You have built a life in Bali.
Maybe it has been a few years now, maybe a lot longer. Your kids have grown up here, with rice fields and beaches for a backyard, an international school run, and a rhythm of life most people only ever dream about. You made a brave call once, and you have built something special out of it.
And then, almost overnight, the little one who used to follow you everywhere turns into a teenager.
Somewhere in those teenage years, a quiet question tends to surface for expat parents. Is there enough here for them? Not enough beaches or things to do. Enough of the other thing. A community of young people who are growing, stretching themselves, and working out who they want to become. That part can feel thin when you are raising teenagers a long way from where you grew up.
I want to talk to those parents today.
My name is Brent Williams. For 25 years, I have run a personal development program for teenagers called Empower U. More than 40,000 young people across six countries have been through it. And this September, for the first time ever, we are bringing it to Bali.
A program built for this exact moment
Empower U is a weekend program for young people aged 13 to 21. Over two days, we help them build the things school rarely teaches. Confidence. Motivation. How to set a goal and actually chase it. How to handle a knockback. How to talk to the people they love instead of retreating behind a screen.
Here is what I have learned after a quarter of a century of doing this. The teenager who needs it most is not always the one who looks like they are struggling.
Plenty of parents come to us worried. Their teen has lost motivation, or confidence, or has just gone quiet on them. We watch those young people transform, and it is one of the great joys of my life.
But just as often the teen in the room is a high achiever. Top marks, captain of the team, the kid everyone assumes is fine. Those teens benefit just as much, because confidence and direction are not the same thing as good grades. Every young person deserves to know who they are and where they are going.
For teenagers growing up abroad, this matters even more. They are building their sense of who they are a long way from extended family and old friendships, in a place that is home and yet not quite the home their parents grew up in. Empower U gives them a room full of peers on the same journey, a set of tools they can use straight away, and a weekend that reminds them they are capable of far more than they realised.
A gap worth filling
Let me tell you about a mum named Ange.
Ange and her family loved their life in Bali. But when her daughter reached her teenage years, Ange made a hard decision. She moved the family back to Australia.
It was not about schools or safety or any of the usual reasons. It was that she could not find the one thing she felt her daughter needed most at that age. A community of young people growing alongside her. A place that took a teenager’s inner world seriously and handed them the tools to navigate it. As far as Ange could see, that did not exist for her daughter in Bali. So she left to find it.
Ange was right to want it. Every teenager deserves that, wherever in the world their family has chosen to live. And no parent should have to choose between the life they love and the support their teenager needs.
That gap is exactly what we are coming to fill.
Not new to the region
Bali is a first for us, but Asia is not. Over the years, we have run Empower U across Indonesia, Singapore and Hong Kong, at our peak working with rooms of 300 teenagers at a time. What has always struck me is not how different young people are from one country to the next. It is how similar. The same hopes. The same fears. The same hunger to be seen and to matter.
That is why I am so excited to finally bring Empower U to Bali, and to do it alongside a community of families who have built their lives here.
What parents tell us
I could describe the weekend all day, but I would rather let parents speak for themselves.
“My two daughters attended the Empower U program. One excited, one sceptical. The change in both of them is truly amazing. I am now such a big fan, and I just hope more people take the chance on this that I did. Because then they will see what I now see.” — Tura, mother of Alana and Kathryn
“I am so glad a friend told me about Empower U. My daughter attended at fourteen. She is now seventeen and more motivated than ever. The most amazing thing is that it was not a one-off. They have supported her the whole way.” — Peter, father of Jessica
“Empower U was absolutely awesome. I have never truly learned, enjoyed and been touched by something as much as this in my whole life.” — Sameer, age 17
The most important seat in the room
If there is one thing I would ask of you, it is this. Being a parent for your teen can be tricky to navigate. In my experience, however, it is when you are the parent first and the friend second that your teen finds tracks to run on. This is one of those “parent” decisions. Book your child to attend our EmpowerU weekend, and then share it with other parents so they too can be a part of this.
The biggest shifts I see do not just happen for the young person. They happen for the family. When parents are in the room for the final session, they understand what their teen has just been through, and they can carry that momentum home together. A teen who feels supported by their parents on Sunday evening is a very different teen on Monday morning.
Come and see for yourself
Empower U is coming to Bali this September!
If you would like to find out more or to register your teenager, visit the Empower U Website.
And if you are not sure whether it is the right fit, that is completely fine. You can book a free 15-minute call to find out if Empower U is right for your child. No pressure and no hard sell. Just an honest conversation about your teen and whether this weekend would help.
You already made one brave choice in raising your family here. This one is smaller, with a big payoff. A weekend that helps your teenager step into this chapter as the most confident, capable version of themselves, right here, without anyone having to leave the life you have built, and a community of teens on the island that might just be the key.
I would love to see you there.
Brent Williams
Founder, Empower U
Reserve a Spot Today
