ParentSounds is now Creative Parenting Club
We're building a community of creative parents. You in?
In the spring of 2023, I started a newsletter called ParentSounds.
The purpose was to create a platform where parents with creative careers and hobbies could learn and get inspired by reading one another’s stories.
As the father of a 2.5 year-old girl and 8 month-old baby boy at the time, who was spending sleep-deprived days juggling a new job with various creative side hustles, this project was also deeply relevant for me. The year before, I had learned to DJ and started bringing parents together for regular rave parties with our kids. Now, just as my son started crawling and my 2-kid life was really starting to get crazy, I was spending all of the time I should have been resting working on these damn creative hobbies instead.
It felt unnecessarily exhausting, but also absolutely necessary.
As soon as I started talking to other parents about it, I saw how many other parents were experiencing different versions of the same thing.
How did they do it?
What did we have in common — and what could we learn from one another?
I found inspiration that summer in so many of the initial parents we profiled. The mom of twins in upstate New York working for an environmental nonprofit during the day, and gigging in an all-woman cover band called the Tom Prettys at night. The Italian couple in Berlin (our very first podcast!) juggling not one, but two creative careers amidst the adventures of also having two young kids.
Most of all, I was really excited to connect with more and more parents around the world over the Substack platform itself, whose writing I loved and whose experiences seemed to have a lot in common with my own.
What happened?
Earlier this year, I put ParentSounds on pause. I had just taken on two busy client projects. The Kinder Rave, our family techno party series, was entering a bold new phase. But mostly I had to face up to reality: for as much inspiration as I felt from other creative parents, this newsletter was one project too many.
I wrote a guest post for another Substack at the end of last year about feeling burned out. It was intended to be a call to action. In reality, it was more of a call for help.
The intention was always to re-launch, but I didn’t know how or when. I decided to let the summer play out first, see how things went with work, and see if the newsletter still felt relevant.
Today, I’m happy to announce that ParentSounds is BACK — with an even more expanded focus.
Starting in January, we will begin publishing again, under a brand new name and concept.
Creative Parenting Club
When we launched ParentSounds in 2023, it became clear that this had the potential to be much more than just a newsletter. It was a community. A growing network of parents around the world who share the unique challenge (and joy) of balancing creativity and family life.
That’s why we’re evolving into Creative Parenting Club: a global hub for creatively active parents who want to connect, inspire, and support one another through the daily experiences we all have in common.
While our name and scope are expanding, what you’ve always loved about ParentSounds remains at the heart of what we do. You can still expect:
Inspiring stories about parents pursuing creative careers and passions
Essays and writing that challenge and uplift
Practical ways to support and amplify the work of other creative parents
What’s new is the vision to build something bigger—an inclusive, supportive community that goes beyond the inbox. With Creative Parenting Club, we’re creating a space where parents can truly connect, collaborate, and inspire one another, both online and in the real world.
New year, new partner
I’m really excited to re-start this space, and for this community to grow. But I’m even more excited about our newest contributor: Creative Parenting Club co-founder Diego Ain.
As you’ll know from reading our new About page, Diego is an accomplished live techno performer who is also the other half of the Kinder Rave. Nominated for a Latin Grammy, he is a globally-recognized musician and content creator… who also happens to be the father of two young kids.
You’ll be hearing more from Diego on the soon-to-relaunch Creative Parenting Podcast, as well as from time-to-time in our newsletter.
For now, I only want to say: welcome, Diego! This re-launch probably wouldn’t be happening without you ;-)
What’s next?
Whether you’ve been with us since the ParentSounds days or are just joining now, we’re so excited to have you along for the ride.
You can still find all of the content from the ParentSounds days on our site. Everything has been rebranded under our new colors, name and logo, but if you’re savvy enough you might notice that all of the ParentSounds content still has /parentsounds in the URL.
Old or new, you can always find everything we’ve ever published under the Archive page on the main menu.
Slowly but surely, we’re planning to roll out a lot of new stuff in 2025. It will start with more frequent essays, stories and parent profiles… and eventually expand into some new ideas that we’re excited to share with you soon.
And hey — if you’re in Berlin, come join us sometime at one of our family techno parties! The link to the Kinder Rave is now also in our main menu.
We hope you’re as excited about our new concept as we are. If you know any creative parents who you think would be interested to be a part of this growing community, please share this post!
We’ll be back with another (re)introduction on the other side of the holidays.
Until then: here’s to creativity, parenting and everything in between.
We wish you a lovely end-of-the-year, and a successful start to the new one.
Welcome to Creative Parenting Club!
Much love,
Matt B, co-founder
Hi Matt! I love the concept of creative parents 😅 I am one of them. Nice to meet you here.
Happy to see you back!