Mar 15, 2018 | ADDText, News
See original story here
Life can be a roller coaster ride for just about everyone on earth, but for young people in their transition to post secondary life, it can be even more challenging. For people with ADHD or learning disabilities the challenges mount up even bigger.
When some people reach out for help they monopolize the time of friends and loved ones, or even bestow their problem load onto someone else. Sometimes they have a therapist to talk to or a mental health professional but those all require appointments.
Now, a new startup called ADDtext.me offers on demand text-based productivity and life coaching for college students, post secondary students and people living with ADHD and learning disabilities.
ADDtext coaches are college or university students or recent graduates who have experienced the pressures that high school, college and post college life present. Their coaches receive in-house training that’s been supervised by 3 psychologists, 2 clinical social workers a 2 learning strategists.
People who need this kind of help simply text ADDme and they can get help with:
- Accountability
- Time Management
- Relationship Building
- Life Skills
- Self Esteem
- Organization
- Reducing Stress
- Self Confidence
- Communication
- Budgeting
- Funding
- Navigating Community Resources
ADDtext.me is designed to meet the demands of millennials and post millennials who need a little help and a little coaching. The text messaging means that people can seek out help with the privacy and security of their own phones. Having the service text based also means you don’t need a smart phone or an app to have 24/7 access to life and productivity coaches.
ADDtext offers a free 14 day trial for people to try out the process of talking with a counselor using their platform.
You can find out all about ADDtext at The Collision Conference in New Orleans, April 30-May 3 and online at addtext.me]]>
Mar 6, 2018 | ADDText, News
Turning experience into a business to help others
Today, Gelhorn is a learning strategist, ADHD coach, and entrepreneur who founded ADDvocacy, a coaching and training company based in Halifax that is committed to helping clients excel in their personal, scholastic and professional lives.
“Our coaches collaborate with clients on how to master executive function strategies, such as organization, time management, goal-setting, emotions management and communication skills,” says Gelhorn. “We also help them navigate community programming and relevant funding opportunities.” In addition, Gelhorn provides professional development training for educators and employers on how to boost productivity in a diverse workforce.
As ADDvocacy’s coaching is one-on-one, and disability and mental health resources are stretched thin in Nova Scotia, Gelhorn realized there was a bigger opportunity to help more of his target demographic (ages 16 to 39) by incorporating technology.
“What if we could develop a platform that enables 24/7 text-based learning strategies and real-time support between coaching meetings, or as a stand-alone service?” The app ADDtext was born, and like its potential clients, it needed help.
How SmartBusiness helped
Gelhorn met with the Halifax Partnership’s SmartBusiness account executive, Minder Singh, in November 2016. Singh introduced Gelhorn to Dr. Adrian Kelly, grants facilitator at Saint Mary’s University, who sourced the Industrial Research Assistance Program (IRAP) as the right fit for ADDvocacy’s growing needs.
IRAP helps businesses with advice, funding, access to global markets and support for hiring youth; a perfect fit for ADDvocacy, which employs young coaches who have experienced and managed similar emotional and mental challenges as their clients.
Through IRAP, ADDtext received advisory services and funding in January 2017, and the app was up and running within a month. The current platform has room for up to 5,000 early adopters to help fine-tune the service. In mid-2018, the full version of the app will launch to an expected 600 million users worldwide.
From Singh’s many introductions, Gelhorn learned about an opportunity to pitch his company and network with like-minded developers and entrepreneurs at a Propel ICT event. “Singh is methodological in his approach. For example, he recognized I needed a programmer and provided connections through Saint Mary’s University to find one. It’s been priceless working with him because every contact he has given me has been influential in my work.”
“Gelhorn made the most of SmartBusiness,” says Singh. “He followed up on every introduction to gain the information and connections to help his business take the next step,” a head-on, diligent approach to success even a former principal would have praised. To learn more about how the SmartBusiness Program can help your business, click here.]]>
