LESLIE GRACE
EGGENBERGER
Author, speaker, trauma-informed coach, happiness studies graduate, mother of two sons, and creator of Becoming a Man.
Available for interviews, podcasts, panels, workshops, and conversations about raising boys, emotional intelligence, healthy masculinity, mentorship, human flourishing, and courageous parenting.
BOYS ARE TOLD WHAT NOT TO BECOME. THIS BOOK SHOWS THEM WHAT TO.
Becoming a Man is a shared workbook and modern rite of passage designed for young men and the trusted adults who guide them. Built around five grounding principles: Presence, Purpose, Proactivity, Provision, and Clarity. The framework moves beyond cultural debate and into real practice.
Together, adults and young men explore emotional integration, self-awareness, responsibility, and what it means to lead with both strength and kindness. This is not a book to hand off and hope for the best. It is a journey walked side by side.
Inside the workbook:
- A five-principle framework for grounded, emotionally integrated masculinity
- Guided journaling, shared practices, and reflective exercises
- Practical tools for identifying, naming, and understanding emotions
CONVERSATIONS THAT MOVE BEYOND CRITIQUE
Raising Boys Without Hardening Them
How adults can cultivate confidence, accountability, empathy, and emotional range at the same time.
A Constructive Third Path for Masculinity
Why critique alone cannot form boys, and what a practical framework for integrated manhood can offer instead.
Why Boys Need Adults to Walk Beside Them
The role of parents, mentors, coaches, educators, and trusted adults in creating honest conversation and lasting connection.
Happiness, Trauma, and Human Flourishing
How happiness studies, trauma-informed coaching, secure attachment, embodiment, and emotional intelligence inform family life.
Leslie Grace Eggenberger is an author, Certified Trauma-Informed Life Coach, Certified Transformational Leader, and graduate of the first cohort of the world’s first fully accredited master’s program in Happiness Studies. A mother of two sons, she created Becoming a Man to help boys and the adults who guide them build emotional intelligence, grounded strength, character, and authentic connection.
A LIFE AT THE INTERSECTION OF SCIENCE, COURAGE, AND CARE
For more than twenty years, Leslie Grace has worked in clinical diagnostics, helping physicians navigate consequential medical decisions and building experience across organizations including Quest Diagnostics, Natera, and GeneDx. Alongside that career, she has immersed herself in the study of human flourishing, emotional intelligence, trauma, secure attachment, embodiment, and the conditions that help people thrive.
She holds a master’s degree in Happiness Studies, is a Certified Trauma-Informed Life Coach and Certified Transformational Leader, and has supported youth wellbeing through community work connected with the Health and Wellness Club at Lake Howell.
Born in Guatemala City, Leslie Grace is also an experienced skydiver who participated in a national freefall formation record in Guatemala. Her writing for the United States Parachute Association has explored fear, responsibility, recovery, and returning to the sky after injury.
Many people first encountered Leslie Grace as the viral “T-Rex Mom,” after she walked her sons to school in an inflatable dinosaur costume to teach them that it is okay to be different. That blend of warmth, courage, playfulness, and conviction continues to shape her work with families and young men.
MOVEMENT, BELONGING, AND FORMATION
Leslie Grace’s work is grounded in lived practice: the discipline and expression of dance, and the patient relational work of creating spaces where young men can grow together.
DISCIPLINE WITH FIRE AND SOUL
Leslie Grace dances with Flamenco del Sol, the Oviedo-based academy and professional company devoted to flamenco and the four schools of Spanish dance. The practice brings together many of the qualities that animate her wider work: courage, embodiment, discipline, cultural connection, expressive strength, and the confidence to take up space with authenticity.
Flamenco del Sol has taught children and adults and performed throughout the United States and Caribbean since 1999. Leslie Grace also contributes to the local flamenco community through leadership with Orlando Flamenco Inc.
A PLACE TO PRACTICE BECOMING
For almost two years, Leslie Grace has led Ember, a local circle where young men gather for honest conversation, meaningful challenge, reflection, shared practice, and connection with trusted adults.
Ember has become a living laboratory for the principles behind Becoming a Man. Its evolving programming helps young men develop presence, purpose, proactivity, provision, and clarity while building the trust and accountability that cannot be created by a workbook alone.
Leslie Grace is available to speak with parents, schools, youth organizations, mentors, coaches, and community leaders interested in forming a young men’s circle using the book and programming informed by the Ember experience.
LESLIE IN THE NEWS
T-Rex Mom Teaches Her Sons It Is Okay to Be Different
CBS Miami covered the story behind Leslie Grace’s viral school walk and the parenting lesson at its heart.
One of Ten Moms Who Inspired Inside Edition
Inside Edition included Leslie Grace’s playful act of courageous parenting in its Mother’s Day celebration.
The First Fully Accredited MA in Happiness Studies
Leslie Grace graduated with the pioneering first cohort of the interdisciplinary master’s program created by Dr. Tal Ben-Shahar and offered with Centenary University.
National Freefall Formation Record in Guatemala
Leslie Grace was one of eighteen skydivers named in coverage of a new national formation record.
Bronze Medal at the 2015 USPA Nationals
Competing with Blocksmiths XP, Leslie Grace earned a bronze medal in intermediate 8-way formation skydiving at the 2015 USPA National Skydiving Championships in Eloy, Arizona.
Stranger (DZ) Danger
In a first-person essay for the United States Parachute Association, Leslie Grace reflected on injury, fear, responsibility, and returning to skydiving.
Florida Skydiving League Competition
SkyLeague records Leslie Grace’s participation in Florida indoor formation-skydiving competition.
READY-TO-USE COPY
Book Description
You know the boy in your life needs more than cultural critique. He needs a path forward. Becoming a Man is a principle-based workbook designed for young men and the adults who guide them, built around five practices that develop emotional integration, self-awareness, and grounded strength. Written by a mother raising sons, this is the framework the conversation has been missing.
Quote / Story Hook
“Critique cannot raise boys. Framework can. This is where that work begins.”
Media-use note: The biographies and book descriptions on this page may be used for editorial coverage, interview introductions, event listings, and program materials. For high-resolution photography, additional background, review copies, or fact-checking, please contact Leslie Grace directly.
INVITE LESLIE INTO THE CONVERSATION
For interviews, podcasts, television, print, panels, speaking engagements, workshops, review copies, or press materials: