Cost might have prevented me from hiring Marla.
But I decided that life is too short not to invest in something to make my life and the lives of the people around me better. I was able to sort through issues, and put the spotlight on what was important, instead of letting the ideas swirl about in my head. I also gained self awareness and self acceptance through our work together.
Marla is an excellent coach; she is a student of her work. She is also smart, warm and compassionate. I always felt respected when working with her.
If you are ready to work, I would recommend working with Marla.
P.M., Independent Career Counselor
Now, I feel more confident in my abilities… I realize I do have options. How freeing!
Coaching with Marla was very useful, and also essential. I do not know want I would have done w/o the Sunday night periods of going over the past week, looking forward to the next week, and making a plan. The actual phone check ins on Tuesdays…crucial, to help me get clear, as well as for the simple act of accountability.
Marla served as a focal point (as in, 'oh, yeah, this was what I was doing'), and–at times–as an anchor that grounded things. I can not imagine having had to go through the past 6 months w.o someone 'outside' me, and my life, to help me stay the course.
Now, I feel more confident in my abilities, in what I have to offer. I realize I do have options. How freeing! Lastly, but certainly not least, I have a very, very clear sense of my values, and I am using those to guide me, and that helps me to trust in my course.
Cindy R., Writer and Editor
After working with Marla through her sophomore, junior and senior years, she graduated with honors!!!!
Marla is a very personable ADD coach, who helped my daughter get back on track, to salvage her college career. My daughter (who in HS was a AB student while living at home, and under parents' supervision) became a college student who was placed on academic probation after her freshman year. By my daughter's junior and senior year, after working with Marla through her sophomore, junior and senior years, she graduated with honors!!!! We feel that Marla's coaching was indispensible. Our daughter learned time management, how to set priorities and was able to complete assignments she was proud of. Our daughter continues to use the skills she learned through Marla, in her professional career today.
Shirley Crosswaith, Parent
What I gained from working with Marla was invaluable.
Cost was definitely a factor when I decided to work with Marla, but I knew that this is what good professionals charge. Being able to make choices that are right for me and learn strategies that last a life time is invaluable to me. The investment was certainly worth it.
Marla was consistently supportive, positive and uncritical. I learned to honor the way I work best, and am more accepting of my ADD and other characteristics. Now I ask myself, how can I get what I need to get done without running against my own personality? After learning more about ADD from Marla, I don't think of my challenges as a personal weakness. This change in my thinking allows me to better handle my challenges by thinking of strategies to manage them, rather than engaging in self blame!
From working with Marla, I learned a lot about goal setting, meeting objectives, and doing that as a person with ADD.
If you are stuck or frustrated, I would certainly hire Marla as a coach.
C. O., Financial Manager
I definitely make better decisions now! I've even raised my prices.
I now have money in savings! When we first spoke I was going to 0 every
single month. I definitely make better decisions now! I've even raised my prices.
Thank you so much for all of your help. Working with you was truly life
changing! You ROCK!
Jessica P., Professional Photographer
Together we identified obstacles that were preventing me from truly going after the job that I would be happiest in.
I'm balancing a full workload (I currently have 4 part-time jobs), graduate school, and 15-20 hours of training as a competitive cyclist. For a few years, I was having trouble committing myself to finding a new job and this was, in turn, making it difficult for me to work toward my graduate degree. Together we identified obstacles that were preventing me from truly going after the job that I would be happiest in. I recently overcame a major hurdle in my progress toward my degree and am in touch with an increasing pool of potential employers.
Marla is a time management guru, to be sure, but her most unique skill is her ability to ask questions that help me to step outside of myself for a moment and take a hard look at my motivations and decision making processes. Her questions have helped me to become more independently active in that I now know how to ask myself the kinds of questions that Marla might ask me. Without Marla's help, I probably would not be as far along in my job search as I am now and would still be far from finishing my degree. Thanks, Marla!
Paul D., PhD Candidate / High School Teacher
I clarified my goals, identified communication issues, fuzzy planning and established personal accountability.
In working with Marla, I received practical organizing and planning techniques, inspiration and empowering suggestions. Through our work, I clarified my goals, identified communication issues, fuzzy planning and established personal accountability. Marla helped me work with each issue as developing life skills and emphasized personal responsibility. Marla is an excellent coach and compassionate, encouraging mirror. I recommend her without any reservations.
