Michelle Pratt on Building ‘Safe in the Seat’ & Turning Car Seat Confusion into a National Parenting Platform
“Safe in the Seat really came out of my own need. When I had my son, I was overwhelmed by all the choices, decisions, and responsibilities that come with becoming a parent… That was the beginning of me asking, why does this have to be so hard? I wanted to partner with parents to make it easier… I told them, I’ll be your village expert on this. I can’t be the expert on everything, but I can take this off your plate. Trust me on this, and I’ll be leaning on the rest of you for everything else.”
I had the pleasure of talking with Michelle Pratt. Michelle never set out to become a national voice on child passenger safety. But what began as a moment of confusion — strapping her newborn son into a car seat at the hospital checkout — has evolved into a career that places her at the center of one of the most overlooked aspects of early parenthood: keeping children safe on the road.
Born in Pittsburgh and raised in Naples, Florida, Pratt grew up in a household that modeled both ambition and adaptability. Her father, a commission-based salesman, and her mother, a nurse practitioner who later stayed home to care for Michelle and her sister, imparted an early understanding of work ethic and resilience. A high-achieving student and standout softball player, Pratt earned a scholarship to Notre Dame, where she later returned to complete a master’s degree in nonprofit administration.
Pratt’s professional beginnings were rooted in social impact. She worked as a social services counselor for at-risk girls before joining the American Heart Association, where she rose through the ranks over a decade-long tenure. But it wasn’t until she became a parent herself that her trajectory shifted dramatically.
In 2018, after struggling to install a car seat correctly and sensing a vacuum of trustworthy, accessible information on the topic, Pratt launched Safe in the Seat. What started as a grassroots effort — certifying herself as a Child Passenger Safety Technician and assisting friends — quickly developed into a full-scale digital platform. Through guides, video consultations, social media content, and product recommendations, Safe in the Seat now serves millions of parents seeking clarity around one of the most technically complex aspects of parenting.
Pratt built the platform during a tumultuous period in her personal life. Amid a divorce and the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, she committed to turning her passion into a viable business. Her sister joined the effort, and together they filmed an online course — Car Seat Confidence — using Facebook Marketplace finds and home-grown ingenuity. Their nights were spent transforming bedrooms into makeshift studios, shooting videos, and editing content while juggling the demands of co-parenting.
In the years since, Safe in the Seat has grown into a broader motherhood community with car seat safety at its core. Though most followers arrive for help with car seat installations or product recommendations, they often stay for Pratt’s candid, relatable voice on parenting. Her approach is marked by vulnerability and a commitment to meeting parents without judgment — a notable contrast in a digital landscape often marked by comparison and criticism.
The platform’s evolution has included partnerships aimed at reshaping the consumer side of child safety. Most notably, Pratt has collaborated with baby product company Nuby to develop a line of crash-tested, parent-approved car accessories. Sold exclusively at Target, the collection features practical tools — like secure backseat mirrors and durable car seat protectors — designed with real-world parenting needs in mind. The product line emerged from direct feedback from the Safe in the Seat community and aims to address the frustrating gap between market offerings and actual safety needs.
Though she maintains a national certification and stays abreast of evolving safety guidelines, Pratt emphasizes that her work is about more than technical expertise. She sees her role as both educator and advocate, working to dismantle the shame and uncertainty that often accompany parenting decisions. In consultations, she frequently reassures clients that discovering past missteps doesn’t mean they’ve failed — it simply offers an opportunity to do better moving forward.
Balancing motherhood and entrepreneurship continues to pose challenges. As a single parent, Pratt has navigated the unpredictable rhythms of raising two children while overseeing a growing team and developing new business initiatives. She speaks openly about the messiness of the process and the mental adjustments required to shift from being a hands-on doer to a strategic leader.
Still, she remains committed to showing up as her authentic self — sweat, setbacks, and all. Her followers often see her as she is: exiting the gym, cooking at home, or working late while her children sleep. This approach has helped cultivate a community that feels both empowered and seen.
Pratt is clear about the values that guide her brand. Her team avoids polarizing topics and instead focuses on delivering actionable, nonjudgmental information. “Everyone wants to keep their kids safe,” she often says. “We’re not here to tell you you’ve done it wrong — we’re here to help you do it right moving forward.”
