I help teens confidently answer the question, “What are you going to do after high school?”
No more anxiety. No more panic. No more stress - for you or your child.
Get a copy of “The Parent’s Playbook for Confident College Decisions.”
Are you and your teen feeling anxious when it comes to thinking about college?
Are you both feeling all the pressure regarding:
College resume building
ACT and SAT test prep
Personal “branding”
College applications
Picking a major
Your teen might be wondering:
“What am I doing with myself?”
“Is my worth based on what a college says about me?”
“What are the things that make me as a person worthwhile to colleges?”
“What happens if I make the wrong decision?”
“Who am I?”
It’s increasingly more competitive to get into colleges and the amount of anxiety, pressure and stress teens and parents are feeling is unprecedented.
But it doesn’t need to be that way.
Hi! I’m Anna, and this is my story.
I know what it’s like to be confused about what to do with your life. In high school I wasn’t considered “smart” academically. When my scores for the ACT test came back, I refused to look at them. In college, I chose my majors (English and Communication) simply because those degrees didn’t require any math classes.
Early in my career, I accepted certain jobs just because they were offered to me…even when I went into the interview thinking, “There’s no way I’d want to work here.” And yet, I still worked there. I didn’t have good coaching or advice when I was a young adult. I was on my own.
In the end, I spent years of my life searching, instead of living. What kind of work did I actually want to do? What kind of life did I want to build? How could I set myself up for a successful future? I didn’t have those answers, and so I ended up spending some of the best years of my life guessing at them—and often getting it wrong.
That is what I want your teen to avoid experiencing.
If I had had me as a coach when I was 17 years old, my life journey would’ve been very, very different. I would’ve figured out much more quickly who I really am, what I really want, and the kind of life and career I wanted to build.
Today, as a Gallup and ICF certified coach with an MBA, that is the exact work I do now: helping teens discover and build their lives around their unique personal strengths, so they can feel confident making choices that will lead them to the life and career they want.
We all have to earn money somehow. We might as well earn it doing something that we’re good at, and we might as well be proactive about it. I believe that you don’t have to guess at what it is. You can know for sure what your strengths are, and then confidently pursue an education and professional life that is both fulfilling and enjoyable.
Strengths Before Strategy is a strengths-based college prep approach that gives teens the confidence, clarity, and direction they need to thrive.
Millions of young people in their teens, and even early twenties, often struggle to figure out who they truly are, where they truly belong, and what direction to go in life.
Why? Because when it comes to identifying the unique strengths that make them, them, they’re often left to fend for themselves. Most of the time, it’s personal work that they didn’t even know they needed to do. As a result, they end up spending some of the best years of their lives struggling to find the right path for them.
It doesn’t have to be that way.
By focusing first on their unique strengths and then applying intentional strategy to their next steps, this unique college prep framework will give your teen the power to…
Stop obsessing over things that feel major, but are really minor (i.e. the ACT and SATs. Yes, they’re important, but they’re just tests.)
Stop worrying about who they “should be” and become more of who they already are now versus 20 years from now
Slow down and give themselves grace to figure out life post-high school and enjoy life in the meantime
Stop feeling behind because they know how to be intentional about the decisions they’re making
Feel confident about creating a post-high school path they’re excited about
“Before working with Anna I wasn’t sure what major to choose or what college I wanted to go to. It was really stressful. But because of working with her I learned what my strengths are and how to look at them with appreciation and to think about what types of jobs I’d be good at.
With that new knowledge I also overall learned a lot about myself and ended up writing my college application essay off of what I learned. I am very appreciative of all that I learned about myself and it helped me make decisions down the road whether it be college related or everyday life related.
- Callia
Now a Freshman in College
“Anna worked with all three of my kids and provided friendly, helpful, age-appropriate coaching. She got them thinking about how they’re wired, what classes they particularly enjoy in school, and what careers might be a good fit for them down the road.
It was invaluable! I highly recommend Anna and her coaching services!
- Mindy
Parent
At this pivotal time in life, this strengths-based coaching framework will give your child a leg up in every way possible. They’ll come away from this personalized experience with…
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Not the “fake it ‘til you make it” stuff. We’re talking about the strong, steely confidence that comes from knowing who you are, what you want, and where you’re going in life.
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Teens are under a lot of pressure to make difficult choices for “the rest of their life” with limited information and at a young age. Should they go to college? Which college? Where? Why? What should they study? Where should they intern? What kind of job should they get? This coaching eliminates that uncertainty by helping your teen know themselves first which means they’re able to identify the right path for them and walk it with confidence and clarity.
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This is one of the most valuable things a young person can possess as they’re getting started in life. This coaching gives teens a safe, supportive environment to investigate and reflect on who they are and what they truly value. It gives them the knowledge and encouragement they need to own who they are and appreciate the value of their unique abilities. This helps young people avoid making those high-pressure decisions based on low self-esteem, comparison, status or what others have said about them.
