January – March

• Personal – The year started out with my family in mourning.
  • 2022 went out with a bang and we lost a dear family member suddenly, and all had COVID.
  • January we were feeling pretty beat up. 
  • In good news, we had added an amazing puppy to our household, making us a two dog family. 
  • We trudged through the winter months, attempting to comfort each other and emerge from mourning.
  • My first blog of the year is HERE.

• Business – In January I started to return to my path to becoming an official ADHD Coach. 
  • I began offering freebies, and I started to cultivate my mailing list. 
  • In March, I became a Certified Life Coach, and began dreaming about actually being a business owner.
  • I continued to experiment with different social media platforms and quickly figured out which ones I enjoyed and which I did not.
  • I began officially coaching through my current job on a part time basis.

April – June

• Personal – So much happened in this time period.
  • I legally changed my name which was something I had wanted to do for 20 years. It makes me so happy that it’s finally done.
  • At the end of April I officially became a Master Certified Life Coach. 
  • I got new fish, and new mice.
  • The biggest thing that had an impact on me was that I finally was adequately treated for my ADHD. For me, that meant the right meds at the right dose – and then suddenly I was able to access tools I hadn’t previously been able to utilize. I felt like a totally new person.
  • Here is my blog from April where I discuss my legal name change, among other things.

• Business – During this time period, I filed my DBA and opened officially for business, partially spurred on by the fact that I lost my other job in the beginning of May. 
  • My first intention was to be an ADHD Affirming Life and Relationship Coach, and was going to help folks with relationship struggles.
  • I began to re-do my website, build my presence, consult with an accountant, and begin setting up all the systems that need to be in place to take independent clients.
  • I began seeing clients on my own, as opposed to under another company.
  • This was my favorite ADHD post in June about Troubles with Transitions.

July – September

• Personal – I had some fun things happen over the summer.
  • I decided to step out of my comfort zone and take a casual art class from an artist I love. It met every Tuesday, and I have no art talent – but I really enjoyed taking the class, and hope to continue doing art for fun. 
  • I joined the board of a local trans organization over the summer as well, and continue to cohost the Rainbow Roc Radio Show. 
  • I got to take a trip to my magic place – VEGAS – for some relaxation and donuts!
  • I also was honored to receive a scholarship to take a 10 week course about becoming Emotionally Response-Able.  It was for my business, but it had a personally profound impact on me that has allowed me to really begin to heal from the 2020-21 “Trifecta of Trauma” in ways I hadn’t yet achieved.
  • I could breathe again.
  • Here’s a summer post I made called Summer Shenanigans. 

• Business – During this time period I realized that relationship coaching is amazing, and I’m good at it, but it was not really my passion. 
  • What lights me up inside is helping people with ADHD to understand themselves and helping parents of kids with ADHD to understand them.
  • It fills my heart each time I see a person release a feeling of shame, or understand WHY something doesn’t work for them.
  • And so I began pursuing further education and turned the business more to ADHD Affirming coaching.  For Students, for Parents, and more.
  • Business started growing organically. I’m learning how to network and put myself out there – it doesn’t come naturally!
  • My favorite ADHD Blog during this time was Coregulating with your ADHD child.

October – December

• Personal – Autumn is splendid in western NY, and it always make me feel energized.
  • I was able to get out a few times to local parks or to take drives to enjoy the gorgeous foliage.  The dogs love the cooler air, it’s perfect for chasing squirrels and butterflies.
  • I’ve had some family issues going on that aren’t mine to disclose, but I’m spending time with family when I can in addition to running a business. 
  • I also got to see a super cool inclusive adaptation of Wizard Of Oz that blew me away. 
  • In November I shared a blog called “Why Sunflowers?” – a personal story about why I use sunflowers in my branding.

• Business – I continued to grow and learn and network and am still so in love with what I am doing. Marketing myself remains my weak spot.
  • I continued taking additional ADHD specific coaching classes that will last for several months. It’s great to get to network with other people who are looking to work with ADHD communities also.
  • I became an Ambassador for The Changing Work Collective, which I believe in deeply.
  • I also joined the Board of Directors of a new non profit called Community Thrive – which also is a cause I believe in deeply. 
  • I started to offer packages this quarter, and also began to offer two free community groups for folks with ADHD or parents of folks with ADHD. 
  • I began meeting with a business mentor for SCORE as well as continuing to network with other coaches, therapists, women business owners, and more. 
  • I began to offer professional consulting, workshops, and presentations for coaches, other professionals, and organizations. 
  • Toward the end of the year, I made two posts about sensory needs that many people found helpful. The first was “Meeting Your Sensory Needs” and the second was Begin To Create Your Sensory Diet.

⁠ Don’t Delay Joy ⁠⁠

Kat Sweeney, MCLC