Today, Safe in the Seat stands as a rare mix of digital influence and evidence-based education. With more products in development, expanding content offerings, and an increasingly engaged audience, Pratt continues to push toward a future where safety and support are more accessible to all parents — especially those who, like her years ago, find themselves overwhelmed in a parking lot with a newborn and a car seat manual.
She hopes her story encourages other women to take the first step — whether in business, parenting, or any area of reinvention. “You’re never going to feel ready,” she says. “But sometimes good is good enough to get started.”
Yitzi: Michelle, it’s a delight and an honor to meet you. Before we dive in, our readers would love to learn about Michelle Pratt’s origin story. Can you share with us the story of your childhood and how you grew up? We like learning about the seeds that led to everything else.
Michelle: The whole thing, all the way back 45 years ago, right where it all started. I was born in Pittsburgh. I was only there for a short time, and then my family moved to Florida. My dad was a salesman working on 100% commission, which I think is kind of interesting because it influenced my entrepreneurial path. My mom was a nurse practitioner for a short period of time, then she stayed home with us.
I have a sister who’s 18 months younger. We grew up in Naples, Florida, back when Naples wasn’t what it is today. It was much more low-key. A big part of my origin story is that I was the achiever in the family. Looking back, especially now that I’m a parent, I think a lot about how I was praised more for what I did than for who I was. I had great parents, don’t get me wrong, but that dynamic definitely shaped me. I think it’s also somewhat generational.
I got good grades. Softball was a huge part of my life. We won the World Series, won state championships in high school, and I went to college on a softball scholarship. It was a very big part of who I was growing up.
When I was around 12, my parents got divorced. I lived with my mom and sister, though I still saw my dad. He didn’t live with us but came to all my games and practices. That was definitely a big moment in the origin story of Michelle.
I went to college at Notre Dame, then moved back to Florida — much to my dad’s dismay — to work as a social services counselor at a small school for at-risk girls in Ocala, Florida. It’s a small town, but I loved it. While I was there, I also got my master’s in non-profit administration from Notre Dame.
Then life just started happening — dating, realizing it was time to get married and probably have kids. I left my job in Ocala and started working for the American Heart Association in a fundraising role. I stayed there for just over 10 years and eventually worked my way up to senior executive.
Then I had my first child, who’s now 12, which is hard to believe. I continued working for a couple of years after he was born. When my daughter came along about two and a half years later, I decided to step back and stay at home for a few years. That eventually led to starting Safe in the Seat.
Yitzi: Unbelievable. There you go. It’s a great story, and Michelle, you’re a great storyteller. Let’s hear about the next chapter. Tell us about this amazing platform that you’ve built.
Michelle: Safe in the Seat really came out of my own need. When I had my son, I was overwhelmed by all the choices, decisions, and responsibilities that come with becoming a parent — as I’m sure you understand. I felt like I was smart and well-resourced enough to handle it. I thought, how hard can car seat safety be?
But sure enough, at the hospital checkout, I had the car seat… and no idea how to buckle my kid in. I mean, I kind of knew, but I really didn’t know what I was supposed to do. It led to a huge fight with my then-husband — I’m divorced now, which I don’t think I mentioned earlier — and it was just so complicated and stressful.
That was the beginning of me asking, why does this have to be so hard? I wanted to partner with parents to make it easier. It started with just one person — I was helping friends. I got nationally certified so I’d really know what I was doing, and I kept helping more people. Slowly, the ball started rolling. I realized more people felt the same way we did.
I started posting on Instagram, having no clue what I was doing, just kind of throwing things out there to see what resonated. Was anyone else feeling like this? That’s really how Safe in the Seat began. It came from my desire to fill this very specific gap in the marketplace and to let other moms — and some dads, though moms are definitely the core community — know their voices are heard.
I told them, I’ll be your village expert on this. I can’t be the expert on everything, but I can take this off your plate. Trust me on this, and I’ll be leaning on the rest of you for everything else.
