Like many kids, I was painfully shy, withdrawn, and self-conscious growing up.  I was only confident in one thing—sports. They were the perfect outlet, and became my only source of self-esteem and self worth.  Until I discovered alcohol. 

 

I was fifteen when I drank for the first time at my cousin’s high school graduation party.  Drinking made me feel calm, comfortable, and confident.  For the first time in my life, I felt like I fit in.  But, drinking quickly turned bad for me. I progressively drank to excess for the next ten years, until I finally realized I could no longer maintain that lifestyle.  I made the difficult choice at the young age of 26 that I would do whatever it took to get, and stay, sober. 

 

In 1997, after seven years of sobriety, I longed to help others like me.  I became an alcohol & drug counselor for a youth rehabilitation program on Long Island, working with adolescents in an in-patient setting.  I continued in that capacity for 15 years.  When one of the kids I'd been closely working with ran away, I got very emotional.  I didn’t realize it in the moment, but I had found my passion and life's purpose—making a difference for children so that they would never experience the kind of pain I had witnessed in my own life and in my work as a drug counselor.

 

While working as a drug counselor, I attended a personal development self-discovery course (based on Lifespring) that literally changed my life.  I realized that even though I'd gotten sober and was helping others do the same, I was still carrying around emotional pain and sadness.  Until the Lifespring trainings, I had thought it was just a part of who I was -- it was mind-blowing to discover that it wasn't; that there was actually something I could do about it.  

 

Over the next decade, I branched out from drug counseling adolescents to work with adults who, while not struggling with addiction, were struggling with emotional pain and sadness.  Through working with adults over several years and hearing them share pain from their youth and talk about struggles with their chlidren, I rediscovered my calling -- to serve children -- and founded Jim Grant Coaching. 

 

The mission of Jim Grant Coaching is simple:  to support families in creating a safe, nurturing environment where children are encouraged to freely express what makes them unique. 

 

With my support, parents and their children learn to work together to overcome the stress of difficult times, and find a greater sense of meaning in the world.