Mentoring for Kids and Young Adults

Currently full! Contact Lucinda to inquire and be put on a waitlist: giddybynature@gmail.com

Personal Development Coach

Lucinda helps young people feel lit up and inspired in their life.  While sessions are open to all ages and gender, the primary group Lucinda works with are girls who feel pressure on the sports field and/or classroom and need tools for feeling confident and happy.  Through introducing mindfulness tools, goal-setting techniques, and creative outlets, clients feel empowered in their lives.  Meetings are individually tailored, whether that involves offering sports mindset tools, painting lessons, confidence building tools, or having a role model figure.  Each session, Lucinda and the mentee create goals and homework assignments that spark the mentee to feel empowered by pursuing their goals.   

The primary focus of each session is to see the opportunities that can arise from hardship, adversity, or discomfort; to help young people reroute their attention to joy and recognize how they can use their innate strengths to feel confident. While there is space and time to dive into the hard moments and difficult feelings, the emphasis is on tools to empower.
Sessions available in person and on Zoom


RATES

Initial Consultation: $220 
The initial consultation is an opportunity for Lucinda and the mentee to get to know each other and see if meeting on a consistent basis feels supportive and a good fit. This session includes talking with the parents or guardians on the phone before the session to get insight on their child. 


Coaching sessions: $150
60 minute sessions (in person or on Zoom).  Text check-ins in between sessions and giddy homework assignments are assigned accordingly. 


TESTIMONIALS

"Our daughter was never an optimist and often had a hard time seeing the glass as half full.  Since working with Cinda, she expresses such a different, more optimistic outlook on life.  I cannot express enough how appreciative we are of Cinda!"  

"Cinda gave me a space to express whatever I was feeling without judgement. There is something so magical about talking to Cinda that melts away any doubts I have about myself or my abilities. She incorporates personal experiences and a range of tools, always with such kindness and compassion, to help me work through my challenges. Her unique perspective, accompanied by her warm and wonderful personality, in addition to her deep intellect, advice, tools, and killer playlists have helped me unlock so much more confidence in myself that has directly translated into my performance on the lacrosse field and in other parts of my life as well. Working with Cinda has helped me feel like my happiest, best, and most authentic self again and I am so grateful. Cinda is a truly special and amazing human who I feel so lucky to have on my team." 
 
"After my daughter's first session with Cinda, she ran down the stairs exclaiming, 'That was life changing!'   She is like a new kid. While I think of my daughter as an overall happy kid, she can definitely experience some darkness - and these sessions with Cinda have lifted her back into a positive state of feeling confident, happy, and brave in making decisions that are best for her.   She feels empowered and it is as though a 500 lb weight is lifted off her shoulders. I hear her doing lacrosse dodges in front of her mirror and she is skipping again."   


"Lucinda is such a great coach, role model and outlet for our daughter. I have seen the impact it has made both on and off the field. Our daughter hasn't had another panic attack which is HUGE, she has been able to cope with some frustrating and disappointing situations with more calm and perspective than past similar experiences, and, most importantly: she actually looks happy on the field again. I have tears in my eyes typing that, it means the world to me."

“The moment our daughter met Cinda, we knew she was special. Her upbeat personality, many talents, and ability to connect with others (of all ages!) shined. Five years later, Cinda continues to engage with our daughter, now a teenager, experiencing the inevitable ups and downs of adolescence. Cinda has been an encourager, a positive influence, and perhaps most importantly, an active listener. Cinda is like family to us!”

 "An honorary PH.D in happiness coaching should be bestowed upon Cinda.  She has done so much for our daughter.  She has managed to dilute social media’s influence on our child – and you can’t put a price on that.  She exudes kindness.  Our daughter is kinder, more confident, and happier after working with Cinda.  Our daughter’s goal-setting mindset and communication style is elevated exponentially every time she has the opportunity to meet with Cinda.  We consider ourselves blessed to have Cinda in our daughter’s life as a role-model, mentor, and coach."


"Lucinda is making such an incredible impact on the kids she works with, changing lives for years down the road in a way that coaches and teachers rarely get the opportunity to do." 