It also came out of necessity. I was getting divorced during COVID — real fun — and I had to decide: Is this going to be a hobby or side gig that I love, or can I turn it into a business? I gave myself a year to see if I could make something of it, something that could actually help me keep a roof over my head and feed my kids.
Yitzi: So tell us more about the platform. Is it only about car seats? What does it actually do? Does it cover other topics?
Michelle: It’s a motherhood platform with a focus on how we keep our kids safe in the car. The reality is, most people come for the car seat safety content — that’s how a lot of folks find us — and I’m incredibly grateful they do. But they stay for everything else. In stories, behind-the-scenes, newsletters, all of it… at the end of the day, I’m a mom before I’m a car seat safety expert. And that part of me comes through in everything we share on the platform.
Yitzi: Amazing. You’ve probably heard some incredible stories from people you’ve helped through building this business. Do you have one or two that really stand out to you from your professional journey?
Michelle: We’ll see if I can get through this one without getting teary-eyed. I helped a family who had a six-month-old daughter and a three-year-old son. We did a virtual consult, and there were some issues with how the seats were installed. What I always tell people is, your kids are perfectly safe right now. Nothing’s happened. They’re sitting here with us. We’re good. And now, we’re just going to make them safer moving forward.
Because a lot of guilt can come up for parents when they find out something wasn’t done quite right. So we fixed her car seats virtually and got everything set up properly. She was extremely grateful.
Three days later, they were in a car crash. And everyone was fine.
Do I know for sure that everything would not be okay if we hadn’t made those adjustments? Not necessarily. But I feel pretty confident that we made an impact. If nothing else, we helped that mom and dad know they had done everything they possibly could to keep their kids safe.
Thankfully, the outcome was a good one. But even if there had been injuries, I think those parents would’ve still known they did everything in their power. That’s what I want for everyone who’s part of Safe in the Seat. I don’t want people wondering or second-guessing. And honestly, we hear stories like that a lot.
Yitzi: Beautiful. Do you have any other stories about building the business?
Michelle: Oh, do I have stories? I think probably the biggest one is getting divorced during COVID — that’s a story in and of itself. But that was also the time when I had to ask myself, is this do or die? Am I going to make this into a real business or go back to working in the nonprofit field, like I did for so many years?
My sister ended up leaving her job to help me that first year, which was incredible. It never would have happened without her. The first thing we did was get on Instagram and start posting, of course, but we also built a digital product. It was an online course called Car Seat Confidence, designed to help people who were expecting and throughout that first year.
That was when online courses were really taking off because people couldn’t go anywhere to get help. I was about a year behind on it, but hey, I was still going for it. My sister let us transform her whole house into a recording studio. Her living room had seven or eight-foot ceilings — it was the most absurd setup. We had to figure out how to film because we couldn’t see people in person. We found a videographer who would only travel between our house and theirs, masked and fully cautious.
We transformed three of her rooms. There were car seats everywhere, a vehicle seat, and I was on Facebook Marketplace trying to find things because I had no money. We were piecing it together. And in the middle of all this, I was going through a divorce. My kids were with their dad in the shared house we still had part-time, and I’d stay up until 2 or 3 in the morning with my sister on the days they weren’t with me, trying to build this course.
We had no idea what we were doing, just learning as we went. That was one of the single hardest years of my life, for so many reasons. But building that course, building the business, creating that first paid offering under those circumstances — it was something. But we did it. We figured it out.
Yitzi: So you’ve built a thriving digital community. Can you tell us exactly what’s unique and special about the community you built?
Michelle: Like everyone probably, I’d like to think that the Safe in the Seat community is unique because we’re non-judgmental. We don’t bring shame into how we approach car seat safety, and that really extends into mom life in general.
The car seat safety world is full of judgment, shame, and opinions. Hopefully, over time, we can shift that narrative, but I came into the space saying, no more. Everyone has good intentions. Everyone wants to keep their kids safe. No one is purposely doing things to put them in harm’s way. There’s just a gap here, and we can fill it — with kindness, with support.
So I think the Safe in the Seat community is very much one that’s empowering, supportive, and kind in its approach, compared to some other platforms — especially those related to safety — that go about it differently.
