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Vanessa Van Petten is the founder of RadicalParenting.com, a parenting site that is pretty much a mommy blog on its head. This headstand of parenting advice comes from Vanessa, a 24-year-old with no children, and 82 teen interns who dish on everything from slang to school dances. As a published author at 17, business owner at 22, and venture capitalist at 24, Vanessa has more to offer than just advice on how to raise other peoples’ kids.
She chatted with Crushable about her site’s unlikely start, advice for young entrepreneurs, and her cameo on Bravo’s The Real Housewives of Orange County.
How did you get started dishing parenting advice?
When I was grounded once, I wrote down all of the reasons that I hated my father and gave him the list. Little did I know it would actually help him and explain what I was going through. I realized there were so many parenting blogs and books out there, but nothing was from the kid’s perspective. So I published You’re Grounded and started the blog.
When did it turn into a full-time career?
After college, I thought I needed to do something more serious, like law school or business school, but I really loved writing and speaking with teens. So, I decided to try this and if it didn’t work out after a year, I’d go back to grad school. It took about eight months of borrowing money, living at home, and doing everything possible to get it out there to become profitable.
How do we start our own entrepreneurial endeavors?
There is no such thing as too young or not enough experience. I published my first book with my babysitting money. I never went to business school. I incorporated my company with a business book for dummies. Also, if you’re asking for something, almost always the answer is “no.” The best thing to do when you get a “no” is to ask, “If you were me, how would you fix this?” Those answers are going to make your idea stronger.
My thing is helping out entrepreneurs, so we have a venture capital firm. If you have an idea you can always come to me and I’m happy to try to help.
You were recently on The Real Housewives of Orange County helping Lynne Curtin’s family. Tell us about that … and how tight was Lynne’s face after the lift?
Being on Real Housewives has been amazing for my career! It was a really interesting experience working in television but that can be a difficult space to help someone in because people are always different in front of the camera.
But seriously, could you bounce a nickel off her face or what?
I came before her facelift and told the daughters and Lynne to bond. I called a week later and asked if they had done anything to bond and Lynne said, “Yeah, we got surgery together.” That wasn’t exactly what I meant, but bonding is bonding. I came back two months after her surgery. I thought she looked great beforehand, she looked even better afterward.
What’s next for you?
I’m really excited about our Youthology Program (for those who want to be teen life coaches) and I’ll be working a lot more in TV. (Author’s note: Be on the lookout for Vanessa in upcoming episodes of The Doctors and Dr. Phil.) I’m also working on a fourth parenting book and a first fiction book.
For more on Vanessa, check out this video and RadicalParenting.com for advice, tips, and info on how you can get involved.
