Nearly 35 years ago, I was diagnosed with ADHD - long before there were many helpful conversations about what it actually meant to live with an ADHD brain. Recognition came early for me, but at the time, there was little language or support to help me understand what came next.
Over the years, I started learning how my brain actually worked, rather than measuring myself against how I thought it was supposed to work. That understanding deepened when all three of our children were diagnosed with ADHD, each with their own unique presentation. Between raising them and spending more than 28 years working with middle and high school students in nonprofit ministry and public school settings, I got a front-row view of just how differently ADHD shows up from person to person - and the real strengths that come alongside the challenges.
Acceptance meant learning to work with my brain instead of constantly feeling like I was working against it. It also meant embracing ADHD as a family journey rather than an individual one. My husband Matt and I have navigated the joys and complexities of marriage, parenting, and neurodiversity together for over two decades - with a lot of humor and grace along the way.
I'm a Certified ADHD Coach through the 3C Activation® framework, trained by the Professional Christian Coaching Institute, and am pursuing ICF certification. Out of that combination came Simple Spark Coaching - built on the belief that progress for an ADHD brain rarely comes from complicated systems or simply trying harder. It comes from one small shift: an insight, a tool, a new understanding that ignites momentum.
The growing hasn't stopped. It shows up in my family, in my marriage, and now in the students and adults I coach. My role is to help others find their own spark, so they can move from stuck to engaged with greater clarity, confidence, and possibility. Sometimes all it takes is one simple spark.