Yitzi: That’s actually a huge issue, handling negativity and trolling, disagreements and disengagement. Is there anything you do proactively to create a positive, wholesome digital space?
Michelle: For me, I’m pretty vulnerable. I’m open. I don’t strive for perfection before posting or jumping on stories. You’ll see me real-dressed — as we moms call it — or coming out of the gym with sweat dripping down my face.
I just try to show up and connect with people where they are because I’m living the same life. I’m a single mom with two kids, trying to run a business. I think the more we show up authentically and let people see who we really are, the stronger the connection.
And there are layers to that. Different people have different interpretations of what authenticity looks like, but that’s incredibly important to me. It guides everything we do and don’t do. It all has to align with my core values and how I want to show up.
Yitzi: Wonderful. What’s been the most challenging project or role you’ve taken on and why?
Michelle: You go from, “I have an idea,” to “I’m the founder and CEO of a company,” and that shift happens basically in the same day when you decide to build your business.
I do have a background — I have a master’s in nonprofit administration from a business school, and I’ve led teams, driven revenue, and done a lot professionally. But I had no idea how to take a concept like, “Let’s bridge the gap in safety for moms in a more approachable way,” and turn that into a business that could support team members and reach hundreds of thousands of people.
I probably make a misstep every single day. I’m still learning how to go from being the person with the idea and the one who executes it, to also leading a team. There are six other moms on my team now. So I’m figuring out how to lead, how to manage HR, how to get legal support. All these things I hadn’t really thought about — and even if I had, how would I have paid for them at the beginning?
The transition from being the idea person to being the leader, the strategist, the visionary — that’s been the most challenging and constantly evolving part of this journey.
Yitzi: There are so many hot-button issues in parenting, like vaccinations or raw milk, to name just a few. How do you know when to weigh in and when not to? How do you handle that — not just you personally, but as a brand?
Michelle: Yeah, anyone in this space faces that. I think part of it is that I try to show up really authentically in everything we do. People can hear my voice, whether it’s on YouTube, in blogs, in conversations like this — whatever the format is.
I’ve learned that I’m very sensitive to negative feedback. That’s something I’ve had to come to terms with as I’ve gone through this. You’re hyper-exposed. People can see into your life — or at least what you choose to share — and just a few negative comments can shut me down.
Because of that, I’m even more selective about what I choose to speak up about. We have a set of core values as a company, and if an issue doesn’t align with those values, we don’t talk about it.
In general, if something is polarizing, I stay far away. I let other people weigh in if they want to, but it’s not my space. It’s not my circus, not my monkeys, right? I try to stay on a pretty straight and narrow path.
There are some things I feel really strongly about and I’ll speak to those, but for the most part, if it’s controversial, I’m too chicken to go there. I respect everyone’s opinions, and they’re entitled to them, but I don’t see it as my role to influence on those kinds of topics.
Yitzi: You have so much impressive work, Michelle. Can you share some of the exciting new initiatives or projects you’re working on now, and what we can expect to see in the near future?
Michelle: A couple of things I’m really excited about. One of the big ones is that we’re getting more into the safety product space. So many items end up on store shelves simply because they make money, not because they’re safe. But consumers still buy them, often not knowing the risks.
In the last year or so, we’ve partnered with Nuby to start changing how these items are developed and sold. We created this theme called Safe in the Store — the idea being that if it’s on the shelf, parents should be able to trust it.
That’s been a fascinating journey. I’d never done product development before, but it’s becoming a big part of our future. You’ll see more from us in the accessories space, and possibly in areas related to car seat safety, automotive, and even the home — basically making safety easier for parents, with a real mom’s perspective.
What’s shocked me is how many products are created without any real input from moms. You’d think they’d be tested, you’d think moms would have given feedback — but no. These items are often developed 18 months in advance and just repeated over and over.
My team and I started asking questions like, “Why is there Velcro on this?” Moms hate Velcro — it gets dirty, hair gets stuck, it’s loud, it hurts kids’ fingers. And we’d hear, “We never thought about that.”
So we’re bringing both the safety lens and the mom perspective to the table, in rooms that have mostly been filled with men making these decisions for years. Things like, “This trash can is exactly what’s needed in the car.” Really? When’s the last time you used a trash can with toddlers in the backseat? When’s the last time a mom tested it and gave feedback?
