Families in Mill Valley, Tiburon, Larkspur, San Anselmo, San Rafael and across Marin County can work with a Blackburn mentor by video, in Pacific time. Each person has one dedicated mentor, meets weekly or more often, and checks in by text and phone between sessions. When a client is in Los Angeles, in-person meetings are also possible.
Close to the city, apart from it
Marin sits just across the Golden Gate Bridge from San Francisco, but it feels like another world: Mount Tamalpais, redwood canyons, small downtowns and ferries from Sausalito and Larkspur. Many parents commute into the city or work in finance, law, medicine or tech; others have built creative or independent careers. Trails and open space are part of daily life.
What Marin families tend to bring us
- A capable teen who seems unmotivated, and parents unsure how hard to push.
- A student whose activities and honors classes have crowded out sleep and downtime.
- A college student who struggled away from home and is back in Marin figuring out what is next.
- A young adult in their twenties living at home because Bay Area rents are out of reach.
Motivation without a lecture
When the reasons to work hard feel distant, motivation can fade. Parents often find that talking about it more makes it worse. A mentor is a different voice: someone who asks what the student wants, helps turn that into small weekly goals and follows up without the family history attached. Our guide comfort and motivation in young adults explores this in more depth.
Living at home in an expensive county
Marin’s housing costs mean many young adults return home after college, sometimes for years. That can work if there is a shared plan. A mentor helps parents and adult children agree on expectations, such as work, contribution to the household and a savings target, and then keeps everyone honest. See a living-at-home agreement.
Fire season and disruption
Late summer and fall bring fire risk, red flag warnings and, at times, power shutoffs or smoke days. Sessions by video can move to whatever device and location work, and the weekly rhythm keeps going through a rough week.
What working together looks like
Each client has one dedicated mentor. Sessions run 30 or 60 minutes, weekly or several times a week, with short text or phone check-ins in between. For high school students, a parent joins the intro call, helps agree the goals and receives regular progress updates. It starts with a five-minute assessment that someone on our team reads personally.
In person in Los Angeles
Most Marin clients work with us entirely online. Students attending school in Southern California, or families who spend time in Los Angeles, can meet a mentor in person there and continue by video at home.
Where a mentor helps
A mentor offers steady accountability and practical help with goals, not tutoring, therapy or admissions advice. With permission, mentors share progress with parents and coordinate with professionals already involved. Families with teens usually start with mentoring for high school students, and parents of adult children often read an alternative to failure to launch programs. More on video sessions is on our online mentoring page.
Related
- Online mentoring in the San Francisco Bay Area
- Online mentoring in the East Bay
- Mentoring in California
- Mentoring for families
Common questions
Can we meet a mentor in person?
In-person meetings are possible in Los Angeles. In Marin, sessions happen by video, with text and phone contact between them.
Do you work with young adults living at home?
Yes. Mentors help young adults set work, money and move-out goals and keep a living-at-home agreement on track.
Are sessions in our time zone?
Yes. Marin and our team share Pacific time, so there is no time difference to plan around.
Get started
Would it help to talk through your situation in Marin? Call (888) 305 5422, email contact@blackburnmentoring.com or start with a short assessment. A member of our team reviews every assessment personally and sets up a free intro call.