Let’s Get Started

Coaching is defined by the International Coaching Federation (ICF) as “Partnering with clients in a thought-provoking and creative process that inspires them to maximize their personal and professional potential”.

I’m personally not a fan of the concept of “reaching your potential” and prefer this simple statement:

Coaching is a co-created process to help a person get from where they are now to where they want to be.

It is non-directive, meaning—in contrast to mentoring— as your coach, I don’t give advice. Instead, we work together to get curious about what’s standing in your way and how to get you unstuck.

It’s my job as the coach to professionally guide the process and you as the coachee are the expert on the content, action, and decision-making level.

Read more about how I see coaching here: https://purposefulconnection.substack.com/p/what-even-is-coaching-here-are-10

I don’t consider myself an “ADHD Coach”, but I do coach ADHD people.

Let me explain!

In my mind, an ADHD Coach works primarily with people on ADHD related topics and how ADHD is impacting their lives.

I do help people with this too, but it’s not all I do.

Instead, I support people in all areas of their lives, from career satisfaction to friendship and everything in between—with an ADHD/AuDHD lens.

While I still call myself an “ADHD Coach” in this piece, it might be helpful for you if you’re looking for ADHD specific coaching: https://purposefulconnection.substack.com/p/what-even-is-an-adhd-coach

1. Arrival. I might ask about your energy or headspace; we might start with a moment of gratitude or something you’re proud of handling really well; or we might take a moment to acknowledge something difficult that is happening in your life. If I notice you’re rushing into the session, I might invite you to take a few deep breaths before we start. We might create our own arrival ritual—especially if you (like me) find questions like “how are you today"?” overwhelming.

1. Check in. Where are you right now? A recap from last time, a question about what insights you’ve had from last time, or a check in on your action items.

2. Session topic. Where do you want to go? I ask: “what topic are you bringing today?” and we explore how it fits into your larger theme and what is important about it. We agree what you’d like to happen in the session and what you would like as an outcome—clarity, an action plan, a decision, courage, relief?

3. Support. What does support look like and how do you need me to be today? I recognize that your emotional, physical, and mental energy fluctuates, so we get curious: what do you need from me today? Gentle curiosity? A bit of a challenge? A structured approach with a framework or a free exploration? note: don’t worry if you don’t have answers to these questions right away. This is part of coaching: practicing to identify your needs and preferences, stating them, and noticing what works and what doesn’t.

4. Coaching. This is where the magic happens. I listen, ask curious questions, and might offer observations and share what I’m hearing back to you as you’re untangling your thoughts. Emotions might (will) come up and I’ll hold the space for them. We might use a framework or model here.

5. Close. We wrap up the session by reflecting together and looking forward for momentum: What is your main takeaway? What worked really well today? What do you want to do differently next time? What is your next step? How will you support yourself?

The world (especially work) often asks you to be someone you’re not—more productive, more linear, more predictable. I help you pause, reconnect to yourself, and map out your own path forward with curiosity and self-compassion.

Some of the specific moments where coaching can help:

• You’ve hit a wall with your career. The grind isn’t sustainable, but you’re not sure what comes next.

• You’ve tried every productivity trick. None of them stick because they weren’t built for your brain.

• You crave meaningful work and a purposeful life, but you’re not sure what that even means for you.

• You’re tired of masking your ADHD/AuDHD. You want to understand yourself, not fix yourself.

• You have so many ideas, but you get stuck moving from vision to action.

• You feel disconnected from yourself—your needs, desires, and rhythms—after years of trying to keep up.

• Together, we create the space, the “container” for you to explore, think, process.

• I ask curious questions while you maintain agency about where we go (in terms of topic and depth).

• I listen to you. You can take your time to find the right words; no rush; no “right” answers.

• You won’t always trust yourself (yet) and that’s okay. I got you; you got this.

• You have the space to make your own choices, without judgment.

• We partner to create an environment in which you’ll get to know your intuition, your inner wisdom, your knowing.

• From there, we create the change you want to experience.

It’s a myth that you need a clear goal to start coaching. We will figure out what truly matters to you together. You probably have a sense for the direction or the topic. It’s okay to not be able to (or want to!) put it into goal language in order to make progress or get unstuck.

While therapy often explores past experiences and mental health challenges, coaching focuses on your present and future. It's action-oriented and designed to help you move forward with intention.

We ask: How is this impacting you in the here and now? and: What do you want to do about it?

You don’t have to be ADHD or AuDHD or autistic to work with me. My coaching style and own constellation thinking happens to deeply align with ADHD/ AuDHD needs.

Self identification is valid and self-exploration and curiosity is welcome here.

While I can’t help with the diagnostic part/ assessment, I can help you navigate this time with curiosity and compassion. Coaching with me can be a brave space to say it out loud for the first time; to practice unmasking; to untangle the many thoughts and emotions.

I can help you to

• make sense of your experience,

• offer validation and support,

• find the courage to share your neurodivergent identity with the world,

• gain clarity on whether to pursue an official assessment,

• experiment with unmasking and how you show up in the world.

It depends on what success looks like for you! In the beginning of our coaching journey together, we explore what outcomes you are hoping to achieve. Throughout our sessions, we will check in on those overarching goals: Are we on track? What progress are you noticing? How is the topic you’re bringing today connected?