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They’ll no longer be worried or think that their value and worth comes from whether a college accepts them or not. Instead, they’ll understand their inherent worth as a human and how their talents and gifts are valuable in any situation. They’ll begin to own and be proud of their authentic selves.
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Whether it’s picking a school, deciding on a major, thinking about their career, or any of the many other difficult choices that young people face, this experience is designed to help them chart a path forward with the kind of confidence that comes from truly knowing yourself.
What if you could give your teen a shortcut to knowing who they are, what they love, and what they want to spend their life doing?
YOU CAN.
If you’re ready to explore how, click the button below to set up your free consultation.
“Anna made me feel excited about my future. I was intimidated by upcoming internship job interviews because I didn't know how to talk about myself. Anna helped me identify the things that I’m good at and explained how they were specifically relevant for the job I was applying for.
Through a mock interview, she gave me tips on what employers are looking for, how to hone my message, and why my experience and strengths were valuable for the job. Once I knew what to talk about and focus on, I felt confident going into my interviews and even got an offer!
- Natalie
Now a Junior in College
49%
The percentage of workers who are not satisfied with their job. (Source: Pew)
38%
The percentage of adults who regret the major they chose in college. (Source: Federal Reserve)
5.7
The average number of times an 18-24 year old will change jobs. (Source: Apollo Technical)
STRENGTHS-BASED COLLEGE PREP COACHING FOR STUDENTS
A proven process to help your teen avoid anxiety, channel the pressure, and make confident decisions regarding their future.
Stop focusing on getting into schools because of their status, location, cost. Focus first on knowing what your teen’s strengths are and then determine which school would be the best option.
This gives your teen more educated ownership of what to do in their life.
IN THIS TWO MONTH COACHING PACKAGE, THIS IS HOW IT WORKS:
Step 1a: Free Consultation with You, the Parent
A casual, no-obligation intro chat to make sure this coaching experience is a good fit.
Step 1b: Free Consultation with Your Teen
If you like me, then we’ll see if your teen likes me. If they do, it’s a go!
Step 2: Onboarding
We begin. Pre-work includes an assessment and reflective exercises to kick things off.
Step 3: First Coaching Session - Strengths
In this session, it’s all about your teens' strengths. We’ll discover their personal strengths, talents, values, and skills, as well as everything that makes them so uniquely valuable.
Step 4: Second Coaching Session - Strengths, continued
In this session, we’ll unpack how their strengths impact the ways they show up in the world. We’ll start envisioning the possibilities that their strengths lend to their ideal career.
Step 5: Third Coaching Session - Context
In this session, we’ll put their strengths into context and identify the kinds of people and coworkers who’ll make perfect “teammates” for them. We’ll explore opportunities that are ideally suited to them.
Step 6: Fourth Coaching Session - Mindset
In this session, we talk about mindset. We identify how and where they get in their own way. We identify blind spots and create clear, concrete action steps they can start taking as they go through the college application process.
In addition, between sessions there’s unlimited Voxer access your teen has with me. (Voxer is a walkie-talkie app.)
Now accepting teens for Fall 2025!
If this is something you’re interested in, but you want to learn more first, get
“The 10 Most Common College Prep Mistakes—And What to Do Instead.”
Otherwise, if you’d like to schedule a free, no pressure conversation to talk about what your teen is up against these days, click the button =>
FAQs
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No! This is the perfect time for this. They know quite a bit about themselves, they have experiences to pull information from and it’s the perfect time to start thinking about and building their life on the basis of their strengths. This is knowledge that will support them through the rest of their lives.
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Yes, there’s a chance your child's strengths may change and there’s also a chance they’ll (mostly) stay the same. I took the CliftonStrengths assessment ten years apart and six of the original top ten strengths were still in the top 10 the second time around.
And guess what? Anytime you answer an assessment differently, the results will be different. Overall though the essence of who we are stays the same.
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Currently, no.
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I have worked with both high school and college students and one nine year-old.In the past, I’ve worked with executives in the C-suite, business owners and mid-level to upper managers. After helping hundreds of smart, accomplished adults reconfigure their lives and careers based on their strengths, I wanted to help teens avoid the struggle that so many of my adult clients faced.
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My approach to coaching is that on the surface it feels like a casual conversation, but it’s actually meaningful, deep and transformative. A client once told me that when we worked together she felt like we were just talking, but in the end she realized she had had a number of a-has. This is meant to be transformative AND fun.
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Absolutely. In fact before you even pay for a session, I’d prefer to make sure both your child and I “click.”
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Perfect. That’s exactly what I like to help teens with. I love helping people who are stuck, get unstuck.
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I recommend working with them when they’re starting to prep for college. So sophomore or junior year. If they’re a senior I’ll work with them as well.
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No. Test prep is not my expertise, but I am very encouraging when it comes to supporting teens before they take the test and pumping them up (especially if we’ve covered their strengths!).
Give your teen a leg up on the competition—and in life.
This personalized coaching experience will help your teen find the direction, confidence, and clarity they need to make those stressful post-high school decisions and will give you relief and joy knowing they’re on their way to living life as their authentic, talented selves.