Frequently Asked Questions
New to coaching? Start here.
These are the most common questions I get asked by newcomers.
The Basics
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Coaching with me is a co-created experience. We’ll explore your goals, values, and strengths and discover how to use them to shape the life you want to live.
After an initial consultation (I like to call them “chemistry calls”), all engagements begin with a Foundation Workshop, a 3-4 hour guided session where we’ll:
Complete a series of exercises and informal assessments
Explore multiple dimensions of you, your life, and your current reality
Clarify your intentions and define the work we want to do together
You’ll receive a copy of the exercises and assessment results. We use this material to measure growth in your beliefs, behaviors, and overall direction.
After that, we meet regularly for 50-minute coaching sessions. Over the course of our time together, we’ll use these sessions to:
Create personalized strategies to direct your attention on what’s most important.
Tackle present challenges and areas where you feel stuck.
Develop your confidence and train skills in engaging with self-criticism.
Build strategic, actionable life plans that reflect your evolving sense of self.
Above all, coaching works by co-creating a unique dynamic between the two of us. If we decide to work together, we’ll intentionally, and regularly, check in on the quality of our collaboration.
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There’s definitely some overlap between therapy and coaching, especially when it comes to managing attention issues. Here’s my take on the biggest distinctions:
Therapy often looks back – examining our history to identify experiences that inform our present moments.
Coaching often looks forward — encouraging us to define the future we want, and commit to structured actions towards making that happen, while learning a bit more about ourselves in the process.
That said, my style of coaching most closely resembles cognitive behavioral therapy (CPT), which focuses on thought patterns, behavior, and change.
You might experience therapeutic moments in coaching – that’s a given, when you’re doing earnest work at self-development – but coaching is not therapy from a methodological perspective.
Typically, clients who do therapy and coaching at the same time experience a generative intersection - a one-two punch of building self-knowledge and taking action. When clients have experience with therapy, a coach might “take charge” at the outset to transition clients out of reflective storytelling mode, and into future visualization work. That said, I always ask for permission to do so, and I have no attachment to the suggestions I offer. This is your process. I’m just here to support it.
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Here’s generally how it works:
You set the agenda, based on whatever’s on your mind.
We collaborate to understand and define the work to do.
We co-create specific actions to take at the end of the session.
At the following session, we explore what you learned from the week prior, and then dive into a new piece of work. Every week may feel different.
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100%! What happens in our sessions stays in our sessions, just like seeing a therapist. Even if your employer is sponsoring your coaching, my allegiance is to you. I will never share anything about our sessions, with your employer, family or anyone else, unless you instruct me to.
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If you're based in NYC, we can connect in person at my office in Midtown. If it’s nice out, we can take a walk or meet in the park. Outside NYC? Typically, we’ll meet virtually by Zoom.
Services
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Generally, clients who get the most out of my coaching are people who want to:
Address attention and/or self-image challenges that are affecting their work
Develop a leadership style that feels more authentic and empowering to them
Get structured support in achieving their goals in work, life, and family
Feel seen in their passion, intellect, and unique gifts
Work on themselves in a safe container, without the need to “mask” or perform
That said, I’ve worked with all types of clients, from college students, to young, first-time managers to senior executives wanting to design the last chapter of their career.
If you’re curious about working with me, I encourage you to schedule a consultation, or as we in the coaching world like to call them, “chemistry calls.” Chemistry is intangible and unpredictable, after all – we might surprise each other!
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I’ve studied attention deeply - through my background in education, my coaching training, and my own lived experience with ADHD, which I was diagnosed with as an adult.
If you have ADHD like me, then you know it’s both a curse and a gift! Interestingly, many coaching methodologies designed for "neurotypicals" are well-suited for those with ADHD brains.
The converse is also true – many frameworks designed for folks with ADHD are extraordinarily useful for any person looking to build a healthier, more sustainable relationship with how they manage their attention.
In our work together, we’ll clarify your goals around attention, build attention management skills, and strengthen your muscle for personal accountability. Most importantly, we’ll work towards the self-acceptance that enables you to live life more fully, and allows you to see your mind as an ally to work with, not an adversary you need to fix.
To state the obvious - I don’t, nor do the best neuroscientists in the world, know exactly how the brain works. Our understanding of how attention works is constantly evolving. I am an avid student of learning the latest approaches and best practices on attention management and neurodiversity. I also lead the Case Collaboration programming committee for the ADHD Coaching Organization (ACO).
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No! I work with many neurotypical clients. While a big part of my coaching is around attention, it’s only one part under a larger umbrella of personal improvement, leadership development, and strategic advisory.
(That said, my dad happens to be the academic who came up with the theory of Multiple Intelligences, so in some ways, I think everyone is a lil’ neurodivergent.)
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Yes! As long as both individuals are committed to the work, I love working with couples.
First, I help you identify and build towards goals as individuals, and goals as a partnership.
Depending on your objectives and goals, I may suggest reading, experiments or inquiries more proactively. Typically, couples coaching involves more education and specific time dedicated to clarifying and expectation setting.
