About Us
Meet Matt & Linda: Founders of The Thriving Home
We’re a husband-and-wife team helping parents build deeply connected, joy-filled families.
With backgrounds in science (Linda is a former science editor) and counselling & child development (Matt has a Bachelor of Counselling and more than a decade working with at-risk youth), we’ve spent years studying attachment theory, neuroscience, and parenting psychology.
Our work blends research-backed insight with real-life parenting experience to create practical tools that make family life magical and meaningful.
Why We Do What We Do: The Story Behind The Thriving Home
Our path to parenthood wasn’t easy. After four years of infertility and IVF, we don’t take a single day of raising our children for granted. Motherhood also brought unexpected challenges, including postnatal anxiety, which led us to rethink everything about how we wanted to parent. Out of that journey grew a conviction: connection changes everything. When we began focusing on small, intentional moments of joy and presence, our home transformed, and so did we.
We know many parents long for that same bond but feel overwhelmed, time-poor, and unsure where to start. That’s why we created The Thriving Home: to give parents ready-to-use, research-grounded tools that make meaningful connection simple and doable.
Our Parenting Philosophy: Connection-First Parenting
Everything we teach is built on an approach we call Connection-First Parenting: A practical, research-driven framework for raising thriving kids.
Connection-First Parenting is rooted in neuroscience and attachment research.
It recognises that a child’s sense of connection with their parent is the foundation for:
- Emotional regulation & secure attachment
- Learning, confidence, and resilience
- Long-term mental health & well-being
Instead of starting with behaviour or discipline, we start with relationship. When children feel safe and deeply connected, cooperation follows, confidence grows, and family life becomes lighter and more joyful.
This philosophy shapes everything we create, from our Thriving Together parent-child date books, to simple family rituals and practical connection tools. Every idea is designed to help busy parents turn everyday time into lasting core memories.
Connection first. Behaviour second. Joy always.