Alumni
Merchandising & Marketing Graduate Madelyn Hornstein is the Author of the Award-Winning Children's Book Positive Me!
Madelyn Hornstein, a Merchandising & Marketing Graduate, is the Volunteer and PetSmart Canine Therapy Coordinator at Rady Children's Hospital in San Diego. She’s also the author of the new children’s book, Positive Me! A Kids’ Guide to Self-Compassion, which won a Mom's Choice Award and Story Monsters Literature in Excellence Awards.
Born and raised in the Pacific Northwest, Madelyn attended her first year of college at University of Oregon before realizing the large university setting wasn’t a good fit for her personality. “Learning in a smaller group environment was important for my success,” she said. After taking a short time off schooling, she discovered FIDM, moved to Los Angeles, and enrolled in the Merchandising & Marketing Program.
After graduating in 2000 and working in various roles in the fashion industry, Madelyn shifted to working in a non-profit setting. As she was finishing her bachelor’s degree at Cal State San Marcos in Human Development with a Health Emphasis, she started volunteering at the local children’s hospital, which led to a full-time position in 2007. She’s currently the Volunteer and PetSmart Canine Therapy Coordinator at Rady Children’s Hospital in San Diego.
In her role, Madelyn and her manager place volunteers between the ages of 16 to 89 in a variety of areas throughout the hospital. “I work with wonderful, kind, and funny individuals who continually dedicate their time to healing the community,” said Madelyn, who also manages the hospital’s canine therapy program where the dogs make 15,000 beside visits and 1,000 playroom visits each year.
After Madelyn and her husband welcomed their daughter Isla, positive self-talk became an essential part of their parenting. “I struggled for decades to become my best friend and in my thirties, I finally figured it out,” she said. “There is a quote from Louise Hay that has resonated with me for nearly a decade: ‘You have been criticizing yourself for years, and it hasn’t worked. Try approving of yourself and see what happens.’”
With a passion to inspire others to speak kindly to and about themselves, Madelyn decided to write Positive Me! as an uplifting guide for children of all ages. “I wanted the message of my book to be simple: to teach children that loving themselves is a valuable lesson to embody,” she said. The A-to-Z- book highlights a variety of cultures, identities, abilities, skin colors, and body shapes within its 61 pages, which are filled with "I am" sentences followed by the defined key word on the next page.
She also hopes to inspire more parents, adults, teachers, grandparents, and siblings to speak kinder to themselves. “It’s extraordinary how quickly we can redirect your negative thinking to positive thinking within a few minutes,” she added.
Positive Me! A Kids’ Guide to Self-Compassion is available on Amazon, Barnes & Noble online, and Lulu.com.
Categories: Merchandising & Marketing Alumni
