Shoshana Gourdin
Hello! I'm Shoshana Gourdin, coach and owner of Gourdin Coaching. I have 20 years of experience as a coach, manager, and executive. I started in the technology industry, developing expertise in working with people on the ADHD and Autism spectrum before choosing to focus on coaching full time. My professional interest lies in the space between ideas and reality--how to turn desires into work to manifest change.
My area of specialty is executive function, which can include
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habit formation
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time management
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organization and decluttering
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navigating bureaucracy (eg. taxes, health insurance)
To hear me talk about coaching, you can find Gourdin Coaching on YouTube. I am also Gourdin Coaching on BlueSky and I'd love to chat there. You can find my career page on LinkedIn.
Practical techniques for practical results
When we work together, our goal will be to find patterns and habits that allow you to take charge of your own life. For example, we might talk about what types of to-do lists work for you, or when in the day you are most energized and productive. If you are stuck on a particular task, we can break that task down into smaller parts or figure out how to get you help. We may do certain things together on a call, practicing with support, or talk about the reasons a small task seems hard, and look for solutions together. You may have "homework" from one session to the next.
You get to set the goals you want to work on--we can work on a particular project or on long-term habits. Coaching takes time, so sessions are sold in packages. We will track your progress together, and you will be able to see all of our notes. When your package is complete, you can change services or take what you have learned and pursue your own goals.
Client Experiences
Shoshana helped me focus my career search, stay accountable through body doubling, and keep my confidence up when I doubted myself. Her perspective is compassionate and well-timed. She is direct without being blunt, and she knows exactly when a nudge will be well received.
--Jo G.
I was recently a bit at sea with health issues forcing a mid-life career change and a houseful of neurodiverse family members struggling to keep themselves independently organized. A series of sessions with Shoshana was so helpful to me in obtaining clarity about focusing on my health, navigating a unique job search, and better understanding how to handle executive function issues in a family system. Shoshana is smart, funny, and insightful--an absolute joy to talk to! The support, focus, gentle goal setting, and accountability she provided have been invaluable. I highly recommend Shoshana as a coach, and I can see myself using her services repeatedly over the years as I navigate new challenges.
--Catherine L.
Shoshana is really good at getting me out of my head where I’m spinning my wheels and into a state where I’m actually reliably moving forward.
--Ariel S.
Shoshana gets to the central issue in everything we discuss, and she offers suggestions that both address the issue head on and that work for me.
--Gene W.
Shoshana helped me to make a lot of progress with my career change plans by focusing on my strengths, which in my case was networking. She pointed me in the direction of mutual contacts who were super helpful in teaching me more about Program Management and how to get myself a job that I can succeed in.
She has helped me feel a lot less bad about myself as a professional, which is a lot of what was holding me back.
I look forward to talking to her because she always peps me up, and the homework she gives is manageable and helpful, and when I don't finish it all she is super positive about what I did accomplish.
--Rachel A.
Shoshana’s work with me has already been invaluable. Her coaching has given me ‘tools’ I am using that have already made a significant difference in my approaches to what is important to me and what I want to accomplish. I can now move forward on tasks/projects that seemed overwhelming or that I put aside and pile up (e.g. so I now stop myself, make a choice and often take care of the matter at that time.) Other effective tools: giving myself a reward after making progress on a goal is motivating, and body-doubling is another tool that works and is fun!
A very valuable aspect of this coaching for me is that instead of being stymied and feeling unable to move forward with a goal, no matter how big or small, those things no longer control me externally and internally. I have tools to use to move forward! I feel lighter, freer and more confident and hopeful. And, Shoshana is there, coaching me along with her experience, insight, understanding and support.
--Peggy W.
I hadn't written a blog article in 8 months, when I first met with Shoshana. Within a week-- before our second meeting-- I started writing, and published the post a few weeks later.
--Kendra B.
You’ve got this!
Even if you are feeling uncertain right now, I have faith in you and I’m here to help.
Key questions, so I have a sense of what to help with
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Why are you looking for coaching?
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What is one thing you’d like to achieve together? How would you feel about starting work on that as our first topic?
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What have you already tried or thought of?
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What is holding you back?
Expectations
We are going to do a lot of talking, sometimes about hard or embarrassing things. This is intended to be an environment free of shame. If you want to turn off your camera or switch to using the chat feature, you can. You do not need to make eye contact. You may have and use fidgets, including food and drink. It may be helpful for some types of coaching to show me what your problem literally looks like, especially if we are working on decluttering or physical organizing.
You will have assignments between sessions. This is to help you practice what we talk about so it can start helping you. If you cannot finish your assignments, that is okay–we’ll talk about what happened.
We will have a shared document where we will record what we have talked about and what we hope for. We are the only two people with access unless you want to share it with someone else. We should put things here that are appropriate to store in Google cloud, and we will never put anything here that you do not want recorded. Certain topics may lead to us looking for other experts.
I am not a doctor, lawyer, financial expert, religious leader, or other specialized professional. You may need other experts in your life to help you, and we can work on that together.
Some of what we talk about will be emotional. It is okay to have and display feelings, and to swear or cry or tell jokes. It is not acceptable to be rude to each other, or to disparage other peoples’ race, gender, age, sexuality, religion, or other protected characteristics.
Coaching takes time. You should feel more hopeful and have things to work on promptly. Lasting change will take weeks to months, which is why we have a set of sessions together.
Requests, to help make our sessions more effective
Speak up! This is your time, for you. If you need something, say so. If you need to take a break, say that too.
Give me feedback. This is harder than it sounds, but like most people I get better if I know what is working and not working. I will not take polite feedback personally.
