COACHING

CASE STUDIES

Read client experiences and stories and see how I helped them achieve their goals and improve their quality of life.

Completing College, Despite ADHD, Dyslexia, Anxiety, and Depression

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Background
JoyGenea was contacted by Sam’s parents after they bottomed out their first year of college and were starting sophomore year at a new school. Sam was struggling to navigate major anxiety, depression, dyslexia, ADHD, and sleep troubles. They are highly intelligent and were determined to be successful in college and graduate. The goal of our coaching was to add accountability and help them get through the college system.

Challenge
Sam’s neurology and sleep issues meant it was hard to keep a consistent cadence. It was a priority to find a balance between accountability and honesty. Inconsistency was hard to work through especially because of the college schedule that meant classes, books, and professors changed every semester. If a class wasn’t going to work, the goal was to figure that out in the first week or at least withdraw before an F ended up on the report card. These changes also mean that neurodiverse people have to have conversations with new professors about the accommodations they need over and over and recreate a system that works each semester. After graduation, the challenge became acquiring a full-time job.

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Solution
Accountability and coaching from a non-parental figure made a big difference for Sam. JoyGenea helped them learn themselves and create an evolving system which included building a support team that would continue into adulthood. This team included a daily money manager and continued coaching with JoyGenea. The coaching JoyGenea provided included weekly meetings where they would set goals as well as text follow-ups to stay on track. At times Solutions by JoyGenea also helped educate Sam’s parents and helped them support Sam. An example of this was when Solutions by JoyGenea and Sam’s mother talked about Sam’s medications and felt like they weren’t helping. They decided to have a team meeting to go over all the diagnostic information Sam had. Through this meeting, everyone decided the combination of meds didn’t seem like the right fit. This prompted Sam to see the Psychiatrist, where they got more testing, and she ended up with better anti-anxiety meds and tools to help keep their struggles with sleep in check. We made sure meds are filled and she’s taking them regularly. As we identified struggles, JoyGenea coached them through learning what their strengths and weaknesses were and asking what they had control over and how to create a system to support their success.

Result
Sam succeeded in college and graduated! They are learning how to manage their anxiety and are fully employed in their field of study in a job that works for their neurodiversity where they can listen to audiobooks and music while working.


Running a Business and Being Run by ADHD

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Background
Dan is a high executive ADHD entrepreneur who was out of balance in his family and business life. He is a prominent business owner and a classic example of the ideal entrepreneur. He is a father, and husband. Dan studied business in college and started implementing successful businesses while still in school. Why he came to Solutions by JoyGenea for coaching, Dan didn’t want to keep leading how he had been because he knew it was stressful for those around him and himself. He didn’t see what was missing. He had a full plate and works well that way, but the balance of business and family needed to be shifted.

Challenge
Like many business owners, it was challenging to have so much power and not fall into the trap of expecting everyone else to think the same way as him. Dan already successfully played into his strengths but was not clear on the effects of his own neurology and weaknesses on his business, employees, and relationships. In his business, no one was talking about his weaknesses, and he needed to be able to identify them and start that conversation. Dan needed to create systems to work with his weaknesses that moved fast enough for his efficiency level. He wanted to be a better boss, delegate more, and keep track of things, which required him to slow down a bit.

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Solution
Meeting weekly Solutions by JoyGenea worked with Dan to identify what was successful and should be increased, and what wasn’t and dig into why. They researched and learned his neurology and identified that he experiences time blindness and that was affecting his expectations of everyone else. Because of his time blindness, Dan needed help to recognize that he had expectations based on his sense of his own ability to get things done faster than was possible and he applied those expectations to employees as well. Solutions by JoyGenea helped Dan learn to delegate, break things down, and base timelines on employees’ own estimates of when they could get something done. Solutions by JoyGenea supported Dan in implementing technologies to communicate better with his wife about scheduling and identifying when he needs to get out of his own way.

Result
When Dan initially sought out Solutions by JoyGenea’s services his company had 2 employees. By the time they finished coaching he had 25 employees and a multi-million-dollar company. His anxiety was much better managed, and he was generally calmer. Dan became clear and communicative with delegation to his staff. Understanding his strengths and weaknesses allowed Dan to share that information with his staff and create an environment where they were able to ask more questions and he was able to identify what would be too much for him to take on and delegate.


Entrepreneurship, Anxiety, and an Everchanging World

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Background
Linda contacted Solutions by JoyGenea about a quilting retreat business she and her partner John had established in 2018 in a lovely house on her in-law’s farm in the country that they bought and moved to. An economic downturn hit and no one was visiting and suddenly they had breathing room to find out what they didn’t know as first-time business owners.

Challenge
Navigating systems during the economic downturn and educating themselves on business ownership were some big tasks on Linda and John’s plate. Being first-time business owners, they didn’t know what they didn’t know. They were also dealing with a neighbor who had wanted to buy the property himself and called the county assessor because he felt the property should be reassessed thereby making it less useful to the clients and forcing them to sell to him. JoyGenea helped them navigate the emotions that went with this process and helped them locate a trusted advisor to work with them. Linda and John went to the township meetings and the county assessor decided not to re-classify their property.

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Solution
Bi-weekly virtual coaching sessions to maintain accountability, clarify focus points, eliminate barriers to getting things done, and support decisions they had made between meetings. Linda and John worked through accountability tasks and benefitted from JoyGenea’s life coaching expertise to dive into the fact that this was a scary venture in some ways and talk about how long they wanted to do this. Create an exit strategy document to help each person know the other person’s expectations, limitations, goals, and how to end this peacefully without harming their relationship.

Result
Through their time with Solutions by JoyGenea, Linda and John implemented a better payment system and policy upgrades that brought more clarity. They increased booking to the point where they are scheduling a year and a half out when they finished coaching in 2021, a stark contrast to the one booking they had when they started coaching. They raised their rates and increased their fees. The business ran well and wasn’t running them, they were now confident in the decision that they had made and their ability to make the right decisions moving forward. Linda and John built a team of trusted professionals to support their growth including a banker, an accountant, the entrepreneur fund, and an insurance representative.


The Power and Value of Group Coaching

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Background
Group coaching is one way that you can access a coach and learn from other people if you’re not able to afford 1 on 1 coaching right away.

A group of neurodiverse professionals wanted to gain an edge over their competition and deal with some fatigue they were experiencing during the economic downturn. They had busy schedules, loved learning, and were looking for accountability that went beyond a call with a punch list and little engagement.

Challenge
Finding a time that everyone could meet was the first issue. The next challenge was to help everyone feel comfortable to open up to the group– creating a virtual space where people felt they could trust each other quickly and connect personally. We needed to enable each person to gain valuable insight about themselves and to help others see things in their blind spots. Another challenge was to increase each member’s knowledge and communication about equity, diversity, and inclusion. And finally, we needed everyone to carve out the time and commit to 6-12 months to really get a lot out of the coaching.

Solution and Result
Once we found a date and time, Solutions by JoyGenea created a structure to enable eight people to check in and communicate with each other in an hour to an hour and a half. This structure meant that people got to hear where others were successful, where they needed help, and discover possible solutions to situations holding them back. Group members stopped having fatigue amongst staff and elsewhere and were better able to handle difficult situations with win-win outcomes. Each member expanded their knowledge of their own biases, how those biases played out for others, and some ways that they could improve their communication around this topic. The group coaching improved the quality of retirement years for some and improved the quality of business revenue and engagement for others. Each member reported a decrease in the amount of stress in their lives and an increase in their ability to shift that stress energy into productive gifts and opportunities. Overall, the group members continue to become happier and less stressed after each meeting.

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