JOANNE HOLBROOK is a mother of two and spouse to a United States Army officer. She has lived and raised her family in South Africa, England, Germany, Australia, and across the United States. Born in South Africa and living nearly half her life under the controlling Apartheid Government, she yearned for a deeper understanding of cultures outside her segregated world. After seeing South Africa elect its first African President, Nelson Mandela, in 1994, Joanne began her search for cultural understanding outside of Africa when she moved to London, England.

With a Bachelor’s degree in theatre and dance, Joanne performed professionally in ballet and contemporary companies for ten years in South Africa, the Middle East, and the United Kingdom. In 2002, Joanne hung up her dance shoes to follow her second passion, the theater. She worked as a production manager and then a producer with a London theater company, producing shows throughout the United Kingdom.

Joanne was soon swept off her feet (literally) by her husband Deric in 2005, when she got married and moved to Germany and then, shortly after, moved to the United States. Together, they continued indulging Joanne’s desire to understand cultures in countries throughout Europe. In the United States, Joanne started a family, becoming a loving mother of two children. As an immigrant to America, and a new mother, Joanne was able to experience American cultures and gather parenting ideas from coast to coast. She lived in North Carolina, Kansas, and Washington State during her five-year stay in the United States. During this time, Joanne continued her work in dance and theater, working as a teacher and resident choreographer for ballet and contemporary companies across the country—all the while balancing a career and motherhood, which was her main priority.

With two young children under five, and after another international move back to England in 2010, Joanne’s love for children with special needs drove her to begin specialized movement training for children with special needs. She began to focus her work on children who were wheelchair-bound, autistic, or had Down syndrome. In England, her parenting observations began to expand beyond culture to parents of special needs children, further broadening her views and understanding. After two years in England, Joanne and her family moved back to Germany, where she continued her work as a resident choreographer for a theater company. Ultimately winning an award for best musical choreography in Europe, she still balanced her career with motherhood, motherhood remaining her top priority.

During her next return to the United States in 2016, Joanne taught dance at the Virginia Governors School of Arts, volunteered at the Down Syndrome Association, and continued her study of movement. After experiencing a new type of parenting in America with two tweens, Joanne completed her seventh international move, this time to Australia.

It was during her Australian experience, and just before her eighth international move, this time to Hawaii, that Joanne redirected her work efforts to her original passion—understanding culture outside of South Africa, this time focusing on parenting. Joanne became an author, professional keynote speaker, parenting advocate, and entrepreneur. And through her friendships, book, and speaking events, she shared parenting stories to help build positive, values-based families around the world. What started as a desire to understand cultures outside of South Africa transformed, during motherhood and a global lifestyle, into a passion for understanding how different cultures raise their children.

Joanne currently resides in Hawaii with her husband Deric and two children.