Bridging Behavioral Science, Storytelling, Wellness Education & Whole-Person Sleep
Meet Irene Smalls, MBA, Founder of SleepWiseHealth, Certified Health & Wellness Sleep Consultant, award-winning author, storyteller, educator, entrepreneur, and longtime advocate for healthier individuals, families, and communities.
Irene brings an unusually multidimensional background to the field of sleep. Her work draws upon more than 25 years of experience in behavior change, wellness education, presentations, and education, combined with a career that has crossed business, publishing, children’s literacy, community leadership, and health and wellness.
Her continuing professional development in sleep includes education through the International Parenting & Health Institute’s Integrative Adult Sleep Coach Certification and Holistic Children & Teens Sleep Coach Certification programs, further expanding a professional foundation that already encompasses both adult and child sleep.
What makes Irene’s story especially compelling is that sleep is not an isolated specialty within her work. It intersects with a much larger career devoted to understanding how people learn, behave, communicate, grow, and thrive.
A Foundation in Behavioral Science, Business & Education
Irene is a graduate of Cornell University and earned an MBA from New York University. Her NYU Stern background included behavioral science and marketing, disciplines that would become particularly relevant throughout a career focused on human behavior, education, communication, and wellness. Her public biographies identify her Cornell bachelor’s degree in Black Studies.
That foundation gives Irene an interesting perspective on sleep.
Sleep does not exist independently of behavior, environment, culture, education, family life, stress, or health. Understanding how people actually make and sustain changes is therefore an important part of helping individuals and communities improve their relationship with sleep.
Today, Irene brings those worlds together through SleepWiseHealth.
From Children’s Literature & Storytelling to Wellness Education
Long before establishing SleepWiseHealth, Irene built an accomplished career as a children’s author and storyteller.
She is the author of numerous children’s books and has been published by major publishing houses including Hachette/Little, Brown, Scholastic, and Simon & Schuster. Her work has explored childhood, family, culture, identity, community, and the experiences of Black children.
Her expertise in communication extends beyond the written page.
Irene’s work as an educator, storyteller, presenter, and speaker reflects an ability to translate ideas into experiences people can understand and remember, an important skill when helping individuals and families make meaningful changes in health behavior.
Her professional profile also includes Literacise, an educational concept connecting movement, neuroscience, and literacy. Cornell has highlighted her work in this area as part of her broader career in education and community leadership.
More Than 25 Years in Behavior Change & Wellness Education
Through SleepWiseHealth, Irene now brings this extensive background into sleep and wellness.
Her professional bio describes more than 25 years of experience in high-impact presentations, behavior change, and wellness education, with expertise that includes adult and child sleep, organizational wellness, evidence-based behavior change, and transformational presentations.
SleepWiseHealth provides workshops, trainings, keynotes, and wellness sessions for companies, organizations, programs, individuals, and communities.
The larger mission recognizes something central to whole-person health: sleep influences how we function across nearly every area of our lives.
Rather than viewing sleep only as what happens after someone gets into bed, Irene’s broader background creates opportunities to consider the behaviors, education, experiences, and environments surrounding it.
Expanding Across the Lifespan
Irene’s continued education through IPHI expands her study of sleep across two distinct populations: adults and children/teens.
Through the Integrative Adult Sleep Coach Certification Program, sleep is examined within the larger context of whole-person health and the multiple physical, emotional, environmental, behavioral, and lifestyle factors that can influence it.
Her education through the Holistic Children & Teens Sleep Coach Certification Program extends that perspective across childhood and adolescence, where sleep can intersect with development, family systems, emotional well-being, school, technology, social experiences, lifestyle, and the changing needs of growing children.
This broader lifespan perspective complements a career already centered on education, behavior, children, families, and wellness.
A Remarkable Legacy of Leadership
Irene’s professional story also extends far beyond health and sleep.
As a student at Cornell, she became part of an important chapter in the university’s history.
Cornell identifies Irene Smalls ’71 as one of the founders of the Cornell Black Alumni Association, established in 1976. Cornell also describes her as the visionary behind the organization and credits her with founding Wari House, which created residential community for Black women at Cornell.
In 2026, as the Cornell Black Alumni Association marked its 50th anniversary, Irene was formally recognized among its visionary founders.
This history adds another dimension to her work today: Irene has spent decades creating spaces in which people can learn, connect, feel represented, and thrive.
An Accomplished Media & Public Presence
Irene’s voice and work have reached audiences well beyond her individual clients and programs.
According to SleepWiseHealth, she has appeared or been featured on PBS, ABCNY, NBC10, WBZ Boston, and The Tamron Hall Show, while her work has appeared in publications including The New York Times, Newsweek, People, The Christian Science Monitor, Black Enterprise, The Chicago Tribune, Boston Magazine, The Boston Globe, and Essence.
GBH also profiles Irene as a storyteller and writer and documents her longstanding work in children’s literature.
Across these different chapters: author, storyteller, educator, behavioral-science professional, entrepreneur, community leader, and sleep and wellness professional—a consistent thread emerges:
helping people live, learn, and function more fully.
Bringing It Together Through SleepWiseHealth
Today, Irene brings many of these experiences together through SleepWiseHealth.
Her approach sits at the intersection of sleep, behavior change, wellness education, communication, culture, and community health.
And that combination matters.
Sleep challenges rarely exist in isolation. People’s sleep experiences are influenced by their health, behaviors, stress, responsibilities, environments, families, knowledge, and access to meaningful support.
Professionals who can see those connections bring an important perspective to the evolving field of sleep health.
At the International Parenting & Health Institute, we are proud to highlight professionals whose backgrounds demonstrate the many disciplines that can contribute to a more comprehensive understanding of sleep.
Irene Smalls, MBA is a powerful example of what becomes possible when decades of experience in behavioral science, education, storytelling, wellness, and community leadership converge with the study of sleep.
Learn More About Irene Smalls
Irene is the Founder of SleepWiseHealth, where she provides sleep and wellness education, consulting, workshops, presentations, and organizational programming.
PROFESSIONAL PROFILE
Irene Smalls, MBA
Founder, SleepWiseHealth
Certified Health & Wellness Sleep Consultant
Award-Winning Children’s Author & Storyteller
Behavior Change & Wellness Educator
Speaker & Presenter
Cornell University Graduate
MBA, NYU Stern School of Business
Co-Founder, Cornell Black Alumni Association
Founder, Wari House
Boston / New York, USA
IPHI Professional Education:
Integrative Adult Sleep Coach Certification Program
Holistic Children & Teens Sleep Coach Certification Program
Celebrating Irene Smalls
We are honored to feature Irene Smalls, MBA, as part of the International Parenting & Health Institute’s Professional Spotlight series.
Irene’s remarkable career reflects decades of leadership, creativity, education, entrepreneurship, behavioral science, wellness, and community impact. As she continues to expand her work in sleep across the adult, child, and teen populations, she brings with her a depth of professional and life experience that enriches the field.
We are proud to have Irene as part of the IPHI professional community and look forward to seeing how she continues to bring together behavioral science, wellness education, storytelling, and whole-person sleep through her work with SleepWiseHealth.
