#TheProof: Avital Schreiber Levy 4X’ed Her Business — While Raising 5 Children & Working Part-Time

#TheProof is a series that celebrates the success of our community. We can’t be what we can’t see, which is why we proudly feature our students from across the globe who’ve made their dreams a reality. 

Avital is one of the most articulate, passionate people I’ve ever met. Based in Israel, she’s a graphic designer turned parenting coach, podcaster, and mother of five. (Yes, FIVE!) At The Parenting Junkie, Avital empowers “imperfect parents” to love parenting and feel confident doing it. Here she shares how she grew from an unpaid side hustle to a six-figure business in just three years.

Pay close attention to this Q&A and you'll learn how Avital:

• Turned her unpaid obsession into a thriving, global business.
• Transformed a heartbreaking moment with her son into a life-changing idea.
• Grew to 85,000 YouTube subscribers — even though everyone around her said she was being naive.
• Maintains a 6-figure business working just 20-30 hours per week.

As a parenting coach, your intro into parenting is surprising. Can you tell us about that?

When I first got married, having kids didn't seem like a very desirable, sexy thing to do. I was put off by the whole process, and it seemed like, “Oh, anyone who has kids is exhausted, and they have Cheerios in their hair, and tantrums in the cereal aisle, and it depletes you and exhausts you, and like wreaks havoc on your bank account and your pelvic floor.”

And here you are, five kids later!

Ultimately, it was a human experience I didn't want to miss! I thought to myself, “There must be alternative ways of doing this.”

Where did you start?

When I was pregnant I read all these books, and I was so excited. I thought, “I'm never going to yell, and I'm never going to lose it, and I’m always going to play. I'm going to love it every day!”

How’d that turn out?

Real-life parenting came along and it can be a grind! It can be difficult and it can be challenging. For me, the hardest part was meeting those very ugly sides of myself that I was ashamed of — that I didn't want the world to see and I didn't want my child to see. As I like to say, “We’re all great parents before we have kids.”

So parenting was hard at first, but you figured out a way to make it joyful. Tell me about that change.

There was this one pivot point when I was really, really angry with my two-year-old. I was rageful and a little bit out of control, which I rarely, if ever, experienced before I was a parent.

My son ran away from me in defiance and I saw a look of fear in his eyes. I realized that he was afraid of me. And in that moment I thought, “Okay, no. I have to apply all of my passion and interest into better communication skills and emotional regulation and building a healthy relationship with my child so that I can enjoy this phase of my life and not be a monster.”

That’s so heartbreaking, but I know every parent reading can relate.

Parenting is such a high-stakes project, you know? But it’s also exciting! I started reading a lot of books about it and became a bit obsessed. I started telling everyone who would listen, “Oh my gosh, have you heard about this? Have you heard about that?”

So when did you start to think of parenting as a business?

Eventually I decided to give myself an outlet and make some YouTube videos, so I could share what I was learning with people who might actually care, rather than offering it unsolicited.

I called it The Parenting Junkie, because that's what I was: a junkie for all this information! And as my channel grew, I noticed that there were other people interested in these concepts too, and that my summaries were helpful for them.

I was unknowingly providing a service. I was reading a lot, but for most parents it was quite a burdensome quantity of research to undertake.

I experimented with these concepts on my own family, and would explain what worked for me and what didn’t. I love to simplify and reverse engineer these academic ideas into actionable steps. So that's how my YouTube channel started, but during that time I was still working as a brand identity graphic designer.

Wow. So you had a day job, were a new parent, and you had this growing YouTube channel.

At first it was just an unpaid side hustle, but I started getting the sense that there was a living to be made… somehow, maybe. At the beginning I thought maybe it was AdSense, or maybe I could get sponsors. But I eventually came across the idea that I could be a parenting coach. Getting another degree in psychology seemed the longest, most painful route I could go, and also not necessarily aligned with what I wanted to do.

So you got qualified as a coach.

Yup. And at the beginning, I thought I would offer in-home courses for maybe 10 couples at a time and just teach the curriculum that this coaching institute gave me. But I did that a couple times and realized it just wasn't what I wanted to do. What I really wanted was to use my own voice, and not just teach someone else's curriculum.