I also want you to know it’s common for goals to change over time. Transformation sometimes happens in the most unexpected ways and you might not even know yet what change you really need.

These are some real life examples of success stories from past clients:

C. wanted to make a shift in their career and ended up realizing what they need is to make more time for self reflection and progress check ins.

A struggled with her ADHD and wanted to feel more productive and get her routines in order. She left with an understanding that what she needed was to internalize that her worth and value isn't attached to her productivity.

A felt dissatisfied with her career and wanted help finding a new job. It turns out, what she needed was to feel that she was enough, exactly the way she is.

In the words of one of my clients:

“Coaching with you feels like having someone creative look at my brain and make me see the joy, curiosity, and playfulness at every opportunity. I suddenly see patterns and options that I may have known were there, but didn't have access to. I didn’t have the tools to bring them to the fore and articulate them in a way that made sense...until you!

It's fun looking at hard stuff with you.

It’s like a knotted chain necklace you just don’t have the time and energy to unpick to get your beautiful jewelry back, the one that you once loved so much. It feels like you can spot the specific links to pull on, just gently, in no particular - but apparently the right - order, until enough of it is unstuck and it feels easy and even enjoyable to unravel it. You provide a real momentum in that way.”

—Sophie O’Sullivan, Management Consultant

• Intuitive. Just like I invite you to tap into your inner knowing, I trust my own intuition when deciding which strands to gently pull on as we’re untangling your thoughts.

• Flexible. That question doesn’t work for you? Let’s pivot. You need more structure and a framework today? Works for me. You don’t have the energy for an action plan? Let’s take it slow.

• Compassionate. When things feel hard, it’s because they are. It also means meeting you where you are. No “shoulds” and “why don’t you just…”.

• Curious. I allow my natural curiosity to take the lead; I pick up on words and patterns and invite you to explore. I ask questions and—with permission—offer observations for us to get curious about. I might share my own ideas if we’re in a brainstorming phase, but I won’t give advice.

• Present. I am fully present with you during our conversation. I come prepared with questions and insights from previous sessions as well as ideas for structure if we need it, but once I’m in the space with you, I’m fully present and we let the conversation unfold together.

• I got you. You got this. You might not (yet) trust yourself to figure things out or to be able to step on your path; and that’s okay. I know you got this, and until you feel it, too, I got you.

• Co-created. Coaching with me is a partnership in which you have agency. I guide the conversation to establish the framework, but we make decisions together—about the goal of the session, the type of support you need, how much of a challenge feels good, and the framework (if any) we use. When we uncover a new path to explore, we pause to check in: which way do you want to go?

• Spacious. Coaching with me isn’t about quick fixes. We make space to think and explore what’s below the surface before asking: How do you want to transform this insight into action?

“What else?”

I don’t think there’s such a thing as “the best” coaching question. It’s less about phrasing the question in just the right way and more about following curiosity and intuition to pull on just the right strands to uncover what’s really going on.

When you come to coaching, I know you have already tried all of the things: journaling, self-help books, maybe even ChatGPT.

And if you’re still stuck, that means we haven’t looked around all corners yet; we haven’t peeled off enough layers to get to the unconscious. And that’s what the question “What else?” allows us to do.

I write a weekly newsletter, Purposeful Connection, on Substack. It’s a mix of helpful information, personal essays, and free offers. https://purposefulconnection.substack.com

My second newsletter, Momentum Muse, is my own Monday morning ritual: a weekly ADHD-friendly check in to set priorities and intentions for the week. https://momentummuse.substack.com

Here is a selection of my posts by topic:

• ADHD

• My Autism Side

• Conversations with others (videos)

• My burnout story

• My view on coaching

I designed my Mini Orbit package as a lower-cost option.

I also host free offers through my newsletter:

• Momentum Muse includes free body doubling sessions every Monday via Zoom

• Wicked Wednesday is a brave space to work together on hard things (monthly via Zoom)

• Time to Think: I reserve a few slots for time to think. No cost, no expectations, no commitment.

Learn more about my free community offers here.

That’s great!

1. To get started, we’ll meet for a 25-minute conversation to explore what brings you to coaching and what kind of support you’re looking for.

2. If it feels right on both sides, we’ll decide which coaching package is right for you, how often we want to meet, and when you want to get started.

3. I’ll send over a contract for you to sign and a Stripe link for payment.

4. You complete a pre-coaching questionnaire—a set of questions to get you started on your reflective journey and for me to get to know you. I have a light version if this feels overwhelming. (Not included in the mini orbit.)

5. You book sessions via tidycal unless otherwise agreed on.

6. In our first session, we will agree how to work together, debrief the pre-coaching questionnaire, refine the scope of your coaching, and set goals.

Get started now!

I am not the right coach for everyone—and that’s okay!

This is why I always end discovery calls / introduction meetings with: “I will send notes and more info in an email. Take your time to think about where you want to go from here.”

I will never ask you to make any decision on the spot.

I put together a visual guide for you here: https://purposefulconnection.substack.com/p/a-visual-guide-to-finding-the-right

I’m here to support you on your journey wherever you are—including by helping you find the right fit for you.

If you want to find out if I’m the right coach for you, contact me and ask me about a free sample session—no strings attached.