Meet Our Parent with a Purpose: Kortney Peagram

One of my favorite things about publishing Macaroni Kid Chicago Midtown is the chance to connect with other parents in our community. Often times these connections inspire us and remind us of the ability of one person to make a difference. It is with this in mind that I have launched a new article series called Parent with a Purpose. My hope is to introduce you to some amazing parents living right in our community who not only are doing unique and wonderful things but also deserve to have some attention brought to their mission.​

Kortney Peagram is a local mom and the owner of Bulldog Solution who is working to put an end to bullying. What a great mission!

Please get to know this local mom a little better and find out how you can be a part of her purpose!



What is your MISSION/PURPOSE? What do you want to accomplish? I want to eradicate bullying through social boldness, kindness, and connection. I own Bulldog Solution and we work with educators and students to help increase their social skills, leadership, and communication. My whole purpose is to help children feel safe and confident. Bullying and cyberbullying can be detrimental to a child’s development and can also ruin lives. We work with a lot of at-risk youth and by sharing how to be kind, loved, and connected, we can change the course of their lives. 

What inspired/encouraged you towards this mission? Is there one specific moment when you knew this was what you wanted to do? I lost my brother to gun violence and it pushed me to pursue my business further. I have always been in training and team-building; however, losing my brother ignited a fire in me to not only reduce the bullying, but also address the violence. Too many families lose a child to violence. I don’t want any child to feel the pain of losing a sibling. I use my work to honor his life. In the past years, his story has saved many teens. It is an empowering moment to receive a card or email from one of my old students. They share how much the program impacted them, and some say it saved their life. It melts my heart and gives me hope. 

How did your life before children influence the parent you are today? What part do your children play in your current mission? The work I do impacts the way I communicate with my daughter. I use a lot of my social boldness, kindness and connection techniques on my daughter. If they work on a toddler, they will work in my program! Seeing so many children broken gave me a new perspective on how to be present, loving, and nurturing. My daughter is my entire life. We talk about how mommy is a “bully teacher” and what happens on my programs. I ask her about her perspective; a little extra imagination adds so much to the programs! With my work, I realize that parents can feel helpless and I don’t want any parent to feel like that. My daughter inspires me to connect more with parents and she gave me so much more compassion. 

What lessons/values are you learning through this process? What lessons/values do you hope your kids are learning? I learned that kindness always wins. I learned to let go of negativity. All it takes is to plant a seed, to see a child grow. I have learned that bullying can happen to anyone and that kids are stressed out. I learned to really listen and ask open ended questions. I have learned that it takes a village to raise our children. I have learned to be compassionate and understanding. I want to instill kindness, compassion, and confidence in my daughter. A bully won’t attack a confident child, but a confident kind child can help someone who’s being bullied. 

What do you do to take care of yourself and how do you make time to do it? I like to do yoga and boxing. Do I do it consistently? No, but I’m trying. I don’t do enough for me, and I am working on that. Self-care is so important for moms. It helps keep us sane and balanced. I am a work in progress. I work a little too much. I am so far from perfection, but I love my life. I always try to take a lazy day and just chill with my family. Work can wait just one day!

What can we do to support you and your purpose? Talk to your schools, PTA, and LSC about our work. We want to bring our programs to more schools and help more children, and each program is different. In 8 years, we have never run the same program twice – we always tailor our programs for your school, to fit your needs exactly. Every school has its own set of challenges, and we believe in creating unique programs to ensure a genuine connection with each school’s educators, students, and parents. Another way to support Bulldog Solution is to follow us on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter. We love to share resources and connect with our online community. 

So inspiring to learn more about this local businesswoman and mom! I'm passing Bulldog Solution info on to my Mac Kid's school right now!

Macaroni Kid isn't the only one impressed by these local parents. I'm excited to be able to offer goodies from other Chicago local businesses to Kortney to thank her for our work in the community. Thank you to these awesome sponsors for helping me recognize Kortney and all of our Parents with a Purpose!

• ​A day pass from Purple Monkey Playroom
• $50 babysitting credit from Chime by Sittercity
• $50 credit for an in-home consultation or a spot in the Parent Cafe from Third Coast Birth
• A Mother's Day mini-shoot from Lori K Sapio Photography
• A blow-dry with makeup touch-up from Chroma K8 Beautique

Do you know someone who fits the Parent with a Purpose bill? Maybe it's your neighbor, friend, child's teacher - send them our way! All you have to do is email me their name, email and why you think they're perfect for a Parent with a Purpose feature and I'll take it from there!

saray@macaronikid.com