By parents for parents
Goodtimer was created to help families like ours bring peace to their homes through positive parenting. Decades of formal education, training and work experience brought us success in our careers, but when our children were born, we realized that being a parent comes with a whole new set of challenges we weren't prepared for. Sound familiar? Our family is blessed with two amazing and often challenging boys, and like many families, we were challenged with behavior issues especially in the morning and during bedtime.
Nobody Likes Timeouts
At first, when our kids misbehaved, we wanted to make sure there were "consequences"; after all, our parents grounded us when we misbehaved and we turned out okay...right? After a LOT of trial and error, we were frustrated to learn yelling and putting our kids in timeout didn’t work and at the end of the day we hated feeling like the "bad guys". Like many frustrated parents, we turned to the experts. Through our research, we discovered Positive Parenting, which leading experts recognize as the most healthy and effective method to improve child behavior. We started using positive parenting methods in our home, but we couldn’t find an approach that was easy to incorporate into our routine and one that our kids were excited about.
Early Concepts
Goodtimer came from the desire to motivate our kids to demonstrate good behavior by consistently making good choices. We asked the question: "What if we created a game for the whole family where our kids could earn points for good behavior?" Another way we thought about it was, "what if there was an effective solution that would motivate good behavior in a way that is opposite to a "timeout" punishing unwanted behavior?" We developed a concept for a game that encouraged and measured “Good Time” and was engaging for young kids; lighting up and making positive sounds when they demonstrated desired behaviors and dispensing physical tokens they could exchange for the things they really wanted.
Testing with Families
We built the first Goodtimer prototypes and our boys were the first "Guinea pigs" for our little experiment. We learned a lot from the initial prototypes. We kept what worked, changed what didn't, building new prototypes and adding new features with each iteration. Then, we began testing Goodtimer prototypes with other families that were also struggling with behavior. For more than a year, we invited numerous families like ours to participate in a four-week trial using Goodtimer prototypes and the response has been incredible! Not only does Goodtimer work at improving behavior, kids love it because it provides a foundation for them to succeed and parents love it because they don't have to be the bad guys.
Goodtimer is here!
In December of 2019, after more than three years of research and development, we launched Goodtimer and the response from Goodtimer families and the positive parenting community has been better than we could have ever imagined. A big thanks to all the friends and families who have supported us along the way to make Goodtimer a reality.
Meet the Goodtimer Family
Goodtimer was founded to help families like ours unlock the power of positive reinforcement and achieve happier homes and more connected families. Our team is working hard to provide simple and effective solutions to open-minded families who strive for real connection.
Adam Ashley
Founder and CEO
Father of two amazing boys, and husband to a very supportive wife, Adam is an entrepreneur with a proven track record for building successful consumer product companies. He founded Plus Up to help families bring home peace through the principles of positive reinforcement. Prior to Plus Up, Adam co-founded M-Edge Accessories consumer product business, where as Chief Technology Officer he directed the product design and development team in a wide variety of consumer product programs, ranging from protective cases to complex electronic accessories. During this period, he established a diverse intellectual property portfolio, including 13 US and international patents. Adam is a graduate of Virginia Tech with a degree in engineering.
Stephanie Ashley
Co-Founder
Mom to two incredible boys, Stephanie co-founded Plus Up to help parents gamify good behavior in a way that brings the whole family closer together. Stephanie is a board certified genetic counselor where she has practiced in academic as well as private hospital settings for nearly two decades. Stephanie is particularly interested in education, with a history of supervising medical and genetic counseling students, as well as participating in genetic counseling student thesis committees. She also teaches graduate lectures and a semester course on psychosocial genetic counseling. She is certified by the American Board of Genetic Counselors and maintains licensure in several states across the country. Stephanie received her BS from Salisbury University and Master's in Genetic Counseling from the University of Maryland, Baltimore.
Dr. Camilo Ortiz, PhD
Clinical Child Psychologist
Father of two amazing kids, Dr. Ortiz is particularly interested in ways to raise adventurous, resilient, and anti-fragile future grownups. Director of Clinical Training and Associate Professor of psychology, Dr. Ortiz specializes in parenting, disruptive behavior in children and cognitive behavior therapy. Dr. Ortiz received a Ph.D. in clinical psychology from the University of Massachusetts before joining the faculty at Long Island University in New York. He teaches the full-year doctoral program in clinical psychology as well as clinical classes that focus on cognitive-behavior therapy (CBT) and evidence-based treatment of children and adolescents. Dr. Ortiz is a licensed psychologist.
Dr. Ali Kresch Levine, PsyD
Clinical Child Psychologist
As a Clinical Psychologist, Dr. Ali works to reduce people's suffering and improve their quality of life. She believes in the importance of challenging "more is more" parenting trends to preserve parental mental health, improve parent-child relationships, and allow space for children to develop independently. As a mother to three young children, Dr. Ali strives to align her values with her parenting practices while focusing on raising self-actualized humans. Dr. Ali works with children, adolescents, and adults using methods grounded in cognitive behavioral therapy, dialectical behavioral therapy, and acceptance and commitment therapy. She received her PsyD in Clinical Psychology from Long Island University,
Jackie Fournier
Customer Experience
A proud mother of two boys which she and her husband are doing their best to guide into becoming caring, conscientious young men. Jackie has over two decades of experience in all aspects of customer service, from brick-and-mortar retail to e-commerce websites, and from product assistance to shipping logistics. She has helped to achieve and maintain high customer satisfaction ratings for the companies she has worked with. Taking the dedicated view that problems are opportunities for improvement and, especially as part of the Goodtimer Customer Experience Team, a chance to provide solutions that benefit both the team and our Goodtimer families, Jackie is committed to helping families find peace through positive reinforcement.
Got Questions?
At Goodtimer, we’re parents too, so sometimes it may take us a little while to respond. Please let us know how we can help and we’ll get back to you as soon as we can, usually within 24 hours.