When you connect with Candice Smith, you are quickly aware of her bubbly persona, but you very soon realize that this former school teacher has a heart that listens.
“I was a hyper-active child, ADHD by today’s standards, with enough learning difficulties to develop resilience and build my belief that how things look at the beginning is not how things need to look at the end. This ignited my commitment to human potential and after gaining a B.Comm degree from Stellenbosch University and working, traveling, exploring, I found myself teaching. In the classroom it came to my attention that there had to be an alternative to the punishment mindset as a way to guide learners to make constructive, empowering choices. In search of the answers I found Emotional Intelligence (EQ) as a way to cultivate the skills and habits that lead to personal accountability, leadership, connection and contribution.
I flew to Singapore to certify in Emotional Intelligence and co-hosted world-leaders in EQ, 6seconds for their first African EQ Certification. I also trained with Byron Katie in Germany, have a Post-Graduate Certificate in Education and am an EQ assessor for adults and children. I am deeply passionate about working with children which is why I am so dedicated to sharing this knowledge with parents, teachers or anyone working with children. The information we share can really make a difference to children. Today life is busy, chaotic, uncertain with constant change. We need to empower youth with the skills to trust themselves, to know what they value, to be able to make positive choices in tough situations. Working with others I am repeatedly reminded of the principle of Ubuntu – we find and define ourselves through our relationships and experiences with others. The earlier we come to understand this the greater the compound interest.”
Candice focuses her work on Parent and Educatator up-skilling in Emotional Intelligence and the science of relationship. She is part of Contemporary Connections team (with Colleen Wilson ) who offers the well-respected Contemporary Parenting and Contemporary Educating Signature courses as well as other powerful talks and workshops.
She is also the illustrator behind the Feeling Bodies as well as a consultanted to Feeling Magnet‘s based in Europre. “I love creating tools that are engaging, fun and integrate EQ tools into daily life in a playful and connecting way.
She qualified internationally as a Six Seconds EQ Practitioner in 2011 an EQ Educator 2013 and is certified to administer the Six Seconds Emotional Intelligence Assessment (SEI) for Adults and Youth.
Candice can be contacted here.