ItsItVille

About KAY FRANCIS
CREATOR OF THE ITSITS

The idea to provide high quality and exciting educational programs for children was conceived while the creator, Kay Francis, was coaching executive men and women. The professionals she coached came from varied backgrounds and cultures and ranged in ages between their late twenties and middle sixties.

Without exception, Kay discovered that once these men and women gained more personal insight, it became easier for them to improve their interpersonal skills and increase their effectiveness when dealing with workplaces situations. It became obvious that Kay’s job would be easier if these men and women had learned more about themselves and others in early childhood.

Kay made a promise to find a way to help children, at the earliest age possible, to connect their feelings with their behavior and to better understand themselves, their world and others. The creation of "GEM®", a growth education model, originally developed by Kay as a training tool for psychotherapists, then used by business and industry, was redesigned as a teaching tool for children; thus her creation of the ItsIts.

Kay is a licensed marriage and family therapist who began her career working as a play therapist with preschoolers. The challenge of teaching children to look inward as a way to better understand their feelings and behavior was a special passion for Kay, and the impetus that led her to develop stories, games and other learning tools that would capture children’s attention, and at the same time teach them critical information and practical life skills.

Kay’s personal journey as a single parent presented circumstances that propelled her into stretching herself in directions she never believed obtainable. Her experiences as a single parent led her to design a specific approach for counseling single parents, and it also motivated her to establish a non-profit training and family counseling center that provided therapy to families who otherwise couldn’t afford treatment.

In 1991 Kay founded Steps Beyond Enterprises, Inc., a management consulting firm offering web-based and on-site training programs, human resources outsourcing, executive coaching and other consulting services for business, government and industry.

Kay has appeared on national radio and television, speaking on such subjects as: Parenting, Workplace Sensitivity, Building Effective Relationships and Managing Change. She has authored articles pertaining to parenting, relationships and business.

Meet The ItsIts, due to be released in September of 2006 is Kay’s first children’s book, and the first book of the ItsIt series.

Kay’s first book, Getting To Know You: The Intimate Connection, was a hands-on, "how-to" book for adults. The book explored the messages of early childhood, and examined how these messages interfered with success in adult life.

Kay holds a baccalaureate degree in Social Work from Florida International University in Miami and a master's degree in Counseling and Guidance from the University of Northern Colorado. She received a governmental appointment, and served two terms, for the Florida State Regulatory Board of Clinical Social Work, Marriage and Family Therapy and Mental Health Counseling. Kay sits on the Board of Directors of the National Girls Caucus and Peace Research Foundation.

The ItsIt characters are a registered trademark. The content or any part thereof, may not be reproduced in any form without written permission from Kay Francis. This includes the making of copies by any photo process; by any electronic or mechanical device, printed or written or oral; by recording for sound or visual reproduction; and by storing in a knowledge retrieval system or device.