Fay Birmingham

Why me

This began with my own daughter

I built Progress Path as a single mother, for my daughter, before it was ever a product.

I want to be clear: I wasn’t a struggling parent, and Tia wasn’t a struggling child. She’s wonderful, and she’s well-behaved. But I was working long hours as an executive, and one question wouldn’t leave me alone: I know I’m good at my job; am I giving my daughter that same 150%? In the time I actually had with her, was I really doing everything I could as her mother?

When you’re the only one, there’s no other grown-up to tell you you got it right. Only your child, and a child’s yes, however much you love it, is never quite the reassurance you’re looking for.

I started searching for something that could help me be the parent I wanted to be, and make the time we had together feel meaningful and structured. When I couldn’t find anything that fit our family, I decided to build it myself. It began with simple notes, paying attention to what was really happening with Tia, what triggered the tougher moments, and how I could respond. I focused on noticing the good, not just reacting to the difficult, and using gentle, fair consequences she could actually understand. I tried to make it feel like a game for her.

What surprised me most was how much the behaviours I’d worried about started to soften. For us, more deliberate time and attention seemed to make the biggest difference.

That first log became the Behaviour pack. Then I built the others the same way: emotional growth, school, and daily routines, each one a way for a busy parent to stay genuinely connected to their child’s whole world.

That’s why I’m building this myself. I know what it feels like to love your child completely and still lie awake at night wondering if you’re doing enough. Progress Path is what I created so that no parent, no matter how busy, has to carry that question alone.

Fay Birmingham, Founder