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OUR STORY
out of the blue, A
diagnosis
Hello! I'm Jessica, creator and coach with Take Care Academy, a boutique coaching company created just for family caregivers.
Our story began with an unexpected diagnosis. Sound familiar?
Within weeks, the world changed. My mother and I were launched into the scary, unknown world of cancer treatment and all the sudden changes it brings. I (lovely daughter) became full-time caretaker and Susan (awesome mom) became the reluctant patient. For the next two years, we faced ups and downs of treatment, the push and pull of a morphing relationship, and the unexpected growth that treatment demands from everyone in its wake.
No one really teaches you how to be a caregiver—or a patient. We both found that the general advice from hospitals and cancer groups was well meaning, but didn’t have much to do with the lived experience. Cancer blogs were dangerous emotional territory—full of personal first-hand accounts of the pain of treatment and then, of course, loss, but nowhere did we find concrete answers as to what to expect and how to prepare. So, we started fumbling towards the happiest, easiest, most joy-filled cancer treatment possible. We stumbled. We succeeded. We stumbled again. We both took lots of notes and pondered each week how we could improve upon the experience. (Yes, my former life was in organizational management (think user experience and event planning.) I couldn't help myself.) So we refined and reviewed, failed and fumed, succeeded and celebrated.
After treatment concluded, I made a major career pivot and became a professional coach. Over the last several years I've had the honor of working with nearly a thousand clients from across the world.
Personally, so far, #blessed #thankful -- our story is at a happy point. Things are on the mend. And now, we have collected all the notes and conversations to create the course we wish we’d had at the very beginning: Coaching and courses about the real, lived experience of care-taking. It looks NOTHING like all those schmaltzy TV movies, let’s be clear! It is one of the most human experiences you’ll ever have.
The process of healing and tending is overwhelming. Our mission is to remove some of the burden and give some space as you do the important work of taking care.
We wish you well!
Jessica (daughter • caretaker) + Susan (mom • patient)
ABOUT US
ABOUT US
Strategy + Support
Designed by a Caregiver & Coach who has been in your shoes.
Caring for a family member or loved one during a prolonged illness is an all-encompassing endeavor. It can also be lonely and depleting, no matter how much you care about "your person."
Take Care Academy was created to directly support caregivers. One-on-one coaching sessions have been developed to support your mental health, guide you forward, and generally offer a soft place to land whenever you need a boost.
Blending professional coaching techniques and personal experience, we help you navigate one of life's most unexpected
— and least discussed — challenges.
UPCOMING RELEASES
A Modern
Guide to Caregiving
There hasn't been a modern guidebook to family caregiving—until now.
Few people expect to become a caretaker for a family member, but millions rise to the challenge each day. For me, the call was out of the blue, two weeks after my 40th birthday and two months before my mother was planning to retire. We'd planned Paris and parties. What happened was cancer and chemo.
No one really teaches you how to be a caregiver—or a patient. We were determined to create the happiest, easiest, most joy-filled process possible. We stumbled. We succeeded. We stumbled again and found what worked. In the months and years since, we learned how to navigate our new roles. Now the threat has passed, we want to share our experiences, lessons and support with others who are in the care-taking arena. We want to offer the support we wished had been available at the start of our story.
Our goal is to offer caretakers real-world, practical information through our Caretakers Guided Journal and the Take Care Community.
WHAT WE STAND FOR
CHANGING THE
CONVERSATION ABOUT CARE
Take Care Academy is on a bold mission to:
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change the conversation about care;
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provide care coaching with real-life, empowered, actionable advice;
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show up for carers to offer support and encouragement;
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create a public space for caregivers;
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celebrate and support caregivers (& patients!);
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and re-frame the role and experience of caregiving.
We are modernizing caretaking and making space for caregivers.
I hope you'll join the movement.
