Alliance Parenting
Lived by: Kevin Yeung, Jason Krog & Dr. Michael Lim
Written by: Darcy Zajac & Feet Banks
No one is entitled to success: it must be earned. It must be lived. Alliance Parenting sets the foundation for a collaborative journey to help guide and prepare our children to build their own lives of passion, fulfillment, and success.
Written and lived by five parents with diverse backgrounds in professional sports, business, medicine, mentorship, and the creative arts. Alliance Parenting outlines four pillars of focus to help parents and children of any age discover their potential to triumph over adversity, find purpose, and live life fearlessly as they work towards their dreams.
Alliance Parenting was born at a backyard barbecue in Vancouver, Canada, when Dr. Michael Lim visited his college friends Kevin Yeung and Jason Krog—the trio had attended the University of New Hampshire (UNH) together in the mid-1990s. Over the course of two decades, these three friends have all developed the resilience to perform in changing environments around the world. And they achieved significant successes in business, science, and sports.
Ex-professional hockey player Darcy Zajac was also at that barbecue. About to start a family of his own, Darcy was keenly interested to learn about parenting and how to help create a happy and fulfilling life for his soon-to-arrive daughter.
Listening to the UNH friends share how they were raising their children, Darcy recognized parallels to his own childhood and the methods his father used as a renowned hockey coach. But beyond athletics, he was fascinated by how this UNH crew seized the opportunities presented in their own lives to realize their potential and compete with and beat the top one percent.
He was intrigued by how they found purpose as parents— implementing their life experiences, ideas, and lessons to raise their kids. Darcy asked for advice on how to help his daughter build her best possible future, and that candid chat—over steaks, salmon and some good wine—sowed the seeds of what would become Alliance Parenting.
But those seeds didn’t sprout into this book until one fortuitous day of skiing in Whistler with journalist Feet Banks. Introduced to Alliance Parenting serendipitously after writing a magazine article on Kevin’s then-11-year-old ski-racer son Bear, Feet was impressed with the youngster’s confidence, humour, and compassion and inspired by his fearlessness and powerful drive. As a father himself and having witnessed Alliance Parenting in action with Bear, Feet was interested to learn how Kevin was raising Bear. As he listened intently to Kevin, explain what would become Alliance Parenting’s principles, Feet realized that these teachings would be extremely helpful for other parents. He joined forces with the UNH friends and Darcy to help organize their methods and share their collective wisdom and present their knowledge in the compact book you are holding right now.
Meet the Alliance Parents
Jason Krog’s lifelong passion for ice hockey brought him to UNH, where he won the Hobey Baker Award as the top US Collegiate men’s ice hockey player in 1998-99. He went on to play professional hockey in the American Hockey League (AHL) and the National Hockey League (NHL). After retiring from professional competition, Jason became a sports agent and worked with the NHL’s Vancouver Canucks in a player development role. He also coaches at a leading Canadian hockey academy to help develop the next generation of stars. Jason has one daughter.
Dr. Michael Lim pursued his passion for science to become a neurosurgeon at Johns Hopkins University, one of the oldest and most respected research facilities in the United States. Michael currently serves as the Chair of Neurosurgery at Stanford University, where he teaches and mentors the next generation of neurosurgeons while performing more than 150 surgeries a year. He also simultaneously oversees two medical research laboratories and is the founder of his own medical startup. A grandmaster of time management and work/life balance, Michael has two children.
Kevin Yeung’s passion is working with and mentoring people. He honed his ability to identify leadership qualities while serving as the youngest Principal in Asia Pacific at Heidrick and Struggles, the global leader in executive search and leadership consulting. Kevin works with business leaders and entrepreneurs to help them build impactful businesses. In his spare time, he mentors students to help them realize their potential and enjoy meaningful careers. Kevin has one son.
Darcy Zajac’s new role as a parent is his primary passion now, but he also played professional hockey and comes from a hockey family. Retired from playing, Darcy remains connected to the game through regular coaching and performance camps, instinctively carrying on and building upon his father’s philosophy that with a good system, success can be taught. Darcy has a daughter.
Feet Banks is a journalist, editor, and filmmaker who grew up in the upstart ski resort of Whistler, British Columbia. A lifelong adventurer who has always prioritized nature, experiences, and laughter over traditional lanes of success, Feet jumped at the opportunity to share his perspectives and absorb the ideas of the other Alliance parents throughout the creation of this book. Feet has one son.