The great news is, Nuby has been incredibly open and willing to partner with us to change how products show up on shelves. It’s been a really exciting collaboration.
Yitzi: You’re a single mom and you have this successful business. What advice can you give about balancing being a mom and an entrepreneur?
Michelle: I’m still not sure I’m the right one to give advice on that. If my daughter weren’t with my mom right now, she’d probably be under the table on her iPad while I’m talking to you — just to get by.
What I would say is, it’s messy. And as a Type A personality, living in that messy, uncertain world has definitely been a growing pain. If you’re not able to get comfortable with that, then founding a company might not be the best fit.
There’s this analogy — not mine, and I’m sure you’ve heard it before — that you’ve got a lot of balls in the air. Some are glass, some are plastic, some are bouncy. For me, on any given day or hour, it’s about figuring out which are the glass balls I absolutely can’t drop, and making sure they don’t hit the ground, even if they come dangerously close.
I generally know what those things are, but they change depending on the season, the month, even the day. What I’ve learned in this world is that it can’t be perfect to get started. You just have to go. And sometimes, good is good enough. If I waited for everything to be in place — ducks in a row, seamless systems — it would never happen.
Yitzi: Can you share with our readers some of the self-care routines that help your body, mind, and heart thrive?
Michelle: I like to work out regularly. And “a lot” might be a stretch — I just try to move my body daily. That doesn’t mean I’m spending hours at the gym, but I’ve found a great community with classes that fit my schedule. Even figuring that out took time, but it’s good for my mind, body, and soul.
I try to eat well, though that definitely fluctuates. Meal prepping has become a big part of my weekends so I’m not just eating scraps off my kids’ plates or skipping meals entirely. Honestly, I’ve only been able to do that consistently as my kids have gotten older. When they were little, self-care looked like just getting to the bathroom alone.
I also love to read — all kinds of genres. That’s something I often do in the bath, which has become part of my nighttime self-care. I take a bath pretty much every night. It’s my mom time. We even set a timer — mom gets to zone out in the bath. Again, my kids are older now, so that makes it more possible.
Yitzi: So this is our signature question, the centerpiece of our interview. Michelle, you’ve been blessed with a lot of success. I’m sure you’ve learned a lot from your experiences. Based on what you’ve learned, can you share five things you believe are essential to creating a highly successful online community?
Michelle: I wrote them down.
- The first one is what I mentioned earlier: you’re never going to feel ready. Everything is never going to feel buttoned up. Start anyway. Just go. Momentum builds momentum. That’s been a big part of what I’ve done here.
- The second one is about niching down. That can feel scary at first. Like, “I have a business about car seat safety? Seriously?” I still question how to talk about it all the time. But niching down brings people into the community, and then they start to discover that it’s about more than just how to install a car seat. We’re about car seat safety, yes, but we’re really about empowering parents and helping them feel confident. So sometimes it’s not about the product or service itself — it’s about how it makes people feel. That’s a big part of what we focus on.
- The third one: not every opportunity is worth your time. I’ve learned that the hard way. There have been moments where I made great decisions and others where I didn’t. Just because opportunities come your way doesn’t mean they’re the right ones or that it’s the right time.
- Fourth, and we touched on this already, people crave community. They crave vulnerability, honesty, authenticity — not perfection. Showing up as you are, as much as you’re willing and able to reveal, is critical.
- The fifth one: this takes time. Building trust takes time. Building community takes time. And if you’re in it just to see a monetary reward right away, then you’re probably in it for the wrong reasons. Over the past five years, I’ve built an incredible community that continues to grow. But if I wasn’t answering DMs, jumping into the comments, getting on stories and connecting — if I wasn’t meeting people where they are — that trust wouldn’t have been built. And if there’s no trust, then what’s the point?
Those are my top five. I really spent time thinking about this and jotted down a lot of ideas. I think it’s such a great question, and honestly, if you had asked me this in year one versus year five versus year ten, my answers would probably keep evolving.