In couples coaching, I engage you together as a unit. This means our chemistry, intake and ongoing coaching session will be with both partners.
If we agree, we may mix in a few 1:1 sessions in between. If we decide to mix in individual sessions, we collectively commit to the degree of transparency for individual sessions.
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Yes! Back in my corporate days, I was most energized by mentoring individuals and building teams. Before that I taught for a loooooong time and know that learning happens through interactivity and differentiated instruction. If working with a team, I’ll mix up whole group, small group and individual work. Contact me to discuss your needs and determine if my approach is a good fit.
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Yes. Energizing and aspirational, my keynotes emphasize interactivity and engagement, with very little “sit n’ git!” Within the leadership and coaching sphere here are some examples of topics I can speak on:
How to Be an Compassionate Manager to Employees with ADHD
The 3 Key Components to Effective ADHD Management Programs
Harnessing Discomfort to Meet Your Goals
Finding Focus: Attention Management for the Juggling Parent
Inclusive Workshop Facilitation Skills for Coaches
Contact me to discuss your needs and determine if my approach is a good fit.
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I’m proud to serve as lead faculty with Adaptive Leadership+, a NY based organization supporting change management using adaptive leadership methodology with C-suite executives and organizations around the world. The Explorer program begins with a 1:1, confidential, 2-day retreat designed to build clarity, a decision-making protocol and an action plan for the client’s next chapter. After the 2 day retreat, I work with the individual for 6 months to implement insights and create the change they envision during the retreat. Learn more here: https://www.adaptandlead.com/for-executives
Emily Capidulupo
SVP of Research, Data, & Algorithms @ Whoop
“The idea of [coaching] was a mix of terrifying and exciting, but I'm happy to share that thanks to the disarmingly friendly way Andrew shepherded me through, I was able to quickly open up, go deep, and get true clarity.”
Goals & Outcomes
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That’s totally okay - most people don’t. Part of my job as a coach is to help you figure them out, one clear step at a time.
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The foundation we build in our first session together (refer to the very first question on this page, “How does coaching work?”) will be our first reference point in tracking growth in how you’re thinking, feeling, and acting. As we work together, we’ll iterate on that foundational data - continually adding layers of nuance and specificity to your goals, values, and self-view.
Progress shows up in many ways - clarity, consistency, mindset shifts, or simply feeling more like yourself. Sometimes, especially if you’re addressing self-esteem or confidence issues, the biggest sign of progress isn’t what you’re doing, but how you’re relating to yourself as you do it.
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It depends on the complexity of your goals and your commitment and openness to your process. We will work together to build an alliance that works for us both.
I typically work in chunks of 3-6 months, and promise that you will gain tools and strategies in that amount of time. I aim to make myself obsolete.
Working with Andrew
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My style is collaborative, dynamic, and designed to work with your brain - not against it. Here’s what that looks like in practice:
I blend structured tools with improvisation, drawing from my background in education, coaching, and music.
I’m direct, but gentle. I listen closely, ask thoughtful questions, and care deeply about fostering safety.
I offer ideas, but I’m never prescriptive. If you want instruction-based “life hacking” or a strict accountability partner, then my approach might not be for you.
I meet you where you are each session, and we co-create a rhythm that works for both of us. If that means you need to skip weeks here and there, that’s your call. I’ll always nudge you when I think it might be impacting the work, but our pace is ultimately your prerogative.
I believe self-trust is the real goal. When I challenge your comfort zone, or poke at your deeply held beliefs that I perceive to be coming from a place of self-criticism, it’s always in pursuit of pointing you back to that ultimate outcome.
Ultimately, I strive to build a deep intuition around who you are now, and the person you’re hoping to become.
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In some ways, this is an impossible question to answer - I’m a deeply curious person, and a student of all the things I’ve yet to learn, so I draw my inspiration from a limitless list of places!
That said, my approach is most fundamentally shaped by a mix of personal experience, professional training, and creative practices:
My career background in education and instructional design first taught me how people learn, and how to meet them where they are.
My coaching training with ICF, Co-Active, ACO, and Adaptive Leadership+ keeps my practice current and engaged with a blend of diverse, multidimensional personal development modalities.
My lived experience with ADHD and the journey of being diagnosed as an adult helped me understand the complex nuances of how attention works.
My passion for music and remix culture inspired a coaching style that’s improvisational, collaborative, and built in real-time.
My life as a parent of two children, working from home, in a small apartment in New York City, offers a daily playing field for me to practice all of what I preach, and be the best human that I can be for my family.
The final ingredient is you! I’m influenced by my clients - their passions, dedication, insights, and the deep fulfillment of doing great work together.
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70s progressive rock. A heady, mind-driven sound combining technical expertise, theory, genre blending and texture - with plenty of space for groove, breaks and complex (ott) solos. Spans the spectrum from sublime to disgust.
(Also, before I got married, I had longer hair, and a big moustache - so I played the part.)