"These sessions with Cinda have been amazing for our daughter - she comes out of them with a sense of calm that I haven't seen before." 


"Lucinda made an astonishing difference for my daughter during a very difficult time during her Covid isolation.  Lucinda was able to harness my daughter’s love of art and create a world of confidence and enjoyment for her.  She looked forward to every meeting and was filled with happiness after each session which was transforming for her world.  Lucinda is truly an amazing mentor for my 13-year-old daughter and we are grateful to have her in our lives."


"Cinda has been an amazing resource for my 17-year-old daughter as she navigates the pressures of school and sports. She has helped her process her anxiety and given her tools to manage future challenges. Cinda has helped her discover her inner strength and a positive perspective. She has taught her the power of her own mindset and attitude. Cinda is an incredible coach and resource for young women as they exist in a stressful and unpredictable world."   



Please note: Lucinda is not a therapist nor does she attempt to treat hardships that aren't within her experience or training. Often, kids who are dealing with more than her scope of expertise see both Lucinda and a therapist; another common situation is that kids meet with Lucinda as their family looks for a therapist because it can be a process to find the right therapist.



Below are examples are representative of what it looks like to work with Cinda.   

Example 1: 

Susie felt like she was losing her confidence and normal spark on the lacrosse field. She also felt a heavy weight of pressure both in the classroom and in social situations. Late in the season, she began experiencing panic attacks on the lacrosse field. Susie and Lucinda began weekly meetings on Zoom. Through conversations and exploration of what was happening, Susie found the ability to step outside of the storm she was experiencing as she regained a sense of perspective and self awareness. Employing mindset tools specifically designed for athletes, Susie ended her season with a bang and went into her next season having fully regained her confident spark on the lacrosse field. Armed with strategies, Susie felt equipped to navigate future challenges.

 

Example 2: 

Anna was hanging out with kids at school who caused her to question herself. Feeling heightened anxiety, Anna began to distance herself from her family.  Although she was unable to see it at the moment, her friends were having a negative influence on her self-esteem, happiness, and connection with the people she cared most about.   Through weekly meetings with Lucinda, Anna explored specific healthy habits alongside mindset tools. Lucinda provided a space for Anna to talk through her feelings and how she might shift the negative influences on her life. Two months later, Anna was able to distance herself from these friends while re-focusing her attention on the personal goals and activities that fill her up. Anna's parents were grateful for the sense of calm they witnessed in Anna following her meeting with Lucinda, something they had not seen in a long time. They were thrilled to see Anna redirect her attention to the things that make her feel like her best self.

 

 

 

The story behind Giddy by Nature mentorship program: 

Growing up, I had learning differences. I started retreating in the classroom and dreading school. I became unsure of myself and in my abilities until I went to a school that addressed the ways that I learned differently. Through addressing and acknowledging my learning style at a young age, I was able to excel in the school setting thereafter and, more importantly, feel more myself and content with outside-the-box learning styles.  

My parents, siblings, grandparents/cousins (on both sides) are all in education.  I grew up on boarding school campus in Delaware that stretched over 2,000 acres of corn fields. My parents were intentional about creating educational spaces in organic settings - playing soccer with high-school boys as a 3rd grader…eating Cheerios at the kitchen table as a 6th grader with my mom's advisees.  My parents infused both education and play throughout my childhood — so I grew a strong work ethic while having fun still getting dirty.  I love to work with kids and create these educational spaces in natural settings.

In college, I had to take a year off at the peak of my lacrosse career with an illness that made me bed ridden; after visiting over 10 doctors the summer before my senior year, no one could figure out what was going on; because of this debilitating fatigue and sickness, I returned to Brown a year later, but was still not well enough to play lacrosse in college again.  Through this difficult experience I became committed to living an authentic, holistic life even if that looks different than my peers.  When lacrosse, my friends, and school became inaccessible, I had to reassess how I identified myself and what made me happy. This adversity ultimately created more opportunities in creating a meaningful and sustainably happy life.