Yitzi: Beautiful. Okay, this is our aspirational question. So Michelle, because of your great work and the platform you’ve built, you’re honestly a person of enormous influence. If you could spread an idea or inspire a movement that would bring the most good to the most people, what would that be?
Michelle: I don’t know if this is a movement exactly, but I’ll just share some thoughts.
What’s always been really important to me is education. I was actually a certified teacher — I don’t think I mentioned that in my origin story — and even when I worked in the nonprofit world, I was always teaching. Whether it was educating people on health or helping them understand why they should support our mission, teaching has always been at the core of what I do. And now I teach in different ways through my content and communication.
If I were to inspire a movement, it would probably center around how we can better support mothers today — how we can help them feel like they’re not constantly getting it wrong or falling short. There’s so much pressure, and I think we need to shift the narrative.
That support also extends to helping women build something for themselves, like I’ve tried to do. How do we create infrastructure, systems, and resources that fully support the amazing things women are capable of — because of their lived experiences, not in spite of them?
I don’t have a perfectly packaged movement, but I do hope I’m contributing to something like that. In my own space, I try to make moms feel good and empowered. And through sharing my story, I hope to show that if there’s something you want to start, it is possible.
I’m 45 now. I started this at 40 — an unexpected, second career. And so many people on the platform resonate with that. They see what the day-to-day really looks like. It’s not polished or perfect, but it’s real. And it’s a huge part of who I am outside of being a mom.
That’s the direction I’d love to see us move in — where women are fully seen, not just as moms, but as whole people, and where they can feel good about who they are in both worlds.
Yitzi: Sounds like you’re saying you want to be able to encourage motherhood by, first, taking away so much of the guilt and negative feelings that come with it, and second, empowering moms to be more financially successful or independent. Is that right?
Michelle: Yes, and just to help them follow what feels right for them. For me, staying at home wasn’t something I could do — for my soul, for who I am. But there are plenty of mothers for whom that is the right path, and that’s beautiful.
What I see, though, is that a lot of women stop before they even start. They think, “This is impossible. I can’t do this. Where would I even begin?” And I get it. I mean, I took car seat safety — car seat safety! — and made it into a business. That still sounds bizarre when I say it out loud. People ask me what I do, and they’re like, “Wait, what?” But it’s what I do.
I found a way to niche down and talk to people about something that gives them a real, tangible way to feel like they’re doing something right. And I try to build that behind-the-scenes story too — like, hey, if I can do this, I promise there’s a way for you to do it too.
Yitzi: First of all, if you’d told me you were 25, I would’ve believed you.
Michelle: (Laughs) Oh, that’s nice. Gosh, I miss those days terribly. I’m actually going to be 46 in December, which I can’t even believe I’m saying out loud. It’s crazy how time works.
Yitzi: We’re very blessed that prominent leaders in entertainment and business read this column, and maybe we can help connect you. Is there someone in the world — or in the U.S. — with whom you’d love to have a power lunch, collaborate, or even just grab a coffee? We could tag them on social media and maybe help make that connection happen.
Michelle: Oh, Reese Witherspoon is someone I would absolutely love to connect with. I’m fascinated by how she’s built her business. She’s an actress, and then she kind of goes quiet for a bit, and the next thing you know, she’s built this incredible brand — Hello Sunshine — and all the things she’s doing to elevate and position women’s voices. I am so here for it.
Yitzi: So how can our readers continue to follow your work? How can they engage with your community, purchase your services, or support you in any way?
Michelle: The best place is safeintheseat.com. That’s our main hub for everything. We’ve got free guides, guides you can purchase, and a really great car seat finder tool that’s totally free. It helps you figure out which car seat is the best fit for your needs.
On social, Instagram is where I’m most active. I’d encourage people to follow us @safeintheseat and just come hang out with us. Join the stories, get to know the community. It’s a really good group over there.
Yitzi: Well, Michelle, it’s been a delight — really a pleasure and a delight — to learn about what you’re doing. I wish you continued success, good health, and only happiness. I hope we can do this again next year.
Michelle: It was fun. Thanks for having me.
Michelle Pratt on Building ‘Safe in the Seat’ & Turning Car Seat Confusion into a National… was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.