Bonnie Wallace

The pressure is immense. So, parenting through that means you need to develop and model the discipline not to take things personally and to hold compassion for the people who say hurtful things because happy people don't do that. You also can't get invested in your kid's fame or success because that objectifies them. Ultimately, the best thing a parent can do is to make sure their child knows they are deeply loved for who they are as a human, regardless of what they do for a living.

How have you remained grounded amidst an industry known for its glitz and glamour?

I've never been the kind of person to get starstruck. When you see your child treated differently after they become famous, you understand how weird that is. They're exactly who they've always been, and suddenly people are tongue-tied around them. Or projecting all kinds of stuff. If you have a solid sense of self-esteem, it's easy to stay clear about what's important and what isn't and not be swayed by the crazy glamour. From what I've seen, the people who lose their way around it tend to look outside of themselves for validation, which can lead to all kinds of trouble. If you're clear about who you are, it's just an interesting experience. And it's certainly been interesting!

As a parent, what were some of your most proud moments watching your daughters succeed in their careers? These kinds of careers look very glamorous—and they can be—but underneath that is a massive amount of gruelingly hard work.

Very few people see the intense, unglitzy effort it takes behind the scenes to make it all possible. I'm incredibly proud of their stellar work ethic. They've earned all the success that's come their way. Claire has built up one of LA's most successful vocal studios from scratch and is now sought-after globally for her powerful voice coaching. And it's fun when they get recognized for their achievements… for example, when Dove won the Emmy for her work on Liv and Maddie or the Best New Artist awards this past year at the American Music Awards and MTV Awards. But I think I'm most proud when they listen to and trust their inner voices. When they can cut through the noise around them and do what they know is right, sometimes that looks like making unconventional choices, which takes courage.

While parenting in the spotlight, how did you make time for yourself? What were your hobbies to destress?

Hmmm… I'm still learning how to do that! I'm a reader, so sitting quietly with a book will always be a good way to relax. And since we moved from our hometown of Bainbridge Island to Los Angeles to make that acting dream possible, a phone call with an old friend is a great way to destress and remember who I am outside the whirlwind of the Hollywood scene. These days, simply spending time with my husband or our three daughters is my favorite thing.

While parenting in the spotlight, how did you make time for yourself? What were your hobbies to destress?

Hmmm… I'm still learning how to do that! I'm a reader, so sitting quietly with a book will always be a good way to relax. And since we moved from our hometown of Bainbridge Island to Los Angeles to make that acting dream possible, a phone call with an old friend is a great way to destress and remember who I am outside the whirlwind of the Hollywood scene. These days, simply spending time with my husband or our three daughters is my favorite thing.

Tell us a little about how you transitioned into being an entrepreneur with We Can Books?

I've always been entrepreneurial. I had an import company for 25 years, which took me to India regularly to work with artisans.

For the past eight years, I have helped parents of other young actors through my business, Hometown to Hollywood, writing three books, producing a podcast, and consulting one-on-one. We Can Books was born when my husband pointed out to me that my father's brilliant idea—combining family photos with progressive phonics word sets—could be brought to the world through the magic of app technology and print-on-demand.

This beautiful idea, with which my children learned to read, could be shared. The original versions were made with photocopies, cut-and-paste, and three-ring binders! Today's We Can Books are full-color, hardback, heirloom quality books. I'm so excited that my dad's breakthrough method of teaching reading, which is intuitive, fun, and really works—is now available for everyone.

What were some of the obstacles you had to face and overcome to get We Can Books off the ground?

Like most startups, it's taken longer and cost more to get going than projected. Of course! But the biggest hurdle still is explaining what it is. You build the books in an app, but the actual books are real, paper-based, hardback books, like Shutterfly-meets-Phonics. The books are built with digital technology but are ultimately tactile and analog. Something a child can hold in their hands, in a loved one's lap, sounding out the words and turning the pages.

The whole magic is with the very personal association of the child. For example, on the first page of the first book (there are 3 in the series), we have the words cat, hat, bat, mat, pat, sat, fat, rat, and at. In the app, you can either upload a photo from your phone that makes sense with one of the words or make a game of taking one on the spot. Say, the family cat.

Or the child in a hat. Then you drag and drop the relevant word onto the image and move to the next page. You end up with a highly personalized phonics book where the child is emotionally connected to the images, which keeps them engaged as they learn to sound out the words. Because one of the words is associated with an image they recognize and is phonetically similar to the other words on the page, it's like a key that helps unlock the other words. It's incredibly effective, and kids love it.

What goals would you like to see accomplished through We Can Books?

I'd love to know that we are really making a difference in helping more children learn how to read well and to love reading. Learning to read is one of the most critical things in a child's life… it creates the possibility of success in school and the world.

The trouble with reading can lead to risk in so much of the rest of life. Getting a solid foundation in reading and associating it with love and fun can change a child's life trajectory. I know it's made a critical difference for my daughters and for me. Additionally, We Can Books donates 10% of our profits to several literacy nonprofits, so we hope to help more kids that way.

Do you have any other passion projects you're working on or would like to start up?

We Can Books is my life's work, and it's exciting enough to keep me occupied for a long time. Once we have the primary piece rolled out, we have some other ideas, which include expanding into schools. But just to keep things extra interesting, I may be about to move to Portugal, so I'll keep you posted!