About Heidi Schafer Coaching
She has a calm demeanor and puts you at ease during every session
Why I Am a personal Coach
My mission is to empower my clients by freeing them from the obstacles that hinder their growth. This enables you to make significant strides towards your envisioned future. Ultimately, I aim to help you to cultivate a sense of fulfillment, guiding you to discover joy in every aspect of your life.
Foundational to my work with my clients is creating a generative, safe, non-judgmental space where new possibilities can emerge. Whether you’d like to function effectively with your ADHD, to move into a new chapter of life, to take on your imposter syndrome or to deal with whichever challenge or new opportunity you’d like to embrace.
My Experience
About ten years ago, I realized I have ADHD while helping a young family member navigate their own diagnosis—an experience that’s more common than I’d imagined. That realization didn’t just clarify things for me; it opened doors to new ways of thinking and living. Since then, I’ve been able to be more intentional about how I approach the challenges that ADHD presents in my life and it has made all the difference.
The feeling of being different has always been there, and it’s what drives me to create spaces where others can explore their own challenges without judgment. I focus on fostering curiosity and creativity, helping people to find their own paths forward. I’ve spent over 25 years doing this with individuals from all walks of life, in a wide variety of settings.
Action Learning and 1-1 coaching are natural fits for this work. I first encountered Action Learning in 1997, while earning my MSc, and it’s been central to my practice ever since. I run Action Learning sets, train coaches, and remain actively involved in the global community. I also served as co-chair of the International Foundation for Action Learning (IFAL) until last year. In addition, I’m an International Coaching Federation ACC-accredited coach.
Like many people with ADHD, my career path has been anything but conventional. I’ve worked in roles as varied as a schoolteacher, mountain guide, and cooperative business owner. I’ve started two businesses and reinvented myself more than once, often beginning something new after excelling in a different field. I know what it’s like to start over after reaching a high level of success. My background as a visual artist informs the way I help others think creatively and approach their own challenges from new angles.
The varied roles I’ve taken on and my willingness to experiment with new approaches are strengths I credit to ADHD. They’ve made me a flexible and adaptive partner for my clients, who often come to me with complex, evolving needs.
As a child of immigrants and refugees—and as an immigrant myself—I’ve spent much of my life outside the mainstream. This, along with my experience as a queer person, has shaped my belief that there’s no single right way to do things. What matters is how we navigate the space between our values, beliefs, and the world around us.
It helps make me the coach that I am, able to hold a welcoming space for others of compassion and non judgment.