Fred B., Business Consultant
Marla's work is not superficial- it is not just finding the quick and easy solution but how I can do things differently in my life so I won’t have this problem down the road.
Within my first few weeks of college, I had already felt extremely overwhelmed. The classwork was much different from what I was used to during high school. There wasn't anyone directly looking out for me and I just needed someone wise to talk to and help me get through this stressful time.
Throughout the last five months, Marla and I have worked on a wide variety of skills. Some of these are how to think through decisions, how to speak up for myself and how to manage my time better. Most importantly, she is someone whose opinion I completely trust. It is easy to open up to her and she is among the best listeners I have ever met. …her professional manner offers the client the perfect kind of support: someone who really cares about what you're going through yet is able to offer an outsider's view.
After discussing whatever is on my mind, whether it be a goal that I wanted her to help me work on or a problem I needed her to help to figure out, Marla always asks me to reflect on what I've learned and what I'm going to do differently in the future. This shows the client that Marla's work is not superficial- it is not just finding the quick and easy solution but how I can do things differently in my life so I won’t have this problem down the road.
She is a life coach, someone who inspires you to be the best person you can be. I could not recommend working with Marla more or place such a high value on her effect on my life at college.
Josh L., College Student
Marla has been tremendously helpful in keeping me “on track” with important and complex projects during a time when I cannot afford to get lost.
At the same time, she is helping me realize that while avocational goals are important, so too are relationships and personal fairness. In our last meeting, Marla helped me begin to tackle a lifelong misapprehension of time and how to gain control of it.
More important than problems solved is my greater confidence in addressing problems and trying to solve them, rather than simply quitting because no resolution is apparent.
Marla offers a non-judgemental, objective appreciation for the large and small difficulties and success that are not apparent to myself, and a way to order these things so that they can be confronted and appreciated, respectively.
She has helped me see what appear to be insurmountable problems as just small impediments. Specifically, she has goaded me into making phone calls to people that I didn’t think would want to hear from me, and to do everything to keep communications channels open.
She has also helped me by keeping a focus on the challenge I feel in organizing and constantly reviewing how to strike a balance between letting my schedule get out of control and focusing too intently on it and thus losing track of the bigger picture.
Josh D., Professional Writer and Editor
Marla was my second coach. The first one did not really help me, so I was kind of skeptical.
Marla’s help was astonishing. After only a few calls she seemed to have me figured out pretty well.
She called me on empty promises, pushed me just enough never too much, and together we came up with tools that actually work and which I actually use. She has an uncanny ability to know how far she can push me without ticking me off. Thanks to that I never felt pressure to lie about or excuse what I had done or how I was doing.
After living with ADD for many years I started believing that I was lazy, stupid, and crazy. Marla was able to convince me that I was none of these by helping me solve small issues and get a track record of success. Once those things were accomplished, many of the pieces sort of fell in to place.
Marc D., Software Engineer
Marla’s support was critical in reducing anxiety after receiving the diagnosis of ADD.
Marla’s support was critical in reducing anxiety after receiving the diagnosis of ADD. She imparts information in a warm, impartial, professional manner. Marla is always on your side and willing to work at your pace. At the same time, she challenges you to think about your daily decisions and how they impact your life, and your options for change, should you desire it. Marla helps you identify, prioritize, and focus on weaknesses in a nonjudgmental way and plants the seeds of ideas for you to follow up on, either immediately, or in the future when you’re ready.
Above all, she compliments your strengths.
Jane F., Parent
…while working with Marla, I have been able to move into a career that I have always wanted to be in…
I spent many years with undiagnosed ADD not knowing why I had such difficulty with staying focused, starting projects and having difficulty finishing them, unable to prioritize what I needed to do in my life, and many of the other symptoms. I finally sought help through a physician who recommended taking medication. It was also suggested I find an ADD coach to help me re-learn new ways of managing my ADD. I contacted Marla, and after the first conversation I felt comfortable enough to give the coaching a try.
After a few sessions working with Marla, she was able to help me start developing the goals and tools I needed to start clearing the clutter in my life. Today using the different techniques that I have learned while working with Marla, I have been able to move into a career that I have always wanted to be in, manage my time more efficiently, and complete projects to the end. It is good to know that you do not make the journey alone with ADD. I look forward to working with Marla now and in the future.
Chris E., Support Analyst
