Meet Christine Allen: M.A., BCBA

We had the good fortune of connecting with Christine Allen and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Christine, we’d love to hear more about how you thought about starting your own business?
Working with children is very rewarding work. Watching them develop a new skill or language is incredibly fulfilling. However, once I became a parent I gained a new appreciation of the challenges that parents face.

My goal is to take the knowledge that I have gained through my education and experience easily accessible to every parent. My hope is to empower parents and caregivers to create behavior change with their children and experience a happier and calmer home!

Alright, so for those in our community who might not be familiar with your business, can you tell us more?
I have worked in the field of Applied Behavior Analysis with children and families for over a decade. As a Board Certified Behavior Analyst, I work to build skills that children may be lacking and also help to tackle any common undesirable behaviors such as tantrums, aggression, and even more difficult ones such as self injurious behavior.

I often found that parents would be thrilled with the progress that their child had made under my supervision. However, they were not always confident that they could create the same change within their home.

Showing and empowering parents with simple, easy to understand, and evidence based strategies to use within their own home, is the mission of Zenith Behavior.

It definitely is not easy starting a new business, especially in today’s world of social media where everyone feels that they are an expert. However, I am hopeful that parents and caregivers find my digital parenting handbooks full of strategies that are relatable, easy to understand, and effective! Plus, I give daily parenting tips on my Instragram account. Parenting is hard! I hope to make it a little bit easier.

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 everything about Los Angeles. I love that depending where you go you can have a completely different vibe. However, what is Los Angeles without the beach!

If I had a day to explore, I would start my morning with renting bikes or roller blades at Venice Beach. While going down the pathway, it’s always enjoyable listening to the drum circles, seeing the talented artists, and all of the pop up stands along the way. I would take the pathway up towards Santa Monica and land at the pier. At the pier you can spend some time doing fair games, going on the roller coaster, and finish up with dinner and a cocktail looking over the ocean.
Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
There are many people that have supported and encouraged me to start Zenith Behavior, including my friends from college, from mommy groups, and people that I would have never even expected.

However, there are definitely a few individuals that deserve special recognition.

My best friend, Jennifer Dunphy, DrPH, MBA, MPH took the time out of her busy schedule to review my parenting handbooks and give valuable feedback.

Sara Thompson, M.A., BCBA and Jennifer Strauss, M.S., BCBA are colleagues of mine that went out of their way to show support and recognition of my new business venture,

Of course my parents have been a constant source of encouragement, always believing and inspiring me to go after my dreams.

But most of all, I would not have had the courage to start my business without the love and support of my husband, Nick.
He continuously pushes me to keep going. Even with taking on the pressure of being the sole provider for our family while I got my business up and running. He never wavered in his belief that I can be successful. His support, love and encouragement are the real backbone behind Zenith Behavior.

Website: www.zenithbehavior.com

Instagram: @zenithbehavior