Meet Michael Bean | Parenting Coach

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

Hi Michael, can you walk us through the thought-process of starting your business?
I have owned businesses in the past but the reason was always for monetary gain. When deciding to open Targe Parenting LLC, I was no longer concerned with making money, materialistic possessions, etc. This go round, I recognized a need in raising future generations and simply wanting to be of service to parents going through difficult times in their life. Targe Parenting is not necessarily something I wanted to do but have felt driven to do. Being a very meticulous and disciplined individual, I typically have a plan, everything has its place, process, procedure, etc but with Targe Parenting, I just opened it and started winging it, adapting and prioritizing as I went.

Ultimately, with divorce rates through the roof, I recognized the brutality of the divorce process and how it effected the children. With keeping in mind “broken parents raise broken children,” I noticed that parents often times needed a small shield themselves during the battle of redefining their life without their significant other. This is where the name Targe was derived from. I’ve never like bullies and in the divorce process, the judicial system, ex spouses, finances often become the bully. I wanted to provide the shield for these individuals to heal and grow into the badass individuals and parents that they were capable of.

Having failed in business in the past, I was very nervous and reluctant to begin a new venture but the Universe kept placing this on my doorstep until I finally gave in and said “fine, I’ll do it.”

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
I have had a variety of careers in my life thus far, each one providing me with particular skill sets. I have been a professional archer, car sales man, construction manager of a multi million dollar construction company, gym owner. What led me into Targe Parenting is I had taken a job with a non profit called Kids Deserve Dads. The funding was very low and it was a struggle, I had personally purchased several certification classes to teach parenting courses for the organization and then over Christmas, the founder went on vacation and I never received my monthly salary. I continued to work for a couple weeks but the paycheck never came. I obviously quit working and was left without a job and these certifications to teach parenting courses. After avoiding the inevitable for a couple of months, I finally opened Targe Parenting LLC. What I recognized about the arena of divorce is that it is male vs female, father vs mother. This creates separation amongst families, bitterness and an all out war in both the judicial system and in family life. I wanted to bridge this gap, to help parents put the hurt, the betrayal behind them to better serve themselves and their children. I am divorced myself but do not believe in divorce, which is truly hypocritical but a strong belief I have had since childhood. This has been the driving force behind my business. I have come to understand that not everyone is meant to spend their lives together as a married couple but this does give excuse for divorced couples to not be a family.

This process has not been an easy road, majority of men who get into the divorce field, do so simply to fight, to express their own bitterness and ultimately act like children in a never-ending fight to be able to be present for their children. Being a man, people automatically assume that I am in this same group of people. However, my clientele is almost 50/50 men and women. What we must be able to do is detach from our own emotions in a healthy manner and continue to protect, provide and preside for our families.

Unfortunately, greed over takes this for most people within this field. The courts make money when the parents are at war, attorneys make money when the parents are at war, everyone makes money when the parents are at war. This is a key psychological tactic to take note of. People will naturally fight for what they believe in and will sacrifice everything in some cases, simply to be the one that is “right.” This has been the largest obstacle to overcome as a business, most attorneys do not want to work with me because I ultimately take money away from them because parents start communicating, compromising and the war ends, co parenting begins and healing, forgiveness is found.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
During vacations it is important to me that itineraries are thrown out the window. There is only two things that are a must see in my mind, living here in Wyoming. I would introduce them to my Jiu Jitsu gym, Black Label BJJ. Jiu Jitsu has been a journey that I embarked in a few years back and has been instrumental in providing me with the confidence of what I am truly capable of in this life.

The second thing we would do is go backpacking, sit on a high point in the mountains for a couple of days with a spotting scope, just observing the wildlife and learning the lessons that only nature can provide.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
This will sound corny but the individual that deserves the credit for Targe Parenting is God. I had spent 10+ years misdiagnosed as Bipolar 1. Dozens of medications, ECT therapy, that left me hallucinating and delusional for a decade. It was only through very unique experiences in my life, that I learned to listen and follow the signs that he put in front of me. Recognizing that each individual that came into my life had something to teach me and as long as I put my ego to the side and listened, learned and then executed such lessons, good things started happening. I battled off the medications, barely avoiding death, battled false accusation after false accusation until I finally came into where I am now. So as much as I would love to give credit to all the amazing individuals that have helped me along the way, there is only one true individual that I owe this credit to and it is my higher power.

x

Website: www.targeparenting.com

Instagram: @targeparenting

Linkedin: Michael Bean

Facebook: Targe Parenting and Michael Bean