Learn about Curious Neuron in our interview with founder Dr. Cindy Hovington
Parental well-being is often an afterthought in our healthcare system, where the focus remains primarily on the child despite growing evidence that a caregiver鈥檚 mental and emotional health is linked to the child鈥檚 development.聽In this interview with founder Dr. Cindy Hovington, learn how Curious Neuron is bridging this crucial gap by putting parental emotional health at the forefront and providing science-backed tools that foster healthier family dynamics.
What is Curious Neuron?
Curious Neuron is a skill-building resource for parents where I support them in learning how to cope with their emotions, manage their stress and ultimately, teach this to their children. Our mission is to help parents by communicating information backed by science in an accessible manner.
Numerous studies highlight that consistent parental emotion dysregulation, whether through externalization, such as yelling, or internalization, such as suppression, lead to children learning maladaptive emotional strategies. By the time the child is 8-9 years old, they have a higher chance of experiencing behavioural issues, academic struggles and difficulty maintaining healthy interpersonal relationships. Such maladaptive emotional strategies continue into adulthood, leading to higher risks of mental health issues. For these reasons, it is crucial for parents to have the tools and support needed to regulate their own emotions.
What motivated you to start Curious Neuron?
The mission behind Curious Neuron has always been to share science-backed information. At the time, I had just completed my doctorate in neuroscience and was doing a post-doctoral fellowship in science education at 黑料不打烊 University. When I became pregnant and began seeking resources for parents, I noticed a lack of research-based information. This began my interest in studying children鈥檚 emotional development, specifically during the early years.
During my second pregnancy in 2017, I pivoted Curious Neuron to be an online resource, allowing me to reach a wider audience. Today, alongside our blog, we host a podcast, offer speaking engagements and run a membership-based program named the Reflective Parent Club. Through speaking with parents, I realized that many in my generation grew up without learning emotion regulation skills, affecting all relationships in our lives, including those with our children. Now, as we raise our children, science stresses the importance of emotional support, yet many of us struggle to understand how to provide it.
How has Curious Neuron evolved throughout the years?
The most significant change in Curious Neuron was when I shifted the focus from children鈥檚 emotional development to parental well-being. Initially, 80% of our content revolved around teaching parents to understand children鈥檚 emotional health, while only 20% revolved focused on parental well-being. However, the pandemic highlighted and intensified the challenges parents were facing, such as feeling stressed and overwhelmed, which consequently led to an increase in child neglect, abuse and violence.
When the parent is struggling, the home environment is not conducive to healthy development, regardless of the support, care and healthcare given to the child. Parents鈥� challenges with confidence, anxiety and postpartum are often dismissed and overlooked in our healthcare system. In fact, over 40% of the parents who join our program score low on the Parenting Sense of Competence scale (PSOC). Recognizing this crucial need, I decided to shift the focus of our content from children to parents.
What are some challenges you faced while scaling your startup, and how did you overcome them?
There have been many challenges, especially at the beginning when I was working alone and had to convince people to believe in and join Curious Neuron鈥檚 mission. However, the biggest struggle has been limited resources. There are times when we experience rapid growth, with an influx of parents joining our community and an increase in workshop requests from companies. Yet, our team is too small, and the lack of resources makes it difficult to scale our content and meet the growing demand. To address this challenge, I've been strategic in seeking funding. Our science-based focus has allowed us to have partnerships with universities and have access to research grants. Furthermore, our large community of over 165,000 parents, along with our growing podcast and our Reflective Parent Club, have enabled us to conduct research within Curious Neuron.
What has been your podcast's most memorable episode/conversation, and why?
The episode featuring internationally renowned New York Times bestseller Dr. Bruce Perry was the most memorable for me. It was motivating to have someone I admire express that he respected our work. While Curious Neuron communicates science-backed information in a simple, straightforward and accessible way, it鈥檚 crucial to me that we maintain the integrity and context of the research. Having Dr. Perry review our work prior to coming on the podcast and acknowledge that we are headed in the right direction was validating.
Curious Neuron has built a community of over 165K parents.
What do you think has been the key to creating such a strong and engaged community?
The key to building an engaged community is actively listening to parents and validating their feelings, assuring them that they鈥檙e not alone. From the beginning, I prioritized understanding parents by taking the time to converse with them and encouraging them to ask questions. Initially, before Curious Neuron began monetizing, I would have one-on-one conversations every 6 months with around 10 parents, giving them the space to talk about their feelings and the challenges they were facing, which helped build trust and familiarity. As I realized the need to build Curious Neuron into a company, the Dobson Centre encouraged me to interview not only 10 but 100 parents. As a result, I collected hundreds of questions and comments in an Excel sheet, allowing me to tailor my content to address their concerns.
Last year, you were invited to speak in California and Abu Dhabi for the WED forum.
Can you tell us about those experiences and how you were able to expand your startup on a global scale?
Being introduced as a thought leader in the parental well-being space at the WED forum in Abu Dhabi, an exclusive event featuring internationally selected individuals, was a surreal experience. The key to my participation in these talks has been our free content, our blog, podcast and social media, which is where the organizers discovered my work. I believe that every parent should have access to research-backed information, allowing them to develop self-awareness around emotional intelligence, regardless of their financial means. Our dedication to providing accessible resources has allowed me to not only expand my reach but also promote our mission.
How did the Dobson Centre play a role in Curious Neuron?
Having no business background, I participated in the Dobson Neurosciences LEAN Startup program because I recognized a gap in my knowledge of business entrepreneurship. The program provided me with a solid foundation in understanding business models, specifically the lean startup approach, which was crucial in navigating the next stage of my entrepreneurial journey. It also taught me the importance of failing fast and adapting based on feedback. Additionally, I met Nathaniel through the program, who later became my business coach. His mentorship was pivotal in helping me learn to communicate effectively and build a strong pitch.
Note: The Dobson Neurosciences LEAN Startup program has been replaced by the Life Sciences Lean Startup program.
About Curious Neuron
Curious Neuron recently launched its clinical integration program. Its mission is to equip clinicians with evidence-based tools to support parental well-being and child development. It also provides pediatricians with a trusted resource to recommend to parents鈥攆ocused on emotional development and emotion regulation鈥攅nsuring families receive holistic, science-backed support. Many doctors receive non-medical questions from parents and are not trained to support parents this way. In addition, many parents are currently struggling with burnout and stress, which we know from research can trickle down to the child and impact their emotional health. We want to position Curious Neuron at the forefront of this problem and include parental well-being in a child's health care.
To learn more, visit or email Cindy at info [at] curiousneuron.com