“I'm allergic to dogma. My interest is in the blend. I wanted to help parents personalize their experience.”

Why do you think that was?

I'm really allergic to dogma. I find that in the parenting space there's quite a lot of pressure to stick to one philosophy, which then results in guilt or shame when you can’t adhere perfectly to that method.

My interest is in the blend. I wanted to help parents pick and choose — to personalize and tailor-make their experience. That was right around the time I took B-School. 

Yes! Tell me about your decision to join B-School.

I wanted to monetize my small online presence, turn my passion into a money maker, and leave my day job. I had no clear idea how to monetize what I was doing and everyone around me said no one would ever pay for parenting content.

How did that feel?

I felt almost silly, or at least misunderstood. I believed that the information and services I wanted to offer would deeply benefit others — but those around me thought I was a naive dreamer for expecting it to ever replace my "real" job. I felt vulnerable, too, putting myself out there without the validation of a degree or PhD. I felt confused by all the various routes I might take and unsure whether they would get me where I wanted to go. 

“My work life balance is fantastic.”

Did B-School change things for you? 

Absolutely. Thanks to B-School I launched my website, a membership program, and four online courses including a high ticket course. I’ve helped people transform their marriages and their parenting in ways I could only have dreamed — and I’ve created prosperity for my family and team in the process.

Plus, my work life balance is fantastic. At one point I was homeschooling four children and I simply couldn’t work more than about 20 hours a week. But I was still able to grow The Parenting Junkie to a place where it’s sustainable and able to sustain my lifestyle. 

But you’re not just a B-Schooler, you’re a Copy Cure student too! Why was becoming a better writer so important to your success?

As I began to set up my website, write weekly blogs, emails, Facebook posts — I found myself unsure of my "voice.” I was speaking about emotionally-loaded topics, and I needed to be clear, non judgemental, and helpful. 

I really wanted to write in a way that truly connects, entertains, and inspires. But I found myself lacking the confidence to be as witty as I am in real life, nervous that it wasn’t “profesh.” I also tried to impress people with fancy copy and over-embellished sentences, which ended up like a long snooze fest.

And did The Copy Cure help?

You tell me! Since taking The Copy Cure my business revenue, email list, and team have more than quadrupled. 

Since that first humble launch in 2016, I've grown my business to be in the multiple six figures. I have a team of other part-time moms who I love and adore. We've sold thousands of courses and memberships and do so with absolute pride. 

I've had incredible opportunities, from speaking on stage in California to hosting retreats in Costa Rica. And most importantly — I receive messages every single day from parents whose lives have been transformed because of my words. 

“I receive messages every single day from parents whose lives have been transformed because of my words.”

We have thousands of members from over 60 countries worldwide and it’s become a global movement. Our mailing list grew to over 50,000 people in just three years. Our social media audience has over 100,000 followers, YouTube over 85,000 subscribers, and 4 million views.

The Copy Cure also helped me write my first book. It’s called Present Play and it should be coming out in the summer of 2022.

Omg WOW, congratulations! That must feel amazing.

I feel so honored and grateful and blessed. Every time I sit down at my computer to work, it's truly with such deep gratitude in my heart. It's like a wildest dream to build a business that's exactly tailor-made to my lifestyle, to my values, that makes an impact, that's fun to work in, and that feels meaningful.

Thank you, Avital, you’re incredible!

What did you notice from Avital’s story? Any ahas you can apply to your own life and business? Let us know in the comments below.

If you enjoyed this installment of #TheProof, you’ll love our Q&A with Vaishali Patel. She started a business with no clear idea or prior business training, overcame her paralyzing self-doubt, and went from “scraping by” to $350k per year… teaching Gujarati online.

→ Want to write words that sell and sound like you? Sign up for our free 7-day writing class at TheCopyCure.com. Once you enter your name and email, you’ll get Lesson #1 INSTANTLY. (We’ll also make sure you’re the first to know when The Copy Cure doors open again.)