Why This Work Is Personal to Me

Glenis McEwen Moss

My fascination with human behavior began long before I knew it had a name. 

I grew up in a Christian home in Venezuela as one of seven sisters, with a father who was a pastor. We shared the same parents, the same home, and many of the same values and experiences—yet we were remarkably different.

One sister might speak up immediately while another needed time to process. One thrived on structure while another was more spontaneous. What motivated one of us didn't necessarily motivate another.

Even as a young girl, I wondered:

How can people raised in the same family see, communicate, and respond to the world so differently?

That curiosity followed me throughout my life and into leadership, entrepreneurship, coaching, and relationships.

With degrees in Nuclear Engineering, a career in corporate leadership, experience as a vice president beginning at age 29, and nearly two decades as an international entrepreneur, I saw again and again that success wasn't only about understanding the work.

Understanding people mattered.

Years later, when I discovered the DISC model of human behavior, so much of what I had observed throughout my life finally had a framework and a language.

I became a Certified DISC Profile Analyst and a Certified Human Behavior Consultant, using DISC and self-awareness to help people better understand themselves, communicate more effectively, and appreciate the differences in the people around them.

Then this work became even more personal.

As my husband, Gary, learned about DISC and self-awareness through me, he began seeing his own family experiences through a different lens.

He reflected on how valuable this understanding could have been when he and his first wife were raising their two sons.

They loved their boys deeply. But their natural personalities, communication styles, and approaches to discipline were very different. Looking back, Gary began to recognize that some of the challenges they experienced weren't necessarily because a child was being difficult or a parent was doing something wrong.

They were often trying to understand one another through very different behavioral lenses.

Gary once shared an observation that stayed with me:

“We spend so much time preparing parents for the birth of a child, but very little time helping them understand the unique person they are about to raise.”

That insight became part of the inspiration for The Self-Aware Parent™ Deep Dive.

It begins by helping parents understand themselves—how they are naturally wired to communicate, respond, make decisions, handle conflict, and approach parenting. From there, they have a framework for beginning to understand the unique behavioral styles of the children God has entrusted to them.

Today, as a Self-Awareness Coach and Human Behavior Strategist, I bring together decades of life experience, leadership, entrepreneurship, coaching, and human behavior training around one principle I wish more families understood:

Different doesn't mean difficult.
Different doesn't mean wrong.
Often, it simply means we are uniquely wired.

And when parents begin to understand the person behind the behavior—including their own behavior—the way they communicate, respond, and connect with their children can begin to change.