Why Work With Me As Coach? tl;dr
- I’m neurodivergent AF and spent decades mastering tools for emotional regulation, executive function, and self-trust.
- I blend deep scientific knowledge (neuroscience, biochemistry) with empathy, humor, and real-world practicality.
- I’ve mentored hundreds of students, scientists, creatives, professionals, friends and family through major life transitions.
- I specialize in helping overwhelmed adults who feel stuck, misunderstood, or chronically “not living up to potential.”
- I bring a rare combination: structured thinking + whimsical warmth + laser-focused attention on you and your success.
Who is John Jack?
I spent the first half of my life feeling like I was sprinting uphill in a fog—brilliant, capable, ambitious… yet often overwhelmed, burned out, misunderstood, and never quite at peace. I didn’t know how to follow my heart and pursue things that lit me up most. I pushed myself harder and harder, thinking that I could eventually “figure it out” on my own. I was convinced that everyone else was silently managing life better than I was.
For decades, I didn’t spend time wondering if I was neurodivergent, nor what that might mean as a driving force and major factor in my life.
I just assumed “work harder” was the answer. I thought everyone else was feeling the same way and struggling the same way.
The early years: Doing everything, feeling everything
I was the kid who could do anything… except regulate emotions, stay organized, or understand why life felt harder than it seemed for others. Even as a teenager, I gravitated toward leadership and mentorship:
- Let two bands in high school — a jazz improvisation group, Lyquid Jazz, and an alt-rock band, The Flying Hellfish.
- Became a manager at Wendy’s at 17 and opened the store six days a week in the summer before my senior year.
- Volunteered at the local nursing home, rang bells for the salvation army at christmas.
- Signed up for basically all the clubs, all the music groups, student government, whatever was novel and interesting
- Loved teaching, helping, guiding, and leadership — even way back then.
I had the ADHD drive: huge ideas, huge energy, huge heart… and no instruction manual.
Academia: Where teaching became my superpower
During my Ph.D. pursuit in rural Louisiana, something new began to coalesce for me:
I’m really good at helping people learn, focus, and find direction.
To fulfill a teaching assistanceship, I taught a variety of 100- & 200-level mathematics and statistics classes
Through a National Science Foundation grant, I taught specialized science and math classes in low income, high need middle and high schools in rural Louisiana
When my european Ph.D. mentor regularly took off to his home country of Romania, I even taught his graduate-level biocomputing — teaching and menoring students in the same Ph.D. program that I myself was in.
My students weren’t just learning formulas. They were learning how to believe in themselves, how to organize their minds, how to navigate fear, impostor syndrome, and the weight of expectations. These elements of the navigation of human experience were more enticing to work on with my students and peers than the actual math & science.
It clicked for me: Teaching isn’t what I do. It’s who I am!
My career in science: mentoring everywhere I went
Once my Ph.D. work was completed and I officially became Dr. John Jack, I spent the next twenty years working in academia, government, and big tech in different roles utilizing my broad skills:
- As a mathematician at the National Center for Computational Toxicology (now called CTTE) @ the Environmental Protection Agency
- As a Research Scientist at the Bioinformatics Research Center @ NC State University
- As a Data Scientist, building advanced Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence Models for Product and Marketing @ Intuit
- As Vice President of a 1006-home HOA in Durham, NC
Wherever I went, I naturally became the mentor — the person younger scientists came to when they were overwhelmed, burned out, anxious, or unsure what path to take. Technically I was helping them do better science… but our conversations always drifted into:
- life direction
- getting unstuck
- emotional regulation
- how to set boundaries
- how to build confidence
- how to build a life that feels worth living
That was the work I loved most.
My own turning point: finally understanding my brain
Eventually, through therapy, research, and sheer necessity, I learned that I am neurodivergent — and that my brain wasn’t broken, lazy, or dramatic.
It was starving. The brain is like a creature and it can become starving!
Starving for dopamine, serotonin, and the internal rewards neurotypical people get automatically.
Starving for structure that sustains.
Starving for emotional tools that actually make me feel better and function better
Starving for compassion
When I finally understood the neuroscience — the pathways, the chemistry, the survival mechanisms — everything changed. I learned:
- somatic practices for emotional regulation
- how to dismantle and tame my brutally harsh inner critic
- CBT-style reframing
- how to rewire neural pathways
- how to stop treating myself like a malfunctioning robot and start treating myself like a living organism with needs
My life didn’t get easier — I got stronger, calmer, clearer, and more connected.
Why coaching? Because this is what I’m built for
I’ve mentored:
- undergrads trying to find a path
- Ph.D. students drowning in stress
- junior scientists terrified of failing
- creatives with too many ideas and not enough follow-through
- professionals burned out and stuck
- friends dealing with hopelessness, anxiety, shame, and burnout
- community members looking for deeper connection and third spaces
- anyone navigating depression, anxiety, and identity crises
The pattern across all of them was the same:
People don’t need to “be better.”
They need tools, clarity, compassion, and a coach who actually gets it.
I became that coach.
What makes my approach unique
My coaching blends:
• neuroscience and behavioral psychology
• somatic work (mindful body-based emotional processing)
• executive function strategies
• interpersonal communication tools
• humor, silliness, empathy, and deeply non-judgmental listening
I’m not here to therapize you.
I’m not here to “fix” you.
I’m here to help you understand yourself, build systems that work for your unique brain, and finally break the cycles that keep you stuck:
- emotional spirals, peaks and valleys
- overwhelm
- shame & guilt
- procrastination
- perfectionism
- fear of conflict or overreliance on conflict as a survival mechanism
- losing momentum after the novelty wears off
- the constant loop of “I know what to do, so why can’t I do it?”
My life now
My life is in flux, like many of my clients’ lives — but in the best way. I feel grounded, capable, compassionate, and more myself than ever before. Everything I teach are tools I use daily:
- emotional regulation
- somatic grounding
- mindfulness
- productivity systems that actually work for neurodivergent brains
- nervous system safety
- boundaries
- self-trust and self-compassion
- playful creativity
- slowing down, noticing, being
This is not theoretical.
This is lived.
And now I help other people build the same transformation.
Why Work With Me as Your Coach?
Because I’ve walked this road — the confusion, the shame, the overwhelm, the brilliance, the chaos, the softness, the hunger to finally feel fulfilled.
Because I blend science + heart in a way that makes complicated things make sense.
Because I listen deeply.
Because I see people.
Because I can help you see you.
If any part of my story resonates — even a single line — then you and I might be a good fit.
So, let’s hop on a free call and combine our effort to find ways you want to feel more success in life, and build the path and toolkit to make that dream come true!
Ready to Schedule your Intro Call?
Want to Learn More?
Follow the links below to learn more about John Jack Coaching: