PRIVATE ADVISORY
A MOTHER AND DAUGHTER · ONLINE SEMINARS & PRIVATE ADVISORY
Their success. Your closeness. You don’t have to choose.
Seminars from a mother who raised her daughter through three decades in Asia, and the daughter who lived it.
Online and confidential · Sessions in English
WHY A MOTHER AND DAUGHTER
See the result before you take the advice.
Most parenting advice comes from people you never see with their own children. Ara raised Maia through demanding international schools across Asia. Maia is now a successful adult who still comes to her mother first, with everything.
In our seminars you hear both sides: the decisions a mother made, and what they felt like to the child.
The research agrees. A review of 308 studies found that parenting which pairs warmth with clear standards goes hand in hand with stronger results at school. Pinquart, Educational Psychology Review, 2016
Ara
Three decades living and working across Asia and the Middle East. Formally studied engineering, Asian Studies and meditation. An entrepreneur and investor who has built, lost and rebuilt, and who raised a daughter through highly competitive schools while keeping their relationship close.
Maia
Grew up across Asia in competitive schools, then went on to an Ivy League university. She knows academic pressure and high standards from the inside, and stayed close to her mother through all of it.
Success and closeness are not a trade-off. We’ve lived both. Read our story
THE FLAGSHIP SEMINAR
Successful and Close
A child who succeeds and a relationship that stays close come from the same place: how parents speak and behave, and how children read what they see.
How I did it
The method: how to raise a child who succeeds and still wants to come home.
- The false choice between firmness and closeness
- Success that’s theirs, not everyone else’s
- A word that holds, in promises and in discipline
- Steady, clear and warm
- Joy, every day
What it was like
One week later: how it went at home, extra practice and feedback from Ara, and Maia’s view from the child’s side.
- What worked at home, and what didn’t
- How your words are likely to land with your child
- Why Maia still comes to her mother first
- Your questions, answered from both sides
Part 2 opens once you’ve attended Part 1.
[Short quote about Ara’s advice, with written permission]
[Short quote from someone who has seen Ara and Maia together]
[Third quote, optional]
WHY PARENTS COME TO US
Some moments call for an outside view.
Your child is doing well at school, and has stopped telling you things.
Every evening ends in the same argument, and you’re exhausted.
You promised yourself you’d never parent the way you were parented, and some days you hear it anyway.
Your child’s schedule is full, and you’re not sure any of it is theirs.
A failed exam or a rejection has shaken your child, and you don’t know what to say.
These are the conversations we know best, because we’ve had them ourselves.
HOW SEMINARS WORK
Private by design.
Join from home on Zoom. About an hour of teaching, then your questions, sent anonymously in advance or by chat.
COMING NEXT
Each seminar goes deeper into one part of the method.
Dates for 2027 are announced by email first.
PRIVATE CONVERSATIONS
When you want to discuss your own situation privately.
A private 60-minute video conversation with Ara or Maia, to look at your situation and work out the way forward. Free rescheduling up to 24 hours before.
Held in English, or with simultaneous interpretation into Korean.
FAQ
Before you begin.
Is this therapy?
No. Avela offers perspective and guidance from lived experience; we are not therapists, doctors or counsellors, and we do not diagnose or treat. Should you or your child need clinical support, a licensed professional is the right person to see, and you will find crisis lines at the foot of this page.
In which language are seminars held?
Seminars are held in English. Private conversations may be held in English or with simultaneous interpretation into Korean, arranged when you book.
May I attend Part 2 on its own?
Part 2 continues the work begun in Part 1, so it is reserved for guests who have attended Part 1. You are welcome to reserve Part 1 alone, or both parts together.
May my spouse or a friend join me?
With pleasure. Two seats may be reserved together: Part 1 for two is ₩220,000, and Parts 1 & 2 for two is ₩480,000.
What if my plans change?
Your seat may be moved to a later seminar at no charge. Seats are not refundable.
Do you advise on university admissions?
We offer guidance on raising your child, including their education and university choices. We do not offer shortcuts or guarantees.
May I book a session for my child?
Private conversations are for guests aged 19 and over, booking for themselves. Parents are warmly welcome to book a conversation of their own about their child.
How may I pay?
By card at the time of booking. Bitcoin is also accepted.
WHEN YOU’RE READY
Start with one seminar.
You don’t need a prepared story or a clear question. Start with Successful and Close, or book a private conversation. We’ll start from wherever you are.