian dosais in Artesia for sure.

We’d have to see the artsy muraled streets of DTLA and grab some food at Badmaash!

There’s never enough time to see all I’d want them to see and there’s not enough time to eat all the food I’d want them to try!

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
I’d like to shout out a local nonprofit that has influenced me to do the work I do today: Multiracial Americans of Southern California (mascsite.org). Working in this organization and with like-minded advocates across the country really ignited my passion for the work I do. I’d also like to shout out the work and research of Dr. Maria P. P. Root because she is a trailblazer and was such an inspiration to me in my career.

Website: www.drjennpsych.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/drjennpsych/

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jennifer-noble-phd-886053137/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/drjennpsych?lang=en

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DrJennPsych

Image Credits
Celesti @celesti

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